Posts tagged asparagus
Get a pillow and take a nap – Pillows with fava beans, asparagus and goat cheese
Oct 28th
Prend un oreiller et fais une sieste – Coussins de filo aux fèves, asperges et chèvre
I could definitely sleep on top of those stuffed pillows, they’re warm and smell so good. For a long time, I didn’t like to manipulate filo dough, it was either drying too fast, or breaking, so I got annoyed with it and decided to leave it aside. Tant pis!
Then the idea of giving up, annoyed me even more…so I bought a pack of filo dough, and I decided to play with it…so far, the games were fun but I don’t seem to be able to finish the box 30 sheets of dough is quite a lot. It’s much lighter than puff pastry, then if you brush it with olive oil instead of butter, it’s even lighter!
I was reading an article on restaurant food, and it seems like fried food has never been that popular. So for those who like fried food, you can fry those pillows. Filo dough unlike puff pastry can be fried. I baked mine since I am still the “health nut” cook. One of the few things I like fried, is the fried green tomatoes I had once in a restaurant in the city. I can eat this once in a while, but I just don’t feel like frying it at home.
Fresh goat cheese tends to be bland, so I combined it with chives and garlic. When you bite on a crunchy pillow, the aroma of the cooked herbs comes out and you get a delightful sensation, melting cheese, crunchy filo and soft vegetables. Those are quick to prepare and cook, so they’re perfect to be served with a salad for a light lunch or as appetizer if you have unexpected guests.
Ingredients for 4 (2 each)
- 4 sheets filo dough
- 1/2 lb fava beans
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1/2 lb fresh goat cheese
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tbs chives, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cut asparagus in 1 inch pieces and cook in salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Remove beans from the pods and cook in boiling water for three minutes. Drain and remove the peel.
In a small cup mix goat cheese, chives and garlic.
Remove filo dough sheets from box. Lay one sheet flat on a working surface. Brush the sheet with olive oil. Place another sheet on top and cut to have four squares. Place 1 tbs of fava beans and 1 tbs of asparagus in the middle, add salt and pepper. Top it with goat cheese mixture. Bring each side towards the center to form small pillows. Proceed the same way with the rest of the sheets. Brush the top of the pillow with olive oil.
Bake in a non-stick sheet at 370 for about 10 minutes or until the pillows are golden and crunchy. Serve hot.
No reblochon, no tartiflette – Fake Tartiflette with asparagus and brie
Aug 11th
Pas de reblochon, pas de tartiflette – fausse Tartiflette végétarienne aux brie et asperges
If you’ve been to Savoie (Savoy), you’ve probably tasted one of their specialties, la Tartiflette. Unlike what it may sounds, Tartiflette is not a tart. It’s not an old dish either. Most recipes derive from an ancient one and go back in times, some can be retraced to Etruscan era. Not tartiflette. It’s a dish that was created in the ’80s in Savoie, as a way to promote and sell reblochon, one of their local cheese.
Basically traditional tartiflette is made out of layers of thin sliced potatoes with caramelized onions bacon and topped with reblochon cheese on it. Of course, this is a heavy dish served when you go skiing in the mountains since Savoie is the main ski resort in France. My version has asparagus has brie (a cheese from the brie region, close to Paris) and St Nectaire (a very old cheese from Auvergne, pressed and uncooked made with raw milk). Now the cheese is supposed to look like this only with the crust up. I would not call this tartiflette simply because the reblochon cheese has been replaced by brie and St Nectaire, and those two are not cheeses from Savoie. Hope that makes sense. Even if it’s a fake one, it’s delicious.
For those interested in preparing a real tartiflette, add bacon when browning onions and replace brie with half reblochon and that’s it! Reblochon ( a soft washed-rind cheese, made with cow milk) is traditionally cut in half, and placed crust up on top of the potatoes so that the cheese will be able to melt and infiltrate the potatoes, and the crust will remain golden. I did not want to add a half brie here, for many reasons, one of which being a calorie issue. As far as fat content is concerned brie and reblochon and St Nectaire, they have a similar ratio of 45%.
