Battle 20 - Sis: Pasta "Camilla style"

Summer is at its best in Switzerland and the garden is getting full of tomatoes. As the battle theme was Jamie's recipe challenge, I thought an Italian dish would be a good idea. Jamie is such a good ambassador for Italian food, isn't he?

This recipe is a mix between cooked and raw ingredients. To me, some ingredients such as Parma ham, Rucola salad or basilico are much better raw. It's why it's made of cooked pastas with a creamy tomato sauce and top with raw 100% Italian ingredients.

Pasta "Camilla style"

Ingredients for 2 persons

- 150g "Penne"

- 5 tomatoes

- 0,5 dl cream

- thyme, basilico

- 3 slices Parma ham

- 50g fresh rucola

- a few slices of Parmesan (Italian cheese)

- a pinch of sugar

- salt

1. Prepare the tomato sauce. Boil the 5 tomatoes for 2 minutes. Let them cool down and peel them. Take the seeds out. Cut them in small pieces. Put them in a pot with the thyme, basilico and a pinch of sugar. Cook the tomato sauce during one hour on a low-medium heat until it's getting thicker "sauce like". Add the cream and cook again for 15 min.

2. Boil the penne in hot water for 10 min.

3. Add the penne to tomato sauce and mix well. Serve in 2 plates and top each with some parma ham slices, rucola and parmesan.

To fit with this funky dish, I'd propose to listen to that !! BIG CITY life vs little village life, what do you think Bengt?!

Honnestly, I sometimes miss this BIG city life..but never for long ;-)) (Except the skateboard thing+the easy city biking, hahahaha !)

Battle 20 - Bro: Tagliatelle Tomato-Chanterelle

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy to introduce you my new kitchen! A gas kitchen! Very cool. It looks like a subwoofer, don’t you think???

I am still a bit on my way to unpack my stuff, and haven’t given food much attention those last days, I must admit. But listening to the gas speakers and looking at the August summer weather outside the window, I imagine the following recipe (try it and let me know if it works, I will only be able to cook it for real this week-end…).

Tagliatelle tomato-chanterelle, for 2 persons:

- 400g of fresh tagliatelle (check out battle 10 for the homemade recipe)
- 4 nice tomatoes
- A basket of chanterelles (200g?)
- ½ Shallot
- 2-3 table spoon of cream
- Thyme

Peel the tomatoes and empty them. Filter what you take out and save that juice. Cut the tomatoes in cubes. Brush the dirt from the chanterelles, cut them in small pieces.

In a hot pan, roast the shallot dies, and add the mushrooms and the juice saved from the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper and let it cook slowly for 3-4 minutes. Add some thyme and the cream, adjust the spicing. Add the tomato cubes for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, just to warm them (while boiling the tagliatelle). Ready!

As simple, powerful and poetic as the music of Mono… Like it Jamie?

Battle 19 - Sis: Chicken Taboulé

Hello!Helloo!!Hellooo!!! I'm back in the battle after one month off;-) Everyone needs vacation in Summer, right?! And to start with a real holiday dish, I mean refreshing, full of garden herbs et qui sent le Sud, I propose you a chicken taboulé! Basically, instead of couscous, you use your last grilled chicken leftover (without skin);-)

Chicken taboulé

Ingredients for 2 persons

200g chicken (full chicken left overs or chicken breast)

3-4 tbsp olive oil

Lots of garden herbs (thyme, chive, parsili, ..)

30g pine nuts, grilled

Salt from Guérande

1. Chop very finely the chicken. Add the garden herbs, olive oil, grilled pine nuts and salt. Mix well. It's done! And it's delicious with a glass of Pinot noir... from Valais, of course ;-)

And while tasting this dish on a sunny terrace, listen to Heidi Happy (the name is great, isn't it?!)

Next battle topic: Jamie Oliver's recipe challenge

Battle 19 – Bro: Best match for Pinot Noir

I have tried to think of seasonal products for this recipe supposed to be enjoyed with a glass of Pinot Noir. And right now, in many gardens and all shops, you find this absolutely amazing fruit named cherry... Juicy, tasty, colourful, pretty, the cherry is the Marilyn Monroe of all fruit and veggies sections in supermarkets.

From there, I imagined that it could be nice to serve cherries with lamb, meat that is traditionally cooked with dates, mint or apricots in Arabian countries. I haven’t prepared a tagine, but just a juicy piece of lamb (“Lammeculotte”), that I have roasted in the oven with “couscous spices” and cherries. Very easy, very class, perfect with Pinot Noir, you should try it!!!

As background music, I would suggest to play: “The Fleet Foxes”.

