Green, yellow and red tomato sauce with grilled pork chops

A special treat from my local green grocer in the autumn season is his personal mix of garden tomatoes in which comes in 3 different colours ... To cook the sauce, just chop them up and fry them with onion, garlic, fresh parlsey, honey, chopped pickles and some S & P. Cook slowly, reduce then add water if needed. while the tomato sauce is cooking prepare some pasta on the side and fry the boneless pork chops with some fried onions. A beautiful autumn dish with a fruity, sweet and tasty tomatoe sauce. 

Green, yellow and red tomato sauce

A mix of green, yellow and red tomatoes

1 yellow onion

2-3 garlic cloves

Fresh parsley

Chopped pickles (about a 1/2 of decilitre)

S & P, Tabasco and "herbes de provence"

Mon Interview sur 750 Grammes

Bonjour,

J'ai le plaisir de t'annoncer que mon interview est en ligne sur 750 Grammes :
http://www.750g.com/evabien-par-eva-a12314.htm
Très belle journée et à très vite,

Eva

Asian wok with crispy & colourful vegetables

Stir-frye in high heat to keep the vegetables crisp and flavorful, it also helps the vegetables to retain their color and flavour. It takes only about two minutes in the frying pan (I use nutoil). I've choosen broccoli, thin spring onions, carrots and red cabbage in my wok. Serve with white rice (basmati) and a variety of asian sauces (soya, hot sweet chili, tabasco, oyster ...) serve a couple of spring rolls on the side  (chicken & coriander). Enjoyable with cold white wine (Macon or S:t Brie) or cold beer, plain water. Light, tasty and pretty!

Sunday lunch in our garden

Went to the fleemarket this sunday morning, of course you'll also find delicious things to eat or drink (in France or not?). Must say that the food that they propose in these markets are not very original, sausages and french fries... Working up our appetite we had a glass of champagne and then went for some lovely bread, cheese (with black peppers and herbs), garden tomatoes and smoked salmon to bring home with us. All in good company of a french kir, mineral water and some mozarella salad. The sun came out and it was all very pure, simple & good. 

Open salmon sandwich and coco pops chocolate cake

Big fan of the Danish "Smørrebrød" I hereby invite you to enjoy an open salmon sandwich for lunch with some cold gazpacho on the side. Chose a chewy farmhouse bread and butter before putting on the roquette salad, the salmon, some pesto and parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle some olive oil and balsam vinagar on top and have a go with the pepper mill. 

Recipe of open salmon Sandwich

A loaf of good farmhouse bread

Salty farm butter

Smoked salmon

Roquette salad

Pesto

Parmesan cheese

Black pepper

Gazpacho, garnish with cucumber and sliced red peppers

Coco pops chocalate cake

My traditional chocolate cake

2 dl of sugar

4 eggs

120 gr of butter

1 1/2 dl of flour

1 dark chocolate tablet

a hint of strong coffee

and ... 1 dl of Cornflakes, 1 dl of coco pops wich gives the cake a crunchy sensation which amuses the kids. Garnish with stars or whatever you like. Enjoy!

Accessories and side orders ...

Never  underestime thes small dishes before, on the side or after ... Personnally I love starters. A tasteful tuna dip or my swedish rom sauce (I have already shared the recipy on my blog), hommous, guacomole, hot tomato sauce ... The good old tapas style with lots of different fun apertitifs to nibble and dip in different sauces ... The main course can be a cold chicken and a crispy salad for example. To greet this season I made another apple pie, nothing easier just add some butter, flour and cinnamon on top of the apples before baking in the oven. Simple and good, just like it should be.

Todays Colorful Autumn Harvest

All that nature brings us this season with it's coulors and perfumes gives enough reason to be happy. I will make some soup and then lot's of crispy apples pies with lot's of cinnamon ... to swallow all that I will aloud myself to taste a home-made "créme de cassis" with cherries from a nearby garden. Then why not pick some black berries or what about fresh chanterelles? Inhale and enjoy.

Cakes for every taste

Extremely inviting these lovely cake buffets I came over in Sweden. Colourful and very tempting even for me someone who's not very 'sweet'... I can only confirm that the Swedes are very much into cakes at the moment and frankly speaking who can resist this? Argh, a homebaked carrot cake or the famous "Princess cake" covered in green marzipan (childhood birthday memories!) or just a plain cinnamom roll...

Swedish Style

Back from another lovely trip to my homecountry, Sweden! So what does the swedes eat anyway? At this time of the year crawfish (picture on the top)!, great sandwiches with herring or salmon ... Game meat (elk, deer etc) and delicious desserts like warm waffles with fresh cream and berries. Yum!

French Classics

"Trou Normand" & Yougurt Cake
This speciality from Normandie comes handy when you spend the whole day eating (sunday family lunch...), and it actually makes space for the rest of the meal. The trick is a small bowl with apple ice cream drowning in calvados. Yes it helps the digestion! To be enjoyed in between two dishes and then feel free to continue eating.

