Udon noodles with sweetheart cabbage, mushrooms and sriracha sauce

Two noodle recipes in a row, I know. It's a total coincidence, though. We do eat other things than noodles.

Part of the charm of the subscription to a vegetable delivery is that you get vegetables you wouldn't normally buy or that may not even be on sale at the greegrocer's or supermarket. Like the sweetheart cabbage (gotta love it, if only for the name!) I found in this week's bag. I can't remember having eaten it ever and I have most certainly never cooked it so far. I fancied noodles so without doing any research on the stranger in my vegetable drawer, I decided to stir fry it with some onions, button mushrooms and bacon. Why bacon? Cabbage loves a little pork, I reckoned and really - you can't go wrong with bacon, can you? A spritz of soy sauce and a liberal dousing with sriracha sauce (be a liberal as you dare) finished the dish off. I ate it by myself in the balmy evening air in the "company" only of the neighbours, also out on their balconies or rooftop terraces.

Udon noodles with sweetheart cabbage, mushrooms and sriracha sauce

(serves 1 or 2 , depending on greed)

• 80g udon noodles
• 0.5 tablespoons rapseed oil
• 0.5 onion, in strips
• 1 tablespoon bacon in small dice
• 1 sweetheart cabbage 1, finely sliced, tough parts removed
• 8 button mushrooms, quartered
• soy sauce
• sriracha sauce

Cook the udon noodles until soft, drain and refresh quickly under the cold tap. Set aside. Heat the oil in a wok or large nonstick frying pan. Fry the onion and bacon for about 2-3 minutes, then add the cabbage and mushrooms and stir fry over a high heat until the cabbage is done. Sesason to taste with soy sauce and sriracha sauce. Add the noodles and toss for a minute until everything is evenly mixed and the noodles are heated through. Serve immediately with more sriracha sauce for those who like it hot.

Soba noodle salad with coconut dressing

Last year, my employer invited a nutritionist to give talks on what to eat in order to stay healthy during the colder months, hoping, of course, that less people would have to call in sick. A clever little plot, somewhat less radical and obvious than the free flu jab. There was a lot of talk about vitamins, minerals, free radicals and their friends and relations. Very interesting but not much has stuck, to be honest. And after reading "In the Defence of Food: an Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan, I'm not sure it even matters. I thought the greatest tip we got was to make your plate as colourful as possible as, apparently, a variety of colours (vegetables and fruit, not gummy bears) pretty much equals a variety of nutrients. Nutritional value aside, it looks and tastes great. If all the lectures on vitamins, good fats and bad fats definitely turn out to be complete bogus, you at least had a lovely meal. What more could you ask for? Get that chopping board out!

Soba noodle salad with coconut dressing (serves 2)

• 160g soba noodles
• 1 scallion, white part finely chopped
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 1 zucchini, julienned
• 1/4 head red cabbage, very finely chopped
• 1 small handfull sprouts (rocket, onion, alfalfa)
• 6 radishes, quartered
• 6 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• a dash of soy sauce and lemon juice

Cook the soba noodles until soft. Drain, refresh under cold water and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a wok or a large frying pan. Stir fry the onions and carrots for one minute, then add the zucchini and cook for another minute. Add the cabbage and toss. Remove from the heat and put the vegetables into a bowl. Let cool slightly. Add the cold noodles, sprouts, radishes and tomatoes. Stir the coconut milk, sweet chili sauce and sesame oil together and season to taste with soy sauce and lemon juice. Pour over the noodles and vegetables and toss until everything is evenly coated.

I had some grilled paneer with it. Tofu would be nice, too and more "authentic".

Cauliflower gratin, take two

Sometimes, when I'm not sure what to cook, I browse Tastespotting for immediate inspiration (and recipe to go with it!). What strikes me every time is just how many people will put great efforts into making the most elaborate pastries, cakes and desserts. It puts a smile on my face because, surely, with so many people spending hours in the kitchen until they found the key to the perfect éclair, the world can't be bad place. What's my point, you ask? I don't have one, actually. Sorry.

I decided to give the cauliflower au gratin I made some time ago another try. And yes, I do realise I just abruptly changed topic. And that my picture sucks but it's wintertime, daylight is scarce and I don't have a clue about photography. But back to the cauliflower. I hadn't been convinced 100% the first time around, even though my judgement had been somewhat mellowed by the fact that the leftovers tasted so good. But then - why would anyone a make a cauliflower bake that only displayed its true glory after a night in the fridge?

