One-Pot Pork with Orange, Olives and Red Wine

Bonjour les foodies! 

Yesterday, I really fancied eating comfort food as it is very cold at the moment! I decided to cook this One-Pot Pork and it was delicious. I really felt satisfied and happy after eating it - it is a winner. I have also served it with some Yorkshire Pudding and greens to bring some color to it! 

For this recipe, you will need (serves 4 people): 

- 800gr of Pork shoulder, cut into chunky cubes

- 300gr of shallots, peeled and only the root end cut

- 1 onion thinly sliced

- 3 bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme

- 2 tbsp of plain flour

- 5 garlic cloves

- 400ml of red wine (I used a Bordeaux)

- 350ml of chicken stock

- 1 canned of chopped tomatoes (400gr ones)

- 800gr of new potatoes (I used baby new potatoes but it is a bit of a pain to peel so maybe use large new potatoes), peeled and halved in their length

- Juice and zest of 1 orange

- 70gr of dry black olives

- 85gr of sundried tomatoes in oil (Keep the oil as you will use it to cook the meat and onions)

Heat 1 tbsp of the sundried tomato oil in a flameproof and ovenproof casserole dish. Toss the pork cubes in the flour, tap off any excess and brown them in the oil. If you don't have enough room, do it in 2 batches and put more oil if you need to. When it's done, put them aside in a large bowl or plate. 

Add another tbsp of oil in the dish and cook the onion, shallots and bay leaves for about 5 mins. Stir the sundried tomatoes and garlic and cook for another minute. Put them aside with the pork. 

In the same dish, add the red wine, the orange juice and the zest. Boil it for 5 mins. Put the meat, onions, shallots back in. 

Heat your oven to gas 3/160C/140C fan. Stir the chicken stock, the canned tomatoes, the olives and the potatoes into the dish and make sure the potatoes are submerged by the liquid. Cover and leave a slight gap to one side then cook for 2,5 hours. The meat will be extremely tender and the potatoes cooked perfectly. 

I have boiled some green beans and broccoli. Don't forget to make some Yorkshire puddings as they complemented the dish very well!

Bon appétit!! 

Pork Fillet with a Camembert Sauce

Bonjour à tous! 

Today, the froggy will give you the recipe of Pork Fillet with a Camembert Sauce. It is very tasty, easy and cheesy. I hope you will try it at home and will like it! 

À vos fourneaux! (Get cooking!)

You will need (for 2 persons): 

- 1 pork fillet 

- 20 gr of butter

- 10 cl of white wine

- 150 ml of creme fraiche

- 1/4 of a Camembert

- Salt and Black pepper

Cut you pork fillet into slices of 2 to 3 centimeters.

In a big frying pan, melt the butter and cook the slices 3 minutes on each side at a medium heat. You can put salt and black pepper. 

Once cooked, remove them from the pan and keep them warm (you can put them in a plate and wrap it with foil). 

Keep the same pan on a low heat and remove as much fat as possible (keep a tiny bit of it as it will make the taste even better) and deglaze with the white wine. (poor the white wine in the pan and stir it in the pan by using a wooden spoon - get all brown deposit from your pan with your wine)

When you have deglazed the pan, pour the creme fraiche in the pan along with the camembert cut in small cubes. Heat it until the cheese has melted, stir well and you can add more black pepper and salt if you need to. (Taste is first!)

Divide your pork fillet slices onto 2 plates and top your slices with the camembert sauce! 

You can serve it with some sauteed potatoes and roasted vegetables. 

Bon appétit! 

Afternoon Tea at Ladurée

Do you know Ladurée? What a place! Please go and try their delicious cakes and pastries! It is also known as the inventor of the macaron...it is just heaven! I know it's not cheap but it's a very special treat worth saving the pennies for.

We went to Ladurée in Harrods this afternoon to drink tea and eat cakes! 

I had a Saint Honoré Rose-Framboise

Virginie had a Corolle Feuilletée Caramel

As I am a foodie, I also had a salted caramel macaron and Virginie chose the new bubblegum one. The smell  was amazing! We also had tea (Red Berries "Fruits Rouges" and Almond "Amande")

I am going to try to make a Saint Honoré tomorrow as it is such a French classic. I want to try to bake it! I will give you the recipe, but if you don't like raspberry or rose water you could substitute with chocolate or whatever you prefer. 

In the meantime, enjoy the photos! 

Avocado and Chorizo Salad + Beauty Tip!

                                                              Bonjour everybody!
Today, I want to give you a lovely salad recipe that I love making at least once a week! I put everything good in it : protein, carbs, vitamins etc...just go for it and it's very easy to make. I will give you a beauty tip at the end too.

