Well, this is supposed to be summer. I keep on endlessly repeating “it’s summer, it’s summer, it’s summer” in my head, true mantra-style, whilst outside – in the real world – it’s all grey skies, pouring rain and freezing temperatures. Welcome to British summer 2011 – or any other in the past few years. This is not summer, this is an eternal October!
So, the other day I bought this lovely cookbook: 365 reasons to eat. For each day of the year, there’s a mouth-watering French recipe. It’s obviously all about making the most of seasonal ingredients and dishes. And, of course June is full of pretty salads, grilled meats and summery dips. And, of course, all I want to do is flip to the October/November section and make some warming stews or hearty soups. Damn, the weather gods don’t seem to like the UK, do they?!
Anyway, the one thing that is good about summer – good weather or not – is the availability of fantastic produce! Suddenly the likes of peaches and apricots pop up at local market stalls, at a bargain price! It’s inspirational heaven – so many amazing things can be made with all these ripe summer fruit and veg! The problem: one normally ends up buying far more than one (or in this case I) can eat. So the lovely fruits ends up ripening away in the fridge, becoming more and more ripe day by day – it’s a tragedy. Now, don’t despair! There are actually plenty of things to do with fruit that’s about to reach a slightly over-ripe stage. One of the best solutions: bake a clafoutis!
Clafoutis is basically a French egg pudding. It’s a very humble dish, a bit comparable to an English bread and butter pudding. Just mix some eggs with flour and sugar, pour it over your fruit and bake. Voila: a simple amazing pudding! The classic clafoutis is with cherries, but you can easily use any other fruit. Try it with peaches, blueberries or raspberries!
One last tip: clafoutis is in my opinion an amazing breakfast option! Forget the classic French toast, the evergreen pancakes – yawn! Go surprise your guests with a clafoutis! I bet they’ll love it! ★
Tags: Almonds, Cherries, Cinnamon, Eggs, Pudding
Right guys, it’s salad time! After the EHEC/ecoli thread is finally over, Europe can let out a sigh of relief and devour raw vegetables again. Not that I ever stopped eating them. Here in Britain we were quite shielded from the whole outbreak – phew! Back at home in Luxembourg people were a bit more suspicious (or so I hear), so guys, it’s time to chuck out the soups and stews and celebrate the lovely “comeback” of salads!
Sceptics, brace yourself: this salad is awesome! Super duper mega awesome! You could actually forget you’re munching on raw veggies – that’s how great it is! I fed it to my dear friend E. – or Agent Orange as I call her (hint: she calls me wasaaaaabi… YouTube video geeks will get the reference) – and she loved it. To put it into context (and make it more dramatic): E. was starving, totally grinding her teeth when she arrived at mine to do some evening editing work. So I whipped up this colourful salad (with a bit of a bad consciounce – come on, this girl was starving, and you don’t serve salad leaves to a starving friend). Anyway, I put it in front of her and she totally loved it – so much that she whipped out her iPhone and started putting pics of it onto Facebook. Nice one.
Anyway, the magic of this salad lies all in the fact that it’s playing with textures, colours and degrees of temperature. First of all the onions are fried until they reach a state of translucent caramelized meltiness – lovely. Then, the quinoa is added whilst still lukewarm. Add some al dente broadbeans and edamame, some fresh lambs lettuce, tangy mint leaves and creamy goat’s cheese and sprinkle it all with toasted pine nuts (for some crrrrrrrunch). Then chuck over some great gremolata (vinaigrette) and dig in. Absolutely legen – wait for it – dary!
Tags: Basil, Broad Beans, Edamame, Goats Cheese, Lamb's lettuce, Mint, Pine Nuts, Quinoa, Red onion, Salad
Right, let me first set one thing straight: yes, I’ve just returned from a trip to China, and yes, I haven’t posted any Chinese food-related post yet. But it will come. Don’t worry. I just haven’t had the time to sort through my China pics yet, nor to make any Chinese food. This quiche was made and photographed before my China escapade, so please be patient dear friends, it will come.
Anyway, over to this week’s recipe – a good old European quiche!
So, is there anything nicer than a good old Quiche? So simple to make, so versatile in its toppings, and it can be eaten hot or cold? The perfect treat for the current picnic season!
I like classic quiches, like quiche Lorraine (with cheese and bacon), courgette quiche or mediterranean quiches, but I also love playing with more unusual combinations. For this quiche, I thought I’d come up with an interesting vegetarian option. I normally don’t cook with fennel, but have been willing to do so for ages. When you cook fennel, it actually loses its sharp liquorice flavour and becomes very subtle – that’s why I’ve added fennel seeds to the quiche to complement the fennel and give it a little boost. Chili adds a kick, then there’s the melting red onion and creamy goats cheese – all rounded off by some spicy tarragon. Lovely!
What I particularly like about quiches is that they are a very quick standby meal – that is if you use ready-made pastry. It’s obviously not as amazing as home-made pastry, but I think that a good quality ready-made shortcrust pastry really can do the job. For these quiches I didn’t have the time to make my own pastry, but if you feel like making everything yourself, you can make these little tarts with my polenta pastry.
Tags: Chili, Fennel, Fennel Seeds, Feta, Pastry, Quiche, Red onion, Tarragon, Tart
I’ve never been a fan of meatballs. The word alone sounds silly: meat – ball, I mean, come on, bring on some sophistication! Why not call it a “meatsphere” or a “meaty globe”? Ok, those sound silly too. But, it’s weird, aren’t they just the round equivalent of a burger pattie?! And still they’re so much less popular than their burger equivalent. Probably because they come without the bun. Instead, you sometimes find them in spaghetti – featuring in romantic meals (Lady and the Tramp) and being one of the flagship staples of Italo-Americans.
Anyway, I decided to give the good old meatball a go! But I decided to jazz it up a bit. A 21st century cool meatball, with lots of nice flavours fighting for your attention. These were inspired by Moroccan nights and Istanbul days, a play on two great places with even greater flavours: dried sour cherries, roasted pine nuts, mint and ras-el-hanout (- Morocco’s answer to curry powder, a very unique spice mix that comes in many, many versions). Amazing. Seriously, now I’m a meatball fan! Hopefully you will be too after you’ve tried these! ★
Tags: lamb, lamb mince, Meatball, mince, Mint, Moroccan, Pine Nuts, ras el hanout, Sour cherries