Relax, Honey, I am cooking tonight! :-)

Lamb and cherries, for 2 persons:

- A nice piece of lamb (meaning a piece that is best when “bloody”), 300-400g.
- 250 g of cherries.
- Couscous spices (event. replace it with Garam Masala, which is easier to find).
- Meat-thermometer.

Pre-warm the oven at a temperature of 120°C.
Cut all cherries in two, and take the stones away. Place them on a plate that can go in the oven, spice them a little.
On a very hot pan, roast shortly the lamb on all sides, in order to close well all pores of the meat. Place that piece on top of the cherries, spice it with the rest of the spice-mix and put the plate in the oven. That’s pretty much it!

The lamb is ready once the heart of the meat reaches 70-75°C. Wait a few minutes before slicing it. Dress on plates with a few slices, topped with cherries. Add salt and pepper.

My Pinot Noir that day was from Fernand Cina, Salgesh, Switzerland. A great winemaker producing excellent wines at very reasonable prices. Thanks!!!

Battle 18 – Bro: Flower Power

Great to be back in the battle, with that summer theme « flower power »! However, with warm sunny days, I have lately spent a lot more time in than out, and my kitchen hasn’t been used a lot. Currently, I’m out at the famous Roskilde Festival, one of the biggest music festivals in Europe.

Of course, who says « festival » definitely also says « flower power »… At these events, everybody suddenly becomes friendly, helpful, attractive and tolerant. This happy breeze can actually last during a few days, and it feels so good! But, of course, at the end, everybody gets tired, useless, dirty and close-minded again.

However, the dream is on, and it’s time to enjoy it before that soufflé comes down. So, my flower power tip for the festival: go straight to the west camping canteens, and choose the Burger de Luxe, that you can get for 60 Danish Crones, and 20 minutes queue. Delicious warm bread, double juicy burger, cheese, and everything. Top it with 4 cold Tuborg. Join a group of other joyful innocents, and bite in the steaks! Finally, pull your temporary friends to the concert of Mono! Dejligt, ikke?!

The next battle will happen in 10-15 days, Cam being on the road! Personally, at the end of the week, tired of beers and burgers, I might get tempted by a good wine and a more elaborated dish. Therefore, theme for next battle: "best match for Pinot Noir"! Ohooo, fancyyyyyy !

Battle 18 - Sis: Flower Power

3 hours to wait in Dubai airport...perfect time to finish writing this post! Before leaving Switzerland, the garden was getting so colourful that I could not resist to use those beautiful flowers in recipes ;-) Here is the outcome!!

Rose and almond cream

Ingredients for 2 persons

1 tsp corn starch

1 tbsp sugar

1 egg

1 dl milk

0,5 dl rose water

0,5dl cream

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 tbsp almond purée

1. Mix in a pan the egg with sugar, corn starch, milk, rose water and cream. Heat it slightly until it starts to thicken. Take it out of the heat and add the vanilla sugar. Let it cool down and finally add the almond purée.

2. Serve with fresh strawberries and decorate with colourful flower petals.

Well, and during that looooong 24hrs trip, I can finally discover all the new music you gave me, Bengt! And there is one band I particularly love: The Handsome Furs.

Open battle: it's all about painting

We could not resist to show you this! This is a late contribution we got for the Open Battle. Isn't it so fine and elegant? It's really like a Chinese painting....Congrats Zoé!!!

Next battle theme: FLOWER POWER!! And the deadline is already..tomorrow! You better be quick, little bro;-)

OPEN BATTLE: OUR TOP 3!

Wow, that was not easy to pick our TOP3 out of the recipes we got! Congrats and thanks so much to everyone who took part in the challenge!!! We hope that you'll be as creative as you were for the next open battle ;-)

We got recipes from all over the world and so are our winners ;-)

Val, from China

We absolutely loved your super colourful and creative salad. On n'a qu'une envie: la croquer au plus vite!!!

Shanghai Summer Delish

Ingredients for 2 persons

- 180g of rice vermicelli

- 15 cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

- 10 asparagus (cut in 3 cm bits)

- 1 can of straw mushrooms or 15 straw mushrooms (boiled and cut in half)

- a handful of coriander leaves

- 3 stems of spring onions (cut in 3cm bits)

- 15 ready made longxia or crawfish deep-fried in oil and chili

- 30g of minced pork

Sauce: 3 tablespoons of Chinese vinegar, 3 coffeespoons of sugar, a few drops of soy sauce

1- Soften the vermicelli for 5 mn in boiling water, strain and leave to cool in the fridge.

