Archive for June, 2010
A quiche unlike others – Cauliflower-camembert quiche with chili-poppy seed crust
Jun 30th
Une quiche pas comme les autres – Quiche de chou fleur au camembert et pâte aux graines de pavot-piment
A good friend of mine just had surgery on her foot, and is staying at home recovering, so when I asked her if she wanted me to bring her something, she responded “a vegetable quiche”! So here we are…The worse thing about foot surgery is that you are stuck in bed or walking with crutches, and there is not much activity you can do…so I made the quiche ready to bring it to her, then one of those unexpected things happened, I had to take my car to the garage, so the quiche had to stay with me.
I love to flavor my crusts and doughs, it adds a lovely flavor and character to the dish…you can use anything you like to flavor the crust, herbes de provence, parmesan, cumin seeds, sesame seeds, etc…in this particular one, I added poppy seeds and chili flakes, and really makes a great balance with the quiche filling. I used olive oil instead of the traditional French pâte brisée made with butter, and a mixture of wholesome flours such as kamut and spelt which gives this crust its beautiful dark color. Also, traditional quiche has crème fraîche, I added milk instead, if you want to keep it a little lighter milk can be substituted or a mixture of milk and cream will be a nice alternative.
Now what more French than camembert? not many things…It’s hard to find great camembert in the US, you know the one that’s not too “fait” (too hard) or too “coulant” (runny) with a subtle scent. I found one at Whole Foods that was being recommended by the gentleman behind the counter, so I decided to listen for once to what people tell me…and the camembert was perfect, juste comme il faut! So we ended up with a healthy quiche filled with vegetables and a wholesome and flavorful crust.
Ingredients for about 4 people
For the crust
- 1/2 cup white flour
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
- 1/2 cup kamut flour
- 80 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tbs poppy seeds
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- a few pinches of salt
For the filling
- 1 small green cauliflower
- 1/2 camembert, sliced
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk (or 1/3 cup milk and 1/3 cup cream)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the crust
In a mixing container, mix all flours together. Add poppy seeds, chili and salt. Add olive oil and water gradually and start kneading the dough. Stop kneading when the dough becomes homogeneous and smooth. Wrap in a plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
For the filling
Break cauliflower into florets, and cook them in salted boiling water until cauliflower is cooked but still firm. Drain and crush with a fork. Set aside.
In a mixing container, beat eggs, milk (or cream) cumin seeds, salt and pepper.
To make quiche, roll dough into a sheet of 2-3 mm thick. Place in mold. Spread evenly crushed cauliflower in bottom of mold. Top it with camembert slices. Pour egg mixture on top.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370-375F until the dough is cooked and top is golden brown.
Have you tried eating velvet? – Cream of fava bean and edamame with poached quail eggs
Jun 28th
Avez-vous déjà mangé du velours – Crème de fèves et edamame aux oeufs de caille pochés
Quail eggs are underused in my opinion…aren’t those adorable? l love those tiny and cute eggs, they’re so delicate with a very fragile shell, and certainly can enhance any velouté. I like anything that comes in a small portion, the beauty of such a tiny egg is that you can fit it all in your mouth and break it inside if you like or break it on top of your soup. As far as eggs are concerned, I have this thing about breaking them, and I hate to see the yolk all over the place.
You can make this soup with just fava beans or peas, or also a mixture of both, they both have very velvety and sweet flavors when puréed. The edamame remain a little crunchy, so it’s important to cook them a little longer and blend them longer too so they are completely puréed into a smooth texture.
If you cannot find quail eggs, you can always use one regular poached egg instead.
When poaching eggs, adding some vinegar is quite an important part of a successful process. Usually the quantity of vinegar is about 10% of the water quantity, and the water needs to boil at high temperature, then to be decreased when pouring the eggs, this way, the whites coagulates around the yolks and don’t get spread out in the water.
