Smoked salmon pasta for tonight

6:30pm, some friends just came by to say hi... Of course, we ask them to stay for dinner, wondering what's left in the cabinets and the fridge to improvise a dinner.

Well, I have the basics to cook the salmon pasta I love. Let's cook!

You need for 4 servings: a box of penne pasta, 4 slices of smoked salmon, 1/2 a lemon juice, one small container of salmon eggs, heavy cream, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Boil a full pan of salted water and put the pasta for 10 to 11 min.

In the meantime, slice the salmon and put in in a bowl with lemon juice. Drain the pasta when cooked. Add to the pasta, 1/4 cup of heavy cream, 4 tablespoon of olive oil, the slices of salmon and the container of salmon eggs. It's ready! So easy!

Carbonara for tonight's dinner

Oh, my god, it's 6pm already and nothing's ready for dinner. All right then, I'll make it simple and for sure, I'll please my audience, in other words my kids. I have penne pasta, eggs, bacon, parmesan and heavy cream in my fridge. Good.

Now, very simple, cook the pasta al dente (around 10 min in boiling water). In the meantime, cut the bacon in small strips and fry them until slightly brown, but not too much. Drain the pasta, add an egg yolk, 1/3 cup of heavy cream, 4 tbsp of grated parmesan and the bacon strips. Mix together in the pot, reheat for a couple of minutes and stir, so that the cream finishes to cook the pasta and enjoy!

I hope my italian friends will agree on that recipe!

Farmer's markets are back!

Huge weekly markets have been one of the things I have been missing a lot since I arrived to the US. In France, they take place all year round. Therefore, I was very happy today to be able to go to the market again. There were plenty of strawberries, freshly picked. And, and... I tried a goat cheese which is delicious: they sell several sorts, with pepper, with basil and garlic or marinated with herbs in olive oil. All of them are very good. Enjoy them on a slice of good French or Italian bread, with, of course, a glass of red wine.

Simply pleasure!

Cooking Rendez-vous aprons for sale

Aren't they sweet? Yes, of course, both my kids... and the Cooking Rendez-vous aprons!

I just received my second order, ready to sell. The first one has been used for the classes. I can tell you, the quality is great: made in the US, easy to clean and iron with the spoons and the logo embroidered. Aprons for adults are available at $35 each and the kid size is $30 each. If you're interested just send an e-mail to marie@cookingrendezvous.com with your names and address, the number of aprons and sizes you would like. We will send you a paypal invoice and send your order to your personal address.

I love crostinis, do you?

When the time comes to welcome friends for barbecues, I like to share with them simple appetizers with a glass of wine. Here are the last ones I made:

- Mix together 1/2 lb of antipasto pitted olives, with 4 anchovies and a bit of lemon juice and olive oil. Spread this tapenade on crostinis and put on top half a cherry tomato.

- Spread on a crostini a tablespoon of ratatouille and put on top a little piece of mozzarella di buffala

- Spread on a crostini a little bit of pistou and then baked tomatoes, and a piece of mozzarella di buffala.

Mix them on a big plate with all the different colors. Enjoy!

A very nice article in Arlington patch

We were very happy to welcome Leah, a journalist from Arlington patch, for one of last weeks' classes. The theme was Spring and Summer vegetables and we were cooking our ratatouille, when Leah arrived to take pictures. The atmosphere was nice and warm and Leah was asking questions and talking with our customers. So nice!

Then, her picture were great, she wrote a very nice article in Arlington patch. Thank you Leah! You're welcome any time.

http://arlington.patch.com/articles/cooking-rendezvous

Baked tilapia filets on the deck for lunch

I love Tilapia, its subtle taste and firm and smooth texture. You can make so many recipes with it.

One of the simple ideas is to bake the filets for 10 min in the oven (400F): just put each filet on a square 15 in piece of foil (or parchment paper). Season with raw salt, pepper, lemon juice, one tablespoon of olive oil, a little piece of butter and 5 olives. Close the foil or the parchment paper in order to make what we call in French a "papillote", which means the fish will cook with its own steam inside the foil. Serve this filets with boiled fingerling potatoes, fried asparagus and pistou. Enjoy!