Healthy and simple summer meal

So, slight change of plans, I am now back in Paris for a week because I didn't want to stay alone in my very exciting (NOT!) childhood village with no car, money or food :p ! But I will go back very soon, however in the meantime I'm back in the apartment. 

Anywho... since my sister had missed me so very much (again i might be exaggerating slightly) she decided to come for dinner (basically, the dinner was already planned and I tagged along, but I did make the food).

I made a very simple meal, with lots of fruit and vegetables, to welcome the sunshine onto our plates.

The starter was just sliced figs with spanish Iberico ham.

Then for the main I made a salad with :

- Crayfish

- Shrimp

- Lettuce hearts

- Nectarines

- Peaches

- Cherry tomatoes

- Avocado

- Coriander

And for the dressing I mixed together :

- 3 Tbsp of passion fruit vinegar 

- 4 Tbsp of olive oil

- 1/2 tsp of ground ginger

- Salt & pepper

And voilà, it was a lovely fresh salad that excites all of your tastebuds. I would definitely recommend it if your looking for a healthy meal filled with good nutrients but not boring in any way.

Yumsters!

Summer fruit jam and Madeleines !

You know what helps the medicine go down more than a spoonful of sugar ? A spoonful of jam !
My go-to jams are plum, apricot, peach, and quince. I had a lot of fruit leftover and they were rotting in a corner, so I decided to make jam, luckily for me all those fruit were my favorites (except the quince unfortunately).
I cut up the plums, apricots and peaches and put them in a bowl with sugar and rum to let them give up their juices for a little while.
I suggest using 40% of sugar for 60% fruit, but 50/50 is also good if you've got a very sweet tooth.
Then you put it on a medium heat until it's ready.

The ultimate test : drop a bit of jam on a cold plate and check that it's not runny

Put the pots upside-down to sterilize them :

I made Madeleines to go with the jam, for me that's how you go straight back to childhood on an express train !
Here's a good recipe for Madeleines : http://www.anneshealthykitchen.com/madeleine-cakes/
It's the Paul Bocuse recipe, because if you're going to make a traditional french dish he's your best bet !

YUMSTERS !

Mother's day lunch

  Last sunday was mother's day in France, so I decided to make my mum a nice sunday lunch!
On the menu, roasted pork with peaches, black rice and beans.

  To start with, i cooked the rice, because I got this really fancy black rice which takes 45 minutes to cook, but I'm telling you, it's totally worth it, it tasts a little bit of vanilla I find, and the texture is amazing !

Then i cooked the pork in the oven at 220°C for 35 minutes ...

 afterwards I added some yummy tinned peaches and covered the dish, I put it back in the turned off oven for 10 minutes while I cooked some green beans ...

  don't forget to add some salt and pepper ;)

And voilà !