Ingredients for 4
- 12.34 oz (or 350 g) fava beans (net weight without the pods)
- 3.52 oz (or 100 g) edamame (fresh or frozen)
- 1.5 shallots, chopped
- 2 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbs crème fraîche
- vegetable broth
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 12 quail eggs
Preparation
Cook fava beans in a pot of boilng water for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and peel them. Set aside.
Heat olive oil in a pan, then add shallots and garlic and brown them. If using frozen edamame, add them and cook for about 10-15 minutes, then add peeled fava beans.
Cover with broth, adjust with salt and pepper and cook for another 10 minutes. Add cream and blend in mixer or using an immersion blender. Pass the soup through a sieve and keep warm. IF the soup is too thick add broth to desired consistency.
For the quail eggs, bring about 2 cups of water to a boil with vinegar (preferably white vinegar). Reduce heat. Break carefully quail eggs in a container, then pour them in water, making sure the whites remain around the yolk, using a spoon, keep whites close to the yolks. Cook for one minute, remove from water, and place in a cold water to stop the cooking process.
Divide soups in bowls, then add three poached eggs, sprinkle with paprika and olive oil and serve.
Rillettes from the sea – Smoked mackerel rillettes with potato-cumin blinis
Jun 25th
Rillettes de la mer – Rillettes de maquereau fumé sur blinis de pommes de terre au cumin
It’s been a while I ate mackerel…it’s one of those things you tend to forget it exists until you see it at the store. In France mackerel is a quite consumed fish, we eat it fresh and grilled, it’s considered a “fat” fish, well fattier than cod or sole and when smoked you can make delicious “rillettes“. Rillettes are a traditional specialty from France, they are somehow like a pâté or spread, but not as fine grind and with a more “thready” type of texture. They’re commonly made with pork meat that has cooked for a very long time in its own fat. Other types of rillettes can be made with duck, goose, rabbit and even with some types of fishes. The most famous are Rillettes du Mans (Mans being a city in the Northern part of France).
Fish rillettes contain butter and even though less fattening the meat rillettes, they tend to be on the heavy side. I avoided all extra fat by adding yogurt which added creaminess. Mackerel being a naturally fat fish, I didn’t want to add extra fat in it. I am not a fat-free freak, but when it’s not necessary to add it, I avoid it.
For a nice snack or appetizer, I thought a little potato blini would complement the rillettes quite well. Again blinis are usually made with buckwheat flour and go marvelously with smoked fish, then nothing prevent you from twisting things around in the kitchen and add a different texture and flavor to the traditional blinis. You can eat this as a light meal or serve them as appetizers, they’re always appreciated in my house.
Ingredients for about 12 blinis
For the rillettes
- 7 oz (or 200 g) smoked mackerel
- 1 garlic clove
- 4 tbs plain yogurt
- 1/2 shallot
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp dill
- 1 tsp chives
- red pepper corn, crushed
- salt
For the binis
- 7 oz (or 200 g) potatoes, cooked and mashed
- 4 tbs flour
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/3 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbs olive oil
Preparation
For the rillettes
In a blender, mix mackerel, herbs, garlic and shallot. Taste to adjust salt since smoke mackerel tends to be on the salty side. Do not blend into a too fine paste, you need to have some texture and taste the mackerel. Add yogurt. In a mortar, crush red pepper corn and add to the mixture. Refrigerate for about one hour.
For the blinis
Cook potatoes in salted water, when soft, remove from stove and drain. Crush potatoes in to a fine puree. In a mixing container, add puree potatoes, flour, egg, milk, baking powder. Add cumin seeds and salt. Mix well to obtain a smooth mixture.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add one small amount of dough (about the amount of a tsp). Let one side cook, then flip it over. Proceed until used all the batter. Spread with mackerel rillettes, top it with extra red pepper corns and herbs.