Here's what I changed the second time round: two eggs instead of one, gruyère cheese added to the cottage cheese-egg mixture which I also blended to make it smoother. The result was a little thick so I thinned it out with a glug of milk (full fat, I lost that battle with the Husband long ago). All in all, this version is less diet-friendly than the first but so much better for it. But of course.

Ottolenghi green bean salad

I'm such a lousy/lazy blogger - no post in several weeks. I'm really good at looking at other blogs though, does that count? I particularly love it when the Daring Bakers are getting their whisks and spatulas out and across the world, bloggers tackle the same elaborate cake recipe. Just look at all those Filbert Gâteaux! They look amazing! I love the idea of joining the Daring Bakers myself but two things stop me:

1. I can't even find time to write my "regular" posts so I won't kid myself into thinking that I might engage in some very advanced baking once a month and write about it, too.
2. The effect on my waistline would be devastating. Daring Bakers is safer for large households.

I'll stick to reading about other people's adventures with buttercream and génoise and things and try to write about my own humble recipes, such as this bean salad from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook.

Well. I should have known better. I dislike crisp, squeaky green beans and yet, I followed the instructions and cooked the beans for only a couple of minutes. The stiff unyielding beans then managed to keep the other tastes at bay, as if they were sitting in the bowl with their arms crossed, thinking that no way were they going to snuggle up to toasted hazelnuts and orange juice. Can you tell from the picture how stubborn they were? Next time, I'll definitely cook the beans until soft, even if they loose their vibrant colour.

I put down the bean salad as I'd make it in the future, not quite Ottolenghi style but certainly strongly inspired by the recipe in the fabulous book.

Green bean salad with toasted hazelnuts and orange vinaigrette
(serves 4 as a starter)

• 500g grean beans
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• a small handfull toasted hazelnuts, chopped
• juice of one orange
• a little orange zest
• olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook the beans until tender, the drain. Stir the orange juice, zest, olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic together. In a large bowl, combine the beans, vinaigrette and hazelnuts and let sit for at least thirty minutes in order for the flavours to combine. Fresh goat cheese and rustic bread are perfect companions.

Aubergine salad

This is one I clipped out from kochen, I Swiss cooking magazine I have a subscription to. I And I'd better write it down quickly because just when I had finished cooking, the Boyfriend opened the kitchen window and the wind carried my clipping away. Gone with the wind, so to speak.

Aubergine salad
(serves 4 as a side dish or starter)

• 2 medium-sized aubergines
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 small onion
• a small handfull of fresh oregano leaves
• a pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  
• 1 tablespoon capers
• 12 green olives, pitted
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar

Finely dice the aubergines. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil, add the aubergines and fry over medium heat until lightly browned and softened. Season lightly with salt and pepper. While the aubergines are browning, deseed and chop the tomatoes and rinse and chop the capers and olives. Finely chop the onion and the oregano leaves. Add the tomaotes, onions, sugar and pine nuts to the pan and fry for another two minutes. Add the capers, olives, oregano and balsamic vinegar and heat through briefly. Remove from the heat. Check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Serve slightly warm or a room temperature.

I omitted the pine nuts because we'll have this apple torte later which contains almonds and wouldn't it be a culinary fauxpas to serve a starter with pine nuts and a cake with almonds after that? Yes, it would. I added a little chopped mint, though, because we have mint on our balcony and it is growing so beautifully, begging to be added to dishes.

Quite easy courgette tart

This was going to be the easy courgette tart I mentioned in my last post, a recipe clipped from eve magazine or maybe Easy Living. But things happened on the way. See, the "easy" part of this tart has a lot to do with using ready rolled puff pastry. And while ready rolled puff pastry makes the task of baking a tart laughably easy indeed, it is not so kind on your health, being packed with fat. Now before you think I'm a boring health nut and click away - I'm not. Seriously, I was going to buy the pastry, I had the roll in my hand and my hand was halfway in my basket. And I would have bought it, walked home with it and made this tart according to instructions, had I not cast a glance at the list of ingredients on the package and seen just the kind of fats used in the pastry. Transfats, people, as nasty as they come. I could have dealt with butter but with these I couldn't. The puff pastry went right back to where it came from and I decided to take a leaf from Clotilde's book and make this tart with a polenta base instead. A little more work, yes, but still quite easy.

