Posts tagged leeks
I got my purse stolen – Purses filled with crayfish, leeks and cherry tomatoes, curry cream sauce
Feb 8th
Aumonières aux écrevisses, poireaux et tomates cerises, sauce curry
I am back in the US and I did not post anything while in France, simply because I had no time to cook – I think I prepared lunch for my parents twice, the rest of my stay my mom cooked and we had guests so no time to shot anything…and to be honest, I had no motivation to cook. What a shame!!!! I always think, I will have time to shot the old town, la vieille ville or our gorgeous Place Stanislas (the most beautiful square in Europe) painted in gold, or our beautiful architecture. But no, I get there and I get caught in family stuff, my life changes completely, and this time I even left my camera in the suitcase! Oh well, c’est comme ca, et tant pis!
These purses are made with feuilles de brick (also called brick dough or brick pastry in the US) that I bought while I was in France (they’re more popular over there than filo dough) , they’re mainly used in middle eastern cuisine and really hard to find in the US, so far I have not found yet a store that carry them, except Amazon, but they’re too expensive. I paid only 0.90 Euros for a pack of 10. You can substitute filo dough sheets, but I prefer the texture of feuilles de brick, they’re more resistant and not as fragile.
Aumonières were an old type of purse that people use to carry on their belt so that no one would steal the money. In the food world they refer to any dough (crêpe, filo dough, feuilles de brick) filled with anything, it can be fish, vegetables, meat, etc.. basically it’s a eatable purse filled with food instead of money.
Sometimes I like to substitute crème fraîche with fromage blanc. If you are using fromage blanc instead of the heavy cream for the sauce, you won’t be able to boil it, not cook it, so you’ll have a cold sauce instead of hot. In this case, a hot sauce goes much better with the whole dish since the purses are hot.
You can use shrimps or scallops instead of crayfish, and use your creativity for the filling, it’s all about what you like!
Ingredients for 4 people
- 8 feuilles de brick
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1/2 lb crayfish tales (already cooked)
- about 16 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- salt and pepper
For the sauce
- Crème fraîche or fromage blanc
- Curry to taste
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a pan. Add leeks and cook until tender. Adjust with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cut two circles of about 2.5 inches 4 brick sheets. Then take a whole sheet, brush the surface with olive oil, and place two of the small circles in the middle. Divide the leeks in the center of these circles, add six tomato halves on top of the leeks and top it off with the crayfish, Sprinkle with sesame seeds, salt and pepper. Proceed the same way for the other purses.
Close the purses by bringing the sides to the front forming a purse. Tie it up with cooking thread. Bake in a pre heated oven at 370 F for about 15 minutes, make sure the purses don’t burn or become too dark.
For the sauce, bring the cream, lemon juice and curry to a light boil, then add salt and pepper.
Serve the purses hot with the sauce on the side.
Thank you Antoine – French vegetarian shepherd’s pie with mushrooms, taleggio and three purées
Jan 7th
Merci Antoine – Hachis parmentier végétarien aux champignons, taleggio et aux trois purées
In France Hachis parmentier is something eaten quite frequently and that kids love, due to its combination of potato puree and ground meet. My mom being Italian, she never really prepared this, but when I went to my friend’s houses, hachis parmentier was a dish served quite often. I remember my mom saying that she didn’t like it because it was made with leftover meats therefore not something too exciting (actually people do use meat they had left from pot-au-feu or boiled meats, etc…). A “hachis” is a dish where all the ingredients are ground, chopped alltogether. Haché means ground, viande hachée, ground meat.
Parmentier comes from Antoine Parmentier, a pharmacist and chemist born in the 18e century. After a trip to Ireland, he discovered the health benefits of potatoes and became convinced that potatoes would help treat problems of poor blood circulation, intestinal problems, etc…He introduced potato to Louis XVI to cure starvation and as a result this dish was born. I think the Irish or English version is called Shepherd’s Pie.
