Sweet Paris

So I have travel many places and I can say that Paris most definitely had the best pastries/desserts.

Of course I tried Crème brûlée <3 I have had it before but it wasn’t as delicious as this :) The custard had just enough vanilla to give it the right amount of flavor and the crunchy delicious sugar on top was caramelized to perfection.

So I know this isn’t the best picture (I apologize!) But it was one of the best things I ate in Paris! So in the bakery they have lots of different kinds of mini tartlets! The one on the left was a lemon custard, it was tangy and sweet and very fresh tasting! The ones on the right were AWESOME. Walnuts in a caramel mixture topped with cranberries <3 To die for! Also the actual tart crust on the these had great flavor and weren’t overcooked :)

Chocolate Mousse! This desserts can often be bland if not done right but this mousse was like a ridiculous chocolate explosion!!! Of course it still had its nice light and fluffy texture along with the chocolate creaminess! <3

Eats In Paris

So I was in Paris right… haha :) I’ve always wanted to say that! Anywho, gorgeous city and some unbelievably great food!

Of course I tried crepes while I was there! Slightly fluffy and sweet with a nice amount of vanilla flavor and they came with nutella ^.^ mmmmm and were powdered with cocoa! 

Then we stopped at the cafe really close to the Eiffel tower and I got a baguette :) It had butter and salami. Good but nothing spectacular. If you are looking for fresh french bread I recommend one of the many bakeries.. which are full of sinful goodness lol

This is a typical french breakfast and I LOVE bread so I was super happy :D The croissants in France are easily the best I have ever eaten <3 Probably my favorite food on the whole trip. Yes, they are that good!

 

Mushroom Tartlets <3

So while I was in Italy I got a cook book! <3 And I love it! I recently made these Mushroom Tartlets and they were seriously nommy! Nom ^.^ lol So I tweaked the recipe a bit and this is what I got :DThis was actually a really simple recipe, easy to make and very good!

Takes 30 Minutes-Serves 6

1. 375g pack of all-butter puff pastry (found in the frozen section)
2. flour for dusting
3. 2 oz of butter
4. 10 oz of mixed mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
5. 1 oz of fresh parmesan
6. handful of basil leaves, chopped
7. 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
8. 1 egg, beaten
9. Garlic salt/powder of granulated

1. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and cut out four circles about 15cm wide. Take the dough scraps, roll out again and make 2 more circles. The dough should be thin.

2. Heat oven to 350. Heat large frying pan until hot and add 1 oz of the butter and fry the mushrooms until there is not liquid left in the pan. Then add the remaining  1 oz of butter and cook the mushrooms till they start to get a nice caramelized color.  Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper. Take off the heat then mix the mushrooms with the parmesan, basil and garlic.

3. Score the edge of each tart, then spoon the mushroom mixture into the center of each circle. Brush the edges with the beaten egg (this gives the pastry its nice golden color!) Then sprinkle a touch of garlic salt on the edges. Bake the tarts for 20min until puffed up and golden. Put a bit of fresh parmesan on the top for presentation and enjoy! :)

Frites of Belgium

Sooooo today I’m posting about another delicious staple food we had in Brussels :) FRITES (French fries)….That are made with Belgian Bintje potatoes then cooked twice and served in a paper cone! Then the sauce…oh the sauces! Tons of different kinds <3 mostly mayo based and really flavorful! The fries themselves are thick cute and delicious but the sauce definitely makes it exciting lol

 

On the left is the mayo tarragon sauce then the BBQ mayo then the curry mayo (My favorite!)

Yep, so these are all over Brussels with little stands everywhere and restaurants make them too! Good stuff!

Oooh Belgium Waffles!

So I took a trip to Brussels, Belgium! And what was one of the top things on my list to try??? WAFFLES! :D …So you think you like waffles right? Those gross flavorless sponge things? …well these waffles are nothing like that! Why am I so excited!? lol

Well, this is the first waffle I tried! (and the best!) so they pour the batter in fresh, or used a recently made waffle and heat it up in the waffle iron. Then it comes out all hot and chewy and FULL of flavor! Seriously, this thing did not need the chocolate stuff. The flavor was sweet and very vanilla-ey. Just a perfect balance <3

 

 

 

 

 

There are an endless amount of toppings! Ice cream being one of the most popular. Also fresh strawberries and whipped cream :)

There are several different kinds of waffles too! This was much lighter and fluffy. The flavor was also a bit more subtle.

Anywhoooo, if you ever make it to Belgium…TRY THE WAFFLES.

The Easy Way: Currywurst

I made currywurst!!! …but sadly not homemade lol I will be attempting it soon, i’ve been making several dishes lately that I will post :)

Anywhooo, I took the easy way out with this one by buying the (very yummy) ready to eat german sausage :) (Its got a fluffy hotdog like consistency) and I bought the packaged mix of currywurst sauce that you just add water to..so yeah. 5 min meal that delicious but definitely doesn’t compete with the real thing. The wurst just didn’t have that much flavor as it could have and the sauce was good but I definitely could have used some more curry. Anyways, super easy German dish! 