Quite easy courgette tart (serves 2)

• 125g fine polenta
• 450ml water
• a good pinch of salt
• a generous sprinkling of dried thyme
• 120g soft ricotta
  
• 2 teaspoons grated parmesan
• a little grated lemon zest
  
• 2 small zucchini
• 0.5 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2-3 basil leaves
• parmesan (optional)
  

Bring the water to the boil and salt to taste. Crumble the thyme between your fingers and add to the pan, then add the polenta while stirring constantly. Simmer for a few minutes over a low heat until quite thick. Spread into a round baking pan or pie dish (mine had a diameter of 25cm, a little larger would be fine, too but you might need more zucchini) which you've lightly oiled with some olive oil. Let the polenta sit for about fifteen minutes. Preheat the oven to 250°. Mix the ricotta with the lemon zest and the grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper. Very finely and evenly slice the zucchini. You can do this yourself or instruct another person in your household to do so under your supervision. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put it on top of your baking pan with the polenta, parchment paper side down. Firmly press the baking pan and the baking sheet against each other and turn around with a swift movement so that this time, the baking pan with the polenta is on top. Lift the baking pan away. Take a moment to admire the smooth disc of polenta before you, then slide it into the hot oven and bake for about twenty minutes or until lightly browned. You can use the grill but watch that parchment paper. Mine was looking very parched indeed after just a few minutes under the grill. Remove the polenta round from the oven and spread with the ricotta mixture. Arrange the zucchini slices on top, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Slide back into the oven and cook for about twenty minutes or until the zucchini are tender. Transfer onto a serving platter and top with the chopped basil and some parmesan shavings if using.

Maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils

The Boyfriend and I are moving in one month. Again. I remember saying to him that I wouldn't go anywhere for a while when we moved into the apartment we now live in. That was not even three years ago. And now things turned out differently at work than I ever expected, big and exciting (scary?) changes await and instead of me trying to find a new job in the town where we live now, he gave up his job and is looking for work in the town I've been commuting to for the last three years. Did I mention that I love him?

Moving, of course, equals the cleaning out of cupboards. We filled large bags with clothes to give to charity and are feasting on pulses like they're going out of fashion. Last week: Treberwurst (a large, ground-meat sausage with a local grappa-style spirit and raisins) with lentils, later this week: thai-scented sweet potato soup (featuring red lentils) and yesterday: maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils. We'll be ready to tackle the Beluga lentils by the beginning of next week.

Maccheroni with cavolo nero and red lentils (serves 4)

• 1 cavolo nero (a kind of cabbage often used in italian cooking)
  
• 1 small red onion
• 40g pancetta, diced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
  
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée
• 200g red lentils
• 200g maccheroni or other short pasta
• 1 stock cube
• water
• 10 cherry tomatoes (optional)
  
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut the leaves of the cabbage and chop them roughly. Boil them in salted water for 5 minutes, then drain. Finely chop the onion. In a very large and deep frying pan with a cover, gently fry the onion and pancetta in the olive oil. Add the tomato purée and fry for another minute, stirring continuously. Add the drained cabbage, red lentils, stock cube and add enough water to generously cover everything. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta and the quartered cherry tomatoes if using and cook, uncovered, until the pasta is done. You might need to add more water. Check the seasoning and serve in deep plates with some grated cheese on top.

Stuffed portobello mushrooms

I used to love to read Bread and Butter, written by Stevi, an Englishwoman living in Greece. Used to because the blog is discontinued - too bad. Stevi once featured a recipe for bulgur-stuffed portobello mushrooms, which I've been meaning to make for ages, only they were never any portobello mushrooms around! I finally spotted some a few weeks ago and immediately changed my dinner plans. The day of the stuffed portobello mushrooms had arrived at last. I roughly followed Stevi's recipe but added finely chopped carrots and tomatoes to the bulgur, as well as some crumbly goat cheese just before I slid the mushrooms into the oven. There's hardly any need for very precise measurements, two mushrooms per person and about 50g of bulgur wheat and then whatever takes your fancy. Serve with a mixed leaf green salad for a too-healthy-to-be-true and (yet) truly delicious lunch.

