Guinea fowl and red fruit sauce

As I could not buy 2 pigeons yesterday I went for a nice plump guinea fowl, but yes, the recipe is basically the same as you saw earlier for a pigeon.

Start a day in advance by with preparing a hot oven, 250 C is what we need. In the meantime remove both legs and breasts from the bird. Put the carcass in the oven till almost burned, about 10- 15 mins should do it. 

Take out and turn the heat to 80° C.

Hack the carcass in 4 or 5 pieces and add them to a liter and half of cold water, in a big pan.
The add 2 bayleaves, 2 halved onions (skin on, to colour the stock), 2 halved tomatoes, 2 carrots sliced into chunks, some thyme and a clove of garlic. Simmer for 6 to 12 hours.

Put the legs in a ovenproof saucepan, not too big, they should just fit. Cover with duck- or goosefat and put them in the cooled-down ( 80C) oven for about 3 to 4 hours to make a confit.
The breasts, in clingfilm,are left in the fridge

Overnight leave the legs in the fat.

The next day strain the stock trough a fine sieve, discard the rest (or take the meat and skin from the bones and give it to your dog). Reduce the stock till syropy. Our supermarket sells a nice readymade coulis of red fruits which I use as a secret ingredient to sweeten the sauce. But you can make your own coulis or use 1 or 2 tbsp of jam.

Then prepare whatever you want to serve with the bird. Today I used some beetroot, carrot, haricots vert and butter beans. Plus some leftover gratin dauphinois from the freezer.

Remove the legs from the duckfat and put them under a hot grill till the skin is crisp. Finally fry the breasts, about 6 mins on each side, and season with salt and pepper.

If you have guests it is quite simple to cut the legs at the 'knee' in two and cut the fillets in two as well and still having plenty. Decorate with some blackberries

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Steak Tartare

Go to the best butcher in town and ask for his best cut of tenderloin/fillet (220g), nicely marbled with some fat. Then ask him for a sliver to taste and keep one eye on the other customers. See them taking a step back when they see you eating raw meat!

Back home use your sharpest knife to slice the beef very thinly. Then the slices into strips and finally the strips into very small cubes. Mix all ingredients

1 tbsp shallot, finely chopped
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp gherkins, finely chopped
1 tbsp Dyon mustard
1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp Tabasco
2 tsp   Worcester sauce

Taste and add salt and pepper. Use a serving ring to plate and finish with egg yolks (from very fresh eggs)

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Haddock, leek, herb-mayonaise

Sea Bass with Orange and Ginger Butter

Start with the sauce. Bring  40 cl  orange juice to the boil after adding 1 tsp of gingerpowder. Reduce and  thicken  to about 20 cl. Add 5 cl cream and boil again. Then, on a very low heat whisk in 100 gr cold butter in small cubes, one at the time. Reheat later.

Put a tomato 20 sec in boiling water then cool under the cold tap, take off the skin, remove the seeds and dice the rest

Put 1/2 a paprika under the grill till blackend. Take off the skin. Cut into strips. 

Wash a cucumber. Cut 5cm off, remove the skin and slice the flesh (but not the seedcore) in 'matchsticks'. 

Do the same with the green skin of a courgette. Put the courgette matchsticks on a shallow plate and cover with olive oil to keep crisp. 

Cut a thin slice of mango into matchsticks. Do the same with 1/2 red onion.

Fry the fish, I used red snapper (the recipe from Bernard Bach was for red mullet, but in my opInion any nice fish will do) skin side first till crisp then turn for another minute. Warm the sauce.

Plating: start with the the onion, the paprika, mango, cucumber,courgette and some coriander leaves. Fish on top, skin sid up. Then some sauce, in which you sprinkle the diced tomatoes. 

Bit of paprika powder will add some colour.

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Strawberry soup with lime sorbet

Use the blender to pulp 500 gr of strawberries with some sugar, a squeeze of lemon juice (to preserve the colour) and a gluck of creme de cassis. 

Add some pieces of strawberry and keep in the fridge for at least 6 hours. 

Serve with a scoop of lime sorbet and a sprig of mint. 

One or two turns of the pepper mill will enhance the flavour. 

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Roast chicken for 3 days

In the past few weeks we read several times about  the recipe for roast chicken from Thomas Kellers. When  Felicity Cloak mentioned it again in the Guardian, where she always compares '5 ways to cook the perfect .....' I decided to try it myself. The main idea is to use a very hot oven and no liquid. At all.

