These logcakes were requested by my husband’s colleague:

This was covered with Tiramisu cream

And this will fresh cream:

There’s not a lot of incentive for me to get out of bed at 5am on a Tuesday morning, especially in the Northern Hemisphere winter. But when I heard that Australian blogger, Razzbuffnik, and his wife, Engogirl, would be travelling around Europe for a few months, I found that rising at five to go and meet them in Paris wasn’t so bad after all.

Razz and Engo met me at the Gare du Nord and we hugged and fell immediately into easy chatter as if reunited schoolfriends rather than bloggers who’d never before met in person. In spite of the grey skies and drizzle, we forewent museums in favour of a leisurely stroll through le Marais, heading for the Seine.

We popped into a couple of markets, which were disappointing, really, and le Marais was like a ghost town, lacking in its usual buzz. But by the time we reached the Ile Saint Louis, we had decided that spending the afternoon together, eating and talking, was the way forward.

I’d heard about a restaurant called l’Ilôt Vache, filled with cow trinkets from faithful patrons, and we certainly found it, but it was closed. Perhaps that was fortuitous because when Razz spotted a modern-looking frontage with a French-Italian-Spanish fusion menu, we decided to give it a whirl, and how lucky we were that we did.

The restaurant is called Sorza and in spite of it being barely 12.30pm, we were greeted by a warm waitress and took a table in the window. Thus began the longest lunch I’ve had in a while. We were the first to arrive for lunch and the last to leave almost five hours later. Somehow, it didn’t surprise me that Razz, Engo and I could eat and talk for so long – we’ve all come to know each other quite well through Razz’s blog and mine and various e-mails in between posts, so the conversation flowed, just as well as the 2005 Côtes du Rhône that we ordered to see us through the afternoon.

Soon a group of Americans arrived to take tables behind us (Razz thinks that our being in the otherwise empty restaurant must have lured them in) and some locals later joined the fray. As dull as it was outside, we were warm in Sorza’s red interior. Now we just had to get down to the serious business at hand: eating.

Engo and I chose the parmesan soufflé to start. Small and rich, it was served warm and small mouthfuls of the cheesy creaminess lingered. This was not to be rushed; this dish demanded to be savoured. It was served with a long plate of leaves with a pesto dressing, shavings of parmesan and a drizzle of balsamic. The freshness of the salad tempered the rich soufflé and the tang of basil married well with the taste of parmesan.

Between bites, Engogirl practised her food photography with hubby, Razzbuffnik’s smart wide-angle lensed-up camera, as we discussed topics as disparate as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and how much you can tell about a country’s climate from its style of guttering.

Amidst all the talking, it’s a miracle we managed to eat as much as we did. Razzbuffnik’s starter was grilled aubergine with parmesan shavings artfully placed at the centre of the plate, and a sprinkling of pine nuts, olives, sunblushed vine tomatoes and a swirl of pesto completed the dish. We, the small Antipodean triumvirate, out to lunch in the French capital, were thus far impressed.

The mains only convinced us that we had stumbled into a very good establishment indeed.

Razz and I chose the Dorade, or sea bream, with creamy polenta and a small herb garnish. The polenta was the creamiest I’ve ever eaten in my life. When it arrived, it bore a gentle foam, and the bloggers’ consensus was that the texture was reminiscent of the softest scrambled eggs. The fish had been grilled to gently crisp its skin, whilst the fleshy underside remained tender, flaking off the fork as it should. And the bonus? No bones.

By this point, we were all sticking our forks into each other’s plates like old muckers, comparing each dish and making all sorts of lipsmacking sounds of gastronomic satisfaction. Engogirl’s risotto with coquilles Saint Jacques, was particularly good. Razz and I agreed that had we the opportunity to return, we’d definitely have to order it for ourselves because one small taste was definitely not enough.

Hours had passed by this point and it was beginning to get dark outside, but we still had to try the desserts. Engogirl tried the pannacotta with two coulis, Razz whizzed through a house tiramisu, and I had the chocolate mousse with crème de menthe. The mousse option arrived in a glass showing its three tidy layers. There was white cream at the bottom, a substantial amount of mousse in the middle, and a glossy cover of  chocolate sauce. The surprise was the white cream. It was quite literally delicately sweetened cream with finely chopped fresh mint throughout.

