Nigiri sushi

The sushi is fashionable, so I also wanted to try. Today I present the recipe to make nigiri sushi, that is a rice dumpling on which is usually asked a slice of raw fish (but there are multiple variant to discover in the end). Everyone says it's simple to do... I'll make a difference: It takes several tests before having the right gesture. But do not depair, we quickly seem to get something suitable !!!

For this recipe I used salmon (the most common nigiri).

Itadakimasu !!!! (Bon appetite)

Ingredients (for 2) :

• 200g sushi rice
• 1 raw salmon steak
• Rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• Salt, sugar
• Wasabi (kind of green mustard)
• Nori (black seaweed sheet)

Mixture for the sushi rice (shari) :

• Rinse the rice several times until the water runs clear.
• Put rice in a saucepan with cold water (2 glasses of water).
• Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Then add another glass of water.
• Bring to medium heat and cook for 10 minutes (or until there is no more water). Gently mix regularly.
• Remove from heat and let the rice stand for another 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the "sushi su" : Pour 1/2 cup of vinegar in a saucepan and heat it (without boiling). Then pour two tablespoons of sugar and half a tablespoon of salt. Mix until the sugar and the salt have dissolved.
• Cooling the rice using a range and form a "#" in the rice with a spatula to aerate. Gently mix (do not mash up).
• Once the "sushi su" cooled pour it over the rice and mix gently.

Mixture for the nigiri : 

• Cut the salmon into strips about 1 cm thick, 2,5 cm wide and 2 cm long.
• Trick : Use a VERY sharp knife, the cut will be much easier because salmon has a delicate flesh so you must avoid to press and deform the flesh. My personal tip for precise cutting and without distorting the pavement... Freeze and then cut! Salmon remains in place and the cut is more accurate ;)

•  Prepare the "tezu" : Fill a bowl with half of warm water and vinegar in half.
• Dip your fingers and hands in the "tezu" before you make each rice ball.
• Take a small handful of rice in your hand and form a compact and elongated ball. Caution! The ball must to be small because sushi has to be eaten in one bite!
• Catch a salmon slip and put a tiny bit of wasabi with the fingertip.
• "Paste" salmon with rice dumpling, wasabi side.
• Press lightly on all sides for the fish adheres to rice.
• Cut a thin strip of nori seaweed and wrap it around the sushi to keep the fish in place (but it's mostly for the look ^^).

Is is quite possible to prepare your sushi in advance (but not more than 1 day before). This requires to keep them in a well sealed container or in a dish covered with platic film. But it is forbidden to freeze it! The texture will be very disappointing...

Variants : 

 Try to slightly cook the salmon with Teriyaki sauce.

Or use shrimp ;)

But you can invent all variants that you want !!!

Crozets gratin light

Crozets are square pasta with buckwheat. The basic recipe is crozets gratin Savoyard, but as you might expect... It's very fat! So today I offer a lighter version with goat cheese and ham :) (ok... for the greedy ones I put the Savoyard version in suggestions ;)!!!).

Ingredients (for 2-3) : 

• 300g crozets
• 100g fresh goatcheese
• 2 ham slices
• Grated cheese
• Breadcrumbs
• Salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley

Mixture :

• Cook crozets in plenty of lighty salted water during 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain crozets and add pepper, nutmeg, parsley, ham cut into small pieces, and the cream cheese and mix.
• Pour into a gratin dish.
• Cover with emmental and breadcrumbs.
• Place the gratin in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180°C.

Suggestion : For the Savoyard version replace the goat cheese with cream with garlic and thyme. Replace ham with dry ham. Finally, replace the emmental on top with the grated Tomme de Savoir and Beaufort slices.

Apple cinnamon trifle

A little trifle recipe with apple and a touch of cinnamon. Cinnamon blends so well with the apple! It is a delight! Besides this dessert is super easy to make and does not require much time. So let's get started! :)

Ingredients (for 2) :

• 1 apple
• 3 biscuits
• 20cl cream
• Sugar
• 1 little bag of vanilla sugar
• Cinnamon
• Butter

Mixture :

• Wash and peel the apple. Cut into small pieces.
• Put a little butter in a pan. Add the apple pieces with a glass of water, a bag of vanilla sugar and 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
• Leave on medium heat. Stir regularly and add water if necessary.
• Once the apples are soft and jammy remove from heat.
• Crush the biscuits into small pieces (personally I do it with a glass).
• Whip the cream with whipped cream : Whip the cream until il is firm. The cream should get out of the fridge. The bowl and whip must also be cold. Add a little cinnamon.
• In glass jars, place a layer of potatoes, then a layer of broken biscuits and finally top with chipped cream.