A different kind of pesto from Sicily – Homemade spinach tagliatelle with pesto alla trapanese
Jun 24th
Un altro tipo di pesto Siciliano – Linguine agli spinaci con pesto alla trapanese
You can really tell someone is Italian by the quantity of pasta they eat…my family eats pasta almost every day…unlike me…I eat it once in a while, which can be a good reason to question my Italian nationality, let’s hope they don’t come and take away my Italian passport!! Oh well, I guess I am not much of a habit type of a person and that habits somehow disturb me and can give me anxiety. Some people find comfort in habits, in my case it’s the opposite.
Everyone knows pesto which a famous paste made out with raw ingredients, that traveled beyond many borders. Of course there are many recipes for pesto using different ingredients and herbs. This particular pesto is called alla Trapanese, meaning Trapano style, after Trapano, a city in Sicily. This pesto is made with almonds and raw tomatoes ; you get a very fresh and light sauce which makes it so delicious.
To transform the pasta and make it into a fun and original mixture, I love to flavor the dough with vegetables or herbs. You can add anything you want, saffron, mushrooms, tomato paste, broccoli, etc…and color your plate and pleasure your eyes and palate!
If you want to keep this dish vegan don’t add the yolk in the pasta, it will turn out fine, and don’t add pecorino, and you’ll get an absolutely delicious vegan pasta dish.
Ingredients for 2
For the pasta
- 100 g semolina flour
- 100 g farro flour
- 100 g spinach, cooked (about one bunch spinach raw)
- 1 egg yolk
For the pesto
- 3 well ripe tomatoes, peeled and seedless
- about 20 basil leaves
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 tbs almonds
- 6 tbs olive oil
- 4 tbs pecorino
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the pesto
Pat dry peeled and seedless tomatoes to remove excess water. Using a mortar, blend all together together (except for pecorino) into a fine paste. Set aside. You can use a mixer but make sure not to blend the mixture into extra fine paste, you want some texture.
For the pasta
Combine all flours together in a mixing container. Add purée spinach and yolk, and start kneading the dough thoroughly for about 20-30 minutes. At this point, the dough will be elastic and smooth.
On a large wooden board (spianatoia), with a pasta rolling pin, make a thin sheet. You can use a pasta machine if you have one and not used to rolling pasta sheets.
Cook pasta in boiling water for a few minutes, drain and toss with pesto. Add pecorino and serve hot.
A cure for migraine – Creamy herb polenta with sauté wild mushrooms and hot tomato coulis
Jun 22nd
Per curare l’emicrania – Polenta con parmigiano e rosmarino – funghi selvatici e passata piccante di pomodoro
After a gloomy weekend with a terrible migraine, that immobilized me for few days in bed, I decided that I wanted to start the week as best as I could, and of course, when you cannot eat for a few days, the day you are back on your feet, you are starving. The great thing is that my fridge was filled with lots of various ingredients, so I had everything to make this delightful and vegetarian dish…without going to the store.
Polenta is quite a popular meal in Northern Italy, and they consume it as the French eat baguette. They grow lots of corn and they eat what they grow…so polenta is often on the table, and I have seen mainly the white kind, it’s thick, sliced like bread, and eaten as accompaniment to many cold cuts and radicchio (that’s the way I have eaten it at our friend’s place in Friuli). In Lombardia region (Milan), they eat it boiled with milk and at my parents, it’s prepared with a tomato and rabbit sauce, so to each region its own. No matter how you prepare it, polenta is always a delicious and nutritious meal to enjoy.
For this dish, you need as many different kinds of wild mushrooms as you can…I used morels, chanterelles, king oyster, beech mushrooms and shiitake, they bring a wonderful woodsy and nutty aroma to the fragrant polenta infused in rosemary broth. The polenta remains creamy and soft especially if you add mascarpone, and blends perfectly well with the crunchy texture of the mushrooms and smooth tomato coulis. The whole dish is a harmonious balance of sensations.
For the polenta, I used the fine grind, the coarse grind remains too grainy and is less delicate at the bite. Also, there are two kinds of polenta, the express one and the regular one. I always keep both in my pantry and depending on the time I have, I use either one. Polenta express cooks in 10 minutes whereas the regular one takes over one hour. Usually to make polenta crostini I use the express one, but for polenta-based dishes like this one, I use regular polenta.
