Swiss Style Apricot Tart

A sweet treat today! Last week we arrived to the family holiday house in the south of Switzerland, in the region called Ticino for a well deserved holiday. My uncle and aunt were waiting for us to handle over the keys of the house and they had baked a delicious apricot tart for us. It was the same tart that my grandmother  used to bake, she did it sometimes with apricot, sometimes with prunes and even with cherries. We used to eat it as main dish for dinner, not as desert. 

Of course I immediately asked for the recipe and here it is! It is so easy and the result is good,

Ingredients and steps:

- puff pastry or short crust pastry

- about 100 gr ground hazelnuts ( enough to cover the pastry)

- about 800 gr Apricots

- 3eggs

- 250 ml cream

- 2 bags vanilla sugar (about 16 gr)

- optional: sugar to taste

Place the pastry in a baking dish. Cover the whole surface with the ground hazelnuts.

Half the apricots and place them on the pastry.

In a big bowl, mix the eggs, the cream and the vanilla sugar and pour over the apricots.

Place in the a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.

You can replace the apricots by prunes, cherries, apple or any fruit you like. 

Shiitake mushroom cakes

Steps and ingredients:

- 100gr shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 3 spring onions, sliced
- 4 eggs
- 150gr cream cheese
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dry sherry
- cayenne pepper
- puff pastry, in squares

Slice the shiitake mushrooms and the spring onions.

In a bowl, place the eggs and cream cheese. Mix well. Add the soy sauce, dry sherry and cayenne pepper, mix well.

Place the puff pastry on the baking tray.

Place the shiitake mushrooms and the spring onions into the puff pastry. Add the eggs, cream cheese mixture to it.

Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for about 25 minutes at 200 degrees.

Pad Thai

Ingredients and steps:

- 250 gr rice noodles

Cook the noodles according to package instructions.

For the sauce:

- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- Juice of 1/2 lemon

In a wok (or large pan), place the sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce and lemon juice.Melt all these together over a low heat.

The vegetables:

- 1 pak choi, cut in pieces
- 3 spring onions, sliced


When ready, drain the noodles and add them to the wok. Mix well and add the pak choi and the spring onions. Cook for about 5 minutes.


The toppings:

- 3 eggs
- 3 or 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 shallot, minced
- coriander, chopped


In a pan, saute the shallot and the garlic till soft (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs, once the eggs begin to set up, stir to scramble.


Put the noodles, pak choi and spring onions in a bowl, add the eggs and coriander and enjoy!

Gazpacho (cold spanish soup)

It's summer again so time for Gazpacho! It is so good, so healthy and so easy to do! Gazpacho is a typical cold spanish soup, it is served in the hot summer months. I don't know anyone that does not like it!

Ingredients and steps:

- 2 slice white bread, shredded
- 3 or 4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 red pepper, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove (or more if you like garlic!)
- 1/2 cucumber, roughly chopped
- 1/2 a green pepper (optional), roughly chopped
- about 4 to 5 tbsp good olive oil
- about 1 tbsp vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups of water

Put the bread, all the vegetables and the olive oil in a blender and blend. Strain the mixture into a pitcher to get rid of the skin of the tomatoes and paprika and get a smooth mixture. Add the water, the vinegar, salt and pepper. And that's it!

If you want to eat it immediately, add some ice cubes in the blender so that the gazpacho is nice fresh. But ideally leave it for a few hours in the refrigerator and serve nice cold!

Toppings:

- some finely chopped green pepper
- some finely chopped red pepper
- some finely chopped red onion

Dhal Soup (red lentils soup)

This recipe is for my brother and for my sister. Because we all love Indian food so much. Because my sister is a vegan and always needs new ideas of healthy and easy to prepare meals. Because my brother needs to cook nice, tasty and healthy meals for his pregnant wife!

A delicious dish that even my kids love!

Ingredients and steps:

- 25 gr butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp kurkuma
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin

Saute the onion and the garlic for a few minutes, till soft. Add the garam masala, kurkuma, paprika powder, chili powder, cumin and fry for about 30 seconds.  I always prepare all the spices in a plate in advance so that they are ready to go in the pan in one time and I don't need to stress!

- 3 skinless tomatoes, diced

- about 300 gr red lentils



- juice of half a lemon
- about 1/2 l vegetable broth
- 1 can coconut milk
- salt and pepper

Add the tomatoes, the lentils, the lemon juice, the vegetable broth and the coconut milk. Bring to a boil and let it cook at medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Taste to make sure the flavor is right and add salt and pepper if needed.

Most of the time we serve it with home made naan breads.

Flan d'Onion

Ingredients and steps:

- 800 gr of onions, sliced. I usually use shallot because it has such a nice sweet taste.
- 60 gr butter
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp flour
- 20 cl milk
- 10 cl crème fraiche
- 1 tsp mustard (de Dijon)
- some muscat nut
- salt/ pepper
- puff pastry

Saute the onions in the butter for a few minutes. Add some water to it and let them cook till they are completely soft, about 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary.

When ready, add the flour and mustard.

Mix the milk and crème fraiche and warm it in a pan. Add the egg yolks to it and then add the onions.

Add the salt and pepper and the muscat nut.

Place the puff pastry in a cake shape and add the onions. Bake it for 25 minutes and a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees. Serve with a nice salad.

tagliatelle with zucchini

This is the easiest way to make my kids eat vegetables! The kids love it, the parents love it, it's a win-win situation! It is therefore frequently served in our house!

Ingredients and steps:

- 2 zucchinis
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 onion finely chopped

Fry the onions and garlic for a few minutes, till soft. Add the zucchini and fry at medium heat for about 10 mn.

- 2 to 3 tomatoes, skinless, diced
- 1 tsp sugar
- a cup vegetable broth

Push the zucchini a bit to the side of the pan and add the tomatoes in the middle. I always add a pinch of sugar when I fry tomatoes, it gives them a nice sweet taste. Let it cook for about 5 mn.

Add the vegetable broth, mix well and let it cook at medium heat for about 15 mn.

- tagliatelle
- olive oil
- parmesan cheese or grana padano chees

In the meanwhile, prepare the tagliatelle according to instructions. Add some some olive oil to avoid that they stick toghether, add the zucchini and cover with a lot of parmesan cheese or grana padano!

Guacamole

Ingredients and steps:

- 2 avocados
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 1/2 a red chili
- 1 (small) ripe tomatoe finely chopped
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1/2 a lime or lemon juice (I like both)
- salt/ pepper to taste

Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the onion, chili, lemon juice, coriander, salt & pepper and tomatoes. Mix everything and done! Always nice to serve with tortilla chips.

Much of the guacamole has to be done to taste, so try and adjust the amounts to your preferences.