I have been wanting to make a vegetarien hachis parmentier and have been thinking about this recipe for quite some time, without really succeeding in finalizing it. Not being a huge fan of potatoes, I wanted to use something “more” than potatoes, so here is a purée of carrots, yams and sweet potatoes and I honestly loved every bite of this hachis parmentier. I cooked the carrots and potatoes in milk so they absorbed a good amount of it while cooking. The hachis is made of wild mushrooms, leeks and celeri…the sweet flavor of the potatoes combined with the nutty mushrooms and melted taleggio is simply fantastic (Taleggio is an Italian soft cheese with a fragrant and strong nutty flavor). Funny, how you can see on the picture some smoke coming up from the hachis, since it came straight out of the oven. I wouldn’t think the smoke would show on a picture.
You can add more mushroom mixture, and play around with the layers, in my version I added a thicker layer of potato mixture, it’s all about how you want it to be. I served this in individual ramequins with a small salad, you can serve hachis parmentier in a large dish and serve it as a meal by itself, it’s a very satisfying meal and really don’t need anything else on the side.
Ingredients for 4 individual hachis
For the mushroom-leek mixture
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely diced
- 1/2 lb mixed mushrooms (cremini, shiitake, chanterelles, etc….) cut in small pieces
- 1 leek, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- thyme
- Taleggio, sliced
- Panko bread crumbs for topping
For the potato-carrot mixture
- 2 large carrots, peeled and cut about 1 inch trunks
- 1 small yam, peeled and cut in about 1 inch pieces
- 1 small sweet potato and cut in about 1 inch pieces
- milk (enough to cover the vegetables)
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Start by preparing the potato-carrot purée. Cook carrots, sweet potatoes, yams in milk at medium heat. When cooked remove from stove, drain milk and keep aside and mash vegetables. Adjust with salt and pepper. If too thick add milk set aside.
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and celery and cook until tender and slightly browned. Add leeks and let them cook covered until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. Add some extra olive oil, and cook mushrooms until water evaporates. When cooked, add leeks and mix well. Add garlic and let cook for a few minutes more. Add thyme, salt and pepper.
In four deep individual dishes or ramequins, place one layer of mushrooms, top it with taleggio, then finish with carrot-potato purée. Sprinkle with panko breadcrumbs. Cook in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, then broil top until it turns golden brown. Serve immediately.
Ocean tagine – Tagine with squid, fava beans and leeks and simple pepper quinoa couscous
Mar 22nd
Tagine de la mer – Tagine aux seiches, fèves et poireaux
This was a dish I made while I was in France…since my dad was in the hospital, my mom and I just cooked simple meals because by 1pm we needed to be at the hospital. Tagines are wonderful if you don’t have to much time to eat but still want to enjoy a healthy and flavorful meal. Clay pot cooking is one of my favorites, and as soon as you try it, you will have a difficult time going back to a regular-pan cooking. It preserves all the aromas of each ingredient and infuses all the flavors together.
Like in papillotes, you can cook anything you like in tagines, just be creative, with a little audacity, and you’ll get a fabulous dish. A couple of years ago, it was not as easy to find a tagine claypot, but nowadays, most stores carry them (at least in California); tagines are becoming more trendy, simply because it has traveled outside borders and everyone has discovered their health benefits, and still keeping amazing aromas.
I have seen many types of couscous in France (in France we call the actual grain semoule, couscous being the Algerian dish, made with vegetables, meat and semoule) different kinds of whole grains, such as kamut, quinoa, spelt, etc…since my mom had diabetes, I tried to make dishes that were good for her, or at least that did not aggravate her diabetes. This quinoa couscous is a perfect grain to go with any tagine. Of course people who don’t like squid can use other ingredients such as shrimps, or white fish. I kept the couscous simple with no major strong flavors, to really enjoy the tagine broth, couscous being a minor addition in this meal, necessary but secondary.
Ingredients for 3
- 1 lb squid
- 1/2 onion, sliced
- 1 1/2 leeks, cut in 1 inch pieces
- 1/2 lb fava bean, peeled
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp ras-el-hanout
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- salt and pepper
For the quinoa couscous
- 140 g quinoa semolina
- 1 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- salt
- cracked pepper
Preparation
For the tagine
Heat olive oil in tagine and brown the onions. Add leeks and cook for about 5 minutes. Add squid, and all other ingredients except for the fava beans. Mix all ingredients well. Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook fava beans for three minutes. Remove from heat, drain and peel fava beans. 10 minutes before end of cooking time, add fava beans to the tagine, cover and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with fennel leaves or mint and serve with couscous.
