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Thai chicken soup

Slice 4 cm fresh ginger and add to 1 litre of chicken stock, with 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp lemon juice and the white of a lemon grass. Simmer for 15 mins.
In the meantime mix 50 gr of chia seeds (or black sesame seeds ) with a tsp of chili flakes.
Coat 2 chicken fillets with egg white and cover the fillets with the seed mix
Fry for about 5 mins on each side till golden brown and done.

Slice 100 gr of sugarsnaps lengthwise. Remove the ginger and lemongrass from the stock and add the sugarsnaps and a halved red chili. Simmer for 2 mins.

Cut the chicken breasts lengthwise in strips. Serve with small basil leaves, spring onion and lime.

(Inspiration: Donna Hay)

Nori and sesame crusted Sashimi tuna

Toast 2 tbsp of black sesame seed in a dry pan. Crumble or cut 6 leaves of nori (mine were 5x7 cm) and mix with 2 tsp of sea salt and the sesame seeds.

Cover both sides of a piece (250 gr) of fresh tuna with the mix and press. Put the tuna in the fridge for about an hour.

In the meantime peel a 6 cm piece of rettich (daikon, or white radish) and cut into matchsticks.

Mix 3 tbsp of Mirin, 2 tbsp of lemon juice and 2 tsp of horseradish to make a dressing.

Cut the tuna, serve with the rettich, the small leaves of celery.

Pour the dressing over in and add a bit of sushi ginger,

<Christmassy with a few mini tomatoes?






(inspired by Donna Hay)

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Cured salmon, fennel salad

Mix 100 gr coarse salt (the cheap rock version, not the expensive sea salt) with 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp dill.
Ask you fishmonger for a salmon fillet of 400 gr (without the skin and the grey fatty stuff)

Cover the fillet on each side lightly with horseradish from a jar.

Put 2 sheets of clingfilm crosswise on a dish.
Put half the salt mix on it, then grated beetroot on top of it.

Then the salmon fillet.
Followed by more beetroot and finally the rest of the salt mix.

Pack tightly with the clingfilm.
Put something have on top and put in the fridge for 2 hours.

In the meantime mix 2 heaped tsp horseradish with 1/2 tsp Japanese rice vinegar, 2 tbsp olive oil and some pepper and salt.

Cut a fennel bulb very thin and mix with the horseradish dressing.

Two hours later cut the salmon into thin strips. I used broccoli sprouts as finishing touch.

(Inspiration: Donna Hay)

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Oriental salmon, avocado, seaweed

Boil some rice. In the meantime remove the skin of the salmon filets if the fishmonger hasn't done that. If he did, but left the grey fat remove that with a sharp knife. Oil the filets and fry in a (dry but very hot) pan for just 1 min on each side. Turn off the heat and pour some ketjap or soy sauce on the fish. Shake and turn the filets quickly till covered with sauce. Then transfer them to a cutting board.

Time to cut the avocado into cubes, dribble with lemon juice to avoid them turning brown.

Open a pot of Japanese Sushi ginger and use a tea sieve to catch the liquid.

Mix 1 tbsp black sesame seed with 1 tsp of chili flakes and 1 tsp of coarse sea salt.

Start plating with the rice. Cut the salmon. Finish with the avocado, sea weed and ginger. 

Sprinkle with the sesame mix and spoon over the ginger liquid.

Inspiration: Donna Hay

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And have a look at my Kindle book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon.

Tuna, hummus, fennel

Start with the sauce: 1/3 gin (or sake), 1/3 Mirin and 1/3 soy sauce. Bring to the boil and reduce till half is left.

In the meantime put the griddle pan on.

First some thin slices of fennel go in, about 1 min. on each side, till nice and just soft enough.

Then the lightly oiled tuna for 2 mins.

Serve with a spoonful of hummus and some leek shoots.

Scallop, mousseline, jus de veau

Making this dish I remembered a Tuesday evening when my lovely wife put the food on the table, muttering "Enjoy it, this will be the last day in my life I will cook!'. 
We did not believe her, but the next day the kids and I learned she was dead serious. 
That night we had to go out for dinner and from then on I had to gather recipes and shop and start cooking for the rest of my life. 

At one point I kindly asked her where I could find veal stock in the larder. 
Her answer: "If you did not make it yesterday there isn't any!'. 

Right. 

Years later, earlier this week, she surprised me by ordering fantastic veal stock, or Jus de Veau, from www.joostenpaul.nl. 

I decided to use this excellent product for the first time with scallops.

