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Loving everything Italian, I could not let pass the opportunity to buy some farro grains ( Brand: Roland) from Italy at my local Baron’s Market.
The grain is absolutely delightful and of the highest quality.

Farro (pronounced FAHR-oh) is not wheat, but a plant and grain all its own. A farro grain looks like light brown rice and has a nutty taste similar to oats and barley. Lighter than other whole grains, farro,is chewier that Italian rice and doesn’t release starch when it’s cooked, so there’s no need to stir all the time like a Risotto.
Rich in fiber, magnesium and vitamins A, B, C and E, farro is easily digested and low in gluten, which makes it a good choice for wheat-sensitive people.
I just made a Farro main dish using this brand of farro with frozen Langostinas, organic spinach and organic spinach and carrots from Trader Joe’s.. and it is delizioso! Even my husband not a big fan of grains loved it and finished the leftoevr the following day for lunch. My kids also loved it and ate all on their plate!

Farro with langostinos (delicate shrimps from Argentina), spinach, carrot and corn
1 1/2 cup of Farro ( Baron’s market)
1 carrot peeled and diced
1 cup Organic Frozen sweet corn ( TJ’s)
1 cup Organic frozen spinach ( TJ’s)
1 onion peeled and diced
1 frozen Crushed Garlic cube ( TJ’s)
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
In a deep pan cook in salted water the Farro as per the package instructions.
In a large saucepan, saute the onion, when soft add the carrot, then the Langostinos, the spinach and then the corn. Cook until all ingredients are soft.
Drain the Farro and add them to other ingredients in the saucepan. Stir and mix well. Salt and pepper, then add the garlic cube.
Cook for extra 3 minutes. Serve as a main dish.
You can use this the next day with a simple vinaigrette and eat it cold as a salad… delicious.


Le “Russe” is my husband’s favorite cake. The one he was eating with his grandma in a tea salon while in Luchon (Pyreneas) when he was a little boy. And it has been a ritual for him to have a “Russe” as a birthday Cake until we left for the States. This ca ke is very local, from the South of France so there is no way you can find it in Paris, Marseille, London, or New York.
So this year I decided to suprise him, in making a “russe” for his birthday.
It is very easy to make. And the reward is there, every bite is delicious.
The mixture of almond, halzenut, cream, meringue is unique.

While searching for the recipe I found a lovely Blog, sorry it is in French but you can translate with with google, translate tool.
les filles en espadrilles

Here it was they said about the Russe cake:
In 1925, a Bearnais ARTIGARREDE Adrian opened his first pastry shop in the Sainte-Marie OLORON and made its first “Russian” based from the nineteenth century recipe with a little twist … the fruit of his imagination will make this cake unique. The little secret was more than one state is passed down from generation to generation.
The “Russian”, why this name? Its basic component is the almond imported from the Crimea. The shape of this delicious cake take us towards the snowy plains of Russia
The motto of the pastry shop: “At OLORON STE MARIE, I eat … the true Russian!”
This wonder is moving fans, we know from London to the West Indies …
Where to find?
OLORON: Pastry ARTIGARREDE, 1 Cathedral Square, France tel. 0559390138
PAU: Pastry ARTIGARREDE, 3 rue Gassion, France tél.0559274740
SAINT JEAN DE LUZ: VENTA DONIBANEKO, 94 rue Gambetta, France Tel. 0559263802
Le Russe Cake
• For the almond– meringue cookie
• 5 tbsp Almond meal
• 5 tbsp Powder sugar
• 2 tbsp flour
• 5 white eggs
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• For the halzebut cream
• 1 C heavy Cream
• ½ cup sugar
• 10 tsp soft butter
• 1 C raw Halzenut
• ½ cup sugar
• Topping
• Powder sugar
Preheat the oven at 285 F
In a large and deep bowl, mix the almond meal, powdered sugar, and flour. Set aside.
Beat the white eggs with salt then add the sugar and beat until they are very firm. Little by little with a spatula mix the almond/sugar/flour into the white eggs beaten. Be gentle trying no to break the white eggs.
Cover the cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread on it a thin layer of the mixture. Bake for 15 minutes. The cookie must be soft. Set aside to cool.
In a food processor powder the Hazelnuts. In a saucepan add the Hazelnuts then the sugar and cook it until you have a soft paste. Do not overcook. Set aside to cool completely.
In mixer beat the cold heavy Cream with sugar.
Mix gently the soft butter with the hazelnut/sugar cooked mixture then add the heavy cream.
Mix well everything.
Cut the Almond-Meringue Cookie in 2 equal squares. Crush the extra ( you will use later as topping) In the serving plate place the first square, then spread the butter/cream/ hazelnut mixture, top it with the second square, then again spread the cream.
Top the cake with crushed almond-meringue cookie then cover with a lot of powered sugar.
Put in the fridge for 24 hours ( if you can resist). Take it off from the fridge 5- 10 minutes before eating.


