Refreshing chocolate and lemon treats, served in the natural lemon shells. If you wish to serve them in a la cafe gourmand style, use small lemons, surprise your friends.
Lemon Shells Stuffed With Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 6 lemons
- 1 (300 g) lemon sorbet
- 1 (300 g) chocolate ice cream
Instructions
- Cut off the top of the lemon. Hollow out each lemon by using a teaspoon. Remove juice and flesh, but be careful not to puncture the lemon skin.
- Spoon some lemon sorbet into shells and press firmly with teaspoon. Fill the rest of the lemon with chocolate ice cream.
- Place stuffed lemons in the freezer with the hats on top. You can serve this fancy dessert in as little as one hour, or when the lemon shells are completely frozen.
Virgin Mojito
Just because I don’t drink alcohol doesn’t mean that I have to stick with plain water… This virgin mojito is a perfect beverage for any family and friends gatherings. There are many ways to make virgin mojito. Personally, I think the version with Ginger Ale tastes the best.
Virgin Mojito
Ingredients
- 4 limes
- 2 lemons
- 1 big bunch of mint
- 10 cups ice cubes
- 2 (1.5 L) bottle of sparkling water or club soda
- 1 (1 l) bottle of ginger ale
Instructions
- Slice lemons and limes.
- In a big jar combine the limes, lemons, fresh mint and ice cubes together.
- Top with sparkling water, Ginger Ale and stir.
Green Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar
Green asparagus with balsamic vinegar is always delicious! Asparagus can be steamed, baked, pan-fried, or grilled. In this recipe, I’ve chosen the simplest method that requires minimal equipment—just a saucepan. A very light sauce with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
Enjoy asparagus as a starter or as a side dish for meat, fish, or eggs…
Green Asparagus with Balsamic Vinegar
Ingredients
- 1 bunch green asparagus
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the asparagus using a vegetable peeler and cut off the tough ends of the stalks.
- In a large saucepan, bring salted water to a boil and add the asparagus. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on their thickness.
- Meanwhile, mix the balsamic vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl.
- Check the asparagus for doneness with the tip of a knife. When they are cooked to your liking, plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking, then drain them.
- Place the asparagus on a serving dish, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with the sauce.
Brookie
Brookie – an American dessert that combines a brownie and a cookie. A perfect mix of a rich chocolate cake and crispy cookie with chocolate chips. Not very healthy, but incredibly delicious!
Here’s my version of this treat: a little less sugar and salt, and the chocolate part is very tender—just like my favorite French chocolate cake.
Brookies
Ingredients
Brownie Batter
- 100 g dark chocolate (60% cacao)
- 75 g butter
- 3 eggs
- 100 g sugar
- 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour (sifted)
Cookie Dough
- 115 g softened butter
- 40 sugar
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 165 g all-purpose flour (sifted)
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp liquid vanilla (1/2 packet of vanilla sugar) optional
- 175 g chocolate chips
Instructions
Brownie Batter
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and flour a baking pan.
- Melt the chocolate and butter using a double boiler or microwave, stirring until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and mix well.
- Incorporate the eggs one by one, stirring thoroughly after each addition.
- Add the flour and gently mix it in.
- Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan.
Cookie Dough
- In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy.
- Add the egg and mix again.
- Gradually incorporate the flour mixed with baking soda and salt
- Stir in the chocolate chips and mix well with a spatula
- Evenly spread the cookie dough over the brownie batter in the pan. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes. Check for doneness: insert a knife into the center – it should come out slightly moist but not liquid. The surface should be golden brown and slightly crispy.
- Allow to cool before removing from the pan and cutting into portions.Enjoy your brookie!
French Chocolate Mousse
Only 2 ingredients are needed to prepare this delicious French chocolate mousse. No dairy products and no sugar added; all you need is dark chocolate and eggs. So simple and so tasty! The only downside is that you should allocate about 4 hours to chill the mousse before serving.
In small individual glasses, the chocolate mousse will be perfect for a cafe gourmand!
French Chocolate Mousse
Ingredients
- 200 g dark or milk chocolate chips or break chocolate into small pieces
- 6 fresh eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- Melt chocolate in a microwave (or use a double boiler) until the chocolate is completely melted. If you use a microwave: put the chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl, microwave for 25 seconds, then stir. Microwave for 25 more seconds and stir again. Continue microwaving and stirring until the chocolate is liquid, smooth, and shiny.
- Separate egg yolks from the egg whites. Add egg yolks in melted chocolate and mix well.
- Whisk egg whites with salt until stiff.
- Carefully fold the egg whites into chocolate using a spatula.
- You should have a smooth and fluffy mousse.
- Divide the mousse among individual glasses. Refrigerate your dessert for 4-6 hours.
Porcini Mushroom Soup
A tasty porcini mushroom soup. And to make things easier, we use frozen mushrooms here. They are fried in a pan without defrosting. Serve very hot with a spoon of sour cream.
