PFB: Challenge # 6: "Recycling" used tins, pots and jars or When Food Travels

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Here I am, 6th challenge in Project Food Blog, organized by Foodbuzz (thank you incredible readers! thank you judges!) and our "hurdle" this time is to post about food that travels...either for picnics, or because we are visiting friends...

Immediately, certain things come to my mind: this food must not be fragile, and if it is, we have to take precautions !! There are things that travel "badly", like mousses, custards, certain sauces..Exterior temperature should be considered. We want our meal to arrive "in shape", we want our cooler to be without a spot, and not splashed in cream...so there should be "menu planning"..."Easy!", someone can say..we put everything in Tupperware...

And presentation? Transporting food does not mean overlooking that aspect!! So this is my personal challenge!! Food that travels well, in nice containers, but nothing specially bought for the occasion..rather using all the boxes, jars, tins that we get when we buy things...and that normally we throw away!

These were the requirements !

• Your meal must fit inside the Project Food Blog cooler
• Your meal should fit the spirit of a "meal on the go" meaning you take it somewhere outside your home to eat it. You can bring your meal to a friends house and serve it up in a new environment, or eat it in the park. We recommend providing clarity to your readers and the judges by sharing your thought process in how your meal achieves the spirit of the challenge.
• Your meal should have an entree, side, dessert, and drink. It can have MORE, but must have at least these four components

Some time ago, one of my best friends underwent very serious surgery, and as a result of that, she had to spend seven months without leaving her home !!! and not moving much! Needless to say, her spirits were not the best ! so every Tuesday (my day off work) I used to arrive at midday, with a lunch made for two...nicely set! (my friend is a deco addict) and we chatted, and gossiped (as normal women do) Don't worry! My friend is now in great shape!! but in honour of those seven long rough months suffered together, my lunch to go for two ladies with style! 

My friend drinks insane quantities of tea, good tea, special blends and all that...Many times she gave me these tea tins, that I love keeping ! so, I used them to "nest" these tiny Mini Mushroom Cakes, that make a gracious amuse-bouche!

We can bake bigger cakes, and they will serve as an eventual side, for the main dish...

Wrapping them with silk paper and a nice ribbon turns the cakes into an incredible gift, even a party favor! (Shhh!! Tell you a secret? This is what they do at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, in Paris)

My friend could not drink alcohol, so goodbye my favourite glass of Malbec! but I must admit that this Lavender Lemonade was a refreshing alternative!

I don't know what I like better here: the yoghurt inside or the little jars!! I have a collection of them! They come in handy to be used as "verrines" (and the lid makes them perfect for transport!).

What's more, I love the sticker..it reminds me of the time when my kids started Elementary School here in France. Parents have to buy kids special copybooks, with those fine lines, and children have to write like that !!! with perfect calligraphy!!!

So I used the jars for these mascarpone, sun-dried tomatoes verrines. This makes a good starter. 

Dried tomatoes are mixed with dried fruits: apricots, pears, pineapple, prunes...Mascarpone marries a hint of olive oil, salt and pepper...

And now what? From the starter, we pass to chocolate? No main dish? 

Do be patient! Just open the tin box!

Voilà!! Some curry chicken skewers !! and as side, Basmati rice in coconut/tomato sauce...

Again yoghurt jars (a different brand!) This time with plastic lids !! The addition of a velvet ribbon makes the innocent jar more elegant AND it matches the color of the box!

I bought these cute baskets ages ago in Chinatown, Buenos Aires! They are good to transport food because air can circulate there....They were the ideal thing for my cheese course!

This is in fact a cheese terrine made with melted Camembert, pieces of Camembert and apples sauté in Calvados..A real treat, that can be enjoyed cold ....

or you can put in the microwave for a few seconds (and I mean seconds) ! 

Wouldn't it have been a pity, a real pity to throw these lovely boxes away? Yes!!! because they are the perfect "jewel box" for our luscious "tartelettes aux chocolat"!

Yes, I know, three months of strict Weight Watchers will be necessary to lose all the calories of today!! But who cares? The big Wowww and the smile on my friend's face justified everything!

We decided to share this one, and keep the other one for ... later!

Macarons can be difficult to make, but when we have succeeded baking a batch, the challenge becomes transporting them! 

These old as time egg boxes are the perfect size for my macarons! Just a fancy ribbon, and Cinderella becomes a Princess! An espresso without a macaron is not an espresso, don't you agree? 

And this is the end of my sixth challenge post, written in honor of friendship and food..When life is hard, when the sun seems to be shining everywhere except on our roof...a friend who arrives home with something tasty to share and eat, can certainly make our world much brighter!

If you consider that this post of worthy of advancing to the 7th round, please vote for me as from Monday 27th. Thanks a lot!!!!

For the recipes, please go below...