For the salad you will need: (2-3 servings):

- Bay Gem salad or any green leaves you may have in the fridge
- 6 or 7 cherry tomatoes or another type
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1/2 chorizo
- 3 - 4  baby potatoes
- 1 shallot or red onion
- 2 eggs

To make your vinaigrette, in a deep bowl, add salt and pepper, 1 tsp of mustard and mix it with 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar. Once the mustard is well mixed with the vinegar, add 3 tbsp of oil (you can add olive oil if you want but I prefer normal oil) and mix until thicken.

When this is done, mix all the vegetables that you would have diced or cut as you wish, together.

In a pan, fry for 5 minutes some slices of chorizo. Don't add any butter or oil as all the fat from the chorizo will come out in the pan! Watch out not to burn it though! When cooked, set aside and remove as much fat as possible with some kitchen paper.

Peel the potatoes and cut them in small cubes. Rinse them thoroughly so the starch can go away then dry them with some kitchen paper.

In a pan, heat slowly 10gr of butter and 1 tbsp of oil. When the butter has nicely melted, add the potatoes and cover your pan so the humidity cook the inside of your potatoes. Add salt and pepper and you could also add a bit of garlic.Toss them regularly and let them cook for about 10 mins or until brown and cooked inside. When they are cooked inside, you can remove the lid so they get a nice crispy coat! add butter or oil if you think it's needed. When cooked, set aside.

Boil some water, add some salt and add the 2 eggs. The cooking is as your liking: If you want them cooked on the outside but a bit runny in the inside, cook them for 5 mins. If you prefer proper boiled eggs, then 10 mins will be fine!

Toss all the vegetables and chorizo with the vinaigrette. Add a bit of shallots cut finely or red onion if you prefer. Serve in a plate and I personally add the potatoes at the end on top of the salad and the egg cut in half.

Enjoy! 

Beauty Tip : Avocado Face Mask if you have dry skin or it could give you a nice glow!

If you have a ripe avocado in the fridge and you don't know what to do with it or if you have too much, use it to make your own Face Mask!

You will need 1/2 avocado, 1 tbsp of natural honey, 1 tbsp of natural yogurt and some cucumber if you want some left!

Mash the avocado until creamy. Add 1 tbsp of honey to the avocado mash, the honey will kill the germs on the skin and reduce swelling. Put the tbsp of yogurt which will act as a cleanser. Cut 2 slices of cucumber.

Apply the avocado mask on your skin for about 15 mins + place the cucumber over your eyes.

Rinse thoroughly with warm water at the end and dry gently.

The Tarte Tatin

What a classic! I love it as it is so easy to make and delicious. Serve it with some vanilla ice-cream or crème chantilly.

You will need:

- 5 big apples (you can use Braeburn) peeled, cored and cut in quarters
- 100g caster sugar
- 60g of unsalted butter
- a disc of puff pastry (a bit bigger than your dish) - the recipe of the puff pastry will come later
- cinnamon (optional)

Pre-heat your oven 180°C/gas 6

Heat the tarte tatin dish on the hob at a slow-medium heat and melt the butter with the sugar to make the caramel.

When you are happy with the colour of your caramel, don't let it too be too brown though because it will keep on cooking afterwards, arrange the apple quarters in the dish very tight around the edges first with the core facing up and put some in the middle. Ideally, you want all the gaps filled in so cut some little quarters if you have to. I personally put a bit of cinnamon on top of them as it brings a bit of spices but you don't have too. I cover the apples with some foil and let it cook for about 10 mins so the apples start being soft but you don't want to cook them too much.

Remove the foil, place the puff pastry on top of your apple quarter and cover the whole dish. Tuck in the edges.

Make a few holes with a knife in the pastry to allow some steam to escape during cooking.

Cook in the oven for 30-35mins. Let it rest for 5 - 10 mins and de-mould your dish, apple-side up. Serve it warm with some vanilla ice-cream or chantilly.

Parmentier de Canard à la confiture de Figues (like a cottage pie but with duck and fig jam)

I looooooove this recipe! It's easy, quick and delicious ! you can't go wrong at all. Try it with friends too, they will be impressed :)

For 6 people

You will need : 

- 4-5 thighs of confit of duck (you can buy them in Waitrose, it is a bit pricey though, they are sold in a tin)
- 1 pot of fig jam
- 2,5 kg of potatoes (Maris Piper for example or any sort of potatoes suitable for mash)
- 4 fresh figs
- a bit of hot milk (optional)
- 25g of butter + a few tiny cubes
- enough breadcrumbs to cover the top of your dish
- a bit of nutmeg (optional)
- Black pepper and salt

- Take the thighs out of their tin, try to shake them a bit to get rid of of the duck fat and put them in a frying pan. Heat the pan very gently - you don't want to cook them (they are already cooked), you just want to liquify the fat to get rid of as much of it as you can.