After a digestif or two it was time to thank our lovely waitress, who’d suffered our foreigners’ French with great patience, and hit the road.

Opposite Sorza we checked out the gallery windows, photographing this modern take on Gustav Klimt’s women, and learning glare-avoidance techniques from Razz. Then I looked at my watch. It said 5.20pm. No. It couldn’t be. I thought it was about 4.30pm. Now I had less than an hour to get back to the Gare du Nord and catch my train. Could it be done?

In the end, we caught a metro, got lost changing at Châtelet, found the right line headed north and screeched onto a train bound for the Gare du Nord. Thankfully, when we reached the Eurostar terminal, there were hardly any queues. That, in itself, is truly miraculous.

With a sadly hurried farewell to my two Australian friends, I typically found myself in the slowest-moving customs queues, threw my bags through the x-ray machine and hoofed it down to the platform. I made it into my seat with 4 minutes to spare. Now that’s what I call timing.

Razzbuffnik and Engogirl are my kinda company. They’re feet-on-the ground with a great repertoire of anecdotes, and a love of things that rate highly on my list of passions – namely, food and travel. I wish we lived closer so that Razz could cook for me with that extra-special Weber barbecue of his and so that Engogirl could show me her dams (Engo is an dam-building engineer). For the moment, we’ll just have to be thankful for the wonderful day we shared in Paris, and for the biggest blessing we’ve discovered through blogging: new and international friends.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Italian-Desserts-to-Live-and-Die-For

You may think you already know all about Italian food. Almost daily you make spaghetti, lasagna and pizza for your family. You may also cook most everything in olive oil and use plenty of garlic. However, you have not really lived until you have tasted these scrumptious Italian desserts.

  Ingredienten:

Voor de bodem:
250 a 300 gram tarwebiscuit
50 ml gesmolten plantaardige margarine
100 ml sojamelk

Voor de vulling:
225 gram tofutti cream cheese naturel (verkrijgbaar bij de natuurvoedingswinkel)
500 ml alpro/provamel yofu naturel (alpro is te vinden in o.a. de Albert Heijn)
150 ml poedersuiker
3 eetlepels maïzena
vanille extract
potje met kersen (of aardbeien) op siroop

Bereiding:

1) Smelt de margarine. Verkruimel de biscuits erg fijn in een kom. Voeg bij de verkruimelde biscuits de gesmolten margarine en sojamelk. Mix dit goed.
2) Doe dit beslag in een springvorm (taartvorm) van ongeveer 22 a 24 cm. Verdeel het over de bodem en maak het aan de rand hoger.
3) Mix de tofutti en de yofu met elkaar in een andere kom. Doe daar de poedersuiker, maïzena en vanille extract bij. Je kan zelf kijken of je er nog meer poedersuiker of vanille aan toevoegt.
4) Doe een dun laagje van het dikke kersensiroop over de taartbodem. Schenk de vulling erover.
5) Bak de taart 20 minuten op 175 graden Celsius. Draai de ovenstand daarna omlaag naar 150 graden Celsius en laat de taart nog ongeveer 25 minuten in de oven staan. Doe de oven uit en laat de taart afkoelen. Nadat het afgekoeld is smeer je een laag kersen op siroop over de vulling. Zet de taart een aantal uur in de koelkast.
6) Eet smakelijk!

~Alex en yaezmienj

As you walk down the steps into Gusto Va Mare, (237 E 53rd St; New York, NY 10022; Telephone: 212.583.9300) be prepared to leave behind the hustle and bustle of daily life in New York City. Enter this cozy, intimate, restaurant and be transported into the Italian Campagna. Charming, folksy wall frescoes of country scenes, seating which reflects Mediterranean themes and mouth watering aromas, the most delicious homey dairy and fish Italian fare await you. Gusto Va Mare is in a class by itself!

