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!

Battle 9 – Bro: HOMEMADE FLAVOURED CREAM CHEESE

The beauty of breakfast in bed is, I think, a legend. Here is why:

The point about breakfast in bed is, ideally, to get breakfast before getting up. Right? This leaves you different solutions:
1) Place your bed in your kitchen, between the fridge and the coffee machine (unfortunately, my kitchen is far too small).
2) Ask your mom to prepare it (I personally must have asked about 2500 times, on very tactical days, with the nicest voice, without success).
3) Ask your older sister (but she never let me finish my questions).
4) Ask your dad (it actually never crossed my mind, I will try next time).
5) Ask the reception of your 4 stars hotel (but I have never slept in such place).
6) Or, or, of course, ask your sweetheart, after having done your best to give her/him the most romantic good morning kiss (in my case this worked twice in a 3 years long relationship). However, I gave up after our second time, and here is why:

I realised, after over 20 years fantasising about that moment, that breakfast in bed was an incredibly unpractical way of eating breakfast… That precise day, I wasn’t very awake, which is kind of normal in such a situation, and I started by putting salt instead of sugar in my coffee (to make it easier, my girlfriend had put a little bit of each in two very good looking, but very similar recipients). Kindly, she prepared me another coffee. Still in bed, I started to spread jam on a slice of bread, the abdominal muscles hurting in this half laying half sitting position. But the slice scandalously escaped from my hand; I let you guess on what side it landed! Finally, I used my two hands to carefully take it off the blanket, when my cup of coffee, dangerously left alone in balance on the unstable madras, fell on the white sheets…

I washed the sheets and never asked for a breakfast in bed again!

However, if you are still up for trying it, here is something you could serve, at low risk, on fresh bread and with a good coffee:

Cream cheese on white sheets, ingredients:

-Cream cheese
-Your favourite Jam (I used blackcurrant)
- Honey
- Sambal Oelek

Prepare 3 homemade flavoured cream cheese by mixing it with jam, honey, and chili. (2 sweets, one salty is a good european compromise, I would say.) Coffee, bread, and that’s it, get back to bed!

The great advantage of cream cheese is that it sticks to the knife, it doesn’t fall off the bread, and is therefore a perfect solution for a safe breakfast in bed!!!

And listen to the relaxing music of Little Joy while enjoying this moment of pure happiness…

As I just started biking again, next battle theme will be: PASTA!

Battle 8 – Bro: HAPPY DRINK

Sunday, sunshine, I WANT to enjoy it… Problem: I was out late last night, I woke up at 12.30, with hangover.

HAPPY DRINK is the solution !!! Fresh, full of vitamins, and made in less than 3 minutes! Ok, I make it short for once; I really want to spend the afternoon outside! ;-)

Ingredients for two small glasses, or a big one (almost a breakfast!):

- 1 banana
- 1 kiwi
- ½ avocado
- The juice of ½ a lemon
- 1 dl of plain yoghurt
- 1 dl of water
- 2-3 teaspoons of brown sugar (or according to your taste)

Get up, play the song “If you kiss the police man” from the Dutch band “Daily Bread”, turn up the volume, it’s 1pm, the neighbours won’t complain.

Cut the fruits, put them in a bowl with the lemon juice and the sugar. Put the bowl in the freezer; go take a shower.

A towel around your waist, keep on shaking your head on that music, and blend the fruit-mix with the yoghurt and the water. Serve with crushed ice and a straw!

Lalala! Yeah! Oh! Yeah! Go-go-go!!!

Battle 8 - Sis: BANANA ICE CREAM

Have you ever thought of snowboarding in one of the top Swiss resort and then, enjoying a concert? In less than 6 hours? Well, yes, it can be experimented in Crans-Montana during Caprices Festival! And when one of the band is Nada Surf, it perfectly fits with the snowboarders public! Result: a PERFECT DAY !!!

That was happening yesterday and you can have a look here...

Hum, hum, and what could I eat after one day snowboarding + one hour spent jumping ;-) at concert? Banana ice cream!!!!! Yeahh, so nice at 2am ;-)

Super easy banana ice cream

Ingredients for 2 persons

300g banana (about 5 bananas)

2tbsp honey

100g greek yogurt (or "crème fraîche")

Granada (for the colour;-)

1. Purée in a blender the three ingredients and put in ice-cream maker or in freezer.

2. In case you put it in freezer, every hour, toss the ice cream in order to make it creamy.

3. Serve with granada seeds on top

Next Battle: Breakfast in bed... 

