Grilled pineapple, creme brûlée icecream

Slice a fresh pineapple lengthways. 

Put on BBQ sticks. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Fry in butter in a griddle pan.

Cod, leek, red wine sauce

Start with the sauce: 

Sweat some shallot and a garlic clove in butter. Add 1/3 bottle of light red wine, some vegetal stock, tomato puree, salt, pepper and some herbs (rosemary, sage, laurel, parsley). When thickened use a sieve to get the solid parts out. Then whisk in some ice-cold butter to get a velvety sauce. Set aside to warm later.

Turn on the oven at 180 C.

Slice the white of a leek lengthwise, then cut into half rings. Sweat the leek in butter. In the meantime mix flour, salt and peper in a plastic bag. Put in two nice cod filets and shake to cover the fish.. 

Panfry the fish in butter and olive oil, about 3 mins each side.  Then put the pan in the oven for another 5 mins. 

Slice some more white of the leek very thinly. Heat some archaide oil in a saucepan and deep fry the leek.

Serve as shown.

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Vichysoise, crayfish

Cut 5 leeks (the white and very light green only) in rings, sweat in some butter with 2 crushed cloves of garlic and 2 chopped celery sticks. 

Add 2 potatoes (in small pieces) and 750 cl chicken stock . 

Simmer for 20 mins. 

Use the blender. Serve with some nice crayfish, pepper and olive oil.

Grilled... watermelon. Really?

Yes, really! 

Lightly oil both sides. Then in a smoking hot grill pan, 1 min per side. 

Serve with Spanish ham and some blue cheese.

Leeks, chicken liver, Camembert

Whenever we are in a French supermarket we buy a package of chicken liver confit. They have already been slow-cooked in duck fat, so at home all we have to do is to give them a nice tan in a dry, hot pan.

But you can use normal chicken livers of course. 

At the same time we soften, in butter,  the white of 4 big leeks and 1 onion, cut into rings. A round baking tin is covered with store-bought puff pastry. Then the pastry is covered with baking paper and held down with coins or beans and pre-baked for 10 mins in a 180° C oven. 

After removing the weights and the sulpherised paper the tin goes back in the oven for another 10 mins.

Then the pastry is filled with the softened leeks and onion, chicken livers are put on top and last but not least slices of good Camembert are covering it. 

Finally beat 3 eggs with 20 cl crême fraiche and some black pepper. 

Pour the mixture in the quiche. Bake for another 30, 35 mins till golden brown:

Red mullet, safran mash, sauce vierge

Start with the mash: boil 1 potato with some safran and a garlic clove in about 18 mins.

In the meantime brown a tsp of fennel seeds in a dry pan. Set apart.

For the sauce vierge: cut another garlic clove finely and brown in some olive oil. Add more oil, 2 tbsp soy sauce and a tbsp  Ricard. 

Add fennel seeds. Keep warm.

De-skin a tomato, remove the seeds and cut into small cubes.

Fry the fillets of mullet, skin side down till crisp. Turn the heat off and then turn the fish for another 2 mins.

In the meantime finish the mash with some olive oil and cream.

Serve as shown, the green is tarragon.

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Summer Chicken

Cut 2 chicken breasts into strips. 

Cut 2 slices of bacon into matchsticks. 

Fry chicken and bacon. 

Add sliced courgettes and cherry tomatoes. 

Stir fry for another 5 mins. 

Add some chicken stock and a tbsp of lemon juice. 

Simmer for another 3 mins. 

Decorate with fresh basil.

Inspiration: Gourmet magazine

Nougat icecream, raspberry coulis

Take a mix of 150 gr. hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios, fry them lightly in a dry pan and let them cool. 

Separate 3 eggs, whisk the whites. In a small pan mix 100 gr honey with 4 tbsp of Canderel 100% sucralose and 3 tbsp water and bring to the boil till 120C (use a thermometer). 

Then mix this syrup with the eggwhites and fold it till cooled. 

Then add 25 cl whipped cream, the nuts, 50 gr white raisins and 150 gr raspberries.

Pour into a cake mold lined with cling film. Freeze for 12 hours.

Use a stick blender  to make the coulis from 150 gr raspberries, juice of 1/2 a lemon and 2 tbsp sugar

From Gourmet magazine.

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and have a look at my book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon for your Kindle

Snow peas, beetroot, apple, goats cheese

We got the last of the beetroots and snow peas from our garden. 

