I’ve been neglecting the posts here, too many things to do at the same time.

– chop some chicken breast (this recipe also works with pork fillet) into tiny pieces, toss in cornflour and fry in some oil until light brown and crisp, depending on quantity you may need to make two or three batches
– take out the cooked the chicken pieces and drain on some kitchen roll
– fry chopped onion and peppers in remaining oil, add a very thinly sliced carrot (I sometimes add some broccoli flowers too)
– once the vegetables are starting to get soft add a tin of chopped pineapple pieces and their juice, some tomato purée, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and a little cornflour dissolved in some sherry
– cook for a few minutes until the sauce starts to thicken and add the fried chicken pieces
– serve with rice or as part of an oriental buffet.

Meanwhile a little progess on the book and still no sight of winter.

No posts for a while now, this can be explained by a mixture of laziness and too many things to do in the build up to the festive season. The builder is still here, in fact we will probably have him for Christmas lunch today – the frost has caused endless delays to the terrace work.

In an attempt to cook something light but tasty and special for Christmas Eve dinner, I came up with the following which was a great success.

– fry some chopped onion and peppers (red or yellow are best) in a little oil
– add some crushed garlic and a tin of coconut milk, simmer for a few minutes
– peel some shrimps and add these to the sauce, if ready cooked shrimps they just need to be heated through, if they are fresh and uncooked put up the heat and cook them in the sauce until they are pink and cooked through
– garnish with fresh coriander and serve with roast vegetables (recipe here) and a mesclun salad with balasmic vinegar and olive oil dressing.

Now I have to go and start preparing the turkey. Happy Christmas everyone!

This whole vegetable gratin business is getting out of hand. I am seriously thinking of registering courgettegratin.com or vegetablegratin.com.

This little film (see right) has been sent in by my fan, you need a Quicktime plug in to view it. It demonstrates the version made with smoked salmon and ravioles, which are tiny French raviolis stuffed with cheese and herbs, made in Alsace or somewhere over there near Switzerland.

I went to Switzerland many years ago, the father of a friend of ours had a vineyard up near Vevey. I recall drinking vast amounts of his white wine and then going up into the snowy hills for a snowball fight and fried perch fillets and chips. The restaurant broke a hole in the ice over the frozen lake next door, threw in some explosives and picked up the fresh stunned/dead perch out the hole. It was one of these “as much as you can eat places” – the restaurant must be closed down by now, and catching fish like that must have been banned at least a decade ago (we are talking about Switzerland here). Great day and wonderful memories.

Back here in reality, the builders are moving forward very slowly, I always knew that paying them on a daily basis was a bad idea.

The builders are here, the banging starts at 8am. Today, in an attempt to motivate them (and avoid their usual 4 hour lunch break), I cooked a gourmet lunch for them. Greatly appreciated despite some of the dishes being extremely spicy. Eating lunch outside on December 5th was very decadent (talk about climate change), we christened our “new” and not-quite-finished terrace. The previously mentioned roast vegetables recipe was part of this meal.

method:
– cut potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, carrots and parsnips (or any selection thereof) into large chunks
– boil or steam until cooked but still firm (about 6 minutes)
– melt some duck fat in an overproof dish, add some ground rosemary, rock salt and cumin seeds and toss the strained vegetables in this mixture until well coated
– place in a hot oven until the vegetables are cooked through and lightly browned (about 30-40 minutes depending on the oven)

Terrible week in Paris, it was grey and everything is so complicated these days. Good food though, an especially memorable Indian lunch where the bindi bhaji were very very good and the chicken tikka masala very spicy HOT (as requested) for once.

One of my (numerous) fans who uses the highly dubious name of “benquicky” has sent me a photo of the now evidently famous courgette gratin recipe in the process of being cooked. She further promises photos of a dish in various stages of its elaboration as well as a critics appraisal of the recipe. Can’t wait!

Orignal recipe can be found herebelow on 23rd October or on this link.

This vegetable gratin thing now has so many variations we could almost write a whole book about the method. The goats cheese and tomato layer version is having particular sucess amongst those who don’t eat cream and are looking after their figures, it even works without the pasta (or ravioles). Anyway I am thing of starting a separate blog all about “gratins” – if anyone thinks this is a good idea please let me know and support the plan….

Benquicky reports disturbing flatulence problems following the digestion of vast quantities of courgette and salmon version of the famous gratin dish. Be warned.

More gory details of benquicky’s condition can be found here http://www.myspace.com/benquicky.