Battle 7 – Bro: SPRING BITE

The asparagus is a wonderful thing. It sounds like spring, it tastes like spring and it doesn’t exist out of spring… This is fascinating, this respect of the season, almost unique nowadays. Asparagus definitely deserves her title of queen.

On the other hand, spring, in Copenhagen, is king... So, to marry this royal couple, I had to bring the queen out on sunny streets to meet her king. And that’s how, asparagus, now to take away, got a hot-dog shape! (Denmark is the country of the pølse vogn, kind of little wagons selling amazing quantities of sausages in the streets all year round.)

Ingredients for 4 Spring Bites:

- 250g of green asparagus
- 140 g of bacon (thin slices)
- Four hot dog “baguettes” (complete bread if possible)
- 4 tablespoon of sour cream (or “blanc battu”)
- Lemon juice, black pepper

Mix the sour cream, the lemon juice and the black pepper, to make a kind of a dip sauce.

Peel the bottom of the asparagus; boil them 2-3 minutes depending of their size.

Prepare small packages of asparagus (the length of a hot dog sausage), wrapping them within 1-2 slices of bacon (keep the nice tips out). Fry these on a pan until the bacon is well coloured all around.

Warm or toast the baguettes, make a hole in the middle, add a spoon of sour cream inside it. Slide a package of asparagus wrapped in bacon down the bread.

Bring those down on the street, around the corner, by the basketball field. There, biting in your asparagus, listen to the very fresh arabo-french hip-hop of La Gale…

Theme for next battle: SMILE-BANANA !

Battle 7 - Sis: "SHANGHAI STYLE" ASPARAGUS SALAD

Spring is a great time when it comes to food... After the long and cold Winter we had in the mountains, it’s great to find again fresh fruits and veggies! Among them, the Queen of april is the asparagus and it is even growing in my region :-)! Did you know we were growing asparagus in Swiss Alps? 

And as I used to live in Shanghai (and am kind of addict to their food!), I decided to prepare a salad with an Asian touch! 

«Shanghai Style» asparagus salad or "Queen *A*" salad

Ingredients for 2 persons

Salad

200g asparagus tips

2 oranges

8 slices of smoked meat (duck or beef)

fresh ginger, grated

fresh mint leaves

caramelized Chinese walnuts (or just normal grilled walnuts)

Salad sauce

3 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp vinegar

1. Prepare the salad sauce: mix well the three ingredients and keep the sauce in the fridge till serving.

2. Boil the asparagus tips in salty water for 2-3 minutes. Take them out and cool them down in very cold water in order to keep their nice green colour.

3. Peel the oranges and slice them in order to only keep the orange "meat"

4. Mix well the oranges, asparagus tops and smoked meat. Top with fresh grated ginger, fresh mint leaves and caramelized Chinese walnuts.

5. Just before serving, top the salad with the sauce.

As this recipe reminds me my good time in Shanghai, I am listening to that band, the New Pants.  I absolutely love the first song, Fashion1983, definitely My generation ;-) and one of those super peachy* melody! 

Battle 6 – Bro: SEDUCTIVE BURGERS

No, I won’t propose you a version of the famous Curry Wurst... Not that I don’t like it, but more because I wouldn’t really eat one out of the borders of Berlin, or even anywhere else than Curry 36 (U-Bahn Mehringdamm). So, spending time in the German capital city, I was thinking that I hadn’t proposed an easy subject…

But suddenly, as I was trying a pair of very trendy red jeans made in LA, the package squeezed in these pants, I felt very male and dreamt about a good burger… I am not talking about fast food crap, I am talking about a real nice homemade burger. And ladies, I am telling you, if you want to make a man happy, don’t search any further, a burger and you’ll get anything out of him.

By experience, I could even say that, find it sad or not, a company could announce 10% of dismissals the same day than the canteen would serve burgers, and 90% of the male employees would still consider that day as a good day. You follow me?

