Bisbal Cream: June 2011

Billie Piper - She Wants You (7 Disco Mix) (1999)

Billie - She Wants You (7 Disco Mix)

The Mixing Bowl: Iced White Chocolate with Warm Blueberry and Thyme Soup by Emma van Leest

Australian Emma van Leest is one of my favorite paper cut artists. In general, I have a soft spot in my heart for anyone that can create something so delicately beautiful out of a sheet of paper, but Emma’s work goes a step beyond the average paper cutter. Inspired by her travels and studies in the East, specifically China, Indonesia, and India, as well as her interests in Medieval saints, fairy tales, and folk art, Emma creates a unique and fascinating world that is simply awe inspiring. Her work is so breathtaking in its intricacies and subject matter that it’s nearly impossible to resist. I can’t even imagine the work that goes into one of her pieces!

For her Mixing Bowl recipe, Emma has chosen a recipe that is as interesting and creative as her work. She first tasted this sweet concoction at the Queenscliff Hotel and, even though she isn’t a huge fan of desserts, she loved this one so much that she asked the chef for the recipe. It seemed so simple, but, like so many of us know, not all desserts come out exactly as we envisioned! But that’s what I love about Emma’s write up. There is so much story to it! I really enjoyed reading about her struggles with this recipe, and, how, in the end, it was still delicious, although maybe not perfect. I hope you find a special occasion, or just a plain ol’ ordinary occasion, to be a bit adventurous like Emma and try this dessert! It sounds amazing!

You can find the complete recipe and story, along with additional photos, after the jump. You can view more of Emma’s lovely work on her Web site, right here. Thanks, Emma!

My husband Hunter and I got married 2 years ago at the beautiful historic Queenscliff Hotel and we recently went back there to celebrate Hunter’s birthday, where I had this gorgeous dessert. I was really surprised how the blueberry and thyme ‘soup’ is such a fresh herby foil to the richness of the chocolate. Even though I’m not a dessert person usually, I gobbled it up and then asked for the recipe. The chef offered this enigmatic couple of paragraphs, which is particularly curious for its use of imperial measurements (Australia has had the metric system for 40 years):

Iced White Chocolate Fondant with Warm Blueberry and Thyme Soup

4 oz castor sugar

8 table spoons of water

......boil together to get sugar syrup.

Put 5 egg yolks and whisk with hot syrup in bain-marie until thick

Add 9 oz of white chocolate, fold in 1/2 pint of cream / lightly whipped/.

Put into moulds and freeze.

For soup : blueberries 3/4 oz (I think this means pounds, otherwise it's like half a berry)

apple juice 10 fl oz

caster sugar 2 oz

2 sprigs of thyme

Boil for 6 minutes, puree it and pass through a sieve.

Looks easy, but I straight away ruined the sugar syrup – the first batch crystallised into a lumpen mess. Also, it’s not actually a great idea to take 5 egg yolks and whisk them with hot sugar syrup - because hot sugar syrup cooks egg yolks. So perhaps let it cool quite a bit before putting it in the ‘bain-marie’ (which googling told me means putting a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. There were little flecks of cooked egg yolks in the finished product, which my family diplomatically ignored. Also ‘put into moulds and freeze’ sounds straightforward but actually, make sure you line the moulds in cling film so you can get the fondants out in one nice shape. As you can see, my silicon muffin pan rendered lumps, rather than solid shapes.

I also ended up serving the fondants a second time without blending the soup and much less apple juice and the general consensus was that it was much nicer - less sugary and more pretty.

AND what is a fondant, anyway? I realized after a whole heap of googling that fondant is generally considered icing, not a frozen dessert. So I don’t know what the chef is driving at, perhaps it’s a fancy semifreddo. But whatever the true identity of this dessert, it will convert even the most hardened pro-bacon people, including my savoury-centric dad, who had three helpings.

Love is to share, mine is for you

Secretos, Segredos....

I can't keep this secret any longer.

Se o ano erasmus me ensinou uma coisa, é que brownies = pessoal feliz

Si el Erasmus me ha enseñado una cosa es que brownies = gente feliz

Brownies with grated lime accompanied by Ken and my Gaultier Hologram Gajo.

This recipe will never let you down.

Nossa vais adorar.

Mola.

http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/hummingbird-bakery-chocolate-brownies-fid-700520

'ta tudo

Igreja das Carmelitas do Porto

Um edifício brilhando no pôr de sol em Coimbra.

Detalhe de uma casa abandonada na ribeira do Porto.

Uma lanterna na noite de São João. Esta sim voou, batendo com os ramos de um arvore ao subir, enquanto os espectadores em baixo olhavam meio fascinados/agitados pelo prospecto de um chuveiro de fogo.

Uma coelhinha corajosa.

