I think I cracked the secret recipe this time! I am now on an all homemade frenzy, and breakfast at home is all made from scratch: jams, peanut butter,spreads, bread…The Nutella was a tough nut to crack but I think I finally got it, thanks to a secret ingredient that brings out the hazelnut taste even more.

I have started my Nutella experiment with this easy 3 ingredient chocolate-hazelnut spread. That was delicious, but not exactly the same as Nutella in terms of texture, and the taste was a bit different too.

I also wanted to tackle a big issue with Nutella: it becomes tough as a brick when you leave it in the fridge..which is not a problem for a product full of preservatives, but my version would need to be stored in the fridge at least once open.

So here it is, my version of Nutella, with no palm oil (and actually not much oil at all) and a secret ingredient!

And the secret ingredient is…..Hazelnut syrup!!
Though there a real hazelnuts in this delicious spread, replacing the sugar with this tasty syrup definitely adds a little something.

Ingredients:

200 g milk chocolate with whole hazelnuts
Or 100 g good milk chocolate and 100 g blanched hazelnuts.
75 ml semi-skimmed milk
2 tablespoons hazelnut syrup
2 tablespoon vegetable oil ( with a neutral taste)

Instructions:

1. Mix syrup, chocolate and hazelnuts 20 seconds/speed 10 in your Thermomix (or in a blender)
2. Add the milk and oil and mix 10 more seconds, Speed 7
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the lid with a spatula (you would not want to lose a drop of this, would you?)
4. Heat at 50 degrees, speed 2 for 3 minutes
5. Mix once last time at speed 10 to make the spread nice and smooth
6. Fill jars and store in the fridge.

You know how sometimes biscuits and sweets can scream “Eat Me Now”? They call you from inside the cookie jar, and there is nothing you can do to ignore them. Even with the music full blast and all doors between you and the kitchen closed and locked, you know will end up freeing them from the darkness and offer them a nicer place to stay: in your tummy. (And eventually on your hips, but that is another story. )

Not that this will help me get in shape for the holidays, but thanks to my sister and her great birthday present idea, I can now make cookies that say “Eat Me” in style. This way I am sure I am not the only one hallucinating talking cookies…and I have a better chance that someone else will get to the biscuit box first, and eat them before I do.

Ingredients

Zest of one organic lemon
100 g sugar
350 g flour
150 g butter
2 spoonfuls poppy seeds
3 medium eggs
A pinch of salt

Steps

1. Grind the lemon peel and sugar until fine. About 10 seconds/Speed 10

2. Add all the other ingredients and mix 10 seconds/Speed 5 or until it forms a nice homogeneous dough.

3. Take the dough out of the Thermomix bowl and shape into a log. If the dough is too sticky add a bit of flour and work the dough until it does not cling to your fingers anymore.

4. Preheat the oven at 160 C.

5. Spread some flour on your kitchen counter and roll ou the dough, then cut into shapes. And stamp them!

6. Bake for 20 mn on a tray lined with baking parchment.

Are you familiar with Danette? It is a French milk based pudding made by Danone and it is so popular in France that I bet you can find it in every French family’s fridge. And I dare you to find anyone that cannot sing their slogan “On se leve tous pour Danette” (Everybody rises for Danette). Click on the link to find an ad that dates back to the 80′s for a bit of history!

When I was a kid, I think there were 2 flavours only, vanilla and chocolate, and I already had a hard time choosing. Now if you go to a French supermarket, you will find between 15 and 20 different flavours. No way I could make a choice there ever!

I don’t run that risk here as I haven’t found any Danette on the shelves yet… nevermind, I thought I’d just make some myself. And because I still could not decide whether I wanted to have chocolate or vanilla, and was feeling playful, I just made a “2 in 1 Danette”. I have to say the vanilla custard was the best, the chocolate was a bit overcooked and thus too thick..such a shame, I will have to try again to make it perfect

The Thermomix helped a lot here I must say… avoiding me 15 mn of stirring. And the recipe is closely adapted from the recipe book. Just using 1 less egg, less sugar and real chocolate instead of cocoa.

Ingredients (4)

500 ml milk
2 vanilla pods
1 large egg
40 g sugar
2 tbsp flour
20 g dark dessert chocolate

Instructions:

1. Slice the vanilla pods in 2 and take out the seeds.You can either use only the seeds or add the pods in at step 3 and remove when the custard is ready,for a stronger vanilla taste. Use then the Reverse function of your Thermomix so that the pods stay whole.

2. Mix all the ingredients except the chocolate 10 seconds/Speed 5,or energetically with a whisk.

3. Cook 10 minutes/90 degrees/Speed 3.When you dip a spoon into the mix,it should come out coated with a thin layer of custard.