2- Deep fry the crawfish with their shell in oil with chili peppers for 5mn. Leave to cool

3- Boil straw mushroom (unless you use canned ones), then cut in half. Cut cherry tomatoes in half as well and put aside.

4- Boil the minced pork for 5mn in salted water, strain and leave to cool.

5- Cut the asparagus in strips of 3 cm, boil in salted water for 5 mn, strain and leave them to cool.

6- Cut spring onions in strips of 3 cm and put aside.

7- Peel the shell off the crawfish except for 2.

8- Mix all the above ingredients evenly with the vermicelli.

9- Mix the ingredients of sauce until sugar has melted, add in salad and stir.

10- Sprinkle coriander on top, and decorate with the two unpeeled crawfish

Inspirational music; Jungle Drum by Emiliana Torrini

Mofo, from Greece

With your picture&recipe&music, you made us directly travel. That's what we loved! We could almost see the white houses with a wonderful view on the sea;-) We litterally had a short escape in Greece... loved it just before holiday :-)

Tsatziki: (how it’s REALLY done)

1 litre of real Greek yoghurt

1 cucumber

1 table spoon of lemon juice (fresh lemon, not concentrated)

½ table spoon of Greek virgin olive oil

2 fresh cloves of garlic

Salt, pepper

Chop the cucumber carefully into squares ■.

Add it to the yoghurt with ♥.

Squeeze the lemon juice into the yoghurt. Mind not to get seeds into the yoghurt.

Crush the garlic into the yoghurt.

Add the olive oil, salt and pepper.

Always let the Tsatziki get ready in the fridge at least 8 hours before enjoying it. Taste! maybe you’ll need to add more garlic, salt and/ or pepper…

To drink: Cold Greek Retzina wine, preferably the brand of Malamatina (in the image). Add some drops of soda bubbily water.

Retzina has been made for at least 2000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Aleppo Pine resin in ancient times. Before the invention of impermeable glass bottles, oxygen caused many wines to spoil within the year. Pine resin helped keep air out, while at the same time infusing the wine with resin aroma.

JAMAS! (Clic to take a trip!)

Supa, from Germany

The picture was really cool and original!We know that we have readers asking all the time for a potato salad, so Gé;-), here is the recipe for THE perfect potato salad (à en faire tomber un viking, dixit B.)!!And it looks yummy!!

Potatoe salad with pesto!

For 2 persons you need:

500 gr potatoes

a bunch of basilicum

2 garlic cloves

salt

black pepper

one hand full of pine nuts

5 tablespoons of sherry vinegar

10 tablespoons of olive oil

parmesan cheese

Boil the potatoes, peel them and slice them. Afterwards let them cool down.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in the blender to get a pesto. Mix pesto and potatoes and put the salad in the fridge for 2 hours.

When eating it on a sunny summer day, while having a bbq in your garden, listen to something hearty, like "Give it away" from the Red hot chili peppers.

Enjoy!

TODAY 8AM

(Une parenthèse)

Entre coquelicots et vignes...

A breathe of fresh air on Valais Wine Path...

SUMMER SALAD!!!

Em, em, we are still deliberating about the kitchen battlers and the recipes we got ;-) By the end of the week, you will discover the winners....suspense, suspense...

Till then, here is the sister's version of a Summer salad. It's full of aromatic plants (mint, basil, chive and parsil), and there is a pink touch with strawberries and beetroot chips!!

To go with this funky touch, don't miss my alumni colleague and accessoirement our national hip-hop king: Stress! 

Battle 17 – Bro: COOKIES

I’m sorry, but I am not a cookie baker. JE SAIS PAS FAIRE DES BISCUITS! It’s been a week that I have been trying to create cookies, and let’s be honest, let’s see my kitchen as it is; no cookies are being baked there, not by myself…

ALORS QUOI!? I feel like Roger Federer in front of Rafael Nadal in a French Open Final, I feel like the English football team in a world cup tournament. I feel like Benjamin Netanyahu visiting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I feel like “it won’t work”!

Frustrated, I sit on a stool, open a beer, and listen to the loud Crystal Antlers. It’s all I would recommend to Roger, David, Benjamin or Mahmoud. It won’t work, that’s it, punkt schluss. And if Federer proves me wrong by pulling the famous silver cup over his head in two weeks, I promise to get back to you with my own cookies recipe!