Tomato and pepper soup with pecorino and basil

I never thought this would be one for the blog. I made this one monday night after a weekend away when I hadn't had time to shop and there were not many very exciting things around in the kitchen. A yellow pepper, a small handfull of cherry tomatoes. A piece of percorino cheese - small and not so fresh and appealing-looking any more even though it was still perfectly ok. Do you know the kind? They often get treated unfairly, the poor sods. Anyway. A can of pelati unearthed from the kitchen drawer and dinner was saved. While I expected this soup to be tasty and filling, I never thought that we would end up scraping the soup ladle with our spoon after we had mopped up every last bit from our plates. Use only fresh tomatoes if you can for even more summer in your plate, I simply didn't have enough fresh so I resorted to tinned.

Tomato and pepper soup with pecorino and basil (serves 2)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 yellow pepper, finely diced
• 5-6 cherry tomatoes, halved or
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 400g-tin tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 6 basil leaves, finely chopped
• a small piece of pecorino cheese, grated

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the onion and garlic and gently fry until soft. Add the pepper and cherry tomatoes or the chopped tomato and fry for another minute before adding the tinned tomatoes. Half-fill the tin with water and add it to the pan together with the stock cube. Simmer the soup for twenty minutes, then blend until smooth. Add the sour cream and season to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with the basil and the pecorino cheese. Drizzle with some extra olive oil if you like.

If you want your soup to be perfectly smooth you'd have to peel your peppers and tomatoes, even with a top-notch blender, there will still be some of the pepper and tomato skin left otherwise.

Chili chicken and cashew salad

This is the kind of dish that is sometimes called low-carb. It is low-carb, of course, but there is no such label in this blog. We love ourselves some starchy food over at beurre et pain! Potatoes, rice, pasta, bread - bring them on! Why did people suddenly start to believe that carbohydrates were making them fat? Could it be that carbs are not bad as such but that too large quantities will make you pile on the pounds? Anyhow, I'm carb-friendly which is why I think that, by all means, you should add some cold noodles to this salad if you feel so inclined.

Chili chicken and cashew salad (serves 4)
Recipe from Cool Food, published at Murdoch Foods

• 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 small red chili, finely chopped
• 1.5 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 600g chicken breast fillets
• 100g salad leaves
• 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 100g lebanese cucumber, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 50g snow pea sprouts, trimmed
• 80g cashew nuts, roughly chopped

Combine the chili sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, coriander, garlic, chili, ginger and 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large bowl.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying or chargrill pan over medium heat until hot, and cook the chicken for 5-8 minutes on each side or until cooked through. While still hot, slice each breast widthways into 1 cm slices and toss in the bowl with the dressing. Leave to cool slightly.

Combine the salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumber chunks and snow pea sprouts in a serving bowl. Add the chicken and all of the dressing, and toss gently until the leaves are lightly coated. Scatter with the chopped cashews and serve.

P.S. I misread snow pea sprouts for snow peas. That was nice, too.

Cauliflower salad with warm parma ham and orange dressing

Ok, I admit that this may not be the prettiest cauliflower dish you have ever seen but believe me, you might want to trade looks for taste here. This is good stuff, folks. My brother in law gave the Boyfriend a huge chunk of the finest Schwarzwälder Schinken (dry-cured ham from the Schwarzwald region in Southern Germany) for his birthday (a very manly gift, indeed) so ham pops up here and there in our food. I put some in the cannelloni filling I made the other day to very subtly enhance the ragù's taste. But back to cauliflower. I had one in my fridge and wanted to make something a little different with it. This is the result.

Cauliflower salad with warm parma ham and orange dressing (serves 2)

• one cauliflower head, washed and cut into florets
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 1 small handfull shaved almonds, toasted
• 2 thick slices dry-cured ham, diced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Steam the cauliflower until soft and put in a shallow dish. Heat the olive oil in a small frying pan and fry the ham for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the orange juice, vinegar, garlic and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Scatter the tomaotes and almonds over the cauliflower and drizzle with the dressing. Let stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes in order for the flavours to develop.

Bean soup with sausage, celery, carrots and tomatoes

The Boyfriend and I are moving to another city. Only in december but I'm dreading it now already. As much as I'm looking forward to living in a new place, I just find moving so unsettling. Rummaging through my kitchen cupboard the other day, I found a half-empty bag of soissons beans in a remote corner and immediately decided they had to be cooked for fear of having to pack and unpack them in a couple of months. I hear there are pulses where we are going. Apart from the beans I had some sausage that needed to be used up and that's how this meal came together. Autumn has been creeping in and this dish fits the weather perfectly.

