a taste of spring when surrounded by winter

these days we are shrouded in grey and white.  we know spring will come but it's not enough--it's been winter since october.  im ready for warmth and light.

yesterday for lunch, i made us a sweet little sauce that was fresh and springy. it was good enough to help us pretend. and today? the sun is out. literally.

1 leek
1 1/4+ cup almond rice milk
a shake of flour
pad of butter
1 handful fresh basil
ground almonds




i sweat the leeks with a little oil and added in some of my favourite mushroom-based veggie chicken. with the kitchen sheers, i minced the basil leaves into the pot, gave it a stir, and moved the lot into a bowl. in the same pot, i made a roux (i used butter) and slowly poured in the almond rice milk. once it started to thicken, i added the goods back in and sprinkled on some ground almonds.

a grind or two of pepper and salt and we had a taste of spring.  

c’est le dernier cri: cilantro inspired salad and chocolate basil cake with balsamic ganache

we are back from tenerife and i have some new freckles and a deepened love affair with cilantro. i adore cilantro. so when i discovered mojo sauce, well, i was swept off my feet. mojo sauce, like enchilada sauce, is either red or green. the red sauce features red peppers and the green sauce is more or less cilantro pesto sans nuts or cheese. i warned christian that upon our return home, i might be a little mojo obsessed. traditionally, mojo sauce is served with potatoes but it's equally delightful slathered on bread. i envision tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and vegetables bejeweled with it. the experimentation shall commence shortly.

meanwhile, the mister and i love salad and we have not had enough of it lately. we were craving fresh crunchy vegetables something awful. and so for lunch, i made a super salad, complete with cilantro, that left us feeling ready to take on the world.

salad is good. 

i gathered the following:
2 carrots
1 head broccoli
1/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)
spinach
avocado
strawberries
bunch of cilantro
half bunch of parsley
dried cranberry
raisins
1 lime
honey
olive oil

in the food processor, i chopped the living daylights out of the carrots, broccoli stem, parsley and cilantro. while i was busy with that, the florets were steaming. i prepped a bowl of cold water and once the broccoli turned a magically vivid green colour, i drowned them in the cold water to stop the cooking process. they were drained and chopped and set aside. then i used the water from the steamer to cook the quinoa.

once the quinoa was cooked and fluffed and cooled, i threw it all together with the raisins and the cranberries. i made a dressing with the juice of one lime, some honey, and a healthy splash of olive oil.



i served the veggies on a bed of spinach with strawberries and a few slices of avocado for good measure.

yummo.

and then... we had plans to meet with friends for some pétanque (bocci ball) so i decided to bake a cake.   ive had it in my head to combine chocolate and basil and balsamic vinegar... so i gave it a whirl.

the cake recipe itself is a pretty standard vegan chocolate cake recipe (though i use half the sugar and salt).  the trick was adding the basil.

i went onto the balcony and plucked our basil plants until i filled a small bowl (roughly a cup-ish) with leaves. into the food processor went the leaves along with the sugar.  i ground them together and made a sticky green mixture.


3 cups flour (680 grams)
1 cup basil sugar (225 grams sugar + about one cup basil)
6 heaping tablespoons cocoa (100 grams)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cup cold water

dry ingredients were combined, wet ingredients were combined, and then all the ingredients got together in one bowl and had a good time blending.

next, i greased a cake pan with olive oil and instead of flouring it with, er, flour, i used cocoa powder. i poured in the batter and baked it for about 40-ish minutes at 350/175 degrees.

while the cake was baking, i made ganache for the frosting.

some folks swear by making their ganache with cream but i use butter.

this time i used:
200 g baking chocolate
100ish g butter
lively splishysplash of milk (this helps keep the ganache spreadable. with a 2:1 ratio, the frosting can be a devil to spread)
2+ tbsp balsamic vinegar

melt the butter on the stovetop, or warm the cream if that's what youre using, and once melted/heated through, pour over broken-up chocolate bits. then, whisk until the chocolate is melted and combined, and the whole thing has a nice shine.

i let it cool for a bit then stuck it in the fridge.

once we got to the park, i realized the knife i brought to frost the cake seemed to have run away with the spoon and the dish. luckily, i was with a gathering of swiss folk and lo and behold, there was also a swiss army knife. i frosted the cake during a game intermission and i dont think lionel the lion has ever seen his knife used in such a fashion. i promised him i'd get the knife clean of chocolate. i let him cut the cake too.
 
and there were smiles all around.

the basil added a whole new dynamic to this cake. it almost had a peppery taste, and it sure was divine. for folks who are neither basil or balsamic vinegar enthusiasts, fear not: later in the evening, my father-in-law, hardly a devotee of either of those specific flavours, devoured his slice of cake.