Dean Gunn ( Co author with Wona Miniati of the Best Seller Cook book : Cooking all things with Trader Joe’s) interviewed me about my Cooking Classes and my favorite ingredients at Trader Joe’s. I also provided for the purpose of this article, a delicious “Provencal Quiche” served with its Avocado- Goat cheese salad great for the Summer.
Check out the 2 recipes and Interview, click on:
Cooking with Trader Joe’s
Thank you Deana for this great opportunity, it was so nice meeting someone like you !
Lake Tahoe, CA is an absolute gem. Everything is fresh, clear and clean there: the air, the water… If you want to cleanse yourself this is the perfect place for Yoga, Swimming ( cold water), hiking, biking, kayaking, horse riding, walking, camping.
Not too many tourists. Great Campgrounds. Lovely sceneries. Great weather in Summer during the day because some nights can be very cold.
The perfect spot for family vacations.
 





So after one week of “Camping” food, and because it was after all my vacation too, cooking was not what I wanted to do, plus the very high elevation : 7000 Ft, make you tired for the first days you are in Tahoe, back home, last Sunday, I was craving for some Homey food, as I talked to my mother on the phone (my parents live in France), she told me she needed to check her “Tomates Farcies” in the oven… just her words and I swear I could smell the roasted stuffed tomatoe in my parents’ kitchen. An unforgetable scent, the scent of Summer at my parents’ house.
Tomates Farcies mean Roasted Stuffed tomatoes. In summer the tomatoes are big so you can stuff them easily and roasted tomatoes are the best Summer dish in my opinion. In France, the housewife usually stuff it with mixture of sausage meat, bread, egg and milk.
Since I had delicious ” Saucisses de Toulouse” from Euro Food Depot San Diego
and delicious red bell pepper, large tomatoes and Zuchinis from Temecula Farmer’s Market, I decided to make my ” tomates Farcies”.



Celine’s Stuffed Tomatoes
• 1 cup Jasmine rice
• 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
• A few sprigs of bay, rosemary, thyme (or a pinch
each of dried)
• 6 ripe but firm large tomatoes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper bell finely chopped
• 4 tbsps olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cooked ham slices ( minced)
• 2 Saucisses de Toulouse or Pork Sausages
• 2 slices of bread ( 1 day old)
• 1 Organic Free range egg
• 1/4 C Organic milk
• 2 medium Zuchinis (optional)
•
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Cut a thick slice off the top of each tomato; leaving on the stalk if you can and reserve the tomato tops. Cut and scoop away the seeds and juice from each tomato. Keep the tomato pulp and cut in small pieces.
3. Cook the rice in a medium saucepan with the vegetable stock, and herbs. Stir occasionally and simmer until just cooked through, which takes about 10-15 minutes make sure the rice isn’t over cooked as it is cooked again inside the tomatoes. Drain. Set the rice aside.
4. Mix in a medium bowl the bread, egg and milk. Mix well and squeeze it.
5. To make the filling. In a saucepan pan fry the onion gently in little the the olive oil, until soft and starting to caramelise. Add the garlic and fry for a minute before adding the bell pepper with a little salt and pepper. Gently cook for five minutes and then add the tomato pulp. Cook for a couple of minutes and then combine well. Add the broth. Taste and season well. Then add the ham and the sausage (shredded in tiny pieces).
6. Cook until each ingredients is soft. Add the cooked rice and the bread/egg/ milk mixture. Mix all ingredients.
7. Spoon the mixture into the hollowed tomatoes, mounding slightly. Sprinkle leftover stuffing on the bottom of the pan. Drizzle entire dish with olive oil. Place the reserved tomato slices on top the tomatoes.
8. Oil the bottom of a baking dish, big enough to fit the tomatoes snugly, with 2 tbsps of the olive oil. Place the hollowed tomatoes in the prepared dish.
9. Bake for about 20 minutes.
With Zuchinis
Scoop out the Zuchinis pupl with a teaspoon. Add to the mixture until cook. Then proceed the same way as with Tomatoes.
Serve it with rice or couscous.