You can also find these mushrooms under the name of ceps or bolets.
Porcini mushroom soup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 400 g frozen porcini mushrooms
- 1-2 tbsp flour
- 3-4 medium-size potatoes peeled
- 3 leaves bay
- 1 onion peeled
- 1-2 carrots peeled
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- A few sprigs dill or chopped chives
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms directly from frozen.
- Once the mushrooms are golden, sprinkle them with flour. Mix well and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat.
- Slice the onion and grate the carrots.
- Heat the remaining oil in another frying pan. Sauté the onion and carrots until softened. Lightly season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the pan from heat.
- Cut the potatoes into cubes about 1–1.5 cm on each side.
- Bring about 3 liters of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the potatoes and bring back to a boil.
- Reduce the heat, add salt, mushrooms, and bay leaves, and simmer.
- Add the sautéed vegetables to the pot. Cook everything together for another 10–15 minutes.
- Serve hot in bowls. Add a tablespoon of sour cream to each serving and sprinkle with dill or chives.
Nutrition
Easy roasted chicken
Miam, who can resist this roasted chicken with its golden and crispy skin?! A very easy recipe.
Why not bake potatoes at the same time? Potatoes can be left unpeeled, and if they are small in size, you don’t even need to cut them into pieces.
Easy roasted chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken giblets removed
- 1 kg small-sized potatoes
- Salt and pepper
- 2-3 cloves crushed garlic
- a bit aromatic herbs Herbes de Provence
- 1 lemon optional
- a bit olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C (420F).
- Place the potatoes in an ovenproof dish or on a baking sheet. Season with salt, pepper, and sprinkle with aromatic herbs.
- Wash and pat dry the chicken with paper towels. Rub with salt, pepper, garlic, not forgetting the inside of the chicken. Place the lemon cut in half inside the chicken. Brush the chicken with olive oil. Place the chicken in the dish on top of the potatoes.
- Put the dish in the oven for about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Occasionally, baste the meat and potatoes with the cooking juice.
- When the chicken is cooked inside (the juice that runs out is clear when pierced) and golden brown on the outside, remove the dish from the oven. Don't forget to check if the potatoes are cooked as well. If they are cooked before the chicken is done, they can be removed beforehand.
Boursin™ Stuffed Mushrooms
Tasty and very easy recipe with only 2 main ingredients that you can find in every store: mushrooms and Boursin.
Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 30 small mushrooms (Cremini or Button Mushrooms)
- 1 block Boursin™ Garlic & Fine Herbs Cheese
- freshly ground black pepper
- Some fresh herbs (cilantro, green onion, parsley) finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Wash and dry mushrooms. Remove stems. (You can use them for another recipe),
- Place mushroom caps on a baking sheet. Season with pepper. Fill each mushroom’s hole with 1-2 tsps of Boursin™.
- Bake about 25 minutes until mushrooms are golden and cooked through.
- Sprinkle the baked mushrooms with fresh herbs and they’re ready to be served!
Pastry Cream
Pastry Cream (Crème pâtissière) is a delicate cream for custard cakes (eclairs, petits choux, religieuse), Napoleon, mille-feuille, meringue and other sponge cakes.
After trying many options, I settled on this recipe from French chef Johan from Toulouse (Johan Le Meilleur Patissier M6).
Here is my translation from French of the Vanilla Crème Pâtissière recipe. The original link is Recette de la Crème Pâtissière à la Vanille (in French).
Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 250 ml whole milk
- 55 g egg yolk (approximately 3 yolks)
- 50 g sugar
- 25 g cornstarch (maizena)
- 25 g butter
Instructions
- Pour the milk into a saucepan. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the tiny seeds with the tip of a knife. Add the pod and seeds to the milk.
- Whisk the yolks with the sugar until well combined.
- Add the cornstarch and mix thoroughly.
- Bring the milk to a boil. Gradually pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the yolk-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously.
- Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
- Cook the cream over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes after it starts boiling. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Immediately transfer the cream to a cold bowl (previously chilled in the fridge or freezer). Add small pieces of butter and mix until smooth. Cover the surface of the cream directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cooled.
- Before serving, whisk the cream thoroughly. This is the moment to add rum or other flavorings, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Black olive dip
Provençal recipe, this black olive dip is a tapenade without anchovies nor capers. This black olive paste is ready in just a few minutes, served with fresh bread, toast, or pita bread.
Black olive dip
Ingredients
- 180 g black olives (picholine ou kalamata) pitted
- 1 clove orgarlic épluchées et coupées en 4
- 1 bunch fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 lemon (juice only)
- 4 Tbsps olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Separate the basil leaves from the sprigs. Peel the garlic clove and cut into 3-4 parts.
- Place olives, garlic and basil leaves in a food processor bowl. Add lemon juice and olive oil.
- Pulse 2-3 times for a few seconds.The olivada should have a slightly grainy texture.
- Season to taste and serve with your favorite bread.
Nutrition