Bean soup with sausage, celery, carrots and tomatoes (serves 2)

• 160g of soissons beans
• a pinch of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 large ground meat sausage
  
• 2-3 celery stalks, finely chopped
  
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
  
• 2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
  
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small dried chili, crumbled
  
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 sprigs of dill, finely chopped
  

Soak the beans with the bicarbonate of soda in cold water over night. Drain and cook until soft. (I used my tried and tested pressure cooker and it took only ten minutes.) Blend the beans and the garlic with some of the cooking water until smooth. Pour back into the pan and season with salt and pepper. While the beans are cooking, prepare the topping. Remove the sausage meat from the casing and roll into small balls. Fry them in a large frying pan until nicely browned, then remove. Wipe the pan with kitchen paper, add the olive oil and heat gently. Add the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Cover the pan and cook the vegetables until just done. Add the sausage balls, tomatoes, chili and dill and correct the seasoning. Divide the soup between two plates and top with the sausage and vegetables.

Summer Fish Salad

What is going on with summer this year? It's sweltering hot one day and uncomfortably cool and pouring down with rain the next. In fact, it has been raining so much lately that I got myself a pair of bright pink wellington boots. If you, too, are sick of arriving at work/home with you favourite shoes soaked I highly recommend you have a look at www.funkywellies.co.uk. Of course, I really hope that summer is real wherever you live in which case I this you might want to try this summer fish salad.

Summer fish salad (serves 2)

• 300g fish fillets, cut into chunks
• juice of one lemon
• salt and white pepper for the fish
  
• 500g green beans, blanched and cooled (any variety works fine)
• 12 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 heaped teaspoon french mustard
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped chervil
• salt and pepper

Drizzle the fish with the lemon juice and sparingly season with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Cook the fish in a steam basket until done. Set aside and let cool a bit. Put the beans and tomatoes in a large bowl. Stir the mustard, vinegar, oil, chervil and salt and pepper together to make the dressing. Add to the vegetables, reserving a little bit for the fish. Toss carefully until the beans and tomatoes are coated. Divide between two plates. Arrange the fish fillets on top and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve with a glass of well-chilled fruity white wine if you like. Pour yourself a glass of well-chilled white wine and tuck in.

Cooking for Karina

When I read about Cooking for Karina I immediately wanted to participate. Isaiah of Gluten-Free by the Bay came up with the idea to assemble a collection of recipes suitable for Karina of Gluten-Free Goddess, who recently discovered that there was a number of foods she was allergic to and of course also for other people suffering from food allergies. The following food groups are ruled out:

Cow's milk/cheese/whey/casein/goat's milk, egg whites/yokes, chicken/turkey, gluten, peanuts, almonds/walnuts, sunflower seeds, soybeans, lemon, avocado, pineapple, papaya, green beans, kidney beans, oysters.

A bit tricky. I read and re-read that list a few times, dishes sprang to my mind - and were discarded for containing one of the offenders. Finally, I settled on a korean eggplant salad with sesame and herbs. Eggplants being one of my favourite vegetables, I'm always looking for new ways of preparing them. I found this recipe here on waskochen, where a group of friends present a new recipe every week, complete with a chef-de-cuisine-film, shopping list etc. This salad is adorably quick and easy to make, wonderfully refreshing on hot days and light as the eggplant, seeing it is boiled rather than sautéd, does not have a chance to do its sponge-act and end up drenched in oil. Ha.

Korean eggplant salad with sesame and herbs (serves 1)

• 1 eggplant, washed and cut into large cubes
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
• salt and pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon chopped herbs such as parsley, cilantro, mint etc.

Boil the eggplant in salted water for five minutes, then drain. Let cool. Combine all the other ingredients to make the dressing and toss with the eggplant. Lovely with a barbecue or simply a bowl of basmati rice.

I was unsure about the use of sesame and sesame oil. They didn't figure on the list but I know allergic reactions to sesame are not unusual. The sesame seeds can of course be left out and the sesame oil be replaced with any other kind of oil. Minced or finely chopped garlic can be added to the dressing.

