udging by its cover, a table with no fancy tablecloth or expensive-look dishwares or flashing cutleries but a simple dish on ordinary plates that you can find in any warehouses in the world with simple lighting and style, I know I am going to like this book. When I read the recipes and the words he writes combined with the photographs taken, I simply fall in love, to the very humblest best of feeling I have.
Turning the cover over, there's a scribble of Slater's handwritings to jot down the recipes and a clip of his groceries dockets. And him, on the other side is smiling in modest mode, holding a sprig of fresh sage. He looks, sounds and writes like a lovely man, a passionate bloke who spends time in the kitchen, produces quality food from the freshest ingredients he insists to get.
Reading his book like reading a novel. You won't want to read anything else before you've finished it. Every word worths, every sentences cherished. There's more urges to cook, bake and create in your own kitchen based on what he's sugessted in his book. He said that it is 'not a book whose dates are to be followed like a mantra. It is simply a book of suggestions for when you might, should you care to look, find gooseberries, sprouts, damsons, etc. at their best.' There you go.
Starting in New Year's Day and closing in the Boxing Day, this is the best kitchen diaries of all the year! There's always something special to write about what is in season. The photographs are taken in the 'real time', like I said, very simple, nothing looks so glamourous with superb lightings and expensive range of dishwares. “... so if you recognise plates and pans from my books Real Food and Appetite, then that is because they are things that I have come to love and cherish. Whether it's a vegetable peeler or a palatte knife, it works for me and has become part of my life.” So, who says photography should show flashy stuffs?
I can't say more but then just to be able to enjoy one page till the last and produce the foods in my own kitchen, in a simple mode.

When I bought Christelle Le Rue's cookbook 'Simply Irresistible French Desserts' last year, I told myself this is the book I really need. It is neither of her recipes using any alcohol, nor of hers too complicated to follow yet is written by the truly French lady. I have tried many of her desserts and they turned out delicious. They taste truthfully homey and creamy.

I have used her quote on the bottom of my blog page since I bought her book and after all it is all about chocolate. All about chocolate, ladies and gentlemen! And chocolate has a great bond with me, vice versa.

Oh, and she has a website: www.christelle-leru.com. She produces her own book and was the winner of Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in 2005.

This chocolate cake she wrote is all from her childhood memory. It is my most favourite chocolate cake of all the chocolate cakes I've made. This cake hardly contains any flour at all and tastes full of chocolate flavour. Using chocolate with high cocoa content makes this cake superb! I don't think you will need any ganache for this, as it's already rich. But it's up to you, you're the one who's going to enjoy it after all. Christelle Le Rue serves the cake with vanilla cream. I made a thick cream from mascarpone and cream cheese with a little cup of strong cold coffee John left in the plunger.

Délíce au chocolat [Chocolate Delight]

Source: Simply Irresistible French Desserts [Christelle Le Rue. 2005. CLR.] p.16

Don't worry if the cake is sunken because that's the way it is. It is moist, all chocolate full flavour (unless you use compound cooking chocolate, I am afraid you'll have to end up to taste sugar rather than chocolate). It is seriously delicious served with cream and heaps of berries or slices of other seasonal fruits.

250g [8 ½ oz] dark chocolate (I use Whittaker's 72% Dark Ghana), 175g [6 oz] unsalted butter, 150g [5 ½ oz] icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 4 eggs (separated), 125g [4 ½ oz] crème fraîche (thickened cream), 2 Tbs white flour (sifted), pinch of salt, icing sugar to decorate

Preheat the oven to 150C (300F). Grease a 23cm (9 inch) round baking tin.

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a pan with the butter. Heat gently, stirring until melted and well combined. Beat the icing sugar, vanilla essence and egg yolks together in a bowl until the mixture whitens and becomes creamy.

Pour the melted chocolate over the egg mixture and beat until well combined. Add the crème fraîche then fold in the sifted flour.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm and fold delicately into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for approximately 35 minutes or until a fine skewer or toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

When cool, transfer the cake to a serving palte and refrigerate for at least four hours. Dust the top with icing sugar and serve with a vanilla sauce (or my cream sauce) or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (Chocolate ice cream with chunky chopped dark chocolate will satisfy a serious chocophile like me).