Here is a version that I would propose for a romantic burger night (ingredients for 2 persons) :

- 400g of beef minced meat (3x80g for a man + 2x 80g for a strong woman)
- 5 slices of cheese
- 5 small homemade breads (a good recipe will come!)
- 1 yellow sweet pepper
- Ketchup with curry powder mixed
- Miracle whip with sambal oelek mixed
- 1 tomato
- 1 cucumber
- 5 leaves of salad
- Aceto balsamico
- Oregano
- ½ Onion

Mix the meat, the ½ onion and a bit of oregano. Make 8 portions of 80g and shape the burgers.
Roast pieces of sweet paprika on the pan, and put them aside in a bowl with a bit of balsamic vinegar.
Roast the burgers shortly on one side, add salt and pepper, flip them and put a slice of cheese on the already roasted size. Cook it according to your preference.
Toast the breads.
Build the burger in that order:
Bread-Whip-Burger-Cheese-Pickled Pepper-Salad-Curry Ketchup-Bread.

Cook one round after the other, in order to eat the burgers as fresh as possible!

Eat the tomato and the cucumber slices beside this, as they would fall off anyway.

As a drink, I would recommend a delicious German Lager Beer called Augustinus, apparently from one of the oldest German brewery. Fresh but tasty, I thought it was a perfect spring beer!

Finally, the American folk of Alela Diane (try The Rifle) will perfectly accompany these romantic burgers! Cheers!

Battle 6 - Sis: CHICKEN CAM' NUGGETS

As I am definitely much more into slow food than fast food, curry-ketchup was really not my favourite topic;-)Anyway, i came up with a "slow food" version of the "Chicken *** Nuggets". Believe me or not, it is definitely much better with "real" chicken! And try once making your own ketchup from fresh tomatoes, it's surprisingly...delicious and easy!

It turned out that finally I loved this topic and had a lot of fun making those recipes! Thanks Mr. Colin Bengt!

Chicken Cam' Nuggets

Ingredients for 2 persons

For the curry chicken nuggets

300g chicken breast, in small pieces

1 egg

100g breadcrumbs

2 tsp curry

1 tsp salt

vegetable oil for deep frying

For the home made ketchup (2dl)

500g fresh tomatoes

30g oignon, chopped

half a clove of garlic, minced

6cl vinegar

1,5cl honey

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp paprika (or curry, or chili)

0,5 tsp salt

1. Prepare the ketchup: Boil tomatoes for a few minutes and then remove skin and seeds. Keep only the tomato "meat" (you should obtain 320g of tomato "meat")

2. In a pan, heat the chopped oignon and garlic till they turn golden. Add the vinegar, honey and sugar and give a boil.

3. Finally, add the 320g tomato "meat" and cook for about 45 minutes on medium heat.

4. Mix the ketchup and add some seasoning as you like (paprika, chili, salt, pepper, curry)

This home made ketchup can be kept 3 days in the fridge only.

1. Prepare the curry chicken nuggets: Beat one egg in a bowl. In a second big bowl, mix the curry, salt and breadcrumbs.

2. Dip your small pieces of chicken first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs mix.

3. Deep fry 1.5 minute the chicken nuggets in vegetable oil.

During that cooking time, I was discovering "Mirror Mirror", the new album from Ghinzu. And it is REALLY good!

Next topic: Asparagus... as it is the Queen in April.

Battle 5 - Sis: SWISS MUESLI

This is a slightly different version from the original Bircher muesli which is a must in Switzerland!
I think the first time I heard of «Swiss Muesli» was on a trekking path in...Nepal! Anyway, everywhere in the world, this has been one of my favourite breakfast.
Here is the recipe to bake your home made muesli, a mix of cereals and nuts, which can be kept several months in a box.
Before serving, you just add a bit of vanilla or plain yogourt and some fresh season fruits like strawberries or raspberries.

Swiss Muesli

Ingredients for 750g muesli

250g oatmeal
50g Dinkels
80g mixed nuts and seeds (like almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds,...), smashed
150g Pecan nuts, smashed
1 tsp cinammon
120 ml honey
80 ml cranberry juice (or apple juice or grape juice)
3 tbsp vegetable oil

100 g dried cranberries

1. In a jar, mix well the oatmeal, dinkels, nuts, seeds and cinammon.
2.In a separate bowl, mix honey, cranberry juice and vegetable oil.
3.Pour the liquid mix over the oatmeal, dinkels, nuts and needs and mix well till the cereals are coated.
4.Spread the muesli on a baking sheet and place it in the oven during 50 minutes at 150 degrees.
5. Let the muesli cool down and once it’s at room temperature, add the dried cranberries.

