Revisited Vietnamese nems - A healthy trick for kids

This post could have been titled 'How to make your kids love cabbage', but instead I preferred the reference to nems, the traditional Vietnamese rolls.

Traditionally, nems are fried rice paper rolls stuffed with pork, prawn or beef. They are quite easy to make and flavoursome. But they are not the healthiest Vietnamese food because they are fried.

While I was shopping at the local veggie store, looking for seasonal veggies other then carrots, parsnips and pumpkin, I saw cabbage. This is such a controversial veggie for children. I personally love red cabbage; it's a quite regular vegetable at home. I was after something less usual. White cabbage... we all like it raw in salad, but cooked it is quite controversial for my No.1. Then I saw savoy cabbage - they look so beautiful - and as I couldn't remember when was my last attempt with this kind of cabbage. I thus decided to go for this beautiful savoy cabbage. Then started the thinking... how could I sell this to my No.1.

Spark of genius! what about making nems? but instead of using rice paper, I'd use savoy cabbage leaves. And instead of frying them I'd steam them. I was not quite sure about the preparation and cooking process, but the idea was worth a try!

My revisited nems, served with sweet soy sauce, turned out gorgeous and so tasty! No.1 even asked for a second serve! Mission accomplished? Oh yes!

What's your trick to make your children eat cabbage? 

Hazelnut moon crescents / Croissants de Lune Sablés

With this unstable weather, I suggest to step back into your kitchen to make these lovely, crumbly hazelnut sablés. These hazelnut moon crescent are the home-made version of a famous French biscuit brand (Les croissants de Lune de Bahlsen).

I have my very own way to eat them since I was a child: one moon segment at a time! I love them on their own or a cup of tea, but they would probably be fantastic served with a cup of coffee (If I'd like coffee!).

As per the original recipe, I shape them as little crescents. The dough is so easy to work that you can let your kids express their own creativity. My 4 years-old made caterpillar and mushrooms, unfortunately they've been eaten before I could make any pictures, so there you can see them before baking. Dinosaurs are back!

Home-made praline / praliné

I'm preparing some special hazelnut sablé biscuits for my son's daycare snacks. Those French biscuits needs some flavoursome praliné paste, which probably can't be bought from NZ supermarkets or groceries. The good news is that it is super easy to make your own praline and once you have tasted this delicious topping or paste, I bet you'll become addict straight away!

The recipe I'm sharing today comes from a world-renowned French pastry chef: Philippe Conticini, so it is a high standard recipe, but you'll be stroke how easy it is. You just need a good food processor and a little bit of patience.

But what's praline or praliné? It's a combination of hazelnuts and/or almonds, but could also contain pistachio or cashew. The nuts are roasted, then cooked in a slightly dark toffee and pulverised finely. After few seconds in the mill or blender, you'll obtain a powder - the praline -, if you keep grounding, then you'll obtain a paste - the praliné -.

The praline is a gourmet topping for ice-cream or custard, crumble and apple pies, and I bet it would be lovely on the top of a pavlova... I'm just saying...
The praliné paste is delicious spread on toasts, combined in crème chantilly for choux filling, or combined in cake, brioches, cookies and biscuits.

Lebanese flat-bread with Zaatar

I usually just can't follow a recipe. I always feel the need for putting a personal twist on to it. But there is one source I would always trust when it comes to making bread.

This Lebanese flat-bread recipe comes from a blog called Papilles & Pupilles, which means 'buds and pupils', because you also eat food with your eyes, one of my favourite French cooking blog.
Anne from Papilles & Pupilles is a famous French blogger who is particularly talented for making bread. I am very happy to share this recipe with you beyond the French borders.

These Lebanese breads are very easy to make and deliciously soft and the Zaatar* brings beautiful middle-eastern flavours. The Zaatar is a traditional Lebanese mix of  spices and herbs, which includes oregano, thyme, sumac and sesame. If you can't find it in the shops, it easy to make yourself. The porportions vary from one region to another one in Lebanon, so just make it to suit your taste.

They are perfect to dip into freshly made hummus or to compliment lamb or any other middle-eastern flavoured meat on the barbecue.

My 4 years-old helped me making these, so when I say they are easy, I mean easy. A nice mum and son bonding time. For few minutes, dinosaurs were left out of the kitchen, for the greatest joy of my sensible ears.

My gourmet mango crumble

I won't hold the suspense any longer. Here is the recipe of my gourmet mango crumble!
For this absolute pleasure, you'll need butter cookies or shortbread cookies (see recipe here), vanilla ice-cream (see recipe here), salted caramel sauce (see recipe below) and of course fresh mangoes!
If you don't have the time to make all these elements yourself, you can easily use shortened biscuits, ice-cream and caramel sauce from the supermarket, but let's be frank: it will be much nicer home-made, and you can prepare all the elements in advance so that you just need to prepare the roasted mangoes before you serve. Don't be afraid by these elements; they are all super-easy to make!