Teriyaki salmon

I had already presented you the Teriyaki turkey, today I propose you to decline this meal with salmon and a slightly different marinade. It's just delicious, the fish is melting and full of flavours !!!

Ingredients :

•  2 salmon steaks
• Teriyaki sauce
• Nuoc Mâm sauce
• Olive oil
• Mustard
• Cornflour

Mixture :

• Cut the salmon in slices in the widthwise direction.
• Place the salmon in a bowl and add two tablespoons Nuoc Mâm sauce, two tablespoons of mustard, then cover with Teriyaki sauce.
• Let marinate at least 2 hours.
• Empty the contents of the bowl in a hot pan.
• Simmer over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pour a tablespoon cornflour into the pan and stir to get a thicker sauce.
• Enjoy :)

Half baked pear and chocolate cake

Pear and chocolate are frequently mix together in gastronomy, either a Belle Helene pear, a charlotte, or chocolate filled with Poire Williams liquor. Today I propose you a recipe that will literally make you meeeeelt !!! This cake is air, greedy and deliciously chocolated ! You can eat it unmold with a scoop of ice cream and a fruit coulis, or eat it directly into the pot.

Ingredients (for 2 cakes) :

• 1 egg
• 1 pear in syrup
• 60 g dark chocolate
• 40 g butter
• 20 g sugar
• 10 g Maïzena

Mixture :

• Preheat oven to 170° C.
• Separate egg white from yolk.
• Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave. Mix it.
• Mix the egg yolk, sugar, chocolate, Maïzena and the pear.
• Whisk the egg white. Gently incorporate to the preparation.
• Divide the mixture into buttered ramekins.
• Bake 15 minutes in the oven.
• Remove the ramekins from the oven and wait 5 minutes. Then place a plate on top of the ramekin, return it and gently unmold.

Super great cake !!!

This is THE cake ! The one that you will remember ! A complete recipe : protein, vegetables, cheese, and fun ! :p

Ingredients : 

• 200 g flour
• 1 packet of baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 10 cl milk
• 150 g pitted olives
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 ham slices
• 50 g grated emmental

Mixture :

• Preheat oven to 180°C
• Mix flour, baking powder, then add eggs and milk. Mix energetically.
• Put the spices according to taste (the curry goes well with the tomatoes so do not hesitate).
• On the other hand, cut the tomatoes into 4, and put it in a frying pan until you obtain almost a puree.
• Cut ham into strips and mix a little the olives.
• Mix the two preparations, add the cheese and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover with aluminum.
• Bake at 180°C for 50 minutes. Then remove the alumium, and let it bake 30 minutes more.

Suggestions : Instead of cheese and olives, parmesan and put fresh Paris mushrooms cut into small pieces.

Crab muffin

This recipe is soooooooo good ! Small muffin with crabmeat (or surimi) soft and fluffy ! You can eat it :

• Warm and cold appetizers, accompanying carrot sticks/cucumber/radish with white sauce and chive.
• Warm or cold as an appetizer with a salad.
• Warm to accompany a dish made out of fish or scallops.

Ingredients (for 12 muffins) : 

• 300 g crabmeat or crumbled surimi
• 130 g flour
• 1 packet of baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 10 cl milk
• 50 g butter
• 1 onion
• 90 g grated emmental
• the juice of a lemon
• Salt, pepper, dill

Mixture :

• Melt the butter in the microwave.
• Peel and chop the onion. Fry in a frying pan over medium heat with a little water.
• In a bowl, mix the flour and the baking soda.
• Pour the eggs, butter and milk. Mix it.
• Add pepper, salt and dill.
• Add grated cheese, onion, crabmeat and lemon juice. Mix well.
• Grease a muffin pan, and divide the mixture into the pan.
• Bake at 200°C for 20 to 25 minutes.

Suggestion : You can keep a small portion of crabmeat and file on the top of the muffin before cooking them with some breadcrumbs. After cooking sprinkle with dill.