However, until then and for beginner cookie makers like me, I could recommend Pierre Hermé’s chocolate cookies, a recipe that you can find on the blog la tartine gourmande. They are easy and delicious. Or this old recipe for Danish almond cookies, that my girlfriend stole to her mother, who herself had stolen it to her mother, who we don’t know if she created it or stole it from somebody. But this secret is as secret as the Lisbeth Salander 1991 säpo secret report, and I won’t allow myself to openly write it here…

So I let you with my sister’s cookies, who’s Florentines are absolutely outstanding. After she sent a box of those to me during my military service, half of the division wished to marry her! And if Swiss army is good at something, it might be at cookie tasting… Enjoy, and please pardon me…

Battle 17 - Sis: ALPINE COOKIES

In between "Nusstorte" and "Florentins", those walnut cookies are nice for coffee/tea time, listening to the British songwriter Polly Scattergood... 

Alpine cookies

Ingredients for 20 small squared cookies

For the cookies dough:

- 210 g flour

- 85 g powdered sugar

- 25 g almonds

- 1 egg

- 125 g butter

For the caramel-walnut topping:

- 100 g walnuts

- 3 cl water

- 55 g sugar

- 1,25 dl cream

- 25 g honey

- 30 g butter

1. One day before, prepare the dough (500g in total): Mix well the butter until soft. Then add one by one the egg, the powdered sugar, the almond powder and finally the flour. Mix very well and keep the dough in fridge.

2. Take 100g (out of 500g) of dough. Roll the dough to about 2mm thick and place it on a squared baking pan. Place it in the oven at 180 degrees for 12 minutes until slightly golden.

3. Prepare the Walnut topping. Combine in a pan the water and sugar and prepare a sirup. Then, add the cream, honey and butter. Cook it on medium-high heat until obtaining a thick and brown caramel. Mix well that caramel with walnuts and top the baked dough.

4. Place in oven again, and bake the cookies at 230 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

5. Let the cookies cool completely.

6. Cut them in small squares.

P.S: Use the rest of the dough for baking tartlets for instance. You can keep the dough at least 2 weeks in fridge.

Open battle: SUMMER SALAD

Dear Kitchen Fighters,

Incredible! The fiftieth and fifty-first cook just joined the coolest Facebook kitchen; let’s celebrate it with an open battle!

The theme that we would like to propose you is SUMMER SALAD! 

Send us your craziest, greatest, and most delicious recipe by the 31st of May, including an image of it and the music tip that boost your imagination! 

We look forward to publishing on the blog recipes from all over the world!

Until then, let your kitchen rock, and enjoy sunny spring days!

Send your recipe, image and music link to:

kitchenbattle@gmail.com

Battle 16 - Sis: TOMATO CUBES

When it come to aperitif, I'm always in ;-)  Around here there are more than 500 wineries and aperitif with white wine is more than a tradition! From 17h on, villages' bistrots are getting full of people gathering to have a glass of white wine as an afterwork. 

To fit to white wine, I prepared those "sérac (kind of fresh cheese)-tomato cubes" picks, a fresh and healthy snack!

Tomato cubes

Ingredients for 2 persons

4 tomatoes

basilico

thyme

1 tsp olive oil

1 tbsp vinegar

0.5 tbsp sugar

pinch of salt

3 sheets of gelatine

1. Boil the tomatoes 3 minutes. Cool them down and peel them.

2. Put in a pan the tomatoes with olive oil, vinegar, basilico, thym and sugar. Cook them for about 30 minutes on medium heat until, you get a concentrated tomato sauce. Mix finely this sauce.

3. Filter the sauce and put again in the pan. Warm it slightly and put the 3 sheets of gelatine, until they are completely melted.

4. Let the mix cool down in a small squared baking pan and put it in fridge during 3-4 hours.

5. Once the mix is solid, cut small tomato squares.

6. Put them on tooth picks in association with serac, mozarella or other fresh vegetables..

Next battle topic: cookies !!!

Battle 17 – Bro: ELECTRO APERO

Aaaaaaah! L’apéro! It kind of means appetizer but simply sounds much better… Apéro, something that, we, Swiss, are good at! A little drink, with a little something to eat, around 12ish, or around 6ish, one hour before attacking a real meal… Typically, there in the Alps, it consists of a glass of white wine, with some cheese, a few slices of dry meat, and a piece of rye bread… Maybe the best apero, but, in Copenhagen, away from any view on the mountains, things must be done differently. For apero, you’d more have a beer or a cocktail, while listening to electro music!

So, why not, after all, trying this package: kind of a martini-gin with an apero-stick, listening to Giana Factory, a Danish pretty band, playing a cool electro-pop-rock music.

2 Cocktails:

- 2 shots of Gin
- 1 dl of Dry Vermouth
- The juice of a lemon
- Eventually a teaspoon of brown sugar (not for me, maybe for her!)
- Ice cubes

Throw all this in a shaker, shake it, poor it with style in two glasses!

