Posts tagged fish
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.
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.
Thanks Anna! – Millefeuille of potatoes Anna, artichokes and salmon, Parsely jus
Apr 27th
Merci Anna!- Millefeuilles de pommes Anna, artichauts et saumon, jus de persil
Millefeuille can mean different things in French…Originally millefeuille is a traditional dessert sold in many bakeries, made out of two layers of crème patissière (custard) and three layers of puff pastry. It’s called millefeuille because of its many foldings of its puff pastry (which contains a lot of layers), obviously this millefeuille has nothing to do with sweets and custard but it does some layers too, so we call this a millefeuille (literally meaning thousand sheets).
After one delightful week of no fish and no seafood just vegetarian meals, I somehow found myself with a raw fillet of salmon left that I had from a previous dinner, which needed to be cooked, or would end up in the garbage, which is something that will never happen in my house. That would be sinful to throw away food in general and salmon even more so. After thinking and thinking about how to hide this fish in a dish, I finally decided to go with a millefeuille, because first of all it looks pretty, then you can barely see the salmon, so millefeuille, it was going to be! As far as artichokes are concerned, it’s one of my favorite vegetables, so I use them whenever I can.
Pomme de terre Anna is a traditional dish in French cuisine but most precisely Parisian cuisine, potatoes thinly sliced and cooked in the oven with a little melted butter and rock salt. They seem to have been created in Paris in the 19e century by the Chef of the “Café Anglais”, Adolphe Dugléré, who fell in love with one of its beautiful client Anna Deslions, and called them Pomme de terre Anna. Funny how love can boost creativity! They became since then a very famous potato dish! You can serve them as a side dish just in their cute round shape, but I love to play with food and today they were my toys.
Then to add the final touch, I made a jus de persil. I was hesitating between a jus de tarragon, then I figured I would leave the tarragon for something else, and parsley would go quite well here. Alors voilà, c’est fini!.. and this is definitely French no need to even think about it!
There are a few different steps in the process but it’s a fairly quick dish to make, so even if you don’t have too much time, it’s really worth trying it. It’s a delightful dish!
Ingredients for 2
- 2 medium size potatoes
- 2 medium size artichokes
- 1 heirloom tomato, peeled, seedless and diced
- 2 tbs butter, melted
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 tbs white wine
- 1 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbs chives, chopped
- juice of two lemons (1 for the artichokes, 1 for the salmon)
- Fish fumet (or broth) (1 tomato, 1 branch celeri, 1/2 leek, thyme, basil)
- 1 small salmon fillet (would be enough for 4)
For the parsley jus
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper (if needed)
Preparation
For the parsley jus
Bring 1/2 cup of broth to a boil, add parsley and cook for 30 seconds, remove from the pot and pat dry. In a blender, mix parsley with broth to make it into a very fine mixture. Remove from blender into a bowl, add 1 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp lemon juice, salt and pepper if needed.
For the millefeuille
Start preparing the potatoes. With a mandolin, slice potatoes, pat them dry. In a small ramequin or round silicon mold of about 3 inches diameter, place slices one on top of the other. Using a brush, spread some melted butter on top and sprinkle with rock salt. Cover with a silpat (silicon sheet) if using the silicon molds or with aluminum paper if using a ceramic ramequin. Also if using a ramequin, it needs to be greased first or the potatoes will stick on the surface. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes.
While the potatoes are cooking, trim the artichokes, cut the hard green leaves around the artichokes and the top, cut them in quarters then in small slices. Squeeze lemon juice to prevent them from staining. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic, stir, then add artichokes and wine. adjust with salt and pepper, cover and cook until the artichokes are tender.
Add tomatoes to the artichokes, cook for a few minutes, then add vinegar. Stir well and let the mixture cook for a few additional minutes. Add chives.
Poach salmon in fish fumet for about 15 minutes. Drain and using a fork, break salmon into small pieces. Add lemon juice, chives, salt and pepper
Assemble millefeuille. In a plate, place one potato piece, add one layer of artichokes, then add salmon. Proceed with another potato piece, artichokes and salmon. Sprinkle with parsley jus and serve some extra on the side.