To make this Mushroom Cake, you will need:

* eggs, 3 * self-rising flour, 150gr * sunflower oil, 100ml * milk, 125ml * grated gruyere cheese, 100gr * mushrooms, 250gr  *garlic, 1 clove  * persil, half a bouquet * salt & pepper, to taste.

(Yield: one small cake mold. For muffins, it all depends on chosen size)

Remove the end of stalk of mushrooms and slice them. Sauté them in 50ml of oil, until their water evaporates. Once cooked, season and add the chopped garlic and persil. 

In a bowl, whisk the eggs, together with the flour. Combine with the milk and oil (slightly warmed). Fold in the cheese, and the mushrooms. Put in an oiled cake mold. Bake (180°C) 30' (or until a wooden stick comes out dry) Attention !!! If you make the mini-muffins, baking time must be dramatically reduced!! 15' might be enough !! Check! 


To make these Mascarpone/Sun-dried Tomatoes Verrines, you will need:

* mascarpone, 250gr * olive oil, (till desired consistence) * salt&pepper (to taste) * sun-dried tomatoes (in oil), 120gr * dried fruits (prunes, apricots, pineapple) 150gr

Remove oil from tomatoes and mix them to have a purée. Cut the dried fruits in small dice with a knife. Combine both. Put the mascarpone cheese in a bowl. Whisk it and start adding the olive oil till you get a creamy blend. Season with salt and pepper. With a pastry bag (or a coffee spoon) start filling the verrines:cheese, first....then tomatoes, cheese again. 

Yield will depend on size of your yoghurt jars or verrines.

Recipe adapted from Verrines, by José Maréchal

To make these curry chicken skewers, you will need:

(yield: 2 women!!)

* Chicken fillets, 2 * lime juice, 1 * Greek yoghurt, 150gr * red curry paste, 2 tablespoons * cilantro, some leaves

Cut the chicken fillets in big dice. Put them in a dish. Sprinkle with lime juice. Combine the yoghurt with the curry, and spread on the chicken dice. Cover with plastic film. Let marinate in the fridge at least 6 hours. Thread the cubes into the skewers (remove extra sauce). Cook them on the grill (or oven "grill position") for 15'. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

As a side, boiled Basmatti rice, with Coconut/Tomato Sauce


* Basmati rice, 100gr * tomato "coulis", 150gr * coconut cream, 150gr * small onions, 2, chopped * grated fresh ginger, 1 tablespoon * cilantro, some leaves, sliced.


Cook the rice in 5 times its volume of water, till it has absorb almost all the water and it is tender (but not too much) Turn off the heat. Cover. In some minutes your rice will be perfect. Combine the tomato with the coconut cream. Add the onions, ginger and the cilantro. Season with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce in a yoghurt pots. Refrigerate. 


To make the Camembert / Apple Terrine, you will need:


* camembert cheeses, 2 *green apples, 2 * Calvados, 3 tablespoons * cream, 3 tablespoons * pepper * butter, 40gr


Peel the apples and cut them in cubes. Sauté the apples with the butter. Cook the apples for 3' medium heat. Flambé with Calvados. In a saucepan, melt one of the camembert cheeses with the cream. Season with pepper. Cut the other camembert in slices. Cover a mold of your choice with  plastic film. Let the film exceed on the sides.Assemble the terrine alternating layers of melted camembert cream, apples and camembert cubes. Cover the top with the extra film. Put something heavy on top.  Refrigerate 3 hours minimum. To be served cold or heat seconds with microwave!
Recipe from "Les Terrines de Sophie"


To make the Chocolate Tartlets, you will need:


For the "sablée" dough: * flour, 175gr * salt, 5gr * butter, 115gr, cut in cubes * sugar, 40gr * egg, 1 * iced water
For the ganache: * black chocolate (70% cocoa), 100gr * cream, 100gr (use top quality chocolate)


(To make the dough in the mixer, butter has to be cold) Put in the bowl of your mixer, the butter, sugar, salt and flour. Mix giving short pulses. Add the egg. Some short pulses again. It must look like coarse sand. Don't overmix. Add a little iced water till a ball forms. Transfer the dough to your work surface. Spread some plastic film on your worktop. Put the dough on top. Flatten it. Wrap the foil. Refrigerate at least one hour.
Roll the dough on a floured surface till desired width (2mm) Cut circles of 8/10cm diameter (depending on size of your tartlet molds) Fit the dough into the molds. Pat the dough with the fingertips. Place some parchment paper inside. Then beans or tart weights. Bake for 25': 15' with the weights, and 10' more without. Let cool. 
Heat the cream almost to a boil. Remove from heat. Fold in chopped chocolate. Combine well. Fill the tarts with the ganache. Refrigerate. 


For my macaron recipe, go here

For the Lavender Lemonade:


* sugar, 1 cup * lavender, 4 sprigs * water, 1,5 litres * lemon juice, 1 cup * lime juice, 1/2 cup.


Take the water and sugar to a boil. Infuse the lavender in it for minimum one hour. Add in the juices. Refrigerate.