The lovely Fanny from Foodbeam sent me an email a couple of weeks ago, asking whether I could participate in the Menu for Hope IV event. Menu for hope is an annual fundraising event masterminded by chez Pim raising money for the UN World Food Programme feed the hungry.

Each year, food bloggers from all over the world join forces to host the Menu for Hope online raffle, offering an array of delectable culinary prizes. For every US$10, the donor receive a virtual raffle ticket toward a prize of their choice. This year, the prizes include once in a lifetime experiences such as touring the elBulli laboratory with Ferran Adrià , dining on a historic British meal prepared by Heston Blumenthal, or joining Harold McGee on a lunch date to satisfy a lifetime’s worth of cooking curiosity. You can also tag along with your favorite blogger on a tour of their favorite markets, restaurants, or even receive a care package fashioned especially for you from your favorite bloggers themselves. All you need is $10 and a bit of luck.

Wanting to do my own bit I’ve submitted two prizes for the raffle…

EU08 Teatime for two at La Cocotte

Pop by La Cocotte, the tastiest bookshop in Paris (as seen in Elle à table, The New York Times, Gourmet Traveller…) for a personal guide to the boutique by me. And after enjoy a cup of tea and our house speciality, coquetine biscuits.

How to enter…
Buy raffle tickets now…
More prizes from around the world at chez Pim…

EU09 A box of coquetines

Les coquetines, the speciality of La Cocotte are delicious artisan made (yes, it’s me who makes them ) shortbread biscuits which are filled with dulce de leche. Packaged in a beautiful handmade origami box these biscuits are the next best thing to visiting La Cocotte, if you can’t make it.

How to enter…
Buy raffle tickets now…
More prizes from around the world at chez Pim…

So get your tickets now. I’ve got my eyes on a few things:

UK33: Heston Blumenthal will cook an historic British menu for 2 at the Hinds Head
EU31: A personal tour of elBulli kitchen laboratory with Ferran Adria
EU11: Foodie week end with French girl Fanny of Foodbeam

Crossing my fingers

Recently I haven’t had much time to blog. Life has kind of been getting in the way, in a good way. Blogs are supposed to be about life. No life=no blog I guess. Anyway I happen to be very lucky to have a fellow foodie around the corner. If we’re not cooking or eating then we’ll be talking about food. Well, ok it’s not as nearly as bad as that.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to stage a “tart off” (like a “bake off”) although there was no real competition involved. It all kicked off with a trip to our local market to decide on the fillings. We needed two savoury and two sweet ideas. We took advantage with what was in season, deciding to do a mushroom tart, a pumpkin one and then going with two random ones: a fig and finally a sardine one.
So in the afternoon I set about teaching a couple of my friends the fine art of shortcrust pastry. The trick is to have “fairy fingers”, don’t overwork the pastry too much otherwise it becomes too tough and elastic which is the opposite of what you want.

After that I became more the sous chef in regards to the savoury pies. I let Shota do the savoury tarts: sardines with a green pesto and tomato base and a mushroom, shallot and herb tart… While I dealt with the pumpkin tart (roast the pumpkin, puree, add an egg, cream, nutmeg, cinammon and sugar…voilà) and the fig tart wish Shota so kindly said looked like open heart surgery (make up your own mind here).

Unfortunately when it came to photographing everything, my friends’ patience wouldn’t hold up to me taking half an hour styling, arranging, sorting out the light. Within minutes of setting down the tarts on the table, they were devoured with only a few crumbs remaining. Great compliment to the chefs, not so good for the shots.

Shortcrust pastry

200g flour
100g butter (very cold, cut into cubes)
4g salt
1 tsp of water (may need more depending on the flour)
1 egg

For the shortcrust pastry:
1. Sablage
Mix flour and salt add cubed butters. Rub flour mixture and butter together to create a breadcrumb texture. Make sure to work quickly. Add water and egg. Mix slightly.

