31 December 2008

Oliebollen a Dutch Sylvester speciality



Like i said before they taste much better than their name suggests.
Oliebollen aka oil balls are dumplings made from a yeast-based dough.
They are traditionally eaten the 31 December and are part of the potluck buffet or eaten after the dinner as a all-nigh snack. The morning-after on the first day of the New year they are great hang-over remedy with lots of warm caffeinated beverages.
In Holland you can buy them at stands during the holiday period and some are open all year. You can buy them in all kind of varieties: just plain, with raisins, with pineapple, with apple, with ginger etc.
You can also buy them in supermarkets but then they are not so good because not so fresh..
Self made they are best specially if you can't buy them in your country.
Count around 5 per person this recipe is for around 25 Oliebollen:

you need
200 gr raisins >soak them in some hot water
1 sour backing apple > cut in small pieces and mixed with some lemon juice to avoid they brown. I added a spoon of ginger on syrup cut in really small pieces this time it gives a more interesting flavor to it.

400 ml warm milk
1 spoon of sugar
1 package dried yeast
> mix together and put aside for about 10 minutes

in a large bowl
500 gr of white flour (don't forget to add a good pinch of salt!)
make a well and break an egg in the well

whisk in the milk mixture (if needed add some more warm milk the mixture should be sticky not too dry not too liquid) add the drained raisins and apple pieces.

Cover and leave at a warm place to rise. (Make sure you have a large enough recipient because it can rise high and then you have a big mess to clean up)

Stir after about 1 hour and leave again at a warm place.
Heat the oil to 175°-180° C
With an ice cream scooper or 2 spoons make a golf ball size portion and let it slide into the hot oil. After frying they have more then doubled the size. Make as much the frying pan can hold they should be able to swim around comfortably.
Fry them until golden brown outside and smooth, soft, cooked yet juicy from the inside.
Get them out of the oil when done and let them rest on some absorbent kitchen paper.
Serve sprinkled with icing sugar.

If cooked at the right temperature they should not be greasy. Besides if you want you have all year to get rid of the extra pounds you've put on these holidays.
Now it's not the time to worry about that!

Have a great and peaceful new year!!




30 December 2008

What's cooking at Margret and Helen's Blog

The blog of Margret and Helen was already delicious, filled with well written, thoughtful and hilarious words. And for the latest holiday post they share recipes (Helen's stuffing). And so do many many readers leaving their favourite recipe in the comment section.
So if you don't know what to cook, go check it out. Also go see the blog and add it to your RSS reader if you're done eating, because laughter is the best digestive!

Have fun

PS i'm preparing mentaly to make the Dutch 31 December speciality "oliebollen" aka oil balls. They taste much better than it sounds (-:

03 December 2008

Food Time-Line

Today on Twitter i found this most interesting link: a food time line. Now we can check out when our ancestors started eating what and why.
Who would have thought that Popcorn made its first appearance in 3600 BC . What the heck where they looking at while eating popcorn? Cinemas didn't exist, not even open air!
Make some popcorn while browsing this site and clicking on the links it's very entertaining and educational. Next time at the dinner table with friends you are sure to impress them with your knowledge!

27 November 2008

Happy Thanksgiving !


Today i want to give thanks to the people who stopped by and read this and to the people of 8-legged Entertainment who kindly created, or captured if you will, Taco the cooking Octopus. And some great cooking this Octopus does.
The animations are not only highly entertaining, the ROFL kind, but the recipes are likewise good. And you get a lot of background information and scientific food facts.
Taco the Octopus has cooked up some Thanksgiving treats: Deep fried Turkey and Pumpkin Flan. Try the Cookies too they are the best!

Last year we tried to cook Deep Fried Turkey for our Thanksgiving dinner we had with a Franco-American family. My friend PJ made the corn dressing according to her Southern family recipe. Delicious and rich. And there was loads of other stuff with pumpkin. I don't remember exactly because I ate so much and felt so terrible, that I discarded the memory of it.
But for the Deep Fried Turkey à la Taco the Octopus i have photos and video to prove and remind. The original recipe talks about a hole turkey, but we don't have a big enough frying pan and miss other utensils like a cooking thermometer to control the temperature of the oil. I had to go to the pharmacist to get a seringe with a needle to inject the cut-up turkey with the marinade. The lady gave me a curious look after i told her what i need it for. She probably thought i was crazy but was intrigued by our cooking endeavor. That was the day before when we prepared the bird. On the day self Philippe enjoyed getting every thing ready for the frying. And had developed a methodic plan of action. This deep frying is better done well prepared. The turkey was okay, some pieces a bit dry maybe. We need to perfection our skill and get the cooking times right.
Philippe is ready to try it again this year.
(We'll do it this weekend for it's a normal workday here, so no time to prepare and no time to digest afterwards)



Happy Thanksgiving to all !

