"Superfood" healthy french toast

There are few foods in this world that are quite as sexy as French toast drizzled in honey. Yet the dangerous voluptuousness of the classic recipe has made it a once-in-a-blue-moon treat. So imagine my glee at discovering that French toast can be made healthy without loosing its sex appeal. The replacements were simple: wholemeal bread instead of white, coconut oil instead of butter. Then to up the flavour stakes: plenty of cinnamon and vanilla, and a pleasant maltiness added by my superfood of the moment, maca powder

Beat the eggs with a fork on a large plate; add the cinnamon, maca powder and vanilla essence and keep beating until smooth. Halve the bread, and dip each bit in the eggy mixture, covering both sides well, before frying in hot coconut oil. When golden and crispy on both sides, remove from heat. Drizzle in honey and sprinkle with a tad more cinnamon before serving. For 1 slice of bread you will need 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon, good quality vanilla essence and maca powder
 

Homemade mayonnaise

I believe that challenges help us evolve. This standpoint informs most of my life decisions, so I never choose people or situations that will make my life easy. I'm not saying that this is always the best approach, it's just how it is for me, sometimes to my detriment even. And let me tell you, dudes and dudettes, things do not get much more challenging than making your own mayonnaise in 40 degree heat (officially, it is 31 but my living room is a suntrap). Well, I guess 50 degrees would make it more challenging, but I would call that madness. It's been boiling hot for over two weeks now (not complaining!) and I had freshly baked bread and all the raw mayo-making ingredients winking at me, so off I went. You do not use an electric whisk for mayo by the way. I don't know why, you just don't, so it's always going to be a workout

Ingredients

2 egg yolks

100ml vegetable or groundnut (flavourless) oil

100ml light but good quality olive oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Large pinch pepper

Juice of 1 lemon

Beat the egg yolks with the seasoning and mustard until they reach a creamy consistency (about 10min). Now, slowly, start adding the oils, beating all the time. After another 10 minutes or so your mixture should have the consistency of mayonnaise. Now add the lemon juice and keep beating. You may want to season more, to your own taste, at the end of the process. I would only use shop-bought mayonnaise in recipes that require mayo, or in my BLT, but this stuff is more like Aioli, so I spread it on bread instead of butter and use it as a dip

Probably the best salads in Paris

Paris holds a special place in my heart. I have been here countless times, but our special relationship began when I was 19. I came here with my best friend for Valentine's Day and we met some Israeli guys. They were in Paris to meet a man prominent in the Church of Universal Energy. We spent the rest of our holiday learning about meditation and chakras. Even though I don't belong to any church or religion, as I see it this was the start of my journey towards a greater sense of awareness. Even though I have also been here with men in my life, I prefer Paris with girls. It's not a place of romance for me, but somewhere I come to reflect. And eat. And drink wine

Just off the trendy Rue Oberkampf, in Paris' Bastille district, there's a little Jazz bar and restaurant - this is what it's called but I can't find it online, the only other clue I can give you is that it has an aquarium- that has the best salads in Paris, perhaps even the world, I don't know. It depends of course on what your idea of a great salad is. If it's something that does not contain meat, then these salads may be a huge  disappointment

However, if you like to eat salad as a complete meal, and are not vegetarian, then you would probably feel the same way that I do. My one was full of goose gizzards and fois gras (I like to think it was the ethical variety, but since I eat it maybe once a year, I'm willing to forgive myself for feigning ignorance on this occasion), Magda's had goat's cheese stuffed pancake dumplings (it's the only way I can describe it) and parma ham. When we ordered our salads, the waitress actually told us that we ordered "les mieux". How lucky. They set the tone for the rest of our sun drenched, carefree weekend

Chickpea pancakes - "la socca" from Provence

I've had one of those incredibly busy and satisfying Saturdays. I went to the doctor, did the laundry, worked on a grant application, went to an exhibition with some friends, caught up with them over a margarita, did some research at the British Library, bought a present for a mate and a lipstick pour moi (I still haven't mastered the art of buying a present for someone without buying one for myself at the same time), spent forever in Sainsbury's trying to decide what to cook this weekend (I must have looked like I was trying to pull, because a man actually approached me and started telling me about his cat - I had cat food in my basket), cleaned my kitchen and now I'm blogging. I also decided to visit Provence to eat some of their famous street food. "Flavours of Provence" (my newest library acquisition) tells me that I am now "tasting some of Provence's ancient history", and although I have never been there, I'm feeling it

It's spirit, if you like. Or just "la socca", if you don't

These chickpea pancakes are ridiculously easy to make. For 4 pancakes, you combine about 100g chickpea (gram or besan) flour, half a teaspoon of salt, some virgin olive oil, and some more sea salt and black pepper to serve. Ferguson ("Flavours of Provence") suggest a teaspoon of salt, but this was a touch too much for my palette, so I'd say start with a half, you can always make it more salty at the end. You combine the salt and flour in a bowl then start adding cold water, while whisking constantly. You need about a cup of water at a guess. The thing is, I'm like my grandma Ziuta in that I never measure ingredients and do everything by eye. What we are trying to achieve here is the consistency of a thin cream (single cream, for example). Allow to stand for 2 minutes, and check the consistency. Add more water and whisk again if you feel it's too thick. Heat some olive oil in a pan then add about 5 tablespoons of batter into the pan, making sure it spreads evenly. I did this on a medium heat. When the edges become crispy, it's ready. You never turn these pancakes over - they are supposed to be a tiny bit damp in the middle. Slide it off the frying pan, and serve with salt and black pepper. Or sugar if you prefer. These measurements are enough for two. Don't be greedy like yours truly and eat 3 soccas in one sitting. That's not the Provence way