SYR and I started the meal with a warm Bruschetta, (Italian bread grilled with fresh mozzarella and garlic herbed tomatoes). We followed that with a fresh Insalata Greca (mesclun, tomato, cucumber, black olives, feta, & Italian dressing) and their delectable Gnochi Combinzione (selection of three gnocchi with three sauces).

SYR had their ample portioned house special of Fettuccini Ai Funghi, fetuccini with mushrooms, it was outstanding. I ordered their 12-ounce Tuna Balsamic served with a large salad. It tasted like real meat and not at all as a product of the sea! We washed it all down with an excellent white house wine.

Their desserts are not to be missed. SYR had the Double Truffle Cake (two creamy layers of dark and white Belgian chocolate on a thin layer of cake) I ordered the Tiramisu (lady fingers dipped in espresso, fresh whipped cream with sweet cheese & a dash of hazelnut liquor, topped with thin shavings of dark chocolate); both, melt in your mouth delicious.

It was a bit pricey, but well worth it!

CS

[Our upcoming website, the supremegourmet.com will feature a longer, more in depth, review of this restaurant and our experience there]

Last week I finally took my first “adult” vacation. By that I mean I went on a vacay with a good friend instead of siblings or parents.

IT.WAS.AWESOME.

Amy and I spent our days sunning ourselves, swimming and getting massages. Our nights were spent watching sunsets and having some of the most delicious food on the planet.

Below is part 1 of the photos. Another round to come later this week. Enjoy!

The View

Daily diet basics…

My lovely travel companion

Delicious bruschetta and some of the best tiramisu i have ever tasted all wrapped up with a gorgeous sunset bow.

It’s Sunday.
For some people, Sunday means church.
For others, it’s simply a day of rest.
For most men I know – it means football.

Currently, there is football on in the bedroom, football on in the living room  AND football on the two other computers in my apartment.

Me, personally, I don’t really even like football.

What I do like, and I’m sure this doesn’t come
as a shock to you, is the food associated with it.
Who doesn’t love spicy buffalo wings and cheesy chili con queso??
Oh goodness, it’s really the only reasonI get excited for football season.
*girly giggle*

My favorite game day treat though, dip. What kind of dip, you ask.
Details. Ha. Who cares what kind of dip??!?
Give me some tortilla chips or carrot sticks and I’ll go to town.
This may or may not be a good thing – depending on the dip of course.
Here are some delectable dip recipes worthy of drooling over.

There are actually some very healthy dip options,
like Baba Ganoush, a delicious Middle Eastern dip,
similar to Hummus, but made with eggplant as opposed to chickpeas

Dips are typically very easy to make,
requiring minimal ingredients and nothing more
than a blender or food processor.
This White Bean Roasted Red Pepper Dip
is only five ingredients and is another dip
you don’t need to feel guilty about eating.

Cooking Light is one of my favorite magazines,
and this recipe for Lime-Spiked Black Bean Dip it featured
is packed with flavor and only 19 calories a serving.

Seven- Layer- Dip is a staple at parties,
but this Mediterranean Dip puts a European flare
on a dish that typically features mexican ingredients.

For those of you looking for something a little naughtier,
this Hot Cheesy Crab, Spinach and Artichoke Dip
can probably aid in curbing your craving
and is making my mouth water as I sit here telling you about it.

No party is complete without dessert,
so here’s a unique recipe for Tiramisu Dip
that takes the classic Italian dessert
and turns it into a treat worthy of double dipping!

Our second stop is Monkey Magic, surprisingly a Japanese bar restaurant rather than a Chinese restaurant as the title may imply. The place is hard to spot at first, with minimal signage and when peering in from the street, it appears to be a room of wooden logs and chairs. The beauty of it all lies up the stairs.

Pork san choi bao

Soft shell crab sushi roll

For nibbles we order pork san choi baos (finely sliced meat, vegetables and sauce served in a lettuce cup) and a soft shell crab sushi roll to share. I definitely enjoyed the san choi bao – the fillings were generous as well as the sauce, and the lettuce cups were fresh, crunchy and green. I’m not a soft shell crab fanatic, but it was better than I had expected and better than many I’ve had before – it was crunchy and digestible; I’ve had too many occasions when the shell is just too chewy to swallow.

