A Springtime Frittata & Citrus Salad

The lovely month of May, when springtime has finally begun to settle in. Birds are singing, flowers are sprouting, and there’s a lightness in the air  ♥  I was in the mood for something as fresh and light as spring, which has taken so long to arrive!

Serve the frittata, cut in wedges, with the fresh citrus salad or a green salad if you prefer.

I had a nice selection of green vegetables and fresh herbs on hand, and some small, cooked new potatoes left over from dinner the night before. These ingredients, and a large box of pretty, juicy, and very sweet Jaffa Clementines I’d purchase two days ago, inspired my springtime brunch!



This simple Clementine salad is pretty and so fresh!

This would be perfect as part of A Mother's Day Brunch :-)

Freshly published on my Gourmet Webzine, EpicureanPiranha ~ enjoying life in tasty bites!™, where you'll find the illustrated, step-by-step recipe, along with serving suggestions.

Thank you for your Foodie Love and continued support, dear friends ~ have a delicious day ♥

My Quest for the Best Challah!

My Quest for the Best Challah!, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha on Flickr.

Challah is one of my favourite egg breads ~ the aroma of the loaves baking is sublime, and the rich dough is incredibly tender whith just a hint of sweetness! With cold butter, and perhaps some wild berry preserves, I could easily eat a whole loaf when it’s still warm from the oven (I actually did this a few years ago!). But I’d never tried baking one until last year. After researching recipes for this delicious Jewish specialty in my cookbooks and on the web, I had chosen the recipe I’d found in the Fleischmann’s Yeast cookbook. The proportion of butter and eggs seemed the most promising for what I wanted to achieve.

I have to admit that I was very pleased with the results. The baked loaves looked gorgeous, and had a wonderful flavour and texture. But the bread just wasn’t as rich tasting ~ and the dough not as golden ~ as I’d hoped! So I went back to my research, but still could not find a recipe that seemed better. Since I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I decided I’d have to create my own recipe!

I've just published it on my webzine My Quest for the Best Challah!

Chakchouka with Mediterranean Influences

Chakchouka with Mediterranean Influences, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha on Flickr.

Sunday was gorgeous and sunny, and it prompted me to prepare a brunch inspired by the colourful cuisines of Tunisia and the Mediterranean!

Chakchouka (or shakshouka), is a sort of vegetable stew popular throughout northern Africa, Israel, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, where it’s known as ratatouille (although ratatouille includes several other vegetables, the cooking technique is the same). The dish I made was similar to Tunisian chakchouka, the main difference being in the spices I used: chilli, bay leaf and lots of chopped flat-leaf parsley.

My chakchouka was a highly seasoned mixture of slowly simmered tomatoes, onions, and lots of garlic, to which I added peeled, char-grilled bell peppers. Once this had reduced to a jammy consistency, I delicately poached fresh eggs in the mixture by baking for a few minutes in the oven. Served with a spicy couscous, grilled hot Italian sausages, a fresh green salad, crusty bread, and a cold beer from one of our many excellent microbreweries, it was the perfect brunch!

Take my lips ...

Take my lips ...
Mise en ligne par ©EpicureanPiranha

… I want to lose them

I wanted to create a scrumptious, romantic dessert for Valentine’s Day. After tasting these wonderful little cakes, I christened them Melt Your Heart Pistachio Cupcakes. Rich and tender, flavoured with a large proportion of ground, roasted pistachios and blue curaçao (a bitter orange flavoured liqueur), they are crowned with a cloud of silky, white chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream ~ flavours and taste sensations that melt your heart!

Perfect for ♥ Valentine’s Day ♥, especially when decorated with lots of tiny, red lips :-)

Note ♥ Actually, these aren't very sweet ~ the beauty of Swiss meringue buttercream is that it's made from a cooked meringue to which you add butter - so, no raw sugar taste, and very little sugar compared to simple buttercreams made from powdered sugar which can be overly sweet and heavy. Just silky buttery cream, light as a cloud because of the meringue. And the delicate, moist cupcakes really taste of pistachio and butter :-)

Coming soon on my gourmet webzine ♥