Usually I would never think of making cheese, because in my mind, it was something too complicated, something only cheese makers knew how to do.

This changed my mind. Living in the US, it’s sometimes difficult to find imported cheeses, such as mascarpone. In the past, stores like Rainbow or Whole Foods carried various Italian brands such as Santa Lucia. In any European country, you can find Italian mascarpone anywhere. For whatever reason in San Francisco, they stop selling them, selling only domestic mascarpone, and with no offense, domestic brands are not good, either the texture is too solid, too yellow, too this or too that, making really bad tiramisù. So in my mind, I could no longer make good tiramisù, and I have to admit that I got a little frustrated and annoyed. Then I tried to find on the web some information of the fabrication of mascarpone, which I was curious to know why it was called cheese (it’s because of the caseine). And here we go, the easiest thing on earth is to make mascarpone with just two ingredients! Yes it is possible! I was amazed when this came out of the refrigerator.

One pint will give you about 250-300 gr of mascarpone (a little more than the quantity of the container you find in the store)

Morale of the story: Do not buy domestic mascarpone any longer if you want to make a killer tiramisù, make it yourself, it’s worth it.

Ingredients

• 1 pint of heavy cream (a great quality, I used Straus)
• 1 tbs of lemon juice (filtered)

Preparation

in a large pot, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil. Pour cream in a mixing container that could be exposed at high temperature (I used a pyrex one), place on top of the pot and lower the heat. Stir cream and let it reach about 80-90C, then add lemon juice. Keep stirring for about 10 minutes, at that point the cream will become thicker and coat the spoon. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Place a cheese cloth (the thick kind, not with holes) on top of a strainer, then pour cream in it. Cover with a cloth and place in the refrigerator for about one day (24 hours). Use withing the next few days.

This panna cotta recipe has been inspired from this wonderful Italian blog called Giallo Zafferano – It’s filled with delicious and inventive recipes that are mouth-watering. For coffee lovers, this panna cotta will be a real treat. This type of dessert is called “dolce al cucchiaio” meaning spoon dessert, basically a dessert that can be eaten with a spoon.

Panna cotta is a very easy to make dessert, and you don’t need to be a master chef to succeed at it. You just need right quantities of cream, sugar and gelatine sheets…but no specific technique is required, so don’t wait, make one…at least to treat yourself (I always do!). You need strong espresso, or coffee made in a moka machine (those manual Italian coffee makers), I see a lot of those sold in the US, and they’re mainly from the brand Bialetti. So I would say that the trickiest part is to get the right coffee, otherwise your panna cotta will be somehow flavorless.

For the gelatin sheets, you can use gelatin powder as well, so 8 g of gelatin sheets would be about one packet of powder.

Ingredients for 5-6 mini cups

• 5.3 oz (or 150 ml) strong espresso + 2.82 oz (or 80 g) for the chocolate sauce
• 0.28 oz (or 8g) gelatin sheets or 1 pack of gelatin powder
• 1 lb (or 500 ml) heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise, beans scraped
• 1/2 tsp coffee extract (optional)
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) sugar
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) semi sweet chocolate

Preparation

Start getting your coffee ready. Soak gelatin sheets in water until they become soft. Bring cream to a boil with sugar and vanilla beans. Remove from heat and add gelatin sheets, mix well then add coffee. Strain mixture in a strainer to remove the small particles. Pour in individual molds. Let them cool, then refrigerate for about 4-5 hours.

Melt chocolate in microwave or in a water bath, add coffee and mix well to obtain a smooth texture but not too liquid.

Remove the panna cotta from molds using a small knife it it sticks to the sides of the mold. You can also place bottom of panna cotta in hot water for a few seconds to help with the removal.

Place in a plate and decorate with chocolate sauce.

This is probably my last post before I fly to France, next week. I have to fly for family reasons and looking forward to it. June in France is my favorite month, the days are long and it’s still light until 10 pm. Since my mom will be in the hospital, I will have to cook for my father and I am trying to find some exciting recipes for him to enjoy. I think this one will be one among others. The difference is that I will be using “Moules de Bouchot” instead of American mussels.

In France, moules de bouchot are grown in Brittany and Normandy, they’re considered to be the best of all mussels. They’re small but with a very flavorful and delicate meat. These mussels are grown in on a wooden pole in the ocean and in a way to keep predators away. If you speak French here is some interesting information on how they are farmed.