So I rinsed the chicken inside and out. Dried it with kitchen paper. Trussed tightly with kitchen twine (important) . Waited till the oven was 230C. Added salt and pepper, put it in the oven for 40 mins and waited.
Took it out and let it rest for 15 mins
Felicity was a bit disappointed that, although the skin was indeed very crisp, the meat was a bit dry. Well this one was perfect. I put some thyme on it and served the breasts with the juices, a bit of butter, some mustard and a simple salad. Delicious.



But that is not the end of it. We still have the thighs for another meal. And the carcass, still full of juicy bits. Which we used for fajitas, with avocado, red onion and bell pepers

  Last but not least we used the carcass to
  make a rich chicken stock.
  Reduced it and used an icecube form to freeze
  for later use. 
           
  So the one chicken gives you 3 lovely 
  meals and homemade chickenstock
  for sauces

Instead of fajitas you can make nems:

Before using the carcass to make stock, take off all the meat. Cut the meat finely. Cut the white of a lemongrass finely, grate a tsp ginger. Mix with a teaspoon of soy-sauce, tsp of oyster sauce, tsp of caster sugar with a tbsp white wine vinegar. Marinate the meat in it for half a day or longer. Divide a celery stalk in 4 cm parts and cut these lengthwise  finely in strips. Do the same with a piece of paprika (bell pepper). 

At dinnertime mix the meat with the veggies. Dip a sheet of rice 'paper' in hot (not boiling water. Dripdry. Put some coriander leaves on it. Wet a second sheet and use it to cover the first. 

Put 2 tbsp of the meatmix on one half of the ricepaper.Roll it as tight as possible for a bit. Then fold the sides inwards and continue rolling.

Boil some water and get a bamboo steaming basket. Steam for about 5 mins. Serve with sweet&sour chili sauce.

< And finally we had the thighs with some spicy nasi goreng. I'm sure you can Google that recipe.

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Gravad Lax

If you do not have IKEA near you, go out and buy 2 nice thick (as they will lose 40% height) pieces of salmon (about 500 gr each), skin on. You will also need coarse sea-salt, caster sugar, white pepper and  lots of dill.                                                                            
                                                                          

                                                               Make sure there are no bones left. Chop 
lots of dill, mix with 75 gr seasalt, 50 gr 
caster sugar, 2 tbsp crushed white 
peppercorns. Put one salmon fillet skin
side down. Cover with the mix. Place the
other fillet on top, skin side up.
Wrap in cling film. Put in a soup plate (it will lose lots of liquid). Put something heavy on top to flatten the fish. Leave in the fridge for 2 days or up to a week.
Turn twice per day.


You can make a classic sweet dill mustard sauce (like the one you can buy at IKEA) but we prefer this less sweet one: mix 2 tsp horseradish cream (from a jar) with 2 tsp finely grated onion, 2 tsp Dyon mustard, 2 tbsp white vinegar, 1 tsp caster sugar, bit of salt and 120 ml crême fraiche. Add 2 tbsp finely cut dill.

When it's time to serve, remove the cling film 
and the salty dill-mix. We even rinsed the
cured salmon and dried it with kitchen paper
to make it less salty.
Serve thin slices on a bed of salsify. Add the sauce.
Some capers, finely chopped onion and coarse brown bread
can be added as well.

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Alternative presentation for round plates:

Porc fillet, polenta,ratatouille, broad beans, tomatoes confit

If you have finished a nice beefstew there often is some very tasty thick liquid left in the pot. Which we decided to use as a sauce. In the fridge were some ratatouille, broad beans and haricots verts left and we also had some oven dried tomatoes. We only had to buy a pork fillet and could start cooking.

(If you like it: put the oven on 80C. Boil some water and drop 2 tomatoes in for 30 seconds. Get them out with a slotted spoon (keep the water) and hold them under cold running water to stop cooking. Remove the skin and cut into 4 parts. Remove the seeds. Put in a small oven dish, sprinle with sea salt and thyme leaves, Add olive oil till almost covered and 2 garlic cloves (in their skin). Put in the oven for 3 hours.) 

For the rice bring 4 small  cups of water to the boil and put in a small cup (it will increase in volume!) of polenta. Keep stirring on a low heat for about 3-4 mins. Pour into a shallow plate and see how it swells up while it cools.

Go and find something else to do.

After 150 mins. shell the broad beans.

Cut the polenta into 'fishfingers'. 

Fry the fillet in some oil and a dash of butter till nice and brown on all sides, turn down the heat and let them cook for about 20 mins. The inside should not be raw, but can stay pink.

After 10 mins add 1 or 2 polenta fingers to brown

Boil the tomato water again and cook the haricots verts for 5 mins. After 4 mins add the broad beans.

