Back home from the farm , with a bag full of knowledge and goodies !

      Dear blogie , and readers of course , i was not able to write these days since i've been gone from home ... more specifically at a farm that produces milk . A friend of mine is the manager , boss , whatever you wanna call him there ... or probably you can call him the cowboy chief .

     It was an amazing experience , i've learned so much being just 5 days there , and probably in the future i'll go back again and learn even more about cows , producing milk and all .

     So many standards , and this guy's passion for cows and his farm is limitless , he is pretty much like myself with the cooking and we got along in just a matter of seconds . Personally i think this is the start of something great , a huge friendship and i also think there is something stored for the both of us , and surerly our paths will cross again in the world of great restaurants and farms .

      So basically i was there for a few days not just to learn about producing milk , cows but also advertising , and also to cook for them since they lacked behind all that hard work some good propper and healthy food .

    At first he told me his grandmother used to make all the meals for them , but unfortunately his gramma sucks in preparing food and it was extremly disgusting , bland and unedible . At first i thaught this was a joke since usually grammas make such good food sometimes even better than the ones you eat in our restaurants , it was really hard for me to believe she just couldn't cook untill one day ....

    It was about 8 o' clock in the morning his gramma woke up early chopped a chicken and wanted to make a chicken soup . After a while his mother came to me and said '' Please can you do something with this soup it's gross and unedible , and it's the same every sunday , is it possible to fix it ? ''

     In that moment i thaught about my mentor in the culinary world Dori and she always used to say '' Anything can be fixed in a kitchen , that's the beauty of being a chef , you can create and repair at the same time '' , so i got motivated ... gave a stroll in the garden , picked up a ton of herbs ... such as carrots , celery , parsley , onions , potatoes ... every good and fresh thing you can find ... at the end that soup turned out an amazing Yumminess ! It tasted so fresh and the room was full of lovely aromas from the vegetables ... it was pure art for me .

        The people from the farm ate it so fast and so passionate :)) that in just minutes there was nothing left .
        I felt more or less as Ratattouile , you know the little rat that went to Paris and became a chef ... haha i just love that movie one of my favorites , but anyway that was a great succes and mostly the days that came along where also full of different recepies , full of flavour and excitement .

     
  As a thank you my friend the cowboy , also helpped me in advertising and promoting myself , he kinda told me that i needed a logo to identify and separate myself from the other chefs , a logo that i will carry with me all the time .  And after hours and hours of work we came up with something and i hope you guys like it aswell .... I for one am extremly happy and pleassed with this logo .

Anyway here it is , hope you enjoyed my post , and yeah i know i promissed i would write about the bechamel sauce but i will get to that aswell later on .


Thank you guys again , and see you in my next post                    Have fun cooking  !

Just another normal typical day

           Hey guys , i think this will probably the shortest post i've ever written but like i said i am not posting only recepies on this blog , but also usefull tips , informations and also notes on my whereabouts and my position on the culinary path .

         This will surerly be a short summer since i have a lot to do untill i reach the culinary school in Paris .
          I've started in going deeper and deeper in the french cuisine and patisery , but also into their language   which i find it really beautifull and amazing .

         It truly is a difficult language but it's worth giving it all in learning it , trust me  . I mean the sounds , the accent ... pure romance , i advise you dear readers to give it a try  .

        Anyway  talking about french , i am off doing my homework since in about 20 minutes i got french classes and i haven't done anything  , except watching the brioche dough rise on youtube .... that truly looked yummy .


So no more chit - chat , i'm off !

See you guys on my next post , which will probably be about the bechamel sauce , also known as the white sauce , and it is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine .                                

Bye Bye :D !

Mille Feuille with summer berries and lemon curd

            I am telling you guys this recipe will blow you away ..... full of sunshine flavours , the moment you take the first bite you taste summer ... an amazing recipe fit for a King  !

  Before i go on and give you the recipe i want you to know a bit about mille feuille .

 Basically mille feuille means " a thousand layers" , it is one of the french classics as it dates back from the 19th century . You can also find it in the cookbooks and internet as "Napoleon" ( do not ask me why it is called napoleon aswell but i promise the next time i make another one i'll be sure to find out ) . Basically the classic recipe uses a vanilla custard in the middle and topped with icing sugar , caramel or chocolate glaze and the dough is either puff pastry or fillo pastry .

