grapefruit

Citrus Mint Salad & A Cookbook Giveaway!

30.03.2012 272 Comments

Thank you everyone for your get well wishes. It was a slow cooking/blogging week. Perfect opportunity to tell you about a project I was thrilled to be part of earlier last year. Along with some pretty awesome authors, photographers, bloggers, crafters, I was asked by the magazine Where Women Cook, to be part of their book project, "Where Women Cook: Celebrate!". The book is a collection of women’s stories on how they celebrate and gather the people they love around them.

The instant I read the first lines of the project, I knew I wanted to tell the story of how my grandmother used to celebrate. Above all the traits I inherited from her, this is by far the strongest one. The project was easy: tell with pictures and a few recipes your favorite way to celebrate, how you gather the people you love ad create lasting memories.

Tthe theme I chose to feature and photograph was the same one my grandmother would pick for family gathering: a Berber Couscous with merguez sausages, stewed veggies, chicken and mutton. Plenty of couscous and harissa to go around too. Both my grandparents were in Morocco for a extensive period of time, ten years apart, both my parents were born there, ten years apart. Moroccan cuisine is very much part of my family coding. It’s celebration food for us.

My friend John at Lana Restaurant provided all the bistro bowls, silverware and napkins I needed. We set out a pretty table with flowers in mason jars and lots of natural twine.

We strung some lights across the trees and all over the yard.

The girls got busy making pretty flower arrangements while I was finishing cooking and John was grilling. The other guys in the group got busy with quality control and opening wine bottles.

We sat down by the water and cheered, laughed, ate well, raised our glasses and polished off many servings of couscous. My grandmother would have been proud of us!

We took a break, played some silly games and found some room for Honey Saffron Ice Cream and Cardamon Shortbread Cookies.

Fanny and Patrick from Bin 152 provided much of the wines and we lingered at the dinner table and watched the sun set over the water. We talked for hours and I completely forgot to serve a family favorite palate cleanser, a Citrus Mint Salad.

So here it is. The one recipe that never made it into the cookbook, my grandmother’s super easy refreshing Citrus Mint Salad (check at the end of the post).

For the Berber Couscous and the Honey Saffron Ice Cream & Cardamom Cookies recipes, I encourage you to check out the book, "Where Woman Cook: Celebrate!". You will also be able to discover some of the amazing women who participated in the project such as Ree of Pioneer Woman, Angie of Bakerella, and Molly of Orangette.

You could also…enter a giveaway to win a copy of the book, right?! Well, here it is! I am indeed giving away one copy of "Where Women Cook: Celebrate!". All you have to do to enter is leave a comment to this post, between Friday March 30th and Monday April 2nd, midnight Eastern Standard time when a winner will be picked at random. And yes, I will ship overseas.
Just a few guidelines: no anonymous comments, one comment per person and prize must be claimed within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.

Citrus And Mint Salad:

Serves 4

1 pink grapefruit
1 white grapefruit
1 large orange
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
3 tablespoons honey

Supreme the pink and white grapefruit as well as the orange. (here are great instructions on how to supreme citrus)
Place the fruit segments with the mint and honey in a non reactive bowl and let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Divide among bowls or ramekins, adding some of the natural juices over the fruit.

Grapefruit and Anise Macarons

24.05.2010 55 Comments

I am always happy to help my friends or lend a hand. When they have baking questions, I generally have an answer or know where to find it (mom). When that baking question involves my making macarons to help illustrate the answer, you can bet I am happily whipping up a batch. If anyone asks me the ins and outs of food chemistry or needs some kitchen mystery answered, I send them to my friend Brian also knows as "The Food Geek".

Not only is Brian the ultimate nice guy, he is also a true geek of food, always exploring and researching. I have had the pleasure to meet Brian on a foodie trip last year and really enjoyed his theories and explanations. Let’s just say that if my computer would pass out on me for no obvious reason I’d call him first and have him troubleshoot things.

He asked me one day if I knew why a particular recipe for macarons that he emailed would have a strong meringue flavor. It took me just about 2 seconds to message back that the recipe did not yield traditional French macarons and relied solely on meringue as the building block. Hence the strong meringue flavor. I mentioned the balance of almonds to egg whites in macarons which usually balances out a strong egg white flavor.

Brian asked if I could create a macaron that would fit the criteria asked by one of his readers: grapefruit or blood orange, not strong on the egg white flavor. I did not change much to my original recipe and used grapefruit zest to flavor the shells.
I did however have fun with the buttercream and used a nice complimentary flavor by adding some Pastis (anise liquor) to the buttercream. Any non alcoholic anise flavoring would work but Pastis reminds me of long summer days back home and a cold Pastis at the local cafe.

I am biased when it comes to macarons so I did ask Bill if he thought they add a strong meringue taste. He nodded "nope" but mentioned that the grapefruit made his upper lip numb.

So…here is a question for Brian: given that it was an organic, pesticide free grapefruit, what could have caused his upper lip to go numb? The citric acid? An alkaline ph? Any ways to fix or prevent this?

His job never ends…You can read his full article on the subject of meringue cookies by clicking on this link.

Oh and look….A French Word A Week review: pamplemousse!

Grapefruit and Anise Macarons:
Makes 25-30 filled cookies

For the shells:
90 gr egg whites (use eggs whites that have been preferably left 3-5 days in the fridge, covered or 24-36hrs at room temperature, covered)
25 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds (slivered, blanched, sliced, whatever you like)
1 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest

Prepare the macarons:
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry. Place the powdered sugar and almonds and grapefruit zest in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 280F (convection – 300F regular). When ready, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

For the buttercream:
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-2 tablespoon Pastis (or Ouzo, or anise flavor, extract)

Place the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream (temperature should be about 235-238F). Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-8 minutes. Add the liquor or extract and fold with a spatula. Fill a pastry bag with it and pipe on the macarons.