Ingredients for 2-3
For the polenta
- 1/2 lb (or 200-250 g) fine polenta
- 1 tbs rosemary, chopped
- 2 tbs fresh parmigiano reggiano, grated
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 tbs mascarpone (optional)
For the sauté mushrooms
- 1/2 lb mixed wild mushrooms such as morels, king oyster, beech, chanterelles, shiitake, etc… mushrooms, washed and roughly cut
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 3 tbs dry white wine
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
For the tomato coulis
- 3 large ripe tomatoes, seedless and peeled
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp oregano, chopped
- cayenne pepper
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the polenta
Bring broth to a boil, add rosemary, then add polenta gradually, stir and keep stirring until the polenta is cooked and has reached a semi-thick texture. Cooking time depends on which type of polenta you use. When the polenta is cooked, add parmesan and stir well. Add mascarpone at this time of process if you decide you want to add it.
For the mushrooms
Wash mushrooms. Pat them dry to remove excess water, and cut oyster king and morels (if too big) into about one inch pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, then add shallots. Brown shallots and add mushrooms. Saute mushrooms and cook until the water is half evaporated then add wine salt and pepper. Stir well, let the wine reduce then add garlic. Cook for a few minutes, then remove from heat and keep warm.
For the tomato coulis
Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and stir to get the flavor out. Add oregano, tomatoes, cayenne, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the tomatoes have reduced. Mix the tomatoes using an immersion blender, then pass it through a sieve to obtain a smooth coulis.
Serve soft polenta in the center of the plate, place mushrooms around it, and end with tomato coulis.
The well dressed shrimps – Shrimps wrapped in soba with pomegranate chili dipping sauce
Jun 18th
Les crevettes bien habillées – Crevettes enroulées de nouilles soba et sauce pimentée à la grenade
Well here I am again with shrimps…when we cook we all find our inspiration from different sources, it can be our moms, grandmothers, books, chefs, travels, anything. For this particular recipe, I inspired myself from one of Alain Ducasse’s recipes that I twisted around quite a bit, but I kept his idea of wrapping the soba around the shrimps. Isn’t this a great idea? What I love about Alain Ducasse or Christophe Megel is that they mastered the art (it truly is an art) of blending contemporary influences with classical cuisine which awaken all your senses into a taste bud ecstasy.
At first, I thought it sounded strange, borderline unappealing, then after looking at it, and reading the recipe a little longer, I realized that this would be an amazing little appetizer. I made my own dipping sauce with pomegranate, chilis and garlic, and I could not get enough of those shrimps. Now, the original recipe deep fries the shrimps, I somehow refuse to deep fry anything, you can do it, if you want but I have a little “mental blockage” with fried food, so the devil did not manage to make me deep fried this, even if Alain does. Désolée Alain, je n’aime pas la friture! I am sure he would understand!
What I love about this recipe is its composition of textures and flavors.
The soba get a very pleasant crunchy bite due to the batter where ice cubes have been added at end of the process, they melted in the mixture, it helped make the batter light therefore give a particular crunchiness to the soba. There is a feast going on in your palate at first bite, and it’s such an exciting sensation!
Ingredients for about 10 shrimps
- 10 shrimps, deveined
- 2.11 oz (or 60 g) regular soba or green tea soba
- 1/3 cup (or 75 g) cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup (or 100 g) flour
- 1/3 cup (or 75 g) water
- 1/3 (or 75 g) cup ice cubes
- salt and pepper
For the pomegranate-chili dipping sauce
- 1/2 cup pure unsweetened pomegranate juice
- 2 tbs pomegranate glaze
- 1 tbs honey
- 2 tbs rice vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 chili, finely diced
- salt
Preparation
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add soba, cook for a few minutes until still a little crunchy, then remove from heat, drain and place in chilled water. Let cool, drain and set aside.