Started with the dressing by bringing 3 tablespoons of port, 1tblspoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of mustard, 1 tablespoon of sugar and a finely chopped shallot to the boil, for 2 mins. 

When it was cooled again we added some fresh thyme leaves, pepper and salt and whisked in some olive oil. 

Boiled the beetroots for 45 mins and the peas for 4 mins. Diced the beetroots and half a Granny Smith. Mixed beetroot, apple and dressing. 

Served as shown, with some goat's cheese on top. Nice for a summer lunch...

Goat's cheese salad

Start by putting a red bell pepper under the hot grill, till blackened. Take of the skin, then cut into strips. 

Prepare a dressing from Dyon mustard, walnut oil, - vinegar, running honey, salt, pepper and then olive oil. 

Toast the bread. Divide a soft goat's cheese over the bread, drip some honey over it and put under the grill. 

In the meantime toast pine nuts in a dry pan. Peel and cut a Granny Smith.

Serve as shown.

Smoked duckbreast and goat's cheese salad

Start with the dressing. 

Mix walnut oil, - vinager, mustard, cherry jam, salt and pepper, then add olive oil. 

Roast some pine nuts in a dry pan. 

Mix salad leaves, green beans, black tomatoes. Add slices of smoked duck breast , soft goat's cheese and the warm pine nuts

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and have a look at my book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon for your Kindle

Red mullet, puff pastry, bell pepper and more

Start early with a red bell pepper. Put under a hot grill till the skin turns black. Remove the skin, then put the paprika in a blender with some oil to make a coulis.

Defrost some puff pastry and cut out discs, about 4 cm diameter. Brush with beaten egg and grate Parmesan cheese over  the discs, put them in a 210°C oven for about 15 mins. 

In the meantime remove the skin and seeds of 2 ripe tomatoes, slice them finely and mix with  diced shallot to make a concassé. 

Put the red mullet fillets in a plastic bag with some flour, shake the bag till the fish is just covered. 

Fry the fish, skin side down for 3 mins, then turn over for another minute or two. 

Mix a handful of rucola with some peppery oiive oil, the arrange the salad around a service ring. Put the tomato concassé in the middle, then the fish and the puff pastry on top. Finish with drops of bell pepper mousse. 

Enjoy!

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Sticky sweet and sour chicken

Put 6 chicken thighs in a casserole dish.

< Add half a pot (170 g) of (homemade if possible) chutney and 1/2 red pepper

Now put in a pre heated 180°C oven, for 50 mins

< Done. Simple. Delicious. 

Add 125 g cherry tomatoes,  2 quartered limes (as they were used by Madame for her G&T I had to use lemons), coriander en serve with naan bread to mop up the juices

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Cod, Thai green curry, Basmati rice

The garden needed too much work to go shopping on Saturday, but the supermarket had just announced they would be open on Sunday morning. They were, but not their butcher nor the fish department. 

Had to buy some frozen cod and a packet of ready made Thai green curry. Still had some papadums and Basmati rice in the larder.

Covered the fish with some flour (just put them together in a plastic bag and shake). 

Boiled the rice. Heated up the curry mix in 5 minutes. In the same time fried the fish.

Crisped the papadums in the microwave (1 min at 900 W). Served as shown with some fresh coriander. Delicious!

< Works with salmon as well. Or chicken.
    










Or sea trout >

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and have a look at my book 'Breakfast in Gascony' on Amazon for your Kindle                  

Potatoes, smoked salmon, asparagus, horseradish mayo

Boil the potatoes. 

Mix mayo with horseradish and some capers. 

Boil the green asparagus. 

Start plating with the potatoes, add some mayo mix. 

Then asparagus and salmon, and finally an extra dollop of the sauce

Scallops, leek, beetroot

Normally I would serve this with crumbled Spanish or Italian ham, but as the guest was a fish eating vegetarian I came up with the beetroot crumble. Quite chuffed about it. 

Sweat some some shallot in butter till soft. Add a glass of Noilly Prat and reduce till 20%. Add a glass of desert wine and do the same. Add lobster or shrimp stock and reduce till a nice consistency. Keep the sauce warm. 

Cut a leek in thin match like strips, sweat in butter till soft. Set apart. 

Slice a fresh (uncooked) beetroot in crisps thin slices. 

Grill the scallops in a dry pan. 

Deep fry the beetroot, dry with kitchen paper and crumble.