The menu kicked off with a Tom Cruise inspired shaken cocktails (red berries, limonchello and gin) which fit perfectly with the summer evening and was accompanied by some 80s coloured savoury macaron (cream cheese & wasabi and green olive tapenade – Pierre Hermé started his macaron experimenting in the 80s).
First course was edible pacman with pâté powerballs and confit cherries. I had wasted considerable amount of time playing pacman in the name of research. Second course was twisted bacon and a two toned tartiflette, a kind of deconstructed version with the use of sweet potatoes and some peppery roquette to balance the Reblochon. Tartiflette was created in the 80s by the Reblochon producers to promote their cheese.

Homage to 80s power dressing and those big shoulder pads: main course of Power puff pastry shoulder pad with a boeuf printanier (slow cooked spring beef stew).
A cold war soup: communism watermelon gazpacho and cucumber capitalism sorbet was served as a palate cleanser. And to finish off a 80s Paris Brest (the 8 was filled with a praline pastry cream and the 0 with a salted butter caramel cream).
The first 4 dishes were accompanied by red wines recommended by my great local caviste who matches all my wines for me as I’m hopeless. He also recommended a lovely caramel/light Irish whisky to go with the dessert.

Special thanks to myprivatedinner for providing the apartment, Jay-P for an awesome 80s music mix, my lovely culinary assistant Bernadette, Sten Pittet for taking some pictures for me and my lovely guests for coming!

On the 6th October 2009 a Pie Party was circled on my social calender. I headed down to La Cocotte to show everyone how to make them. Lemon meringue, Banoffee, Apple & Cheddar and Pumpkin pie, plus a delicious pie crust were head lining the event. Recipes were all easy as pie

Special thanks to Djoukaze for the photos.

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Off with the chef whites, on with the fake eye lashes, kitten heels and my 1950s outfit. Chef Khoo no longer it was Miss Khoo who took over the Chacha in Paris for the tastiest event in town.

Monday, the 13th July 2009 I created a 3 course dinner and a Kennedy cocktail to tantalize the Parisian tastebuds. Topped off with a cupcake pimping session and some swinging sixties & fifties sounds spun by DJ Sylvania.

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Photography: Juan Diosdado.

]]> http://www.rkhooks.net/2009/07/13/le-dernier-diner-de-kennedy-at-le-chacha-paris/feed/ 0 http://www.rkhooks.net/2009/07/09/3t-tarte/ http://www.rkhooks.net/2009/07/09/3t-tarte/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:08:30 +0000 rkhooks http://www.rkhooks.net/?p=361

No, I’m not referring to the band 3T from the nineties, although it would be quite fitting with the whole MJ saga going on. More to do with the fact the number 3 has been cropping up quite a lot recently.

I’m on the last leg of big events before the summer break with my debut on the Paris scene this Monday at the Chacha. After getting back from London with a great mash up dinner behind me and the 500 biscuits for the school of life event aswell. I was ready for a break, not a third event. Unfortunately that was not going to be an option. Recipes had to be tested and tasted for the dinner. A dj, photographer and assistants had to be found. PR and marketing malarky to do. Plus I’ve been running around all the vintage stores and markets looking for the perfect Jackie outfits for the three Kennedy hostesses.

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Dust off your blonde wig, your Jackie 0 sunglasses or your ‘too cool for school’ J.F.K. sixties suit. Miss Khoo is taking over the Chacha for the tastiest event in town.
For Monday 13th July Rachel Khoo has created a 3 course dinner and a Kennedy cocktail to tantalize your tastebuds. Top that all off with a cupcake pimping session and some swinging sixties & fifties sounds spun by DJ Sylvania. The whole of Paris will be there and who knows maybe the Kennedy’s might pop by.

40€ Cocktail + 3 course dinner (starter + main + dessert/cupcake session)

RSVP chacha@chachaclub.fr

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Enlevez vos lunettes de soleil Jackie O et vos costumes JFK années 60. Rachel Khoo va envahir le ChaCha pour la soirée le plus KHOOl de Paris.

Lundi 13 juillet, Mademoiselle Khoo va nous partager ses recettes chic et délicieuses lors d’un dîner – entrée, plat, dessert – et un “Kennedy cocktail” pour réveiller vos papilles. Tout ça avant un “cupcake pimping session” ou vous pouvez décorez vos propres cupcakes, le tout accompagné des sons des années 50 et 60 par DJ Sylvania.

Le tout Paris sera là, et, qui sait, même les Kennedys eux-même vont peut-être y faire un petit tour nous joindre.

40€ Cocktail + dîner [entrée, plat, dessert/ cupcakes]

RSVP  chacha@chachaclub.fr – réservation obligatoire

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Tuesday night I invited the lovely ladies who will be assisting me on Monday night for a dress rehearsal. I found myself styling clothes, hats and hair instead of food.  For dinner I rustled up this tart which just involved me seeing what I had in my fridge.  I was loosely inspired by what I had read in the Guardian at the weekend. And it so happened that the filling used three types of vegetables: carrots, beetroots and red onions. I managed to get these amazing red onions which were a cross between a large spring onion and a red one which were perfect for this tart.