23 November 2008

Sinterklaas, St Nicolas, Saintnic, Santa


You probably know already vaguely, but are not aware of it all the time that Santa is just an American made, though not entirely, impostor.
The real deal is St Nicolas or Sinterklaas, as the Dutch say.
He arrives by boat by half November, shown on national tv as the event of the year. Then you get to eat all these treats, sweets, backed specialties. The high light is the evening of December 5th when the Holy man visits mysteriously your home and brings gifts. Most of the time it's a knock on the door and you find a bag of gifts. Sometimes you get lucky and the man himself pays you a visit.
Please note the generous way to celebrate his own birthday of december 6, giving presents the evening before.
Then in the night he goes back to Spain (which is a sort of Florida for the elderly Europeans). His departure is not covered on national TV.
Although the man is a Saint this is not a religious holiday. That's what's so good about it. It's fast and sweet and rarely reason for family disputes like Christmas...
Since I'm Sinterklaas's biggest fan in France (where they do some sort of celebration in the east and north or North-East, but not as elaborated and perfected as in Holland) I take this occasion to write some foody stuff and share some recipes to promote Sinterklaas and get him out of the shadow of his big incorporated rival.

If you can only do one recipe then this is the one you want to try:
Pepernoten or Péfénock as Emma used to call them, are like spicy mini cookies. Peper in Dutch means pepper. Pepper is not in the spice mix aka Speculas spice. But there is cinnamon, nutmeg (i think that's what gave it the name Peper), coriander, ginger, cardamon and cloves. And i think i have had another brand of this spice mix which contained some pepper.

Here's what you need:
250 gr flour + 3gr backing powder or 250gr self-raising flour
mix with 10 gr of ready made spicemix you can buy in Holland, or your own spicemix: 5 gr cinnamon, 2 gr clove, 2 gr cardamon, 1 gr ginger powder, (optional about 1 gr nutmeg and or coriander)

melt 125 gr butter with
125 gr dark sugar (if you can't find the dark brown sugar you can use the raw unrefined sugar from the organic store)
50 gr of syrup or melasse

add the melted butter-sugar mix to the flour mix and knead it to a ball. It will have a brown color from sugar and spices.

Now the fun part starts for the kids you want to involve in this work. They have to roll little balls at the size of a marble. the challenge is to get the equal sized so they will back evenly, and you won't end up with the big ones raw inside and the small ones burned!
Put them on sheet of backing paper. you might have to work in batches.
Preheat the oven to 150°C and back the Pepernoten for 15-20 minutes. Let them cool so they will have their crunch.
Serve with hot chocolate et voilà! you have a nice treat on any winter's day and/or Sint Nic's season

The pictures here are of what you can buy in Holland, but it's full of E-numbers additives crap!

26 September 2008

25 September 2008

Emma's Recipes: Sunshine



One day Emma came to see me because she wanted to cook for us, she had seen the recipe somewhere and now she wanted to reproduce it. She knew it all by heart. It's called "Sunshine" or "Rayon de Soleil".
But now she can't remember where she has seen it and assures she has invented it...

What you need is:
a slice of bread (the weng-weng kind sliced factory bread, not the crunchy crust variation) per person
1 egg per person
pinch of salt
some butter and or oil
a glass

With the glass stick out a circle in the middle of the bread
heat a pan with some butter and/or oil
put the slice of bread with the hole in the heated pan
break the egg in the glass and drop it in the circle
cook one side then turn over
don't forget to salt it or use other herbs to make it tasty
serve and bon appétit!

You'll see it's so good after eating this you smile as if you just caught a sunray on a rainy day!

01 September 2008

Monsanto owns the pigs/ Monsanto et les cochons

I have seen this a while ago on the german tv and found it in English on Youtube. As usual with Monsanto stuff, it's very disturbing that makes the biggest pacifist and peaceful person want to pick up a gun ... Anyway I think i go to the patent office and file a patent for the air we breath and charge everybody that works for M. a "usage fee" before M. comes up with the idea and has us definitely by the balls.



