I’ve been illustrating recipe ideas for my next cookbook (just for fun, they won’t be in the book): pastry creams, mousses and lots of other delicious treats.

If the weather is anything like it is in Paris at the moment then I have the perfect antidote for it: homemade crumpets and long pepper spiced curd. Head over to designsponge where my recipe (and more pics) is featured in ‘in the kitchen with’ this week.

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!

Pies, pies and more pies were on plates for a big dinner this Sunday. Why pies you may ask? Well, I like to stay true to my London roots and show those Parisians that the English know a thing or two about cooking   Plus my friend who was allowing me to cause some ‘khooking’ carnage in his kitchen likes to spin a few tunes on the old decks. So I came up with the idea of doing a “Pie & mash up”. Me ‘khooking’ up some tasty pies and him doing a musical ‘mash up’.

Pies traditionally come with mash potatoes. Some London caffs still do the real deal at a bargain price £3. Normally meat filled with a short crust or puff pastry lid served with “liquor” (no, not alcohol – although the Brits do have a soft spot for it) a.k.a. gravy/sauce plus a nice dollop of mash potatoes. Cooking for large amount of people can be a bit daunting especially when you don’t know everyone’s taste. But everyone seemed to be happy (plates were scraped clean) with a crazy  (=sweet potato, parsley and plain mash topping) cottage pie and this veggie pie. I had my ‘khooking’ crew helping me out too. Great fun bossing two boys around the kitchen. And another friend rocked up with a delish chicken pie. Thanks guys!

I found the recipe for the veggie pie on BBC Good Food website. It all sounded very yummy regardless of the long list of ingredients. I left a few things out, added a few of my own touches et voilà…

Spiced Veggie pie (makes 2×20cm pies)
Adapted from this

1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika , plus extra for dusting
150ml/¼ pint olive oil (a little extra for frying the shallots and squash)
900g squash , peeled and cut into small chunks (about 2cm)
12 shallots , finely sliced
2cm/1½ in piece root ginger , finely grated
140g whole blanched almonds
140g shelled pistachios
140g pine nuts
2 tbsp clear honey
500g pack fresh spinach (washed and stalks removed, if large)
400g can chickpeas , drained and rinsed
1 garlic clove
1 tsp ground cumin
1 juice of one lemon
200g butter
16 large sheets of filo pastry

Harissa yoghurt sauce

200g carton Greek yogurt
3 large sprigs mint , leaves chopped
2-3 tsp harissa spice mix (I got mine from the Spice shop off Portobello road)

Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Mix in the paprika, cumin, coriander, 1⁄2 tsp salt and 4 tbsp oil. Tip the squash into a roasting tin, pour over the spiced oil and toss. Roast for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, add the shallots  and ginger. Cook until they start to brown. Stir in the 100g each almonds, pine nuts and pistachios. When brown, add 2 tbsp honey, and the spinach so it wilts. Take off the heat and stir into the squash, when it comes out of the oven. Set aside.
In a food processor, whizz the chickpeas with the garlic, cumin, remaining oil, lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and salt and pepper to make houmous.
Melt the butter in a small pan. Put a loose-bottomed 20cm quiche tin on a baking sheet and brush with some butter. Keeping the filo covered with a damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. You can either follow these directions and make one massive pie. Or do my version: which is to layer 6 sheets. Make sure to butter each sheet really well otherwise it will unstick while baking.
Spread half of the  houmous on the bottom, pile half the squash mixture in the centre of the pastry. Butter two sheets of filo pastry together and place on the top to cover. Press the edges together to make sure they stick.  Brush carefully with more butter. Repeat the same procedure for the second pie.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp and golden. Just before the pie is ready, reheat any remaining butter in the pan, tip in the rest of the nuts and fry until golden. Sprinkle the nuts over the pie. Serve with Harissa yogurt sauce (mix the yogurt, harissa and mint together. Taste and season if needed) and salad (optional).

Many thanks to TF for taking the photos.

It’s the season of falling leaves and the markets in Paris are fall of lots of yummy seasonal produce. One of them being pumpkins. There are many different varieties and one of my favourites are “Potimarron”(transl. Pumpkin-chestnut). This particular type has a very nutty/chestnutty taste. I simply roast mine, chopped up, in the oven and eat with a little butter, salt and pepper. However if you fancy something more sophisticated or sweet you could try making a Pumpkin & Chestnut millefeuille.