Warm the left over stew-liquid (and ratatouille if you have some).

Let the meat rest a bit and cut the fillet in 4 parts.

Serve as shown above. The oil from the tomatoes is now garlicky, so keep in a jar for later use

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Apricot and pancetta salad

 

This morning they were caressed by the first sun, still ripening on their tree. At 7 am they were carefully picked by a farmer and at three hours later we bought them at the local market. The fist delicious apricots of the season (which is rather short).

Most of the work is taking the skin of. Unless you dip them a couple of seconds in boiling water, like a tomato. Then cut them in 6 parts.

Start the dressing with 2 tsp mustard and 2 heaped tsp apricot jam, mix with 2 tbsp wallnut vinegar. Add about 6 tbsp olive oil. Whisk.

Then fry some pancetta (or Serano) in a dry pan till crisp.

Enjoy the first bites of summer

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Sea-trout served 2 ways Asian Style

Our fishmonger showed us nice big sea-trout fillets, skin on. Back home we turned to Rick Stein to see what to make of it. We decided on two preparations:
Japanese fishcakes made from the tail part, with ginger and spring onions and
fry the thicker part wth a soy, ginger and chili glaze

Sea-trout: 2 big or 2 small fillets
Ginger root: 4 cm, very finely chopped
Spring onions: 1, finely chopped
Chestnut mushrooms: 4 (2 finely chopped, the rest thickly sliced)
Garlic: 1 clove finely chopped
Chilli: 1 small, finely chopped
Egg
Soysauce
Balsamic vinegar
Sesame oil
Caster sugar
Coriander: some sprigs
Salad: for instance 4 green asparagus and rocket

Cut the fillets in half. Put the top, thicker halves aside and start with the tails and remove the skin. Pinbone them if necessary. Cut them lengthways into long, thin strips. Then cut across into very small cubes. Too small and you end up with pate, too big and it won't hold together.

Put the cubes in a bowl and mix with half the ginger, the sping onions, chopped mushroom. Whisk 1/2 egg and add to the mixture, with some salt and pepper. Wet your hands and shape into 2 patties about 8 cm in diameter. Or use 2 serving rings if you have them, so you can use a fork instead of your hands.

For the salad: cut the asparagus in 3 parts and cook them 4 or 5 mins in salted water. Wash and dry the rocket. Whisk 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp water and a pinch of caster sugar into a dresssing

Heat 2 frying pans, lightly oiled:
one to fry the fillets for 30 sec on each side, then take the pan off the heat.
Put the cakes in the other one, on medium heat. Fry each side for about 1 1/2 mins, untill golden brown and cooked through.
In the meantime add the garlic, 4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar, the other half of the ginger and chilli to the fillets.
Reduce the heat and cook for about 3 mins, untill the trout is just cooked through.

Warm 2 plates in the microwave.
A fishcake and a fillet on each plate, with
the salad of rocket, asparagus and ( if you
want, briefly fried) mushrooms. Drizzle the
dressing over the salad and the glaze over
the fillets.
Decorate with coriander
Enjoy!

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 'Breakfast in Gascony" on Amazon

Sea bassl, courgette and a pesto from parsley, pistache and sorrel

A recipe we found in The Guardian by Yotam Ottolenghi for  mackerel, we make it with sea bass.

If you don't have any sorrel in your garden or                      growing wild nearby, you'll be hard pushed to get hold

it, so it's well worth ordering some in advance from a  

greengrocer. It's wonderfully sharp, in a non-citrussy

kind of way, and goes well with anything nutty. If you

can't get hold of any, just up the quantity of parsley in

the pesto and add a bit more vinegar. Serves four!

1 courgette 

3½ tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 small or 2 large sea bass fillets, pinboned
10 g rocket leaves

For the pesto
45g sorrel (vein removed)

5g rucola
15g parsley
30g pistachios
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tsp cider vinegar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp honey
3 tbsp olive oil  

Put all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor and blitz to a coarse, runny paste.
Put a ridged griddle pan on the stove to heat up. Cut the courgette on an angle into 1/2 cm-thick slices. Toss them in two tablespoons of olive oil, season and grill for three to four minutes, turning once, until tender but not limp.
.
Brush the fish fillets with the remaining oil and season generously. grill them, skin-side down to begin with, on the griddle pan for three or four minutes, turning once. As soon as the fish is cooked, drizzle over the remaining lemon juice.

To serve, divide the courgettes like a flower between two plates. Lay the warm fish on the courgette, drizzle over the pesto and finish with rucola.