Tartiflette is a rustic meal, it’s not considered a sophisticated dish, nor complicated to prepare, but you need great cheese, preferably imported that melts well and potatoes that remain firm without crumbling. Then if you have those two components right, you’ll get a great tartiflette…presque comme en Savoie!
Ingredients for 4
- 4 large yukon potatoes
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 28 asparagus
- Brie
- St Nectaire
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Boil potatoes in a large pot of water, when cooked remove from pot, and let them cool. Peel and cut in 5mm slices.
Heat oil in a pan, add onions and brown them.
Bring a pot of water to a boil, add asparagus and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. set aside.
In a deep dish preferably using a clay pot, spread olive oil at the bottom of the pot. Add one layer of potatoes, add onions, add one layer of cheese and asparagus. Adjust with salt and pepper. Proceed again with potatoes, onions, asparagus and top it all with cheese.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F until the cheese has melted and the crust golden. Serve hot with a green salad.
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 far away cousin of vegetable paella – Saffron brown rice with mixed vegetables
Mar 19th
Un cousin éloigné de la paella végétarienne – Riz brun au saffran et méli mélo de petits légumes
It’s time for some rice…rice and potatoes are two ingredients I rarely use, French people eat a LOT of potatoes, at my parents my mom rarely made them, Italians are more pasta eaters than potato eaters. A while ago, I started buying all the different kinds of rices I ran into, from black rice, to bamboo rice, any shape and color rice I saw. It seems like the excitement faded away, but I don’t want to leave rice aside, because I love it. It’s nutritious, healthy and can make wonderful side dishes.
The world of food has so many items to explore than sometimes, you get caught trying out new ingredients, and leaving aside the ones you know too well.
This rice has a rich and deep yellow color you get with combining saffron and paprika or pimenton as they say in Spain but I found Spanish pimenton to have a more smokey flavor.
Basically the rice is steamed in a vegetable broth with saffron and paprika, so it comes out almost orange. Such a vibrant color to have in ones plate.
Plain white rice is great with spicy dishes, it enables to decrease the powerful and strong flavors of the spices and balances everything perfectly. Sometimes I enjoy some more intricate rice dishes like this one, you can just eat it as a main dish and as is, because it’s a whole meal in itself and full of fragrant flavors. I certainly don’t want to call this vegetarian paella, which would be so wrong, but it has some similarities in some of the spices and cooking method, even though I did not use a paella tray, nor used Spanish rice.
Ingredients for 2-3
- 5.29 0z (or 150 g) brown rice
- one dose saffron
- 1/4 tsp Spanish pimenton
- vegetable broth (rice x 2)
- 1 shallot
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbs mixed oregano, very finely chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut in very small cubes (1/4 inch)
- 1 cup fresh peas (or frozen)
- 1/2 bunch asparagus, cut in small chunks (1/2 inch)
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a rice cooker or regular pot, mix broth, rice, saffron, pimenton and salt. Let it sit for a few minutes until the saffron has dissolved. For broth quantities, I use about twice the amount of rice, in this case, since it’s brown rice, which takes harder to cook, I use about 3 times its quantity. If using rice cooker, broth needs to be at 2 cm above the level of the rice.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and let them soften. Add all the mixed vegetables and stir well. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but still firm, add garlic and oregano and cook for a few additional minutes to get the flavors out.
Mix in the rice, stir well until all the vegetables are well incorporated into the rice.
Ocean terrine – Scallops and shrimp terrine with herbs and asparagus ribbons in vinaigrette
Mar 18th
Terrine de la mer parfumée – Terrine de St Jacques et crevettes aux herbes – rubans d’asperges en vinaigrette
I am fascinated by the world of terrines, like most French, we love terrines, and what is more French than a terrine? really maybe baguette? they can be refined and elegant, beautiful, rustic, and so versatile, so why don’t I make them more often? well I don’t know…besides when you have guests, they can be prepared in advance so a great appetizer to consider for a dinner party or even buffet parties.