Millefeuille means a thousand leaves in French which I thought was quite fitting with so many leaves falling at the moment. Traditional it’s made with puff pastry but I had filo pastry in the fridge which needed to be used. The chestnut comes in the form of a chestnut spread which is easier found in the supermarkets over here. It’s like a jam and often used as a filling for crêpes. My version is a little more rustic compared to the classic ones you find in the Parisian pâtisseries.

If you’re looking for some more pumpkin inspired recipes, take a long at the “In the bag” event on A slice of cherry pie’s blog.

Pumpkin & Chestnut Millefeuille

Makes 2 large portions.

Roasted potimarron purée:

750g potimarron or regular pumpkin
2 tbsp spoons
100ml single cream

For the rest:

1 small tin of chestnut spread
100g melted butter
20 rectangles of filo pastry (15cm x 10cm)

To make the roast potimarron purée: Chop the potimarron into cubes (with the skin removed). Place in a roasting tray with 2 tbsp of butter. Roast at 180°c for 30 minutes or until tender. Stir the pumpkin pieces half way through roasting. Leave it to cool slightly. Blitz in a mixer with the single cream until lump free and very smooth (think baby food consistancy).

Preheat the over to 170°c. Melt the butter. Grease a baking sheet with some of the melted butter. Place 2 sheets of filo pastry on tray and then brush some melted butter on top of the sheets, repeat. Spread a layer of potimarron purée on top of the sheets and then place two more sheets of filo pastry. Making sure to brush butter in between the sheets. Then spread a layer of chestnut jam. Repeat by alternating layers of filo pastry and pumpkin purée/chestnut jam. For the top brush some more butter. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the top is golden and the pastry is crisp. Eat while warm. You may want to serve it with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

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.

These little spoons make fancy canapés with not much work effort and a small budget (total ingredients 7.23€). If you want to see some of the stuff which has been keeping me away from blogging. Take a look here and here.

Credit crunch cucumber & Snow white mousse spoons

200ml whipping cream
150g soft goat’s cheese
1 cucumber, washed
2 tsp of lemon juice
1 small jar of “fake” caviar (i.e. Herring roe)

Makes about 15 spoons.

Chop 3/4 of the cucumber into small cubes and mix with lemon juice. Keep the rest for the garnish.
Whip the cream until stiff. In a separate bowl whip the goat’s cheese until soft and smooth. Beat a couple of spoons of the whipped cream into the goat’s cheese and then fold in the rest of the whipped cream. Scoop into a piping bag with a star shaped nozzle.
In each serving spoon add a tsp of chopped cucumber. Pipe the mousse on top and garnish with a little of ‘fake caviar’ and a slither of cucumber.

If you don’t have the spoons, you could either use squares of dark wholemeal bread or a thick round slice of cucumber (instead of chopping the cucumber up).

Next Saturday will be the grande finale of a project which has taken over my life for the last six weeks. I’m catering and managing a party of 80 people. 12 canapés per person, platters and giant cake. I’ve been working on the menu since July. With a week to go the menu is set and now I just need to start making it. I see lots of early morning starts and late nights coming my way next week.

One of the sweet canapés on the menu is a champagne bellini verrine. Super simply to make but very delicious.

serving depends on size of glass – should serve 6 normal size glasses

400ml champagne
1 large tin of peaches (reserve the syrup)
8 peaches
2 1/2 leaves of gelatine

Soak the gelatine. Pour the champagne and 200ml of the peach syrup into a bowl. Melt the gelatine over a gentle heat. Add a couple of spoons of the champagne to the gelatine. Mix well and then add to the rest of the champagne. Pour into a rectangle container and refridgerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

To assemble: Puree the tinned peaches. Chop 6 peaches into small cubes. Remove the jelly from the fridge. Cut the jelly into small cubes (keep the jelly in the container though). I find this gives the jelly a more interesting texture. Now take your glasses and alternate layers of chopped peach, peach puree and champagne jelly. Refridgerate for a minimum of an hour. Before serving garnish with peach wedge.