2 Apero-Sticks:

- 2 cherry tomatoes
- 2 olives
- 1 slice of bacon (cut in two)
- 2 cubes of mozzarella, or eventually goat cheese
- Oregano

In a pan, cook the tomatoes in a bit of olive oil and salt during 8 minutes.
Roast the two half slices of bacon (not too much), and pack a cube of mozzarella and a bit of oregano within each of them. Finish roasting the bacon, which will also warm the cheese a bit.

On bamboo sticks, pick a tomato (confite), then an olive, and a bacon-mozzarella cube.

Serve the sticks with the cocktail, and keep on shaking your head in rhythm with the subwoofer!

Battle 15 - Sis: CARACHOCO SPREAD

I bet dear brother that you could eat a whole jar "à la petite cuillère" ;-) Imagine your home made danish bread, just out of oven, still a bit warm...and you spread this Chocolate-Caramel on it..it's melting...mmhhhh...

CaraChoco Spread

Ingredients for 3 small jars

Caramel sauce:

- 40g sugar

- 8cl cream

- 30g butter

- a pinch of salt

Chocolate spread:

- 120g dark chocolate (70%cocoa)

- 200g condensed milk

- 120g butter

1. Prepare the caramel sauce. Melt on medium heat the 40g sugar until light brown. Add the cream and mix well. Finally, out of fie, add the butter, mix it till well melted. Let cool down.

2. Prepare the chocolate spread. Melt on very low heat the dark chocolate, the add the condensed milk. Finally, add the butter and mix well.

3. Combine the caramel sauce with the chocolate spread and fill in 3 small jars (sterilised in hot water).

Battle 15 – Bro: DANISH HABITUS

I had difficulties finding a funny idea for this battle turning around food that can be eaten between bigger meals… However, I realised how much these snacks could be culturally interesting!

The French would define it as a “goûter” (tasting) expressing their frustration about the reduced size of that meal; the Swiss-French would call it a “quatre heure” (“a 4pm”) respecting their love for precise timing, and an hour later the British would probably say “tea-time”, thinking of their traditional way of drinking tea, eating small cakes and talking politely with Aunt Petunia about the Queen’s new robes…

But what about the Danes? The Danes have a habit of eating the weirdest snacks! The most popular of them is, believe it or not, hotdog and chocolate milk!!! You get this package for a good price around every street corner…

Celebrating this fragment of Danish habitus, eating a sausage and drinking “Cocio”, I would like to push forward the absolutely outstanding image of this brand that proposes chocolate milk in the coolest glass bottles. The old Cocio logo, the fantastic match of colours, the shape of the bottle, is fascinating! I would definitely classify a Cocio bottle as a great example of Danish design, I love it, hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!

Conclusion: the Danes are maybe not best at fine food, but they save the situation with their amazing sense of style.

More about Cocio here, more about Denmark there. Bon appétit!

Next battle theme: Apéro!

Battle 14 – Bro: A KIND OF COQ AU VIN

It happens that I feel the need of tasting an old tradition, something that grandmas would find normal, but that today became more extraordinary than sushi. This old-school way of cooking, I’m afraid, slowly disappears… It’s a shame! How would life be without tripe, tongues, and boudin? Boring! So let’s save our grandmas’ recipes, let’s sometimes cook stuff during hours!

At my grandma’s home, wine had a central place. It came in many sauces, in many dishes, and it always was on the table. Rarely fancy, this wine was a day-to-day wine that helped people go through life. And this is the wine I’d like to live with as well… A good glass of wine that makes you happy, that makes your dinner even better, the true and simple way of drinking wine. High or low the price of the bottle can be, drinking wine should remain a humble, simple, pleasure! Ok, ok, long story made short, I propose you to try this easy version of coq au vin…

Coq au vin, ingredients for 2 persons:

-600g of chicken in pieces, with bones and skin (could also be legs)
- 2-3 dl of red wine
- 1 carrot, in slices
- 2 branches of celery
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 branches of thyme
- 100g of bacon dies
- 1-2 slices of old bread cut in dies
- 1 pear cut in dies

Some hours before cooking your chicken, marinate it in the wine, add the carrot, the celery, the clove of garlic cut in 4 and the cloves.

Take the chicken pieces out of the wine, and roast them in a pot before adding the wine again (including everything that was in) plus the bay leaves and the thyme. Let it cook slowly during 1 hour. Add a little wine if it gets too dry.

Grill or roast the dies of bread in order to make them crusty.

Roast the bacon and add it in the pot 5 minutes before serving.

Add the pear in the pot 1 minute before serving. Adjust salt and pepper at that time.

