Get fresh for summer

I don't know what the weather is like for you but in our London home city we have a good head start on our holidays. Our windows are all opened, the temperatures are rising, thunderstorms mark the end of the day and picnics are the new trend. To enjoy the weather fully, this week we have been to watch an Opera in Trafalgar Square, not in the theatre but on a screen. We could both enjoy the warmth of summer and the singing of La Bohème right in the centre of London.

When it’s warm we feel like having mostly raw and simple dishes to enjoy the taste of delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables.
We just combine different small fresh starters for freshness.

Goat Cheese on toasts:

• One or two slices of campagne bread per personne
• Goat cheese (about 100g)
• Honey

Slice your bread. Put one to three slices of goat cheese (half a centimetre thick) on it, and straight to the grill for 15 min.
When you see that the cheese start running outside the bread it's time to eat.
In the plate add honey on top of the cheese (around a tea spoon by slide).

Celery salad

• A few celery branches
• Lemon juice

Just wash the celery cut in half centimetre slices. Squeeze a bit of lemon and serve.

Romero Red pepper salad

• A simple red pepper just sliced

Courgette salad

• 2 courgettes (yellow or green)
• 200g of Feta cheese
• 2 spring onions
• Pepper

Dice the courgettes and the feta cheese.
Cut the spring onions thinly.
Mix the courgettes, feta and onions.
Sprinkle with olive oil and pepper when serving. No need to add salt as feta cheese is already salty.

Watercress salad

• 2 or 3 handfuls of watercress
• Other leaves to taste (spinach, roquette…)
• Olive oil
• Half a lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 3 spring onions

Wash the salad and gently dry with a clean cloth. Mix them in a large bowl.
Sprinkle with about 5 tbsp of olive oil and the squeezed half lemon.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

This plate is refreshing and very fast to assemble.

M

THE Lemon Cheesecake

We went to Paris for the weekend, see friends and families and greeting a new baby girl to the world. A very nice break, full of great food and as you can see on the picture, some cooking.

Inspiring myself from my Aunt and Godmother M-L, and working on this recipe for years, I give you the lightest and more umami lemon cheesecake ever. No sourness, no thick, compact and heavy mouthful.

The tangy and zesty taste of lemon, combined with the softness of cream cheese and the sweetness of the crust. This is to die for.

I usually write long articles before the recipe appears but it would just be cruel in this case!

So here it is.

Ingredients:

600g of cream cheese. I use St Moret as it is slightly salty

300g of speculos/bastogne

90g of butter (that can be replaced easily with coconut oil but I haven’t tested)

170g of unrefined ugar

2 organic lemons

4 eggs (yolk separated from the white)

2 large pinches of salt

 

 

 

1.       Heat up the oven at 160°C on traditional oven function.

2.       Crush the speculos/bastogne.

3.       Melt the butter/coconut oil.

4.       Mix the butter with the speculos/bastogne and 20g of sugar.

5.       Butter/oil a high sided pie dish and spread the speculos mixture at the bottom. Use a glass to press the crumbs. Press well or they will mix with the dough.

6.       Keep in the fridge while you prepare the rest.

7.       Grate the zest of the two lemons.

8.       From then onwards I use a mixer but you can also do it by hand. Put the egg yolks, 100g of sugar, the cream cheese and the salt in the mixer and mix until all the ingredients are blended together. Add the lemon zest and mix a little more.

9.       Whip the whites until stiff and foamy. During the whipping process add the remaining 50g of sugar little by little. This will help keep the whites stiff.

10.   Move the creamy preparation from the mixer to a large bowl and slowly incorporate the egg whites one large spoonful at a time. I use a wooden spoon and bring the creamy mixture on top of the egg white until they are fully blended in. Don’t wait or the whites will fall down and melt back to a liquid!

11.   Once you have your light and creamy preparation, pour over the speculos bottom, in the pie dish.

12.   Cook for 40-45 minutes.

13.   Once out of the oven let the cheesecake cool down before removing the dish.

Devour cold, garnished with fruits. Strawberries, raspberries, red currants depending on the season. You’ll notice I used raspberries which are not exactly in season yet but I just couldn’t resist… 

This cheesecakes gets even better after a day or two in a sealed container in the fridge.

Let us know what you think once you’ve tried it!

R.