Over the years, I have tried many variations of hummus. I started with the classic hummus with homemade tahini then less traditional versions like roasted red pepper, sundried tomatoes and roasted garlic to name a few. Our new favorite is grilled corn and jalapeños with lime. It doesn’t have many ingredients but each of them sing in this hummus. It’s sweet, fresh and hot but the best is the smokiness.

I start off by cooking the corn in the oven. Steaming or boiling also works. Next, I want to add smoky flavors to the corn and jalapeños. The best would be to use a grill with wood or charcoal but that’s not always possible. I use a broiler but I would use a gas stove if I had one (I miss my gas stove!). For the jalapeños, what you want is the skin to peel off easily, it’s okay if you burn them a little, it will just taste better. You don’t want to go that far with the corn, just a little grilling is fine. To keep this fresh, I add lime zest and juice, and a bit of coriander. Of course, you can adjust the level of spiciness to your liking by using less jalapeños. In the end it’s hot but it doesn’t have the burning sensation of fresh chillies so don’t be afraid.

Also, I don’t bother removing the skin from the chickpeas but if you’re after a hummus that is extra smooth, then you might want to consider that.

You can serve the hummus with bread (by the way, this is homemade too!), tortillas or some carrots and celery sticks.

What is your favorite variation of hummus?

It’s been one week since we’ve started this blog and it almost feels like it has taken over our daily lives. This is what we think about all day. There are tons of recipes we would like to try so that we can share them with you. It’s a lot of fun but it’s hard work, especially because we want everything to be perfect. Being a full time mom makes it even more challenging. Simon is such a high need and super active child that it’s almost impossible to get anything done when he’s not asleep. Hopefully, it will get better as I get used to blogging.

Last weekend, I had a craving for pie. Maybe it’s because Fall is here, who knows. I wanted to try something new for the filling and it turned out we had peaches and raspberries in stock. It sounded like a good combo. They were sour enough that I did not have to use lemon juice but if your fruits are more on the sweet side feel free to add a little. The recipe that I used for the crust yields a crust that is extremely flaky, just how I like it. You can use a food processor for the dough but I find a pastry blender works just as well if you don’t have one. . .or if you’re too lazy to wash the parts (don’t you judge me!).

The funny thing is that I made the pie just before lunch time. We were so desperate to try it that we ended up having a slice. . . It was just too hard to resist.

PS: This is not the best looking pie but it sure is yummy yummy!

Nico and I lived in Shanghai for several years. One of the question that always comes back is what we miss the most from that time. Our mutual answer is. . . the food! Shanghai is such a great place to experience the variety of Chinese cuisine, from Dongbei to Guangdong and even Xinjiang! And guess what? We made the most of it. One of our favorites (yes, we have many favorites) is Sichuan cuisine. The spices and particularly the Sichuan pepper (Mala) is what’s making it so special. Sichuan food is not just hot, it also has that tingling sensation that no other food has.

This salad is very simple but packed with flavours. The main ingredient is the tofu so you’ll want to get the best quality you can find. You can use silken tofu but a firm tofu will give a better texture in this dish. I used green onions and coriander as toppings. The dressing is mainly composed of Chinkiang vinegar (or black vinegar), soy sauce and of course sichuan peppercorn oil. You can easily find these in any chinese store.

Do you like cookies? We LOVE cookies. . . I mean who doesn’t?

We’ve always been searching for the perfect soft and chewy cookie recipe. All the recipes we’ve tried have never reached our expectations. Not until. . . last Christmas. My husband gave me Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery book as a Christmas present. If you are into baking and making decent artisan bread then this is the right book. This book covers from classic french pastry to more modern american with great attention to details.

This recipe is adapted from the Chocolate Chunk and Chip Cookies in the book. I find the original recipe a bit too sweet for my taste. So, I’ve decreased the amount of sugar, but not too much to affect the texture of the cookie. With this basic cookie dough you can incorporate any ingredients that you desire like. . . pecans? The toasted pecans add a nuttiness and a nice bite and pairs well with the chocolate. I prefer to use strong dark chocolate with higher percentage of cocoa like 70 or 80%.  The recipe requires 60 grams of eggs..how do you measure precisely? I used 1 large egg plus approximately 1 teaspoon.  I simply gave the egg a light whisk just to incorporate the white and yolk, then use the scale to achieve the accurate amount.

Give this recipe a try and let me know if this is the best cookie you’ve ever had!!!

Don’t ask me how Banh Cuon Thanh Tri sounds like in Vietnamese, I have no idea. All I know is that it’s one of my favorite thing. The first time I had this dish was at Nico’s aunt’s. His family is from Cambodia so he grew up eating a lot of southeast asian cuisine including Vietnamese food.

Banh cuon thanh tri is basically rice flour sheets (with no filling, as opposed to just banh cuon). It’s usually topped with cha lua (vietnamese ham), fried shallots and a bunch of herbs, and served with the classic fish sauce based sauce nuoc cham.