Top the chicken and its sauce with bread dies when dressing the plates.

Serve it with seasonal vegetables (for example fresh green peas at the moment), a piece of a good fresh bread to dip in the sauce, and of course, a glass of red wine! Santé!

And if you are looking for even more melancholy, try the beautiful songs of Paul O’Reilly…

Battle 14 - Sis: VITELOTTE POTATO PUREE

Have you heard already of Vitelotte? This is a type of potato, an old species actually which has been replanted a few years ago... The funny thing about it is that it is naturally...purple!!! 

My grandma used to prepare her home-made potato purée, always with the "Rôti" brown sauce, topping it;-) I loved it so much and was always asking for a second serve ;-)

Vitelotte Potato Purée

Ingredients for 2 persons

300g Vitelotte potatoes, peeled

milk

butter

rosmarino

salt from Guérande (a French region)

1. Boil the potatoes for 30-40 min, until very soft. 

2. Mash them finely in a bowl, add the butter and milk.

3. Finally, spice it with salt from Guérande and chunks of rosmarino.

Serve it with an overcooked meat, such as "Ragoût" or "rôti", with the brown sauce...

And to be totally in the old time atmosphere, you have to listen to this or that. Grandma used to be a big fan ;-)

Next battle: Jam, Nutella, Honey&Co: Goûters Gourmands...

Battle 13 – Bro: QUICKEST HOMEMADE BREAD

Finally, here is the chance to share the recipe I always use to prepare homemade bread! It is not mine, and I won’t tell you where it comes from. But it is incredibly simple, and it gives good results. It is something that you can do just before going to bed in 3 minutes, and the bread will be ready to be placed in the oven in the morning when you get up…

Ingredients for breakfast bread for 2 persons (approximate, your instinct will help!):

- 3 dl of water (not too cold)
- 10g of fresh yeast
- White flour
- Other flour
- Seeds you like, olives, whatever you fancy
- Salt

In a big bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water, and add 2-3 tablespoons of salt. Add some white flour while mixing with a spoon. Stop adding white flour when the mix is still liquid. Start adding other flours and seeds (anything you like, so that the bread doesn’t stay too white) keep on mixing with a spoon. The mix should never get too hard, you should just be able to mix it with a spoon only (it’s the goal of this quick recipe). As soon as you reach this “limit” consistency, your bread is ready! Cover the bowl with transparent film, and put it in the fridge over night.

Bake it as you like, small breads, or larger flat breads. For example, just place big spoons of the mix beside each other on baking paper. Eventually top them with seeds, or salt, etc… Turn on the oven (200°C), you can already put your breads in the cold oven. If you do 2 rounds, you can of course also start the 2nd round in the warm oven.

As soon as the tops of the breads take colour, they should be ready. (Just apply the old trick to knock-knock them. If they sound empty, they are ready!)

It’s not easy to describe this process that is in itself approximate… But try it! In reality, it’s simple, and your instinct will guide you correctly! It could become something you’ll do with closed eyes three times a week!

Finally, early morning, while baking bread, why not listening to the smooth Mélanie Pain (…)?

Theme for next battle: “IN GRANDMA’S POT”

Battle 13 - Sis: CRANBERRIES & PECAN BREAD

This is my favourite snack when I am going hiking. With a good cheese from Valais and white wine like a dry Amigne from R. Papilloud, in Vétroz Switzerland, it can make a nice aperitif in the wineyards... You can of course change the dried fruits and nuts you want to put in the "farmer bread", at your own convenience and taste! 

Cranberries and Pecan Nuts Bread

Ingredients for a 400g bread

250g flour 

1dl milk

8cl water

10g yeast

0,5 tsp salt

50g pecan nuts

100g dried cranberries

1. Melt the yeast in the mix water-milk.

2. Combine flour and salt, add the mix water-milk-yeast and mix well.

3. Finally add the pecan nuts and cranberries. Knead well.

4. Let raise till the bread doubles size. Then put it on a prepared baking sheet.

5. Put in the cold oven and heat it at 220°c.

5. Bake for about 35-45 minutes in total.

6. To check if it's ready, you can knock knock on the bottom of bread. If well baked, it sounds "empty".

I am undoubtly going to prepare that pic-nic for tomorrow's big event in the Swiss Alps: the final of Cow Fights! The cows we have in our area are called cows from Hérens, and they are very musculous and impressive but also the kindest animals at same time. So, I won't come up with any music today but with that short movie !