- When you think enough fat has gone, take them out and place them on a plate and let them cool down.

- Preheat your oven to gas mark 6 (180°C)

- Meanwhile, in a big saucepan, bring to the boil some salted water (preferably use sea salt, but not too much!a little handful should be enough) and add your peeled potatoes (cut in half so they cook quicker). Once cooked (it takes about 20mins), drain them in a colander and wait a bit until the steam has evaporated.

- Put your potatoes in a big bowl and mash them with a potato masher. Add, little by little your 25gr of butter. If you think it's too much butter, you can use less, although a good mash needs some butter. If you want, you can add some hot milk too to the mash, it will smooth it. Add some black pepper and a bit of salt if necessary. Finish your mash by adding a tiny bit of nutmeg (optional), not too much because the nutmeg is very strong! (this is a typical way of making mash potato)

- Once your duck thighs are cooled down, use your hands to remove the meat from the bones and dispose of the skin. When you have all your meat, tear the meat into chunks (not too big, not too small).

- Cover the base of an oven dish with half of the mash potato then spread enough fig jam on top so it covers the mash. Cover this with your duck meat, and finally cover up with the rest of the mash potato. Spread more fig jam on top of the mash potato if you want (I do all the time and don't worry, it won't be too sweet) and cover with some breadcrumbs. I personally put a few cubes of butter on top of the mash so it doesn't dry out.

- Place your dish on the middle shelf of your oven and cook it for 20-25 mins (until coloured on top).

- Serve with a nice green salad and some fresh figs, gently pan-fried in butter.

Bon Appétit !

Passionfruit Cheesecake with Strawberries served with a Mixed Berry Coulis

Ingredients for the cheesecake:

- 6 leaves gelatine
- 600gr light cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
- 200gr caster sugar
- 200ml whipping cream
- 2 tbsp of lemon juice
- a pack of strawberries

Ingredients for the base:

- 200gr of shortbread fingers
- 30 gr unsalted butter

Ingredients for the glaze:

- 4 passionfruit 
- 1 leaf gelatine
- 15g caster sugar

Ingredients for the coulis:

- 10 strawberries (not too small)
- 10 Blackberries
- 10 Blueberries
- 1 tbsp of water
- caster sugar if necessary

- Take a 20cm cake tin with a removable base. To make the shortbread base, I used a freezable bag and put the 200gr of shortbread fingers + 30gr of melted butter. Try to get rid of the air in the bag, close it, and smash the bag full of shortbread and butter so everything is crushed ! Make sure the butter is well absorbed.

- Empty the bag into your cake tin, and, using your hands or a spoon, smooth the shortbread and butter mix uniformly over the base of the tin. Place your cake tin in the fridge while making the cheesecake.

- To make the cheesecake: cut the gelatine leaves into broad strips. Place these in a small bowl, cover with cold water and soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Pour over 3 tablespoons of boiling water and stir to dissolve.


In a saucepan, gently heat all of the ingredients needed for the cheesecake (apart from the gelatine and the strawberries), stirring until the cream-cheese liquefies, and then whisk until smooth. Be careful not to boil your mixture. When the mixture is smooth, add the gelatine that you have already dissolved, stir well, and put the whole mixture in your cake tin, atop the shortbread base. Cover with cling film and place the tin back in the fridge until the cheesecake is set. ( I left it in the fridge for 4-5 hours).

- To make the passionfruit glaze: scoop out the passionfruit into a small bowl, taking care not to include any of the skin (you only want the seeds and the juicy flesh). Soak, drain and dissolve the gelatine as for the cheesecake. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Stir the passionfruit pulp a tablespoon at a time into the gelatine solution. You should have about 150ml of mixture: if not, make up the quantity with a little water. Pour the glaze over the top of the cheesecake, then cover and chill overnight. 


- Run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake and remove it from the tin. Decorate with the strawberries or other fruits if you prefer. A bit of icing sugar too on top if you fancy it! 


- To make the coulis: Wash the fruit well, and cut the strawberries into quarters if big. Put all the fruits in a saucepan, add a tbsp of water and heat gently until the fruit begins to soften. Don't boil the mixture! When soft, take the fruit off the heat. Using a potato masher, mash the fruit until puréed. Sieve the purée, add sugar if necessary and serve the coulis with the cheesecake! 

Hocus-Pocus: If you've made too much coulis, freeze it and take it out for another dessert or try mixing it with yogurt :)


YUM YUM :)

Bon Appétit !