We never order dessert as we usually consume way too many cocktails, but as a treat, we order the tiramisu served with biscotti (not shown) – as my work colleague and I are still on the world search for the best tiramisu. It’s a white sesame tiramisu with flavoursome layers of mascarpone and espresso soaked sponge fingers – there was a subtle hint of sesame, but not very evident at all. Big grins all round.

Ego Garden Tea, Ageha Tokyo Punch, Gomeshu Bon Bon, Kirishima Sour

As the cocktails arrived, we did the circle taste test. I definitely enjoyed my poison of choice, the Kirishima Sour, a very nice balance of sweet and sour flavours. The other hot favourite was the Gomeshu Bon Bon served with a sugar rim and orange peel stars.

Great place for a quality catch up – subtle music, not too busy with great food and cocktails.

Monkey Magic
3&4, 410 Crown St
Surry Hills, Sydney
http://www.monkeymagic.com.au/

pour 4pers,prép 20mn

Ingrédients

• 250gr de mascarpone (1 boite)
• 3 oeufs
• 1 boite de cigarettes russes
• 25cl de café fort
• 100gr de sucre en poudre
• 50gr de cacao amer(Vanhouten)
• 1c.à soupe de rhum

Préparation

• Casser les oeufs en séparant les jaunes des blancs
• Mélanger les jaunes dans un saladier avec le sucre en poudre et le mascarpone.Une fois bien mélanger à la cuillère et rendu plus onctueux,battre au fouet électrique pour rendre le mélange plus léger
• Monter les blancs en neige ferme avec une pincée de sel,puis incorporer les très délicatement à la préparation précédente
• Mélanger le café et le rhum dans une petite assiette creuse.Tremper rapidement les cigarettes dedans avant de les disposer au fond d’une coupe.
• Recouvrer les de crème et saupoudrer de cacao amer
• Garder au frais jusqu’au service.

Idées +

• A présenter dans des coupes individuelles car plus faciles à servir
• Décorer éventuellement de feuilles de menthe fraîche et de groseilles

préparer la veille,pour 8 pers,prép 20mn,frigo 12h

Ingrédients

• 1 paquet de cigarettes russes
• 250gr de crème de marron
• 6 marrons glacés
• 3 oeufs
• 75gr de sucre
• 300gr de mascarpone
• 4 c à soupe de rhum
• 15cl de café fort
• cacao amer

Préparation

• Fouetter les jaunes d’oeufs avec le sucre jusqu’à ce qu’ils blanchissent.Ajouter le mascarpone,la crème de marron,2c à soupe de rhum et les marrons glacés en petits morceaux.Bien mélanger.
• Incorporer délicatement les blancs d’oeufs battus en neige ferme
• Tremper rapidement les cigarettes dans le café mélangé au reste du rhum et les disposer au fond des coupelles
• Verser la préparation dessus,lisser avec le dos d’une cuillère.
• Réfrigérer 12h minimum
• Servir frais,saupoudré de cacao amer

Our office is known for our cake time – we enjoy celebrating birthdays with lavish birthday cakes from our local cake shops, and luckily, our local cake shops are damn good. Usually the birthday girl hints what type of cake they’re hoping for, but as I was away in Melbourne, the girls organised my cake without my assistance. They choose a tiramisu ice cream cake from Messina, and it was definitely the perfect choice!

The base was lined with savorlardi biscuits soaked with expresso with a generous layer of tiramisu ice cream and dusted heavily with Italian cocoa. Simply delicious.

Messina Gelato
Shop 1/241 Victoria Rd
Darlinghurst, Sydney
www.gelatomessina.com.au

On my quest to find the best tiramisu, I recalled an unforgettable dessert cafe in Crown Casino. Known for their desserts, I knew I was going to find something worthwhile. Last year, we had the biggest slice of balaclava imaginable (thankfully we did not devour more than half of it..), and this year, we settled for a nice slice of chocolate tiramisu. The flavours are well balanced, perfect layers of espresso, mascarpone and cake layers. My only little disappointment was the fact that the base was made of espresso soaked chocolate cake, and not the traditional sponge fingers. But I still enjoyed every bite. Very well done.