First I made the mash and by adding lots of butter and milk turned it into a smooth mousseline. The Jus de Veau was easy as I only had to warm it up.

Then fried some good Serano ham in a dry pan till crispy, then using the same pan to fry the scallops.

Heaven!

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Beef tataki

If you prefer your meat well done (or being vegan): don't try this at home.

My butcher did not have any ribeye left so I was seduced to buy 300 gr of tenderloin.

At home I left it at room temperature and started with the dressing by reducing 50 ml gin (I did not have sake), 50 ml of Mirin and 50 ml of soy sauce till I had about 60% left. Let it cool down and added a good tbsp of lime juice.
Next came grating some fresh ginger (to have 1 tbsp).

Then cutting 4 radishes into matchsticks.

I panfried the beef about 1 min on each (of the 4) side and added some soy sauce before taking it of the gas. Rolled the beef in tinfoil to let it rest and avoid a (sorry!) bloody plate later on.

Toasted some sesame seeds.

Start plating with some taugé. Cut the beef and add. Follow by the radishes and various sprouts (I used broccoli and radish). Divide the grated ginger, sesame seeds and finally some coriander

(Inspired by Donna Hay)

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.

Eton Mess in a jar

< Mint





< Whipped cream




< Broken meringues



< Strawberries with lemon juice



<Raspberries


Stir well before eating to create an Eton Mess

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Gambas, avocado, green Thai curry

Boil 100 gr frozen peas for 4 mins. Drain. Add half a tbsp green curry paste and 125 ml coconut milk. When warm and dissolved use a blender to make into a thick sauce. Taste. Add some more curry paste if you want it spicier. Add some water if it's too thick.

Cut a ripe avocado in two, twist, open and take out the pit. Take out the pulp with a spoon.
Cut into slices

Oil 12 gambas and fry in a dry pan, max 2 mins on each side.

Serve as shown with some basil leaves.

Halibut, lemon-dillsauce

Preheat the oven at 200C. Peel some asparagus. Put frozen potato croquettes in the oven for 20 mins.
Boil some water for the veggies.

Get (per 2 pers.):  2 egg yolks, 3 tbsp lemon juice, 5 tbsp water, 100cc chicken stock, 2 full tsps Dyon mustard (at room temperature!)

Then its time to boil the carrots  for 15 and the asparagus for 10 mins.

In a sauce pan (on a low heat) whisk the egg yolks with the other ingredients till thick and frothy. Add some crême fraiche and whisk again. Turn off the heat and stir in 2 tbsp chopped dille and some pepper.

Now it's time to panfry the oiled halibut fillets: skin side down in a dry pan for about 5 mins till the skin it brown and crispy. Flip over and turn off the heat.

Serve as shown. 

I  had some leftover salmon mousse (recipe .18-3-2017) that went well with the asparagus

Cold pea soup, salmon mousse

First we need to cut a big onion, a fennel bulb and 3 garlic cloves and sweat them softly in a bit of oil. In the meantime put 200 gr frozen peas into boiling water and boil for a couple of minutes.
Drain. Mix all ingredients and add enough chicken stock to make a nice thick soup, using a blender.

Then shred 100 grs smoked salmon pp with crême fraiche and a tbsp mayo. Use the blender to make the mousse. Add some finely chopped celery and chives.

Serve as shown at room temperature. Crumble a bit of dried fried onion on top. With some salad leaves or watercress for decoration..

Inspired by Lionel Creteur, Racine Restaurant, Tillac, SW France

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Asparagus, egg sauce, salmon roe

Clarify some butter. Then make a Hollandaise sauce and add a little bit of soy sauce.

Deep fry the asparagus (about 2-3 mins)

Serve as shown, the asparagus sprinkled with some sea salt and topped with salmon roe.

A Nobu recipe, who got the sauce from Dynasty star Linda Evans

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And have a look at my Kindle book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon.

Ravioli of celeriac and goat's cheese

Buy some young, soft goat's cheese. To make it even smoother mix it with cream. Then add a bit of runny honey, very small dices of a celery stick, some spring onion and chives.

Then peel a celeriac and slice it very thin, 1-2 mm.
Boil the celeriac 8-10 mins till soft and almost transparent.

Dressing: whole grain mustard, white wine vinegar, spoonful of orange juice, splash of walnut oil en a good quality olive oil.

Roast some hazelnuts.

Put 1 celeriac circle on a plate, add a spoonful of the cheese mix, cover with celeriac.
Finish with the dressing and  some extra celery and spring onion to have some colour.

