Chawanmushi

Chawanmushi means "steamed in a tea cup". It is such a elegant starter. But sadly it has become so commercial that you can even order it to go from Japanese fast food chains like Yoshinoya. Even if I were to order it at a restaurant, most times it's just okay (or at least not done the way I would have liked it to be done).

So here's my attempt to recreate one of my favorite Japanese dish.

Chawanmushi (serves 4)

4 prawns, deshelled & deveined
1 small chicken fillet, sliced thinly
430 ml dashi stock
sake (I substituted with chinese wine)
soy sauce
4 eggs, beaten lightly
4 mushrooms, remove stems & sliced
1 small carrot, halved, sliced thinly
8 spinach leaves, blanched

1. Marinade chicken & prawns in 1 tsp soy sauce & sake. Stand for 10 mins
2. Mix dashi, 3 Tbsp soy sauce & 1 Tbsp sake & add to beaten eggs.
   
3. Strain egg mixture over a sieve
4. Divide chicken, prawns & veges into 4 cups
5. Pour egg mixture over. Make sure to leave space at the top of the cup
6. Cover each cup with plastic wrap
7. In a steamer, bring water to boil, then reduce heat ** this is really important if you want a smooth custard, do not steam over boiling water.
   
8. Steam for 20-25 mins until custard set

Note : I don't like gingko nuts so you won't find them in this recipe.

La Ferme aux Crocodiles

Last month, the Girl & I went to the Crocodile Farm in Pierre Latte. I've heard a lot about it but have never been there. It was about a 45 mins drive. Very well sign posted so wasn't too difficult to find (I relished taking a longer drive than usual).

The Farm is a covered greenhouse & made to resemble the tropics ie. controlled temperature indoors. It is huge & we got to see crocodiles by the hundreds, if not thousands. As you go along the planked walkway, there would be useful explanations like why do crocodiles stay still most of the time ? why do they keep mouths ? what do they eat ?....which came in handy when I had to field all of the Girl's questions.

The tropical greenhouse

The Girl was of course thrilled to see all the crocodiles & she squealed each time she saw one of them move. For me, I'll have to admit, it got a little monotonous after a while cos there is only so much of crocodiles one can take. What I found interesting tho was the laboratory where they raise baby crocodiles & the few giant turtles on the farm (it reminded me of the ones on Galapagos).

Baby crocodiles

Highlight of the visit has got to be feeding time. We got lucky cos we were there on a Wed & feeding is only done every Wed & Sun. Finally we saw some movement in the crocodiles. I was hoping for some drama ie. to see them fight for food but no such luck (I guess I'll just have to be content on watching it on Discovery Channel).

Crocodile benches

Giant turtles

Just outside the farm is a play area for kids with swings, slides & tables where we had our little tea break. There was even a pond filled with terrapins.

Side note : Coincidentally, a few days after that visit, there was a program on TV showing an international team of crocodile experts in India to figure out why the crocodiles were dying rapidly. The French expert was the man we had just seen feeding the crocodiles !!

Reisenthel Carrybag

I have been lusting after this basket the moment I first laid eyes on it. But no shops here seem to stock it. I've seen occasional glimpses of it & was even tempted to ask the last person I saw where she bought hers from.

Finally I gave up & turned to the internet. I didn't have to search for long. It's the Reisenthel Carrybag. You really have to give it to Germans to come up with something so functional & beautiful. In fact everything on their site looks great. I had a hard time trying not to click too many items into the shopping cart. In the end, I bought the Carrybag (in red, of course) & the multi bottle holder (for when I make my wine run at the supermarket, yippee no more lugging the wine in unsightly carton boxes).

I can't wait for these to arrive.

Home made ice cream

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a hidden treasure. Hidden in the basement of X's parent's house was an ice cream maker, literally collecting dust. It was practically brand new. His mum used it once, lost the manual & had not used it since. Needless to say, I hijacked it & couldn't wait to start making my own ice cream.