Vanilla Sauce

Mix 4 egg yolks, 80g [3 oz] white sugar and 1 tsp vanilla essence until pale yellow. Add 2 tsps cornflour and 100g [3 ½ oz] crème fraîche and mix well. Bring 500ml [17 fl oz] milk to the boil in a saucepan and pour gradually over the egg mixture while whisking. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring continuously, until a thin custard forms (this takes approximately 10 minutes).

CLR Tips: This vanilla sauce is a variation on the traditional crème anglaise. It can be served hot or cold and is a great accompaniment to many cakes. Make sure to cook the sauce over low heat to prevent curdling. If it does curdle, remove from the pan and mix with an electric beater until smooth.

My Cream Sauce

Put together in the food processor: 1 cup cream cheese, 1 cup macarpone, 1 Tbs icing sugar, ¼ cup cold strong coffee until smooth. Chill until ready to serve.

In Bahasa Indonesia

Para pecinta coklat, marilah ke mari, kita santap kue coklat ini yuuuuk rame-rame!! Jangan tanya rasanya. Serupa dengan Soulfood brownie yang aku bikin tempo hari, sama-sama nyoklat banget. Jangan pake coklat compound ya, dijamin ga bakalan nyoklat. Bakal lebih berasa gula daripada coklat.

Délíce au chocolat [Chocolate Delight]

Sumber: Simply Irresistible French Desserts [Christelle Le Rue. 2005. CLR.] p.16

Ga usah kuatir kalo kue-nya tenggelam, karena memang kuenya tidak akan membumbung tinggi. Meskipun begitu beda dengan kue yang bantat karena teksturnya sangat lembut, dan lembab. Rasanya pun nyoklat banget kecuali kalo coklatnya pake compound, ga jamin rasanya bakal seenak kalo pake coverture. Kue ini enak banget disajikan dengan krim, berries atau irisan buah-buahan asam musiman lainnya.

250g [8 ½ oz] dark chocolate (aku pakai Whittaker's 72% Dark Ghana), 175g [6 oz] mentega tawar, 150g [5 ½ oz] icing sugar, 1 sdt vanilla essence, 4 btr telur (pisahkan kuning dan putihnya), 125g [4 ½ oz] crème fraîche (krim kental), 2 sdM tepung terigu (ayak), sejumput garam, icing sugar untuk taburan

Panaskan oven suhu 150C (300F). Siapkan loyang bundar 23cm (9 inch) dan olesi mentega.

Patahkan batangan coklat (atau cincang kasar) dan masukkan dalam panci berikut mentega. Masak dengan api kecil sampai leleh dan tercampur rata. Kocok icing sugar, vanilla essence dan kuning telur sampai adonan putih dan lembut.

Tuang coklat leleh ke dalam adonan telur dan kocok sampai tercampur rata. Tambahkan crème fraîche lalu masukkan tepung yang sudah diayak.

Kocok putih telur dengan garam sampai kaku lalu campurkan dengan adonan coklat. Tuang ke dalam loyang.

Panggang selama kurang lebih 35 menit atau sampai tes tusuk gigi di tengah kue tidak lengket lagi (ovenku memakan waktu kurleb 45 menit). Keluarkan dari oven dan biarkan dingin di dalam loyang (tapi loyangnya diletakkan di atas rak pendingin supaya dasar kue tidak basah).

Setelah dingin, pindahkan kue ke piring saji dan masukkan ke dalam kulkas selama kurang lebih 4 jam. Taburi dengan icing sugar dan sajikan dengan vanilla sauce (atau pakai resep krimku) atau vanilla ice cream. (Chocolate ice cream dengan potongan dark chocolate yang besar-besar mantap banget buat penggemar coklat serius seperti daku ini).

Vanilla Sauce

Kocok 4 kuning telur, 80g [3 oz] gula putih and 1 sdt vanilla essence sampai pucat. Tambahkan 2 sdt cornflour dan 100g [3 ½ oz] crème fraîche campur rata. Didihkan 500ml [17 fl oz] susu lalu tuang ke dalam adonan telur sambil terus dikocok. Kembalikan ke panci dan masak pakai api kecil sambil diaduk-aduk sampai sausnya matang dan mengental (proses ini kira-kira memakan waktu 10 menit).