I can’t comment on the cafe itself as rarely choose to have dessert at the cafe; too many people and too big of a cake. This cake took us two nights to finish – although, it was nice we didn’t overindulge ourselves in one night and had sweet nightcap to look forward to for the next night.

Cafe Greco
Shop 18, 8 Whiteman St
Crown Casino
Southbank, Melbourne
http://www.grecoeuropeangrill.com.au

]]> http://sittingwishingeating.com/2009/11/12/2481/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:18:20 +0000 reiz http://sittingwishingeating.com/2009/11/12/2481/

The appetizers are equally good.

We were looking for someone cosy to dine in this week. And uh-huh, i remembered there’s a lovely restaurant at Serangoon Garden which raves pretty good reviews at Hungrygowhere.

  The place was cosy, and nicely lit-up with the warm colour light ambience. I was surprised there wasn’t much diners but i guess it’s probably due to the post holiday blues on Monday. But there’s quite a number of regulars there. I guess Ristorante De Parma already have their own group of regular fans who fancy their good quality pasta and pizza at Serangoon Garden!

Like all Italian restaurants, there’s complimentary bread! The warm bread were very much to our liking.

 We had a pretty hard time deciding what shall we have as there’s quite a variety of pizza in the menu.

 But to kick-start, we started with my all time favourite ♥　- Garlic Bread and Calamari

Following which,  we had 2 Pizza from the Tuesday Pizza Night Menu – Pizza Alfungi and Pizza Meat Lovers (I probably got the name wrongly) but the pizza was lovely. This is probably one of the most decent restaurant in our serangoon-hougang-sengkang area that serves one of the better quality Pizza. The Crust was good, just like what the other diner said, it wasn’t neither too thin or thick.

 It was quite a good deal to get the Pizzas at $12.90 on Tuesday!!

The promotion is till end of this month only 30th Nov 2009!

 We ended the night with lovely Tiramisu ♥ which was smooth yet not too sweet.

This is definitely one of the very rare place in the North East Area to curb your Pizza(s) Craving and Pasta(s)!!

Oh! And i forgot to add that i Love Freshly Home Made Garlic Bread! Sometimes, the most easiest dish might be the hardest to make yet the tastiest!

And they serve good chewy soft Calamari!

Ristorante De Parma

Seriously, people.  My Urban Vegan purchase was worth it just for this recipe.

a dog named (blank)
refused
to get out of the lake

i prepared
like a therapist would prepare
scribbling on a northbound train
considering pasts

i lived in two cities
with a time zone in common
one had mountains
and one had bigger mountains

someone was building you a bike
someone adopted a dog
someone was going to come find you
their hand
in the shape
of a fist

i alleywalked
in tight jeanshorts
while the yard sales went on

i dipped shoeless feet
in a fountain
located in a city
approximately halfway
between the two cities i inhabited

people
were waiting
to hold me up

the effects of recklessness
were studied
over a four month period

i observed mistakes
and assumed
that poetry
wasn’t dead

i was supposed to say fuck off
instead of crying
i was supposed to eat the tiramisu
at 10pm
i was supposed to forget about
falling apart barns

i held burials
for a week
near salted water

i fed my heart
to the pigeons
of chicago
a city where there is a billboard
that says art is real
in black text on yellow background

geography and proximity
refused to issue guarantees

i held a hand at sundown
on the i-95
across wyoming
montanna
quebec

i met some parents
some nurses
i scraped paint
and climbed a tree

i drove a silver zoom-zoon
searching for a wireless signal
across the border
under the assault of rain

listen,
i can say it now,
fuck off

(blank) and i
made a pact
to enlist
some silver foxes

Alcohol-Free Tiramisu

Yummy!

Taste: I really can’t believe that it is alcohol free when I tasted it for the first time. This delicious tiramisu can pass off as any normal tiramisu. Great for muslims and kids! Warning… very hard to stop at just one cup…

Portion: 1 cup per serving and 9 cups in a box.