Battle 12 – Bro: FISH LIKE IN THE SOUTH

I must admit that I never was a huge fan of fish. But, when barbecue's season arrives, I always dream of South, and grilled fish… Between the age of 9 and 15, it even was the only way of eating fish that I actually liked… Grilled fish, with an olive oil-lemon sauce… Try it! And while cooking and tasting, take a trip to Lisbon by clicking here!

Fish like in the south, ingredients for 2 persons:

For the fish:
- 2 fishes (some with white meat like mackerels or sea-breams)
- 2 handfuls of vegetable dies (for example a mix of tomato, pepper fruit and celery. Use the rest for a salad!)
- A tablespoon of olive oil.
- Thyme

Mix the dies with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Stuff the fishes with this mix, and oil a bit their skin with the back of the spoon, eventually close the fishes with a toothpick. Grill them on both sides, enough to make the skin crusty.

For the sauce:
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- The juice of a lemon
Whip the olive oil, the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Just before serving, try to make it light as an emulsion!

Serve this sauce on the hot grilled fishes, close your eyes, and listen to the see my friend! Ahaha!

How is life is the sun ???

Battle 12 - Sis: XINJIANG LAMB

What a perfect theme you launched dear brother ;-) The whole week-end was warm and sunny, perfect time to do the first bbq of 2009! We prepared some lamb picks, a specialty from Xinjiang Province in China. It was accompanied with freshly picked letuce and herbs salad..

Can you imagine the nice dinner we had on small green lake side?!

Xinjiang Lamb 

Ingredients for 2 persons

300g fat lamb meat, cut in small pieces 

oriental mix of spice (like "couscous" spice mix or "ras el hanout" or "Xinjiang" mix or Garam Masala instead)

salt

picks

freshly picked letuce

fresh herbs (basilico, chive, mint,..)

radishes

oil

vinegar

1. Prepare the salad and salad sauce (I guess no explanation is needed;-)

2.Prepare the Xinjiang lamb picks: put on every pick a dozen of small lamb cubes

3. Grill the lamp picks on the barbecue until golden, about 3-4 minutes.

4. Put the spice and salt just before the lamb is completely cooked. Cook for 1 more minute

They are from Neuchâtel, they are called "A Virtual Friend". To listen to the trio, click here!

Next battle theme: "home made" bread... 

Battle 11 - Sis: FRESH STRAWBERRIES&YOGURT ICE CREAM

Hello strawberry! Miam, miam, I love those bright red berries, announcing the Spring and synonymous of vacation or romantic pic-nics... I could eat kilos of them, just freshly picked, pure! My favourite are Gariguette, but pretty hard to find in Switzerland... Also the wild strawberries are delicious and can be found around here in the mountains, but later in the season, in July and August.

I came up today with an easy recipe, using mainly fresh strawberries but with a little touch of freshness...yoghurt ice cream! Such a nice mix!

Fresh Strawberries with Yoghurt Ice cream

Ingredients for 2 persons

400g fresh strawberries ("Gariguette" or "Mara" if you can find them;-)

2tsp sugar

600g yoghurt

120g sugar

8 cl water

1 orange (zest)

1. Prepare the ice cream: make a sirup with water and sugar. Then, mix well with the yoghurt and zest of orange. Put in the ice cream maker for 30 minutes.

2. Prepare the strawberries. Purée 150g of strawberries with 2 tsp sugar to obtain strawberry juice.

3. Cut the 250g fresh strawberries left, top with the strawberry juice and one scoop of yoghurt ice cream.

To accompany this pop and fruity dessert, you can listen to that !

 

Battle 11 – Bro: STRAWBERRY CARPACCIO

I was surprised to already find Danish strawberries at the supermarket… I wonder in what kind of home they have been growing!? Anyway, do you know that Strawberry is probably the most emblematic Scandinavian fruit? When the season comes, you can see huge strawberry fields full of strawberry pickers who come to the welfare countries for a month or two. Let’s wish them good working conditions and fair salaries!

Strawberry is amazing, maybe best when served simply. That’s why (and also because, as you know, I’m a bit lazy), I would propose this recipe:

Strawberry Carpaccio, for 2 persons:

- 250g of Strawberries
- The juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- 6-10 leaves of mint (chiselled)
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- Black pepper

Slice the strawberries and marinate them during 45 minutes in the brown sugar and the limejuice.

Place the strawberries slices as a carpaccio on flat plates (with the marinade). Dispatch the mint over them and add a teaspoon of olive oil on each carpaccio. Spice it with black pepper, and a light touch of “fleur de sel”. (Maybe, try to replace mint with basil? I'll try!)

With this, I would recommend to listen to Sometime around Midnight from The Airborne Toxic Event. It will give you the same big smile than the one you get when biting in a juicy strawberry! (These guys are great, go see them if they are around!)

