South West France, from vine to lense (+ special offers)

I recently went to the South West of France on a work trip, where I got the chance to discover a bit more this region and some of its appellations: Fronton, Gaillac, Cahors. 
No need to say that I met lovely people (winemakers must simply belong to the most unpretentious and nicest people on earth), ate amazing food (nothing beats a duck and gâteau basque therapy every once in a while), tasted some delicious wines, and took many shots!

Gaillac vineyards

Puy l’Evêque, near Cahors

I considered for a minute sitting there for ever after and not getting on the plane back to London (Domaine Causse Marines)

Ham and wine anyone? (Domaine Plageoles)

Gaillac, view from Domaine Plageoles

Marc Penavayre, Château Plaisance, Fronton

Tasting wine in the shade of a tree at Domaine Causse Marines

If you would like to discover more about South West France Wines in London, why don't you go to The Maison des Vins du Sud-Ouest at Comptoir Gascon, where you get to sample different wines for free everyday when having lunch and dinner. 
Or go and spend a day at The Wine Gang Fairs (London, Bath, Edinburgh) and look out for The South West France Wines tables and masterclasses!

Special discount for Pauline à la crème anglaise's followers!  
Type in the code BLOG40 when getting your tickets for The Wine Gang Fairs from here and get your entry ticket for only £12 (instead of £20) and get 10% of any masterclass. 

For more information on South West France Wines : www.southwestfrancewines.co.uk

My ugly yet delicious peanut butter cookies

Maybe there's some kind of paranormal activity happening in my kitchen.
Or some kind of cookie god who doesn't like me.
Or the moon not in the right phase of its cycle.

I can't explain.
I've been baking for 5 years now, but still, here there are, my latest delicious but ugly peanut butter cookies.

Peanut butter cookies

with M&Ms and Peanut butter cups

Don't judge them on their looks, just close your eyes and take a bite.

Ingredients

300g caster sugar

130g unsalted butter

70g smooth peanut butter

275g self raising flour

1 egg

1 good pinch of salt

Chunks: I peanut butter M&Ms and Reese's peanut butter cups

Make the cookies

1/ Preheat your oven at 180°C

2/ Cream the butter, peanut butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon (or an electric mixer) until light and fluffy (this will take about 10 min)

3/ Add the egg and beat again

4/ Add the flour and the salt and mix until combined (try not to over beat the ingredients or your cookies will end up very dry). If the dough is too dry, add milk one tablespoon at a time

5/ Add the M&Ms and/or peanut butter cups in the middle of each cookie

6/ Spoon 2-tablespoon sized balls of dough on a baking sheet (or silicone baking mat) spacing them out quite a lot as the cookies will spread while cooking

7/ Bake for approximately 15 or until just cooked (you want them to still be chewy in the middle). Wait till they cool down before removing them from the sheet (as they will harden as they cool down)

Featuring Gustav the thief cat!

Great balls of....lamb!

I'm going on holidays!
what, "again"?
I'm not on holidays all the time, I just tend to talk more about my holidays than about my everyday life (would you really want to know about my daily work routine? Nooo, that's what I thought)

This time, I'm off to Kerala, the very South West of India. I've never been to India, so it's going to be a great adventure. 
But don't worry, I've got The Man and Chocolat my Travelling Bear to hold my hand when we'll get lost, cross rivers and eat scary food. I'll bring back lots of pictures and I hope so more great recipes!

In the meantime, I won't let you starve, here one my favourite savoury recipes of the moment.
See you in two weeks! 

Spicy and Minty Lamb meatballs

If you had asked me a couple of months ago: why would you get into the trouble of making your own meatballs?" I wouldn't have known what to answer. 

The truth is, you can find good meatballs in supermarkets. 

But, it's so much fun to make them yourself, and to flavour them following your instinct of the moment!

Here, I went for mint and lamb meatballs, but you can swap the lamb with beef, and flavour them with whichever herbs and spices you like.

This dish is light, packed with flavour, and it's easy to double or triple the quantities if you have lots of guests over, without being so much more work. Give them a go!

Ingredients for the courgette carpaccio (for 2 people)
2 large courgettes (or 3 small)
half a lemon
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Make the courgette carpaccio

1/ Wash the courgettes, cut the ends, leaving the skin on
2/ With a peeler, slice the courgettes accross the full length, place them in a bowl
3/ Drizzle with the juice of half a lemon, few tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, and leave to marinate 30min to an hour

Ingredients for the spicy minty and lamb meatballs
Approx 400 minced lamb
a dozen of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp of white breadcrumbs
3 tbsp of milk
1 or 2 spring onions (white and green parts), finely chopped
1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/4 tsp cumin or coriander seeds, salt and pepper, and pretty much any spice you might like

Make the meatballs: 
1/ In a large bowl, place the breadcrumbs and milk for a couple of minutes until the breadcrumbs have absorbed the milk

2/ Add all the other ingredients and mix well until combined. With your hands, form balls the size of approximately the size of a small ping pong ball (but you can make them bigger if you like) and place them in the fridge for 1/2 hour to ensure that they're stick together before you cook them

3/ Fry them on the barbecue or in a pan slightly oiled. 

