The secret to succeed in baking Meringues!

Meringues are delicious sweet treats with a crunchy texture outside and a soft heart inside. They melt in your mouth but are pretty tricky to make... The secret to succeed is to beat the egg whites for a loooooooooooooonnng time. Yes, a VERY long time. You know, like in the old times, when they did it with a wooden spoon while looking outside the window. Take your time and you'll make delicious Meringues.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 20-30 minutes
Baking time: 1:30 hours

Difficulty: **

Ingredients:
- 2 egg whites (get your eggs out of the fridge about 15 minutes before starting baking)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 125 g (1 1/4 cup) caster sugar

1. In a large bowl, add the egg whites and the pinch of salt.
2. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer at medium speed until they hold soft peaks. Add the sugar, little by little, then increase speed to high and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks.
3. Keep on beating the egg whites, for at least 10 minutes.
4. Using a pastry bag or 2 spoons, place small amounts of the preparation on baking sheet covered with greased parchment paper.
5. Preheat your oven at 248°F/120°C. Bake the meringues for about 1 hour and let them dry for at least 2 hours in your oven. Let them stand in there all night if you can.

Tabbouleh: a classic Lebanese salad

Tabbouleh, tabouleh, tabouli... is a classic Lebanese salad. It makes a delicious substitute for a rice dish on a buffet table. Tabbouleh is very good with cold meat like lamb, or with smoked salmon.
You can switch some ingredients and try new combinations. I sometimes add raisins to my recipe: cover 1 tbsp raisins with hot water, let stand for about 10 minutes and add this to your tabouleh.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: none - 2 hours in the fridge
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1 cup (175 g) whole wheat couscous (semolina)
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
- 2 shallots (or spring onions)
- 1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
- 2 large tomatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp almonds
- black Kalamata olives to garnish
- salt and ground black pepper

1. Put the couscous in a bowl, add cold water to cover, and let stand for at least 1 hour (up to 2 hours).

2. If there is excess water, spread the couscous on kitchen paper to dry it completely.

3. Place the couscous in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, the oil and a little seasoning.
Allow to stand for 1 to 2 hours.

4. Add the chopped parsley and mint, shallots (or spring onions), green pepper, diced tomatoes, almonds and mix well.

5. Garnish with the black olives and serve. You can let stand in the fridge before serving, if needed.

Shrimp Flambées à la Vodka Recipe

Vodka Shrimp Flambé: Yes, "Flambé" is French, it means in "in flames". This is how you can give a peculiar taste to your food and make a nice show for your guests at the same time :) I first tried this recipe with Mango Vodka and OMG, it was delicious! The shrimps really had a mango taste... My husband loved this dish!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (about 450 g) fresh tiger prawns, peeled (keep the tail, it's nicer) and deveined
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons Mango Vodka
- salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.

2. When the oil is hot, add the chili pepper flakes and let brown for 1 minute.

3. Still on high, add the shrimp and cook them on both sides for about 1 minute.

4. Lower the heat and add the vodka.

5. With a long match, set the vodka on fire and shake the skillet until flames die down. BE VERY CAREFUL.

6. Add the chopped parsley on top, stir and serve immediately, either with rice or mashed potatoes

How to prepare a Chocolate-Raspberry Trifle

Here is my own version of the Trifle. I used leftovers of a chocolate cake and only needed a couple of additional ingredients to prepare this great and easy dessert. You can use leftovers of chocolate muffins and well, and replace the raspberries with raspberries, blueberries or any other berry you like. Yummmm!

Serves 2
Preparation time: 20 minutes + 1 hour in the fridge
No cooking time!
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (about 450 g) raspberries
- milk
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) heavy whipping cream (very cold)
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- leftovers of chocolate cake/muffins (or chocolate cake bought already made)
***2 clear glasses to serve the trifles***

1. Cut the chocolate cake into small squares. You'll need about 5/6 pieces per person.

2. Clean the raspberries and prepare the raspberry sauce: in a blender, blend 3/4 of the raspberries with a bit of milk with one teaspoon of sugar. Add the milk slowly until the texture is smooth but not liquid. Reserve.

3. With a hand mixer, whip the cream, adding one teaspoon of sugar, little by little.

4. In each clear glass, layer the ingredients in this order:
- raspberry sauce
- whipping cream
- chocolate cake & raspberries
- whipping cream
- chocolate cake & raspberries

5. Place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and serve cold.

Fast & Delicious: Citrus Scallop Carpaccio

No cooking time, super simple and delicious, this recipe is for you! It is very stylish and tastes great. Try this Scallops Carpaccio, you'll love it. You can also prepare this carpaccio with other fish pieces like salmon, cod or rockfish.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes + 3 hours in the fridge
NO cooking time!
Difficulty: *

Ingredients:
- 4 big sea scallops
- juice of a 1/2 lime
- 1 mandarin, preferably organic (or tangerine, or even a small orange)
- 4 tablespoons good quality olive oil
- salt and pepper/red pepper berries

1. Rinse the scallops and pat them dry.
2. Slice each scallop thinly horizontally.
3. Arrange on plates in layers.
4. Grate the mandarin zest and reserve.
5. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, the lime juice, the mandarin zest and a pinch of salt.
6. Drizzle the citrus olive oil over the scallops. You can use a pastry brush to make sure all the pieces are coated.
7. Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Grind some pepper or red pepper berries on top, and serve with a sprouts salad and toasted bread.