Price: $4.50 per cup

Orders: Please email to festivegoodies@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: festivegoodies do not have food licence and is only doing this as a hobby. This website is meant for relatives and friends who have tasted these goodies before and wish to order for their own consumption.

I came across this Tiramisu Bundt Cake recipe on Baking Bites. It looked interesting, so I thought I’d give it a try (plus somebody seems to like tiramisu).

The resulting cake was a little on the dry side, but nothing a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with Kaluha didn’t fix.

[Edit: This cake tastes a lot better after a night (or two) of refrigeration! The cake is somehow a little more moist and the flavors more distinct. The tummy is happy.]

This did give me a pretty good idea (I think) for a Tiramisu cupcake. So, stay tuned! Hopefully, it will turn out well!

Tiramisu Bundt Cake
Serves 16

Ingredients:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup espresso or very strong coffee
1/4 cup Kahlua

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking power and salt.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
• Working in two or three additions, alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk large bowl, ending with an addition of flour, and mixing just until everything is incorporated.
• Remove 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl.Remove another cup of batter into a second small bowl.
• Add espresso to one of the small bowls and whisk until well-combined.
• Add Kahlua to the second small bowl and whisk until well combined.
• Pour half of the plain batter into the bundt pan and spread into an even layer.
• Pour the Kahlua batter into an even layer on top of the plain batter.
• Pour espresso batter on top of Kahlua batter. These batters maybe slightly thinner, but do not mix or stir them. Carefully spread all remaining plan batter into the bundt pan.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Let cake cool in pan for 15-20 minutes, then turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Kahlua Mascarpone Frosting

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
4-oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup Kahlua
2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and beat at medium-high speed until very smooth and fluffy.
• Use a butter knife or spatula to apply the frosting to the bundt cake in a thick, even layer.

Recipe 124: This is an italian classic dessert and it’s also very easy to prepare, so if you haven’t tried any of my recipes yet, i suggest you to start with this one.

For my mum’s tiramisu’ i used : 300gr mascarpone – 250gr of Savoiardi biscuits ( you can find them in Waitrose, i bought one pack) – 3 eggs but very fresh (you won’t cook them so this is very important) – 3 big spoons of sugar – 5 espresso cups of coffee (i normally do 2 normal coffees and 3 decaf especially if i will serve the dessert in the night and if not all the people normally take coffee) – 1 or 1/2 espresso cup of liquor (Marsala is the best but you can also use Amaretto, Cognac or Quantro) – some sweet chocolate in powder and some chocolate in bits to decorate the Tiramisu’.

First you have to create the “zabaione” and for that we mean that you will mix the egg yolks and the sugar until you will reach the consistency of a cream. Then you will add the mascarpone. In another container you will whip the white of the 3 eggs and then you will add it to the rest, being careful to mix from the down to the top.

This is the cream for the Tiramisu’. Nothing is easier and better than this!

Now you will prepare the coffees and you will add to that the little cup of liquor.

At this point take one Savoiardi at the time and put it in the coffee but very quickly. They need to absorb a bit of coffee but they don’t have to break or be dump. You can then put them one after the other in a recipient, creating the first layer. I normally put just one side of the biscuits in the coffee and i add some coffee on the top of the them with a spoon when the layer is ready.

Add the cream on top of the layer and put some chocolate powder. Then create on top of this a second layer putting again the Savoiardi in the coffee and then in the recipient. Then again the cream and the chocolate. You can create how many layers you want depending by the recipient, the biscuits and the cream available.

When you arrive at the end, put just the cream and place the dessert in the fridge for at least one hour before to serve it. When you will take it out, decor it with the chocolate powder and chocolate bits: these will give a bit of  “crunchiness” to the Tiramisu’.

Buon appetito!

PS. Mamy eccomi qui con il tiramisu’ e non sai….mi sono scordata il Marsala. Mi sarei mangiata le mani, ma alla fine ho messo un liquore francese che abbiamo qui. Non e’ la stessa cosa pero’…buonissimo!e nenache troppo pesante se preso in piccole dosi. L’unica cosa che ho aggiunto rispetto alla tua ricetta sono le gocce di cioccolato in cima, che ci fanno proprio da ciliegina sulla torta!