Prunes Wrapped in Bacon

This sweet and savory appetizer will delight your taste buds. The sweetness of the prune and the smokiness and saltiness of the bacon make a delicious combination. And let's not forget the meltingly soft texture of the prune and the crispiness of the grilled bacon. And the icing on the cake is the fact that the preparation of your appetizer will be wrapped up in no time.

Just a piece of advice before starting: These appetizers have to be eaten hot or warm.*

The following quantities are for 33 prunes wrapped in bacon, so feel free to adjust the quantities if you are cooking for more or fewer guests (I counted about 5 prunes wrapped in bacon per person).

You will need:

• 33 pitted ready-to-eat prunes
• 11 slices of bacon
• 33 toothpicks

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Start by pre-heating your oven at 200 C (392 F).*

Cut the bacon slices into the right length (the right length should be one and a quarter times the diameter of the prune).

While your oven is pre-heating, prepare your appetizer by rolling each prune in a slice of bacon.

Place the prunes wrapped in bacon on a parchment paper sheet, on an oven tray.

Place the tray in the pre-heated oven and cook for about 10 minutes, then place them under the grill for about 2 minutes, or until the bacon is grilled.

Insert a toothpick into each prune.

Serve hot or warm.

Enjoy!


*Note: You can prepare your prunes wrapped in bacon per advance, leave them in the fridge, and heat them just before serving.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Yummy Breakfast Sandwich

Here is a delicious breakfast sandwich that will help kickstart your weekday and help shake off those Monday blues. It is easy enough to put together in a jiffy, in between ironing your shirt and finding matching socks.

To make this sandwich, you just need:

• One or two eggs; depending how eggy you like it
• English muffins
• A tomato slice
• One or two slices of canadian bacon; depending how bacon-y you like it
• A few leaves of basil
• Cheese of your choice, a sharp cheddar would be a good choice.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

I was making a few sandwiches at the same time, so you will see me using ingredients for multiple sandwiches in the pictures below.

Lay your cut muffins (cut-side up) on an oven tray, add the slice of cheese on one half and place it in the oven to grill. Don't grill it just yet, just get it ready.

Slice your tomato and season the slice with some pepper, salt and dried basil.

Let the tomato slice rest of a bit. Meanwhile, beat your eggs in a bowl and add some salt and pepper.

Now we are ready to start cooking things. Basically, you need to grill the bacon and tomato, and cook the eggs. I did them as a scramble, but you can do them any way you wish.

When you're eggs are almost done, pop the muffins with the cheese in the oven on your grill setting to get the muffins toasted and cheese melted. Alternately, just toast your muffins if you would rather do that.

Finally, assemble your sandwich. I did Muffin-cheese-bacon-eggs-bacon-tomato-basil leaves-muffin.

Now go start your day feeling energised!

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Fall & Winter Hearty Salad

As winter is just around the corner and fall has already started, this salad will be a perfect meal for the season; it is very hearty and fulfilling enough to be a main dish.

A big plus: It is easy to prepare.

The following quantities are for 2 people, so feel free to adjust if you are cooking for more or fewer people, or according to your taste*.

For the salad:

• Some lettuce or salad
• 2 eggs
• 3 potatoes
• Some vegetable oil to roast the potatoes
• Some bacon, or lardons, or ham
• Some Comté cheese (or sharp cheddar)
• Some croutons or old bread that you will toast

For the vinaigrette: (you can adjust the measurements according to your taste)

• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 to 1.5 tablespoon of vinegar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• Some shallots (optional ... to your taste)
• Some chives (optional ... to your taste)
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Start by rinsing and drying the salad if it's a fresh one from the shelf, or just open your salad packet and keep on the side.

Boil the egg in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Once they are cooked, rinse them with cold water, and let them sit in the fridge to cool down.

Peel your potatoes and cut them into cubes. In a pan, add some vegetable oil and heat it up. Place the cubed potatoes, roast them, and keep them on the side.

If you are using bacon, remove most of the fat from the bacon and cut it into pieces. If you are using lardons or ham, just toss the pieces into a hot pan and roast them.

Set them aside after they are roasted.

Cut the borders off the Comté cheese ...

... then cut it into slices and into cubes, and put it aside.

Once the eggs are cooled, peel them, cut them, and place them on the side.

Cut some bread into pieces and toast them, or just open the croutons packet you bought.

Prepare your dressing by adding, in a bowl, a teaspoon of French Mustard and the vinegar. Mix together and add the previously cut shallots, chives, some salt, and pepper. Add the olive oil and mix.

Just before serving, reheat your potatoes and your lardons for a few minutes, and cut your toasted pieces of bread in cubes.

It is now time to dress your plate: Plate the salad, the Comté cheese, the potatoes, the lardons, the croutons, and the eggs.

Add your dressing ... and enjoy!