Chickpea, tomato and pepper salad

I could drool over Fran Warde's Eat Drink Live, 150 Recipes for Morning, Noon, Night forever and yet, the only thing I have ever made from it is the vegetable couscous. I'm a bit embarassed to tell you this but there you go. The 2007 challenge will hopefully help me do something about it. The chickpea, tomato and pepper salad I made to accompany the barbecued steaks and sausages the other day was a great start, I tought. I swear I'll make the rosemary and lemon roasted chicken next.

Chickpea, tomato and pepper salad (serves 4)

• 5 plum tomatoes, halved and deseeded
• 3 large red peppers, halved and deseeded
• 375 canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• a bunch of flat leaf parsley
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Lightly oil a roasting tin and add the tomatoes and peppers. Cook in a preheated oven at 190° for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the tomatoes and pepper to a bowl. Add the drained chickpeas, then mix in the parsley and seasoning. Transfer the salad to a serving dish, sprinkle with a little olive oil, then serve at room temperature. Perfectly easy and summery. If you want a little more "zing", add a dash of aged balsamic vinegar or a sprinkling of Ras el hanout or Dukkah for an oriental feel.

Tartes aux blettes ma façon

Tarte aux blettes, a kind of quiche with swiss chard, is, it seems, is a traditional dish from the South of France. What I present here is my version, adapted to my ideas du jour. I have seen many recipes which contained cream and eggs - so that might be the "real" way to make it. The dough with potatoes has its origins in Italy. I wish to point this out because an (anonymous) reader got very cross with me, saying that I shouldn't write about italian cooking since I clearly didn't have a clue what italian cooking was. The recipes I write about in this blog are rarely "pure-breed" but usually a mixture of several recipes or dishes I've tried. I never claim to present the one and only way of making something (which, incidentally, I believe does not exist when it comes to cooking) but simply one possibility. If my recipes appeal to you, that makes me very happy, if they don't, you simply ignore them. No harm done.

Tarte aux blettes ma façon
(serves six or more, depending whether you serve other things as well)

For the dough:

• 300g starchy potatoes
• 150g flour
• 30 fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large pinch of salt

For the swiss chard:

• 1kg swiss chard
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons raisins, soaked in warm water
  
• salt, pepper and nutmeg

Cook the whole potatoes until soft. Let cool for a few minutes and peel, then mash in a food mill or with a fork. Crumble the yeast into a little bowl and sprinkle with the sugar. Let stand for a minute, then mix with a spoon until the yeast is liquid. Add the flour, olive oil, salt and yeast to the potatoes and mix with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients come together. Knead vigourously for a few minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky. You might need to add more flour - the exact amount depends on how much starch the potatoes contain. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover and let stand for about 1 hour.

Wash the chard and cut off the green leaves. Chop stems and leaves. Boil separately in a large pan for a few minutes (the leaves will only take a short time) until done. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the garlic until soft but not browned. Add the swiss chard and the drained raisins and cook for another three minutes. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg and set aside to cool.

Knock back the dough and roll out on a floured surface (about 2 cm thickness). Transfer onto a prepared baking sheet and let stand for 20 minutes. Distribute the swiss chard on top and bake in the preheated oven (200°) for about 30-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Serve tepid or cold, preferably with a glass of well chilled white wine

P.S. This makes a very large tarte, suitable for a buffet or a drinks party with lots of guests.

P.P.S. Dough containing potato will inevitably be softer and chewier than the flour-only variety. You might want to omit the potatoes if you like your tarte with a crisp dough. Or try baking the dough first, like a focaccia and add the chard afterwards (I haven't tried that yet, I only read about it this morning, but I will sometimes soon).

East meets west noodle salad

I've mentioned before that lunch on saturdays is my preferred mealtime of the week. There is nothing more relaxed and more pleasurable as far as I'm concerned! This is what I came up with last saturday, a creation of my own, so to speak - M., this one is for you! The vegetables can be varied according to whatever you happen to have (but I know some people who would never leave the mangtout out). I called it east meets west because of the smoked salmon, which is completely optional, of course, though the saltiness works well with the sweetish dressing (plus, I just needed to use it up).

