Warm me up "Ratatouille"

Autumn colours- down to our plates and palate to warm us up, even when eaten cold.
Recipes for 2 and a bit left for the week:
3 courgettes (Peeled along the length to make zebra stripes and sliced (1cm)
1 aubergine sliced and cut in cubes
5 tomatoes peeled and cut in pieces
1 red pepper sliced
1 green pepper sliced
5 garlic cloves peeled
2 onions peeled and sliced
Olive oil
4 hand full of fresh basil leaves
1 tablespoon of Herbe de Provence
Salt
Pepper
1 pinch of sugar
Follow this order properly (the secret of this recipe).
With a knife make a cross on the bottom of the tomatoes and plunge them in boiling water for few seconds until you can see the skin lifting up and peel.
In a deep pan or Creuset dish, set on a medium heat, pour 4 tablespoons of olive oil, add the peppers and onions, salt and pepper and pinch of herbe de Provence, fry for 10 minutes or until "al dente" and set a side.
In the same dish, pour 4 more tablespoons of olive oil and fry the aubergine and courgettes with salt, pepper and pinch of herbe de provence. Fry until brown. (I did mine in 2 lots). Set a side.
In the same pan, pour more olive oil and fry the tomatoes with garlic cloves, salt, pepper, sugar, 1 pinch of herbe de Provence and the basil. Cook for 5 minutes.
Transfer everything back in the pan and cook for 1h30 (or longer) on the lowest heat with no lid and avoid stirring to much to prevent crushing.
Eat hot, warm or cold with ham, cold meat or fish.
Bon Appetit!

"Petits Farcis"

Lovely small squashes are everywhere at the moment, it feels a shame to cut them up! To make Petits Farcis, seems ideal. I found 2 green and 1 yellow (unfortunately or stupidly I binned the hat of the yellow one...). My week's been like that, at my Zumba class on Monday, I realised that if I my feet were hurting it was because I was wearing two different shoes!
Recipe:
3 baby red peppers
3 tomatoes
3 small marrows
12 Lincolnshire sausages
A tablespoon of water
Heat your oven to 170 degrees.
Wash all the vegetables, cut the hats off and keep them! Empty the inside carefully with a teaspoon but not to the skin, you want to leave some "vegetable chair", as we say in French ( roughly translated as vegetable meat.)
Remove the skin from the sausages and fill the vegetable a little bit higher than the top.
Put all your farcis in a ceramic dish with a tablespoon of water on the bottom to avoid sticking (not too much, as the vegetable will release some water). Cook for 45 minutes and add the hats for another 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door, letting them rest for 10 minutes.
Bon Appetit!

"Chicken Spinach Ricotta And Hazelnut Balls."

I have chicken in my fridge, lots of chicken breast! as I found a super deal in my favourite little farm shop in Somerset "Beckington Farm".
Hazelnuts are in season, so let's mix!

2 chicken breasts
700g of fresh spinach (large leaf)
2 tea spoon of honey
2 tablespoon of Ricotta
20 hazelnuts crushed
4 stems of tarragon
1 tablespoon of sesame seed
Salt and pepper.

Steam the chicken breast for 30 minutes.
Remove the middle stem of the spinach, wash and drain.
Reserve 20 nice looking spinach leaves ( or more if you have small leaves, better than having to go back to the shop like me!) Cook them 30 seconds, 3 or 4 at the time (to avoid them getting damaged) and dress them flat on a plate.
Cook the rest of spinach in a little water with a lid for 4/5 minutes or until cooked
Drain the spinach and chop with a knife.
Separate the chicken with your hands as much as you can and finish by cutting with a knife.
Crush the hazelnut in a pestle and mortar.
Tear the tarragon leaves in pieces.
Mix all the ingredients above with the ricotta and form balls in any size you like! Small for snacks or starter or bigger for a meal.
Envelop each ball delicately in a spinach leaf.
This dish can be prepared in advance as you just need to steam the chicken balls for 3 minutes. Finish with a few sesame seeds on the top.
I serve this dish with rice.
The possibilities are endless, you can even use blue cheese mixed with a little ricotta, if you like.
Bon Appetit!

"September salad" Figs and Parma Ham.

Fruits are such a nice combination with salad and figs are in season now.
Serve with good quality olive oil and enjoy.

"Let's eat oysters in Dorset."

It's September: The beginning of the oyster season :)
I Googled "oysters in Dorset" and found "a pearl":
"The crab house café", a shack opposite the sea with their own oyster farm.
http://www.crabhousecafe.co.uk/
Eat at "the beach shack" or buy oysters takeaway.
Oysters to start followed by grilled sardines infused with rosemary and a bottle of chilled Muscadet.
Finished by a nice walk following the mysterious sign "pirate lane..."

Cauliflower

Why do we always cut cauliflower in pieces? It is so beautiful when presented whole.
Tonight we are eating steamed cod with cauliflower and capers:
You need lots of butter! (unsalted Président butter is still the best for me) One jar of capers in vinegar and one cauliflower.
Boil the cauliflower in water until the knife goes in easily, maybe 20mins depending on the size of your cauliflower.
Melt in a saucepan 150g of butter with
4 tablespoons of capers and 4 tablespoons of the caper vinegar.
Present the cauliflower on a dish and pour the melted butter and capers on the top.
Bon appetit!

Albariño

I am normally the first one to criticise Sainsbury's.. I don't know about you, but I am always freezing in that shop! And I really don't like the way they treat the fruit and veg..without mentioning the price!...enough criticising?:)
I will be back for this beautiful Albariño, the palate is full and I can taste champagne in it..
Great as an aperitif!