The mussels I used were bigger than moules de bouchot nonetheless very tasty. Leeks and fish or seafood are wonderful combined together, so in this recipe it’s all enhanced by a spicy curry sauce. The curry flavor is not too strong since it’s infused with the cream and gives this gratin a little exotic touch without empowering it.

The world of gratin is infinite, so you could of course, substitute mussels with white fish or even scallops, it’s all up to your imagination and to your taste buds.

Ingredients for 2

• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• about 20 mussels (depending on the size)
• 1 tbs mild curry powder
• 4 tbs heavy cream
• salt and pepper

For the topping

• 5 tbs panko breadcrumbs
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
• 3 tbs olive oil
• chili powder (to taste)
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Steam mussels in a large pot, when they open, remove from shell and keep the juice. Remove the mussel meat from the shells and set aside.

Prepare topping mixing all ingredients together in a mixing container.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallot and let it sweat, add the leeks, salt and pepper and let ccok for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Add mussel juice and let reduce. Add curry powder, mix well, then add mussels and cream. Let the cream reduce slightly then divide in two recipients.

Add one layer of the topping. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20 minutes, until the crust turns golden.

Serve hot with a mâche salad.

It’s time to take a little time off and go where the sun is always happy and shining, not the Caribbeans but Baja Mexico. California has been under a horrendous weather, it’s so cold that the heat is back in the house, I am back wearing winter clothes such as thick ski jacket and woolen sweaters. So for a little while, I might not be posting recipes but maybe Mexican beaches and sunset.

Now, I have to find my bikini since the last time I wore it was two years ago. Swim suits are not my favorite things to wear, I always feel the bikini is too small, if I move to fast, the strings will untie. Not being the typical French woman who goes topless on the beach, I get a little paranoid about my top or bottom failing on me. Last time I was in the South of France, no one seemed to worry about the swim suit strings! Vive le topless!

I wanted to celebrate this so needed vacation by making my mom signature sweet. She makes this pie at least once a week since the number of guests stopping by the house is ridiculous, so there is always something sweet to nibble on. Her recipe comes with a jam topping mixed with sliced almonds.

I added almond flour to the crust to give it a nutty after taste. Crostate are typical Italian “tarts”. In Italy, they call the crust: pasta frolla, whereas in France, it’s called pâte brisée but the process is similar.

This crust is not a pasta frolla, my mom always use baking powder in her crust and she melted the butter instead of incorporating it cold and by pieces. This pie tastes more like a cake, and is lighter than a traditional crostata with pasta frolla, since the quantity of butter is less. I flavored it with lemon zest to give a little kick. Overall, I was somehow faithful to her recipe but you don’t always have to be faithful in the kitchen!

Bye bye grey sky, cannot wait to leave you…

Ingredients for 6

For the crostata

• 4.9 oz (or 140 g) flour
• 2.82 oz (or 80 g) almond flour
• 2.46 oz (or 70 g) sugar + 1 tsp
• 2.46 oz (or 70 g) butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of 1 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup blueberries

For the yogurt cream

• 6 tbs plain Greek yogurt
• 6 tbs heavy cream, whipped
• zest of 1 lemon for decoration

Preparation

In a mixing container, mix flours together. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, melted butter, lemon zest and baking powder. Start mixing all ingredients together, adjusting with flour if the dough is too sticky. For a small homogeneous ball. Butter a non stick mold (about 20 cm diameter) and using your hands spread 2/3 of the dough regularly on the surface of the mold.

Place blueberries on top of the dough leaving one inch around the edges. Using your hands, push carefully blueberries in the dough. Using the leftover dough, start rolling it forming a little rope like you would when making gnocchi. That rope should be about 2/3 inch thick. Place rope across crostata forming a cross shape. Using same process, form another rope and place around the edges of the crostata.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 365-370F for about 30 minutes, until the crostata is slightly golden. Do not overcook or the crostata will be too hard. The crust has the texture of a cake and should not be too crunchy, it needs to remain soft and moist. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve at room temperature.

For the yogurt cream

Whip heavy cream and mix carefully with yogurt. Top one slice of crostata with the cream-yogurt mixture and sprinkle with lemon zest.

We are still in Italy with this dessert and it’s one of my favorite, I love anything creamy with vanilla but still light. Zabaglione or Zabaione, either way, is a dolce al cucchiaio, meaning a “spoon dessert” or a dessert to eat with a spoon in the same category as pudding, creams, etc… Its origin goes back to 1500 and there are many disagreements in regards to where it has originated, Emilia? Turin? Venice? no one is really sure about it. But one sure thing is that it’s an ancient dessert.