When people think of terrines, they think meat, which is a misconception, even if yes meat based terrines tend to be more known and traditional, fish and vegetables terrines are something incredibly delicious, elegant and light. All the flavors are mixed together to perfection and so delightful on toasted bread.
To make a perfect terrine that will stay together and that will not fall apart, you always need bread crumb (the white part), eggs and cream which are the best “liants” meaning ingredients that hold things together. You always need to butter the sides of the loaf pan or mold so that it will not stick to the bottom, and finally the terrine needs to rest in the refrigerator for at least one day before savoring it.
Ingredients for 3-6 people
For the terrine
- 10 oz (or 300 g) scallops
- 7 oz (or 200 g shrimps), shells removed + 6 shrimps whole, shells removed
- 3 eggs
- 5 fl oz (or 100 ml) heavy cream
- 3 slices of white bread, crust removed and ground
- 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbs dill, finely chopped
- 1 tbs chives, finely chopped
- salt and pepper
For the asparagus éffilochée
- 1 bunch asparagus, sliced lengthwise with a potato peeler
- 1 shallot, finely shopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the terrine
In a blender mix scallops and shrimps (except for the 6 shrimps), do not mix too fine, there need to be some small pieces of scallops and shrimps. Remove and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Clean the blender and add bread to make crumbs.
In a mixing bowl, add eggs and cream, add crumbs and herbs. Mix well. Adjust with salt and pepper.
Mix ground seafood with egg/cream mixture.
Butter a terrine pot, or loaf pan. Add half of the mixture, then place 6 shrimps in the middle, then pour the rest of the mixture on top. Cover with lid, or with aluminum foil airtight.
Cook in in a double boiler in a pre-heated oven for 1 hour. Let it cool, and place in the refrigerator for one day. Serve with asparagus and toasted bread.
For the asparagus
Slice aspargus with a potato peeler. Cook in salted water for 2-3 minutes. Place in a water bowl with ice cubes. Let them cool.
Prepare the vinaigrette, mixing all ingredients together. Toss vinaigrette with the asparagus.
Don't break the egg! – Poached egg on sauté fava beans, snap peas and aspargus
Oct 21st
Ne casse pas l’oeuf!! – Oeuf poché sur fèves, mange-tout et asperges sautées, balsamic et pecorino
I have had some poached eggs lately at a new little place that used to be a French restaurant called Couleur Café run by French people. It closed down, and opened again under another name, Pizza Nostra run by the same people and now it’s an Italian restaurant, well the menu is more Italian than French. I liked it before when they were serving French cuisine and I like it now serving Italian cuisine. One of my favorite brunch menu item is the poached eggs on asparagus artichokes and eggplants with a side of frisée.
The best poached egg salad I had was in Lyon. Of course, if you ever go to Lyon, you need to order a Salade Lyonnaise at L’Est one of Paul Bocuse‘s four brasseries (one of the most famous French chefs of this century). The four brasseries are comprised of Le Nord, Le Sud, L’Est and L’Ouest (North, South, East and West). That salad is really a masterpiece. Unlike other French cities, where you tend to get very tiny portions on your plate, Lyon is very different in that respect. That salad was enough for four people and so rich that it had probably the amount of calories I consume in three days…but a real delight. Actually, Lyon is my favorite city in France, I prefer Lyon than Paris, it reminds me of San Francisco, a very livable size city, a clean metro, and nicer climate.
So going back to our egg, what do you do when you get a poached egg? Do you break the egg right away or eat the rest of the dish and break the egg at the end? I think I never really changed from when I was 8 years old. I just hate to break the egg and see the yolk dripping by, sometimes I just feel like sticking the whole egg in my mouth, just not to break it.