"Steak frite in Soller", Palma, Baleares.

A very good address: http://www.randemar.com/es/index.php
discovered "Fries with truffle oil" How can I have it differently now?! ...if you like truffle oil of course. Worth trying.

Tatin of tomatoes mozzarella.

Listened to the French radio today and heard this rather fantastic idea of revisiting this old recipe and making a "Tatin" with the famous tomatoes mozarella dish!
Here it is:
1 pack of puff pastry
6/7 big tomatoes
1 Ball of buffalo mozzarella.
A hand full of basil ( the small leaf one if you find it better)
1 pinch of sugar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper.
Pre-heat the oven at 180 degree C.
Cut the tomatoes in half with the stalk at the top and empty the seeds and juice.
In a Tatin dish (or ceramic dish) pour some olive oil in the bottom and put the tomatoes head down side by side, quite tightly. Add a bit more olive oil on the top with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.
Put the dish in the oven for 30 minutes or until cooked.
Pierce the puff pastry a lot! And lay it on the tomatoes folding the sides as much as you can..
Put back in the oven for 30mins and meanwhile, cut the mozzarella in slices.
Take the dish out of the oven and lay the mozzarella on top when the tomatoes are still hot (you can put the dish back in the oven a little bit to help the mozzarrella to melt, but not too much to keep a nice appearance).
Finish with the basil and eat warm or cold.
Bon appetit!

"Grilled egg plant and courgette salad with rocket, tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, Corsican herbs and a sprinkle of raspberries."

I bought some raspberries today, which actually smelled of raspberries! I thought the colour was so beautiful with the greeness of the rocket. Je me lance! ( try it now!)
I grilled the egg plant and courgette with a drop of olive oil.
Cut my tomatoes in cubes with a dressing of 1 table spoon of balsamic vinegar and 3 of olive oil and added the herbs, which I found in Corsica Nepita, (rosemary and thyme mint).
Will serve with sea bream pan fried. Smelly for the kitchen but delicious!
Bon appetit!

Cooking lesson in the middle of a Parisian market.

Free cooking lesson in Paris! Yes, possible! We cooked with chef Anil Sharma from the cooking school "l'atelier des sens". Anil is a wonderful Indian chef, friendly and passionate who communicated to us his passion for his cuisine and his love for spices.
Organised by the Mairie de Paris (Paris council) every week with different chefs allowing anyone to have a fantastic experience of cooking in the middle of Parisian market "marché gros la fontaine" Paris 16ème, is one of them.
Visit www.ffcuisine.fr to book with the Federation Francaise De Cuisine.
Here is what we did:


Indian Avocado salad - serves 4

3 Avocados
3 ripeTomatoes
1 Apple
1 small mango
4 cloves of asian garlic mash to paste
Ginger 1 finger
2 tbsp of ghee or 30 cl vegetable oil
3 tbsp of Olive oil
2 limes juiced
1 small bunch of chopped Coriander (1/2 very thinly chopped and 1/2 to serve)
1 tea spoon of paprika
Pinch of salt and black pepper

Cut 2 avocados in half and rub 1/2 lime juice inside. Reserve.
Cut the avocados, tomatoes, apple and mango in tiny cubes and put them in the salad bowl.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper, paprika, lime juice, chopped coriander, olive oil and mix gently.
Dressed the inside of the avocados with the salad bowl mixture.
Julienne the ginger and fry it in the ghee. See pics.
(Tip: keep the ginger flavour ghee for cooking the dahl or other indian dish)
Serve the avocado with the fry ginger on top and the rest of the coriander.

Dahl -Dal-Daal All the same but different writings.
(Indian red lentils dish) - serves 4

1 onion finely chopped
5 cloves of Asian garlic mash to paste
Ginger (1 finger finely chopped) 10g
3 tbsp of ghee or butter with a 1 tsp of vegetable (stop the butter burning)
1 tsp of black seed mustard
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of ajwain (Indian thym)
1 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of madras masala
3 large tomatoes cut in cubes
Salt ( himalaya if possible)
4 small fresh red chilli sliced
1 tsp of tamarind
1 cup of red lentils
4 cups of water
1 lime juiced
1 bunch of coriander, chopped to serve.

Rinse the lentils until the water runs clear.
In a pan over medium heat, pour 3 tablespoons of ghee and fry the onion, the garlic and the ginger until brown.
Add the mustard seed, cumin, ajwain, turmeric, madras, 2 chillies , 3tbsp water and stir for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes, lentils ,salt and cook for 45 minutes and taste.
Finish by adding the tamarin, the lime juice and sprinkle the top with the coriander and the rest of the chilli if you dare!

Minipalais - Paris

It is my second visit at the Minipalais, I love the place, it's chic and relaxed. I like the modern cuisine of Eric Frechon (3stars @"le Bristol"). Having lunch inside the Grand Palais is a unique experience! Perfect day in Paris if followed by an exhibition. I had the menu @28 euros and no regrets, it was delicious. Loved the coriander seed and the spices on the canette (female duck.)
http://minipalais.com/fr/

The best ice cream in Paris

One of my summer childhood memories in Paris, is l'île Saint Louis at night. In the summer, we would often go out at night after dinner with my parents and eat an ice cream! A few years later, it is nice to see that it's still a Parisian habit.
Have it the Parisian way and have a walk by la Seine just nearby.
Amorino
47 rue Saint Louis en l'île
75004 Paris

Tian Provencal

I lived in Nice for 3 years when I was younger. I will never forget the market Saleya and the amazing smells of vegetables. This is a nostalgic dish..
To compensate, I bought organic vegetables, they truly have more flavour..
Bon Appetit!