Homemade Crab Cakes

I had crab cakes once in a restaurant and always wanted to try to make some myself. I did this week-end and I'm pretty happy with the result. They turned moist, tender inside and crispy outside. Served with a green salad, it's a great dish to eat while watching a good movie!

Blueberry-Nectarine Crumble

A crumble is an easy dessert which you can make with a lot of different fruit combinations. It's simple and delicious. For the topping, it's ideal to use oats and nuts, for texture. In this recipe I used walnuts, but try different nuts (Pecans, Brazilian nuts, hazelnuts, or even almonds) and different fruits (blueberry, apple, mango, raspberry, peach,...).

Chinese Fried Rice to finish roasted chicken leftovers

Over the week-end, I sometimes roast a whole chicken to feed my family for about 2 meals. I there are leftovers, I detach the meat from the bones and prepare a Chinese Fried Rice. With chicken, I also add omelet, tomatoes, peas, onion, bell pepper and other ingredients I have in my fridge. Delicious and complete, the dish makes everybody happy.

Serves 2
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil or peanut oil
- 1 egg lightly beaten and seasoned with salt and pepper
- 1 onion cut into wedges
- about 1 cup cooked chicken strips (leftovers from a roasted chicken or pan-fried in advance) OR ham
- 2 cups cooked cold rice
The rice should be refrigerated a few hours before making fried rice to let the grains dry out and separate.
- 1/4 red bell pepper cut into small squares
- 1/2 cup frozen green peas
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 cup small prawns, peeled (optional)

Heat the oil in a wok or a large pan and add the egg, spreading it over the bottom to get a small layer, like for an omelet. When it is almost set, break up into pieces to resemble scrambled eggs. Set aside.
Heat a bit more oil in the wok/pan and stir-fry the bell pepper and onion, until soft. The onion should be transparent and should not turn brown.
Add the chicken or ham and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the rice, peas and cherry tomatoes. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes and peas begin to soften.
Add the scrambled eggs, soy sauce and prawns (if using).
Heat through and serve.

You can add other ingredients to "customize" your fried rice. Here are some ideas:
carrots (cut into Julienne strips)
spring onions (cut into short lengths)
peanuts or cashews
bacon
black Chinese mushrooms
garlic and ginger (before frying the onion and the bell pepper)
pork or duck strips
bamboo shoots

Penne with cauliflower and fresh basil

Pasta is fun and very simple to prepare. You should cook it "al dente" which is the way Italian people eat it; it is also healthier than overcooked pasta. I often add vegetables to my pasta dishes, I love it. This time, I added cauliflower to penne, according to a recipe from Mario Batali which I made my own.


Serves 3
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: *


Ingredients:
- olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 pound grape vine tomatoes OR cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 1/2 pound dry penne
- 1 bunch frech basil, chopped
- freshly grated parmesan
- salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the garlic. cook until soften and lightly golden brown. Add the cauliflower and stir well.
Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to break down. Note: I try to use organic ingredients so I wash the tomatoes and do not peel them. I either leave the skins or remove them when they detach themselves while cooking.
Add the cauliflower and stir well.
Add the hot water and cook about 20-25 minutes until the cauliflower is tender.

Bring cold water to a boil to cook the penne. Cook according to package instrutions, until tender but al dente. Drain well.
Add the pasta to the cauliflower and season with salt and pepper. Toss for 1 minute over high heat.
At the last minute, add the chopped basil. Sprinkle the grated parmesan on top and serve immediately.

Miam miam!

"Eggs Mimosa" (Deviled eggs), cute appetizer

This recipe is called "Mimosa eggs" (oeufs mimosa in French), probably because the egg yolk gives the mimosa color to your plate. You probably know it better as Deviled eggs. This appetizer is one of the easiest existing and you need a minimal number of ingredients to prepare it. I usually serve the Mimosa eggs atop a Belgian endives salad because I like the way the egg tastes with endive but any type of salad works.