I will let those of you who are coming this Monday be the judge whether I should stick to my day job up or whether I might have a new career as a fashion stylist

3T Tarte (three tones tarte)

10 carrots, peeled and roughly sliced into sticks
3 beetroots (raw not the cooked ones), peeled and chopped roughly
3 red onions, peeled and roughly chopped into wedges or 6 red onions type spring onion
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
Olive oil
salt & pepper
Handful of fresh parsley

1 packet of good quality puff pastry (yes, I do cheat. Can’t be a slave to your kitchen all the time)

Preheat the oven to 180°c. Mix together all the vegetables and garlic in a roasting tray. Season and drizzle generously with olive oil. Roast until tender (about 40minutes). Roll out the puff pastry and line the tart. Tip all the vegetables into the tart and bake for a further 30 minutes or until the puff pastry is puffed up. To serve drizzle with a little more olive oil and garnish with parsley. You could also crumble some feta or goat’s cheese on top to.

After muffins, teatime and cupcakes it was time for something a little bit more intergalactical: Mooncakes! Well actually they’re not from out of space but a chinese pâtisserie. Mooncake madness took place at La Cocotte, Paris on the 8th April and 30th June 2009.

Check out Elleadore.com for some more pics.

Special thanks to Jim Rosemberg for the photos.

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Recently my place has been turned into a test kitchen for all things mooncake related in preparation for my class this Wednesday. I had made them a while ago but I’m now trying to perfect my snowskin recipe, mooncake technique and find some flavoursome fillings. If you’ve never heard of snowskin mooncakes. Here’s a quick lowdown: Chinese pâtisserie made for the mid-autumn festival which is a festival celebrating the moon. Traditionally they are a baked cake with a thin pastry and very dense filling (lotus paste is a classic) but in the 80s a ‘non’ bake version emerged. The baking part is omitted with the use of Kao fen, a fried glutinous rice flour. I tried a dryer more crumbly filling with coconut and confit cherries (see picture below).

I personally prefer a more creamier filling almost truffle like which I also tried out. If you’re in Paris this Wednesday why not join in the fun and have a go yourself. There are still a few places left. Click here to reserve.

Chocolate & sesame snowskin mooncakes

Ingredients for snowskin (the outside bit of the cake):
(I reduced the sugar since my last recipe)

120 g Kao fen – fried glutinous rice flour
80 g icing sugar
150 g coconut milk
50 g shortening, cold and cubed

Mix all the dried ingredients together. Add the shortening and rub into flour mixture until you have a “crumble/sand” like texture. Pour in the coconut milk and form into a dough. Wrap and chill for 10 minutes.

Ingredients for custard filling:
Recipe adapted from here. You will probably not need all the custard filling.

1 egg yolk
100g caster sugar
20g superfine flour
20g cornflour
15g custard powder
125ml coconut milk

Mix all the ingredients together and then place in a small heat proof bowl and steam for about 30 minutes or until it begins to set. Leave to cool and then refridgerate.

Ingredients for chocolate centre:

25g icing sugar
25g cacao powder
10g sesame seeds (a couple of tablespoons for garnish)
15g butter, unsalted and cubed

Mix all the dry ingredients together and then add the butter. Mix with a spoon and then use your hands to bring it together (it’s a bit like making crumble but you don’t stop at crumble stage).

You then need to make small balls out of the chocolate filling. Take a look here for a visual idea of what you need to do. The size will depend on your mould. Mine were about 5g. I then took the custard filling (about 8g) and flattened it out into a round and placed a chocolate centre into the middle. Repeat the same with the snowskin dough. Press into a mould. If you have enough moulds I suggest chilling it before unmolding as you’re less likely to damage the mooncake when you unmould it. Another tip: try and not handle the snowskin dough too much as it becomes too soft and makes it harder to unmould.

Chill at least 30 minutes before serving. Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds (or sugar/chocolate sprinkles).

Gung Hai Fat Choy! The year of the Ox kicks off today which means it’s going to be more of a conservative year: sure and steady. Apparently those who have sown seeds will see the benefits this year as long as they look after their business. This recipe was inspired by the tradition of making sticky glutinous cakes for Chinese New Year. Apparently offering sticky glutinous cakes to family signifies cohesiveness (represented by the gluton). These sweet treats are also offered to the kitchen god who resides in Buddhist chinese families in the hope that bringing sweet offerings the kitchen God will only have sweet things to give in the coming year.

I really went overboard with the red colouring as red symbolises good fortune in Chinese culture. Reduce the amount if you want something a little less in your face.

Chinese New Year delights

500ml water
450g caster sugar
100g icing sugar
1 tbsp red food colouring
150g cornflour
4 tbsp rose water
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp powdered agar agar*

Dusting mixture
2 tbsp cornflour
5 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

Pour half of the water into a heavy based saucepan and add the sugars. Heat until the sugar has dissolved and then bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture reaches 115°c on a sugar thermometer (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat.

In a separate saucepan, mix the cornflour and agar agar with the remaining water until the mixture is smooth. Cook over a medium heat until the mixture thickens.