For the quinoa couscous
Proceed like for a regular wheat couscous. Bring vegetable broth to a boil. Coat couscous with olive oil using your fingers. Add broth to the couscous, cover and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Using a fork, separate the grains, add lemon juice and cracked pepper. Adjust with salt if necessary. For broth quantity, I cover the couscous with 5mm of extra broth above couscous.
Vegan…or not Vegan – Red cabbage velouté with mixed vegetables
Feb 10th
Vegan…ou pas vegan – Velouté de chou rouge et légumes
It has been a long time since I posted a recipe on my blog. Not that I gave up blogging, or that I disappeared for no reason. I was in France for about one month and instead of enjoying my time with my family, I had to deal with the stress of my father’s health, since he had a stroke right before Christmas which left his left side paralyzed. Of course, I was devastated, in shock and could not talk about it, cook, blog, nor think about cooking until a few days ago. Of course, France was cold, grey but still a great place to be in those circumstances where everyone from family, friends, doctors, nurses were simply amazing.
I usually do not post any private information about my family, because I want this blog to remain really food centric and not having people get distracted by personal stories. I know most people like to read those types of stories, they feel this way more connected to the blogger, but I feel uncomfortable about throwing my personal life out there. I don’t know why. Anyway, I just wanted to tell people who have been kind enough to follow me, and read my blog to tell them that I did not forget anyone, on the contrary, I did miss everyone I met in this amazing food blogosphere (if that’s a word).
Now back to the kitchen. I rarely buy red cabbage, I mainly buy it for its color which is one of my favorite color. I thought buy using it in a soup would make the soup turn purple, I was a wrong, well not completely wrong. To get a deep red purple, you need to leave the soup rest for a couple of hours, without blending it. Otherwise, the soup gets a pinkish color, but nothing that would look like a purple. The flavor is very smooth, a little sweet due to the onions and leeks, but very hearty. I used mimi creme, which is a vegan cream but you can use regular crème fraîche, all depending if you are on a vegan mood or not and if you want to count your calories.
Soupe au chou is a traditional French soup, made out of white cabbage and eaten white beans and sausage which is considered a peasant soup. This is another lighter version with a different texture. The fried leeks julienne placed on top at the end, add a wonderful flavor that finishes the soup to perfection. Do not skip on the leek, they do make a difference! small things like this make often a difference!
Ingredients for 6
- 1 medium size turnip, diced
- 1 medium size yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 leeks, 1 chopped, 1 julienne
- 3 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 red cabbage, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp curry
- vegetable broth (enough to cover the vegetables)
- 6 tbs mimi creme
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cook all vegetables in broth for about 15 minutes, but do not over cook them, add curry, cream salt and pepper. Fry the leeks julienne in olive oil at high heat and cook until crispy. Drain and set aside.
Blend soup using an immersion blender.
Serve in bowls, and divide some of the fried leeks in the center. Serve with toasted baguette.
A Goat in the kitchen – Cauliflower and leek gratin with goat milk
Apr 6th
Une chèvre dans la cuisine – Gratin de chou fleur et poireaux au lait de chèvre
I forgot how DMV can be a nightmare, waiting for your number 389 when the current number is 210 can be the story of an afternoon. So people bring balls to play with, and all kinds of entertainment to spend three to four hours. I somehow like to observe people, it’s certainly more interesting to observe people sur la terrasse d’un café, in a cafe terrace with a coffee in your hands, so when your hands are holding nothing more than a number, patience becomes a virtue and people looking becomes one too.
I had prepared this gratin in advance so it just needed to be gratiné when I got home and that’s the beauty of gratins, you can prepare them in advance and throw them in the oven when ready to be served.
I have used goat milk in soufflés and in the béchamel when preparing gratins that turned out lighter with a more delicate touch than with cow milk, and partly due to the fact that goat milk is lighter to digest than regular milk. You can slightly taste to goat milk which is not as strong as in cheeses. Basically you can replace goat milk in many dishes using cow milk. Gratins are very common in France and can be made with any vegetable.
