classical luxurious

Happy Thursday allemaal!!!

I had love Thursday so much, when i was in High School. :)

Today, i wanna share a little about a thing i really want!
Hopefully i will have it soon. Amen.
I think its fit in fashion category. well let see it!

yep its a luggage!
A leather luggage.
I heart it so much!
its classical and luxurious.

Is there anyone will buying me this thing? lol

The Best Hummingbird Video You'll See This Year

Click. Watch.

Thanks to our Grand Inquisitor for sharing this with us!

This Thing Needs To Be Melted Down And Formed Into Little Statues Of Hitler

It's a serrated blade attachment from my Cuisanart food processor. It's the single most destructive and dangerous kitchen implement in our house, responsible for more pain and bloodshed than everything else combined. I can't use the thing without it leaping up at me or falling down on me or sidling over towards me to attack. Slicing, poking, impaling, sawing, you name it, this hideous monstrosity has done it.

Evil? Oh yes. It's evil.

The blade and a Hitler statue. The resemblance is uncanny.

Rich Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cake

Shall we roll out the year on a glorious wave of chocolate? Shall we? Why not? Here is the last post and final recipe of 2010 and it is for Rich Fudgy Chocolate Brownie Cake - whatever that conjures up for you, it is.



Here's the story: I was flipping through a magazine supplement from Woman & Home: Fabulous Christmas Food when my eye was caught by a dramatic photo of the perfect chocolate cake decorated with glistening glace cherries taken side view with a hint of icing oozing from between the layers: the voluptuous silhouette of the shiny red cherries atop the dark, moist cake proved irresistible. A glance at the ingredients which included 5 eggs for a start, 60% dark chocolate and lots of it too, soon convinced me that this cake aspired towards higher things than the regular tea table. With my nearest and dearest coming for the holiday, I wanted something luscious and I had a hunch that this was it.

                                                                                 

Turks - apart from our very own dear ones - don't celebrate Christmas but they do love New Year's Eve or Yıl Başı as it's called. Celebrating the 31st December has gone from strength to strength over the years that I have lived here. It is like Christmas all over again. Turkeys are roasted, trees are decorated, presents are exchanged, and the whole thing with such joy, it's as if it was always celebrated thus. It was always celebrated but in a much simpler way: my husband remembers his favourite childhood Yıl Başı treats were muz or bananas, and sosis/sausages. Hardly extravagant but symptomatic of those times when levels of income were much lower. This cake is a leap the other way: make it and it will be the star of your New Year's sofra.

Ingredients

Serves 10-12
you will need 2 x 23cm/ 9'' shallow sandwich tins

275g/9 1/2 oz 60% dark chocolate (I used 70% Lindt)

225g/8oz unsalted butter

400g/14oz caster sugar ( I use regular granulated sugar here in Turkey as it is quite fine)

5 eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

200g/7oz plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

glace cherries to decorate

for the mascarpone filling:

125g/4 1/2 oz mascarpone, brought up to room temperature

60g/2 1/2 oz dark chocolate, melted and cooled

1-2 tbsp icing sugar, to taste

for the fondant icing:
175g/ 6oz icing sugar
3 tbsp water
25g/ 1oz cocoa powder
25g/1oz granulated sugar

Method

• Heat oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Melt the chocolate and butter in a large saucepan over low heat and allow to cool for a few mins before stirring in the sugar. Add eggs and vanilla a little at a time, stirring well with each addition.

•  Don't worry if it splits, it will come back together when you add the flour. Fold in the flour in batches and stir in the salt. Divide between the 2 tins and cook for 20-25 mins, till a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs.


                 

 



after baking


• Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for a few mins before tipping on to a wire rack and allowing to cool completely.

• Meanwhile, make the mascarpone filling. Mix the mascarpone and chocolate together and add icing sugar to taste. When the cakes are cool, place one upside down on a plate and spread the top with the mascarpone filling. Top with the other cake, this time the right way up, and then make the icing.

• Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Put the water, cocoa powder and granulated sugar into a saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and draw off the heat. Pour on to the icing sugar and using a wooden spoon, beat to a smooth, soft consistency. Use while warm - this fondant icing sets very quickly.
• Decorate with the glace cherries and/or other cake decorations.

cuts like a dream

Tips

1. This cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
2. Un-iced cakes, well-wrapped, will freeze for up to a month.
3. I preferred this icing to the one given in the original recipe which required a tin of condensed milk. Given that we don't get it here, and also that it is full of calories, I took the decision to have a fondant icing so that is not Woman & Home.
4. To my joy, we can now find mascarpone at any major supermarket here in Istanbul. It gives me a real thrill to be able to get the ingredient specified after so many years of making do.
5. I was very pleased with this recipe and so was the family.  Definitely one for high days and holidays.You can find glace cherries and in fact any other type of glace fruit from certain bakery shops. It is worth going in and asking if you see that the cakes on display contain them. Not as difficult to find as you might think.

 the very last crumbs

We're going to Assos, our beautiful Aegean village for Yıl Başı unless the weather turns icy.

Wherever you are, a very Happy New Year to you all and thank you so much for the encouragement and support you have shown me over the last few months with your emails and Facebook messages! I appreciate it enormously.

Baked Ratatouille

Before I came to UK and Europe I was so busy that I didn't blog about the food that I've been cooking. Though being busy on a lot things didn't hinder me to still cook the dishes I want to concoct. Cooking is one thing I won't get tired doing no matter how busy and tired I am after a whole day of work in the office. So having said that, I want to post the very first dish I baked in my newly acquired oven which was given to me by the owner of my apartment. They decided to buy one for me instead of me buying it because of the fact that I am renting a fully furnished apartment, so I think the owner just did the right gesture.

Inspired by the French cuisine since I visited Paris last October, I finally decided to make Ratatouille for the first time when I came home from my trip. And not to mess with the recipe, I baked it! Going back a few years ago, people became more familiar with the dish when an American animated film made it as a title. The film is about Remy a rat who wants to be a chef and be in the heat of the kitchen. Sounds gross but it appeared a little cute. Then people from around the world were surprised to find out that it's a famous vegetable dish from France. Ratatouille came from the Occitan word "ratatolha" of the Occitan cuisine. While touiller means "to toss food" This dish originated from Provence and Nice and spreading its different version around France and the entire globe.

There are different versions of doing this dish, I adapted the version of Julia Child which insisted the layering style. Ratatouille can be eaten with breads or filling for crepes. A really nice and interesting food for the vegetarian or vegan people. The vegan can eliminate the use of butter to eat this dish. So let me begin sharing this Ratatouille Nicoise & Provencal recipe...

BAKED RATATOUILLE

Ingredients:

• Aubergine
• Zucchini
• Butternut Squash
• Plump Tomatoes
• Red & Yellow Capsicums
• Thyme/ Marjoram/
• Paprika/ Pepper/ Salt
• Garlic
• Fresh Basil
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Olive Oil
• Butter (of course)

Procedure:

Cut the vegetables according to shape like the aubergine, zucchini and tomatoes. For the Butternut Squash and Capsicum, cut it diagonally. After cutting all your vegetables, prepare a large bowl. Put all the vegetables together then start adding the crushed Garlic, Thyme, Marjoram, Paprika, Pepper, Salt and Olive Oil. Toss them together then prepare an oval or circular ceramic baking tray. Add some butter on the tray then start arranging all the vegetables together in layers as Julia Child did in her cookbooks. Then pour in the remaining sauce it created in the bowl while tossing it. Top it with some butter, grated mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. Bake it on 350F from 40 minutes to 1 hour depending on the volume of you are cooking.

This is for all the people who are

Vegans & Vegetarians!

Bon appétit à tous mes!

big hug,
joanie xxx