Ingredients for 2
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup snap peas
- 1 cup fava beans, skin removed
- 4 asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp mixed herbs, chopped (parsley, chives, etc…)
- 4 slices pancetta, diced (optional)
- balsamic vinegar for drizzling
- parmesan or pecorino, shaved
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots, brown them, then add pancetta, let it cook for a couple of minutes until it gets a little crunchy, then add garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add snap peas and asparagus, salt and pepper. Cover and let it cook at slow heat.
Remove fava beans from the pod. Bring water to a boil in a small pot, then add fava beans. Cook for one minute depending on the size of the beans. Drain, let it cool and remove the skin from the beans.
Add to the snap peas and asparagus mixture.
To poach the eggs: In a medium size pot, bring water to a boil with salt and vinegar. When it started to boil, reduce heat so that it boils very slowly. Break egg in a bowl and slowly bring the bowl on top of the boiling water and pour it very slowly and carefully in the water. Make sure the egg whites don’t get spread out in the water, and bring the white close to the yolk. You can use two spoons to try to “glue” the egg whites all together on top of the yolk. remove the egg carefully and place in cold water to rinse the vinegar and stop the cooking process.
When the vegetables are cooked but not overcooked, drizzle with balsamic vinegar, shave some parmesan on top. Spoon vegetables in serving plates, place one poached egg on top, Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
The spaghetti from Mars – Spaghetti in a cream of asparagus and goat cheese
Sep 16th
Gli spaghetti sono scesi da Marte – Spaghetti alla crema di asparagi e caprino
Lately I have been a little inconsistent with my plans, I buy products to make a particular dish I have in mind, then I do something completely different with it. I wanted to make some asparagus mousse for canapé with salmon and here they show up with spaghetti.
Don’t you love the green all over the picture? If you don’t like asparagus, forget this recipe. I certainly do lack photographic skills but I think it really looks as green as you see it. Asparagus have a very subtle flavor and when they are served in a creamy sauce, their flavor is decupled, I did not add any cream but you could add some, it will make the texture even more velvety.
There is nothing interesting behind this dish other than it was created one day while I was thinking about how to make some of my clients eat more vegetable in a way that it was not “obvious”. Some people would tell you, “Oh yeah we loooove vegetables!”, then after a while, you realize that they just hate vegetables if they look like a “vegetable” and they need to be hidden in something that has a different shape and mixed with a bunch of other ingredients, do you know what I mean?
Anyway, people eat what they like and the way they like it, and I am certainly not the one to judge people’s diets nor tastes…and just because I love that expression, I will say “It is what it is”. Just love to say this even if it doesn’t mean much when you think about it. It’s like stating the obvious.
One serving of these spaghetti makes you consume 1/2 bunch asparagus, which is not bad.
In France, I used to grow up eating salsifis (in English, oyster vegetable or salsifis I think). It’s white and long and looks like a white asparagus but it’s not. Also white asparagus are more popular over there. The white asparagus is an asparagus that grew in the ground without any light, so its flavor is very delicate. The purple asparagus is a white asparagus whose tip has grown above the ground, so it has a fruity flavor but a slightly bitter taste at light exposure. The green kind has been grown outside at full light so its green color is the natural process of its growth at sun exposure, and it’s the only asparagus that does not need to be peeled.
Ingredients for 3-4
- 7 oz (or 200 g) spaghetti
- 1 large bunch asparagus
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 2 tbs heavy cream (optional)
- 4 tbs goat cheese
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots, stir and let them cook for about 5 min, then add garlic and stir again. Cut asparagus in 2 inch pieces and add to the pan. Let cook for about 5-10 minutes, then add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the asparagus are cooked and tender.
Mix in a blender and put back in the pan. If the consistency is too thick, add broth. You will add cream at this point if you want to. Mix the cream and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes.
Cook spaghetti al dente, drain and add to the asparagus cream. Divide spaghetti onto plates and add goat cheese on top and fresh pepper if you like it. Serve very hot.