Side fresh sauce
Mix together 3 or 4 tbsp or grecque yoghurt with fresh basil finely chopped, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper

To Serve: 
In a wrap (I bought square wraps from M&S), place 3 meatballs, a few rocket leaves, a dollop of side fresh sauce, roll and close the wrap, and serve aside the courgette carpaccio. Enjoy!

Alternative: you can serve the meatballs with couscous, courgette carpaccio and side fresh sauce. 

Chocolat the Bear's Moroccan escape (Casablanca & Marrakech)

We got invited with my improv team (fbi-improvisation.com) a couple of weeks ago to Morocco to an improv tournament. We spent a delighting long week end in Casablanca and Marrakech and met great people. 
Obviously Chocolat came along, went to the beach and to the souk, made news friends and ate some delicious Morrocan food!

A long week end is way too short to discover these two great cities. There are so much to explore and experience, from food to architecture, taking time to walk around and meet people...
With cheap flights London to Morroca all year long (the train between Marrakech and Casablanca only costs 9€), we'll definitely have to go back!

In search of the Best Ever Carrot Cake

Carrot cake is one of this cakes that scares you if you have never had it before (what, a cake made with vegetables?) but rocks your world when you try it.

Carrot cake is one of my favourite cakes ever, and since I've started baking, I've tried many recipes in search of the best ever carrot cake.
I don't know if I've actually found it yet (I like to think that I can always find ever more delicious recipes), but I found one that is pretty delicious. I've been making it time and time again, and it's never failed to amaze my taste buds.

By the way, what makes a great carrot cake?
- Texture: rich and moist. the more carrots, the better!
- A clever mix of spices: cinnamon for the comforting autumnal flavours, and ginger for a kick
- A fair amount of nuts and raisins, to bring extra texture and flavours
- A delicious icing. Here, you can either opt for a rich buttery icing or a lighter cream cheese icing (I chose the middle ground with my butter-cream cheese icing)

Ready, steady, grate!

The best ever Carrot Cake
(who knows?)

This carrot cake has everything to be divine: lots of carrots, a good pinch of spices, lots of walnuts and raisins, and a delicious icing.

Sometimes, I also add half a cup of chopped pineapple (but be careful not to add too much as the extra juice might mess up the cake's consistency) 

Ingredients for the cake:

350g light soft brown sugar
350ml sunflower oil
3 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
350g plain flour
2tsp baking powder
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
2tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp ground ginger
350g carrots, peeled and grated
120g finely chopped walnuts and raisins

For the icing:
350g icing sugar
50g soft butter
1tsp vanilla extract
150g cold cream cheese
Walnut halves and a little ground cinnamon to dust

Make the best ever carrot cake: 

1/ Preheat the oven to 170C. Lightly oil 2 x 20cm sandwich tins or silicone moulds, and line the bases of each tin with baking parchment

2/ In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, and eggs with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and thickened. Add the vanilla extract, sift over the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and ginger then fold in until well mixed. Fold in the carrots, walnuts and raisins.

3/ Divide the mixture between the prepared cake tins. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35mins or until golden, risen and the middle bounces back when lightly pressed. 

4/ Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the carrot cake icing: 

1/ In a large bowl, sift the icing sugar, add the soft butter and vanilla extract. Beat on slow speed with an electric whisk, until well mixed. Add the cream cheese and briefly beat together again until just combined (Don't over beat or it will become runny).

2/ When the cakes are cold, peel away the baking parchment. Divide the icing between the  cakes, spreading it evenly over the top of each. Stack the cakes one on top of the other. Top with the walnut halves and cinnamon. 

Not sure the cat is convinced though...

Adapted from http://www.ilovemygrub.com

For the lost souls in Paris, my friend Rohanne for the lovely blog Entre biberons and Mascaras has found for you the Carrot Cake spots in Paris.
And of course, if you know an amazing carrot cake recipe, please share it, the search is still on!

My Lemon, Coconut and Mascarpone Tart

Girls (or maybe just me) often have a very specific idea of what they expect from their Man as proofs of their love to them.
Flowers, surprise dinners, boxes of chocolate, secret love messages hidden in a drawer ...all of these are in the Universal Repertory of Proofs of Love.
As some boys don't seem to have been given a copy of the Repertory and are not so keen on following any rules but their own anyway, they don't do any of this and get regularly into trouble.

"We've been together for a year and you still haven't offered me flowers?!"

