Sauces and condiments
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.
In the world of pesto – Roasted red and orange bell pepper pesto
Mar 14th
Nel mondo del pesto – Pesto ai pepperoni gialli e rossi e basilico
I can see that pesto is something quite popular in the US. The funny thing is that pesto being a “paste” originally from Genoa, in Liguria region…my parents being from Marche region, pesto is something that has never been part of my childhood. My mom’s cuisine was quite regional and I never had pesto while I was growing up. She made lots of different kinds of pasta dishes, risotto, seafood, but mainly specialties from their region. In France like in Italy people tend to stay regional in their eating habits.
Traditional pesto is great but I wanted to explore some other ingredients such as bell peppers. It’s quick, simple and most of all so flavorful.
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 4 tbs olive oil
- 40 g pine nuts
- 15 g walnuts, chopped
- One handful basil
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 60 g parmigiano reggiano, grated
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Roast the peppers in the oven using the broiler. When the peppers are well roasted on all sides. Remove, let it cool. Remove the peel and the seeds and cut in small pieces.
Wash basil and pat dry.
In a blender, place all ingredients and blend to a nice smooth consistency but not too thin.
Place in a jar and keep in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Kumquat chutney – Chutney de kumquats
Feb 17th
I love those tiny oval oranges, that taste more like bitter orange (orange amere) than a regular orange since you can eat the peel, the bitterness comes from the peel so you get a stronger “orangy” flavor than regular oranges. They originally come from Malaysia or China and can be grown in pots but need to be protected from rough colds or very low freezing temperatures. They’re mainly used in jams, chutneys, or in sweet-bitter sauces, but also in pastries. I generally make pork tenderloin with them that turns out to be a quite flavorful and delicious dish served with a fennel/potato puree.
I had some leftover kumquats that I didn’t use in my pork tenderloin recipe this weekend and I was wondering what to make with those other than jam. Since most of the fruits are perfect for chutney, I thought kumquat chutney would be great to have with grilled meats, or to enhance any rice dish.
Ingredients for one jar
- 20 kumquats or 200 g
- 1 red onion
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbs of fresh grated ginger
- 4 tbs brown sugar
- 2 tbs raspberry vinegar
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 star anise
- 3 pinches cayenne pepper
- 1 1/2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Cut the kumquat in small pieces. Chop the onions, crush the garlic, and grate the ginger.
In a pot, add olive oil and brown the onions until cooked and translucent, for about 15 min at medium heat. Add ginger and garlic and cook for another 5 min. Add sugar and stir for one minute or so. Then add kumquats and all other ingredients. Stir and cook until the liquid evaporated and the mixture thickens. Let it cool, put in a jar and refrigerate. This chutney can last for about one month in the refrigerator.