Theme for next battle: Barbecue!!!

Battle 10 - Sis: *PUMPKIN SHRIMP* PASTA

Wow, I am such in a rush for that battle, had a super busy week-end;-) So, I am coming up with a recipe I made some time ago already, while still living in Shanghai. China is the paradise for pasta as in every street market, you can find some "ready to use" pasta sheets for only one yuan! They also prepare some very tasty Asian ravioli...Mmmhh...Miss those!

Pumpkin Shrimp Pasta

Ingredients for 2 persons

150g "Asian ravioli" pasta sheet (do you get me?!)

12 large shrimps

150g pumpkin

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Chives

0,5dl cream

salt, pepper

watercress

1. Prepare the ravioli filling: cut the pumpkin in small pieces and boil them for 20 minutes until soft. Purée the pumpkin with the ginger.

2. Cut finely 6 shrimps out of 12. Mix them with 5tsp of pumpkin purée.

3. Finally, add the chives, finely cut, to the filling.

4. Prepare the Asian ravioli: Cut roundish (10cm diameter) pieces of pasta. In the middle of each one, add a tsp of shrimp-pumpkin filling. Make then "mezze lune" shapes.

5. With the pumpkin purée left, prepare a sauce by adding 0,5 dl of cream, salt and pepper.

6. Grill the 6 left shrimps 30 seconds on each side, add a bit of salt and pepper

7. Finally, boil the Asian raviolis 3 minutes.

8. Dress on a plate the Asian ravioli, top with the pumpkin sauce, grilled shrimps and fresh watercress

Next battle theme: soooo strawberry!

And...Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!!! the new Röyksopp album is out!!! But no live planned in Switerland for Summer festivals, bouh:-(

Battle 10 – Bro: LEMON-ASPARAGUS TAGLIATELLE

Ok, for once, I’ll make it short, and focused on cooking only. Here is a very spring recipe for fresh tagliatelle, with a lemon-asparagus sauce, a combination I love!

Ingredients for 2 persons:

For 400g of homemade tagliatelle (you can buy a pasta “laminator” for about 30 €, it is a nice kitchen object, and very fun to use!):
- 150 g of white flour
- 150g of semola di grano duro
- 3 eggs (not cold, should be taken out of the fridge a few hours before)

Mix all these ingredients until you get a nice, smooth, paste. Laminate it into tagliatelle.

For the Lemon-Asparagus sauce:
- 450g of green asparagus
- 1 lemon peeling
- 1-1,5 dl of cream

Peel the asparagus if necessary, cut them in 3-4 cm long pieces, and boil them during 3 minutes.

In a pan, cook during 3 minutes the cream and the asparagus, add the lemon peeling, and adjust with salt, pepper, and a touch of paprika. (You can eventually replace cream by mascarpone, in which you can mix a bit of lemon juice.)

Cook the tagliatelle al-dente, mix with the sauce, and enjoy this very sunny plate of pasta!

Music? Reggae mood in the kitchen (so much sun), with this classic from Max Romeo, I Chase the Devil (last night at Vega, The Whitest Boy Alive played a very cool remix of it!)

Battle 9 - Sis: BANANA PANCAKES

This one is for you, sweet love... 

...

We could close the curtains

Pretend like there is no world outside

And we could pretend that all the time

... "Banana pancakes"  from Jack Johnson

It's a Sunday morning, we can lay in bed for hours...then prepare banana pancakes together for the most perfect brunch;-) Meanwhile, listening to that...

Banana pancakes

Ingredients for 2 persons

For the pancakes

80g flour

1 egg

1dl milk

2cl cream

0,5 tsp baking powder

0,5 tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt

For the roasted bananas

2 bananas

2 tbsp butter

20g sugar

half a lemon (juice)

1 orange (juice)

ginger, freshly grated

granada seeds

maple syrup

Prepare the pancakes :

1. Mix well the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. 

2. Beat the egg and add the milk.

3. Add the liquid to the pancake mix. Leave for 1 hour.

Prepare the roasted bananas :

4. Cut each banana in 4 pieces.

5. Heat the pan and melt the butter. Add the bananas and roast them a few minutes. Once they are slightly golden, add the sugar and caramelize the bananas.

6. Finally, add the mix of orange juice, lemon juice and ginger. Make this fruit juice reduce until the bananas are nicely coated. Reserve.

7. Reheat the pan with some melted butter. Cook some roundish pancakes until soft and golden.

7. Serve it as a "mille-feuille", topped with granada seeds and maple syrup. mmhh, yummy!