   This dessert is light , crunchy ....  a really elegant and fast desert to make . The nicest thing about this desert you can style it in so many ways you can't imagine .

   The way i've chosen to style it this time is with fresh berries and lemon curd , which i think is a good ideea since we require something fresh during this hot summer days . And men trust me the ladies will go ''MAD'' for this one .

     So the ingredients that you need calculated for about 4 persons are :

                      - 3 eggs
                      - 2 lemons
                      -  200 g of normal sugar
                      -  160 g of unsaltted butter
                      - 300 gr of raspberries , 300 g of blueberries , 300 g of red currants (coacaze rosii ) ,
                                                              you can also add strawberries aswell if you find any ,
                                                              unfortunatelly i didn't.
                      - 1 package of fillo pastry ( you can buy from the supermarket , or you can make it yourself
                                                                up to you , personally i think it's best to buy it since it takes a lot
                                                                 of time to make it yourself , and it's kinda the same result , but
                                                                 do as you wish :D )
                      - icing sugar


Before i start in telling you how to make it i will show you how the classic mille feuille looks like and after that i'll  go on with the recipe and at the end give you some pictures with a different version of a mille feuille but the ideea of it is the same , it's roots are there  ! :D

 

Here is the classical made with a vanilla custard and on top a chocolate glaze .
 

 
      Now back to my version  .   First off let's wash those dirty hands  , get your pan ready , your pot and of courses your washed and dried fruit .

      Let's first of all make the lemon curd . In a pot add 2 eggs , 200 g of sugar , the zest of 1 lemon , the juice of 2 lemons and 60 g of butter (taste it and see if it needs more sugar , if it does add more if not then go with it )  . place the pot on a low heat and keep whisking until the mixture thickens .

      When it did pass the lemon curd through a sieve , cover it with cling film (folie de plastic) , and put it in the fridge untill it cools down completly .

     Next take the fillo pastry , beat 1 egg and brush 1 sheet of fillo pastry with the egg wash and add another sheet of fillo pastry over it brush it again with egg wash and add another fillo pastry over it .

    Use a round cutter or glass to cut your pastry .
    Dust a plate with icing sugar and place your cut fillo pastry on it and dust icing sugar on top of them aswell.
 
    Next in a sauce pan melt the 100 g of butter on a very low heat untill it forms a foam on top . Let it cool down and take the foam out with a spoon ( this process is also known as clariffying the butter , which means taking the water and the  fat out of the butter , so the butter does not reach high temperatures that fast and does not burn that easy  ) .

   Pour the clarrified butter in a pan on a medium heat and when the butter is hot add the cut pastries .
   It literally takes seconds on each side to cook , up to 8 , 10 seconds .
   Place your cooked pastry either on a wooden chopping boards ( just not on a napkin it will stick ) .
   Take your lemon curd out of the fridge and as you can see it thickened even more ( a real yummies from the pastry world ) .

   Add a bit of lemon curd on the plate , and place the first sheet of pastry on it so it won't move .
   Then add some berries on the pastry sheet and top them with lemon curd.
   Add the second pastry sheet and top it with lemon curd , add berries on it then lemon curd on the berries.
   Add the third pastry sheet and top it with icing sugar .

   Add some additional berries on the plate for decorating and top them with icing sugar .
 
                                                   And that's it , a nice fresh summer version of mille feuille :

   Enjoy guys and girls :D



   Bon Apettit !

An amazing way on how to prepare chicken breast !

   Hey guys , i am back again , i hope you are still reading my blog .... i have been quite busy these days so i barerly had time to breath let alone to write in my blogg .

  So now i just realized i got a glimpse of spare time and i thaught why not write for my dear readers , since i have a mega recipe i really want to share with you guys .

 First of all i am no longer in Cluj , yeah the city i went to university .... i kinda miss it since i was really used to it , it became more or less my home and the place i learnt how to become a proper man . The people there helped me a lot in the process and i thank them .

 This blog post is ment for my friends in Cluj and i since i respect them a lot , i think i was the luckiest person to get such friends and mentors in my life .... some people never get that lucky , but i did ... and they inspired me not only in becoming a man but persuing my dream no matter what .