Même chose en couleur eh en français. Je suis trop scandalisé pour commenter. Voyez vous-même il y a 4 parts.
Respirez un grand coup avant que M prends un brvet sur l'air qu'on respire...

28 August 2008

dangerous cake

Just got this one by mail and like to share it as a welcome back gift. We have been cut off the internet for weeks almost 2 months so it has been hard to keep this blog fresh. But now there are no more excuses and the kick off will be with this..."dangerous" cake. Let me know how yours tastes!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons cake flour(plain flour, not self-raising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips(optional)
a small splash of vanilla
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?

Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake

at any time of the day or night!

24 June 2008

Huîtres / Oysters @ Leucate


Sunday we hit the road early to Leucate to enjoy a day at the beach (nice for the kids) but specially to have oysters at 10 AM with a glass of white wine.
The oysters are so fresh, they would run away from you your plate if they had feet.
When you squeeze the lemon juice on them they are contracting (if they don't move you'd better trow them out). then with the little fork you delicately loose them from the shell. And enjoy the pleasant salty taste mixed with a hint of lemon.
If you prefer cooked food, then you can BBQ them, cook them under a grill or have otherwise fun with them: www.oregonoyster.com

Mon idée d'une journée idéale d'été c'est de arriver vers 10h00 à Leucate pour déguster quelques huîtres tellement fraîches et vivante que si elles avaient des pieds, on aurait du mal à les tenir sur l'assiette. Quand on mets le jus de citron ou dés fois il y a le vinaigre aux échalotes sur des tables, on voit bien comment ça contracte et donc je suis assuré que la bestiole est bien vivante et fraîche. J'adore le goût délicat salé avec une pointe d'acidité du citron ou vinaigre.

C'est simple et pas cher.
Pour des idées plus élaboré ce qu'on peut faire avec des huîtres il y a des recettes ici:

www.aufeminin.com

23 June 2008

La Mayo qui tourne au huile de moteur

Reçu par mail et dégouter à fond:

Empoisonneurs autorisés

Rappelons brièvement les faits :
- La société Saipol, propriétaire de la marque Lesieur, et grossiste en huile, a acheté à vil prix un lot de 40 000 tonnes d'huile de tournesol ukrainienne.
- Exerçant son métier, cette société a revendu avec profit cette huile à d'autres multinationales de l'agroalimentaire.
- Un contrôle a posteriori a mis en évidence la présence frauduleuse dans ce lot d'huile minérale destinée à la lubrification des moteurs.
- Même s'il n'est pas établi que ce mélange peu ragoûtant soit méchamment toxique, eussions nous eu affaire à des gens responsables que ce lot eût immédiatement rejoint la seule destination qui lui seyait : la poubelle.
- Que croyez-vous qu'il arriva ? Ces empoisonneurs dont l'avidité autant que la veulerie sont sans limite, ont néanmoins décidé d'utiliser sciemment cette huile pour composer leurs produits de merde.
- Le pire, c'est qu'ils ont eu l'accord des autorités (françaises et européennes) qui ont décrété que tant que les produits n'en contenaient pas plus de 10%, personne ne devait tomber trop malade.
- Ils ont 40000 tonnes à écouler, un peu plus de 5000 pour la seule France. Cela fait eviron 100 grammes de saloperie par habitant à faire ingurgiter !
- La Grèce, dont les autorités semblent moins irresponsables que les nôtres, vient de réagir et d'interdire l'utilisation de tous les lots depuis le 1er janvier.

Mais chez nous, dans nos hypermarchés, il y a donc en ce moment dans des produits contaminés à l'huile de moteur !

C'est le Canard Enchaîné qui a révélé l'affaire il y a 2 semaines, avec des reprises le jour même dans la presse nationale. Puis plus rien, tout le monde s'en fout.
La semaine dernière, le Canard publie une liste de marques et des types de produits concernés. Aucune réaction cette fois:
Enfin hier, le Canard publie des notes internes de l'ANIA (Association Nationale des Industries Alimentaires), qui montrent l'envers du décor, comment les industriels vivent la crise, en chiant dans leur froc et priant que l'info ne soit pas reprise et que le temps efface rapidement cette histoire.

