Asparagus and Dried Cherry Tomatoes Couscous

by Diana

I have never been a couscous kind of person. Instead, I grew up watching my beloved Syrian grandma using wheat of different sizes for cooking delicious Middle Eastern dishes -still pending for a book- that we all enjoyed on Sundays. Whenever I saw someone eating couscous I just felt pity, thinking it was a poor version of wheat in its smallest form. Yes, I was young and ignorant I must say!

It is until I discovered large grain couscous when I realized what I was missing. I started experimenting with this structured and substantial grain in our everyday menu, in exchange for rice, pasta or any other common carbohydrate. The results and flavours were so rich that I finally decided to adapt the lovely grain to my kitchen shelves, right behind the wheat of course, so my grandma won't be offended. 

So for this post I decided to show you -if you don't know already- how versatile couscous can be and I combined it with asparagus and cherry tomatoes, lots of olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. The result.. just a delight! 

© Diana Chaccour

Cold Spiced Apple Soup

By Julie 

A little late but finally, the picnic season has opened! The weather until now has not always been so permitting, so we had our first relaxed picnic last weekend and did not have to put our sweaters on and off depending on whether the sun came out behind the clouds or not. To celebrate this occasion, we wrapped up a range of wonderful international delicacies, and my favourite of them is actually an English essential. The English cuisine unfortunately has a bad image around the world, however it can be quite seductive and savoury as this dish proves in my opinion.

If you serve this to a guest, try not to tell them what kind of soup this is and have them guess the main ingredients - you might be surprised!

© Diana Chaccour

Strawberry Fudgy Chocolate Brownies

    By Diana

   I've always been jealous of other people's brownies! It seems that everyone has a little secret fabulous brownie recipe that they just don’t give away, or even worst, they write it down with an innocent slight twist, leaving out that essential ingredient without which the recipe does not work at all!

     So, in order to end with my resentfulness, I did a little bit of homework and researched a few "famous" British recipes for brownies. Although Jamie Oliver's recipe turned out to be a favourite among the brownie eaters, Nigel Slater offered a fudgy brownie recipe that I just needed to try out, but I do admit that I modified it slightly! The strawberries were my idea though -just to please myself with the word seasonal- and I added a touch of Venezuelan flavour: a tablespoon of rum to spice it up! They lasted less than 24 hours in the kitchen and we are only 2 people in the house... I hope they won't last long in your kitchen either!

© Diana Chaccour

Creamy Chicken Crumble

By Diana

I am moving houses this week and besides all the packing, cello tape, boxes, suitcases and fragile props that constitute the madness of my life at the moment I can't stop thinking about what to do with the content of the old fridge. Since I don't want to waste a bus journey carrying frozen chicken, flour and celery, I decided to make a little bit of a fusion dish, combining South American flavours with the traditional idea of the British crumble.

In our side of the globe we have a traditional soup called chupe, which is basically a stew with meat, vegetables and milk. My favourite of these chupes is the chicken one, with corn and little squares of white handmade cheese, which original recipe I promise to post here some other time. In this opportunity I thought of making a thick creamy chicken chupe/stew topped with Parmesan cheese crumble, an easy-to-eat meal, full of comfort for the moving stress. I hope you enjoy trying this one out!

© Diana Chaccour

Poppy Seeds Muffins with Orange Blossom Icing

By Diana

Originally I was planning to make a seasonal recipe with lots of rhubarb and pink colours everywhere... As I didn't listen to a few of my friends with strong opinions against rhubarb, I began experimenting for the first time with the reddish celery-shape fruit/veg and went back to old times when I didn't follow any recipes -or advice- and just trusted my cooking senses... Not a good idea... The results, as expected were beyond awfulness... My husband trying to cheer me up has been eating the pitiful rhubarb muffins every afternoon between his study breaks since I am still in the denial stage and refuse to proudly throw them to the bin.

To make up my post for the blog this week I started again, this time with no rhubarb and tried poppy seeds instead and orange blossom which I absolutely adore. Georgette, my Syrian grandma, used to make a floating type dessert using this aromatic water and its smell brings back just good Sunday memories, perfect to recover from the rhubarb experience. So here you go, soft poppy seeds muffins with orange blossom icing, to enjoy in the rainy day while watching the Queen floating on the Thames. Happy Jubilee!

© Diana Chaccour

Tarator Ice-Cream

By Julie

Guten Tag! This week I am relaxing at my parents‘  in Germany, enjoying the sunny weather after having spent some very cold and rainy days in Pamplona the week before. Browsing the Feinschmecker magazine, I came across a fantastic recipe for cucumber ice-cream by a North German top chef, Sebastian Zier, and fell in love with it at first sight.  I was reminded of my honeymoon in the Venezuelan Andes, where my husband and I sampled a meagre 8 flavours of a whopping 800 in the Heladeria Coromoto, which made it into the Guiness Book of Records . Surprisingly, the best flavours in my opinion were the vegetable ones – corn or avocado, for example, were fantastic!