 At first i thaught Jamie Oliver s culinary school was the choice for my future but aparently not ... i was sent in
the other side of the road and that is the culinary school in Paris called "Le Cordon Bleu" . Thing is i always was attracted to french cooking , theyr lovely wines , cheeses , patiserrie , cuisine it is pure love to me .

So this winter i am heading to the culinary school in Paris and at the moment i am in Arad and raising with each passing day money for my culinary path and once i get there i ll make sure i will be the best in what i do and make first of all myself proud . Food is everything to me and i think Paris will become my personal culinary playground .  Memory of Julia Child ... watch out Cause Here I Come !!!

      Anyway let us go back on track and get on with the recipe. I am telling you this recipe will blow your mind and once you have tried it  you will do it over and over again  , it really is a recipe you can rely on anytime you have a guest or someone you really want to impress . This recepy delivers that effect .

   The ingredients you need are : - 1 pack of chicken breast deboned and no skin
                                                 - 1 bunch of rosemary sticks
                                                 - 1 lemon
                                                 - parmesan
                                                 - some proschiutto crudo (2 packs , you can buy from the supermarket)
                                                 - pepper
                                                 - olive oil

 The first thing you need to do is obviously wash your hands . Then get the filetted breats and as you look at them you can see that they are not even the meat is somehow tick at another end and thinner at the other end .What you need to do is make them even before we even start in doing something with them .

  Use some cling film ( folie de plastic ) on a table and another cling film over the chicken breast and use something flat and heavy to pound the chicken breast , it is important to be flat since we do not want to bruise the chicken we just want to make it even a bit .

  After that take some rosemary sticks , take off the leaves and chop them finely . add them over the chicken breast , not much just a bit , then grate some parmesan it is important you grate enough parmesan to cover the whole chicken breast , then grate a bit of lemon zest ( not much just a tiny bit , trust me it will make a huge difference ) .

   Then just sprinkle some freshly ground pepper and cover with proschiutto ( it is important you cover the whole chicken breast so feel free to use 2 slices or 3 slices of proschiutto on one chicken breast as much as you need to cover the whole breast ) .

  Preheat the pan on a medium heat , then add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place the chicken breast with the proschiutto upside down ( you need a lot of confidence in doing this , do not worry if you can not get this right on the first attempt i can assure you the second will be a succes ) . You need about 6 minutes cooking time per breast , 3 minutes on each side .


                  Just serve it with some mashed potatoes and some green salad , and if you want to take this to a whole new level just drizzle 2 3 drops of balsamic vinegar and trust me by doing that you will not regret it .

      This dish will save you over and over again when the time comes to either impress or crave a nice juice piece of chicken breast , no salt needed at all on the meat since the proschiutto and parmesan gives the chicken enough salt ... perfect seasoning  . !

                                  Have fun with this dish and good luck ! Remember confidence is the key to succes.
                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                             Bon Appetit
                                     

Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries

              Dear readers , first of all i apologize for my abssence during this period , since i've been quite busy with school and all , got loads of trouble with the exams and well i'm trying to hang on mentally to this since for me it's kinda difficult because i lack total interest into this faculty .

I am not a quiter type i actually am a fighter and hard worker but every time i set foot into this university i feel strange as if i do not belong there . When i attend classes i feel strange again and always lost as if i shouldn't be there , i can't find my way through this university .

But i sure am relaxed i found my way in this world through cooking and restaurants , and even though i got sad news about my school performance i have really exciting news and super duper good news about my future in the culinary world .

I've received an important message from the culinary school in Paris called ''Le Cordon Bleu'' and they asked me to set a date for when i want to start this highly performant courses . And of course i would have wanted to tell them now , but i told them the 1st of september so i can get the money for the road to Paris and other needs  .
 To tell you the truth i can't wait , i am so excited and the thaught of it just fire drivens me , i really want to achieve greatness in the culinary world , i want to show people where passion can get you and a high amount of   hard work .

                                                     Anyway since it's kinda a late hour i decided to write this post i'll be   leaving  this conversation for another time and get on with the recepy i wanted to post :D .


  This recepy was kinda a request from a friend since he saw my home made dishes on facebook and so i decided to post it for him .

