Tag Archives: tart

Beetroot and feta tart

Posted on October 4, 2017 | Leave a comment

The best recipes are the ones calling for few ingredients, done in no time and effortless! Served at anytime of the day is a bonus! I am describing my recipe of today; beetroot and feta cheese tart.

Beetroot, better called “superbeet”, is a round dark red vegetable, sweet, earthy and tender. Whilst beetroot has a sweet taste, its leaves, which also are edible, taste bitter. This vegetable is linked with better stamina, improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. It was popular in Roman times to treat fever, wounds, skin problems and was used as an aphrodisiac.

If you don’t want fuschia hands, better wear gloves while working with it. No wonder why its color can be extracted and used as a natural food coloring. Try it with eggs at Easter time for a nice vibrant color!

For this recipe there is no exact measurements. You will need to roll out a sheet of puff pastry and cut it in medium squares (around 10x10cm), so it’s depending on how many squares you will make. I made 6 puffs, so i used a sheet of 300g. For that you need:

one medium beetroot boiled, and coarsely shopped into small pieces
180g feta cheese crumbled
2 tbsp thyme
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
egg wash

Heat the oven to 180ºC. Roll the pastry out into six squares as i already mentioned and score a 1cm border around the edge and brush it with egg wash.

Place them on the baking tray, scatter evenly the feta cheese, then the chopped beetroot. Sprinkle on top the thyme and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is well puffed and golden.

Leave it for 5 minutes to cool down then drizzle the olive oil and two drops (or three maximum) of balsamic vinegar and it’s ready to serve! Alone or with a salad it tastes just delish! If you are not fan of balsamic vinegar you can skip and it will still taste amazing.

I used rocket leaves for garnish, you can also use thyme or any other green leaves you fancy and it’s at hand. Bon appetit!

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog please let me know the result, I love hearing from you!

And if you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

Reasons to cook with your kids – “Mini chef in the kitchen” 1- Nutella mini tarts recipe

Posted on April 29, 2015 | 4 comments

How many times you let your kids out of the kitchen, having no time to let them be involved, or just being tired and drained out of energy, or simply not in the mood. However i am sure there were many other times you really enjoyed cooking or baking together with so much fun.

No doubt, cooking with kids takes more time and effort, but for the many learning experiences you can embrace while your kids are in the kitchen, i encourage you to do it more often. Trust me the benefits to their development justify the extra efforts.

Reasons to cook with your kids:

Literacy (building vocabulary): cooking with kids gives you the opportunity to introduce new words. You will be talking about the ingredients which gives them food knowledge. They will be observing and talking about the process as well (like creaming, whisking,…). It’s good to mention the new words several times and put them in a sentence they will understand and repeat after you. And when you read for them the recipe (if they can’t read yet) they will learn also that there is a method and instructions to follow. When am with with my son i enjoy mostly the open conversation we have all the time of cooking.

Brain development by exploring their senses: sensory experience is essential for the brain development. Cooking engage all the senses of your kids; seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting (especially smelling and tasting). My son is the curious type he likes to taste everything!

Motor skills: Developing fine and gross motor skills is as important as the sensory experience. They will be training their tiny muscles (fingers, hands, arms and even all body) by stirring, whisking, beating, kneading….. I love watching my son doing all this, i see a small proud man using his beautiful hands magically 🙂

Math and logic: By counting and using the measuring cups or spoons to follow the accurate recipe.

Self esteem: you will experience the look of confidence and pride on your kid’s face when he sees the outcome and especially when he offers it to others. When i bake with my son, he keeps on telling what he did to everyone he sees, and insists on offering some of “his creations” saying : “Nady did this!” waiting for the rewards for his efforts.

All these benefits go without neglecting the amount of fun we have and the quality time together which is sacred for me.

The most important thing though is you don’t force the learning to happen, it should flow naturally. The golden rule is to enjoy the time with your kids in the kitchen.

If you like to cook with your kids but you are struggling to find simple recipes to do, follow me this week. I will be writing a series of posts with easy recipes to enjoy cooking with your mini chefs!

