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food

Food

Tabbouleh

July 27, 2017

Looking for the ideal summer salad to take care of your body but you want to enjoy your meal?  Let me share with you a salad recipe that is freshy so fresh, super tasty-yummy and healthy! I learned it from my mother that learnt it from my grandmother that learnt it from…. ok it’s a family recipe you got it and it is called Tabbouleh! This recipe is from Lebanon but since my mum is from Senegal (learn about Senegal in the article: 5 reasons to discover Senegal) and we have some Lebanese in my family there, I had the chance to get to know how to make the authentic Lebanese Tabbouleh! And the original recipe has really nothing to do with what you can buy in the supermarkets. I won’t lie to you, it takes time because you need to chop finely a lot of stuffs but you can prepare a big Tabbouleh and enjoy it several days. This fresh salad is ideal to eat like a starter or to have with a barbecue! Just thinking about it, I have the mouth wet and it is the time for me to eat! Bisous, I’m leaving you to have my meal now! Melissa ♡

Tabbouleh recipe

Ingredients (4pers):

  • 1 bunch of spring onions
  • 1 boot of fresh mint
  • 1 boot of fresh parsley
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 4 tablespoons of bulgur wheat
  • 1 cup boiling-hot water
  • Salt & pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • Fresh juice of 3 limes

Preparation:

  1. Chop finely the onions, mint, parsley and cut the tomatoes in small squares
  2. Pour the bulgur in a bowl and add the cup of boiling-hot water. Then cover the bowl with a little plate and let stand 15 minutes.
  3. Once the bulgur has swelled place it in a big plate, add the onions, parsley, mint, tomatoes, lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil.
  4. Combine well and keep the tabbouleh in the fridge long enough to serve it fresh.
  5. Serve it with some leaves of salad and enjoy!

Want to taste another healthy salad recipe for summer? Discover my exotic salad here;)

Food

3 chocolates cake

February 26, 2017

Dear chocolate lovers, this recipe is for YOU! You should also be crazy about it if you are fascinated by unicorns because it has 3 different chocolate layers like a rainbow: dark chocolate, chocolate with milk and finally white chocolate! In fact this chocolate cake is as beautiful as delicious! If CHOCOLATE is your religion and this picture makes your mouth water, you definitely need to taste this 3 chocolate cake! Bisous, Melissa ♡

 

3 chocolate cake recipe

Ingredients:

  • The base: 200g of biscuits, 100g of butter
  • Dark chocolate layer: 150g of dark chocolate, 200ml of light liquid cream, 200ml of milk, 1 sachet of cuajada
  • Chocolate with milk layer: 150g of milk chocolate, 200ml of light liquid cream, 200ml of milk, 1 sachet of cuajada
  • White chocolate layer: 150g of milk chocolate, 200ml of light liquid cream, 200ml of milk, 1 sachet of cuajada

Preparation:

  1. Start with the base: smash the biscuits with a mixer. Then combine this powder of biscuit with the butter and place the mix at the bottom of the mold or cookie cutter with an oven paper underneath. Keep it in the fridge.
  2. Prepare the dark chocolate layer: warm the cream with 100ml of milk in a pan. When the mix is getting hot, add the squares of chocolate and stir constantly making sure it never boils. While the chocolate mixture is getting darker, combine in a bowl the rest of the milk with the cuajada. Once the chocolate blend is ready (around 7min cooking) add to the pan the mix of milk and cuajada, stir again constantly and increase the fire until it is boiling. Keep stirring during 2 min and remove from the fire. Wait 3 min and add delicately the dark chocolate layer to the mold.
  3. While the dark chocolate layer is refreshing and getting solid, prepare the milk chocolate layer with the same process. Wait 20min between each layer.
  4. Prepare the white chocolate layer.
  5. Keep the 3 chocolates cake 1 day in the fridge.
  6. Your chocolate cake is ready! Enjoy!!

Want to taste another dessert with chocolate? Discover my tasty and healthy pancake recipe here;)

Food

Melon cocktail

August 31, 2016
melon fruit cocktail recipe

Let’s be bad today and speak about alcohol! Because summer is sun, summer is beach and summer is also party! Ok I don’t want to encourage my readers to become alcoholics, I care about your health, really, but a nice cocktail with a drop or more of alcohol has never killed anyone right? So here is a fruit cocktail recipe made with melon and rum that is really refreshing for summer, easy to realize and a very cool drink to enjoy on the beach. If you want to bring this fruit cocktail for a picnic on the beach, just put the cocktail in plastic bottles, do not forget to bring the half melons, ice cubes and place everything in an icebox! Oh and of course moderate your consumption of alcohol 😉 Cheers – TchinTchin! Melissa ♡

Cocktail recipe

Ingredients (2 persons):

  • 1 melon
  • ½ L of melon or peach liquor
  • 2 shots of white rum
  • Ice cubes

Preparation:

  1. Cut the melon in 2 pieces
  2. Remove the seeds from the melon with a large spoon.
  3. Scoop out the flesh of each half-melon and purée it in a blender with the melon liquor and rum.
  4. Pour the fruit cocktail in each half-melon and serve with some ice cubes and straws.
  5. Enjoy!