'Il a été décidé hier en réunion de crise à l'ANIA de ne pas répondre au Canard enchainé formellement. Un projet de communiqué de presse, préparé la semaine dernière, a été réactualisé.
Le communiqué de presse ne sera pas diffusé en proactif. Nous attendons la prochaine parution du Canard Enchaîné et les éventuelles reprises par la presse pour réagir.'

'Par rapport à l'article de mercredi dernier,cette nouvelle parution n'apporte pas d'éléments clés supplémentaires et n'est pas à la Une du journal. En revanche, de nombreuses marques sont citées, ainsi qu'une liste à la Prévert de nombreux produits incorporant de l'huile de tournesol, ce qui n'était pas le cas la semaine dernière mais que l'on craignait'

Ces gens là sont capables d'importer n'importe quelle denrée alimentaire de l'autre bout du monde, dans le seul but de gagner de l'argent. Ils n'ont plus la moindre emprise sur la 'traçabilité' des produits qu'ils achètent ainsi, qui peuvent être trafiqués, bourrés de pesticides ou de n'importe quelle autre merde. Et qu'ils ne viennent pas prétendre le contraire, puisque cette sombre affaire en fournit une preuve éclatante.

D'ailleurs un produit importé au prix le plus bas est une quasi certitude de mauvaise qualité doublée d'exploitation des humains qui ont servi à le produire, triplée d'une pression sur l'emploi et le salaire des salariés français.

Ce sont les mêmes qui vendent leurs produits au prix fort en geignant sur la hausse des matières premières, et nous gavent de pubs ineptes avec enfants blonds et mamans épanouies qui éprouvent un plaisir intense à bouffer leurs saloperies suremballées dans d'affriolants plastiques aux couleurs vives.

Comme on l'a vu, leur plus grande trouille est que le nom des marques s'ébruite, ce qui pourrait occasionner une baisse de leurs ventes et de leurs sacro-saints profits, qui les aveuglent à un point tel qu'ils sont capables pour cela d'empoisonner leurs clients sans remords.

Alors dénonçons les, ces sinistres pleutres ! Et vous camarades lecteurs, relayez l'information ! Selon vos moyens, parlez-en autour de vous, dans vos blogs, dans vos journaux, et surtout, CITEZ LES MARQUES, c'est de ça dont ils ont la trouille !

Les marques concernées, à boycotter d'urgence et durablement, sont les suivantes :

Lesieur, bien évidemment, puisque leur avidité est à l'origine du problème et toutes les marques du groupe :
Fruit d'or
Epi d'or
Frial
Isio 4
Oli
Carapelli
Saupiquet

Toutes les marques du groupe Unilever , par exemple
Amora
Planta Fin
Maille
Knorr
Magnum
Miko
....c

Les poduits les plus susceptibles de contenir de l'huile empoisonnée sont les suivants :
Mayonnaise
Tarama
Sauce Béarnaise
Chips
Vinaigrette allégée
Surimi
Céleri Rémoulade
Soupe de poisson en conserve
Poisson pané
Paupiettes de veau
Thon et sardines à l'huile

Pates à tartiner chocolatées
Gaufrettes à la confiture
Barres céréalières et sucrées pour les enfants
Cookies

Merci d'avance, et faites tourner !

http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&rlz=1B2GGFB_frFR213FR214&q=canard+enchain%C3%A9+huile&btnG=Rechercher&meta=">http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&rlz=1B2GGFB_frFR213FR214&q=canard+enchain%C3%A9+huile&btnG=Rechercher&meta=">http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&rlz=1B2GGFB_frFR213FR214&q=canard+enchain%C3%A9+huile&btnG=Rechercher&meta=

http://www.liberation.fr/actualite/economie_terre/326262.FR.php
http://www.lefigaro.fr/sante/2008/05/14/01004-20080514ARTFIG00602-de-l-huile-de-moteur-dans-des-produits-alimentaires-.php
http://www.naturavox.fr/article.php3?id_article=4203

11 June 2008

Spam, spam, spam, sausage and spam


Vous vous souvenez du sketch de Monty Python? Hormel l'entreprise qui fabrique Spam prend des choses avec humour et les tourne à leur avantage: Vous pouvez jouer le Monty Python jeux Spamalot. (Choisir d'être français ou anglais et lancer des vaches sur votre ennemie.)