The best beef bourguignon recipe ever

I realize that that down there doesn't look like much, but it was the best beef bourguignon I have ever made, so I have to share the recipe with you quick before I forget it, as it was one of those instinctive, improvisational ones

I have a feeling the reason it was so good was because I bought amazing stewing beef from Broadway Market, so it was made from happy cows. Or perhaps it was the cup of lamb stock I added, because I didn't have any beef... whatever it was, I hope we will all be able to replicate the magic by following this recipe

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

500g good quality stewing beef

Couple of handfuls of chestnut mushrooms, quartered

Onion, chopped

Handful of shallots, peeled and halved

Aprox 80g smoked pancetta cubes

Half a bottle of decent red wine

Fresh lemon thyme - 3-4 stalks

1 tsp dried thyme

3 cloves garlic

Garlic salt

Tablespoon flour

Cup of lamb stock

Bay leaf

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Brown the beef in the olive oil, and fry the onion separately until golden and even a little crispy in places. Add the onion to the beef along with garlic salt, pepper and flour. Once you have mixed it all in, it's time for the wine, stock, bay leaf, thyme and lemon thyme - bring to the boil. Turn the heat right down and allow to simmer for at least an hour. Fry the pancetta in the same frying pan as the onions were in previously and after a couple of minutes, stick the shallots in there too. After about 20min, the pancetta should be crispy and the shallots golden - time to introduce them to the beef stew. At the same time, add the mushrooms. Cook for a further 45min-1hour, then season one final time before serving. The first night Ruby and myself ate this with garlic mash, and the second night I had it with some Turkish bread. Ruby got lost in the depths of deepest, darkest Hackney on the way to mine (or the end of the world as she now calls it), and was in a bit of a state by the time I found her, but said it had all been worth it when she ate this beef bourguignon - you can't really get any more endorsement than that. Although, after a night with coco the kitten bouncing off the walls and about 2 hours sleep, I think she may have changed her mind again

Cote Brasserie in London Bridge

I was stood up by my own father today. I wish I could say that this is a new low, but actually it's more of a long-standing tradition in my family

Anyway, this is where we always go out to eat when my dad is in town, and where I decided to dine alone today. Well, the food is really good and I was hungry

Normally, we order the Steak Tartare with french fries and green salad, wash it down with a bottle of Blanc de Blancs, and sit outside next to the river. It's the best Steak Tartare I've eaten outside of France. Of course, my gran's isn't in the competition, because when she was in her heyday she made the best Steak Tartare in the world. Today, I ordered the Pissaladiere, up there, and a glass of kir royale to start. You may think that that would be enough for lil old me, but I decided to follow it up with duck fois gras on brioche with the recommended glass of Monbazillac desert wine. And boy, was I glad I did - so amazingly rich and creamy sweet!

I still have no idea what happened to my dad. The dozens of calls and texts have been unanswered. Perhaps I should be worried, upset or pissed off, but after my frustrated childhood all these exhausting emotions have been replaced by an almost Zen-like acceptance of the way things are. I figured that I need to practice dining alone for when I go traveling next year anyway. I don't want to spend six months feeling weird and awkward. I've also learnt that there's an art to people watching, without them thinking you are staring, or interested in taking them to bed. And that the staff in here are really lovely and friendly

"Pets du nonne" without pastry

How can you not want to make cakes with a name like "nun's farts"? Well, actually I imagine some people might not find the name that appealing, but for me, along with the simplest recipe in the world, it was a "fait accompli", or something like that. Now, "pets du nonne" often come in pastry, but this recipe I found in the Green'n'Blacks cookbook, is a much lighter version. I adapted it slightly - firstly I didn't use angelica, as I couldn't find any anywhere. Then, I substituted walnut bits for almond flakes, which worked fabulously well, even if I do say so myself

Ingredients

50g dark chocolate (chilled)

2 egg whites

pinch of salt

75g caster sugar

75g flaked almonds

(1 teaspoon dark rum optional)

You simply beat the egg whites and salt until they form stiff peaks, as when making meringue. Then start whisking in the sugar a bit at a time. Finally, fold in the almonds, chocolate which has been broken up into little bits, and the rum if you are using it (I used Morgan's Spiced). Line a baking tray with foil or baking paper and grease slightly - this is something I didn't do and I ended up with a few broken cakes, they are so incredibly delicate that you don't want to be prising them off at the end. Put little blobs of the mixture onto the tray, making sure that they don't touch. Then bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for about 8 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave them in there for at least an hour, I left them for two

That's a broken nun's fart up there. This photo shows much more about these cakes then the ones that look whole and pretty, as they are no different to meringues on the outside. Yet on the inside the melted chocolate, delicate almonds and creamy meringue have a right old party. I am no baking queen but these will definitely become part of my repertoire - I love simple recipes and that taste amazing, and these fit the bill perfectly