It’s ready! You can keep your home made muesli mix during months in a box.

Hum, hum and what about the song? I can’t really come up with anything else than this beautiful song from Anthony and the Johnsons because I have just been listening to it ALL the time for 2 days. Can’t wait to see their concert at Montreux jazz Festival, July 15th!!

Click here!

Battle 5 – Bro: SWISS SOUP OF COMPROMISE AND IRONY

Swississime was the theme of this challenge. I then decided to concentrate my opinion about Switzerland in a dish, but, for once, not necessarily through cheese or chocolate.

So I have thought of Switzerland, and its three different main “communities”: the boring Swiss-Germans, the French-speaking alcoholics, and the exuberant Swiss-Italians. Finally, after a short analyse, I spotted a link between these three social groups: conservatism! Conservatism, meaning it had to be a soup…

The Swiss-Germans, the majority, would bring potatoes and leeks. The Swiss-French would add a bit of white wine (chasselas), and finally, the Swiss-Italians would refresh this soup with olive oil, red pepper, and herbs such as oregano!

And, after all, this soup would turn to be a delicious compromise…

Ingredients for 2 persons (for a main course):

- 6 potatoes
- 2 leeks
- 1dl of dry white wine
- 0.25-0.5 dl of olive oil
- Dies of bacon
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 red sweet pepper
- Grilled seeds and fresh herbs

Cut the leeks (reserve some green rings for decoration) and the potatoes, throw them in a pot and cover them with bouillon. Boil until the potatoes are cooked.
Add the wine, the garlic and the olive oil. Blend well. Eventually adjust the consistency of the soup with bouillon or wine. Add the fresh herbs and black pepper. Blend again.

Top the soup with grilled dies of bacon, grilled seeds, dies of red pepper and a few rings of crude leek. Serve with homemade bread! And if you consider yourself as a Swiss extremist: spread a mix of butter and Cenovis on your slice…

Absolutely no question about what music to listen to while tasting this healthy soup: Züriwest and their live song I schänke Dir mis Härz…

Oh weird, weird Switzerland, “Je t’aime, moi non plus”….

I am going to Berlin for the next three days, and therefore the theme of next battle will be: Curry-Ketchup :-)!

Battle 4 - Sis: SPRING RISOTTO

This used to be one of our favourite dish after a long day spent in the mountains. Mmh, those after-ski were sooooo cosy!

Spring Risotto

Ingredients for 2 persons

200g wild green asparagus

100g carnaroli rice

1dl dry white wine

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 dl vegetable stock

2 tbsp mascarpone (or cream cheese)

80g hazelnuts, chopped

30g old Valais cheese, grated + some fine slices

1. Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends and cut into short pieces.

2. Bring a pot with water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus tops for 2 minutes and bases for 8 minutes.

3. Remove the asparagus tops to ice water in order to keep a nice green colour.

4. Mix well the bases with 2 tbsp mascarpone in order to make an asparagus puree.

5. Start preparing the risotto: in a pot, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Add the Carnaroli rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring until nicely coated.

Add 1dl of white wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1dl of vegetable stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed.

Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of stock at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed and until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite (18-20 min in total).

6. Add the asparagus puree, 80g choped hazelnuts, 30g old Valais grated cheese and haf of the asparagus tops to the risotto.

7. Serve immediately and decorate with the asparagus tops, some slices of old Valais cheese and grilled hazelnuts.

Hum, hum, and what am I listening to while cooking that "after-ski" risotto?

Actually, almost every artist coming to the next Caprices music festival, soon taking place 10 minutes from my home! (who is the lucky one on that, little bro?!) 

Have you heard already of that super cool event? Imagine a large music festival featuring artists as Duffy, Nada Surf, The Young Gods,... at 1500m, in a ski resort...

It's starting in 10 days, and this should not be missed;-)

Btw, next theme for the battle: Swississime!!!Good luck!!!

Battle 4 – Bro: FRESH GOAT CHEESE RISOTTO

Fancy, romantic, simple, risotto can have many faces! It is a really fun dish to play with, according to whom you will serve it: yourself on a lonely night, a big group of friends coming over for the football game, or a date you can’t disappoint.

