Scallop, orzo, XO sauce

Orzo tossed in umami XO sauce and topped with a scallop. A Chinese-Italian fusion pasta dish. XO Sauce is an iconic Chinese condiment traditionally made from dried seafood such as scallops and meats such as cured ham. It is known for its intensely rich, umami flavors. 

Prepare 70g orzo according to the directions on its packet. When the pasta is 2 minutes from being done, heat up 1 tbsp XO sauce from a jar (mine is Lee Kum Kee) in another pan.

Add the cooked orzo, a tablespoon of pasta water, and toss to emulsify. 

In another pan, heat up a tbsp vegetable oil on high heat. Sear 4 scallops. Flip when one side is crispy and golden

Once you flipped the scallops, baste them with chili oil. When both sides are golden-brown, they are ready. Take off the heat and set aside.

Start plating with the orzo, then the scallops and top everything with thinly sliced spring onion and shredded nori.

Scallops with sage and pink pepper butter

Take the leaves from a sprig of sage and hack them finely.

Ground 1 tsp pink peppercorns in a mortar

Melt 25 butter in a sauce pan with another sprig of sage. Take off the heat and infuse for 20 mins.

Place a bowl on another bowl filled with ice water

Use a mixer and whisk till the butter turns white and airy, then add almost all the pepper plus the sage. Season with salt

Panfry 4 scallops in butter, 2 mins per side

Serve a shown, use 2 teaspoons to make nice quenelles of the butter.

Finish with the rest of the pepper and lime zest

(Recipe by Liselore Bus in Delicious Magazine)

Sardines paté

Carefully open a (120g) can of sardines. Drain the sardines well and remove the bones.

Put the meat in the chopper attachment of your stickblender with 73g butter and 1tbsp Madera (or port) and make a smooth paté.

Mix with some hacked parsley. Season with Tabasco and salt

Spoon the paté back in the tin.

Serve with toasted bread 

(Recipe found in Delicious Magazine)

Scallops, pistachio salsa

Hack 1/2 tbsp pistachios, 1/2 green chili and 1 tbsp coriander leaves finely, Mix well and ad the zest and juice from 1/2 lime. Season with salt and pepper.

Season 2 scallops with salt and pepper and flash fry in a bit of olive oil

Serve in their shells, cover with the salsa and a few drops of the frying oil

(Recipe by Bart Desmidt)

Crispy King crab bites, salsa from avocado, spring onion and tomato

Use scissors to open the leg of a pre-boiled King crab lengthwise, take out the meat and cut into 2 cm pieces

Cover them first with flour, the egg yolk and finally Panko

Cut 1/2 avocado, 1/2 spring onion and 1/2 (peeled) tomato into 5mm cubes.

Make a dressing from 1,5 tbsp sunflower oil, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil and the juice of 1/4 lime. Taste and season with sea salt and a knife point of sambal oelek.

Mix with the veggies and add some hacked coriander leaves.

Deep fry the crab briefly in sunflower oil

Serve the salsa in glasses, topped with crab bites and some cress

(Here Myriam Minne's original recipe in Flemish)

Stracciatella, ovendried cherry tomatoes, Parmesan crumble

Pre-heat the oven to 125°C

Cut the top 1/3 from 6 (or more) cherry tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice.

Put in an oven dish, add 2 tbsp olive oil and thinly slice a clove of garlic, put the slivers between the tomatoes and and dry in de hot oven for 2 hrs.

Take them out to cool and put the oven on 180°C

Use your fingers to mix 15g flour, 15g unsalted butter and 10g grated Parmesan and crumble this dough onto a paper covered oven dish

Bake for about 8 mins till golden brown (check from time to time  to avoid burning) and cool.

Serve as shown, starting with the stracciatella, then the cheese crumble and finally the tomatoes.

Finish with some garlic oil from the tomatoes and a pea shoot.

(PS next time I'll use a wider glass and 5 tomatoes pp)

Feeds 2

(Recipe by Janneke Philippi in her book Canapé)

Crunchy egg and chervil salad

Boil 2 small eggs 4 mins, then cool them under cold water

Whisk 1.2 tsp Dyon mustard and 2 tsp white wine vinegar, then add 2 tbsp olive oil and then 1 tbsp mayonaise. Season with pepper and salt

Make a batter from 50g Tempura flour, a bit of salt and 60-70 ml ice cold fizzy water

Put 50g flour on a plate and 50g Panko on another plate

Heat arachide oil to 180°C

Start plating with the dressing, then add 1/2 minced shallot, a teaspoon capers and chervil

Peel the cold eggs carefully and roll them trough the flour, then cover them with the batter and finally with the Panko, before deep frying them in the hot oil for a minute.

Serve as shown

(A Janneke Philippi recipe from her book Canapé)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7 and have a look at my book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon for your Kindle

Dorade sashimi on cold risotto

Cover 50g risotto rice with 1 cm water and softly boil for about 15 mins, drain and rinse with cold water.

Reserve in a sieve.