You can eat it as an accompaniment with fruits, a slice of panettone, lady fingers or as is. Its a very light and fluffly cream made with yolks, sugar and marsala or dry dessert wines. If you only have sweet marsala, you need to add less sugar to the yolks. This one has been enhanced with caramelized pears and vanilla, and I think I put a little too much vanilla powder on top! I can’t get enough of vanilla!

It’s a very simple dessert to make, the little trick is to not let the water and the cream boil, or the cream will become thick and will curdle.

Ingredients for 3

• 3 yolks
• 3 tbs sugar (+1 for the pear)
• 4 tbs dry marsala
• 1 pear, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 tbs chopped walnuts or pistachios
• vanilla powder

Preparation

Start caramelizing the pears. Melt butter in a pan, then add pear slices, sprinkle with sugar and let the pear caramelize. remove and divide in 4 small cups.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the water is just lightly simmering, but not boiling.

In a mixing container, beat yolks and sugar until they double volume and whitens. Add Marsala gradually and keep on beating the mixture, then place container on top of the hot water, and keep on beating for another 15 minutes until the cream thickens and become fluffy like a mousse.

Remove from heat and spoon on top of the pears. Sprinkle with vanilla powder and walnuts. You can either serve it immediately and lukewarm, or place in the refrigerator and serve cold.

Sometimes, you just have to treat yourself…today was my treat day and I really enjoyed it to the fullest. Treating for me has to do with seafood, so those wonderful coquilles (shells) made my day.  I have a friend over for dinner tonight who relocated from Hawaii and who is having a difficult time adjusting to San Francisco life. It’s a definitely a wonderful city but tough, it certainly can be difficult to find a decent place to live, a good job, find friends, etc…so I wanted to make something that would make her feel good, unfortunately I did not have enough seafood to make those coquilles for everyone. Entertaining is a wonderful remedy for all kinds of diseases, don’t you think? For both, the one who cooks and the one who eats.

Anyway we have this traditional seafood appetizer called “Coquilles St Jacques” which refers to the commercial name of that mollusk but also refers to a scallops mixture dish, cooked in oven, but mainly served in their own shell like this one. There are many recipes for Coquilles St Jacques, literally translated by “Saint Jacques Shell” and this one is my version which has always been a favorite among my friends and family. It is difficult in the US to find scallops in their shells, so I bought ceramics shells. They look like a time-consuming dish to prepare but they’re really not.

In France, we eat the red part of the scallop also (never seen it in the US since they’re not sold in their shell) and that’s what we call corail (like corral, due to its color) that is the genital part of the scallop. I realized that the French tend to eat quite everything, maybe not as much as Chinese…but still.

I haven’t flamed (flamber) anything for a long time, and that really represents the basic of French cooking. So I felt really going back to traditions by just lighting up a match.

Ingredients for 3 large or 4 small

• 1 cup shrimps, deveined and without shell
• 1 cup small scallops
• 1/2 lb cod or white fish, cut in cubes
• 1 lb mussels
• 1 shallot
• 1 cup leeks (the white part), cut crosswise
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• 2 tbs Cognac or Whiskey
• 1 tbs chopped chives
• Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the sauce

• 1 tsp butter
• 3 tsp white flour
• 1/2 cup mussel broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• salt and pepper
• a pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Preparation

Wash and clean the mussels. Heat olive oil in a deep pot, and add mussels. Cover and let the mussels open. Keep the liquid. you should get about 1/2 cup of mussel liquid. Remove mussels from pan, and remove from their shells. Set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil, add shallots, brown them, add leeks and cover. Cook leeks until they get soft. Add shrimps, scallops and fish. Cook at medium heat but do not over cook. Save the extra liquid you get from cooking the seafood, and add to the mussel’s liquid. Add mussels to the fish/seafood mixture. Stir well. Add cognac and flame with a match. Add cream, reduce until the cream has thickened. Stir well, add chives. Set aside.

For the sauce

Melt butter in a pot, when butter has melted, add flour and stir well, like if you’re making a roux. Add nutmeg. Add milk and liquid from mussels progressively, always stirring. Add salt and pepper. Stir until the sauce has thickened. It’s the same process as a Béchamelle sauce

Add sauce to the pan containing seafood. Mix well. Fill the ceramic shells with this mixture, if you don’t have any, you can use ramequins or any individual little dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 15 minutes until the breadcrumbs get golden. Serve very hot as an appetizer.