Personnellement j'ai des doutes sur le goût et contenu, pour les même raison je ne peux pas manger un hamburger chez Macdo. Mais pour sa défense il faut dire que je me ne souviens plus du véritable Spam uniquement un truc équivalent qu'on vent en France. Je prefere de ne pas manger la viande que cette chose mystérieuse en boite. Je ne crois pas trop à la mythe de protéine, on en mange déjà trop donc un jour sans viande de temps en temps ne va pas nous donner des carences. Tout même depuis 71 ans le Spam est un véritable "life saver" d'abord pour les alliés pendant la deuxième querre. Puis dans les temps financièrement durs comme maintenant, les prix de nourriture ont augmenté, aussi celui de Spam. Les vents de Spam ont produit un augmentation des bénéfices de 14% pour le fabriquant Hormel. Pour alléger leur budgets de nourriture les ménages mange plus de Spam. Ça permets de varier un peu, ça évite de faire des achats plus chers au dernier moments, quand le frigo est vide. Et aussi plus de gens amène leur déjeuner et ne mange plus souvent au restaurant.

Il y a des forums et blogs où on discute des recettes de Spam et des astuces d'allonger des sous jusqu'à la fin du mois. Comment agrémenter des plats pas cher.

je ne trouve pas d'équivalent en France. Peut être c'est un sujet tabou? Mais le steréotype du français qui mange bien et frais est longue temps passé. Les queues devant macdo en font preuve. Quand je regarde au supermarché ce que les gens achète... ils se gênent pas d'acheter des trucs pire que le Spam.

Même si vous ne voulez pas manger ce produit, la marque représente une bonne investissement pour votre portefeuille d'actions, selon bloggingstocks.com. Donc nous avons tous à gagner avec Spam (:

10 June 2008

Bad Tomatoes

Just as i wanted to write up some recipes involving tomatoes, the bad food news hit the wires. As if I didn't have enough anxiety about food (you never know what big corps are putting in there to make me more dependent, obedient ...) or should i say crap coming from factories packaged as food-like substances. I do trust fresh food specially when it's organic or coming from farmer's markets. But now the alarm bells are ringing overseas in the States. And I hear them load and clear. The FDA did a unprecedented recall on tomatoes the fresh red ones, because they could contain a rare strain of Salmonella saintpaul. How did it get their in the first place? Do growers feed their crop on chicken wings? I thought Salmonella were in eggs, meat and preparation that didn't respect the cold-chain and some basic standards of hygiene.

According to the SeatlePI it concerns tomatoes coming from certain states, and certain types of tomatoes. Imports from Europe (yes Belgium and Holland are well known for their sunny climate ideal for tasty tomato growing...) are not blacklisted so I can still eat tomatoes raw and don't have to cook them well done to kill all the bugs, germs and other forms of alien life.

I can see great business opportunities for the aforementioned evil corporations:
Special engineered Salmonella-free crop seeds (with compliments of monsanto) and of course no fresh tomatoes on the market anymore only the factory-processed-kind in sterilised, sanitised, hygienically packed and canned, with gloves and masks for safe consumption. Giving this too cheap staple a more attractive price to please the big supermarkets.(I noticed a 500gr can of tomato puree cost about 90 eurocents, that's too cheap something had to be done about it)
I'm glad to live in France because this Salmonella thing will not be able to pass the border just as radioactivity!


"Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes are likely not the source of the outbreak, federal officials said.

Also not associated with the outbreak are raw Roma, red plum and round red tomatoes from these states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

Imports from Belgium, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Israel, Netherlands and Puerto Rico have been deemed safe to eat.

Canada is also on that list, meaning Seattle-area consumers can continue to enjoy hothouse tomatoes grown in British Columbia."

09 June 2008

Top secret recipes: les recettes secrètes

Todd Wilbur montre dans Top Secret Recipes comment on peut "cloner" des produits de marque. C'est ludique et éducatif. Il incite à faire maison au lieu de bêtement acheter sans questionner. Mais ne vous attendez pas que la bouffe sera nutritionnellement correct car il utilise comme ingrédients, des mélanges préparés en usine. Malgré cela il semble être en plein forme. Le secret est peut être d'avoir un plaisir de cuisinier contagieux, sans se prendre la tête ou se prendre trop au sérieux.

le vidéo montre Top secret recipes pour faire des Twinkies
En américain et bien sur des clones de produits qu'on connais pas forcement ici, pour trouver des ingrédients ça peut être compliqué aussi. Essaye de trouver "marchmellow cream" chez ton épicier préféré !