Gratin can be considered a plat unique (a one meal dish), and universally appreciated, it’s certainly a meal in itself with a side salad. If you feel like something hot with a golden crust, stop thinking, this is it. Some people are fighting to eat the crispy crust while others are fighting to get to the soft melting middle. What type of gratin eater are you? I am definitely a crust lover, but would not mistreat the middle either. No matter how you eat it, gratins always evoke a comforting and warm cuisine that everyone loves.
I would use premium gruyère cheese that melts well and leaves a nice golden crust the quality of the cheese is important and will make a great difference in the texture of your gratin. Also, you could add a little goat cheese as well instead of adding gruyère in the mixture but gruyère on top is a must if you want a golden and melting crust.
Ingredients for 2-3
- 1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets
- 1 leek, cut in 1 inch chunks
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 3 tbs butter
- 1.5 tbs flour
- 1.5 cup goat milk
- 5 tbs imported Gruyère cheese
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add leeks, adjust with salt and pepper and cover with lid until leeks are tender.
Cook cauliflower in salted boiling water until cooked but still firm. Drain and set aside.
Start preparing the béchamel by melting butter, then adding flour. Stir well. Add milk, salt and pepper and reduce temperature to medium heat. Keep stirring until the mixture starts thickening. Cook for a few minutes until it has reached a nice consistency, but should not be too thick.
Using individual ramequins or one larger dish, add one layer of leeks, then add one layer of cauliflower and end with another layer of leeks. Sprinkle with 1 tbs gruyère cheese (or goat cheese for each ramequin) and pour béchamel. Try to coat your vegetables with cheese and bechamel by mixing the vegetables carefully. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese, grind fresh pepper and cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 minutes or until the gratin has reached a golden brown color.
Seafood obsession part III – Spicy mussels and clams with leeks, beer, chili and herbs
Mar 1st
A la pêche aux moules….- Moules et praires aux poireaux, bière, piment et herbes
A la pêche aux moules, moules, moules, je ne veux plus y aller maman, les gens de la ville, ville, ville, m’ont pris mon panier… despite mon panier, I still want to go mussel fishing!
I am afraid I cannot stop eating seafood, it’s becoming an obsessive compulsive thing, I somehow realized the more you do something, the more you want to keep doing it…and right now I am dealing with eating mussels or anything that looks like a mussel (so clams are included in it). I promise this will be the last seafood dish for a little while, unless I am unable to control my seafood compulsion and if I come to that point, I think I will have to start doing yoga or meditation.
I have been to my favorite store this weekend to the other side of the Bay and loaded my cart with so many wonderful goodies I thought I would never find. I think the day I will leave the Bay Area, I will miss this store so much, because at this point I have not seen something that amazing and exciting anywhere else, not even in any European city…just Berkeley, California. Berkeley I salute you.
Mussels are so popular in Mediterranean cuisine, and moules marinières, probably the most common way to prepare mussels in Belgium (and in France too), and are on every menu of any French restaurant in the US. So enough of moules marinières, and let’s add un “petit piment” in our mussels. Dans la vie, il faut du piment!, we need some spice in your life, don’t we?
Leeks and mussels go so well together, and here the broth is enhanced by lemon juice and chili, with a dash of beer, what a flavorful combination. I usually count 2 lbs of mussels per person, depending if you serve mussels as an appetizer or main course and the appetite of your guests.
Ingredients for 2
- 2 lbs mussels
- 1 lb clams
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 leek, chopped
- chili flakes
- juice of one lemon
- a dash of beer (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 tbs parsley, chopped
- 1/2 tsp basil, chopped
- 2 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a large pot, heat 1 tbs olive oil. Add shallots and garlic, stir and let it brown for a few minutes. Add leeks and cook until tender, then add chili flakes. Add mussels and clams to the pot. Stir well, adjust with salt and pepper.
After the mussels and clams are half open, add beer. Mix well. Cover and let the mussels cook until they open completely. Add lemon juice and 1 tbs olive oil, stir and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, at the end at parsley and basil.
