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












         
   
             

Chocolate tart with caramel and coffee

 I just love a good chocolate dessert . Chocolate is the ultimate thing , highest scale of all romantic desserts so it should be highlighted ... It just has to scream out '' Eat Me ''
 Today i'll be giving away a classic ...  a french bitter chocolate tart ( with some improvements ) .
 This kind of tart will be the ultimate pleasure for any romantic evening and i can assure you it won't fail you .
So let's get on with the dessert . you'll need ingredients both for the sweet pastry dough and also for the filling .
 
     For the dough :
- 125 g of unsalted butter
- 250 g of white flour
- 100 g of icy sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- the zest of half a lemon
- and 2 tablespoons of cold water or milk but only if neccesary ( if the dough seems too dry and won't come togheter )
- salt
 
  For the filling :
- 300 g of bittersweet chocolate ( 70% cocoa )
- 60 g of unsalted butter
- 200 ml of liquid heavy cream
- salt
- 6 tablespoons of  lightly sweetened coffee
-and caramel made out of 100 g of   sugar and 1 knob of butter
- 3 eggs
- 50 g of  sugar
- 2 raspberries and 1 mint leaf for decorating

     So first of all let's start making the dough , and for that you'll need a bowl and bring all the ingredients togheter , shape it round and a bit flat so you can roll it easier , wrap it in a plastic papper and put it in the fridge for 20 minutes . After that take it out roll it with the rolling pin and place it in the tart tray , be sure to tuck it in good . Put it again in the fridge for 30 minutes .In the meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degrees C . Take it out after that , stab it with a fork in different places but not too hard and put it the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or untill it gets a bit golden .( be sure not to forget about it  )
    Now for the filling prepare a Bain Marie ( check the 3rd post with the lemon tartlets ) , break your chocolate into tiny bits so they'll melt faster and 60 g of butter  , 200 ml of heavy cream , a pinch of salt to bring the flavour of the chocolate up , and 6 tablespoons of lightly sweetened coffee , let them melt togheter while stirring from time to time
  When they melted togheter really good it's time to get on and make our caramel . In a non-stick pan pour 100 g of  sugar turn the heat on forwack ( which means really high ) , this is not the time to be reckless , be carefull with this and do not be tempted to touch or taste it , or you will get burnt , be extremly cautious with this . Let it melt and when it comes togheter and forms some sort of liquidy paste take it off the heat and add
1 knob of butter to chill it down a bit so it won't overcook or burn .. Add the caramel with the melted chocolate , take it off the heat and let it chill ..
  Next in a seperate large bowl whipp 3 eggs with 50 g of sugar untill they go fluffy and pale and add the chocolate mixture when it chilled a bit , otherwise you'll get scrambled eggs and you don't want that .
  Prepare the tart tray and add the filling ( keep a bit of the filling for decorating ) . Leave it in the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes , depending on your oven ( untill the filling sets and it's a bit wobbly at the center )
  Take it out of the oven and leave it to rest for 30 to 40 minutes and you should cut into it real smoothly .
   Be inventive , decorate your plate since it's a romantic dessert , make it sexy and serve it .

This is it ... not that hard and it just looks gorgeous , can't go wrong with this one trust me :D
French people really now their stuff when it comes to food and romance .

                                                                                                  Bon Appetit

So , here i am , waiting .... there are 2 more hours till the sign ups for the Jamie Oliver apprenticeship programe , and i am so anxious i can barerly think ... i hope my message will do it's work and help me get at least in the 200 competitors , there's always the chance of being a romanian that could stop me from being accepted , but right now i can't think negative , i have to think i will join them and i'll do good .
 For the moment i guess i'll be watching Jamie's italian road trip since these days i felt i had no inspiration and the minute i watched my first episode of Jamie's italian road trip ... the recepies started to pour , i mean the meaning of the show ''Jamie's italian road trip '' is to get inspiration ... Jamie felt overwhelmed by all of his culinary activities and he decided to go to Italy where his favorite cuisine get's its roots and try to get inspired again.
  Well since i can't afford going to neither Italy nor France or other inspiring places , i'll just have to watch Jamie and it kinda works , i know it sounds strange but i kinda feel i'm going on that trip with him aswell and i feel better already ... so guys i know i've been bla bla bla - ing you a lot but this is it the moment i've waited for and to tell you the truth these 2 hours are the longest freakin hours i've ever met .
  So , thats kinda it ... i'll leave you people watch your movies , eat , sleep whatever you guys do at this time of hour , ... good night all :D