French Word A Week – Pamplemousse & A Giveaway

26.03.2010 496 Comments

Planning this edition of French Word a Week was a complete "house" collaboration this time around. My dad picked the word, my mom got tickled pink when I got her involved into styling the picture. What did B. do? What he does best: ate the props! A little family project is always a fun when there is French and English simultaneously flying around. I just watch and take it all in.

I admit I drew a blank when picking this week’s word (too many options I guess) until I stripped it down to the bare essential of something we see or eat daily. It has to be grapefruit for us. My dad eats half a grapefruit daily, B. drinks a glass every morning and I nosh on grapefruit sections in the afternoon for a little vitamin pick-me-up. Mom? She buys them. By the crate. Especially when we are all together!

Today’s word, pamplemousse, makes me think of plump, ample, soft, sunshine. It’s one of those words I love to hear B. say outloud. It makes me giggle. You can listen to the pronunciation here.

Thanks to my mom I recently discovered the artist Catherine Martini who dedicates her work to painting all sorts of sweet things. I love the burst of colors, the shapes and subjects she choses to illustrate. Visiting her site always brings in some sunshine in the house. I wanted to share her work with you and thought a giveaway would be fun.

But…it’s not all. I am throwing in a copy of "Unforgettable Desserts" by Dede Wilson which contains 140 thorough recipes for desserts you can make all year round. The handful of recipes I made from it were a hit with everyone so I am confident you will find something tasty in it also.

To enter to receive a set of 3 cards from Catherine Martini and "Unforgettable Desserts": leave a comment on this post (one entry per person) between Friday March 26th 2010 and Monday March 29th, 11pm (US Eastern time). Anyone can enter, I’ll ship worldwide.

We will be out of town this weekend and since I moderate the comments manually, bear with me if you don’t see yours appear right away.

Have a great weekend!

Grapefruit And Pomegranate In White Tea Jelly

30.11.2009 56 Comments

I hope that those of you celebrating Thanksgiving last week got to spend some quality time with their family and friends. Maybe there were a few odd moments and uncomfortable silence but heck, that’s family dynamic right?! Our holiday was kind of bittersweet. A house full of close friends, kids, games and laughter interrupted by the news of B’s uncle passing away the day before Thanksgiving. Lots of time spent on the road visiting relatives and work/gigs that would not take a vacation (except for Thursday of course).

When calm finally found a momentary reprieve on Friday, I looked around at the little bodies running about the house, verrines of Grapefruit And Pomegranate in Tea Jelly being lined up on the table, friends sitting down together and decided to keep the sweet part of bitter closer to my heart.

I’ve had this recipe and post in my draft box since Friday but have not had much chance to sit down with my thoughts and write something coherent. The first thing I did that morning was to rush out of bed and drink about a gallon of grapefruit juice. My body was obviously gearing up for detox mode. I pretty much spent the rest of the day noshing on grapefruits, oranges, kumquats (citrus season is just around the corner here in the South) and drinking copious mugs of tea. When I get into this mode, I make sure to never run out of anything tart, sour, juicy and fresh (hmm sounds like I could be describing B’s sense of humor!).

It’s not that we ate a lot, we just ate at odd hours and foods prepared by salt-shaker happy relatives. I know I am not the only one who drank a pond came Friday morning but I always wonder: what type of foods do you crave after a few extras?

It hit me at three in the afternoon that I should turn all these lovely, clean and fresh ingredients into a dessert that we could all enjoy. One of our friends loves those little fruit and jello cups sold at the grocery store and I know from a sure source (his wife) that it’s about the only instance he’ll be seen with a fruit. I like the concept (I’m French, anything "aspic" related is part of our food DNA) but I don’t like the idea of additives, extra sugars and what not. I also like fruit over gelled mass a lot more. Plenty of reasons to make these at home and play a good game of Scrabble while they set.

I packed glasses and other ramekins with a combination of white and red grapefruits, sprinkled a small handful of pomegranate seeds over each of them and poured just enough white tea jelly to seal the deal. After a couple of hours in the fridge, we had the healthiest and most flavorful fruit dessert of the week. Suddenly my feet starting tapping on the floor, I began to giggle and fidget in my seat. My energy was back! So was my brain and the ability to come up with endless possibilities for these! We made a couple of other batches, one with pomegranate juice and one with Grand Marnier for a more festive and grown up version.

Can hardly wait to make these with Spring berries paired with some green or bergamot tea, or Summer stone fruit with some ginger beer or Champagne…

Grapefruit And Pomegranate In White Tea Jelly

Makes 4

Notes:
For a clean presentation, I like to spend some time making sure I properly segment the citrus, removing as much of the white membrane as much as possible. Click here for a good explanation on how to do it.
On the same vibe, pomegranate can make a royal stained mess and if more cleaning is not on your list that day, click here for an illustrated step-by-step.

2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1 bag white tea or 1 tablespoon loose white tea leaves
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons sugar (more if you like a sweeter tea)
2 red grapefruits, peeled and segmented
2 white grapefruits, peeled and segmented
1 pomegranate, seeded

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water. Reserve.
Steep the tea into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or to the strength you prefer. Add the sugar and reserved gelatin mixture until both are completely dissolved. Let cool a few minutes.
Divide the grapefruit sections and pomegranate seeds evenly among four glasses or ramekins and pour just enough tea jelly to reach the top.
Refrigerate until set, about 2 to 3 hours.