Appetizers
A little bundle of joy – Napoléon of eggplants, king oyster mushrooms and manchego – Tomato concassée
Aug 28th
Un brin de bonheur – Napoléon d’aubergines, pleurottes géantes et manchego – Concassée de tomates
For the pastry “connaisseurs“, Napoléon is a famous pastry from Eastern Europe, made out different layers of crème patissière (custard), and puff pastry. While in Lithuania, and during its Russian campaign, Napoléon fell in love with this dessert, and named it after himself. The rumors even say that he lost the battle of Waterloo, because he ate so many of these the night before the battle. But of course, those are earsay, and only historians can prove this fact.
This is my savory version of Napoléon. This savory Napoléon has different layers of king oyster mushrooms and eggplants. King oyster mushrooms are simply oyster mushrooms that are grown to a large size, just like portobello are cremini mushrooms grown until they reached a particular size. What I like about king oysters is their meaty legs that remind of the fresh porcini, you can just slice them and enjoy them saute with garlic and parsley or any way you like.
This savory version of Napoleon has manchego and a drizzle of a parsley/garlic/paprika/olive oil mixture in between the layers, which adds a pleasant note to each bite. The concassée finishes the dish with a nice balance of chili and slight acidity of the tomato.
These cute little bundles of vegetables can be served as an appetizer, then two would be perfect, but then there is no rule in the number want to add on each plate.
Ingredients for 4-6 pieces
- 1 medium size eggplant (seedless), sliced
- 1 large king oyster, sliced
- 1/2 cup manchego, sliced
- 1 zucchini, sliced lenghtwise
- 1 tbs olive oil
- Fleur de sel
- pepper
For the herb-oil
- 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- salt and pepper
For the tomato concassée
- 2 medium sized, heirloon tomato, chopped, peeled and seedless
- 1 tbs extra virgin fruity olive oil
- cayenne pepper
- fleur de sel
Preparation
Grill eggplants on a grill pan or cast iron grid. Set aside. Saute mushroom slices in 1 tbs olive oil. Slice zucchini with a mandoline, making ribbons. Grill zucchini on a grill pan. Set aside.
For the herb-oil, mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
For the tomato concassée, after peeling the tomatoes, crush one tomato, with a mixer to make a purée. Cut the other tomato in small pieces. Mix both tomatoes, add cayenne, pepper and fleur de sel. Add olive oil. Mix well.
Start assembling the napoleon. In a flat surface, place one slice of eggplant. Add 1/2 tsp of herb-oil. Place one slice of mushroom on top. Add manchego. Proceed with another slice of eggplant, mushroom and manchego. Wrap it all with two slices of zucchini (one might be too short to be wrapped around). Place in a pre-heated oven at 390F until the manchego has melted.
Serve in a plate with one tbs of tomato concassée. Drizzle extra olive oil on the tomatoes, and add some cracked black pepper.
Nice to meet you Mexico! – Stuffed avocado with shrimp and octopus cocktail
Aug 24th
Encatada de conocerte México! – Coctel de camarónes y pulpo
Not that I am starting to deviate into Mexican cuisine, but since I just got back from Cabos San Lucas last night, I wanted to pursue my Mexican and seafood adventures with this refreshing and delicious cocktail. The abundance of avocado, seafood, lime and hot peppers is what I loved most about Mexican cuisine. I knew the traditional Mexican dishes you get in California, such as quesadilla, tacos, burritos and fajitas, but never really explored further their more delicate and fragrant cuisine.
So this small and easy dish was inspired by what I discovered in a small restaurant in La Paz right in front of the ocean, a beautiful and fresh octopus cocktail served in a glass. In France, we do use avocado shell to serve avocado based appetizers, the only problem is that you need a large haas avocado or you won’t be able to fit a lot of the stuffing. You can of course use a large cocktail glass to serve this, or two avocado halves per person.
I had never been to Mexico before this trip just because usually during the summer vacation I go back home. For many reasons, I could not go home this year. So I had to find a place close by where I felt I was completely “dépaysée” (away from my natural environment) and recharge my batteries.