Little Noms

So, this the last food post of our trip to Italy :(  But I still have lots more to post from our previous trips (including France and Belgium..so be prepared!)

Alrighty, we stopped at this little bakery. Tiny little authentic place with some great looking stuff :) This here was a delicious savory pastry that was filled with sausage and stracchino cheese. This thing was freaking awesome. Nom approved <3

 

Next was the sweet little berry tart with pistachios on top. Simple yet delicious <3 

Then at our wine tasting we had these delicious little sand-witches! One was creamy butter with anchovies (Weird right? NO!) Lol. Super good, just enough saltiness and the anchovies had a great flavor! Also we had one that was the same except truffle paste stuff <3 Great white truffle flavor!

Another Italian Dinner

Having dinner in Florence at a little restaurant and pizzeria place… :)

 

Started with some wine…wasn’t very good but then again I have no idea how to choose a good wine lol. Its one of my culinary weaknesses!

 

Next was this awesome calzone…a bit to crispy but the ricotta and the prosciutto were great!

 

Then this simple pasta dish with fresh noodles and tomatoes. Good and not overly seasoned :)

 

Ok, this next pasta dish was really interesting! Fresh noodles with a Tuscan meat sauce… the noodles were quite good with a gritty texture. The sauce was defiantly a new experience. It was super flavorful ground beef and the only way I can kinda describe it was that it somewhat resembled the flavor of corned beef hash! (I love that stuff!) ..so anyways…when in Tuscany try the Tuscan meat sauce :)

 

Homemade Spaghetti

So!  Since my trip to Italy i’ve been cooking a lot. I mean I cook anyways but I was just all culinarily inspired… lol. So I decided to take on the challenge of homemade spaghetti sauce with homemade noodles! This meal took several hours to prepare! Here is how it went…Put the tomatoes into boiling water for about 30sec to a min…just until you see the skin crack a little bit.Then place the tomatoes in cold water and get ready to peel! Because of the quick boil the skins will slide right offPeel ’em!Then you half the tomatoes and get all the seeds and water out…to much water and it takes forever for your sauce to cookThen put the halved tomatoes in a pot and start cooking them downNext is getting the dough togethor. Pretty simple with water, flour, oil and eggs.Mix the dough! It’s a tough-ish dough but it should not be so dry it’s crumbly.. :) Make sure you let the dough rest 15min before rolling it out.Roll the dough as thin as possible without tearing it (of course if you have a pasta machine then this step is a whole lot easier haha)Cut your pasta into the shape you like… this dough can also be for ravioli :) When I used oil in my dough I put a bit of truffle oil. <3 It was subtle but great!So all you have to do is boil your noodles and  add seasoning and wine to the sauce (One the tomatoes have disintegrated
a bit) …I also added onions and sausage to mine. Anywho, this stuff is seriously good! If you would like the full recipe just let me know and I’d be happy to type it up for you! :D

Food Firenze! (Get it? lol)

Yeah that was a ridiculous joke! But I couldn’t help it! Alright! So get ready for a super-duper long post! I went on a wonderful food tour of Florence (Firenze), Italy!  …and here are some of the amazingly delicious and very new to me, things I tried!

This was a simple beef brisket that we had in the market, the green sauce was made from cilantro and was very refreshing…the red sauce was..HOT…I avoided it because I don’t like spicy things but a little bit of it got my piece and I was freaking out..talking crazy burn your face off kinda hot!

Next was freshly made raw ravioli! The filling was some sort of smooth cheese and pear, crazy sweet and interesting. The pasta was super tender and good <3

Then onto the delicious balsamic vinegar’s…Balsamic vinegar is one of my favorite condiments! <3 LOVE THIS STUFF.

We tried 7 different balsamic vinegar’s! Each one going up in age, the last one we tried was aged for 25 years, expensive but really good stuff and the older it gets the more concentrated it is. So the flavor is very strong and the texture starts to become almost like molasses <3

Next was olive oil…i’v never tasted anything quite like this. I use olive oil every day but this stuff tasted completely different! You could actually taste the olives..in fact it tasted like a fresh raw olive! Very strange indeed.. :D

Then the cheese’s with different toppings :) We had fresh mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano <3 TO DIE FOR.

The sauces were actually different kinds of chutneys, honeys and also truffle pesto-ish stuff ;) We bought several haha. We purchased the pear that was infused with essence of mustard (great stuff) and the mixed berry with truffle oil! NOM APPROVED.

Anyways, these are all the delicious things we tasted at the oldest food market in Florence. If you ever get a chance to visit Tuscany make sure you make your way to this market! <3