Dip shrimps in corn starch.
In a mixing bowl, mix egg with flour and water, stir well. Add ice cubes and keep stirring until they dissolve.
Dip soba in batter, remove excess batter and wrap around the shrimps.
Heat olive oil in a pan (enough to get 2 mm of oil in the pan), then add shrimps, let them brown on all surfaces. When cooked removefrom pan, and pat dry with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve hot with dipping sauce.
For the dipping sauce
Mix all ingredients together except the garlic and chili and cook for a few minutes until the honey is dissolved and the sauce has a little reduced. Let it cool, then add chili and garlic.
The entire Provence in a jar – Lavender yogurt with peach-apricot compote
Jun 16th
Toute la Provence dans un pot – Yaourt à la lavande sur lit de pêche-abricot
Lavender simply evokes Provence. Wherever I go, if I see lavender, that makes me think about the South of France but particularly about Provence, its wonderful lavender fields and cicadas singing. I adore Provence, its picturesque medieval villages, its natural light, wonderful cuisine and friendliness of its inhabitants…but most of all, the delicious sensation of the Provencal sun caressing your skin with a light breeze, making it pure heaven. I think that’s one thing I really miss about Mediterranean climate, being able to dress lightly until midnight without wearing any sweater sipping a Pastis…that is true happiness.
Does anyone know where the last picture has been shot? It’s a famous city in the South of France…
So to celebrate Provence, I wanted to make something combining summer and Southern fruits like peaches, apricots and lavender flavor; and this delightful yogurt has all of it in one bite.
Homemade yogurt can be made in many different ways, in a pressure cooker, in the oven, and of course in a yogurt maker, like I do. Well, it’s the easiest way to make them and the only way I know not to fail them, so why take the complicated route when you can take the easy one? There is definitely nothing better than homemade yogurts, nothing to compare with store bought yogurts, they can be creamy, thicker, depending on the time you leave them to incubate, and the amount of powdered milk you use. I have been substituting powder milk with evaporated milk and it works quite well.
Ingredients for 8 yogurts
- 4 cups milk
- 1 plain yogurt or 1 bag of lactic ferments
- 6 tbs evaporated milk
- 2 tbs unsweetened condensed milk
- 3 yellow well ripe peaches, peeled and cut in pieces
- 2 apricots, cut in pieces
- 2 tbs sugar + 2 for the milk
- 2 tbs lavender
Preparation
In a pan combine peaches, apricots and sugar and cook to obtain a thick mixture. Remove from heat and let it cool.
Boil milk with lavender, then remove from heat and let it cool to less than 45C. Drain to remove lavender flowers.
In a mixing container, mix yogurt with condensed milk, evaporated milk and sugar. Add gradually milk.
Divide the fruit compote in each jar, then pour carefully milk mixture. Place yogurt in yogurt maker and let it incubate for about 8 hours. Remove from yogurt maker, place lids on and place in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
So did you find out where this is?
A crêpe that’s not really a crêpe – Traditional savory buckwheat galette with smoked salmon, grilled tomatoes, caramelized onions, and tarragon sauce
Jun 14th
Une crêpe qui n’est pas vraiment une crêpe – Galette au sarrasin, saumon, tomates grillées et oignons caramelisés, sauce estragon
I haven’t made those for so long, I usually make them when we have a “crêpe party”, and those haven’t occurred in a while!
Basically, the traditional savory crêpes are made with buckwheat flour, the sweet ones can be made with white flour.
A buckwheat crêpe is called “galette bretonne“, the batter is a little different from a regular crêpe in the fact that there is water in the batter but no eggs. The traditional galette Bretonne (or also called Buckwheat crêpe, crêpe au sarrasin) is mainly stuffed with ham, eggs and cheese and it’s called “la complète“…now you can make it with whatever item you like if you want to make it less traditional. I like the traditional one, but I think those three ingredients are a little too heavy for me. Other alternatives could be spinach and mushrooms, eggs and mushrooms, tomato and mozzarella, goat cheese and spinach, etc…or whatever you think would work.