Loucura fresca. Na noite de São João é tradição bater na cabeça dos amigos e desconhecidos com um martelo de plástico ou com um alho porra (uma planta bem comprida que cheira de alho).

Posso dizer com toda sinceridade que o de correr pela rua passando um alho porra na cara de cada coitada na alcance é um dos prazeres mais incríveis que há. Recomendo-to altamente

Pessoal a tomar o sol no primeiro dia do verão (por acaso fazia muito, mas muito, frio).

'Ta tudo hein.

A message to you Maidi.

Um projecto tipo parabens para Maidi.

A little birthday project for Maider.

Cut up maps, watercolours and pens.

As meninas de Bombarda: Vera, Carlotta, Luisa, Maidi e Jess.

Piolho

A few of the Basque Country´s favourite things...

Carmelitas

Porto Sunsets.

Uns últimos pores-de-sol.

Sempre segue as tuas paixões aconselham os pavões.

The peacocks advise you to always follow your passions

A beautiful stop motion and a song that reminds me of friends far away.

Breakfast #41: Montadito de Pan con Tomate, Chorizo, y Huevo

I think I may have mentioned this before, but just to underline the absolute truth of it, I love bringing home food stuff from my travels. It is, in book at least, the best souvenir**. Each little morsel that I take with me represents a mouthful of where I have been, encapsulating a perfect, “bite-sized”, snapshot of a place that I can re-experience back home.

Spain is a haven for food shopping, what with their wizardry in curing and preserving meats. Anyone who has tasted a gossamer-thin, glistening slice of jamon iberico de bellota can attest to that. In Barcelona in particular you also have the famous La Borqueria, the city’s famous market that can trace its history back to almost 800 years. In and around you have places that have been there for centuries, offering up specialties perfected a hundred times over, sitting shoulder to shoulder with establishments captained by brazen new chefs pushing their envelopes in the most delicious ways.

I know food is not the most permanent of souvenirs (I have another favorite as well not to worry**) but really, when you are back home with the phone ringing and the emails pouring in and the weather going to pot, and you are dreaming of one more day in Barcelona, wouldn’t you rather be biting into this than scrambling to find space for yet another mug?

Montadito de Pan con Tomate, Chorizo, y Huevo

2 eggs, beaten
2 slices of baguette or pain de campagne
1 tomato, bordering on overripe, cut in half
1 clove garlic, cut in half
Extra virgin olive oil, the best you have
Sea salt (the flakey type)
4-5 slices Spanish chorizo (one that is meant to be eaten cured, not cooking chorizo)
A small handful of micro arugula

- Toast or grill the bread. Rub the toasted bread with the garlic, cut side down. Rub the bread with tomato halves, crushing slightly so the bread is smeared with the tomato juices and pulp.
- Meanwhile, heat a couple of swirls of olive oil in a non-stick skillet. When hot, add the eggs and, as the bottom sets, push the set parts around gently with a wooden spatula. Continue pushing gently until you have softly set curds of egg (you can cook it more if you like your scramble firmer). Remove the egg from the pan immediately so it does not continue to cook.
- Drizzle the garlic/tomato-rubbed toasts with the best olive oil you’ve got. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Congratulations, you’ve made pan con tomate!
- Divide your chorizo between the pan con tomate. Top with egg and micro arugula.

This is really a tapas type dish, but if we can eat dessert for breakfast I don’t see why we can’t have a bit of Spanish bar chow for breakfast either. It’s got cured and seasoned pork (and not just from any pig but from some of the best in the world!), egg, bread, and even greens. A breakfast for champions certainly. And if you decide to make many mini versions for an appetizer spread, well that’s allowed too and I can guarantee it will go over famously with your guests.

This was my first encounter with micro arugula and it will surely not be my last. I chanced upon them in my weekend market from a newish purveyor who sells a variety of micro greens (along with grass-fed beef and pork!) and had to try them, seeing how much I love their “macro” versions and sprouts in general. They have a milder version of regular arugula’s peppery kick. They are wonderful in this montadito, and are just as perfect in a homemade chicken salad sandwich.

I used chorizo iberico de bellota here but feel free to experiment with other Spanish cured meats such as salchichon iberico or fuet. If you are feeling particularly luxurious you can try this with jamon iberico de bellota instead. You can also replace the micro arugula with other micro greens or sprouts. I procured this chorizo from my godmother’s friendly neighborhood xarcuteria (charcuterie). It’s a fantastic, treasure trove, kind of place with jamon ibericos hanging from the ceiling, a platter of handpicked cheeses set out on a table for the customers to try, and one of the owners behind the counter to help you along in your selection.

My kind of souvenir shopping ;)

**My other best kind of souvenir is jewelry. Preferably a small pendant I can place on my necklace :)