 

Food

Fresh melon soup

June 8, 2016
healthy recipies fresh melon soup

As the sunny days are coming, I guess you may have seriously activated your sexy bikini action plan! If you want to get fit in a happy mood for this summer and you are looking for new ideas of healthy recipes, this one is for you! I really love this recipe that I learnt from my mum (she is such a good cook) because it’s ♫ Fresh it’s so Fresh excitiiiiiing ♪, easy, healthy and very important TASTY; perfect to change a bit from eating salads! The recipe is mixing the famous Mediterranean flavors of the melon and Serrano ham which are served in 2 ways. It is a fresh melon soup aromatized with a little bit of pastis ( french liquor but you can replace it by Muscatel or Porto) and served with some chips of serrano ham, and a thin slice of melon and ham. This melon soup is a cool alternative to gaspacho that needs less ingredients and it will really impress your guests! In addition the melon has very good healthy and beauty properties as it contains vitamins A, B6 and C, beta carotene and potassium. It means this fruit is good for the eyes, protects the skin, helps to suntan and to get slimmer (diuretic properties) and it is an antioxydant. If you are vegetarian, you can replace the Serrano ham by beetroot, it will be really delicious and beautiful too. This healthy soup is really fast to prepare and should be realized at the last minute to keep al its freshness and crispy!

Melon soup recipe

Ingredients (4 persons):

  • 1 big melon
  • 1 soup spoon of  Pastis, Moscatel or Porto (See I told you it was healthy 🙂 )
  • 8 thin slices of  Serrano ham or beetroot for vegetarians
  • Fresh leaves of basil
  • Pepper
  • Material : un mixer, 4 transparent glasses and small plates.

Preparation:

  1. Melon : cut 5 thin slices of melon and cut in small dices the 5th slice of melon. Then mix the 3/4 remaining part of the melon and add Pastis.
  2. Serrano : keep 4 thin slices of Serrano/beetroot and grill 4 other slices in the oven while you are mixing the melon (3 min at 180° are enough/ 55 min at 150° for the beetroot)
  3. Presentation : arrange the soup of melon and the dices of melon in a transparent glass, add pepper on the top, dress the chips of Serrano or beetroot on/in the transparent glass and add some fresh leaves of basil. Then place the melon and Serrano/beetroot slice in a way to create a structured plate. Serve and enjoy immediately.

Bon appétit! Bisous, Melissa ♡

DSC_0125_1024 

Food

Chicken Yassa

April 1, 2016
poulet yassa

I am very exited to share with you this African recipe that is so special to me! First of all, the chicken yassa is one of my favorite meals and it is a recipe that I learned from my mum who is from Senegal. When I am feeling down, cooking a chicken yassa for the people I love or just for myself have the magic power to make me feel happier 🙂 Everyone that has tasted it loves this exotic flavor, so of course it makes you feel great! But what is this magic recipe?? Well, is it a Senegalese recipe of a chicken marinated in a lemon sauce with onions. It looks simple but this recipe is really tasty, healthy (almost no fat and the lemon has extraordinary virtues for the health), cheap (just 4 main ingredients) and easy to cook. Ok you may think I am totally crazy, it is just a chicken with some onion and lemons! Well try my family’s recipe and you will see that I was not lying 😉

Ingredients (4 persons):

  • 4 chicken legs
  • 4 onions
  • 4 limes
  • 200g of basmati rice
  • 1 glass of water
  • Oil
  • 1 hot pepper
  • Salt & pepper

Preparation:

This recipe is a fast version of the original recipe. The chicken should normally be marinated (in oil, minced onions, limes juice, pepper, salt and hot pepper) during at least 2 hours before to be cooked. If you are in a hurry, this recipe below is very practical and as tasty I promise. Time: around 1 hour.

  1. Brown the chicken on both sides in a pan or in the oven with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Mince the onions while the chicken is getting a nice golden color. Don’t forget to check the chicken!
  2. Once the chicken legs are brown, set them aside in a big cooking pot. Grill the onions in the same pan where you have browned the chicken. While the onions are cooking, press the limes’ juice.
  3. When the onions and limes juice are ready, add them to the cooking pot with the chicken legs. Add also the water, the hot pepper and more salt& pepper.
  4. Put the cooking pot on a medium fire during minimum 30min. However, more time it is one the fire, the better it is. You will notice that the chicken yassa is even better and tastier when you warm it the next day. While the yassa is cooking, prepare your basmati rice.
  5. The cooking pot smells deliciously well. It’s time to enjoy!

Bon appétit!!!

Melissa ♡