If you have been to Brittany or Paris you must have encounter that delicious treat. There are many crêperies Bretonnes in Paris close to Quartier Montparnasse. The first one I ate was at the Jocelyn crêperie, it was a double crêpe, unlike this one that is simple, a double crêpe is comprised of one crêpe at the bottom, filled with whatever you like, and one other crêpe on top of the filling, then folded and topped with salted butter. You better be hungry for that one, but it’s so good with some dry cider (cidre brut).
Sometimes, I have a crêpe party at home and the crêpes go flying around…then everyone gets so excited when we reach dessert, sweet crêpes with nutella, banana, ice cream and whipped cream. How can you refuse one of those? Vive les crêpes!!
You don’t need necessarly need a crêpe maker and a spreader to make crêpes, a non-stick pan works well too. You can make a 100% buckwheat flour batter if you like it more hearty, I like to use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 buckwheat flour.
Ingredients for about 6-8 (depending on the size of the pan)
For the galettes batter
- buckwheat flour
- white flour
- 1/4 l water
- 1/4 l milk
- salt
For the stuffing
- 3-4 tomatoes, sliced
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 tbs capers, rinced
- 6-8 slices smoked salmon
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Fleur de sel
- pepper
For the tarragon sauce
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp fish fumet dehydrated
- water
- 3 tbs crème fraîche
- 2 tbs fresh tarragon, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the batter
Mix flours together in a large mixing bowl. Add water while stirring, then milk, add salt and keep stirring to obtain a smooth consistency. Let it rest for about 2 hours.
Caramelize onions in 1 tsp olive oil. Grill tomatoes on a grill pan and set aside.
For the tarragon sauce
Heat olive oil in a pan, and brown shallots. Dissolve dehydrated fumet in 1/3 cup water. Add to the shallots, reduce a little then add cream. Reduce for a few more minutes and add tarragon, salt and pepper.
Cook galettes as you would for regular crêpes. Using a non-stick pan, spread some batter in the pan covering the whole surface (you need to butter the pan prior to making the galettes). Flip the galette and let it cook on the other side. Add caramelized onions, tomatoes, capers and salmon. remove the galette from the pan and bring borders on the inside. Top with tarragon sauce and serve hot.
The palet Breton got dressed up – Pistachio palet breton dressed with mascarpone cream, raspberries and raspberry coulis
Jun 12th
Le palet breton s’est habillé – Palet breton à la pistache garni de crème au mascarpone, framboises, et coulis de framboises
Some days are a little more morose than others, and lately my mood has been affected by many things and partly by the San Francisco weather…I hate to talk about weather changes, because I think it is a little annoying to hear, and it sounds like “old bored people’s” discussions and if I look at last year posts around this time of year, it was the same thing…the fog rolling in. Everyone talks about the weather in this city because it changes so fast and every district or neighborhood has its own micro climate…and honestly when buying a house in the city you want to make sure you are not in a “fogged in” area, if you do, you better love wearing ski jackets in June. So when it rains, or you need a little quick fix to cheer you up, make palets, they’re easy to make and so delicious!
You might not be familiar with France and its beautiful and picturesque rainy North Western region : la Bretagne (Brittany), they have amazing seafood specialties and many others like this palet breton.
Palet breton is a dry cookie made with a pâte sablée and demi-sel butter. Brittay is famous for galettes bretonnes, palets and other buttery cookies (and crêpes of course). You can find so many brands of those delicious cookies in the supermarkets, so being far away from French supermarkets, I figured I better learn how to make them if I ever want to eat some.
Usually palet breton is about 1.5 com thick, so a little thicker than the ones I made. As any “dry cookie” they’re delicious and very enjoyable with a tea or coffee, or as a little snack. This time, I wanted to “dress them up”, turn them into a little bite as a dessert…and add some extra crunch to it, by adding pistachios. if you don’t have butter demi-sel, use regular butter and add fleur de sel.