More pesto adventures – Fake tacconi with rucola-pistachio pesto and asparagus
Jun 22nd
Ancora una storia di pesto – Tacconi finti con pesto di rucola-pistacchi e asparagi
I have been thinking about this recipe for a while that my grandmother used to make when I was a child, called tacconi. I loved those so much, because they’re always remained a little crunchy and I have always loved pasta that remains al dente, even more al dente than it should be. I would never eat overcooked pasta. My grandmother used to make a ton of those tacconi on Sunday and distribute them between my parents and I and my oncle and kids (since we all lived in the same house, different floors). That was the Sunday treat.
Tacconi are some rustic pasta from Marche region made with half fava bean flour and half regular flour. They’re cut thick and long and are served with a garlic tomato sauce.
I could not find just 100% fava bean flour, so the closest I could get is a mixture of half chick pea, half fava bean flour. Instead of white flour, I used whole wheat flour, that’s why those tacconi have a deep brownish hearty color.
Now the original tacconi have a different shape too, they look like thick spaghetti, not short like those gnocchi shape little nuggets. Actually, I somehow reproduced the shape of gnocchi sardi, called malloreddus. Obviously this dish is somehow a result of two Italian cuisines, the Sardinian and the Marchiggiana…then if you think that pesto is from Genoa, then it combines three cuisines.
As for the pesto, rucola pesto is something I really love, the bitterness of wild rucola mixed with parmesan and pistacchios make a wonderful combination. The asparagus add another green and delicate touch.
Ingredients for 4
For the pasta
- 1/2 cup fava bean flour (or mixed chick pea and fava bean flours if just fava bean not available)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- water
For the pesto
- 2 cups of wild rucola
- 3 tbs pistacchios
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4 tbs parmigiano reggiano
- 4 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 bunch asparagus
Preparation
Start preparing the pesto. Mix all ingredients in a mixer and mix until medium consistency, you don’t want to pesto to be too thin, but with some grainy texture, and feel the pistachios.
Cut asparagus in about 1 inch length and cook in boiling water for about 5 minutes or until cooked but still firm.
For the tacconi, mix both flours together in a bowl and add enough water to make a dough that is not sticky or soft but rather thick and dense. Remove from the bowl, and transfer to a well-floured surface, add flour if necessary. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes.
Let rest in a plastic wrap for about 30 minutes.
Cut the dough in about 2 or three pieces and roll dough into a 1/8 inch cylinder, and cut into 1/4 inch pieces. Roll each piece pressing with your thomb on a gnocchi board or a fork to give it some ridges. Repeat process with all the dough.
Bring water to a boil, add salt. Transfer the tacconi and cook for about 6-7 minutes.
Drain, transfer to a bowl, add pesto and asparagus. Mix well but carefully not to break tacconi nor asparagus.
C'est si bon… – Asparagus flan, sesame-thyme chicken and herb coulis
Jun 16th
C’est si bon… – Flan d’asperges, poulet pané au sésame et thym, coulis d’herbes
I haven’t posted anything lately…I was tired and sick for about a week, let’s not pretend the San Francisco summer weather has nothing to do with it. It’s been muggy, foggy and obviously very gloomy, and that really does not help with the low energy level. But that’s enough, I will not let anything come in between me and my cooking experiments, and let’s not dwell on the weather…but still when I think that in the South Bay, starting from the San Francisco airport, they get the sun and a real summer, it makes you wonder that maybe life in the suburb is not that bad.
So for those gloomy San Francisco days, you need something fresh, flavorful and exciting to keep your spirit up.
Since I bought silicon molds last time I went to France, I fell in love with them. They’re wonderful in all their aspects. Whatever you make in them cooks very quickly, they’re so easy to use and even go in the dishwasher and they don’t take much space. So if you don’t yet have silicon molds, go and buy some. You’ll love them and become addicted to cooking with them.