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Trout 'Bondage', stuffed with mushrooms, pancetta, garlic and parsley

Sea trouts: 2
Butter
Pancetta (or bacon): a few slices
Chestnut mushrooms: 12 in thick slices
Garlic: 1 clove, finely chopped
Parsley: 2 tbsp, chopped
Flour: 25 gr
Lemon: 1 or 2

Another recipe from Rick Stein. Start with the sea trouts. Remove the heads, then using the tip of a very sharp thin knife start getting the top fillet away from the bones till 2,5 cm from the tail. Turn the fish over and repeat with the other fillet. Snip off the bone with scissors just before the tail (that will keep the two halves together).

Fry the garlic in some butter till they just start browning. Add about half of  the mushrooms and 1 tbsp parsley and fry another minute. Take out to cool a bit. Put the pancetta in the pan till nice and crisp.

Put the stuffing on the lower fillets and cover with the pancetta. Then cover with the top fillet and use string to tie around the fish

Dust the fish lightly with plain flour and fry about 3 minutes in some oil, without moving them
Warm the plates in the microwave
In the meantime brown the rest of the mushrooms in a second pan
Turn the fish and fry the other side
Put the mushrooms on the plates. Wipe the pan clean and melt 60 gr butter till it browns and starts smoking a bit, then add a tbsp lemon juice and the rest of the parsley. You've made beurre noisette!

Put the fish on the plates and pour the beurre noisette over them. Serve with half a lemon

Don't forget to bring scissors to the table!

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Strawberry Carpaccio

Wash and cut 12 strawberries. Slice a celery stalk. Arrange on a plate and put in the fridge. Keep 3 strawberries aside for the dressing. 

Prepare the dressing: mash the 3 strawberries with a fork, mix with 2 tbsp oil, 1tsp strawberry jam and 1 tsp sherry vinegar, 5 pinches sea salt, 7 turns of the mill black pepper and 2 pinches piment d'Espelet. Chop a small handful pistachio nuts. 

Get the plates from the fridge, sprinkle the nuts on top of the strawberries, add some rocket salad leaves and drizzle the dressing over it.

An easy and surprising........starter! Enjoy!

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Deviled Mackerel with Mint and Tomato Salad

Mackerel: 2
Butter: 40 gr
Castersugar: 1 tsp
English mustard powder: 1 tsp
Cayenne pepper: 1 tsp
paprika: 1 tsp
Ground coriander: 1 tsp
Red wine vinegar: 2 tbsp
Freshly ground pepper: 1 tsp
Salt: 2 tsp
Vine tomatoes: ca 150 gr
Small onion: 1
Mint: 1 tbsp
Lemon juice: 1 tbsp

A recipe by Rick Stein, the master.
Preheat the ovengrill to high. Make cuts into the fish at each cm, not too deep
Melt the butter. stir in the sugar, mustard, spices, vinegar, pepper and salt. Mix.
Put the fish on baking paper in a roasting tin and rub with the butter etc on both sides, incl the open belly.
Grill for 4 minutes on each side

Slice the tomatoes and onions, chop the mint.
Plate up as shown above. Drip lemon juice over it
Enjoy.

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Carpaccio of black tomatoes, basil-oil and parmesan

Cut the black tomatoes in 1 mm slices. 
Arrange  on  the   plates. 

Add basil-oil ( see  artichokes recipe ) and parmesan. 

Bit of pepper and sea salt.  

Simple!

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Baby artichokes, spaghetti, basil oil, garlic chips, feta and parmesan

Eggsize Romanesco artichokes: 5
Spaghetti: we use about 50 grams
Feta: 15 small cubes pp
Parmesan: just some shavings
Garlic: 5 or 6 cloves
For the basil oil: bunch of basil, 1 garlic clove, sea salt, good quality olive oil like Hojiblanca by Valderrama

Start with the artichokes:

Take off the outer leaves
Cut off the upper halve
Slice in two
Remove the hay
Cook for about 15 or 20 minutes till soft








In the meantime slice the garlic in very thin '' chips' and fry them in a little cooking oil till brown and crisp.
Dry them on kitchen paper

Then use a blender to mix the basil, garlic clove, pinch of salt and olive oil













Cut the feta cheese in 6x6 mm cubes and shave some parmesan

When the artichokes are soft enough, take them out of the pan and dry them on kitchenpaper.
Add water to the pan and cook the spaghetti
Transfer the artichokes to a very hot griddlepan till nicely browned.

Put the pasta on 2 plates, divide artichokes and feta over it
Sprinkle garlic chips over it and then the parmesan shavings.
Then drizzle some basil-oil over your creation
The remaining basil-oil can be kept in a lidded jar in the fridge for a day or 10

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