Until one day, out of nowhere and god knows why (probably thanks to some kind of divine intervention), girls realise that proofs of love are all around, just not where they look for them.

Does he always carry your grocery bags (and all your bags for that matter) for you?
Does he serve you breakfast in bed even though you know he's phobic of crumbs in bed?
Does he spend time repairing your broken bike without you even asking for it? 
Does he clean the mess you leave behind you at his place without ever even mentioning it?

Sometimes, you're actually happier and luckier than you think, you just have to look in the right direction.

Lemon, coconut and mascarpone Tart

This tart is very fresh and creamy. It is so easy to make, and so delicious. 
A great new take on lemon tart!

Ingredients: 
Finely grated zest and juice of 4 lemons
2 handfuls of dissacated coconut
4 eggs and 4 yolks (you can keep the whites to make a meringue)
200 g mascarpone
250 runny honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
1 shortcrust pastry ( I used lighter shortcrust pastry from Sainsbury's)
Unrifined sugar (or light muscovado sugar), for dusting

Make the lemon and coconut tart: 

1/ Take all the ingredients out of the fridge so they come to room temperature. 
 
2/ Preheat the oven to 150deg C

3/ Prepare your lemon zests and juices and place in a small bowl with the coconut. Leave to soak for 5min

4/ In a large bowl, beat the eggs and yolks with a whisk or an electric mixer until light and pale (this will take 3 to 5 mins)

5/ In a third bowl, beat the mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Add it to the eggs mixture, add the honey, mix, then add the lemon zests and juices and coconut, and mix until combined and smooth.

6/ Line a pie dish with the shortcrust pastry, and bake at 150deg C for 40-50 min. Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin. Ice with sugar and serve.

 

"You're so fine, and you're mine..."

Sensitive taste buds seeking curry - Indian Dhal & Roast pumpkin

One of my greatest culinary discoveries since I've been living in London is Indian Cuisine.

If Coronation chicken, the indian-inspired dish created for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation, is anything to go by, British people have a real love affair with Indian food.

In France, we have "Pizza nights", here in the UK, people have "Curry nights"

When I started my curry education 4 years ago, I started from scratch. Not only did I know nothing about Indian food, but I also had baby taste buds that couldn't handle anything that would come near being called a spice.

My world was made of crème fraiche and melted cheese, with no pepper please.

Since then, I fell in love with curry nights, and my Curry Connoisseur Boyfriend takes me to Indian restaurants and teaches my taste buds the great pleasures of chilli powder.

And guess what? I'm going on holidays to India soon! More on that later ;-)

Easy Indian Dhal 

served in a roasted pumkin

In India, dhal means lentils. A dhal can be cooked in many different ways, depending on the lentils you use and the recipe you're following. 
You can also create your own recipe and include lots of different ingredients in a dhal: green peas, cauliflower, potatoes, Indian cheese, etc
Most of the times, a dhal would remain a vegetarian dish.
Here is a very simple recipe that I served in a roasted pumpkin, just because I love pumpkin. But of course, you can serve your dhal in a bowl!

Ingredients for 2 people: 

1 small glass (a little less than 1/2 pint) or red lentils
2 pints approx of vegetable stock
1 onion finely chopped
1garlic clove finely chopped
1 small thumb of fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 small handful of frozen peas
2 medium sized potatoes
2 to 3  tbsp of mixed spices: I crushed cumin seeds and coriander seeds, added turmeric and a pinch of cinnamon. Freestyle!

Make the dhal:  

1/ Sweat (don't grill) the onion, garlic in 1tbsp olive oil for 3 min. Add the ginger and the spices and cook for 2 more min. 

2/ Add the lentils, potatoes and the stock, and simmer for approx 15min. Mix from time to time, until the mix forms a croase porridgy texture. Add the peas and cook for 5 more min. 

3/ Add salt to taste, and serve with rice or in a small roast pumpkin with pitta breads and cottage cheese (we ate directly with spoons from the pumpkin, really good casual atmosphere!)

Make the roasted pumpkin: 

1 small pumpkin, seeds removed
1 tbsp olive oil

1/ Paint the inside of the pumpkin with the oil, place on a baking tray, cover with foil and cook in the oven for approx 30min at 190degC (the foil will ensure the pumpkin slowly roasts without burning).

2/ Take off the foil ans roast for a further 10min until the pumpkin is golden. Transfer to a serving dish and fill with the dhal. 

Options: of course, you can fill your pumpkin with other preparations, like for example a biryani, or a simple mix vegetable fried rice.

Some (amongst so many) places to try and enjoy Indian delicacies in London: 
Guglee, West  Hampstead & Swiss Cottage
Lahore, Whitechapel
Tayyabs, Whitechapel
If you have favourites to share, please leave a comment!