Gradually pour the hot sugar syrup into the cornflour paste, stirring continuously. Make sure to stir well, so none of the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pot and burns. Return the mixture to the heat and simmer for about one hour, until the mixture is pale and feels stringy when a little of the cold mixture is pulled between the fingers. Stir in the rose water, mixed spice and red colouring.

Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and leave to set overnight.

Cut into squares. Mix the cornflour, mixed spice and icing sugar together and toss the delights in it. Store in an airtight container, between layers of greaseproof paper.

*Note: I found that the agar agar helps set the mixture as without it tends to stay gooey.

Check out Jugabandi Photography’s food blog event: Click for more red inspired food.

I posted this almost 2 years ago (wow, can’t believe I’ve been blogging for that long). Anyway I dug it out of the backwaters of this blog for Meeta’s Monthly mingle “Coffee & Tea”. Take a look at her site for this great tea and coffee inspired recipes.

Here are some other tea inspired recipes on this blog:

Green tea & raspberry ice cream sandwich

A nice cup of tea & biscuit

Scones & clotted cream

Post from November 2006:

So I thought it was just the English who are crazy about tea. Pas vrai! This week I went to ‘Le festival du Thé’. Tons of tea, non of your cheap stuff. Lot more upmarket, hand picked in moonlight…Well you get my gist. Anyway in honour of all the free tea bags I got. I thought I’ld make something more than a cup of tea. I tried doing this with a fancy green tea but the flavours didn’t work so well. Go with your bog standard English ‘black’ tea, even PG tips will do. The tea flavour complements the creaminess of this dessert well.

Thé crème brûlée

2 x tea bags
2 x tbsp caster sugar
400ml double cream
4 x egg yolks
caster sugar for topping

Set oven at 170°c. Boil some hot water enough for the ‘bain-mairie’.
Bring cream to boil, switch off heat. Add tea bags, brew for 5 – 8 minutes, depending on how strong you liike your tea. Meanwhile ‘blanche’ = whisk yolks with sugar. Add hot tea/cream mixture to yolks. Whisk at the same time otherwise you’re get scrambled eggs.
Pour mixture into 4 ramekins or 4 small tea cups. Place in tin and pop it into the oven for 10 minutes. Chill overnight. Before serving sprinkle even layer (about 5mm thick) of sugar and set under grill on the highest heat. Watch carefully. Turn ramekins if the caramel isn’t browning evenly. Wait for caramel to set before serving.

When I saw the recipe/photos for the sweet sushi in two books in the same week I thought they definetly must be worth making. We so happened to be launching the book “Humeur Gourmande” at La Cocotte two weeks ago which has this recipe. For the launch we served a La Cocotte adaptation of the recipe, made with dulce de leche. They went down a treat. I’m not much of a fan of dulce de leche since I bake all the biscuits at La Cocotte with it.

The other recipe appears in Sushi box which is very well illustrated by Hisayuki Takeuchi (founder of the nouvelle japanese cuisine in Paris) with photos showing every step. His recipe for sweet sushi is slightly more “haute cuisine/japanese” with the use of nori (dried seaweed) paper and plain sushi rice.

I’ve gone with the Humeur Gourmande recipe but used the traditional hand method of making the forms. I was also lazy and made the rice pudding with my rice cooker (I love my rice cooker, it’s so useful!). Once you have the rice pudding base which you could flavour with vanilla, almond essence, orange flower water, cinammon, cocoa powder…You can combine the rice base with any kind of fruit you fancy. Although mangoes, tinned peaches, apricots and pears look more “raw fish” like.

Sweet sushi

inspired by Bruno Viala from Humeur Gourmande – serves 6

250g sushi rice or short grain rice (risotto rice will work too)
500ml milk
100ml double cream
50g sugar
3 tsp almond essence (but you could whatever flavour you like)
selection of fruit – I used tinned apricots

Wash the rice well. Combine the rice, milk, cream, almond essence and sugar in a pot. Place on a medium heat and stir occasionally as the sugar may cause the rice to stick to the bottom and burn. This should take approx. 15 minutes. Leave the rice to cool slightly but keep it covered with a clean tea towel.

For the easier option:

Pour the rice into a rectangle dish/container which is 2/3cm deep and chill. When the rice has set solid, run a knife around the edge of the container and then turn it upside down onto a board. Cut into rectangles and place slices of fruit on top.

For the more traditional option:

Leave the rice until it’s cool enough to handle. Have a large bowl of cold water and a plate to place the sushi on next to you. Dip your hands into the water and take a small amount (a little less than the size of a golf ball) of rice and form into the sushi shape. It’s important that your hands are wet otherwise the rice will stick to them. Make sure you press the rice together well. Once you have all the sushi shapes made, add the fruit slices on top.

Back to work Bento box at Jo Evens Showroom in Paris on the 5th October 2008. Wacky manga characters, blue rice, lots of veg…everyone got their hands sticky making their yummy bento boxes.

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Le dimanche 5 Octobre au Showroom JO EVENS à Paris “Spécial Fashion – L’atelier de boite à Bento”.

Télécharger la recette de l’atelier Bento box ici