Lately I have been in the mood for green vegetables, probably to color my days, and I realized that if it’s not green, it will not be eaten. It needs to be green, delicious and healthy.
I never made asparagus flan before, I did not add too many spices, I wanted them to keep their natural and delicate flavor. I think asparagus have this very special and refined taste that it’s a pity to kill it with spices. The flan is enhanced with a fragrant herb coulis.
You can serve those flans with chicken but with white fish also, they go perfectly well with any fish or white meat.
Ingredients for 6
For the asparagus flans
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbs heavy cream
- salt and pepper
For the chicken
- 4 chicken breasts, cut in large cubes
- 1 cup plain bread crumbs
- 2 tbs sesame seeds
- 2 tbs fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- salt and pepper
For the herb coulis
- 1/2 bunch flat parsley
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 bouillon cube
For the side dishes
- 4 asparagus
- 4 tomatoes, peeled, seedless and diced
- Rock salt
Preparation
For the flans
Wash asparagus, set 4 whole asparagus aside to use later. Cut the tips of the other asparagus and cook in boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl with cold water to keep their green color. In the same water, cook the rest of the asparagus, cut in pieces. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until soft. Mix in a blender to produce a purée. Add cream and eggs, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add tips of asparagus at the end, and mix carefully not to break them.
Place the mixture in silicon molds and cook in the oven for about 25 minutes at 375F. If you don’t have silicon molds use other ceramic molds but they need to be buttered or the flan will stick at the bottom.
Slice the 4 asparagus left aside with a potato peeler, making thin slices of asparagus. Cook in boiling water for one minute and place in a bowl of cold water to keep the green color. Pat dry before serving on the plate.
For the chicken
Cut chicken in squares about 2 x2 inches. Add salt and pepper on all sides. Dip in flour, then in egg, then in the mixture made of breadcrumbs, thyme, sesame seeds, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Cook in the oven on broiler mode, do not place chicken too close to broiler or it will burn, place mid oven.
For the herb coulis
In a small pot dilute bouillon cube with 1/3 cup water, bring to a boil. In a blender, mix herbs, olive oil and some of the broth you made with bouillon cube. Blend for a while to get a nice green mixture. Add lemon juice and adjust with salt and pepper if needed. The bouillon cube has salt in it, so you might want to check to taste if it needs additional salt.
Serve with a flan, add some sliced asparagus on the side, two pieces of chicken, add one tbs of tomatoes topped with rock salt, and drizzle with herb coulis.
A little craving for quinoa – Spicy quinoa with asparagus, peas and carrots
Jun 1st
Une petite envie de quinoa – Quinoa épicé aux asperges, pois et carottes
A little quinoa bowl is enough for a light dinner with a salad. Especially that today I did not have any energy whatsoever. Muggy and awfully grey weather, friends moving out of the Bay Area, is not helping with the blues.
It felt like the sky was falling on my head. That is a feeling I am very familiar with, since I grew up in the Eastern part of France, where everything is sooo green (soooo green, is what people say), obviously it’s so green because of the rain.
Gray weather + not wanting to spend to much time in the kitchen = quinoa
I mixed many vegetables to this quinoa so that one bowl would be nutritious enough as a meal. The spices gave it a nice kick, a little exotic flavor to it.
Ingredients for 4 as side dish
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1/3 cup peas
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tbs mustard seeds
- 1 tbs cumin seeds
- 1 tbs coriander powder
- 4 cardamom pods
- 3 curry leaves
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Chop the onions and brown in olive oil, add garlic, stir for a few minutes at low heat. Add the spices, mix well for a few minutes, then the carrot and the peas. Stir the mixture. Add quinoa, and cook for a few minutes with the mixture. Add broth, curry leaves, salt and pepper.
Cut the asparagus in one inch chunk and cook them the in salted boiling water, for 5 minutes or more, until cooked but still firm.
Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low, and cook for about 20 minutes until the quinoa has absorbed the water.
When quinoa is cooked, add asparagus and mix well. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve hot.