Surprise, surprise!!! – Farfalline "haute couture" with shrimps, scallops and leek sauce
Dec 26th
Che sorpresa! – Farfalline “Hautes Couture” con gamberi, capesante e crema ai porri
I finally received my mom’s package, it only took six days which is really not much. I was expecting it and was wondering if they would open it at the customs but it arrived intact.
I was not sure of what she put in there! lots of my favorite goodies. She even included my dry soup sticks, the Maggie Sveltesse (my sinful soup sticks but with 50 calories per soup, let’s not be too tough on them), Lavazza Espresso to get me even more wired than I actually am, chocolates, chocolates and more chocolates, cosmetics to make sure life in the US does not give me wrinkles…and of course some foie gras, thing that I don’t eat, she doesn’t really care, she just will send foie gras every year, even though I asked her to NOT include it, she included it any way. I can always serve it when my friends come over for dinner, since I believe it’s no longer allowed in California…I am not going to develop further the fois gras production topic and people are free to eat whatever they want. I just have a tough time with cruelty towards animals for whatever purpose it is. So yes, fois gras is a delicacy and part of French gastronomy, I think it’s just so cruel to stuff those poor geese, make them sick and eat their liver. Sorry to be a little crude, but basically, it comes down to that.
I decided to slow down on carbs, but I got those Farfalline Haute Couture, so I had no other choice than cook them. Yes, you can change your mind sometimes. They’re too pretty…I had some shrimps and a bunch of beautiful leeks which were perfect for those little butterflies. In Italian, they’re called “farfalle” and in French “papillon” which mean “butterflies” not “bow tie”, which would be way too long “noeud papillon” (= butterfly nod). Le papillon ne s’est pas envolé, il a juste atterri dans mon assiette!
I adore this pasta dish, the leek cream with seafood is absolutely fantastic. It’s creamy but yet not the kind of “Creamy” you get when you add cream to a dish, but very flavorful and velvety creamy without the heaviness of a cream.
Ingredients for 2
- 5.30 oz (or 150 g) farfalline or other squid ink pasta
- 2 leeks
- 1/3 cup broth
- 6 large scallops cut in 4 or 24 small scallops
- 8 large shrimps, cut in 3
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- cayenne pepper
- 1 tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Cut leeks in small slices crosswise, wash well. In a pan, add 1 tsp olive oil, add 1 garlic clove, stir for one minute or so, then add leeks, cook for a few minutes, then add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and let it cook until the leeks are tender. Leave about 1 tbs of leeks aside to add at the end. Mix the remaining leeks in a blender to obtain a creamy consistency. If the leeks are too think, add extra broth.
In a pan, heat 1 tsp olive oil, then add diced seafood, cayenne, salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, then add 1 garlic clove. At that point, you’ll have some liquid in the pan. Add the liquid to the leeks. Continue sauteing the seafood until cooked, but not over cook it, or the scallops will turn rubbery.
Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, place in a mixing bowl, add half of the leek sauce, mix well.
Serve in a plate, spoon extra leek sauce around the pasta, top it with seafood and extra leeks. Sprinkle with a little extra olive oil and serve hot.
Heat up leeks to keep it warm.
Fall colors – Soup of Spinach, broccoli, leeks with whole wheat orzo and mimolette
Dec 16th
Couleurs d’Automne – Soupe aux épinards, broccoli et poireaux, aux risoni complets et mimolette
Winter is soup time, and when I ran into mimolette, I could not resist. I had not seen Mimolette before in the US and I was so excited. I had planned to make a gratin, and a soup with it, but the cheese did not not make it to either dish. I just ate it all and in a very quick and fashionable manner.
Mimolette is a French cheese made in Lille, the North of France. It’s also called “Boule de Lille“, it’s a cheese produced with cow milk, with a condensed raw flesh (pâte pressée). Its deep orange color comes from a natural coloring called “roucou” which is a plant used in some cheeses such as Gouda, Cheddar or Edam and used in Europe as food coloring. Mimolette‘s hard texture is similar to Dutch Gouda. The older it gets, the harder the texture becomes, and I really love extra old Mimolette, it tends to have a more pronounced character.