The second recipe is a very french cake often made for kids, if you have a natural yougurt in a glass jar you can use it to mesure:
1 cup of yougurt
2 cups of flour
2 cups of sugar
1/2 of plain oil (sunflower forex.)
3 eggs
1/2 spoon of baking powder
1 spoon of vanilla sugar
Bake in oven for about 25 minutes 175°. Decorate the cake with melted dark chocalate and sprinkles.

Discovering new markets on holidays

Que du bonheur! On holidays and the opportunity to discover new local markets. This one in "Pays Basque" with fresh fish and vegetables. Great pastries and local cheeses, different from the ones we have in Burgundy. A true pleausure for the eye and the the taste buds ... 

I love leftovers

So good this season when you have leftovers like new potatoes, tomatoes & onions and fresh spices in your garden, all you need to do is to compose a tasty salad (just add olive oil and balsamic vinegar). We have been eating so much fish during the holidays that we were longing for some red meat. Roast beef is delicious when it comes straight from the oven but also perfect the day after in thin slices with some cornichons and some old mustard on the side. For dessert a plain sponge cake (I use lemonjuice instead of water) covered with melted dark chocalate. Bon appétit tous!

Summer buffet recipes

 I love these summer buffets with salads, cold meat, fruits ... There are no limits in what we can make tabouleh, cucumber, grapefruit and shrimp salad, hoummos, rom sauce ... Enjoy with rosé/perrier/pink grapefruit or chilled mojito and finish off with red fruits from the garden and creamy vanilla ice cream.

Hoummos
1 tin of chickpeas
2 garlic cloves
Some of olive oil
Espelette pepper

Swedish rom sauce
1 jar of creme fraiche
Red or black rom
Red onions
Fresh dill
Lemon
S & P

Squid in hot tomato sauce

My daughter can't help touching this strange creature (funny & fascinating!), from the sea before I start cooking. In fact it should be cooked in boiled water for quite a while (yes it makes it tender!). Now the sauce can be prepared  (onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, parsley, S & P, tabasco, white wine, honey ...). Don't rush this process let the sauce simmer slowly in the frying pan. When ready add the squid's, serve with new potatoes salted butter and bread. A real taste of the ocean. Bon appétit!

How to prepare a "Filet Mignon"

It's all very simple. That's if you live near a great market where you can get fresh quality products. Yes I'm very lucky. I go to see my lovely green grocer and get whatever the seson has to offer while my friend is queuing up to get the best meat on the market. Just roast the vegetables in a frying pan an put the steak in the oven (with a garlic clove, some spices and some liquid). I don't even use a thermometre, just get it out while it's still pink. Enjoy with fresh potatoes salted butter and bread. The starter and dessert is another story. Excellent with a local Pinot Noir, this one from Auxerre. Bon appétit!

Apéro is an art part 2, champagneeeeeeeeeeeee!

Enjoy it pink, yellow pure or with fruit, kir whatever just enjoy! Tjin tjin santé cheers skål ... Summer is here.

Apéro is an art part 1

First the eating part, appreciated by all and everyone can be variated  in a million ways and then ...

Lemon tart

Very easy and tasty, boil 3 dl of water mix with 2 dl of sugar, 2 lemon's (juice & peel), 5 tablespoon of maizena. Let it cool of and add 4 egg yolks and 1 tablespoon of butter or margarin, mix gently. On the side prepare the egg whites (whip them hard!) add 2 dl of sugar and, once again mix gently. Allt this poured  into a precooked pastry and placed in the oven to be baked for about 15-20 minutes in 175°. so simple, soo good!

Fat & funny fast food

Eh oui, this is what the kid's prefer. Fast food, nuggets & french fries (why french?). I cannot help thinking of my dear daughter who loves cooking but to eating ... Already  in the beginning I decided that it was better to eat something than ... So here we are, they prefer fast food dishes to mum's homemade, Eh oui! I hope and I suppose that things will change when time is ready. Like it did for me. Of course It's very frustrating to enjoy a good balanced and homecooked meal when the little ones prefer frozen nuggets or a Cordon Bleu, (now that's a fancy name for a simple dish!). Yesterday I tried to get her to eat som cheese (French tradition to have some cheese before dessert), and I got her a bag of babybels. In the bag there was a little toy. She accepted the toy but the cheese? No. Same for the dessert. I propose fresh fruits (mango, apricot's, passion fruits ...). - Mum, can we have an ice cream? Zen. My best recipe is to stay zen.

Cold Stuffed Peppers

This cold summer starter, is very easy to make and highly appreciated. Just get some colourful peppers from the market (or imported!) and fill them up with a homemade (or ready made!), taboulé. On the top sprinkle some fresh cheese cubes (like boursin, feta or goat). Garnish with fresh herbs and a tomate cap. That's all folks.