4. Mix a few seconds Speed 6 to homogenise.Then pour half the mixture into 4 glasses.

5. Melt the chocolate in the microwave with a teaspoon of milk at low heat.

6. Add the melted chocolate to the mix and mix 20 seconds/Speed 6.

7. Pour or spoon the chocolate custard gently over the vanilla one. Cool to room temperature and then chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Are you feeling adventurous? Then this recipe might just be the thing for you!

I have been wanting to post the recipe on this blog for a while now, but I could never take a satisfying picture of it. Like many risottos it is delicious but not particularly photogenic. In the end I chose to photograph it “in the making”.

Though it has been almost a classic at our house for years, it is becoming a bit of a social gimmick now: we made it for half-curious, half-dubious friends two weeks in a row. And demand is growing,which is nice for me as,I have to be honest, it is not me but my other half who cooks it.

For those who are afraid this strawberry risotto might taste like a sort of warm rice pudding,let me reassure you.The strawberries lose some of their sweetness in the process and a faint tartness takes over, you are left with a very nice combination of flavours, and definitely the ones of a savory dish.

Perfect with a bubbly glass of prosecco!

Ingredients (4):

Aside from the addition of strawberries, this is a pretty standard risotto recipe.

1l vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil (or butter,more common with risotto)
1 onion, finely chopped
200g cups risotto rice
1 glass of dry white wine
250g strawberries,stemmed and quartered.

Instructions

1. Pour the stock into a pan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer. The stock must always stay warm.

2. Meanwhile, pour the olive oil in another pan. Add the onion and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is softened. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until all the grains are coated with olive oil and look translucent.

3. Add the wine and cook for 5 minutes, or until the alcohol has evaporated.

4. Add the quartered strawberries and stir to mix them well with the rice.

5. Add hot stock to the rice until it barely covers it, and stir until the stock has been absorbed. Repeat until the rice is cooked, stirring continuously.This should take about 25-30 mn.

Enjoy as starter or main dish!

The video and music are a courtesy of the man of the house, I am lucky I can make use of his artistic talents for my little blog! I would love to hear your thoughts on the recipe, and the video itself! And if you are a little interested in music, go and visit his website.

This time, we took a different approach compared to the Polenta video : no one talking, just music and subtitles, which makes this video very relaxing for anyone who enjoys cooking and captures only the key moments.

I have been living in London for 2 months now, and experimenting on a few typical English recipes ever since, with and without Thermomix. So how come you still haven’t seen any of it? Quite simply because I have always been a bit disappointed with the results. My scones were too flat, my curd too liquid and my shortbreads too plain. But I keep trying, and all these failed attempts enable me to show you one thing I am really good at: recycling food.

The orange cream in this pie is actually my not-thick-enough orange curd. And I had the idea of the chocolate crust because mine was too sticky and I had no more flour so I added cocoa powder instead.

Ingredients:

For the cream:
1 juicy orange: peel and juice
3 eggs
75 g icing sugar
75 g unsalted butter

For the crust
150 g flour
80 g chilled butter,diced
50 cl water
20 g sweet cocoa powder (Cadbury,Nesquick..)
A pinch of salt

Instructions:

Crust

1.Chop the butter and salt together in the Thermomix for 30 seconds Speed 8

2.Add the other ingredients and turbo pulse until just clinging together.

3. Remove from the bowl then roll out and press into the pie tin.

NB: If you don’t have a Thermomix or a cooking robot you can mix all ingredient by hand. Avoid using a whip as the dough will cling to it. Start by mixing all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.Then make a hole in the middle and add the butter.Work this mix by hand and slowly add the water.

Orange cream

1. Grind the orange peel and sugar for 10 seconds Speed 10. Or cut the peel into tiny tiny pieces if you don’t have a robot.

2. Add the eggs,the orange juice and the butter and mix for 30 seconds Speed 6.

3. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Then cook 25 minutes at 80 C degrees speed 3.

According to the Thermomix recipe book, the cream should become thick after only 5 minutes of cooking.It did not quite work out for me but got mildly thick after 25 minutes. At which point I had had enough and decided to use it as is in a pie.

We are almost there: Now you just have to fill your pie crust in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until your cream takes a nice caramel colour.

Let the pie cool down before digging in!

No recipe today…but I still wanted to wish you a happy Easter!I hope the Easter Bunny has been generous.

Just discovered a lovely hidden tea room,right in the center of London, and had the greatest girly Sunday afternoon there.

The place is called Camelia’s and is divided in two parts: the tea salon and the tea shop were you can by many of their award winning leaf teas and infusions.

Camelia’s Tea House
2.12 Kingly Court,Carnaby Street
W1B 5PW London
Open every day 12pm-7pm

I treated myself with a delicious Earl Grey with Orange (a classic,revisited),a white tea with dried apricot and a chamomile infusion.But you don’t have to go to the shop to get a hold of these delicious teas,you can order online on their website and get it delivered.