This is an improved chocolate mousse . It's silky , it's colorfull , it's full of flavour , romantic , it's chocolate !

So the ingredients you need are : - 200 g of dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
                                - 300 g heavy cream , or liquid whipping cream ( Hulala )
                                                 - 50 g of butter
                                                 - 2 eggs
                                                 - salt
                                                 - 2 tablespoons of sugar
                                                 - 1 vanilla pod                                                                                                                      - 1 orange
                                                 - strawberries
                                                 - 50 g of dark chocolate for decorating (optional)
For this recepy you need 3 bowls

So let's get on with preparing it . First of all let's get melting the chocolate using the Bain Marie method which means water bath in french check for the method in my other chocolate dessert posts . So break the 200 g of chocolate into little pieces place them in a bowl and the bowl over a pot with simmering water be carefull the water doesen't touch the bowl and also add to the chocolate 50 g of butter and a pinch of salt .

You probably now think i'm crazy for telling you to add a bit of salt , i know it sounds weird but it actually brings the flavour of the chocolate out and makes it more chocolatier :D !

 As it melts keep styring it from time to time .
 Meanwhile in  another bowl add the heavy cream or liquid whipping cream and to it add 2 tablespoons of sugar , and the seeds of 1 vanilla pod or you could use vanilla extract instead just don't use that fake and cheap vanilla essence it's not good ! I made the mistake once of using it , and it was horrible , doesen't deliver the true flavour of the vanilla , so it's kinda a plastic ingredient for me ! .

Use a whisk and mix it untill it gets a bit thick , the right texture is thick but a bit runny also so it's still a bit liquid , more of a creamy texture .
Sepparate 2 eggs add the yolks to the cream and the whites in another bowl ( By the Way do not forget about your chocolate ) . Mix the egg yolks with the cream .

Add your chocolate at first slowly , meaning you add a spoon of chocolate into the cream , you gently fold it , and another spoon , and another ... it's crucial you add the chocolate step by step so the chocolate won't seize up and have a different texture than the one you expect it to have .

After you've done that whisk your egg whites untill fluffy ( you know they are whisked enough when you can hold them above your head and they do not fall ) . Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and cream and set it in the frige for 30 to 40 minutes .

                   Serve it with some strawberries and some shaved chocolate . Chocolate mousse is quite romantic and a dessert fit for any type of person :D , and you can personalize it and make your own you can add a bit of bouzze if you're into the bit of the bouzze :D or maybe some liquers , anything you prefer

                                        Have fun making it and see you guys in my next post  ...   Bon Appetit !

     

Romance and a refreshing dessert for a hot summer's day

   Good day to you dear readers , wait more like good evening since it's kinda late , i usually love writing at late hours , i don't know why it's something about the dark lovely night that gets me inspired . The shape of the moon like a huge cheese waiting for me to eat it :D .

        I've always thaught of the moon as a huge cheese on my plate next to some cherry tomatoes , some fried bacon , ooooohh and some toast yummm :D . The moon can be an inspiration to cooking as much as the sun .
      Think the best combination for a lovely romantic evening , chocolate , wine , meat , and a full moon and next to it as a garnish some lovely flashy stars .... sounds amazing.

     Tonight i want to describe you the perfect dessert fit for a perfect summer sunny day . I know i've been talking about the moon and stars , romance and after that i've just switched to the sun . Because for me the perfect romantic day was not held in summer but in winter on a full moon evening .


           It was last year , and i remember it perfectly ... the most perfect day of my life and i guess that was and is a huge source for my passion , what you experience in your heart and soul is what you and the others experience on the plate . Food in order to be tasty , beautifull and exciting needs passion and passion derives from love  , so the next time you feel you wanna go eat in a fast food restaurant or buy frozen food think again , remember your most romantic day and treat your stomach as you treat your partner on a date ... with love , care and excitement .

      Well anyway what i've experienced in the past was for me a major point , and it inspires me every day... i can freely say she inspires me every day even though she doesn't know it but thats the lovely thing about romance , it's all a mistery ...


              Summer has it's hot days and we passionate people need some refreshments and since we cannot call upon the '' Almighty Winter '' to come in our time of need , we can replace it with this refreshing dessert i'm about to share with you guys .