With risotto, you’re an all time winner, a James Bond from the kitchen: you don’t miss the target, you beat the bad with class, you kiss the girl at the end…

This version has got tomatoes, black olives and goat cheese!

Ingredients for 2 persons (for a main course):

- 200g of Carnaroli rice
- ¾ of a peeled tomatoe can (or 4-6 fresh tomatoes during the right season)
- A dozen of black olives (cut)
- 100-150g of fresh goat cheese in pieces (something soft, like a “buche”)
- Half a glass of red wine
- Thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper

Prepare something like 1 litter of bouillon (you probably won’t use it all), boiling water, salt, thyme and the red wine. Keep it warm while you are preparing the risotto.

Heat a big pan, and steer the rice in a bit of olive oil during one minute. Than add a little bit of the bouillon and the tomatoes, steer until the rice absorbs this liquid. Add a little bit of bouillon, steer, when absorbed add bouillon, etc, until having an al dente rice. Than add a bit of thyme, the olives, and 3 quarters of the cheese. Steer slowly, let the cheese get creamy. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Serve this risotto in deep plates, with the rest of the goat cheese and thyme as topping!

NB: You can never leave a risotto alone on the fire; you have to keep on steering during the entire process. Use this chance to listen the whip, a band from Manchester whose female drummer won’t let you loose the rhythm!

Battle 3 – Bro: ORANGE JUICE

I have been thinking about these bloody oranges… I had ideas, but nothing really brilliant, new, or at least worth writing here… I thought of an orange sauce I had recently served with a duck. It wasn’t bad, but kind of a classic.

I also imagined a brownie that I could cut to build a little sandwich with a spicy slice of caramelised orange in the middle… That was maybe a way to follow, but seriously, I didn’t feel like starting baking brownies after this stressful day at work, and the sun was shining.

So I went skateboarding for two hours (don’t imagine great stuff, am a beginner, and not specially talented). I came home, sweaty but happy, and saw these same oranges waiting to be “pimped”. And, you know what? I just felt like pressing them and have a glass of fresh juice… Holly Molly, this was so good! This was so great! THIS WAS SO PERFECT!!! So here we go, I couldn’t keep that secret for myself: a recipe for making the most perfect orange juice…

And if these vitamins are not enough for boosting your positive energy, try this local and very orange Setting Son, in particular his song Spring of hate.

Ingredients for 2 persons:
- 4 nice oranges

Press the oranges, pour the juice equally in two glasses, and enjoy, oh my god, enjoy!!!


Ok Sis, destroy me on that one if you like, but keep your guard up for the next challenge!

THEME FOR BATTLE 4: CARNAROLI !

Battle 3 - Sis: VITAMIN CUPCAKE

It’s “pop”, it’s “flash”, it's full of vitamins, it’s like my favourite morning smoothie but turned into a cupcake!
Made of orange, carrot and ginger, this cupcake could be the star of your next Sunday brunch in Copenhagen little bro…Mmh, this reminds me those awesome brunchs you prepare in Denmark….yum, yum, yummy! 'Miss them a lot ;-)
Let’s stop dreaming and check out what is in that recipe…

Vitamin Cupcakes

Ingredients for 8 cupcakes

1 orange
150g carrots
1 large egg
4cl cream
90g sugar
8cl vegetable oil
130g all-purpose flour
0.5 tsp baking powder and 0.5 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated


1. Grate the orange to get the zest. Then, peel orange and take out the white skin in order to keep only the orange meat. Then, cut some small orange cubes.
2. Peel, rinse, then grate carrots coarsely.
3. In a large bowl, combine fresh orange cubes, grated carrots, egg, cream, fresh rated ginger, sugar and vegetable oil.
4. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
5. Fold flour mixture into the carrot mixture.
6. Scoop out into cute cupcake papers.
7. Bake at 180 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting with a Hint of Orange and Ginger

160g Philly cream cheese
30g butter
50 g sifted powdered sugar
1 orange zest+ fresh ginger, grated

Mix well all the ingredients and top the cupcakes with the frosting. Decorate with some orange zests.

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What about listening to this (can't stop, The Red Hot Chili Peppers) while tasting your freshly baked vitamin cakes? You will for sure start the day with much energy and feel happy for the rest of it :-))

So, what's the next challenge, little bro?