A different kind of tartare – Salmon tartare with wasabi, sesame seeds and avocado
Mar 16th
Un tartare un peu différent – Tartare de saumon, wasabi, sésame et avocat
This is such an overdue post, since this salmon has been one of my favorites for such a long time. I used to make a similar tartare with ahi tuna (or as we call it in France thon rouge, red tuna), but due to the extinction of wild tuna in East Atlantic Coast and Mediterranean Sea, I stopped buying it and consuming it. I think that’s the least we can do to protect the species. In France, many famous chefs such as Joël Robuchon, Gaël Orieux, Alain Ducasse and many others are committed to not serve Ahi tuna and other endangered species in their restaurants. According to the experts by year 2050, fishes will have disappeared from the oceans.
Sometimes I feel so guilty for consuming animal products, and definitely want to contribute more to protecting our planet, and maybe one day become a complete vegetarian…but I am not there yet.
I fall in love with wasabi oil, it’s one of those flavored oil that I barely use, most of the time flavored oils have an artificial flavor, but I found this wasabi oil (I don’t remember exactly where) that is incredibly tasty and enhances all kinds of fish tartares and gives it a crisp and fragrant Asian “note”, le saumon a une petite note asiatique!
There are many versions of salmon tartare, and many ways to prepare it, but this one is quite appealing and very pleasant if you like Asian flavors. The beauty of it, is it’s perfect when you have guests, you can prepare it ahead and refrigerate it, you just need to plate it at the last minute. Et voilà, c’est prêt! I think that’s what I’ll make for my Saturday night dinner party.
Ingredients for 2-3
- 5.30 oz (or 300 g) of fresh salmon, finely diced
- 1/2 avocado, diced
- 1/2 red onion, finely diced
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 tbs ponzu shoyu
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 tbs wasabi oil
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper powder
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
- 1 scallion, finely chopped
- 1/2 daikon radish, thinly sliced
- sichuan pepper
- salt
Preparation
In a mixing bowl, combine salmon with all the ingredients except for daikon. Mix carefully all ingredients together. Refrigerate for about one hour.
Place daikon in a small plate and arrange salmon tartare on top.
Decorate with avocado, sesame seeds and cilantro. Serve with toasted baguette.
To share with a girlfriend – Traditional Italian seafood stew from Fano
Feb 24th
Per una cena tra amiche – Brodetto alla Fanese
When two friends reunite around a huge pot of brodetto, it’s always a memorable evening…especially when both of them are craving fish and seafood.
I grew up eating brodetto, my mom’s favorite. The city of Fano in Italy and that particular region, being on the Adriatic Coast is well known for their seafood dishes and brodetto is one of them. Brodo means broth so, brodetto being a diminutive, means small broth, the fish is not drowned in liquid nor in heavy tomato sauce, like some stews you can eat at some restaurants, there is enough broth to dip bread but it’s not soaking in it.
Brodetto is very famous in Marche region of Italy Usually for a traditional brodetto, you need at least 12 different kinds of fish and shell fish but mainly the kind you can only find in the Adriatic sea such as “triglie, “teste grosse”, “rospo”, “trofano”, etc… which I don’t know the equivalent in English. There was somehow a limitation of fish available so I somehow used fishes I could find but the brodetto ended up being quite delicious. You need extra fresh and top quality fish, that will make a big difference. The quality and ripeness of the tomatoes are also very important, so if you don’t have top ripe tomatoes, you can use imported can tomatoes such as San Marzano, but if they’re whole, you’ll need to crush them ino a purée.
I used balsamic vinegar, that’s why my broth is a little darker, nonetheless delicious, balsamic vinegar being a little sweet gave the broth a very distinct flavor. A clay pot is perfect to cook this type of dish, it allows all the flavors to infuse beautifully together.
For Italian speakers, you can read this website “L’Academia del brodetto” where they somehow explain the differences between brodetti made in different regions and listing the best restaurants serving brodetto, so in case you find yourself in Italy on the Adriatic Coast, you can go and try the best restaurants serving brodetto…of course if you are crazy about sea food like I am.