             Sooo ... Sorbets ! are exquisite , fancy , elegant , refreshing and look outstandingly beautifull ! I can go on forever in describing them , i just love a good sorbet it not only cleanses your palate but it energizes you on a hot summer's day .

   The first sorbet i'm about to  share with you is a lemon sorbet . Basically you need :
                             - 1 cup of sugar
                             - 1 cup of water
                             - 4 lemons
                             - (optional) mint for decorating

The preparation is quite easy so basically at first we need to make the syrup , so to a cup of sugar you need a cup of water . Bring it to the boil and leave it there for 3 minutes . Take it off the heat and put it in the fridge so when the syrup touches the lemon juice it won't go jamy .Squeeze the juice of 4 lemons in a bowl and add the zest of 1 lemon ( just the give it that extra lemony kick ) . Add the cold syrup to the lemon juice and put it in the freezer for about 40 minutes or untill it sets a bit at the top , you can tell by it's white colour like snow .
         
    Take it out and with a fork keep moving the composition , and by doing so you give air to the sorbet and it gets more creamy and much more fluffy ... it's amazing :D . Place it in the freezer again for another hour . I recommend doing this dessert a day in advance , so you make it today and serve it tommorow ... it's not necesary but it's best to do so ... it will be a lot tastier :D

 Here is another picture :

Pomegranate sorbet !!!

Another sorbet would be the pomegranate sorbet with sour cherry liquer . You do it exactly the same way only you use 2 pomegranates (rodii) , squeeze their juice out , add only half of the syrup as the sour cherry liquer is kinda sweet and also add a bit of lemon juice about half a lemon juice for a bit of a kick . (Keep some of the pomegranate seeds not all but some for a bit of crunch ) . Same way freezer 40 minutes , take it out , fork it , and again in the freezer .

        The lovely thing about sorbets is that you can personalize and make it your own , you can try all sorts of fruits for the sorbet and the ones that have no acid just use some lemon juice or experiment with different types of alcohol and find the suitable one for your sorbet .
       
    Be creative , be original , be yourself ... reflect your own personality in the dishes you make .

                                                                                                  Look at it , it has delicious written all over it :D

                                                   Bon Appetit guys and until next time ! :D

                             

Summer and strawberries , yum yum yum :D !

                                                     Come on over
                                         Down to the corner , my sister and my brothers
                                                     Of every different color  
                                         Don't you feel that sunshine telling you to hold tight
                                         Things will be alright try to find a better life
                                                      Come on over ....
 Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh babe , woops wait i'm writing in my blog , ok so sorry guys it's just a cool funky song , you can check it it kinda lifts your spirit up ... anywayyy where was i ... ah yes , i'm sorry about my abssence but i was really busy in this period.
                     
                    I've got Loads of good and fresh news for you my dear readers ... And first of all loads of new recepies , with a touch of summer and news about my departure to London !!! So these days if i'm lucky and got enough spare time i'll keep writing so keep your eyes peeled for any new posts :D

                                   
                                     Besides having my time occupied with school and all these days i've been experimenting loads of new stuff especially on Easter when i ate my first lamb , oh and of course pig's tongue which i never knew it could be such a delicacy if you know how to prepare it .... altough it kinda lacked ellegance and it looked kinda weird ... the taste was there yet the looks i mean i had to chop it really finely in order to eat since it's shape was kinda disturbing :)) .
                           
                      I've had loads of fun going on a barbeq with my father and i learned pretty much how to set a barbeq fire and how to control it , he's pretty wicked on Barbeq knowledge and if was fun and interesting to cook side by side with my old man :D . I've learned that one of the best barbeqs can also be achieved with simplicity .
              Meaning you don't need sophisticated ingredients , or loads of them ... keep it simple and tasty .
              Passion evolves from simplicity and elevates you to high scales , so in order to be a great chef you need to appreciate the simple things in cooking aswell in life.

            Another place i went to was my grandmother's place , and there i was inspired again by well... of course ... Her Magnificent Garden ! I mean loads of vegetables , and fruits waiting for me to pick them up , so i was mega inspired in salads aswell , i can't wait to share those recepies with you guys .
          My gramma told me something i will never forget ... she said ''Pour man's food is the best food you can get '' , and i asked her why and she said '' Well pour people usually appreciate every ingredient aside and learn how to work with simple stuff , it's a good way to start from here in becoming a great chef '' .