Inspiration: Lionel Creteur, restaurant Racine, Golfclub Pallanne, Tillac (SW France)

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Brill, courgette, leek, cauliflower.

Brill (or Griet for my Dutch followers) is one of my favourite fishes. 

Start with the veggies. 
Take about 12 cm of courgette. Slice and cut to make long matchsticks. Do the same with the leek.
Cut some cauliflower 3 mm thick. 

Lightly oil the fish fillets.

Stir-fry the leek/courgette mix in some oil till just soft enough. 
Panfry the cauliflower in butter. Not too soft or they'll fall apart. 

Panfry the fish, skin side down, till crisp. Turn off the heat and flip the fillets over to have the other side done in 2 mins while you start plating.

I was lucky to have some lobster fond in the freezer and stirred in a bit of crême fraiche to make a sauce.

(If you are not so lucky just buy a box of frozen gamba's. Keep the brill till tomorrow and eat the gamba's today, just with some garlic, parsley and olive oil. Then use the heads and shells of the gamba's to make a stock with 2 halved onions, chopped carrots, celery sticks, halved tomatoes, a glass of white wine, a bay leaf and cold water. When done, reduce the stock till thick and sirupy. Tastes as good as lobster. Well, almost.)

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Smoked mackerel, baby beetroots, horseradish creme

Whisk 3 tbs creme fraiche with 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 full tbsp of horseradish.

Cut 2 small gurkins in very small cubes.

Plate with the flakes of smoked mackerel. Add halved baby beetroots. Add gurkin dices and some sauce. Decorate with pee shoots (or water cress)

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Courgette pancake, Brie, warm cherry tomatoes

Put the oven at 180C. Get the Brie out of the fridge.

Grate a courgette (zuchini) and some Parmesan cheese

For 4 pancakes you'll need:
2 cups of grated zucchini, 2 eggs, 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan, 3/4 cup of flour
Mix well. Add pepper and salt and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg.

Put the cherry tomatoes in the oven for 10-15 mins

Melt butter in a frying pan. Use 3 tbsp of the courgette-mix for 1 pancake
Cook 2 mins per side

Serve as shown, with some chives

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Baby beetroot, puff pastry

The greengrocer had these lovely baby beetroots, smaller than a golfball and I could not resist them.

They were pre-cooked so all I had to do was heat them up. To do that I warmed a bit of butter and a splash of olive oil and added a teaspoon of caster sugar, a splash of apple vinegar, salt and pepper. Halved the beets and warmed them up slowly. Stirring from time to time.

I had put the oven on 185°C and used a saucer to cut 2 rounds out of frozen puff pastry, which I put between to buttered sheets of baking paper. The top layer weighted down with coins, to avoid the dough rising.
This way I baked them for 10 minutes, then removed the coins and top layer of paper and baked for another 8 mins till nice and brown.

In the meantime I made a vinaigrette from a teaspoon of Dyon mustard, a tsp apple vinegar and 5 tbsp olive oil. I cut a shallot finely and did the same with parsley.

In the end I put the hot halved babies on the pastry discs and spooned the vinaigrette and the beet juices over it. 

(inspired by Veg!, Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall)

NB Next time I might use flatbread dough instead of the puff pastry...

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Marinated courgette, mozzarella

Cut the ends of 2 courgettes, then cut them lengthwise in 2 mm thick slices.

Put the courgettes in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of oil and use a pastry brush to get them all lightly coated.

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a fairly high heat. Working in batches, sear the courgette slices for about 2 minutes on each side until tender and golden. Transfer them to a shallow dish.

Take the frying pan off the heat and let it cool down a bit. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil, finely sliced garlic and the zest of a lemon. Heat very gently for a few minutes – the residual heat in the pan may be enough – you just want to take the raw edge off the garlic and infuse the flavours into the oil.

Pour the infused oil over the courgettes. Add some salt and pepper, a little squeeze of lemon juice and torn  mint or basil leaves . Toss together, cover and leave for 1 hour at room temperature

Serve with the torn mozzarella scattered over it

(From Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, Veg!)

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Chicken fajita for posh people

The best way to eat fajita is with your hands but if you crave decorum and want to use fork and knife, here you go. From top to bottom:

Basil Leaves

Creme fraiche

Red fajita sauce from a jar

Red onions

Avocado

Basil leaves

Grilled paprika

Grilled chicken

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 'Breakfast in Gascony" on Amazon