How to make a delicious Carrot Soufflé....

... very easily! You'll love this simple recipe. A soufflé is a great side dish which you can make with a lot of different vegetables: potatoes, broccolis, zucchinis etc. I prepared one with carrots and it turned out great. Try it out and let me know if you liked it!

Serves 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 2 pounds carrots
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 to 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup grated cheese (parmesan or gruyère)
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 40 g (3 tablespoons) butter
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- salt & pepper

Wash, peel, cut the carrots and place them in your pressure cooker with the thyme and the bay leaf. Cover with water and cook for 10 minutes with the pressure regulator slowly rocking
Note: You can also cook the carrots in boiling water until they are tender (about 20 minutes)

Separate whites from egg yolks.
Drain the carrots, remove the thyme and bay leaf, and mash the carrots to obtain a smooth puree. Mix this puree with the sour cream, egg yolks and cumin seeds. Add salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven at 150°C / 305°F. Coat six small ramekins or individual baking dishes with butter.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until peaks form. Slowly fold in the beaten egg whites into the puree with a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture into the 6 dishes until they are three-quarters full.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Serve hot with meat, poultry or a salad.

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimps

Fresh spring rolls are a delicious and healthy appetizer. They are a nice change from the fried rolls (eggrolls) which are served warm. For this recipe, I added shrimps in the rolls for a more complete dish but you can replace them with fried tofu if you like. Enjoy!

Serves 2 (2 rolls per person)
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 oz (75g) dried rice vermicelli
- 4 jumbo shrimps, cooked, peeled and sliced half lengthwise
- 1 romaine heart (or other lettuce you like), leaves separated, rinsed, and dried
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 4 rice-paper wrapper
- 1 small Persian cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts, roughly chopped

- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic chili sauce

Place the rice vermicelli in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 10 minutes. Drain well.
Fill a bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper at a time into the water for about 15 seconds or until soft.
Place the wrapper on a flat surface. Top the central part of the wrapper with vermicelli, cucumber, carrot, peanuts, mint, lettuce and two shrimp halves.

Fold the lower part of the wrapper on the ingredients and roll tightly, folding in the sides. Put on a plate, cover with a damp cloth and repeat.

For the dipping sauce: In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
Serve with the spring rolls.

French Chocolate Macaroons

Macaroons are small cookies which look like mini-burgers :) They are perfect for any occasion but you'll need time and probably practice to get perfectly shaped macaroons. However, if you are not too picky with the way they look, that's good because they'll still be delicious and melt in your mouth.

For about 15-20 macaroons
Preparation time: 1 hour
Baking time: 12-15 minutes per baking sheet
Special equipment: parchment paper, a gallon-size sealable plastic bag or pastry bag
Difficulty: ***

Ingredients:

For the macaroons
- 2/3 cup (90g) ground almonds
- 3/4 cup (100g) confectioners' sugar
- 1/8 cup (15g) cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup (90g) caster sugar
- 2 egg whites

For the chocolate ganache
- 1 1/4 cup dark or milk chocolate
- a bit less than a cup (0.8 cup or 21cl) whipping cream

1. Make the ganache.
Place the chocolate in a bowl. Boil the whipping cream and pour it over the chocolate. Cover and let melt for about 3 minutes. Stir the ganache until very smooth. When the mix is warm, add the soft butter cut into small pieces and stir. Cover with plastic film and let stand in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

2. Make the macaroons.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse almond powder with the confectioners' sugar and the cocoa powder until very fine, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until they just hold soft peaks.
Add caster sugar, little by little, then increase speed to high and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks.

Stir almond mixture into meringue very slowly with a rubber spatula until completely incorporated. The batter should be shiny and smooth but not liquid!

Spoon batter into bag, pressing out excess air, and snip off 1 corner of plastic bag to create a 1/4-inch opening. Twist bag firmly just above batter, then pipe peaked mounds of batter (about 1-inch diameter) onto lined sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Let cookies stand, uncovered, at room temperature until tops are no longer sticky and a light crust forms, 20 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 300°F / 150°C.
Bake cookies until crisp and edges are just slightly darker, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets.

3. To assemble the macaroons, carefully peel cookies from parchment. Spoon the ganache into another plastic bag (like described above) or use a pastry bag and sandwich a thin layer of ganache (using a plastic bag as described above, or a pastry bag) between flat sides of cookies.

If you can wait, macaroons are even more delicious the next day. They can be kept in an open box in the fridge.

Broccoli Gratin with Parmesan cheese

This Gratin can be made with broccoli or with zucchinis. It is very simple and quick to prepare. And while it's baking, you can do something else! It is a good recipe to have your kids eat veggies :)

Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 2 medium broccoli bunches
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 (375 ml) cup milk
- 1 1/2 (100 g) cup shredded parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- a pinch of grated nutmeg

Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart.

Steam the broccoli florets for about 5 minutes: they shouldn't be too tender but rather a little firm - they will finish cooking in the gratin.
Drain the florets and place them in a rectangular baking dish (I usually use a glass cake dish).

Preheat your oven at 200°C/390°F.

In a bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and add the grated nutmeg, salt and pepper and finally the parmesan cheese.
Pour over the broccoli florets.

Place your dish in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes. The gratin should be firm, not liquid, and golden brown on top.
Serve with a salad.

Bread Pudding Soufflé and Whiskey sauce

How to use bread leftovers? Bake a Bread Pudding Soufflé! This dessert is old fashioned light, and fluffy. My recipe includes raisins and pecans but you can replace the raisins with fresh fruits (diced apples and blueberries are my favorites), other dried fruits (cherries, apricots, figs..) use honey, chocolate chips, etc.

Serves 8
Praparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
Soufflé
- 5 cups (about half a medium round loaf) day-old French bread (from a loaf, not a baguette), cut into 2 cm cubes
- 4 eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmated
- 4 cups (1 l) milk
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup raisins, soaked in dark rum (to cover)
- 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
- butter and sugar for the mold

Whiskey sauce
- 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
- 2 egg yolks at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon


Prepare the soufflé first.
Coat a large, deep baking dish with butter and sugar.
In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar, the spices, the vanilla extract until creamy. Mix in the milk

Place teh cubed bread in a large bowl and pour the milk mixture over it. Set aside for 30-45 minutes.

Preaheat your oven to 350°F / 180° C.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the remaining 1/4 of the sugar until peaks form.

Add the raisins and chopped pecans to the soaked bread and slowly fold in the beaten egg whites with a metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the preapared mold and bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden.

For the Whiskey sauce, heat the cream over simmering water in a double boiler.

In a bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar. Off the heat, whisk the egg yolks into the warm cream.

Return the preparation to the double boiler and cook over simmering water, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Slowly add the bourbon. Continue to cook until the miwture is lightly thick and smooth.

Serve the soufflé with the warm Whiskey sauce.