While I was trying to decide which tea to buy I could not help but notice the waitress coming in and out of the tiny kitchen with what looked like amazing scones.So we decided to get some too…and the poor scones did not survive very long!

It was fun to see how we all have our own way of eating them:one of my friends made herself a scone-sandwich,dripping with cream and jam,another was just putting some cream and jam on the corner of her scone,having a bite and so on.Now what is your favorite way of eating scones?

There are two things I really miss now that I live in London:Ricore (an instant coffee and chicory powder) and affordable good chocolate.

The first time I went grocery shopping in London I paced the breakfast aisle for almost 30 minutes without success.I found hundreds of teas,coffees,a few cocoa and malt powders but no chicory drink,and certainly not my favorite brand. But I solved the problem last time I came to Brussels by stuffing my car with tins of Ricore.I literally emptied the shelves of the supermarket and arrived at the till with ten tins tucked under my chin. Enough to survive until Christmas I think.

So far,so good England,I forgave you.

But then I found out you don’t have decent affordable cooking chocolate either.Don’t get me wrong, Green & Black or Lindt are great when I need something sweet with my coffee.But in the baking section…well, call me a snob (having lived two years in Belgium,I probably am when it comes to beer and chocolate) but it all looks and tastes like plastic to me.

I went back to Brussels again this week-end, and since my cupboards are bursting with Ricore,I brought back some chocolate instead: bars of Côte d’Or dark fondant for chocolate cakes and mousse,and some milk chocolate and hazelnut Côte d’Or just because it is my favorite.

I love Côte d’Or for everyday chocolate cravings…but if you are in Brussels and are looking for the real thing,go to Pierre Marcolini.They have a store in Le Sablon,in the heart of Brussels,and one at the Gare du Midi station,in the Eurostar section,for a last minute stop by.

Just look at what they have done for Easter,aren’t these chicks the cutest?

Anyway…now that I have expressed all my chocolate frustration, let’s finish on a positive note: I still love you England, nobody is perfect and your beer is not half bad.

I know it might sound a bit sad, but quiches are my ultimate weapon of seduction. I am aware it is not exactly a weapon of mass seduction but it works on a very specific target, and the only one that really counts: the gorilla of the house. It is the first thing I cooked for him.. and I pull it up every time I can sense a crisis coming.

Yesterday my car got towed away,and by the time I got out of the car pound with it, my wallet was 300£ lighter. That hurt, especially since no one could explain to me why it had been towed away. I don’t think I will be driving into London anytime soon if parking rules are so arbitrary… Anyway, I came out of there alive (and I was not sure I would as the car pound was located in a very dodgy area), and decided to take it with philosophy. But my boyfriend was beside himself when I called him to tell my story. When I hung up, I thought it was the kind of situation when the quiche was much needed!

I had read that sesame seeds were good for lowering blood pressure (and consequently the risk of heart attack)because they contain a lot of manganese. So I thought it would be fun to add some of these in the crust with regards to the circumstances.

Ingredients:

- For the crust

400 g flour (it was a big quiche)

10 cl olive oil

10 cl milk

100 g sesame seeds (optional)

A pinch of salt

- For the mix

200 g fresh baby spinach leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

5 eggs

1/2 liter milk

1 soft goat cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven at 180 C.

2. Add all the ingredients for the crust in the Thermomix (or any other food processor, or mix in a bowl) and mix at Speed 3 for 30 seconds until you obtain an homogeneous mix.

3. Fill the termomix bowl with the spinach leaves and the olive oil. Cook at 100 C/Speed Spoon/Reverse Blade for 5 minutes. Or you can also cook the spinach leaves in the pan for 5mn with a bit of olive oil. Remove from the bowlwhen ready.

3. While the spinach are cooking, roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface until 2-3 mm thick. Carefully place your disk of dough in a high-sided springform pan. So much easier when you have to get the quiche out of there! I like a thick crust, put that is up to you.

4. Let it pre-bake in the oven while you make the mix to prevent a soggy bottom crust. This way, the crust will be nice and crunchy even at the bottom and won’t absorb too much of the mix.

5. Add the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and goat cheese into the thermomix and mix for 20 seconds on Speed 3, until combined. Then add the spinach and mix a few seconds more. I you don’t want your spinach leaves chopped, use Reverse blade. If you don’t have a thermomix, just combine the ingredients of the mix together, and mash the goat cheese with a fork before, so it is easier to combine with the rest.

6. Pour the mix into the pre-baked crust, and put back in the oven for 30 mn. Enjoy warm or cold, with a tomato salad for example.