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.

If you are on a picture and you want it to be removed, please send me an email.

Photography: Juan Diosdado.

Tags: 1950s, chacha, cupcake, Kennedy

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.

Tags: chacha, Kennedy, roasted vegetable, simple, summer, vegetarian

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.

If you are on a picture and you want it to be removed, please send me an email.

Tags: chinese pâtisserie, mooncakes

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).

Tags: atelier de cuisine à Paris, food trend, not cupcakes, snowskin mooncake

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.

Tags: Chinese new year, click, turkish delight, Year of the ox