Ingredients for 4-6
- 1 large cod fillet
- 1 large sole fillet
- 1 lb mussels
- about 20 large shrimps
- 1/2 lb squid
- 12-16 crayfish (preferably whole)
- 12 large sea scallops
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced
- 6 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 glass white vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar)
- 5 well ripe tomatoes, seedless, peeled and crushed in a purée
- 3 tbs parsley finely chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a clay pot preferably, heat olive oil, then add onion slices and let them cook slowly until they become soft and almost caramelized, add garlic and stir, cook for 5 minutes without burning the garlic. Add vinegar and let it reduce. Add parsley. Mix well – Add tomatoes and let the mixture reduce and thicken.
When the sauce has reduced, add squid cook for 5 minutes, then add fish, let it cook for 5 extra minutes, and add shell fish at the end. Adjust with salt and pepper. The mussels are cooked last, after adding mussels, cover with lid and remove from heat when the mussels have opened. Mix broth carefully. The fish needs to be cooked but not overcooked. The vinegar will prevent the fish from breaking apart.
Serve in deep dishes with slices of country bread.
One more thanks to Alain Ducasse – Cod with herb-butter, shiitake and tomato concassée
Feb 1st
Merci encore à Alain Ducasse – Cabillaud en beurre d’herbes, shiitake et concassée de tomates
This recipe has been adapted from an Alain Ducasse’s recipe, one of my favorite chefs…yes I know I keep repeating this and will do so anytime I prepare something from his kitchen, because I am such a huge fan of his.
The recipe has been modified a little in the sense that I needed girolles mushrooms, since I couldn’t find any and a drive to whole foods was not an option, I used shiitake. The other ingredients I did not use was the ham in the beurre d’herbes, so I did not add ham but I will add it to the ingredients’ list and people can either decide to add it or not. Other than that I followed the recipe “à la lettre” (meaning word per word).
I was offered this book called “La Cuisine de Ducasse par Sophie” a few Christmas back and once in a while and dig into it to try its wonderful recipes. They’re not too time-consuming but most of all, the recipes are focusing on flavors and simplicity.
Basically, any white fish with a dense flesh works in this recipe, so that when you serve it it doesn’t fall apart. The exciting part of this dish are really two things. Don’t you think that there is always an exciting aspect to a dish, either an ingredient, or a method of cooking, but just something? Here is the beurre d’herbes, and the garlic. Beurre d’herbes (herb-butter) is a mixture of herbs, nuts, condiments, citrus and of course butter “demi-sel” (so you need a good quality butter) and it is absolutely divine. It makes me want to make a jar of beurre d’herbes, cook it in the oven and eat it with a spoon. Then the garlic gloves have been “confites” meaning candied, slowly cooked for over an hour with herbs. The great thing about this garlic is that you can make a batch and keep them in a jar in the refrigerator and use them when needed.
Beurre demi-sel (half salted butter) contains between 0.5 g and 3 g of salt per 100 grams of butter vs. beurre salé (salted butter) contains over 3 g of salt per 100 grams of butter. Usually in those butters, different types of high valued salts have been incorporated such as Guérande salt, Noirmoutier salt, fleur de sel, etc…In the US you can find Beurre D’Isigny as a demi-sel, whole Foods sells it. A great quality butter makes an incredible difference.
Tomato concassée is quite straight forward, concasser means to chop roughly, not in tiny pieces so that’s what happened to those tomatoes. It’s a common French culinary word used to describe how something has been cut.
Ingredients for 6
For the fish and side
- 6 cod fillets or any dense white fish (about 6.34 oz or 180 g each)
- 8 tomatoes on the vine, seedless, peeled and roughly cut
- 10.50 oz (or 300 g) girolles mushrooms or shiitake
- 1 bunch basil (keep 12 leaves for decoration)
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, candied
- salt and pepper
For the herb-butter
- 5.30 oz (or 150 g) butter, soft, demi-sel
- 1 oz (or 30 g) almonds, chopped
- 1 oz (or 30 g) walnuts, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp strong Dijon mustard a l’ancienne
- 1 thin slice ham (Jabugo or Serrano), cubed
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tbs mixed herbs, chopped (parsley, chives, chervil)
- salt and pepper
For the candied garlic batch
- 30 garlic cloves
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- olive oil
Preparation
For the herb-butter
Mix lemon zest with the butter and all other ingredients.