Mango crumble (6 servings)

Ingredients

- 2 fresh mangoes, diced into very small pieces
- 1 knob of natural butter
- 1 tsp raw sugar
- 6 butter cookies or shortbread cookies - see recipe here
- 1 or 2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream per serving - see recipe here
- a generous dash of salted caramel sauce - see recipe at the end of this post

Vanilla ice-cream

Tuesday... only... And I wish we would already be Friday! Today was exhausting, taking the bus to the City with bubba in the sling... several meetings and finishing work near to 5 pm! Thanks man, you found something to re-heat for dinner tonight! It's just a shame men can't think forward, in particular of the next day and the lunch boxes of our little ones. So I ended up cooking something after dinner for my boys' lunches tomorrow. The good stuff is that everything is ready for tomorrow night! Yay!!!

Although my bed is insistently calling for me, I promised to share with you the recipes of my cooking week-end. Today, I continue with the dessert... remember my version of a mango crumble... - Yuuuummm, just thinking of it, I want a serve now! - requires vanilla ice-cream... yum yum! Unfortunately there is no more left, already! :/

Sorry I have no picture of the ice-cream on its own and I do not want to reveal my Mango crumble yet, be patient...

Ingredients (~15 scoops)

- 500 ml milk*
- 250 ml cream
- 130 g caster sugar
- 5 yolks
- 1 tbsp natural vanilla extract

Preparation

This ice-cream is based on a classic vanilla custard, which I recommend to make the day before to leave it the time to cool down and set before putting in the ice-cream maker.

1. Pour the milk and the cream in a pot, add the vanilla and heat until it starts boiling. Get the pot straight out of the heat when you see the first bubbling.
2. In the meantime, whisk together the sugar and the yolks until they whiten and double in volume.
3. When the milk and cream mix is hot, gradually mix into the sugar and yolk preparation with a wooden spoon.*
4. Pour back into the pot and put on gentle heat, while stirring gently until the custard coats the spoon.
5. Let cool down in the fridge. The custard will slightly thicken in the fridge.
6. When your custard is cold, the coldest possible, pour it in the ice-cream maker and churn for about 25-30 mins.* No worries if it is still a bit runny, the ice-cream will set in the freezer. Serve after an hour or more, but I definitively recommend to serve it the same day!

Tips

* I used trimmed milk for a healthier option but it works with light or full-fat milk, too.
* The secret to a successful custard is to not whisk briskly otherwise you may split the cream. Do not use a whisk. If the cream splits, no worries, there is a trick to save your custard: when you're happy with the consistence (after step 4), then mix it in a blender and rest.
* The churning time depends on the temperature of your custard as well as of the iced bowl. So feel free to adapt this timing to your particular context.

Butter cookies / Shortbread cookies

I cooked like crazy this week-end. It was so much fun and so much pleasure from the plate. I guess it will take me the whole week, if not more, to share with you all the new and old recipes I came up with!

With my No.1, we made Lebanese flat-bread and hummus - that was so fresh, so good as appetizer!
There was also a seven-hours lamb leg - this dish raised the bar very high and took us straight to heaven!
Then, I made vanilla ice-cream, salted caramel sauce and butter cookies to revisit a roasted mango crumble - that's was a pure pleasure to eat!
If this sounds like a nice meal, stay connected, I'll post all the recipes this week!

I'm starting with the butter cookies, sort of shortbread cookies, but sweeter - my son's favourites! He was so sad when after only few hours, he realised that there were only three left - daddy loved them, too! There were about 30 cookies freshly baked in the morning and only three left in mid-afternoon. I think that's a pretty sound indicator. But the best is for the mums: less than 10 mins preparation (yes in total!!!) + 7-8 mins baking! I bet you'll be baking those every second day. I prepare the cookie dough in the evening, rest it in the fridge over night. The next morning, it is ready for slicing and baking few minutes, just in time before morning snack or afternoon tea. These cookies are deliciously rich and crumbly. They suit very well with coffee or tea. I love them with ice-cream.

Quatre-quarts cake with a twist

I usually don't plan my cooking or baking to feed this blog, but to feed my family; sometimes to feed my friends or my son's little mates. I'm always cooking or baking to show someone my love or my appreciation. The recipe I am sharing today was meant to give my partner and I a little after-dinner treat: A French classic Quatre-Quarts cake with a twist.

