Category: Right now

Courgette&Quorn&Miso

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The idea was born the moment the Spiralizer was delivered to my doorstep. Initially I wasn’t really sure about this funny plastic machine, but I soon enjoyed the benefits of substituting classic carb noodles for pasta made entirely from fresh vegetables using the Spiralizer. After perfecting the technique of homemade courgette pasta, I combined my japanese friend Mariko love of Miso, with my partner’s love of quorn. Voila! It is a super solution for a late spring/early summer menu and you can play with the ingredients to make this meal more bespoke (e.g. chicken instead of quorn and shrimp replaced with radish). Although it sounds exotic, this one of the easiest meals to prepare. Go on, start winding this courgette!

1 courgette
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp of good soy sauce
2 tbsp of miso paste  (red is the best)
1 small shallot onion, diced
about 350-400 ml of boiling water (depending on how intense flavour you’d like to achieve)
a 300g bag of “chicken” quorn (frozen is absolutely fine)
a few tiger prawns for a garnish

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Shred the courgette on the noodles blade of the spiralizer. Heat a glug of olive oil in a non-stick pan and sauté onion, garlic, and quorn pieces until softened. In the meantime mix the miso paste with soya sauce in boiling water and pour into pan. Stir gently and add courgette noodles.
Cook for about 5 mins. Ready, simple and yummy!

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Fig&Rhubarb&Almond tart

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Whats not to like about desserts made from seasonal fruits? This dish is a great appetiser to keep you going between lunch time and dinner and a perfect companion for the tea time ritual! Most importantly, a fruit tart is easy-to-make and you can pride in creating your own pastry masterpiece!

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My fig and rhubarb tart with almond flakes is suitable for even the most inexperienced of beginners;

Firstly, prepare the filling with:
about 10 ripened figs (sliced)
2 medium rhubarb sticks sliced into sections of about 2 cm
a handful of flaked almonds
a couple of tbs of cane sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon

Place the rinsed, trimmed and sliced figs with rhubarb into the bowl, add almond flakes along with sugar. Mix gently. Sprinkle with lemon juice and leave in the fridge.

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To make the dough you’ll need:
3 cups of the plain flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/2 cup of caster sugar for the dough
2 tbsp of caster sugar to bind the white eggs
4 chilled eggs
250g butter, preferably unsalted (not margarine)
seeds from 1/2 of vanilla pod or a few drops of vanilla extract

Mix flour with baking powder and add vanilla seeds and butter. Chop them with knife on the worktop surface or mix very slowly in a food mixer. Separate and add 3 egg yolks and 1 whole egg (keep the remaining egg whites for later!)
Mix all together and divide for 2 parts. Proportions I am using are:  3/4 of the mixture for the bottom of the cake and 1/4 of the dough to shred on top of the tart. Wrap both parts in some cling film and leave in the fridge to rest for about 30 mins.
TIP: to make this easier, roll the larger part of the dough to the size of the baking tray you’ll use and then put into the fridge.

In the meantime set up oven for 180C , bind the remaining egg whites  with the caster sugar and when thick, stir gently into the fruit mixture. Place all into the cake form with dough at the base. When filled, shred remaining 1/4 of the dough on top of the tart (the largest wholes in a cheese grater are best for this). Bake for about an 1 hour. If the top is baking too quickly, you can cover it by the baking paper or aluminium sheet to avoiding any burning.

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It tastes best with vanilla ice cream and covered by dash of icing sugar on top.

Enjoy!

Dior, Avedon, Fashion.

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By all means, I am delighted that this book exists. The design, paper quality, and sheer size of this album compliments perfectly what the author, Justine Picardie, has captured in its contents. A real créme de la créme for every fashion aficionado. To be precise, this multi-talented magazine Editor has compiled a rather extraordinary history of fashion. An evolution, chronologically represented by 3 influential designers from the house of Dior, and lensed through decades by the definitive Richard Avedon.

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Picardie first guides us through Dior’s postwar launch of the ‘New Look’ (and what revolution it caused on the streets of Paris). Then she explores Saint Laurent’s couture designs worn by Jacqueline de Ribes and Audrey Hepburn, and finally Marc Bohan’s designs created over 15 years, modelled on Veruschka and Lauren Hutton to name a few. All this accomplished by encyclopedic yet fascinating descriptions of collaboration between the designers and the photographer, whom owed all credits of trust and support to the legendary Editrix of Harper’s Bazaar Carmel Snow. It was Snow who encouraged Avedon to shot the Couture collection for her magazine spreads. The rest is history.

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A new chapter in fashion history. Corolle line by Christian Dior, Paris 1947.

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Dovima wearing gown designed by YSL for Dior. Legendary photo captured by Avedon in 1955 published in Harper’s Bazaar.

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Barbra Streisand gracing pages of Vogue in 1966, in Bohan’s couture dress for Dior.

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Anjelica Huston wearing Dior’s makeup and accessories. Beauty pages of Vogue US, 1973
Dior by Avedon published by Rizzoli

Justine Picardie is the author of this album. She is also the Editor of Harper’s Bazaar UK and Town and Country magazine.

A gift of Grace.

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Good things comes to those who wait, one would say; but in this particular  case it was simply a delivery delay during the Festive Season that prevented me from finding this beautiful gift under the Christmas tree.
Regardless, this wonderful album is now in my hands and I will use my time with this book very wisely. And gracefully ! IMG_9466