This is how I imagine the perfect Summer picture.
Celine’s Cuisine Blog is taking a break!
See you all in September!
HAPPY SUMMER!
Photograh: Skona Hem

Along with my Food Blog I also conduct Healthy and Natural Cooking Classes in Southern California and after conducting my 2 last Cooking classes for 2010′ Spring yesterday morning and afternoon, I barely realised that I was on vacation until July 12 (when I start two new kids Summer Culinary mini camps).
Well apart that this Summer I really need to re-organise my pantry, fridge, freezer, I will also re-organise my Cooking equipment, gears, and gadgets for the new classes. Sort my recipes, my pictures, write on new subjects for coming posts.
Having a Food Blog means that you never quite relax and are on vacation. Since eating at least 3 meals a day plus some snacks, food is always present in everybody’s life. When you are a Food Blogger (”FB”) you can just multiply this by 3! A FB spends most of its time thinking of food, recipes, pictures, cute dishes, nice layout.. The FB is obsessed with food. So when he/she goes Grocery Shopping most of the time it is to find new ingredients, spices. Food Markets such as Trader Joe’s, Barons Marketplace, Super Target, Whole Food ,Mexican or Asian Markets are their Dream destinations. Grocery Shopping is not a chore but a great adventure!
Strolling Farmer’s Markets is like to be on vacation, you meet people, taste new fruits, talk to your vendors, exchange recipes!
Going to the Restaurant? Same thing you search for the one that is different, offering Organic food, lovely view, beautiful china, stunning a la Carte, and of course your Camera is ALWAYS tucked in your super huge purse, where you also have the last : Donna Hay Magazine in case you are stock somewhere bored, so you can reach for it and eat every single page, because this is the most beautiful food magazine I ever seen and Australian Chefs, cooks, decorators, fashion designers are in my opinion the best!
The FB is always searching for recipes, family recipes or recipes built from nothing just imagination and a good trained palate. This is a real job, believe me, and since buying food is very expensive, you need to be good with your Food blogging budget. Usually I am working on both side, I make food for my Blog that my family will eat too, or I cook, bake, create something only for my Blog ending up eating all by myself or throwing it away!
A FB is always testing, tasting and eating. So the healthier is the recipe the better it is for her/his waist.
So for this Summer on the top of what I described above, I will be very good and kind to mylsef, enjoying the best summer fruits and veggies, have some friends over for impromptu diner al fresco, have some chilled wine or champagne in the fridge, and homemade ice cream in the freezer, will join my husband for Tennis, Jog plus an amazing family Camping Experience in Lake Tahoe, Ca.
Futhermore I won’t Facebook, Twitter for the next weeks, and I will check my e-mails once a week.
And by the way did I tell you that Celine’s Cuisine Blog is 3!
Happy Birthday to my Blog! And Happy Summer everyone!

The Daring Bakers and The Daring Cooks: A History
In November 2006, Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice decided to challenge themselves to bake pretzels for the very first time using the same recipe. They each went ahead and posted about it on November 18, 2006.
Having enjoyed that experience tremendously, they decided to try it again the next month, this time choosing to bake biscotti. And to make matters even better, they were joined by a few more food bloggers.
As the months went by, their baking group continued to grow, until it was finally decided that this “little baking group” had to have a name and The Daring Bakers were born!
The Daring Cooks were formed in 2009 as a way to learn how to become better home cooks. The idea spread like wildfire with 1000’s of people who also wished to learn more joined in on the monthly challenges.
Today, The Daring Bakers and The Daring Cooks span the world as bakers/cooks of all nationalities come together once a month to try something new in the kitchen!