presto rosso

two years ago, when i moved here, we had a very limited kitchen.  and by limited i mean it wasnt really a kitchen.  it was a room that had a gas fueled two-burner stove top (read: camping stove) and an oven the size of a microwave.  and no water.  or sink.  we lived in an attic apartment, a mansarde, which provided us with lots and lots of rooms... but not a kitchen per se. the mansarde is home to the offices of le Groupe de la Riponne, a group of troublemakers philosophers, writers, and translators.   many members of the bœufsteak gang* have lived there over the years and they've made some renovations to the place, insulation for one (when they first got the place, you had to wear your winter gear inside), but it's just next to impossible to install water.  it made things tricky, this perilous walk down the hallway with a pot of freshly boiled noodles needing to be strained in the shower.  doing the dishes was always interesting too.  however, a powerful shower nozzle is pretty efficient for dish washing, i must say.   it's like a mini car wash for plates.


cooking in the quirky kitchen was entertaining.  of course, everything was exciting when i first arrived in swissyland.  new language, new country, new food... amongst the new things i tried was pesto rosso.  i was well schooled in pesto genovese making and eating... but this... this pesto was different.  on a whim i bought the sauce and bell peppers, not knowing whether or not it was a sound combination.  it was.  and it quickly became one of our staple dishes.  the bonus was, it was an easy dish to make in our quasi-kitchen.  i could boil noodles on one burner and sauté bell peppers on the other.   once we acquired a real kitchen, my cooking repertoire expanded, but we still love that dish.  of course, now i have the ability (and tools!) to make my own pesto rosso.


the rough recipe i use is as follows.  in a food processor, combine:
nuts (christian is allergic to walnuts so i usually use almonds, or sometimes cashews)
basil
lots of garlic (we are junkies)
sundried tomaters (at least two generous handfuls)
olive oil


i usually decimate the garlic first, then toss in a healthy handful of basil.  then i add the nuts.  you dont want to use too much--maybe start with a quarter of a cup and go from there.  i usually use almost an entire bag of the sundried tomatoes (i like the kind that comes packed sans oil) because i enjoy the zing of the garlic and tomato together.  i slowly stream in some olive oil and let it all mingle.  you dont want it to be too thin, but maybe that's just a matter of my taste.  i like thick sauces.

presto! rosso

these days i enjoy roasting our vegetables.  the intense flavours are great for pasta, soup, salad... or... well, anything.  i put chopped veggies on a cookie sheet, spray it with some olive oil (i have put some olive oil in a spray canister [the balsamic vinegar comes in one! brilliant! so i just waited until we were out of vinegar, washed it, and filled it with olive oil] and love it), and throw it in the oven at 220°C for about 20-ish minutes.  

roasted peppers and garlic

eating pesto rosso always reminds me of those early days in Switzerland.   im always experimenting with recipes, but this is one we dont touch (though i will occasionally toss in some fake chicken for protein).  it's just so lovely comme ça.  

someone *hem* likes it so much, he tried to steal mine!

hey, buddy! you have some already!

i decided to follow up one common dinner with a common dessert--cupcakes for two.  i stumbled upon this recipe last february and ive never looked back.  it's great for lots of variation.  

mix dry ingredients and wisk in wet ingredients.  pour into cupcake containers (i have some fabulous silcone ones) and bake for about 18 minutes at 160°C/325°F 

making the batter

this time i broke up chunks of choc'late to put in the batter.  they are tasty without any addition, but my favourite has got to be small bits of crystalized ginger.  ive also been known to add cinnamon and cayenne for a mexican chocolate taste.  


for a frosting, i like to make a ganache with a little butter, a little milk, and chocolate.  


again, im sorry for my lack of precise measurements... 


we had just a smidge of butter left (maybe a little less than 1 tbsp?) and i melted that and poured it over some broken up chocolate bits.  i wisk wisk wisked until the chocolate had melted and combined with the butter.  you want to wisk until the mixture is shiny.  


i let it rest for a few and once the bowl was cooled, i stuck it in the fridge until the cuppiecakes were baked and toothpick tested and done.

slowly i added a splash of milk and wisked wisked wisked.  it was not too late to whip it and whip it good. 



ganache is my new favourite frosting.  i love it mostly for it's versatility, but also because we usually have a chocolate bar and milk in the houes, so it's pretty much on hand.  since i only make a monster batch of cupcakes for friends and dinner parties (unless i make a whole cake, which also happens for friends and dinner parties), making a little for the two of us is just perfect.




just perfect.

bon appétit <3

*i refer to them as the beefsteaks because sometimes, if they go out after a meeting, they will almost all get steak.  i sometimes join them but they dont always frequent restaurants that have something for me, a pescatarian.