I somehow love salty cheeses, they go perfectly well in soups, gratins, and enhance many dishes. This soup made with three green vegetables is full of vitamins and flavors. When I make “creamy” and thick soups like this one, I like it served either with toasted bread or sometimes with small pasta cooked in the soup. You get a wholesome and wonderful meal. Risoni is the Italian name for “orzo”which in Italy is barley, so it can get confusing. My mom used to make soups when I was a child with risoni, it’s very common in Italy to use small pasta like this one or ditalini in soups.
The other important ingredient in this soup is the garlic that adds a lot of character to the broth, it balances out the earthy flavors of the green vegetables.
Ingredients for 4
- 100 g orzo
- 1 1/2 leek, diced
- 2 cups broccoli
- 2 cups raw spinach
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and whole
- 6 tbs mimolette, grated
- 2 tbs olive oil
- vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
Preparation
In a large pot, heat olive oil, add broccoli and leeks and cook for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are coated with olive oil. Add 3 garlic cloves, whole and peeled. Add broth. For broth quantity, it needs to cover vegetables to about 1 cm of liquid. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are cooked all the way through about 20-30 minutes.
When vegetables are cooked add spinach leaves (if using baby spinach, no need to chop them, otherwise you will have to chop them roughly). Cook and extra 5-10 minutes. Add crushed garlic and cook an extra 5 minutes.
Keep about two laddles of vegetables aside. Blend the rest in a blender into a smooth purée. Place the vegetables pieces back into the pot with the purée and place back on pot at low heat. When it starts boiling, add orzo, and stir well. Keep on stirring for a while to prevent pasta from sticking. If the consistency is too thick add a little broth. Cook until al dente and serve in bowls. Add 1 tbs of mimolette and sprinkle with olive oil.
Another version of pot-au-feu – Monkfish and cod Pot-au-Feu with orange-saffron broth
Nov 5th
Pot-au-feu de la mer – Pot-au-feu de lotte et cabillaud à l’orange et saffran
Traditional Pot-au-feu in France is mainly a dish of boiled beef slowly cook in a broth with various vegetables such as carrots, celeri, leeks, onions, etc…and a bouquet garni which is a bunch of different herbs tied together to enhance the broth (such as thyme, laurel parsley, marjoram, etc…). Usually, the meat is served along with vegetables and broth on the side. It’s considered a rustic dish but quite popular among the French. Every country has its own version of Pot-au-feu. I am not a fan of boiled meat and rarely ate it. My mom used to make the Italian version called lesso with chicken and beef together and that was certainly not my favorite dish growing up.
It’s not really a kids “friendly’ dish. Big chunks of meat with big chunks of vegetables were something I would dread. Good thing tastes do change when you become an adult, can you imagine eating all your life “kids” food? Actually, I do know some people who never developed a palate and still eat “kids food”. I think they’re missing so many wonderful sensations and pleasures.
The good thing is now I do eat Pot-au-feu, but the fish version and I cannot get enough of it. I absolutely love this dish, the flavors are incredible. The citrusy flavor of the broth combined with saffron delicate fragrance are such a perfect combination. I do believe that whatever you make with meat, you can make the same thing using fish, maybe not all of it, but most of it.
That is my first real meal I am having after this hectic week and it’s even more enjoyable…
You can serve this fish with vegetables around, along with some broth on the side and tiny steamed potatoes. I found some teeny tiny potatoes at the store, that I had to buy them. There were not bigger than a quarter, some of them even smaller, the cutest potatoes I have ever seen…and they’re called “teeny tiny potatoes”, that’s what it’s written on their bag.
Monkfish is also very popular in France, its texture remains very firm and lotte au poivre vert, monkfish in a green peppercorn sauce is one of our traditional and popular monkfish dish.