As always, every new recipe from Daring Cooks or Daring Bakers is a real challenge.
This month they have chosen the Pate or terrine. I love Pates love Vegetable terrines. I had no liver or meat handy today so I decided to go to the Vegetable Terrine. I wanted something, cheap, very summer and Provencal style! Mine is a little different since I used in the middle layer quinoa. The lower layer is a Provencal mix with red, green, orange bell peppers with onions, and the top one is a left over made with fresh Goat cheese from my Farmer’s Market, carrots, and brocoli!
Tricolor Vegetable Pâté
Yields one 25 by 12,5 cm (10 by 5 inch) terrine or loaf pan
Line your pan with plastic wrap, overlapping sides.
Tricolor bell peppers Layer
1 cup tricolore bell peppers and onions, minced
1 tbsp / 15 ml fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp / 15 ml olive oil
1 teaspoon dried Italian Herbs
Tricolore Pepper Layer
Blend bell peppers with onions. Add lemon juice, olive oil, herbs and garlic and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread bean mixture evenly on bottom of prepared pan.
Quinoa Layer
1 cup cooked quinoa + tsp butter
Cook the quinoa as per box intruction. add salt and pepper and butter. When cooked spread mixture evenly over bell peppers layer in prepared dish.
Brocoli-Carrots and goat cheese Layer
2 garlic cloves
1/3 cup carrots cooked
1/4 cup brocoli cooked
3 tbsp / 45 ml olive oil
1/2 cup goat cheese
Mince garlic in processor. Add carrots and brocoli and mince. With machine running, gradually add oil through feed tube and process until smooth. Mix in goat cheese. Spread evenly over quinoa layer.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
To unmold, invert pâté onto serving platter. Peel off plastic wrap from pâté.





This is the first time I find at my local Farmer’s Market some fresh rhubarb, and since the Californian strawberries are still in season, so sweet and yummy, I knew that I will make some Rhubarb-Strawberry Marmelade at home.
At home, we love homemade Jam, Preserve and Marmelade. Right now my daughter eats all my last Summer fresh figs jam ( with bread and butter). She wants some Tartines of bread/ butter/ jam for Breakfast, morning snack and again for the afternoon snack. I can’t be happier! Last month she was in love with my Strawberries jam. I hope she will love this one too.

Rhubarb is so delicious as jam, tart, sorbet. Because it is tart you need to add some sugar.

Then on my way back at the end of the Market I discovered a huge booth/stand of Succulents plants and mini-cactus.
I could not resist. Bought some and they look great as a Table Center! Try is this is so cute!
Celine’s Rhubarb-Strawberries Marmalade
1 1/2 C. Organic Strawberries cut in half or small pieces
1 C rhubarb cut in small pieces
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp water
In a large saucepan add sugar then water, when boiling add the strawberries and the Rhubarb, let it boil then simmer for 10 minutes. This is ready. Can stay delicious between 1-2 weeks in the fridge. On cookies, or bread-butter Divin!

Kids are amazing in the kitchen. I have been so lucky to meet wonderful kids very focused, loving cooking, tasting and eating… even what the parents thought they would never eat or taste!
My Little Chefs, Growing Chefs and Mommy and Me in the Kitchen classes have been a blast, really you are all wonderful!


 


 

 

Letter from Hannah C….. she wrote ” you Rock!” I like it! Thanks Hannah
I will conduct in July 2 Kids- Mini Culinary Camps at Murrieta CSD, registration at www.murrieta.org, under Camps!
My Winter/ Spring Cooking Classes in review……which class is your favorite?
   Crepes Party ( International Week Cooking Class) Murrieta CSD

 Tapas Night Ole! ( International Cooking Class Week) Murrieta CSD

     From Market to your Table ( Temecula CSD)

Paris Bistro ( Temecula CSD)
Beginners Cooking Class ( Temecula CSD)
Senior cooking ( Murrieta Senior center)
Cooking with Trader Joe’s ( Murrieta CSD)
Thank you to all the participants who came to my class(es), I am very lucky to have wonderful students/ guests/ friends at each class. More Celine’s Cuisine Hands-on cooking classes are coming.
You want me to conduct a specific class? Just contact me celine@celinescuisine.com
HAPPY COOKING !
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