For the tomato concassée and mushrooms
Heat 2 tbs olive oil, add tomatoes and let them cook at medium heat until the water evaporates. Add salt and pepper. In another pan, saute mushrooms in 1 tbs olive oil at high heat for about 2-3 minutes. Add 15 basil leaves, chopped, salt and pepper and mix well.
Mix tomatoes and mushrooms and candied garlic. Adjust seasoning and keep warm.
For the candied garlic
Cover garlic with olive oil, add herbs and cook slowly for about 1h30 min in a small covered pot. When cooked, pour in a jar with the olive oil and place in the refrigerator for future use.
Finishing and presentation
Pre-heat oven at 240C on circular heat mode. Add salt and pepper to the cod fillets. Spread herb-butter on top of the fillets and cook for about 10 minutes. Place tomato-mushroom mixture in the center of plates. Add cod on top. Sprinkle with Fleur de Sel and basil and serve immediately.
Quick and easy – Lavender cod with grilled fennel and potato salad, roasted tomato
Dec 11th
Rapide et facile – Cabillaud au sel de lavande, salade de fenouil et pommes de terre grillées, tomate rôtie
I had a very little time for lunch yesterday since I had a doctor’s appointment early in the afternoon. I currently have no car, looking to buy one, so public transportation here I come…
I evaluated it would take me over one hour to get to the doctor, since I had to make a connection. I don’t know if any of you have ever taken public transportation in San Francisco, but some Muni lines are nice and clean and some others are packed, loud, people yelling, insulting one another and dirty…unfortunately I had to take that one. At that point, I wished I had a car…I think something should be done to improve the public transportation system and the quality of the streets. Better public transportation would help the environment and decrease the traffic.
Before my trip to hell, I found the perfect fast food plate. Honestly, this is fast food. It took me less than 30 minutes to put it all together and perfectly flavored and balanced. I like fresh herbs, and food that doesn’t cook for hours soaked in heavy sauces. I love fresh crisp flavors, and this fish dish fits that category. There are few simple ingredients such as lemon juice, herbs, etc…nothing too complex, so nothing overpowering to confuse your palate.
This dish smells and tastes comme la Provence with the fennel and lavender. This is perfect for one of those days when you don’t have too much time too spend in the kitchen but still want to eat a decent healthy meal.
Ingredients for 2
For the cod
- 2 cod fillets
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbs olive oil
- lavender salt
- pepper
For the vegetables
- 2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
- 3 potatoes, sliced crosswise
- 1 heirloom tomato, cut in half
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbs mint, finely chopped
- one pinch cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 tbs olive oil + 1
- salt and pepper
- Fleur de sel for the tomato
Preparation
First prepare the potatoes. Drizzle them with salt, pepper, olive oil and cider vinegar. Place in the oven and broil on both sides until golden brown and cooked all the way through. While potatoes are cooking, grill the fennel on a grill pan. Add fennel to the potatoes.
Drizzle cod with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil on both sides until cooked all the way through.
Grill tomatoes on grill pan.
In a small mixing bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, mint, cumin powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Pour on top of fennel, potato mixture and toss.
Add lavender salt on top of cod, drizzle with lemon juice and olive oil.
Add Fleur de sel and pepper on top of tomato halves and a little olive oil.
Serve each item in a plate.
Very very chou – Salmon in a cabbage outfit with tarragon
Oct 27th
Très très chou – Saumon en robe de chou à l’estragon
A little alternative to salmon…stuffed in cabbage leaves, a perfect light dish if you want to have fun eating while keeping a thin waste line. As much as I love eating, I really enjoy keeping my weight down and stay in shape. Even though I don’t have a scale, I know when I gain or lose weight on how my jeans fit.
I think the best food is the one you truly enjoy eating and that is healthy, light and flavorful. And yes, it is possible to have it all…
I was at the doctor’s office and of course what best to read when you are in the waiting room, than a five page special on the damages of Mercury in fishes on humans. As much as I love fish, I think I will slow down on its consumption since it seems that it’s no longer very safe to eat many species such as mackerel, tuna, swordfish, etc… I think we are just polluting the whole planet and we are getting the consequences right back. I have seen that they even sell grey salmon at the supermarket, probably because some people prefer to eat it that way than eat artificial coloring. Grey salmon looks really strange.