CLR Tips: Saus ini merupakan variasi dari versi tradisional crème anglaise. Saus ini bisa disajikan hangat atau dingin dan enak sekali disajikan sebagai saus kue-kue lainnya. Memasak saus ini haruslah dengan api kecil untuk menghindari penggumpalan. Jika terjadi penggumpalan, keluarkan dari panci (ke mangkuk) lalu kocok hingga lembut.

My Cream Sauce

Proses semua bahan ini ke dalam food processor atau blender: 1 cup cream cheese, 1 cup macarpone, 1 sdM icing sugar (kalo suka manis silakan tambahin), ¼ cup kopi kental yang sudah dingin sampai halus. Dinginkan di dalam kulkas hingga saat dihidangkan.

I just love it. It's both witty and stunning. It's all about Christopher Boone, who's mentally ill. He's got Asperger's Syndrome. But in a way, he's an intelligent youngster, I suppose.

I like one of his line: "To be a good astronaut you have to be intelligent and I'm intelligent." [p.65]. He just loves watching the sky. I think it's a good thing to do, really. Nothing weird about that, don't you think?

He's not a traveler who's traveling far from home. He doesn't like to be touched, and he dislikes certain objects or colors. But he loves Siobhan. He thinks she understands her. And he's so lucky he's got someone who understands him.

His nice neat small world began to shaking started with the dog's killed in his neighbour's lawn. He began to step out of his comfort zone, and exploring, which drives him a little too far, then he should really know how to defend himself.

It's a very interesting story and it's good to read. Outstanding with pretty much comprehensive paragraphs. I love it!

Udah pernah baca buku2 diet? huhuhuuuu... pasti kan ada yang bilang musti pantang ini pantang itu, makan musti dijadual, exercise musti ekstrim... sapa yang nahaaaannn!!!

Program2 diet di TV (pernah nontoh The Biggest Looser?) juga suka bikin aku ngurut2 dada. Program yang super ketat, exercise yang intense, bikin badan jadi tambah stress. Ada kemajuan yang didapat dari program tersebut, tapi apa bisa bertahan hingga akhir hayat?

Menurutku diet itu hanya kebiasaan kita mengkonsumsi makanan. Makan makanan yang sehat, small portion tapi regularly, jalan pagi (nyanteeee tapi serius) bisa jadi lebih mantav daripada lari di treadmill sampe kaki kaku.

Di bukunya Mireille Guiliano ini cara beliau berprogram diet dilatarbelakangi oleh pengalaman beliau sendiri saat masih kuliah berat badan beliau naik drastis. Ini disebabkan beliau tidak makan secara teratur dan hanya makan apa yang beliau sukai tapi tidak mikir badannya bakal nerima atau tidak. Beliau dulu tergila2 dengan pastry.

Tapi, jangan cemas. Ternyata boleh makan pastry, coklat, dan roti, hanya sajaaaaa.. musti teratur.

Yang aku petik cara beliau menurunkan berat badan (sampe sekarang beliau masih bertahan langsing) adalah dengan motto "less is more". Cara beliau makan ga sekali brek langsung bertimbun2, tapi karena beliau lebih memperhatikan 'eating for pleasure'. Porsi sedikit, nikmati sesendok demi sesendok, take your time.

Makan coklat juga begitu, ga langsung habis satu batang sehari. Tapi nikmati setiap molekul coklat itu dalam mulut, satu potong sehari sudah cukup.

Buku ini sangat bagus karena tidak menyarankan diet yang menyeramkan, tapi justru mengubah pola makan 'eating for pleasure'.

This book contains of ideas of sculpture cakes for kids celebration. Very useful for mothers who are interested in making her own birthday cakes for kids. I find this book is handy and useful.

I love this book, I love Peta Mathias. She's very inspiring and unique in the she's representing herself, her cooking style, her taste, very interesting. She speaks in this book like she's hosting the Taste New Zealand. The language in the book is the way she's speaking her mind and her interests of any corners of food and wine. Briliant!