03 June 2008

Food Quote

"The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found."
- Calvin Trillin -

30 May 2008

Fooding Toulouse 8 juin/june

The food event of the year in Toulouse will take place June 8th at Les abattoirs from 6PM to 10PM.
For only 5€ you can have a taste of some original goodies from (local) chefs like the man himself: Michel Sarran.
And all the money will go to ACTION CONTRE LA FAIM.
Check out the menu/program at www.lefooding.com

29 May 2008

Kitchen Gadgets


Really Cool: astronaut ice cream
Food technology at it's hottest. Originally made by the Whirlpool Corporation for the Apollo missions. At Thinkgeek the freeze dried ice cream comes in three flavors: Neapolitan (chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla); mint chocolate chip; chocolate chocolate chip


The designers at Umamy think up beautiful objects. You can look at them on the website, you can't buy them in a store unless you ask the makers if you have the budget...
Funny little kitchen helper that avoids the pages of your cookbook flipping back and you trying to fold them down with your hands full of butter...


Nice table to eat at when you're in a hurry.



Things to eat or to look at ? Edible design by unicahome


Handy bag when you go to the market. When you don't need it you roll it like a pair of socks in a small package. So now you can say NO to plastic bags and always have your own AND collect all colors.

21 May 2008

Slow food: Caviar d'Escargot

I woke up this morning sweat-broken and feeling confused with a this voice in my head repeating "caviar d'escargot". And I remembered vaguely somebody had said something lately about this new snail caviar graze ...
So while waiting for the appointment with my shrink to help me work through this snail childhood issue, I decided to do some research what's this food is all about.
In France snails are quiet common staple and dish served in restaurants. They're not as bad as it sounds, provided they are Fresh and not the canned version (but isn't that the same rule for every thing?). When you're new to snails or want to make sure you get the real thing go to L'Escargot 38 rue Montorgueil Paris 1e. Metro Sentier.

Eating the eggs of snails could be the next culinary frontier for some. In the 1980ties they started to produce the caviar from the snails' eggs. Just preserved in brine they were pretty tasteless and uninteresting. Now the pearly white and rather big eggs from the Helix Aspersa Maxima get a more delicate treatment with fleur de sel de Guérande, rosemary oil and citric acid. They come out tasting like a walk in the forest after the rain with a hint of mushroom and oak leaves and a pleasant crush (is that the shell?)
A real delicacy with a price to match: around 1500€ per kilo.
1 snail produces about 100 eggs that's 4g per year. And they are not killed to get the eggs unlike the real caviar.

For recipes and buying online in English: www.bienmanger.com



pour des recettes de caviar d'escargot: (aussi commender en ligne) www.bienmanger.com
www.750g.com




sources: de Jeager and Reuter

19 May 2008

Fruits de Hasard

Des fois un truc fait avec des "fruits de hasard " peut être une grande réussite.
Comme la semaine dernière quand j'ai improvisé un "kebab aux coeurs de canard". Les enfants aiment bien le coeur de canard et je ne savait pas quoi faire comme accompagnement. Car les pâtes et le riz on avait déjà mangé tout la semaine...
Donc pourquoi pas le mettre dans un pain de pita et servir avec une salade de tomates et concombre pour faire un repas rapide.

Comme sauce j'ai "inventé" le houmous-tzatziki :
mixer

  • une boite de pois chiche
  • avec un pot de yaourt
  • 1 cuil. de tahina (pâte de sésame)
  • 1 gousse d'ail ou plus pour les courageux
  • 1/3 concombre
  • un peu de huile d'olive
  • sel, poivre, coriandre (feuilles et poudre)

Les enfants n'ont pas trop aimé, heureusement comme ça il reste plus pour les adultes (:

12 May 2008

brique-à-brac


Today we made tapas partly from leftovers. I just love to have different things on my plate. The variety of textures, colors and tastes is what turns me on like a kid in a candy store!

Brique à l'aubergine:

  • left over cooked egg-plant-red onion- garlic-olive oil mix
  • and feta
  • roll in to the very thin pastry (called feuille de brique in France) I think it's what you use for baclava or other Greek dishes.
heat in a bit of olive oil until golden brown

Oeuf de caille-Chorizo on toast:
  • First you fry the chorizo slices in a dry pan, put aside.
  • We use a Dutch "poffertjes pan" to fry these little eggs in, so they stay in a rounded shape
  • Make thin toasts and dress them with the chorizo and eggs

Red pepper-goat cheese-feta spread:
I wanted to stuff the canned red peppers, but they turned out to be hugh and not the small ones i was expecting. So to big to stuff with soft goat cheese.
  • So i diced the peppers and mushed them with
  • some left over feta and soft goat cheese
  • herbes de provence.