Los Cabos, in Baja might not be the typical Mexican city but I loved it. You can find Starbucks and Costco which I thought were somehow out of place, selling American fruits to the locals at outrageous prices. We get Mexican mangos and they get American peaches.
La Paz was a lot more Mexican than Cabos and a lot cheaper too. The warmth and hospitality of the locals, the cuisine, the burning sun, the ocean and everything else that makes Baja very special. That long and narrow peninsula has so many wonderful assets ;its where the Pacific meets the Sea of Cortez, where the desert meets green plains, where you can relax and pamper yourself in the amazing spas, or get more adventurous and drive along the coasts and discover tiny and colorful Mexican villages.
The beach… I am not really a beach maniac, and did not lay down to get a tan, but even with a 100 sun block and in the shade, you get burnt…I was lucky enough to not have a bikini incident, so everything was perfect.
I have never met people so adorable and hospitable, people would go out of their way to help you with a genuine desire to do so and sincere smile. I will be back!
Now that I am back to real life, I will have to catch up with everyone and see what’s cooking and what everyone has been up to during this last month. I apologize for being such a terrible “supporter”, but I will get back in touch with everyone very soon.
Ingredients for 4
- 4 ripe avocados, cut in half
- 1 lemon
- 12 medium size shrimps, deshelled
- 150 g cooked octopus, cut in small pieces
- 1 tsp hot sauce
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs lime juice
- zest of 1 lime
- 1 tbs mixed herbs (cilantro, chives, tarragon, etc…)
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 tsp red onion, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cook octopus for a few hours in salted boiling water. Let it cool and cut in small pieces. Saute shrimps in olive oil and add to the octopus.
Cut avocado in halves, using a teaspoon, scoop some of its flesh, leaving about 5 mm of avocado on the shell. Cut the scooped avocado in small pieces. Coat the avocado halves with lemon juice to prevent them from darkening.
In a mixing container, add all other ingredients and mix well.
Mix diced avocado with seafood, and pour vinaigrette on mixture. Spoon into the avocado halves. Decorate with lime slice and serve.
When you have too much dough – Mini quiches with zucchini, olives, feta and mint, wholewheat crust with herbes de Provence
Jul 29th
Quand on a des restes de pâte – Mini quiches aux courgettes, olives, feta et menthe, pâte brisée complète aux herbes de Provence
I made a large quiche just like those mini ones for a dinner party, and I had leftover dough…which I did not want to throw away. Why throw away food that you enjoyed making and put time into it? I love to play with crusts, quiches and tarts, after all, they’re the basics of French cuisine. For savory tarts, I love to use olive oil instead of butter in the crust, and make it wholesome. Olive oil adds a wonderful flavor to crusts and cakes and make them lighter. Of course traditional French cuisine uses more butter, but this blog is not about traditional French food.
I love the combination of zucchini, feta and mint, they pair so well in almost anything such as in savory cakes, flans, couscous, etc…The crust and its herbes de Provence flavor, gives you a kick of Southern French cuisine, with all its aromas, and fragrant scents. Yes indeed, these quiches will bring some warmth and will brighten your day, as Southern French food does, it’s filled with flavors, colors and freshness…so isn’t this a bit of happiness too?
I am one of those crazy people that get affected by the weather, and a bright day with natural light gives me so much happiness. If I could chose the perfect weather it would be a sunny day with 80F temperature, with a light breeze. If anyone of you live in that particular climate, please let me know and I will just move there!