I love to stuff cabbage leaves with all kinds of things, and salmon goes perfectly inside those leaves. You could add one egg and some breadcrumbs to the salmon but I wanted to keep it light, so it’s just mixed with herbs. I didn’t make fish fumet since I didn’t have fish bones, so I used a dehydrated one I brought from France, that works fine when you need a quick alternative to home made fish fumet.
For those who don’t have any idea on what chou means, it can have different meanings, could mean “cute”, qu’il est chou ce garçon! this boy is so cute, or cabbage. Ce chou est chou, is quite redundant, isn’t it? After scrutinizing the cabbage for a while, I realized that this big yellow ball can be cute after all.
Ingredients for 6 pieces
- 2 salmon fillets, skinless and cut in cubes
- 12 large cabbage leaves, blanched
- 1 tbs tarragon chopped
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tsp fish fumet or fish stock
- 3 tbs dry white wine
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Detach cabbage leaves carefully from cabbage head. Bring water to a boil in a large pot, add salt and blanch the leaves for about 3-4 minutes. When cooked drain, pat dry and lay flat on a smooth surface or wooden board. Remove carefully the hard part of the leaves in the middle that sticks out by trimming it, so it will be easier to wrap the leaves around salmon.
In a mixer, add salmon, shallots, garlic, tarragon, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Mix to obtain a smooth mixture but not too thin.
Place about 2 tbs of salmon mixture in the middle of one cabbage leave, then wrap with another one. Using a kitchen thread, tie the salmon package and set aside. Proceed with the rest of the leaves and fish.
Dissolve fish fumet in 1/3 cup of tbs water, add wine.
Place cabbage packets in a dish sprinkle with olive oil and add 2 tbs fish fumet. Preheat oven at 380F and cook fish for about 30 minutes, turning them and pouring fumet regularly. When the top has become golden, remove from oven, remove thread, add lemon juice and serve. Sprinkle with tarragon leaves and serve with its juice.
Snapper or not snapper ? – Red snapper kebabs with orange and olive vinaigrette on fennel fondue
Oct 9th
Vous avez dit Vivaneau?- Brochettes de vivaneau grillé à la vinaigrette d’orange et olives sur fondue de fenouil
I went grocery shopping yesterday and again I went crazy with fish and seafood. I have always thought I knew what red snapper was in French…in my mind I had no doubt it was “rougets” because of the red connotation (rouge = red) and rougets are red and very trendy nowadays in France, they’re served in many new and hype restaurants. Snapper looked a lot bigger but I though, oh well, anything American is bigger anyway. Yesterday I could feel I was wrong for all those years and when looking closely at the fish, I started having doubts. You might think, ok what’s the big deal, if she doesn’t know the translation. The thing is that I like to know what I eat and find out more about the fish and what it’s called in my mother tongue, wouldn’t you? Some people might think I am weird, and maybe I am.
For a while I was just staring at the fish and could not make up my mind if I was going to buy it or not. I was somehow worried that snapper would be perche du Nil which I refuse to eat. It’s been exported in France from countries like Kenya, and other African countries and it’s one of the most invasive specie you can find; it destroys every other specie around and is somehow like a parasite. Since its introduction in some African lakes, the other species that lived there, are all extinct and it created many environmental issues in those regions. I am not sure if perche du Nil is grown or sold in the US, and would hope not.
After searching all over the place, I was releaved that Snapper is not perche du Nil, but it’s called Vivaneau. Honestly I have never heard that name before yesterday. Don’t you think it’s such a cute name? sounds like the name of a kid with rosy cheeks from the 18 th century, “hello, my name is Vivaneau, nice to meet you”. First I could not believe a fish would be called Vivaneau, then I had to come to the conclusion that it was its proper name, even though there are a lot of different species in that category.
Anyway, that mysterious snapper ended up in a skewer and I was glad I learnt Vivaneau is living among many in the ocean. Snapper tends to have a fragile texture, so if you overcook it, it will break.
Fennel, orange and white fish are some of my favorite ingredients, they blend beautifully together. This dish is so simple and quick but still delicious and flavorful, let’s not forget healthy.