Ingredients for about 18 palets
for the palets
- 7 oz (or 200 g) flour
- 3.52 oz (or 100 g) butter demi-sel, cubed
- 2.82 oz (or 80 g) sugar
- 2 yolks
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2.11 oz (or 60 g raw pistachios, roughly chopped
for the mascarpone cream
- 7 tbs mascarpone
- 7 tbs fromage blanc
- sugar to taste
for the raspberry coulis
- 14 oz (or 400 g) raspberries
- 5.29 oz (or 150 g sugar) or more if the raspberries are not very sweet
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Preparation
In a mixing container, mix flour and baking powder. Add butter and mix carefully from the tips of your fingers incorporating it to the flour mixture. Separately mix yolks with sugar and vanilla extract and add to the flour. Form a uniform ball. Spread with a rolling pin in a 1.5 cm sheet. Cut with a small cookie cutter or glass (the cookies are usually thick and small, about 5 cm diameter). Bake in a parchment paper or silpat for about 15 min at 360F. Let them cool.
For the mascarpone cream, just combine all ingredients together.
For the coulis, combine all ingredients in a blender. Filter coulis through a sieve to remove the seeds.
Place a generous amount of mascarpone cream on top of a palet. Add raspberries and top it with coulis and chopped pistachios.
Old soups are back – Roasted vegetable soup and oregano with tofu croutons…and 300th post!
Jun 10th
Les anciennes soupes sont de retour – Soupe de légumes grillés et croutons de tofu…et 300 ème post!
Yes time flies and I just realized that this is my 300th post! I completely forgot the 100th and 200th…
I knew when I ordered a new washing machine and dryer that something was going to happen and something did happen…today’s delivery has been canceled because they were in back order. So I have to keep running the dryer six cycles to have the clothes dry. I bet PG&E are thrilled and my mom to lift me up, told me “you don’t need a dryer, it ruins all the clothes”. Very few people have a dryer in Europe, so for most Europeans it’s an unnecessary item…let’s not put all Europeans in the same basket, let’s just say for my mom…but I don’t know anyone who has a dryer among my friends and family.
I was somehow disappointed and bummed, and not in the mood for cooking long and complicated meals…and since I had all the ingredients without rushing to my Greek grocery store, there was no question, I was going to make this soup. I used to make it quite often, then for whatever unexplained reason, it stopped appearing on my table…let’s go back to old recipes, sometimes you forget how great they are. This soup is filled with vegetables and is absolutely a, and 100% vegan. The tofu croutons do add this chewy/crunchy texture that blends beautifully with a spoonful of fragrant creamy soup. You can serve this with a tapenade tartine, so the leftover tapenade from yesterday came in handy. The olives complement the flavors of the soup to perfection. For the broth quantities, you will have to adjust it to your tastes, some people like their soup thicker, some people prefer it thinner, so you will have to play around with it.
Ingredients for 4
- 1 eggplant, sliced crosswise
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 zucchini, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and sliced
- 4 tomatoes, peeled and seedless
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbs oregano
- 1 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- extra firm tofu
- flour
- fleur de sel
- pepper
Preparation
Grill bell pepper under broiler until the skin get charred. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in slices.
Place all the remaining vegetables in a tray, sprinkle with fleur de sel, pepper and olive oil and broil under broiler. Turn the vegetables both sides to grill them.
Mix bell peppers with the rest of the vegetables, add broth garlic, oregano and using a hand blender, mix to obtain a smooth purée.
For the tofu croutons, cut tofu in small cubes, coat them with flour, remove excess flour. Heat olive oil in a pan saute tofu at high temperature until both sides turn golden brown. Serve in bowls, add tofu croutons in the middle and drizzle with olive oil and extra oregano.
This soup can be eaten lukewarm or hot. If you like it hot, just heat it up on the stove for a few minutes before adding tofu.