Serves 2
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon regular mayonnaise or Vegenaise (vegetarian mayonnaise, without eggs)
- salad: Belgian endives, red and green oak salad, spinach salad, or any other salad you like
- paprika (optional)

Boil the eggs for about 10 to 12 minutes. The egg yolks need to be hard.
Let them cool and divide them in two, lengthwise.
Remove the egg yolks and set aside. Fill the holes of the egg whites with mayonnaise and crumble the egg yolks on top of the mayonnaise. You can also divide the yolks in two and place them directly on top, without crumbling them.

Prepare your salad and lay it in your plates. Place the eggs on top and sprinkle paprika over the eggs.
Serve right away.

Primavera, Mushroom, Seafood Risotto... Invent your own!

Risotto is an incredibly flexible dish which you can adapt according to your envy. There are some basic principles and techniques to know which I'm going to explain but it is not difficult to prepare.
Depending on the ingredients you use in your risotto, it can be an appetizer or an entree and you can make it with veggies, seafood or meat.


Serves 4
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
Basic ingredients needed for any type of risotto
- 400g risotto rice (14 ounces)
- 2 liters of stock (6 1/2 cups)
I prefer using chicken stock or vegetable stock. Clam juice can also be used for seafood risottos.
- olive oil or butter to fry the onion at the beginning of the preparation
- 2 tablespoons butter to add at the end of the preparation
- 1 small onion
- 2/3 cup wine or liquor (10 cl)(optional)
Any wine can work with risottos. White wine is the best bet but for more "fancy" dishes, I already used Sake or Ricard to customize my risottos.
- 2 nice handfuls of parmesan cheese (better if freshly grated)

Boil the stock and reserve it aside, keeping it very hot.
Heat the olive oil or butter in a large pan. Slowly fry the onion without coloring them, they should become transparent.
-- You might now add ingredients that need to cook with the rice, like raw vegetables, meat cut in small pieces... --
Turn up the heat and add the rice and stir so that it is coated with butter/oil.
Then add the wine and keep stirring until the rice has absorbed all the liquid.
Add salt and pepper.
Turn the head down and add the stock in small batches, stirring and waiting for the liquid to be absorbed before adding more stock.
-- If you are making a seafood risotto, you can add the seafood in the middle of the cooking process here. Since seafood does not need to cook for a long time, do not add them too early. --
After about 30 minutes, the rice should be "al dente" and the texture of the risotto should be creamy. Add more stock if you feel that it's too dry.

Take the risotto out of the heat and check the seasoning: add salt and pepper if needed.
Stir in the butter and the parmesan. If you like, you can top with freshly grated parmesan before serving.

Examples of other ingredients to be used in risottos
1) Risotto Primavera: carrots, celery, green peas, artichokes, asparagus, green beans...
Cut them in cubes and add them to your preparation.

2) Mushroom Risotto: fresh or dried mushrooms like porcinis or chanterelles. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water before using them in this recipe.
For a "Japanese style" mushroom risotto, you can use shitake and/or oyster mushrooms. Sake can be used in this version.

3) Seafood Risotto: bay scallops, shrimps, calamari, ...
It's better to use fresh seafood but if you have a frozen medley for example, you can heat it in a pan first and reserve the juice to cook the rice. As mentioned above, do not add the seafood too early or it will become chewy, especially if you are using frozen seafood.

Enjoy!

Coconut Rocks: so easy, so good

If you like coconut, you'll love this recipe. These rocks are crispy outside and soft inside, it's a real pleasure. They go wonderfully with tea and are very quick to bake!
Give it a try and let me know what you think!


Makes about 15 rocks
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients
- 100 g grated coconut
- 75 g powdered sugar
- 10 g flour
- 1 egg

Preheat your oven at 400F°/200C° . In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients and stir well. With your fingertips, form small balls (about 1 inch diameter) and give them a semi circle or pyramid shape.
Place the dough balls on a baking sheet previously buttered and floured.
Bake for 10 minutes, monitoring the color of the rocks. They should turn brown.
Let cool.