East meets west noodle salad (serves 1 very hungry or 2 moderately hungry persons)

• 80g dried egg noodles
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 0.5 teaspoon olive oil
• half a spring onion, finely chopped
• half a red pepper, cut into thin strips
• 50g mange-tout (I used frozen)
• 1 slice smoked salmon, cut into strips
• 1 handfull mustard cress
• a couple of mint leaves, chopped
• a sprinkle of Nanami Togarashi or chili flakes
  

For the dressing:

• 2 tablespoon coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons nuoc nam
• 1 teaspoon demerara sugar
  

Cook the noodles, drain and refresh under the cold tap. Place in a bowl and mix with one teaspoon sesame oil in order to prevent them from sticking together. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and gently fry the spring onion until soft, then add the pepper and fry for a couple of minutes but make sure it remains crunchy. Add the mangetout and cook briefly until just done. Don't overcook or they'll lose their beautiful colour. Set the vegetables aside to cool slightly. Stir all the ingredients for the dressing together, adjusting the quantities according to taste. Add the vegetables, the salmon strips, mustard cress and mint to the noodles and mix carefully. Pour over the dressing and toss. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of Nanami Togarashi or chili flakes and eat with chopsticks.

Asparagus salad with smoked salmon and honey-mustard-vinaigrette

There are some seasonal foods I like so much that I'll have them basically whenever I can and in whatever way. Raspberries are one of these foods. Asparagus are another - green or white, soup, salad, boiled, roasted, with pasta, rice - anything is fine with me. I've tried a myriad of asparagus recipes but this is one I resort to over and over again, it's a simple and classic combination which works every time (I think).

Asparagus salad with smoked salmon and honey-mustard vinaigrette (serves 4)

• 1 bunch green asparagus (1kg)
• 1 tablespoon gros-grain mustard
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 slices smoked salmon, cut into strips

Wash the asparagus and cut off the woody ends. Cut the asparagus in 5 to 10cm-long pieces. Reserve the tips and steam the stems until just tender. Refresh briefly under cold water. Repeat with the asparagus tips and put stems and tips into a bowl. Stir all the ingredients for the vinaigrette together. Add the salmon strips to the asparagus, then the vinaigrette and stir carefully. Serve immediately.

Spring vegetable salad with smoked trout

I tried to recreate a dish my aunt once made for me. I wanted to call her and ask for instructions but she was away on a holiday so I just proceeded as I saw fit. This is great for a light dinner, accompanied by some young boiled potatoes or some crusty bread.

Spring vegetable salad with smoked trout (serves 2)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
• 2 zucchini, cut into sticks
• 150g peas
• 1 small glass Noilly Prat (dry vermouth)
  
• 2 smoked trout fillets
• 4 tablespoons sour milk
• 2 teaspoons horseradish
• a little lemon juice
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large frying pan, gently heat the olive oil and sauté the spring onion until soft. Do not brown. Add the carrots, cover the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionnally, until the carrots are nearly done, then add the zucchini. Cook until the vegetables are done but still have a little crunch. Add the peas, up the heat and add the Noilly Prat and let evaporate. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Cut the trout fillets into large chunks and carefully mix into the vegetables. Stir the sour milk, horseradish and lemon juice together and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the fish and vegetables and toss carefully until the salad is evenly coated. Serve lukewarm.

Cauliflower gratin

Gratins usually come with béchamel sauce or lashings of cream, eggs and cheese - hearty, comforting and definitely not kind on your waistline. Is there such as thing as a light version of gratin? According to Julie Andrieu's Julie cuisine pour garder la ligne (Julie cooks so as to stay in shape - no one does "diet" cookbooks like the French) there is if you use only a little half-fat cream and cottage cheese. I was intrigued and tried her recipe for making a cauliflower gratin (she uses zucchini, carrots and spring onions) which also constitutes the contribution to the 2007 challenge for week 18.

Cauliflower gratin (serves 3-4)

• one large cauliflowers, washed and cut into florets
• 1 teaspoon olive oil (to grease the gratin dish)
  
• 2 eggs
• 200g cottage cheese
• 2 cl half-fat cream
• salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons water (my addition, the zucchini used in the original recipe probably give off quite some liquid)

Steam the cauliflower florets until just soft. Put into a lightly greased oven-proof dish. Beat the eggs with the cream (and water, if using), then stir in the cottage cheese. Season with salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables and bake at 200°C in the preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes.

My verdict: good. Would I make this again? Yes. Maybe. It's not quite the real thing, though. I might go back to the "full-on" version - just not every day.

P.S. I packed the leftovers in my lunchbox and ate them cold (or at room temperature, rather, as we don't have a fridge at work) the next day and you know what? It tasted fantastic. Might be a keeper after all.