Ingredients for 2
- 1/2 lb monkfish
- 1/2 lb cod fillet
- 2 leeks, cut in big chunks
- 2 carrots, cut in big chunks
- 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut in big chunks
- 1/2 lb teeny tiny potatoes or fingerling potatoes
- 1 blood orange, sliced
- juice of 2 blood oranges
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 bouquet garni (thyme, laurel, parsley, marjorma, etc…)
- 1 tsp dried fish fumet (fish broth)
- saffron threads
- vegetable broth
- olive oil for drizzling
- salt and pepper
Preparation
To prepare the broth, mix fish fumet, vegetable broth, juice of oranges, the onion with cloves stucked in it, garlic and bouquet garni of herbs. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10-15 minutes at low heat.
Steam potatoes and keep warm.
Add cut vegetables to the broth and cook until the vegetables are cooked. Add fish, saffron and blood orange slices. Cook for about 10 minutes until the monkfish is cooked. Cod tends to cook faster, so to prevent it from breaking apart, remove cod pieces from the broth and let monkish cook a little longer.
Remove vegetables and fish from the broth, filter the broth. Place fish in a large dish, then place vegetables around it. Sprinkle with olive oil and serve with potatoes on the side warm broth and toasted country bread.
The "Three Tries" theory – Tofu "polpette" with curry, leeks, carrots and sesame – Avocado and tomato salad
Sep 23rd
La teoria delle “Tre Prove” – Polpette di tofu al curry con porri, carote, e grani di sesamo, insalatina di pomodori e avocado
I heard so many terrible tofu complaints from so many people that I need to defend this poor little white thingy. I don’t want tofu to be the “forgotten” ingredient, and it tends to be, of course except among vegetarians or vegans and maybe Asia. I think tofu is a very pleasant product to use and also versatile that people should include more often in their diet. Even for the ones who want “real” food (I heard that before) or something tasty, they should try this recipe. I don’t make it very often but once in a while, when well spiced up, I really like it.
I made this for a birthday buffet party with all French/Italians, who are big meat eaters (my friends are) and just the thought of tofu makes them cringe, “ah non! pas de tofu!!” or “c’est quoi ce truc?”, “ma chi te lo mangia il tofu?”. Surprisingly, those polpette went quicker than I had expected, which made me laugh deep inside. I have some of the most traditional friends when it comes to food, they are so basic in their eating habits, that you would not believe it. The traditional Friday night “steak-frites” (steak and fries) in the same restaurant has been a must for years. I do not like habits in the kitchen and especially in my diet, but some people do, I think it gives them a sense of security and comfort. It gives me anxiety.
My theory is the “three tries” or “three chance” theory, I use it to almost everything…If I don’t like something once, I will try it again, and I think after three times, I somehow have a good idea of what it is. It’s the same thing when dealing with people, restaurants, etc… If I have a bad experience once or twice it doesn’t mean that’s the way it usually is. So people deserve more than one chance and food too!
These polpette are on the tender side and quite fragile since they don’t contain any eggs nor bread crumbs (you can add one egg and some breadcrumbs if you wish) because I wanted to keep them vegan, so when turning them make sure you use a small size spatula, or they might break.
Ingredients for 6 polpette
- 1/2 lb (or 220 g) extra firm tofu
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 leek, chopped crosswise
- 1 shallot
- 1 inch ginger root, grated
- 1 tsp mild curry
- chili powder (to your taste)
- 1 tbs light soy sauce
- 1 tbs white sesame seeds
- 2 tbs cilantro, chopped
- 1 tbs olive oil (or more)
- salt and pepper
For the salad
- 1 lb cherry tomatoes, cut in half
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 tbs avocado oil
- Juice of one meyer lemon
- 2 chives, chopped
- salt and pepper
Preparation
For the polpette
First in a container, crumble tofu with your hands, it needs to be a crumbly mixture.
In a small pan, brown sesame seeds and set aside.
Cook leeks in olive oil, until soft and tender and set aside.
In another pan, heat olive oil, add shallot and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add curry and chili powder and stir well for a few minutes (but do not burn it), add soy sauce, and mix well. Add leeks and carrots and stir well so the curry is well blended. Add sesame seeds and add this mixture to the crumbled tofu. Add cilantro. Using your hands, mix it very well so that the curry has penetrated all the ingredients and the mixture has a yellowish color.
Form patties and cook in a pan with olive oil. Carefully turn them to brown them on both sides.
Make the salad combining all the ingredients and serve with polpette.