Cut the green from 4 spring onions in 4 cm tubes, cut them open on one side and then cut into matchsticks. Keep in ice water

Mix the rice with 1 tbsp white miso paste and 1 tsp hacked coriander.

Dry the sliced spring onion and mix with a tsp olive oil and lime juice

Use 2 spoons to make two quenelles of the rice, Put 2 slices of dorade on top and 1 tsp caviar

Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and the spring onion salade

(Here Jan Tourniers recipe in Flemish)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7 and have a look at my book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon for your Kindle

Smoked trout, basil crème, mustard ice cream

Put 10g basil leaves, 50g crème fraîche and a glug of Noilly Prat in the blender to make the sauce

Mix white ice cream (but not the vanilla version) with grain mustard to taste, then put back in the freezer for a while

Start serving with the basil sauce, followed by 2 nice pieces of smoked trout.

Finish with the mustard ice cream and a basil leaf

(For the original recipe in Dutch go to the Facebook page 'Marjan's recepten')

Roasted cauliflower, gochujang sauce in crispy little gem

Pre-heat the oven at 210°C

Mix the florets of 1/4 cauliflower with some olive oil, garlic powder and salt. Roast in the hot oven for 20 mins

In the meantime boil 100g orzo in 9 mins

Softly fry 1/2 tsp grated garlic and 1/2 tsp grated ginger. Add 1/2 tbsp gochujang, 1/2 tsp miso, 1/2 tsp runny honey, 1/2tsp ketjap, 1/2 tbsp sushi vinegar and 1/2 tbsp sesame oil to make the sauce. 

Eventually add a bit of water

Mix the cauliflower with the sauce

Put 1 tbsp orzo on a little gem leaf, followed by some cauliflower, some sliced spring onion and finally some furikake

Repeat this several times to create either appetizers or a starter.

(Recipe by Jetske van der Elsen, video on her Insta)

Canneloni from Serano ham and tartare of bavette

Thinly slice 125 g bavette (flank steak), then the slices into strips and finally the strips into small cubes.

Mix with 1 tbsp olive oil,  1,5 tbsp soy sauce, a pinch of Piment d'Espelette and 1/2 hacked spring onion

Put 3 thin slices of Serano ham, slightly overlapping, on a large piece of cling film

Spoon the beef tartare as a sausage in the center and roll up tightly

Chill in the fridge.

Hack an anchovy and mix with 2 tbsp mayo, 1,5 tbsp Greek yoghurt and 1 grated clove of garlic.

Serve as shown, with some toast, cress and capers.

(Here Jeroen de Pauw's original recipe in Flemish)

Deep-fried lemon smelt, saffron mayo

Soak a pinch of saffron in 1 tbsp boiling water for 12 mins

Whisk an egg yolk, 1 tbsp Dyon mustard, a tbsp lukewarm water and some salt and pepper, slowly add 70 ml grapeseed oil. Whisk into a nice thick mayonaise. 

Stir in the saffron and its water and finally 1 tsp crushed pink pepper corns

Mix the zest of 2 lemons and 1 orange with 1/4 tsp sea salt and 70g flour

Roll 100g smelt in this mix, then fry the fish in 180°C arachide oil till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper, then repeat with a second batch of fish

Serve a shown

(Here Merijn Tol’s original recipe in Dutch)

Sushi from parsley root and goat's cheese

Bring 1 l water to the boil with 15g musterd seeds, 7g caster sugar en 3/4 tbsp white wine vinegar and simmer to give them a caviar structure

Hack 100g parsley root and 25g hazelnuts in the foodprocessor to create a rice structure

Mix with 2,5 tbsp sushi vinegar, 1,5 mirin and salt and pepper. Keep in de fridge for at least 2 hours, the salt and vinegar will make the 'rice' softer

Mix 100g ripened goat's cheese and 1/2 tsp wasabi and put in a piping bag.

Put +/-3 tbsp 'rice' on 2/3 from a leaf of nori followed by a cilinder of goat's cheese in the middle. Finish with coriander leaves, then roll up tightly. Wet the last strip of nori with water to make it stick

Repeat with more nori leaves

Slice another 100g parsley root in julienne and deep fry golden and crispy in 180° arachide oil. drain on kitchen paper and season with salt

Serve as shown with the mustard caviar and coriander leaves. 