Ingredients for 3 kebabs
- 1 lb red snapper fillets, cut in large cubes (about 2.5 inches)
- 1/2 red bell pepper, cut in large cubes
- 1 large fennel bulb, shredded
- 1/2 onion, sliced
For the marinade
- juice of 1 small lemon
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbs olive oil
- Szechuan pepper
For the vinaigrette
- 1 tbs dill, chopped
- 2 tbs olive oil
- juice of 1/2 large orange
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a mixing container mix snapper pieces with marinade ingredients, place in the refrigerator and marinate for about 2 hours.
In a pan, add olive oil and brown onions. Add fennel and cook at low heat until the fennel is tender, almost melting. Add salt and pepper.
Prepare vinaigrette, by mixing all ingredients together.
Start making kebabs using bamboo skewers, (previously soaked in water to prevent them from burning). Alternate a piece of fish with a piece of bell pepper. Sprinkle with Szechuan pepper and salt and broil under broiler. Do not over cook, fish is very tender and might break.
Serve with fennel fondue and kebabs on top. Drizzle with orange-olive vinaigrette.
Salmon swim – Salmon "en nage" with saffron, with fava beans and potatoes
Sep 22nd
La nage du saumon – Pavé de saumon en nage safranée aux fèves et pommes de terre
That might not be that original but it is so good that I had to put it up. I don’t know why but I am a little tired of seeing fish served with potato purée, not sure either why almost all restaurants do that, but it is certainly a big déja vu and I am wondering why they could not use other vegetables, such as turnips, parsnips, fennel, etc…It’s not so much the potato that bothers me, but the purée.
As much as I want to become a vegetarian, and stop consuming animal base products, including fish, I am unable to do it, well I am probably weak in that respect. Another weakness on the list (among many)…A friend of mine, big meat consumer, refuses to eat fish because he considers fish to be close to humans and he said it’s like eating our own specie, isn’t that strange? I never had a fish as a pet, maybe if I had one, I wouldn’t be able to eat them either. Since I have Pepito, the parakeet, I am wondering how can people eat birds…he is such a little friend. Most of the time, people eat what they eat, without thinking about what it actually is. At some point in my life, I even tasted porcupine…something I would not be able to do today.
I love fava bean so much that I would put them everywhere, salads, soups, fish, pesto, side dish…fava bean rule! I think I have been on a low carb diet lately because I have been thinking about potatoes a lot, and usually it’s a clear sign that my body wants some. I am not a big potato eater, but once in a while, I enjoy them.
Nage in French means swim, and it’s a way we use when talk about a dish that has been prepared with a court-bouillon, a brothy type of stew, or simply broth. Here the salmon swims in the broth, and it’s a very healthy recipe. The thing is when fish is cooked en nage, you need to make sure your broth has lots of flavors or it tends to be insipid. I had white cod cooked this way in a top notch restaurant in San Francisco and it was so bland, the poor fish was barely swimming in some dirty tasteless water.
The broth has a gorgeous yellowish color due to saffron and the potatoes are cooked in it, so they absorbed that color as well.
Ingredients for 4
For the nage
- 3 cups water
- 1 onion, cut in quarter
- 1 carrot
- 1 celeri stick
- vegetable bouillon
- 1/2 tsp anise seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- bouquet garni (oregano, thyme, marjoram, etc…)
- 3 cloves
- 1 saffron dose
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 6 whole black pepper corns
- salt
For the salmon
- 4 salmon fillets
- 4 medium size potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly about 5mm thick
- 1 lbs fava beans
- chives for decoration
Preparation
Heat olive oil and add onion quarters. Cook for a few minutes, add water, vegetable broth, and all the other ingredients. Cover and cook for at least 30 minutes. The liquid needs to reduce and become a little thicker with all flavors infused. Adjust with salt.
In another pot, add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Add fava beans and cook for about 3 minutes. Drain and peel. Set aside.
When the broth is almost ready, add potatoes. Cook for about 10 min or until cooked, do not over cook or they will get mushy, the slices need to remain full.
Add salmon fillets, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes or until salmon is cooked to your taste. Add fava beans and remove from the stove.
Remove salmon fillets and potatoes, and set aside. Drain the broth.
Place salmon in a deep dish, add vegetables around and pour some court-bouillon around. Sprinkle with chives, anise seeds and a few saffron threads.