Caviar d'Aubergine:
  • 1 eggplant cooked in the oven the day before.
  • mixed with garlic
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

Tomato salad with olive oil and spring onions

Fresh crusty bread

Wine was out, we had emptied the bottle while cooking (:

11 May 2008

Red and greens follow-up


As I had bought a bunch of new beet-roots. And i've used the root to make the fried beet-root slices. But the leaves you can eat as well! I cut the stems of because they are too tough. The leaves you wash and cut up. Then you can use them as spinach. Like spinach there's not much left once cooked.
Stir-fry beet greens:
Heat some olive oil in a wok, add as much fresh garlic sliced or with a garlic press as you can handle, stir until lightly golden brown, add the washed and sliced leaves, stir. Add salt and pepper and you can spice it up if you wish with some chili pepper or flakes. What's nice also is to add thin slices of parmesan and serve it with pasta
The result is a green and red vegetable dish.

Rouge et vert, la suite

Comme j'ai acheté des betteraves nouvelles bio avec leur fanes et j'avais utilisé les betteraves en forme de frite-beignet, il me restait des fanes. trop dommage de les jeter. On peut les manger comme les feuilles de radis. Pour en faire un plat rapide:
Il faut couper les cotes car trop dur. Laver bien les feuilles, les couper et réserver. Couper ou presser de l'ail (autant que vous voulez) et faire revenir dans de huile d'olive dans un wok. Quand ça commence à bronzer vite rajouter les feuilles de betterave. Remuer, saler - poivrer. Et c'est prêt-à-servir. Une fois cuit il ne reste pas grand chose, donc il faut prévoir d'autre légumes ou acheter plusieurs botes de betteraves, pour en avoir assez pour une famille! Le résultat est un légume comme l'épinard et vous pouvez faire autant de variations.
Par exemple servir avec un peu de piment, copeaux de parmesan et des pâtes. Ou en béchamel, ou mélanger dans un hachis.

10 May 2008


Ok that's it ! Let's just start this and see how it develops, because the circumstances won't get any better or more perfect anyway. If I wait till the season is in full bloom or i have more time, i'll be dead and buried. Time is just one of these professional procrastinators excuses.
So no more excuses here we go with the first recipe.

I sometimes help out on a farmers market (south of France). The assortment is a bit small at the moment because of the heavy rainfall, little sun and low temperatures. So there's not much to sell at the moment except for spring onions, fresh garlic, beet root and last years potatoes.
Today this men came to buy cooked beet-root and he told me what he does with the raw ones:
peel them and cut them in thin slices. (you might want to wear gloves because these fresh ones do have a lot of color in them!)
Whisk one egg in a soup plate and prepare an another plate with dried bread crumbs. Slice by slice put them in the egg, then in the bread-crumbs and then fry them in a pan with some (olive) oil until golden brown and crisp. Sprinkle with sea salt and with the green of fresh spring onions.
Makes a nice side dish and even kids might like this.

Please let me know your comments and alterations of this recipe.

Je travaille dés fois sur un marché local, dans le sud-ouest de la France, avec un agriculteur néerlandais.
Okay je me lance aujourd'hui avec la première recette du marché:
L' assortiment est très basique en ce moment car le printemps est en retard. Il a perdu 3 semaines de salades à cause de la pluie et le froid. Aussi les pommes de terre nouvelles se laissent attendre. Aujourd'hui il y avait des oignons blancs et l'ail frais, des pommes de terre d'hiver et des betteraves. Un client est venu pour acheter les betteraves cuites et il m'a donner ça recettes pour les betteraves crues:
éplucher les betteraves crues et coupez-les en rondelles assez fines.
Battre un oeuf dans un plat à soupe et dans une autre assiette mettre de la chapelure. Tranche par tranche passer dans l'oeuf puis chapelure. Faire dorer dans une poêle avec u peu de huile (d'olive). Saler ( et poivrer) et servir avec le vert des oignons blancs.

Laissez-moi savoir vos commentaires sur la recette et faites partager vos recettes de betteraves ou autres légumes/plats de saison !