This cake then became a special breakfast for a special day: a mum-at-home day. Another figure of speech, as we spent all day outside attending our playgroup, then a lunch date and a play and walk date in Western Springs - no doctor appointment for today (Yay!) but a beautiful spring day (Hooray!!!), just a wonderful day with my two boys.

The story of this yummy, fluffy cake does not stop there, though. After breakfast, this cake became a sort of a friendship cake as a shared dessert with one of my girlfriend and our children, and then as a shared afternoon snack with other friends. It's always nice to share some food with your beloved ones. 

For a first time home-made recipe, the verdict was unanimous: YUUuuuuuuuummm!

Happy end for this trip companion!

The Quatre-quart (i.e., four-quarters) cake is a French classic from Britany (Bretagne). It was named after the proportions of the core ingredients that make it: 1/4 flour, 1/4 sugar, 1/4 butter and 1/4 eggs. Originally, it does not contain anything else (apart the baking powder), but I had some pecan left and I like the marriage with choc chips, so I added some. I also added some milk; I'm not quite sure why but I think it makes the cake a bit lighter and moister. It's up to you to follow the original recipe or to customise it to your desires!

Lemon and parsley chicken breast with butternut, spinach and Israeli couscous salad

I have heaps of parsley in my herb patch. And that's cool because I love parsley. I wanted a dish full of this flavour. I thought about making a parsley soup, but wasn't sure whether dinosaurs (in particular mini T-Rex) would like it.
I recently attended a team cooking challenge with my workmates; the chef taught us how to prepare a 3-course meal for 12 people in 2 hours or so - The time went so fast I don't exactly remember how long it took. Well, one of the dish was a lemon and parsley chicken breast - perfect to satisfy my sudden crush for parsley. Although I slightly revisited the recipe to make it a bit healthier - the question was: can I make such a moist and yummy chicken breast with a minimum of fat? The short answer is 'Yes! You can!'

I did remove the skin off the chicken and dramatically reduced the amount of oil. I put a twist on the original recipe, which was served with Salsa Verde, by adding the capers into the marinade to give it a little tang. And it work out gorgeous!
On the side I served a yummy butternut and spinach Israeli couscous salad, naturally sweetened with sultana.

Avocado, ricotta and shrimp spaghetti - As quick as lightning!

Back to working days... And I've been quite lazy about shopping this week-end, so I had to deal with what was left in my cupboards and what was left of my time after hours to make dinner.
I quite like this kind of cooking challenge, although it does not necessarily bring up my favorite style of food. But tonight I was very happy with my creation given that it took barely 20 mins off my time watching my little one first adventure, exploring our place and crawling backward #stupidproudmom

Today, on the menu: Avocado, ricotta and shrimp spaghetti - humble, but incredibly quick n' easy! Perfect for busy working moms and daddies willing to give a hand in the kitchen ;) Would also work well for students busy with their dissertation or exam preparations, cook beginners wanting to impress friends, families watching on the budget and starving people looking for a healthier option than fish n' chips... Well, it should work for anybody though!

Beef and brown lentil casserole

Just another lovely winter Sunday! Grey sky to remind you the season but mild temperature to let you have a walk in the bush. I love those NZ winter days. It reminds me only the best aspects of European winters: the time slows down, the streets are more quiet, family members get together, parents play board games with children, grannies would bake with grand-daughters, grandpa would share old stories with grand-sons and families sit all together around a hearty meal that cooked nearly all day long! Winter can be very comforting.

I find NZ winter somehow more comforting: I feel less endangered by the sun rays, but we can still enjoy outdoors; sunrises and sunsets are just perfectly timed to be enjoyed, and I have the chance to live so close to the sea front... I love winter sunsets on the bay.. There is no buzz or rush in the malls, no stress about Christmas coming up soon (in spite of the magic of winter Christmas, it can be quite stressful). In absence of Christmas celebrations in NZ winter, there is at least one thing that does not change: kids are still super-excited (or in a dinosaur mode for some) and drive their parents crazy! If this is your case, just take them to the bush and leave let them have a walk for an hour or two and they'll sleep in the car on way back home.

