Champagne Lemon and Black Currant Cake

Today is a very special day: Roxana celebrates her birthday! I am honoured because she invited me to write a guest post and because she accepted to have a cake from me for her day! Yupiiii!

So, to combine the best of both worlds, I chose to make a cake with champagne and lemon cream, plus black currant jam. Of course, since the cake is for GreenGirl, green glitter could not be omitted :))

Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts and Parsley

The problem with my kitchen is that I never have enough light, even in the summertime I have to turn on the light to cook. That explains my photos to a degree (I'm not trying to make excuses here), and I confess I'd love to have a kitchen like Roxana's (sigh). Until then, let's make some couscous!

The ingredients are:

- 3 tbsp butter, divided

- 1/2 cup pine nuts

- 1/2 cup shallots, finely chopped

- 1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous

- 1/2 large cinnamon stick

- 1 fresh or dried bay leaf

- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/4 cup parsley, minced

- zest of 1/2 lemon

- 1/4 cup raisins (optional)

- black pepper to taste

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add pine nuts and stir until golden brown, then transfer to a small bowl.

Slow Cooked Beef Roast (Eye Round)

Happy Labour Day! Summer is over now, and in sort of a rehearsal for the cold days ahead I made one of my daughter's favourite dishes. I used:

- 2 lbs eye round beef, cut in 1/2-inch slices

- 2 tbsp olive oil (or vegetable oil)

- 2 medium yellow onions, chopped

- 6 garlic cloves, grated

- 2 cups light beer (can be replaced with water, chicken/vegetable stock or 1 cup red wine)

- 1 cup chicken stock

- 1/2 tsp dried oregano

- 1/2 tsp dried thyme

- 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

- 2 bay leaves

- salt and pepper to taste

- 3/4 cup tomato sauce

First heat the oil in a pan large enough to contain all the meat (well seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides) in one layer.

Lemon Baked Cod

Now, summer camp is over, hurricane Irene has passed (thank God!), everything is back to normal. Therefore, back to cooking! Today I was in the mood for fish, and this is what I made:

• 1 lb cod fish fillet
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• paprika, dried parsley

If fish fillets are large, cut into serving pieces. Mix butter, white wine and lemon juice.

In another bowl, mix Panko breadcrumbs, paprika, dried parsley, salt and white pepper. Dip fish into butter mixture; coat fish with the Panko mixture.

Place the fish in an ungreased square baking dish, 8x8x2 inches.

Cook uncovered in 350 degree oven until fish flakes easily with a fork, 25-30 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon slices if desired. I served it with creamed spinach and fresh radishes.

The recipe called for the butter mixture to be poured over the fish fillets. I advise you to refrain from doing so, otherwise the fish will have a soggy bottom. 

Enjoy!

Checkerboard Cake

I haven't been neglecting my blog lately, I just didn't cook that much, since my little one is away at summer camp and I'm putting in long hours in the office. Speaking of that, we have a colleague that recently decided to complete his studies, therefore quit his job and returned to school. As is the tradition in our office, we were going to have a small party for him, and my colleagues asked if I could make the cake. I said yes, and this is the result (the quality of the photos is not that great, they were taken in the office)

I used 9-inch pans.

Chicken Livers Lebanese Style

This recipe comes from Dana who in turn got it from Sarah_nc, and it is a tasty, beautiful one. It necessitates:

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 small red onion (which I replaced with yellow, it was too hot to go shopping just for an onion), cut in quarters

- 1/2 lb chicken livers, cleaned

- 1/4 tsp allspice

- salt and pepper to taste

- juice from 1/2 lemon

- 3 cloves garlic, grated

- pinch of hot pepper (I replaced with hot paprika)

Leek and Tomatoes Rice Pilaf

Yes, I am finally back home and I missed all of you! I am sorry it took me so long to get back, but you know what is like to be on vacation and to take advantage of lazy days. But now that's all behind me and I'm back on track, including with some cooking (in spite of the scorching hot days). Now, precisely because of this heat wave, I have for you a very easy and fast recipe that tastes absolutely great - my daughter made sure we had leftovers for dinner, because, she said, it tasted so good! So, this is what we need for 4 servings:

- 2 lb leeks

- 1 cup rice

- 1 cup tomato puree

- 1 stick butter (can be replaced with olive oil)

- salt and pepper to taste

- 1 bunch parsley or dill (or a combination of both, depending on your taste, I used parsley)