 You have to know that both Diana and I love the Bulgarian soup Tarator, a wonderfully light concoction of yogurt, cucumber and walnuts, which is perfect for the hot summery days we are experiencing. However, I am almost certain that Tarator ice-cream was missing on the menu of the Coromoto ice-cream parlour in Merida. Hence, this week’s contribution to the blog will be a refreshing blend of Balkan heat and North German coolness.  Sounds weird? You will love it!

© Diana Chaccour

White Chocolate Mousse with Caramel Sauce

By Diana

Most chocolate mousses I know of are made with dark chocolate and, of course, dark chocolate is healthier, it´s recommended by doctors and it is the only one you are suppose to eat if you are on a diet, and we all know how boring is that! This is why we would like to invite you to leave the guilt on the side -just for today- and try out a dessert that will transport you to the land of indulgence and caloric pleasure! We also thought white chocolate was not enough for this sugared extravaganza and decided to add a caramel sauce on top! To balance our recipe a little bit –and delay our potential diabetes- we complemented it with a few almond slices and lime peel. If you didn´t have a very good week this recipe will definitely cheer you up!

© Diana Chaccour

Mediterranean Bread with Iberian Flavours

By Diana

     I went to Pamplona last week to visit my brother, Julie and the girls. We were supposed to cook together and make at least a couple of posts for the blog, have a picnic, take our picture, and so on… but 4 days was not enough to do any of the things we planned. We had a great time in the 31 degrees and certainly enjoyed walking in Pamplona´s old town, visiting the farmer´s market and then the supermarket in repeated occasions. I simply love Spanish supermarkets I have to say.  They are full of hanging prosciutto -Jamón Serrano- olives of all kinds, chorizo and an impressive variety of olive oil in presentations that you never imagined. It is extraordinary! So every time I go there I come back to London with my suitcase full of Iberian treats to enjoy in the sadness of a12 degrees Spring in the UK!

        For this post we decided to honor our time together last week by making bread with some of those unique flavours. This is a type of bread from the Italian region of Tuscany and it is originally called a schiacciata. The bread is made in two layers and it has mushrooms, prosciutto, salami, olives, blue cheese and lots of olive oil everywhere. The recipe is inspired by The Great British Picnic Guide, by Mark Price. Check the note at the end for a vegetarian alternative. We hope you enjoy it!

© Diana Chaccour

Blueberry Soft Cake

By Diana

      I was getting my head around a recipe with blueberries for this week. When I consulted Julie she suggested a clafoutis, which sounded exiting and promising. So I checked more than a few french recipes, but as temperamental french are, all the recipes differed from one another and that enoyed me a little - I am a little bit temperamental myself - and therefore I decided to get creative and tried out my own version. At the end I didn't obtain a clafoutis of course... but a lovely blueberry soft cake. Fruity and sweet, firm and yet soft this cake won't be a dissapointment. Just keep in mind that it is not a cafloutis and you'll be all right! I hope you like it!

© Diana Chaccour

Passion Fruit and Lemon Ceviche with Plantain Chips

By Diana

Since passion fruit seems to be abundant in this country at this time of the year - and at a very reasonable price - I decided to embark on a tropical post this week. I have been in a melancholic mood for home flavours and colours lately and this is why I thought that a Ceviche could be the appropriate choice and plus it proposes an unconventional use of the passion fruit, which is mostly associated with sweet flavours and desserts. 

This Peruvian dish is characterized by its particular cooking method, using citric juices for the oxidation of the fish and seafood. It is unbelievably easy to make and it just requires nice chopping skills. In this recipe I combined three of my favourite tropical delights: passion fruit, mango and plantain. The plantain is optional and adventurous and its smell reminds me of after school meals back home. But I understand if you don’t really fancy plantain or if you don’t have any childhood associations with it and then I will suggest just serve the Ceviche with white rice or crackers on the side. Let us know if you enjoyed it!

© Diana Chaccour

Plum Jam with Rose Water

By Diana

    

         Ever since I discovered that I can make my own jam I stopped buying it at the supermarket. In this opportunity I decided to get rid of some plums that I had in the fridge and what a best way of doing that than with lovely jam. I checked for some recipes online and ended up mixing up and experimenting a little bit. The rose water and the spices give the jam a magnificent and almost exotic flavor that I hope you like as much as I do. If you don´t like it spicy please feel free to cut off the cayenne pepper from the recipe. Enjoy!

© Diana Chaccour

Vanilla almond chicken with parmesan polenta

by Julie

This time, I wanna share with you a recipe that I have tried in our first wedding anniversary. It is not very time-consuming (as we had a two-month old baby at the time, that was very important for me) and quite easy to do, even if you don’t have much experience in the kitchen, nevertheless it is quite a stunner. Combine it with a healthy salad or try frying some green beans with red apple (weird combo but looks and tastes delicious; two, three minutes in the pan suffice) as a side dish. My husband keeps asking for this dish, even two years after having it for the first time, so I am making it again this week. Maybe you will, too...

© Diana Chaccour