Mango Verrines

I found astonishing mango: they were perfectly ripe, big, juicy and chosen by a very cute and gentle guy! ;-)
And I had them there, altogether with some FRENCH petit suisse (I would like to stress on the French origin of my petit suisse, because they are creamier then the horrible one you find in Italy...), so, what can do more justice to this two ingredients if not a verrine?
I know that my last sentence is not really logic... But, have I ever said to be a logic or non the less coherent person??? Never! So...
What I did was just to mix petit suisse with some cream and very little sugar and spoon it in the little glasses. It everything go with your own taste: I measured nothing! I just kept trying it until it had the right creamy consistence and the right sugary taste for my own palate. You do whatever with your own! :-)
Then I topped it with the blended mango mixed with some melted gelatine (for a big mango, 2 sheets (aka 4 g) of gelatine).
In the fridge for 3 hours.
Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

Peach and mascarpone syllabub

I really love syllabubs: they are simple, quick, always good and looking always good!
This peach, raspberries and mascarpone verrines are from a BBC Good Food insert about Summer Entertaining: so summery! So refreshing! Indeed... ;-)

4 thick slices of Madeira cake (which I made, but you'll get the recipe another time! Just for your knowledge, I follow Nigella's recipe)
2 peaches or nectarine
The juice of 1 orange
120 g of raspberries
250 g of mascarpone
140 ml of cream
1 tablespoon of honey

Break the Madeira cake slices in big chunks, lay them in 4 glasses and cover it with the fruits.
In a big bowl, whisk together mascarpone, cream, orange juice and honey. Spoon it over the fruits.
Chill for at least 2 hours, then serve.

Donna Hay's Verrines

Have I said somewhere else how much I love the Donna Hay style?
It's just wonderful, or at least it is exactly what I would like to achieve: special made simple. Or, as a friend would say, less is more...
And Donna, a great stylist, made a wonderful effort to make all this possible even for us. She accomplished many perfect combination, without all the fuss of molecular gastronomy or the overrated fake elegance of a three star chef... (Uh, that was tough... Sorry, I'm in need of basic stuff lately!)
Like this combination of three basic ingredients: couscous, feta and beetroot. Together they make your mouth (and your soul) very happy and satisfied, a feeling that you would never imagine from something so simple... The best way to taste it is with the couscous still warm and dressed just with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice. Mint was for decoration, but wasn't bad at all!

Finally...

Finally I'm able to find a recipe (worth, at least) and the time to update my blog (at the end it made me find a job, so how can I neglect it????)!
And let's begin this post with a sonic "OMG, it's hell-hot!" And it's not even the worst yet, as it is only 35° C...
So, hot = cold stuff! And as last year some other south European blogger ;-) beat me on the race "Who's the first to publish Tabouleth?", this year I've decided to play ahead and make it, today, now, oggi, aujourd'hui...

For 6 people
200 g of couscous
the juice of: 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1 pink grapefruit
200 g of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 sping onion, chopped
Few springs of basil and mint, roughly minced
Salt

Mix everything together and let it rest in the fridge for few hours before to serve it.

P.S. Of course, for the picture, I've put mine in verrines: you already know my insane love for verrines...

Verrines, again and again and again...

Ok, I have to admit it: I'm obsessed with verrines... It's that once you've started making them, your only thought will be about making them every time someone come along... They are so cute, so fast and so flexible that they scream: "MAKE ONE"! Now do you understand why on the last Cuisine et vins de France there were at least 20 recipes with/in them? Do you realize why in France they sell special glasses? (though mine were bought and made in Italy) And I even fund a wonderful catalogue that sells them in plastic, in different shapes...
And this one was practically invented: I said to my French hubby (that lives in Italy since 2001, but verrines must be in French dna...) "I would like to make verrines for tonight's dinner, possibly with rillettes..." And we came up with this: on the bottom goose rillettes, grated carrots, blanched broad beans and some swirls of fresh goat cheese coated with just a little bit of pepper... They liked them... And someone (and I'm not saying the name, but begins with F) said that my first attempts weren't so good... Well, as the proud cook I am, I thought about it, and I found on this very blog my first attempt with verrine... But maybe, judging by the date of the post, it was my first published attempt...

Verrine with feta and sun dried Pachino’s cherry tomatoes

Another verrines directly inspired by this book. It’s like a verrine in kit: I did absolutely nothing if not cutting the feta cheese and assemble everything!

For 4 glasses

200 g of feta cheese
20 sundered Pachino’s cherry tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil (or 8 sun dried normal tomatoes in oil)
salad
Extra virgin olive oil
Dry oregano

Cut the feta cheese in cubes. Assemble the glasses beginning with the salad then feta, then the tomatoes. Drizzle with oil and season with oregano.
Serve.

Something more simple??????

Note: Pachino's Tomatoes are little cherry tomatoes that grow in the field around the Sicilian town of Pachino, in the far south of the island. They are sweet and tasty, very rare and expensive... We bought a kilo of dried Pachino's Tomatoes last summer, at the Siracusa market: they are worth every cents we paid them!!!

Avocado, salmon and tapioca in verrines

One of my last buy on Amazon was this amazing book that reflects the last and crazy trend that is going on on the other side of the Alps: verrines (aka, little drinking glasses filled with savoury or sweet stuff).
The book is wonderful, with so many ideas I can’t stop looking at it!
But remember, if you intend to buy it and try something, the ingredients stated in the book are for little glasses, lets say like the one you could use for grappa or strong liquor, not for water glasses…

For 3 200 ml glasses

For the green layer:
2 avocados
Cumin
1 tomato
Parsley
The juice of two lemons

For the pink layer:
Smocked salmon
Dill
The juice of half a lemon

For the white layer:
80 g of tapioca
Extra virgin olive oil

Fish eggs to decorate

Halve the avocados, scoop the flesh and mix it with the lemon juice, parsley and cumin. Once you have a thick cream add the diced tomato and pulse the mixer: the tomato must remain in chunks. Make a layer in each glass.

Mix the salmon with the lemon juice and the dill. Do not over mix it, you need chunks even in this.
Make a layer over the avocado cream.

Bring to the boil a pan with 3 litres of salted water. Add tapioca and cook for 15 minutes or until the tapioca is tender.
Drain and cool it under cold water. Dress with a tablespoon of olive oil.
Make the last layer over the salmon.

Decorate with fish eggs or dill.