(no humidity please). There is a French expression that most old people would respond to when asked, comment allez-vous? “How are you doing?” most of them respond, oh comme le temps!, meaning “like the weather”, which really can show you how much the French are truly “doing” like the weather! so if it’s raining, you can just imagine how they’re doing! Ask no more…
Ingredients for 4 mini quiches
For the crust
- 4.4 oz (or 125 g) wholewheat flour
- 1.69 fl oz (or 50 ml) olive oil
- 1 tsp herbes de Provence
- water
- a pinch of salt
For the filling
- 2 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
- 2 small zucchini, thinly sliced with a mandoline
- 2 tbs feta, crumbled
- 1 tbs mint, chiffonade
- 2 eggs
- 4 tbs heavy cream
- 4 tbs milk
- cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the crust
Place flour in a mixing bowl, then add herbes de Provence, salt, oil, and start mixing, add water gradually enough to make the dough elastic and not crumbly. Mix well to form a ball. Wrap in a plastic film and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Divide dough in four parts and using a rolling pin, roll into 4 round sheets. Lay flat inside four tart molds.
For the filling
Place sliced zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle with coarse salt, mix well to coat. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Rinse under cold water, squeeze extra water using your hands and pat dry using a paper towel. Cut roughly.
Place olives on top of crust. Mix zucchini, feta and mint and put mixture on top of olives.
Beat eggs with cream and milk, a little salt (not too much since the feta is salty and the zucchini have absorbed some salt too), and cayenne pepper. Pour on top of zucchini mixture.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 20-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and the crust is cooked on the bottom.
An exotic gazpacho – Scallops with lychee gazpacho
Jul 27th
Un gazpacho exotique- St Jacques au gaspacho de litchis
A good friend of mine is half Basque, so one day, while browsing through her cookbooks, I found a very interesting book on Basque cuisine, written by Gerald Hirigoyen, an amazing Basque chef who owns a few restaurants in San Francisco, among which Bocadillos and Piperade.
One particular recipe really caught my attention just because I never saw lychees in Basque cuisine; Litchi (or lychee) is an Asian fruit, mainly grown in China and is considered a tropical fruit for us. In France, you can find lychees almost anywhere and we eat a lot of them, but only as a fruit; it’s mainly sold during winter time, and I have never really seen it incorporated into a main course.
The natural sweetness of scallops blends beautifully with fruits, and I could not stop thinking about this recipe…I finally decided to give it a try, but twisting things around a little, changed a few ingredients and added some cayenne pepper, it gave the dish a little kick and I love it. I will definitely serve it again when I have a dinner party.
The gazpacho is slightly fruity but not too sweet and very smooth, when combined with the crunchiness of the cucumber is a perfect harmony of textures.
The scallops need to be very fresh, I used the jumbo ones, make sure to pat them dry, to remove all excess water, so they are able to brown well.
Ingredients for 4
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 English cucumbers, peeled
- 12 lychees
- 1 large tomato, peeled, cored and diced
- cayenne pepper
- 1 tbs lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil + 2 tbs
- 8 large scallops
- 1 tbs mint chiffonade
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Bring balsamic vinegar to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes, until the vinegar has reduced to a syrup consistency. Set aside.
Cut half of the cucumber in half lengthwise, remove seeds and chop one half. Using a mandoline, julienne the other half to form some spaghetti strands with the cucumber. Throw away the seeds. Place julienne in a bowl and sprinkle with salt, toss to coat and set aside for 15 minutes.
Peel lychee and remove the seed. In a blender, combine lychees, tomato, chopped cucumber, lemon juice, cayenne, olive oil, salt and pepper. Process to obtain a smooth consistency. Cover and refrigerate.
Rub scallops on both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a griddle or cast-iron skillet and saute scallops over high heat, for about 1 to 2 minutes or until golden brown.
Divide lychee gazpacho among 4 plates. Rinse julienne cucumber with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Toss with mint and place some in the center of the gazpacho. Mount with two scallops in the center and drizzle with balsamic reduction.
My romantic egg – Oeuf cocotte with salmon, asparagus and a cilantro-coconut pesto
Jul 15th
Mon oeuf romantique – Oeuf cocotte au saumon et asperges, pesto de coriandre et noix de coco
Thanks so much for all your kinds words on my previous post, you guys are really wonderful, kind and generous of your time. I do appreciate it a lot.