Funky banana dessert

A beautifull , simple dessert , fit for a good sunny day . I just discovered this dessert  by some sort of an accident , sometimes it seems accidents cand be the start of something good , not all accidents are bad :D .
 So i made lemon curd for some pie i wanted to make , but since i was impatient i peeled a banana since for me to eat but i accidentally spilled the bowl with the lemon curd all over the banana . At first i wanted to wash it away but then i thaught '' wait a sec , why not eat it like this , can't be bad '' ... and when i had my first bite , flavours started to pop out , like tiny explosions of fireworks in my mouth , it was so amazing ... God the taste was just perfect .
 So i thaught why not make a desert with these two . So i started to shape it but something was missing i needed a bit of crunch to the desert since it felt too creamy , so i immediately thaught about biscuits ( banana and vanilla flavoured biscuits = amazing combo ) . I named this dessert '' Funky Banana '' since the dessert looks quite funky and the accident happened when i listened some funky music (haha) .
 Anyway enough chit chat let's get started :

  So you'll need :
-2 bananas
- lemon curd
- mint ( for decorating)
- vanilla flavoured biscuits

 First of all peel the bananas and cut them sideways . Then add them in a cup or a deep glass , mash some biscuits and add them over the bananas and then a tablespoon of lemon curd (lemon curd recipe you can check it in my third post , the one with the lemon tartlets ) . Kepp repeating this process until you reach the top of the cup of glass and cover it with lemon curd , add some sliced bananas sideways , sprinkle some mashed biscuits around and add some mint for decorating purposes .
  It's simple , cheap and fast . What more do you want ... and the taste is just amazing . Think vanilla , lemon , bananas all togheter ... Just Lovely !
   Here are some photos of the dessert taken by a friend of mine with his fancy camera ,  Spatariu Andrei .

  Have fun with this dessert guys , it's just lovely and fit for a Springy day  .

Tagliatelle alla Carbonara

Welcome to my world , as in pasta world ...  the place where you'll find the most delicious pasta recipes and experience each and every one of them through my guiding . At the end of this post one of my biggest achievments besides giving you a good recipe would be , turning you into a pasta freak as i am  (:D) .
  My teacher from the university i study in asked me once  what am i cookin' , and i said pasta , and he seemed quite interested and asked what kind of pasta and i answered '' Tagliatelle alla Carbonara '' . He was like ''Omg that's my favorite '' and who can blame him it's a good dish . Lovely , smooth and quite fancy ... this dish used to be also the worker's dish in Italy . The workers used to receive carbonara as a meal ( quite fancy ) , but of course throughout the time carbonara was modiffied like pizza and it became an elegant and amazing meal , quite rare persons who would not accept a plate of Carbonara , since even the smell can attract you .
   There are many ways to serve Carbonara , but the most common is with spaghetti or tagliatelle . I love both ways but my favorite one is with tagliatelle since it captures more of the sauce and bacon and it makes it more lovely , but that's me some prefer spaghetti ... but either way carbonara is amazing .
    So guys let's start this amazing recipe and first of all you need the recepy for an amazing pasta dough .... of course you can use dry pasta but it's way more delicious and amazing using fresh pasta , but if you don't have time just use dry pasta from the supermarket .
 
     Here are the ingredients for the dough :
              - 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks
              - salt
              - 450 g of white flour
   
    Here are the ingredients for the sauce :
                - 200 g of bacon ( tell the butcher to slice it thinly for you )
                - 65 g of parmezan
                - 2 egg yolks
                - 200 ml of creme
                - 2 tablespoons of olive oil
                - black pepper

   First off let's start makin' the pasta dough . pour on a table the 450 g of flour and make a hole in the center it should look like a well . crak the eggs and the yolks in the center , add a pinch of salt and with a fork start whisking them as you add a bit of the flour from the sides of the well just be carefull not to break the well until the eggs and the yolks absorbed some of the flour so they strenghten a bit . After a while , break the well and keep needling the dough untill it absorbes enough of the flour so it won't be too sticky and not too hard . When it reaches a yellowy colour it's ready . Get a plastic papper , fold the dough and put it in the fridge for about 20 minutes .
  After 20 minutes have passed get the dough out of the fridge , cut it in half and start streching it with a pasta machine or if you don't have a pasta machine use a rolling pin like or a bottle .Stretch the dough untill you can see through it a bit like so :

       
After you've reached this point , dust it with a bit of flour and fold it in half like so :

then keep folding it in half untill you've reached this shape :

    then with a knife start cutting like so to the end :