2. Frasage
Turn out mixture onto clean surface (preferably a cool marble surface). Using the palm of your hand. Push a small amount of the mixture about 20cm along the surface of the table. Do this with all the dough. Repeat once or twice until the mixture has come together.

Chill dough for 30mins. Roll out to knife edge thickness and line already greased and floured tin. Prick base. Chill again for another 30mins. Meanwhile preheat oven to 160°c. Blindbake 20-30mins or until case is baked through.

Filling

250g chanterelle mushrooms (clean by using a pastry brush, do not wash the mushrooms. They’re like sponges and will soak up water, making them soggy)
1 shallot, finely copped
2 gloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 handful of parsley, chopped (reserve a bit for the garnish)
Salt & pepper

Mix together the ingredients, season with salt and pepper. Pile into the tart crust and bake at 160°c until the mushrooms are softened (about 15-20 minutes). Garnish with chopped parsley before serving.

So the winner for the first Stop the Traffik chocolate competition is Stephanie from Whisk & Spoon with her very delicious White chocolate & almond tartufi (you can invite me over for dinner anytime A little fairtrade chocolate goodie bag will be winging her way soon.

Thanks again for everyone who supported this event. I was really impressed with effort and time people took. So much so that I’m thinking of hosting it again next year. So keep tuned!

Cantucci: famous tuscan almond biscotti

The last couple of weeks (or maybe months) have been pretty crazy, not just workwise but socially. I seem to be meeting a whole bunch of cool people every week. The obligatory ‘So what do you do in life?’ question crops up within 2/3 minutes of the first conversation. I usually say I bake biscuits, makes things a lot simpler (telling people you’re a food stylist, always involves a lengthy explanation). Then comes the ‘Can you make xxx?’ ‘Yes’ ‘Can you really?’ …and a demand of some proof of some sort.

All this socialising networking (it’s all about who you know, darrrrrrling) has had a few other side effects (less sleep, more make-up to put on in the morning) meaning I’ve resulted into drinking a coffee or two (normally I’m ‘a cup of tea’ gal) to keep me going during the day.

Now for me, a perfect cup of coffee (or tea, even a hot chocolate) must include some kind of dunkable biscuit (here’s a past recipe). And no, you don’t want some kind of pathetic biscuit which will give up on you half way through being dunked. ‘Cantucci’ or often mistakenly called ‘Biscotti’ (which is the general Italian word for biscuit) are perfect dunking biscuits. Crisp and crunchy before ‘the dip’ they handle any kind of liquid well.

If the thought of baking these little dunkable darlings is too much to handle. Pop by La Cocotte. The cantucci go by the name of ‘Biscocotti’ and are sold at 1.50€ a packet .

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite Stop the traffik chocolate entry. Deadline is Tuesday 16th October.

P.S. The absolutely awful pun (I know they are getting worse and worse. I will stop, honest!) is dedicated to a fellow foodie blogger I just met. Who knows, you might see a food blog cook/bake off in the near future.

Dulce de leche cantucci

270g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
140g sugar

180g blanched almonds
3 eggs
200g Dulce de leche

Mix together all the ingredients apart from the Dulce de leche. Then roll out the dough and spread Dulce de leche on top leaving an 1 inch border. Roll into a sausage (this can be quite messy). Bake at 160°c 30-40mins. Leave to cool. Cut 5mm slices and bake 10-15 minutes or until biscuits are crispy and dry. Makes 40-50

Recette en français

Cantucci de dulce de leche

270 g de farine
1 ½ c. à café de levure chimique
140 g de sucre
180 g de amandes entiers
3 oeufs
200 g Dulce de leche

Mélanger tous les ingrédients sauf que le Dulce de leche. Ensuite, étaler la pâte et mettre le Dulce de lait sur le dessus laissant 3cm d’une frontière. Roulez la pâte dans une saucisse (ça peut être un peu difficile). Cuire à 160 ° C 30 – 40mins. Laisser refroidir. Couper en tranches de 5mm et cuire 10-15 minutes ou jusqu’à ce que les biscuits sont croquants et sec. 40-50 pièces.