Beyond super-excited kids, NZ winter gives you the time to enjoy your time at a slower pace under a mild climate. - Okay, okay... I'm a bit biased by the quite dry winter we have this year... or maybe by the new house, fully insulated and double glazed, that changed our life since few months! Anyway, when it's not pouring raining, I love NZ winter!
Besides rain, cold or sun, we still enjoy a slow-cooked one-pot dinner during NZ winter. No worries, I assure you this hearty beef and lentil casserole did not cook for all day long! There is a little trick to avoid that lentils take ages to be soft. Just follow the recipe ;-)

Apple, plum and blueberry puree/compote

I know, plums are not in this season. But since the beginning of winter, I could see plums sold in the fruit stores. While I'm usually not keen on using fruits and veggies when not in the season, I thought that my 9 months-old may appreciate a little bit of novelty, after the repetitive (almost boring) apple/pear, apple/banana, apple/pineapple, apple/orange, apple/mandarin, apple/mango compotes and other mix of those fruits. I could have chosen kiwi fruits instead but I've been a bit reluctant at introducing kiwi fruits - probably another (mis)belief related to my background. You kiwi should probably think I'm wrong; especially because it would be cooked anyway!
I prefer to say I am extra-cautious. Anyway, I decided to buy those plums, which by the way were quite sweet and juicy. And I added the blueberries mostly to enhance the colour.
Guess what? Baby dino loves it!
The quantities recommended in the recipe gave me two jars like the one on the picture.

Ingredients (~ 10 servings)

- 1 kg Braeburn apples

- 5 red plums

- 3 tbsp blueberries (can or fresh)

Instructions

1. Peel and slice the apples.

2. Pit and chop the plums.

3. Cook all the fruits together for about 30 mins or until soft.

4. Blend together, let cool down and serve!

Chocolate cake and coconut chantilly

Last week-end, we invited our neighbours at home for a pudding. It took only 2 sec to the little girls to notice the chocolate cake sitting on the kitchen bench. I bet they could smell the chocolate from their place, so the cake was rich in chocolate. But because it's never enough for dinodad, I decided to glaze it with a chocolate ganache. And because, dinomum is only a chocoholic beginner... What??! How?... Yes I need to tell you that story.

I never really enjoyed chocolate, never ever. As a child, I would have never taken a chocolate ice cream, vanilla or strawberry instead! I had Easter or Christmas chocolates in horror for the greatest pleasure of my dad and brothers. I much preferred candy and nougat. I would make chocolate cakes only to please the ones I loved. I couldn't understand my partner's addiction for this bitter and quite hardcore treat. I was quite proud of this reluctance to chocolate; it made me feel different than the mass of all those chocolate fans. And last year, when I got introduced to chocolate Fridays at work, I even prided myself that they would be happy to know that I'd leave them my portion as I would never feel like chocolate. No one could believe me.
But short after this, I got pregnant and everything changed (again)! I started to join in chocolate Fridays. I started buying chocolate tabs (for the big enjoyment of dinodad of course!), one per week, then two... or more... I developed an embarrassing chocolate addiction. When dinodad implied that I behaved the same way toward chocolate during my first pregnancy, I couldn't believe. So I kept confident that straight after delivery, this chocolate thing would vanish!
Bubba just turned 9 months-old and I am still fighting the chocolate appeal. My last hope is in weaning my little one off the breast... To be followed later this year... Hopefully this works before I got completely crazy about chocolate!

Well, as I was saying a bit earlier... (after the chocolate cake and the chocolate ganache...) 'And because, dinomum is only a chocoholic beginner', I decided to serve the chocolate cake with a light coconut chantilly to balance a little bit the bitterness and heaviness of the chocolate.
We all enjoyed this pudding very much, although the kids were more keen on the cake than the chantilly cream, but mummy was happy! :)

Braised pork tenderloin with butternut squash and fried polenta

Sunday, I left baby and partner home and I took my 4 years-old to the movies. The movie was very good for little ones, a lovely story about friendship between a bear and a mouse: Ernest & Celestine. After only few minutes, I felt blessed - and a little bit stupid to feel a bit emotional while watching a kid movie with my son - probably the lack-of-rest effect.
I felt so blessed to live in New Zealand, to be allowed to raise my children in this amazing country, to raise them as bilinguals and to share my native language and culture with my growing kiwis. What does it have to do with the movie? The movie was in French! When I left France, I gave up the idea of going to see a French movie with my children. But that was due to my ignorance of New Zealand way of integrating cultures. Not only New Zealand offers an amazing lifestyle, it also accepts and encourage the diversity of cultures. I couldn't tell for other cultures, but as French living in Auckland, we are blessed with a very active community that allows parents like us to pass our culture on our children thanks to playgroups (I love the kiwi culture of playgroups/playcentre, it's just a shame I have limited access to it because I work full-time), the preschools, the bilingual sections in primary schools and the various socialising French events and other festivals. Beyond the language, of course, food is another way to pass on our culture, and not only to our children.
After the movie, I felt even more blessed when I came back home where a meal from an original recipe by my mum had perfumed the entire the house after 2 hours of slow cooking earlier the same day: a braised pork tenderloin with a rustic-tasting but elegant sauce made from onions, carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms. This dish was well-known of all the kids from the neighbourhood in my home-town; this for the holy good reason that it is deliciously rich of flavour, while balanced and not overly fat.