I think this dish is perfect for a tête à tête dinner (according to the dictionary, tête à tête is also used in English) to share with someone you care. I have been alone for about two weeks now, due to business trips of TP so I decided to have a tête à tête dinner with myself and I was quite happy about it.
Well, I think no matter what, you need to treat yourself as often as you can (that’s my theory on life) and enjoy anything even if you are by yourself.
My dog and bird are keeping me company…so temporarily being alone has some good sides and bad sides. You tend to enjoy the whole bed, no daily laundry, no mess around but then when you find a half mouse dead in your patio with just the tale and legs, you have to figure out a way to clean it…I suspect the neighbors cats left it as a present.
After one hour of thinking how to remove it, I was embarrassed to ask my neighbor (the most adorable neighbors you can dream of) but I didn’t want to leave this mess in the patio and lacked courage to pick it up, so I had to tell them that Mr. Cat must have played too hard with a mouse again, so Gary cleaned it up for me. Thanks Gary!
We do use cilantro and coconut in French cuisine, even though it’s not really something you would use on a daily basis, and parsley is more frequently used than cilantro, those two ingredients are not unfamiliar to our cuisine. This fragrant pesto is delicious, the raw coconut adds a smooth finish to the dish. Oeuf cocotte is such a versatile dish and so much fun to eat. You can also use fava beans instead of the asparagus and white fish instead of the salmon, just play with it.
This combination is truly a harmonious blend of flavors, and a perfect little dish for a light diner en amoureux… or a diner for treating yourself!
Ingredients for 4
- 2 salmon fillet or 7 oz (or 200 g), diced
- 6 asparagus, cut in one inch pieces
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 3 tbs dry white wine
- 3 tbs crème fraîche
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 2 eggs
- salt and pepper
For the cilantro-coconut pesto
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 0.70 oz (or 20 g) raw unsweetened coconut shredded
- 4 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the cilantro-coconut pesto
Mix all ingredients in a blender.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add asparagus, wine, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until asparagus are cooked but still crunchy. Add salmon and cook for a few minutes. Add 2 tbs of pesto and stir for 30 seconds. Add cream and let it reduce a little.
Divide teh mixture into ramequins. Break on egg on top, add salt and pepper. Cook in a pre-heated oven until the yolks are runny and the whites still a little transparent. Serve with extra pesto on the side.
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.
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.
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.
A table with a view – Grilled baby cuttlefish with crushed herb potato and tapenade salad – Garlic vinaigrette
Jun 9th
Une table avec vue – Salade de seiches grillées avec pommes de terres à la tapenade et vinaigrette à l’ail
This one will be among my favorite seafood salads…When you are in love with so many dishes, it’s hard to just pick one, so I have a list of dishes, and this one is a part of the “killer list” or “la liste qui tue“.
Saturday after a delicious dinner at a famous San Francisco seafood restaurant, located at the Embarcadero facing the Bay Bridge called the Waterbar, I met again with octopus. If you ever end up in San Francisco and want to stay away from the touristy seafood restaurants on the Pier 39, try the Waterbar. I think it’s a little pricey but if you want to spend a nice romantic evening “déguster” (savor) amazing fish and seafood, the Waterbar is a great choice. Nothing is fried like in many restaurants, every dish has been carefully prepared and cooked with refinement to enhance its natural texture and flavor. You get the most amazing seafood dishes staring at the gorgeous Bay, so nothing to complain about.
This salad has been inspired by the octopus dish I ordered. The octopus was sliced and topped with an abundant and garlic chutney, arugola, and some potatoes topped with tapenade. I fell in love all of the sudden. I saw it, my heart melted. You must think that I do fall in love quite easily, if you give me grilled seafood (looks like I am back eating fish and seafood) with fresh herbs, garlic , I just cannot help myself.
I found this cute cuttlefish at the store that reminded me of Italy, cuttlefish is very popular in Southern France and Italy where they use its ink to make risotto al nero di seppia (squid ink risotto), seppia means cuttlefish, but squid and octopus ink is also used in gastronomy. So cuttlefish has replaced octopus here and I felt a little closer to home. Cuttlefish is thicker than squid, so it require a little more cooking time.