I downloaded the operating manual & trolled the net (god bless the internet) for ice cream recipes. The very first flavor that I wanted to try was green tea ice cream. The first 2 attempts were disasterous cos the green tea powder didn't dissolve properly & I cooked it over too high heat. But once I got it right, it was so good. Creamy flavorful ice cream.

This is so exciting. I can't wait to try different combinations & have fun with the ice cream maker. X is already suggesting tomato & olive oil sorbets (??) & nutella ice cream. Stayed tuned for more ice cream experiments.

So now don't you agree that I found a treasure.

Green tea ice cream
















2 Tbsp green tea powder
180 g sugar
3 egg yolks
250 ml milk
250 ml heavy cream

1. Mix the green tea powder with sugar
2. Beat egg yokes then add in the sugar + green tea powder
3. Heat milk in a small pan over low heat. Do not boil
4. Remove from fire & pour in the egg mixture
5. Put it back over the stove & continue cooking over low heat. It is very important that it does not boil else you'll end up with bits of scrambled eggs. Stirring constantly until mixture thickens. This is how I check - I'll tilt the pan & if a thin film stays at the bottom of the pan, it's ready.
6. Remove & strain through a fine sieve.
7. Let this cool completely. Some recipes suggest you put it over an ice bath. I've done it both ways & unless you're in a hurry, it's okay to let it stand aside until it cools.
8. Lightly whip the cream & add to the cold green tea milk mixture.
9. Put in ice cream maker & prepare as per instructions.

Yummy green tea ice cream....hmm looking at this picture made me realise that I need to buy a proper ice cream scoop.

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Piccata

I had defrosted some chicken fillets & instead of doing the usual, wanted to try something different. So I dug into my must-try-when-i-have-time list of countless recipes & came up with this one for chicken piccata. I knew I wanted to try it the first time I saw it on Simply Recipes cos it has capers in it. Strangely enough although I like capers, I hardly ever cook with it.

And the result ? We all loved it although the baby wouldn't touch the capers (well, more for us then). It's simple & delicious. I'm sure I'll be making this again. I didn't make any changes to the original recipe. One note tho : make sure to keep the chicken fillets thin.

Chicken Piccata (for 4)
taken from Simply Recipes

4 skinless chicken fillets
flour
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken stock or dry white wine (I used white wine)
1/4 cup brined capers
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

1. Cut the chicken fillets in half horizontally, butterflying them open. If the pieces are pretty thick still, put them between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat hammer.

2 Mix together the flour, salt and pepper, and grated Parmesan. Rinse the chicken pieces in water and dredge them thoroughly in the flour mixture, until well coated.

3 Heat the olive oil and 2 Tbsp of the butter in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add half of the chicken pieces (you don't want to crowd the pan). Brown well on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from pan and reserve to a plate.

4 Add the chicken stock (or white wine), lemon juice, and capers to the pan. Use a metal spatula to scrape up the browned bits. Reduce the sauce by half. Whisk in the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter. Plate the chicken and serve with the sauce poured over the chicken. Sprinkle with parsley.

Scenes from Ardeche - Ailhon & Chassiers

Last Sunday after lunch with X's parents, we decided to go for a drive. As usual, we had no specific place in mind (ie. we were driving around aimlessly) until we come across any place that strike our fancy.

And we did. 2 small charming village Chassiers & Ailhon. We decided to drop by Chassiers cos a family friend owns a gite there. We didn't manage to find it but instead discovered a small quaint village. And we even came across a chateau that X had looked at 5 years ago asking for 700,000 euros. We never found out if it was ever sold. Anybody interested ?

Spring has arrived

Signs that spring has finally arrived.

I can finally leave the windows open.

Wild flowers start to pop up everywhere.

Fruit trees are starting to blossom (this peach tree belongs to X's father).


And of course, allergies but I'm not going to talk about that cos I don't want my first blog entry to be a rave & rant. It's going to be positive which is what spring is all about. Which is why I've decided to finally set this up.

This will be the place where I'm going to share my travel stories around Ardeche & in France, bringing up N & the many food experiments in my kitchen. Hope you enjoy your stay chez moi.