Today’s lunch is veal blanquette with carrots, served with roast parsnips and sweet potatoes. Time allowing, the recipes might be posted tomorrow.

This is a winter favorite, slow cooking in the oven is essential.

method:
– fry chopped onions and bite-sized chunks of stewing beef
– add hot paprika, cinnamon and ground cumin, fry for a minute or so until the spices coat the meat
– add chopped carrots, red wine stock, some orange zest, salt and water to cover
– place in a covered casserole dish and cook in the oven at 150 degrees for two hours or so. Make sure it doesnt get too dry.
– (optional) 15 minutes before serving add chopped mushrooms
– Serve with rice

To keep the stones alive, you should soak them in a saline solution for 24 hours before the full moon and put them out to dry in the full moonlight. These stones have great power but we have to give them back their energy.
This is the great lesson of this last weekend and a wonderful Sunday lunch where so much was left unsaid but so much accomplished and even more understood. The menu, exotic as ever, was lamb tajine with couscous.

method:
– chop dried apricots and dates and put to soak in lime juice with some raisins
– fry onion in a little hot oil
– add chunks of lean lamb and brown, add ground cumin, coriander seeds and chilli pepper and fry for two minutes to incorporate all the ingredients
– place in a tajine (earthenware dish with a cone cover) with large chunks of parsnip or turnip, potato, some whole carrots, chopped fennel, whole garlic cloves, courgette….. in fact almost any vegetables will do
– add vegetable or meat stock to cover with a lot of saffron (stems dissolved in warm water or crushed) and salt
– cover with tajine cone and cook at low heat in the oven or on the stove for two hours
– fifteen minutes before serving add the dried fruit that has been soaking in the lime juice, mix well
– serve with couscous and fresh coriander

I made the vegetarian gratin recipe last night adding a layer of sliced goats cheese. This transforms the dish completely and raises it to new levels of deliciousness

Orignal recipe can be found herebelow on 23rd October or on this link.

ingredients:
diced pork fillet
chopped fresh ginger
chopped onion
half glass chicken stock
two large spoons brown sugar
two soup spoons soy sauce
half glass madere, xeres, sherry, etc.

method:
– fry onion in a little hot oil
– add pork and ginger
– once the meat is browned add all the other ingredients except the soy sauce
– reduce sauce over high heat until it thickens
– add soy sauce and serve with white rice.

Off on my travels again, Paris, Monte-Carlo then maybe even Hungary. The planes and airports are as unpleasant as ever, it’s just the pain of travelling is shorter by air.

Found some extremely interesting documents about how to diet by eating oriental food. Very little meat, chinese tea, take your time and eat your rice and sauce seperately, not mixed up. More about this in future posts

Meanwhile a variation of a vegetable lasagne recipe that Nicole gave me last year. She made this with layers of herb “ravioles” which are basically little raviolis made somewhere in the east of France
– place alternate layers of sliced courgettes, sliced tomatoes and smoked salmon in an ovenproof dish
– add plenty of pepper and a little fresh cream (the tomatoes give out most of the moisure requires for this dish)
– top with mozarella and grated cheese
– bake in a hot oven until the courgettes are cooked and the cheese lightly browned (about 30 minutes)
– you can replace or add layers with lasagne or indeed other sliced or finely chopped vegetables.

Mushrooms again. Millions of them. Normally this species (Craterelles cornucopioides) only comes every five years and we picked and dried huge quantities last year. Their re-appearance this year is therefore a pleasant surprise, albeit yet another symptom of world climate change and disorder.

Of course I was woken up at 7 in the morning with the farmer ploughing the field next door. They are harvesting the maize too, until late at night, so it is not as peaceful as one would expect at this time of year.

Meanwhile chicken rolls stuffed with trompettes
– soak the dried Trompette mushrooms in a little warm water for 20 minutes (same for fresh ones as this eliminates the grit and the strained water is used for the sauce)
– cut a pouch in the chicken breasts and stuff with the mushrooms
– roll in a very thin slice of smoked ham which holds everything together
– sprinkle with flour, brush with a beaten egg, and then coat with breadcrumbs
– place on a greased dish in a hot oven until browned and cooked through (about 25 minutes)
– reduce a little stock with some of the water from the soaked Trompettes (strain to remove any dirt and grit), some Madiera (or Port), some blueberry jam and fruit (in France you can buy these fresh in season and all year round in a jar or tin, other names include myrtilles, Vaccinium myrtillus, whortleberry), salt and pepper, thicken with a little fresh cream
– pour the sauce over the chicken rolls and serve with fresh pasta