I made extra tapenade which is a traditional spread from Provence (Tapena means capers in Provencal language) made out of olives crushed into a purée. It can be stored for days in the refrigerator and be used in so many other ways.
Ingredients for 2
- 8-10 baby cuttlefish
- cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- some arugula or other greens leaves
For the potatoes
- 6 medium yukon potatoes
- 1 tbs tarragon, chopped
- 1 tbs parsley chopped
- 2 tbs extra fruity cold pressed olive oil
- salt and fresh cracked pepper
For the tapenade
- 1/2 lb (or 250 g) kalamata olives
- 1 garlic clove
- 2.11 oz (or 60 g) capers
- 1.41 oz (or 40 g) anchovies
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 3.38 fl oz (or 100 ml) olive oil
- pepper
For the garlic vinaigrette
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs walnut oil
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 1.5 tsp orange champagne vinegar
- 1.5 tsp pomegranate glaze
- 1 tsp chives, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cook potatoes in water until cooked. Peel and let them lukewarm. Crush roughly with a fork leaving some big chunks and incoporate herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix carefully.
Grill cuttlefish on a grill pan, turning them around until cooked, about 7-8 minutes or less, depending on the size of the cuttlefish.
For the tapenade, place ingredients in a mortar, and crush all ingredients into a paste, except for olive oil, lemon juice and pepper. Add olive oil gradually at the end like you would proceed for a mayonnaise while stirring. Add lemon juice and pepper when tapenade is ready.
For the vinaigrette, mix all ingredients together, mix well.
Place a small amount of potatoes in a plate, top it with a tsp or more of tapenade. Place cuttlefish and cherry tomato halves around the potatoes and drizzle with vinaigrette.
Cherry-Chéri? – Cherry chutney extravaganza verrines with Etorki cheese
Jun 8th
Cerises-chéries – Extravagances de chutney de cerises en verrines à l’Etorki
Cherries are finally in season and this house is a red fruit mad house, red fruits are all over, even on the rug, towels, and walls! I think in between the strawberries and the cherries, there must be about 15 lbs of those red beauties in the refrigerator. Enzo the dog and Lilou the parrotlet have been on a red fruit diet too like everyone else…I think there will be more cherry and strawberry recipes in the next coming days, for those who have a berry fetish like we do have here.
Cherry soup is a popular sweet and regional peasant soup served as a dessert where I grew up, mostly in a mountainy region called Les Vosges, it’s basically a ski area, with lots of farms and cabins, ski resorts, and many rustic restaurant offer it on their menu. The cherries are cooked in a red wine, sugar and vanilla with a flour base sauce. Due to the quantity of cherries, I might feature this one in the next coming days.
I have been entertaining lately therefore experimenting many cold soups served in verrines. I love small verrines, they make such cute and fun little appetizers. When you have tons of cherries like I do, chutneys or soups are wonderful, and call it a coincidence, but I found this deliciously pungent Basque cheese called Etorki, it’s a sheep cheese that is traditionally served in the Basque region (Pays Basque) with cherry jam as a tasting (en dégustation), so that was a no brainer, those dark cherries would turn into a jam or chutney and served with Etorki. That sweet-salty cherry chutney and Etorki cheese are simply a magic match.
Ingredients for 4 small verrines
- 400 g red cherries, pits removed
- 2 tbs sugar
- 3 tbs raspberry vinegar
- 3 cloves
- vanilla powder (or 1 vanilla bean scraped)
- Szechuan pepper
Preparation
In a medium size pot, mix cherries with cloves, sugar, Szechuan pepper, cover it and let the mixture cook for 5-10 min at medium heat, until the cherries start to soften and turn into a jam. Add vinegar and reduce for an additional 5-7 minutes. At this point, the cherries are soft and look like a jam.
Remove from the heat, let it cool and serve in small verrines, with some etorki cheese on top.