        Words of inspiration , ingredients waiting for me to use them , what more do you want now i'm even more fired up to persue my dream into becoming a great chef ! Learn not only to eat food but to grow it aswell and only then you'll understand and become as passionate as i am in food ... it doesen't sound that difficult does it , like Jamie Oliver says '' Anyone can cook '' .

                 So i'll be sharing these days with you guys some of my experiences aswell as recepies and
new spices i've tried and loved .... but for now i'll just give you guys some recepies for amazing strawberry deserts ... a strawberry tart and strawberry foam , both easy to do aswell as amazingly tasty.



         Let's start with Strawberry Foam !

         What you need for this recepy is :  - 500 g of strawberries
                                                              - 4 egg whites
                                                              - 150 g of sugar
                                                              - a pinch of salt
                                                              - mint (optional) for decorating and usage in the foam
     
      So easy peasy tuck all those ingredients in a bowl and start mixing them slowly at the beggining then as it tickens start mixing faster , if you do not have a mixer or a blender like i don't scrunch the strawberries with your hands with the sugar and salt before adding your egg whites and use a wisk to mix them all ( of course it takes much more than by using a mixer or a blender ) .
   
         When the whites with the strawberries are whisked enough , which means you cand hold them above your head , place them in the fridge for 30 minutes or you can it straight away depends on your patience :D

   Thats all :D , here is a picture to go with the recepy  !



Another recepy i've made and i think it's quite amazing and a favorite of the girls :D it's a vanilla strawberry tart !

    Recepy is simple and amazingly tasty .
   
     Vanilla Strawberry tart !
   
      The ingredients you need are  : - 300 g of strawberries
                                                     - 5 eggs
                                                     - 400 ml of cream
                                                     - 300 ml of milk
                                                     - 1 and a half tablespoon of flour
                                                     - 200 g of sugar
                                                     - 1 vanilla pod
    Aand as for the dough you can find the recepy in the previous post with the chocolate tart it's a shortcrust dough recepy .

      So first of all let's make the dough . In a bowl mix all the ingredients and keep needing untill it forms a dough ' then wrap it in cling film so it doesn't dry out and form a crust ( if it does trust me you'll never be able to roll it ) , place it in the fridge for 20 minutes .

     In the meantime let's start making the vanilla curd ( this is a french classic vanilla curd recepy , quite simple and amazing yet it's preperation is a bit confusing ) .. Hot pan in with the cream and milk , bring it up to the boil and set it asside .

   In a separate bowl separate the egg yolks from the egg whites ,  with 150 of sugar whisk them well untill fluffy and pale then add 1 and a half tablespoon of white flour , mix them well , cut the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out and mix them in with the egg yolks , sugar and flour ( keep the sticks for vanilla sugar ) , and add the milk and cream at a time so it doesen't form any lumps .

            After you've done that   pour the mixture again in the pan you've placed the milk and cream at the first time , and whisk vigorously until the mixture tickens up ... by the way if your afraid you'll burn the mixture you can do it on a water bath ( bain marie ) check it on the previous post with the chocolate tart or the third post with the lemon tartlets .

      When it tickens set it asside to cool a bit and in the meantime whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt and 50 g of sugar   and add it to the vanilla cream mixture . Fold it throughly and evenly and that's about it . Cover it with a cling film and let it chill for the moment.

    Next take your pastry dough out of the fridge roll it out place it in the tart shell , poke it with a fork so it won't rise up and shrink and cover it with tinfoil and beans and fully bake it at 180 degrees Celcius for about 20 minutes or untill fully cooked .

   Take it out of the oven when it's done , fill it with the cream and cut the strawberries lenghtways and place them on top of the cream and put it in the fridge for another 10 minutes and you're done .
         
                                                                                                      Easy peasy , there you have it
                                                                                                      two amazing and easy strawberry
                                                                                                      recepies , for a nice summer day

Above are some photos with the tart , you can arrange the strawberries your own way , it doesen't have to look like mine , style it and make it your own , just use your creativity :D            
                           

Bon Appetit guys ! :D