       After this shake the pasta a bit so they won't stick togheter , use a bit of flour if they feel a bit sticky

      Do this with the other half of the dough .  So this is your home made tagliatelle , they look amazing and it's quite fun making fresh pasta , i just love doing it , it's kinda relaxing :D
       Next step is making the sauce . In a bowl sepparate egg yolks from the egg whites and add only the egg yolks . Then add 200 ml of cream ( Grana Cucina  , you can find it in the supermarket ) , and 65 g of parmezan and mix them untill they form some sort of cream . Then get the 200 g of bacon and cut it julienne style , which means sideways ( google julienne ) . Add in a hot pan 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and the sliced bacon .keep styring them untill they get a golden colour. In the meantime get a pot with cold water , add a bit of salt to it and bring it to the boil. When it boils place the pasta in it and let them boil for about 3 minutes since it's fresh. If you're using dry pasta you need to let it boil more  . When the bacon is ready add them to the mixture with the yolks , cream and parmezan .
   Finally add the pasta to the mixture and fold them in . Serve them on a hot plate and grate a bit of parmezan on top , add a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some fresh black pepper , and you should be done :D .
   Here's youre carbonara :

  An amazing , delicious recipe fit for any person , any time , any day . I just love it .
  So guys try this recipe and  subscribe me or e-mail if you got any other questions . I'll just got attend to my lovely pasta while they're hot :D .
                                                                                   Bon Appetit fellas !                                                                                    

Caraway soup with home made croutons

Caraway soup ( supa de chimen ) , a lovely soup ... quite known for it's medicinal usage but also for its bad taste , yet as a Chef you have the abillity to transform something nasty into something delicious and great . I am not a Chef yet since that position can only be achieved after a long period of time and through hard work .
 Let's just say i know a thing or two about cooking and i know how to make a wonderfull caraway soup with home-made croutons .
It's no fancy recepy just keep it simple . This recipe i'm about to share with you guys is really easy and also fast  and it's not only extremly good for your health but it tastes amazing and it's good to have this recipe at your side for any guests that my show up and you won't have time to prepare fancy stuff . Also as a student it's quite beneficial since it's a low buget soup and it's healthy and far tastier and those nasty soups in a can you buy them from the supermarket .

So what you need is :
- 3 tablespoons of caraway
- 1 big carrot or 2 small ones
- 1 onion
- half of celeriac
- 9 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- bread
- parsley
-salt
- pepper
- 2 egg yolks
- 200 ml creme fraiche]

So let's get started . First off you get a pan fill it with water but leave about 3 centimeters empty . Put 3 tablespoons of caraway inside the pan with the cold water  and some sea salt and bring it up to the boil. In the meantime get your oven to 200 degrees C get a tray ready and fill it with 7 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil . Cut your bread into small cubes and place them in the tray with the olive oil and keep soaking them in the oil a bit . After that place the tray with the bread in the oven for 30 minutes , they should be ready when they have a golden brown color , if they are not ready after 30 minutes leave them more just do not forget about them keep them checked . Next chop the carrot into small cubes , chop the celeriac into small cubes also and the onion chop it finely .
Get a pot and put 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and add the onion , after 5 seconds add the carrot and the celeriac . Add a pinch of salt to the mixture and a pinch of pepper and saute them for a few minutes .
 When the water with the caraway is ready ( which means it has a darkie brown color ) , place a siv and add it to the pot where the vegetable mixture is . Let it simmer gently , and in the meantime in a small bowl sepparate 2 eggs and use only the egg yolks and add 200 ml of creme fraiche ( you cand use sweet cream or sour cream instead ) and a bit of the liquid from the soup so the mixture won't get cheesy . Add this mixture to the pot with the vegetables and let it boil for 5 more minutes , also adjust the seasoning to the soup if it needs more salt and all ... this involves your personal tastes .
 Did you forget about the croutons ? ... i hope not (:D)  so get those croutons out if they're ready and place them in a bowl or whatever you like so they can chill a bit .
 When the soup is ready get some croutons place them in the soup and chop some fresh parsley if you want , it gives the soup an earthy taste .

So this is it quite speedy and tasty , i love having this soup ... it's cheap , delicious and simple ... my kind of soup :D . So guys thats about it enjoy

    By the way you vegetarians should get a kick out of this soup , quite tasy and no meat :D                                                                                                                                                                    
                                                                     
                                                                                      Bon Appetit ! :D