The Clumsy Cook

 Actually... that is not the title. The author of this cake, Dorie Greenspan, misread the word tigré (which is a mini-sponge cake speckled with chocolate, topped with a dollop of chocolate cream - something like this ) as tiger and has pronounced that cake as tiger ever since. I did the other way around and after reading her story I mispronounced her recipe title (Chocolate and Almond Tiger Cake) as Tigré so... so now the name stays, okay? Greenspan based this cake on financiers, which is a French cake made especially for stockbroker clients - so they can eat it on the go. Hence why I call my cake financier even though it is not the same shape as a financier. But since this blog is only for yours truly, I will name the recipes in my recipe index (this is what this blog is after all) with the names I use.  This is a perfect coffee cake - they go so well together. Silly me took no picture from the side so that you can see the chocolate-speckles, so you will have to take my word for it. M

I like French cooking. I also like Julia Child. So when I saw that Melissa Clark has a series on New York Times Cooking about " The New Essentials of French Cooking ", I decided to cook them all! Now being the foodie nerd that I am, I also looked up Julia Child's recipes for Coq au Vin , and I ended up somehow combining the two recipes.  Julia has a recipe for any kind of wine you want to use for your chicken ( Coq au Riesling is probably next on my list), but I went with a burgundy red because 1) it was the only red wine I had in the house and 2) I wanted the deep flavours of a red wine infused in my chicken. Apparently people have been braising chicken in wine since Ancient Rome ( it's on wikipedia, Julius Caesar knew of this recipe !). and now it's finally my time to do it too. This recipe will definitely become an essential in our house too, especially if I'll get some red wine and not know what to make with it (usually a glass or two of wine is my limit.

Difford's Guide released earlier this year their Top 100 Cocktails (based on views on their website) and I decided to make them. Or at least some of them. Not in any particular order, because I won't buy all the new booze I need at once, but hopefully this year (or so) I will make all 100. And we are starting with number 100 (even though I said no particular order): Lynchburg Lemonade Usually served in a collins glass, it works perfectly well served in its smaller cousin - the highball glass, too. I won't buy all shapes and sizes of glasses just for my cocktails. Not because I don't want to, but because I do not have where to store them.  This one it's really easy to make and from what I read it was created for the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg. And guess who just got some Jack from Santa last Christmas? That is actually why I decided to start with the Lynchburg Lemonade. That and also because I wanted something light and easy to drink. Ingredients (1 s

I think I tried a bunch of recipe for kale (and did not make me enjoy kale one bit) until I discovering this simple salad and now I cannot wait to find kale at the market just so I can make this salad. It's super easy to make, it keeps you full, and most importantly, it's freakin' delcious! The fact that you need more ingredients for the dressing than for a salad it's a plus in my book, especially when I don't have all day to chop ingredients for my work lunch. Plus the dressing can be replaced with whatever garlic sauce you prefer - but I suggest you give the original dressing a chance. The ingredients are for 1 serving, by which I mean 1 huge salad that I usually eat as a full meal. If you make it as a side-dish, then you can feed more humans from it. Ingredients (1 serving): kale leaves 1 lemon 1 can of chickpeas 5 garlic cloves (or more) 1 tbsp tahini 1 tsp honey or maple syrup smoked paprika water salt & pepper Method: Rinse your can of chickpeas, dry them

The plan was to write this post in December, since this restaurant is one of my favourite places to go to around the holidays - it has a very homely vibe and the nicest winter decor. Plus the dim lights, the brick walls, the wine racks, and the sparkling glasses just add an extra something to the festive atmosphere. Ciao New York is an Italian bistro, perfectly pairing the delicious Italian nonna food with an exquisite rich-bitch attitude (obviously rich-bitch is not the word I am looking for, but it's exactly how my friends would describe my taste). I prefer it in winter because it's tiny, cosy, doesn't have outdoor seating anyway, and because I've never been here in the summer  months. I dined here with my husband and our neighbours. It was our neighbours' first time in this restaurant and it's now officially their favourite restaurant in town. Without further ado, let's discuss food. As it is my habit, I start with coffee no matter the hour I have dinner.