Today we baked mini Nutella tarts. You will need:

250g flour (sifted)
125g cold butter diced
3-4 tbsp water
nutella chocolate

Let your kid sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the butter cubes.

Rub the flour and butter to become like sand. Add the water one tbsp after the other and watch your genius kneading.

We placed the dough for 15 mins in the fridge before working it. Meanwhile we cleaned the mess around us.

Sprinkle little flour on your working surface and roll out the dough.

and cut circles to fit in the muffin tray.

Nady cut also hearts and stars to decorate the top of each tart.

Put almost one tbsp of the chocolate into the middle of each tart.

Let your kid choose any shape to decorate the top of the tart.

Preheat oven to 200°C and bake for 15 mns or until top is golden brown.

Meanwhile arrange again the mess you did, teaching your kids to be clean and tidy, which is an important and fun part of cooking as well.

Let it cool before your little chef taste the reward of his efforts.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

4 Comments

Posted in dessert, kids food, way to play

Tagged beirut, benefits of cooking with kids, blog, Brain development, chocolate, cooking, cooking with kids, easy recipe, food blogger, jaymmy, kids food, little chefs, marmite et ponpon, nutella, qatar, sensory experience, simple recipes, tart

Pear cannelle puff pastry tart

Posted on February 5, 2015 | 3 comments

It’s not so hard to live a delicious life. Not all seductive deserts need a lot of efforts, skills, ingredients or money. This impressive tart is served on your table in less than 20 minutes and cost me only 5$

This is my favorite desert, every time we dine at Paul, there is a small place reserved in my stomach for a pear cannelle tart. I am not a sweet lover, but this tart is exactly what i fancy; balanced flavors and not too much sweet. I decided to make it myself at home, the result was too much to resist!

For this quick and easy desert you need:

1 sheet of puff pastry (to fit a pan of 22cm)
3 pears sliced
2 tbsp or almost 30g butter melted
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Preheat oven on 180ºC. Lay the puff pastry sheet in the pan and torn the edges.

Combine the butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon, mixing well. Using a pastry brush, generously brush the top of the puff pastry.

Layer the pear slices on top of the puff pastry covering all the surface. Brush the top of the pears with the remaining butter mixture, and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Trust me your house will be full of aroma, so tempting to abstain yourself from. I was thinking how to resist having my first piece until i take pictures for the post.

This is my piece

this is 10 seconds later

And this is my second one 🙂 Try it warm or cold at any time of the day!

3 Comments

Posted in dessert

Tagged blog, brown sugar, cannelle, cinnamon, how to do, jaymmy, marmite et ponpon, pear, puff pastry, recipe, tart, vanilla extract

So pretty to eat – elegant apple rose tart

Posted on November 19, 2014 | 2 comments

Apple rose tart are perfect for an elegant dessert and so easy to do. This was more of a technique than a recipe, that’s why i created a step by step unmistakable scheme.

First you need to have:

one big red apple
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water
1 cup flour sifted
50g butter

– Wash and cut the apple in half. Remove the core and slice each half (2-3mm thickness for each slice). Put the slices in a pot and add the honey, sugar and water. Cook for 5 minutes on a medium heat. Take out the slices to cool, but don’t get rid of the syrup, we will use them in the dough.

– To prepare the dough, mix the flour, butter and 4 tbsp of the syrup. knead until the dough becomes smooth. Roll out and cut in strips of 2.5 cm width and 25 cm length.

– Place on each strip 5-6 slices of the cooked apple, and roll it up. It will make around 8 small tarts, you can easily double the recipe if you want more.

– Bake in the oven (180°C) for 15-18 minutes. Take it out, brush with honey and serve! If you are a cinnamon lover you can also sprinkle some on top with the honey.

With few ingredients always available at home, you can make this elegant dessert. They were so tempting that i was eating them in my mind while preparing them.

I am sure you will wow your guest if you are doing them for a special occasion. They are too romantic as well…. am i giving you ideas now?! Don’t hesitate to try them now.