Close to home. The first thing you notice walking up the familiar drive is that the apple tree is beginning to lose its leaves, a dog runs up to greet you and as you make the climb up the stairs to the front porch the sound of voices drifts out of the open kitchen door, you enter, the screen door squeaks as it lazily closes behind you, then the smell of freshly baked biscuits hits your senses, Southern biscuits, a Bijouxs that brings you close to home. Continue reading Big Sur Biscuits
While going through my cookbook collection I remembered a recipe for a “sheet” cake by Nigel Slater that I had wanted to try. Off work for a day I made Nigel’s Victoria Cake, with of course some minor revisions. A simple, straightforward cake easy to prepare–Victoria Tray Cake, a little jewel from the kitchen.
The past 10 years of my blog, Bijouxs Little Jewels from the Kitchen, I have honed my skills in food photography and cookbook design, working solo to create a brand of food style and books I am proud to call my own. I am not a chef, however I am a skilled, experienced cook, specializing in home cooking as a private chef for clients and my own family. I adore Nigel Slater’s Cookbooks and his writing. So honest and talented he has influenced many recipe ideas into my work as a private chef, and also cooking in my home for family and friends.
The Victoria Tray Cake comes from this book, which I highly recommend. This is the kind of cookbook you pick up from time to time and read more from his seasonal kitchen diary, loaded with recipes. What a marvelous idea to begin a kitchen journal. I have my little jewel collection file with hundreds of my favorite recipes, many of which I have shared with you on the blog. At this time, 490 recipes are all free on my website so grab them while you can.
I love simple baking as my skills lean towards cooking, which for me is a much more flexible kitchen experience. This cake therefore is very simple. A sheet cake that is prepared with on hand pantry ingredients and utilizes frozen fruit, perfect. Great for snacking, packing for lunches or alongside a cup of afternoon tea.
Victoria Tray Cake-another little jewel from the Bijouxs Kitchen.
Meyer Lemon love. Start by baking up a batch of crunchy-sweet Meyer Lemon Granola, then with top Lemon Yogurt and Blackberries–a little breakfast jewel.
Continue reading Meyer Lemon Granola with Lemon Yogurt & Blackberries
What could be better than crispy toast, fresh summer tomatoes, prosciutto and cheese? Nothing. That’s why the simplicity of rustic cooking always is a little jewel in the Bijouxs Kitchen–Pan Cone Tomate (Tomato with Toast). Let’s eat. Continue reading Pan Cone Tomate (Tomato with Toast)
Strawberry season is here! I now live in strawberry fields along on the California Coast, which means I receive many baskets of berries dropped off by friends. Here is a great way to preserve the ripe fruit and provide a lovely fruit compote that tops just about any dessert. Roasted Strawberries Parfait is a jewel of a recipe.
Roasting makes almost anything taste better, and believe it or not, even fruit is becomes more joyful when roasted. I have shared recipes featuring roasted pineapple, apples, grapes and of course strawberries. This simple yogurt parfait is layered with spiced roasted berries, vanilla yogurt and a crunchy layer of granola.
I adapted a roasted fruit recipe from Ottolenghi Simple to create the parfait. I have collected everyone of their cookbooks. I even have their very first cookbook, printed in England with recipes in metrics. The store and restaurant really embraces my mantra “beautiful food by design.” My parfait is an anytime treat as serves as breakfast, a snack or dessert. This makes it a little jewel recipe.
Exploring new spices is a great way to ramp up your cooking game. Sumac is a spice that you may not know about, but it is a little jewel. Once again, Ottolenghi introduces us to this Middle Eastern spice. Sumac are red berries that grow in areas of the Mediterranean which are dried and ground into a powder. It features a sweet and sour taste, quite vibrant with undertones of lemon.
Wow! Soon celebrating 10 years of Bijouxs! I began the blog in the “golden age of food blogs”, with a great group of LA food bloggers. That is when it easy easy to have loyal followers with lots of comments on the recipes, but now food is a VERY crowded space. ALMOST every website has a “recipe” section. For those of us who worked as chefs, the food world has really changed. Please don’t forget to sign up for my recipe newsletter – just the recipes please:) Thank you for your support.
Purchase all our Cookbooks in our SHOP learn more»
For more info on photography & design services learn more»
