Artisanal Bruschetta-Pesto, Pecan, Tomato with White Truffle Oil on Speciality Country Bread

What do you do when throwing a dinner party and your guest who is bringing the appetizer tells you she'll be late? Well, whip something together as fast as 1, 2, 3 so you're not tapping your foot and look awkward when you're guest swing through the door.

I did just that the other week 10 minutes before my 5 guests arrived. I grabbed some beautiful thick country baguette- a deep seeded wheat (called Norwegiana from Le Bon Marche) a homemade pesto previously made, some fresh pecan's, a few sweet grape tomatoes and my handy white truffle oil. I quickly pulled together an artisanal bruschetta ie something tasty, bright and full of flavor!

Pesto, Pecan, Tomato Bruschetta with White Truffle Oil served on Specialty Country Bread An Easy entree with a burst of flavor and a great depth achieved from hearty bread, full and rich pecans and the bright beauty of good 'ol white truffles! Makes 6 Servings

1 Baguette of dark country bread from your locals farmers market 2 cups of homemade pesto 10 Bright and Sweet Grape Tomatoes sliced very thin 2 cups of Pecans White Truffle Oil Sea Salt

Cut bread into 1 inch slices Toast bread if desired quickly in the oven for a few minutes at 400 Top bread with a tbls of fresh pesto, 2 pecans and an upright carefully placed slice of tomato to give the dish some height Next drizzle White Truffle Oil over the top of the bruschetta Finish with a pinch of Sea Salt Serve on a perfect rustic presentation piece ie a wood cutting board

Fashion for your Friday

A little bit of fashion for your weekend from one of my favorite blogs. http://carolinesmode.com/stockholmstreetstyle/?p=2

Love her hair below..

Love her hair below

Beautiful Crab Millefeuille with Edible Flowers

Despite the fact that it is early February I still feel like spring is right around the corner! Am I being optimistic? Perhaps but my new "thing" is edible flowers. I personally am of the thinking that there is nothing like the beauty, simplicity and soft pastel color punch that comes along with the addition of gorgeous fresh edible flowers. I yearn to use them to finish pretty much every single one of my dishes.

One dish that I did just use them for was a Crab Millefeuille-crab, tomato avocado topped with microgreens (otherwise known as a Crab Tower). I finished my millefeuille of course with some edible flowers which i purchased for way too much at le Bon Marche http://www.lagrandeepicerie.fr/(9 euro). PS if your coming to Paris you pretty much HAVE TO stop at the Grand Epercerie. It is a food site to be seen.

This dish is so light ,crisp, refined and beautiful. It really has such a soft and nice flavor and my guest throughly enjoyed it.

How good do these crab towers look below? Adding mango, or substituting ahi for crab and adding plantain chips or asian ingredients could be nice ideas as well. I love, love the deconstructed ahi tartare that Michael Minna makes as well which is the last photo.

French Bastille Market & Home Cooked Sunday Brunch

So, in honor of some friends in town from London we decided to stroll on down to one of the many incredible Sunday markets in Paris to pickup some tasty goodness and bring it back to a friends flat around Bastille to cook. http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/nov/28/paris-markets-shopping-trips-france The market, is kind of a great one and it was bustling from its seams this morning and I loved, loved the energy. Also, throughly enjoyed passing by the market at Rue Montogueil as well.

The Rue Richard Lenoir market is known for having hundreds of food stalls and the Rue Richard Lenoir market is very highly acclaimed as it is filled with french gourmet products in over a kilometer of space. I thoroughly enjoyed finding live langoustines, to be able to snack on some lebanese mini sandwiches, choose from over 500 different types of cheese and just do some solid people watching at this little Sunday gem.

After the market, it was time to make some brunch. As most of my American expat friends miss Mexican food daily they decided to make a typical Tex-Mex egg dish consisting of green and red peppers, homemade green chili spicy sauce, slow roasted eggs with fresh cheese from the market and yellow baby tomatoes. This complimented with lots of Sunday wine and cheese left us happy, full and a bit drunk. A perfect little Sunday funday!

I loved this huge display of flowers within the market

The egg dish a friend made chez lui after the market!

A "Chic" Supper Bowl Sunday Menu

So it is Superbowl season. Yup the time of year with dips, wings and lots of beer. I'm not able to watch the Superbowl in France but yes I am daydreaming about superbowl menu planning and of course tweaking the festive menu a bit.... Here are some ideas I have:

1) Pork Cheek and Black Eyed Pea Chili-http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pork-cheek-and-black-eyed-pea-chili. I mean pork cheek..yumm you can't really go wrong. Also a slow roasted homemade chili that fills the house with a smell of warm smokey flavor is a Yes.

2) Honey Chili Chicken wings topped with fresh scallions-I'm not a big fan of the typical average boring wing. Yet, throw some honey, rice vinegar, larger sized wings, big slivers of chili and scallions and you have me excited. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/honey-chile-chicken-wings

3) Burger Bar- I think you can't go wrong with various sliders on a mneu. Might be a bit tricky to keep them warm but undercook them a bit and keep them in the oven at 200 (still lightly cooking and warm until guest arrive). Then top them with buns and voila! I would say 3 great options would be:

Mini Kobe beef with heirloom tomatoes, sauteed onions and truffle oil

Mini Buffalo with artisanal cheddar, jalapeno ketcup and a brioche bun

Ahi Tuna Burgers with brioche buns, racer thing sliced cucomber and lemon-wasabi olive oil

4) 4 Cheese Mac and Cheese in small glass jars with a touch of white truffle oil, small diced apples and bread crumbs. These are pictured without the topping but really nothing goes together like gorgonzola and the acidity and bite of an apple. Might sound like a weird combo but it's great. Also little latch jars are adorable and make anything look chic and tasty.

Served in jars like this...

5) Mini Tarte Tatin & Opera cakes with Bi-Rite Salted Carmel icecream and Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel icecream. You can't ever go wrong with finishing with french desserts. After all they know what they're doing. These 2 are a bit complicated to make and they should be done in advance but would be a yummy ending for sure.

Fashion..Things I want

Inspired by the pieces below:

http://www.rubyboutique.co.nz/autumn-winter-2011_128.aspx

I want this burbery Jacket big time

Ahi Tuna Brown Rice Bowls

This dish reminds me of SF and is so healthy, flavorful, bright and yummy. It is the perfect lunch and a great saturday meal after a morning of Yoga. The presentation is clean and colorful and should 'wow' your guests a bit :)

The inspiration comes from Pacific Catch. A great little resto which has a few locations in San Francisco, ca. http://www.pacificcatch.com/. If you go, you should get a brown rice bowl, sweet potato fries and the artichoke with aioli. I'm trying out a new cleaner way of posting recipes so it might look a bit different below. Hope you like it.