(Here the original recipe in Flemish)

Gamba with crispy chorizo and aioli

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C

Peel a shallot and thinly slice 1/2 lengthwise, then marinate the strips in a glug of balsamic vinegar

Dry 4 thin slices of chorizo on paper in the hot oven, for 15 mins

Cut the crust from 1/2 slice of white bread, tear in pieces and soak in milk

Make a mayonaise from 2 egg yolks, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp water, 2/3 tsp Dyon mustard and 150 ml grapeseed oil

Mince 1/2 clove of garlic, addd the soaked bread, the juice of 1/8 lime, 1 tsp sour cream, 1/2 tsp saffron, 1/4 of the mayonnaise and mix into an aioli

Peel 4 gamba's, pat them as dry as possible, season with peper and salt and gently panfry them in arachide oil

Spoon some mayo in 2 low glasses, add sea lavender and the gamba's, finish with the crumbled chorizo, some confit paprika and marinated shallot

(In this video Jeroen Meus makes this recipe and 2 others)

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Deep fried oyster on black pepper and lime mayonaise

Pre-heat 1l arachide oil to 170°C

Make a mayonaise from 2 egg yolks, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp water, 2/3 tsp Dyon mustard and 150 ml grapeseed oil

Mix the zeste and juice from 1/2 lime and 1/4 tsp black pepper from the mill with 1/4 of the mayo

Open 2 oysters, catch and reserve their juices

Mix the oyster juice with 1 tbsp corn flour, 7 cl water, 2,5 tbsp flour and some ice cubes and whisk into a thick batter.

Drag the oysters trough the batter and deep-fry them for 2 mins

Spoon some lime mayo in the oystershells, the oysters on top and finish with some sprigs of chives

(In this video Jeroen Meus makes this recipe and two others)

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Oysters with lime and pancetta crumbs

Pre-heat the grill 

Cut 7g pancetta very finely. Tear up a slice of white bread and crumble it in the kitchen machine.

Add the pancetta, the zest of a lime, 1/2 clove of garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil and salt&pepper and turn the machine on again to mix well

Open 4 oysters and cover them with the crumbs

Make small balls from aluminium foil, put them on a baking tray and firmly press the oysters onto them, then put under the hot grill. Keep watching till the crumbs are nicely browned and crispy

(Recipe by Delicious magazine)

Follow me on Instagram @peterschoenmaker7 and have a look at my book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon for your Kindle   

Pumpkin stuffed pani puri

Mince 1/4 onion and 1/2 clove of garlic and hack 90g pumpkin. Bring some water to the boil, add the vegetables, with a pinch of cumin seeds, a pinch of curcuma, 1/2 finely sliced red chili and some salt.

Once boiled blend into a purée, taste and season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cool and transfer into a piping bag.

Toast 1/2 tsp caraway seeds first and then 25g hacked almonds in a dry pan

Make a chutney from 1 tbsp hacked coriander, 1 tsp hacked mint, the juice of 1/4 lemon, some olive oil, salt and pepper

Deep fry 2 pani puri in 170°C arachide oil, for about 20 sec, turn all the time.

Make a hole in the pani puri and stuff halfway with the pumpkin, then some caraway and almonds and finally a teaspoon of the chutney

(Here a video with Ramon making this recipe in Dutch)

Aubergine with herb cream on sourdough

Cut a large aubergine (about 250g) into 2cm cubes, tip into a colander placed over a bowl and scatter with a little salt. Set aside for 30 minutes. This will help the aubergine flesh to relax and take up less oil.

In a large, preferably nonstick sauté pan, warm 100ml of olive oil, then add the aubergine. Peel 2 cloves of garlic, then slice them thinly and add them to pan. Let the aubergine cook with the oil and garlic for about 10 minutes, partially covered by a lid, turning the pieces over from time to time so they colour evenly. Roughly chop 10 basil leaves and about 15 of parsley. Add them to the aubergine and set aside.

Make the herb paste: mix together 2 tbsp of mayonnaise with 75ml of sour cream. Stir in 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard, 1 tsp of capers, 10 parsley leaves, a dash of white wine vinegar or tarragon vinegar and a little salt and black pepper. Taste and sharpen the flavour with more vinegar if you wish. Butter 2 slices of a sourdough loaf, panfry them and then spread with the herb cream. Pile the aubergine on top and serve. 

Feeds 2.

(Here Nigel Slater's original recipe)

Crispy stuffed courgette flowers

Remove the stalks inside courgette flowers because they are bitter, at the same time look for insects

Grate 40g Parmesan and mix with 125g ricotta. Add the zest of a lemon.

Hack 4 anchovies and stir into the cheese.

Taste and season with pepper.

Spoon into a piping bag.

Fill the flowers, but make sure there is enough room on top to twist them shut

Mix 125g flour (preferably Japanese tempura flour) with about 130 ml ice-cold sparkling water and some salt.

Pour 1 cm arachide oil in a frying pan, bring to to 180°C, dip the flowers in the batter and then fry on one side till nicely coloured and crispy, then the other side.

For 6-8 flowers

Pani puri stuffed with sea bass, curry mayo and wakamé

Deep fry 2 pani puri in 170°C arachide oil, for about 20 sec, turn all the time.

Slice a sea bass fillet into very small cubes, mix with a splash of olive oil, the zest of 1/2 orange and 1/2 lime, some chives, a bit of red chili and grated ginger. Season with salt and pepper.

Warm 1/2 tsp curry powder in a bit of olive oil, then mix with 2 tbsp mayonaise.

Make a small hole in de pani puris and fill them with the tartare of sea bass, a tsp of the curry mayo and finish with some wakamé