*Note: If you happen to have some leftovers sun-dried tomatoes, you can add them to this salad, but be careful to not add to many ingredients as this is a fulfilling enough salad the way it is.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Sidmouth - UK

Nice little town located on the UK Jurassic Coast, Sidmouth is quite charming.

We visited this town and had dinner there in July 2012.


The Anchor Inn

The pub menu is more or less the same as any other pub in the UK, but the difference is that the food here was good.

We were three eating here: the two of us, and my eight years old cousin who is also a foodie and a good cook*.

The menu at the time offered four different types of Fish and Chips: the Cod Fillet, the Haddock Fillet, the Plaice Fillet, and the Whole Tail Scampi. My eight years old cousin tried the Cod Fillet and because it was good and the portion was quite big (served with chipped potatoes, garden peas, and fresh salad), it was enough to satisfy our appetite. The only thing she wasn't fond of were the garden peas, because it tasted, and was, a bit weird. As she stated: "they are big and flashy green, it's weird!" which, in her defence, is the same in every UK pub ... I guess that's one of those weird British foods.

It was her first Fish and Chips and she was really pleased with the discovery, we even got the honor of a "it delicious! (in English ... oh yeah, I forgot to mention that she's French), and she also became very fond of coleslaw.

I had the Traditional Cottage Pie: the beef was good and perfectly cooked and the stew was excellent. The only down side was that it wasn't really a pie, they served it to you on two separated butter puff pastries, which was good - don't get me wrong - but not the traditional pie I expected.

Shyamal had The Anchor Burger with a 1/2 pound of beef burger, served with smoked bacon, melted cheese, sliced tomato and lettuce, and accompanied by homemade coleslaw and chipped potatoes. The burger was excellent, the beef was tender and overall the burger was juicy and extremely satisfying.

We all tried each other's dish and agreed that everything was good.

The staff was very friendly and even thought the pub was crowded, the service was fast and good.

For a relative touristy area, and compared to the other pubs in the neighbourhood, the prices were very decent. The burger was 9.25 GBP, the Fish and Chips was 8.95 GBP and the pie was 9.75.


*Note: Just as a side note that has nothing to do with the recommended places, but more with the cooking part of our blog, my eight years old cousin tried few of our recipes and made, by herself (aside from managing the oven) the vanilla creams, the quiche, the carrot cake, the yoghurt and chocolate cake, the chocolate mousse amongst some other recipes she creates.

Reviewed by Charline Leblond and Shyamal Addanki

Goat Cheese & Apple ( with Smoked Duck Fillet ) Verrines

Whether you are having a dinner party, a romantic dinner, or you want to treat yourself, here's an idea for a refreshing appetizer or starter.

I would suggest serving this goat cheese and apple with smoked duck fillet verrine as a small portion (the verrine containers I used are shot glasses) because, even though this is delicious, you don't want to be full and spoil your appetite for the meal to come.

The ingredients are for 4 verrines, so feel free to adjust the quantities if you cooking for more or less people.

You will need:

• One good-sized apple
• 3 tablespoons of crème fraîche*
• Some pepper
• Some salt
• A small round goat cheese called "Crottin de Chavignol"* (if you can find it, or any other chalky goat cheese will do the trick)
• As many smoked duck fillets as you are creating verrines* (as an alternative for smoked duck fillets, you can use crispy bacon or proscuitto ham)

For the goat cheese, try to find something that is dry and chalky (not a spread):

The smoked duck fillets (or your meat of choice) should be just fine pieces:

Preparation time: 20 minutes


Start by peeling your apple.

Then cut your apple into small cubes ...

... and place them in a plate.

Cover your apple pieces with some parchment paper and place the plate in the microwave. Heat it for 1 to 2 minutes at maximum heat.

Your apple pieces should get out softer and ready to be mashed.

Mash your apple pieces ...

... until they become a puree, but leave some chunks in there.

In a saucepan, heat up the crème fraîche with some salt and pepper.

Once the crème fraîche is warm, let it cool down while your are mashing your goat cheese (no worries if you leave some small chunks of goat cheese).

Then pour the crème fraîche on the mashed goat cheese and mix them together with a fork ...

... until the mixture becomes a puree-like.

You are now ready to assemble your verrines.

Remember verrines are all about layers: so we are going to start by a layer of goat cheese and crème fraîche mixture, then make a layer of apple puree, and finally place our smoked duck fillet at the top.
To create your layers, you can use a teaspoon or a pastry bag.

Add each layer of the verrine to all the verrines before moving on to the next layer, so you can make sure that all your verrines are equally made.

Place the verrines in the fridge for at least ten minutes.

Enjoy!

Note: You can even make these verrines vegetarian by not adding the smoked duck fillet or any other meat.

*Tips: Don't throw away your smoked duck fillet, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your smoked duck fillet.

Don't throw away your crème fraîche either, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your crème fraîche.
Don't throw away your leftovers of Crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese), refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your Crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese).

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond