Fabuleuse Brittany

Clams Marinier

Yesterday was my birthday and I spent the day in Loqueric Harbour with the family. Yes, IN the harbour! There was a long, low-tide and local people were down on the sea bed, walking about on the wet sand. Some were working on the hulls of high-and-dry boats, others digging in the sand for treasure. TREASURE: clams, razor clams, whelks and mussels, all there and easy pickings. We came home with a bulging bag of the sweetest clams in the entire world and made a large pot of Clams Mariner. We’re going back for more soon.

BBQed Cote de Boeuf

Today we gave seafood a rest day, and visited the local Boucher, we came out with a magnificent côte de boeuf, we barbequed it and served it with béarnaise sauce. It was simply delicious.

    

Today Ian BBQed a large crab and some sardines; I cooked tomato and caramelised onion Tarte Tatin. The seafood won the pic of the day…so here it is (recipe for the tarte, which was delicious, will follow soon – I’m on holiday!)

We spent this afternoon back on the little beach in Locqueric. It’s so gorgeous with boats floating on the water, men fishing from the pier, kids building sand castles…and all this is surrounded by a small but perfectly-curated selection of cafes and restaurants. Today the village celebrated with the annual Nuit de Marine, moules et frites were the order of the evening along with some wonderful dry cidre eaten on the sand and followed by a spot of traditional Bretagne dancing in the street!

In the village of Plougasnou, while browsing the morning market for supplies, I snapped this photo of a man in local garb selling rotisserie chicken and ham hocks. I like him.

Artichokes from Brittany on my kitchen window. Perfection.

Je suis en vacances en Bretagne. C'est magnifique. Coquilles Saint-Jacques, de cidre, crêpes et beaucoup d'autres merveilles culinaires attendez-moi.

Apricots for sale at the marche des legumes in Chartres.

Brittany is everything I imagined and more, I spent this morning wandering around the Sunday morning market in the village of Pestin, it was so perfect I wanted to cry.  There were fishmongers selling lobsters, languostine, mussels, and scallops; there were bearded men selling sausage, pate and rillettes; Cheesemongers with carts so smelly they almost sent you running, but then drew you closer with a curious awe; there were olives and tapenades, butchers and bakers and the artichokes…Don’t mention the artichokes…Dear God! They are perfection. I think I bought one of everything!

I’m, going to upload 1 picture a day while I’m ‘en vacances’. Just 1 image of whatever foody thing I fall most in love with that day. Today it’s the artichokes I bought from the market in Pestin. I’ve also uploaded my image from yesterday; the apricots from the market we stopped at in Chartres. Who cares about some Cathedral? If I was a religious person I think I’d find more of God’s glory in a perfect apricot than the finest stained glass in all the world.

Baba Ganoush

The elegant aubergine.

The aubergine is the glamour-queen of vegetables, all smooth and darkest-purple with that pistachio green hat, so elegant.  I think they are so pretty, sometimes I buy them just to look at them.

If I ever have an interior designer ‘do’ my home, and they ask me to create a mood-board for my bedroom, I shall just hand over an aubergine and say ‘I want that!’

Last year I grew one of my own. My plant produced just one gorgeous fruit, an edible Barbamama promising to transform into whatever delight I imagined. I was so proud, but what does one do with a single aubergine? Babaganoush of course! A perfect serving for 1, me!

Here is my recipe; this time I’ve used 3 aubergines, as you may want to share.

3 aubergines

3 cloves of garlic

½ cup tahini

1 tbs olive oil

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp paprika

Juice of half a lemon (more to taste)

Salt and black pepper

Put the aubergines under the grill, watch them and turn them until the skin is nicely charred. Remove from the grill and put them on a tray in the oven (180degrees) for about 40 minutes. Poke the aubergines with a skewer; they should be soft and mushy inside. Let the aubergines cool.

baba ganoush.

Once cool, split them open and scoop the flesh into a bowl, and discard the skins. Add the rest of the ingredients and mash the mixture with a fork. Taste, add salt, pepper and, if required, a little more lemon juice to suit your palate.

The mix is best left to mature for a couple of hours in the fridge before serving. To make it pretty, you can drizzle some more olive oil over the top and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with toasted pita and a bowl of black olives as an aperitif.  

Prawn and Vegetable Tempura with Salmon Nigiri

Prawn and Vegetable Tempura with Salmon Nigiri.

This was harder than expected, for a few reasons. The first being that I had already started to enjoy a Friday-night bottle of Crémant de Luxembourg , so I was cooking, taking photos, sipping Crémant and getting the kids to bed all at the same time. Secondly, Luxembourg is a landlocked country so getting sushi-fresh seafood is not that easy. I found a gorgeous piece of salmon, but I had hoped to be a little more adventurous with my toppings. Then of course there is the extreme precision-of-execution required to make really good Sushi…. I mentioned the Crémant already didn’t I? So, I’m no Shinji Kanesaka, but actually my nigiri were better than most of the dire ‘riceballs with fish’ I’ve sampled here in Luxembourg. So if you want to create your own Japanese takeout platter at home, try my recipe, and let me know how it goes.

sushi slamon should melt like butter in your mouth

For the Salmon Nigiri

250g short grain sushi rice

300ml water

5cm piece kombu (dried kelp), this is optional if you can’t source it don’t worry, leave it out.

2 tbs rice vinegar

1.5 tbs sugar

1 tbs mirin

2 tsp salt
some nori sheets cut into strips

Fillet of sushi grade salmon, about 10 cm long and 6 cm wide (but if you get more you can always have a sashimi starter)

Wash the rice in 3 changes of cold water then leave to drain for 1 hour.

Put the rice, kombu and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and cover with a tight fitting lid (if you’re in doubt about the seal, cover the saucepan with foil before putting the lid on, you are steaming the rice so it is imperative that the seal on the pan is good). Turn the heat down as low as it can go and leave for 15 minutes, then turn it off and leave for another 15 minutes. When done, discard the kombu and tip the rice out into a flat dish.

Mix the vinegar and remaining seasoning ingredients together and stir until the sugar is dissolved; pour this over the rice and mix it in so all the rice is coated.

While you wait for the rice to cool to room temp, you can slice your salmon into 20 thin slices; try for 3-4mm in thickness, cut across the grain of the gorgeous buttery white fat with a very sharp knife.

set up your station, before assembling the nigiri

Now set up your ‘rolling station’ (see picture) you will need your dish of rice, sliced salmon, some wasabi paste, a bowl of water with a dash of rice vinegar, and some strips of nori seaweed about 10cm long and 1/5 cm wide.  Wet your hands in the water and take a tablespoon of rice, gently squeeze the rice in your hand to form a nice oval shape. Take a piece of salmon and spread a small amount of wasabi on one side (if you are not familiar with wasabi, taste a small amount to know how much you would like to taste, your guests can add more before eating so it’s best to err on the side of caution!). Place the salmon on the rice wasabi side down, then take a strip of nori and dampen it using your fingers and a little water and wrap it around the salmon and rice bundle sealing it at the bottom. Repeat, until you have done all your nigiris, arrange them on a platter and serve as soon as possible.

Tempura

Dipping sauce

1/4 cup dashi (I used ready made)

1/2 cup light soy sauce

2 tsp fresh ginger, finely grated

1/2 cup daikon radish, finely grated

1/4 cup mirin

Tempura

12 prawns peeled and de-veined but with tails left on.

Salt and pepper

2 tbs mirin

Canola or peanut oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ tbs baking powder

1 tbs sesame oil

300ml sparkling mineral water

A selection of fresh vegetables, I used the following:

1 small sweet potato

6 chestnut mushrooms

4 young courgettes and their flowers

6 large sage leaves

4 sugar snap peas

To make the sauce, place all ingredients into a saucepan and heat to a simmer. This can be done in advance; the sauce will keep for a few days in the fridge. Just bring it back to warm before serving.

Vegetables for tempura.

For the tempura, I used sweet potato, courgettes, mushrooms, sugar snaps and sage leaves, but you can really use whatever is fresh and good and you have to hand in your kitchen or garden. Just be sensible with the prep. Things like the sweet potato need to be par-cooked before the frying process. I peeled and sliced the sweet potato into 1cm thick discs then boiled for about 6 minutes and let them steam dry before coating them in batter. I used the mushrooms whole, except for a couple of larger ones which I cut in half. I sliced the courgettes thickly on a diagonal and left the gorgeous flowers whole. The sage leaves were large ones, from a rampant plant I have in my garden and I left them whole (a friend recommended tempura sage leaves, I was a little dubious but they were delicious). The sugar snaps were freshly picked and left whole…of course.

Make several shallow cuts across the inside curve of each prawn and press down on a cutting board this will prevent too much curling during cooking. Sprinkle prawns with a little mirin, salt and pepper.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl, and whisk together with the sesame oil, then whisk in the mineral water and keep whisking until the batter resemble frothy cream.

In large saucepan over a moderate heat, heat 4 inches of oil (I’m told until thermometer registers 325°F, but I don’t have a thermometer, so I just threw a crumb of sweet potato into the wok, and when it sizzled immediately the oil was ready).

Work in batches, using tongs to dip the items into the batter and then fry, turning occasionally until golden, about 1- 1.5 minutes each. Watch for the batter to look crispy and golden, remember all these things are ready to eat so you just need the batter to crisp up, you don’t need to cook the food. The sage leaves and courgette flowers need even less time about 30 seconds.

Transfer to paper towels to drain. Watch the temperature of the oil and use a slotted spoon, or egg lift to clean the oil of residual bits of batter before adding next batch.

Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Kansas City BBQ Ribs

sweet and smoky Kansas City BBQ Ribs

When the weather is fine I like to cook and eat outdoors as often as possible. To me a BBQ doesn’t mean burnt bangers and some charred chops. Modern BBQs are gourmet kitchens that actually allow you to do much more than your regular indoor unit; smoking, rotisserie, flame grilling. I remember growing up in Australia it was common for folk to roast the turkey in the Weber at Christmas.

In the first of my BBQ series I’m going to head to the U.S and a righteous rib recipe adapted from the Kansas City Barbeque Society (whose motto is : “BBQ – it’s not just for breakfast.”). I have adapted it for 2 reasons; firstly it contains ingredients that I feel are either a little dubious or unavailable to me, such as liquid smoke and poultry seasoning.  Secondly, the salt content was so incredibly high, I had to reduce it. My recipe is high enough and definitely not the kind of thing I would recommend eating on a regular basis. I can’t even imagine eating the original version with well over twice the salt AND the poultry seasoning.

I have used this rub and sauce combination on pork and beef ribs and also on chicken and it’s totally scrumptious on all - in a bad way, it’s so bad and so good. With this kind of addictively delicious food on the menu I can see why obesity is on the rise stateside. You may need an exit strategy!

The Rub

2/3 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

½ cup paprika (smoked if you can get it)

¼ cup salt

2 tbs freshly ground black pepper

2 tbs chili powder

2 tbs mustard powder

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together and store in a jar, it will keep for several months.

Sweet and Smoky Barbeque Sauce

6 tbs dark brown sugar

½ cup cider vinegar

¼ cup molasses

¼ cup honey

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tbs dark rum

2 tbs American mustard (or Moutard du Luxembourg)

1 tbs chili powder

2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp allspice

¼ tsp ground cloves

4 cups ketchup

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat and cook until all the sugar dissolves, stirring for about 5 minutes.

I separate the mix into 2 parts at this point and keep half the ‘starter brew’ in a jar for another time and then  only add half (2 cups of the ketchup), it just depends how much of the sauce you want, this mix will make 5 cups in total.

Add the ketchup and stir well, be careful at this point as the ketchup has a tendency to spit and splatter. Reduce the heat to low and leave the sauce to simmer gently uncovered for 30 minutes. You can use it right away or bottle it; the sauce will keep in the refrigerator for several months.

To make the Ribs.

Buy 1 rack of baby back ribs for each person and have the papery skin removed (easy to do yourself if you don’t have a butcher). You will also need some BBQ smoking chips if you can get them.

Sprinkle each rack with the rub (about a tablespoon each); pat the rub in with your fingers, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for an hour.

Soak 1 cup of smoking chips in apple cider (or water) for 1 hour, then drain and put in the smoking box of your BBQ grill. Don’t start grilling until you see smoke.  If you don’t have smoking chips or a smoking box, don’t worry your ribs will still be good, you’ll just miss out on the extra smoky hit.

Put your ribs on the grill away from the flame and indirect grill for 1 hour (this means on a 3 burner BBQ you light the left and right, and put the ribs in the centre, on a 2 burner light 1 side and out the food on the other).

Brush the ribs with the sauce now and continue to indirect grill until they are done, this could take another 15 -30 minutes. When they are done the meat will be extremely tender and will have pulled back from the bones.

Transfer the ribs on to a platter and serve with extra sauce for guests to add themselves, BBQ corn on the cob, a large bowl of coleslaw and cold beer.

Lemon and Ginger Barley Water

Homemade lemon and ginger barley water, so easy to make and so good for you.

My Husband was knocked down with a nasty and rare auto-immune disease last year. It led to kidney disease and some permanent damage to his kidneys. It was pretty scary. When he was ill, he was on a lot of medication, and I did what I could to give holistic nourishment though his diet. I read a lot about the benefits of barley at the time, and started making barley water.

Most of us know barley water,as that yellow, sugary cordial bought at the supermarket, but it is a traditional drink that has been enjoyed for its health giving properties since ancient Egypt, and it's really easy to make. It helps to support and nourish the kidneys in times of stress and is an important part of any kidney cleansing program, which will produce tremendous overall benefits. It is also said to clear the complexion and stop the formation of wrinkles (that got me hooked!), aid digestion and soothe inflammation of the stomach.  It can be helpful in the treatment of cystitis and a good way to control Urinary Tract Infection during pregnancy. Give me a glass now!

I still make my barley water brews every couple of days and have even got the kids drinking it. Now that you've read what it can do for you, you’ll be wanting your 2 cups a day too!

It’s quite delicious, and like me you will no-doubt tinker with this recipe to create your own tasty brew (try adding cinnamon, cardamom, cloves or orange to the recipe to taste).

My basic recipe is this:

§         1 x cup whole grain organic barley (don’t use pearl barley as most of it’s goodness has been removed along with the husk)

§         2.5 x liters water

§         Juice of 2 lemons (and the zest of 1)

§         4 x tbs honey

§         1 x 2cm knob of ginger (peeled and cut into 4)

Put the barley into a sauce pan with the ginger. Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and keep on a low rolling boil for 40 minutes.

Put a sieve over a large bowl containing the lemon juice and honey. Strain the barley broth through the sieve, stir the mixture to incorporate the honey and lemon juice and let it cool before bottling it.

Don’t throw away the precious grains of barely you can use them to make a delicious salad, or add them to a soup or casserole.

Barley Salad

barley, rocket and red cabbage salad served with healthy chicken brochettes.

So healthy, so easy, I make this with the barley left over from my homemade lemon barley water.

2 ½ cups cooked whole barley

¼ head red cabbage

Bunch of fresh rocket

2 teaspoons of capers

Dressing

¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 1.5 lemons)
¼ cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves

½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 tbs chopped fresh dill (or 1.5 tsp dried)
pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste

* I use whatever is to hand to make this salad and this version uses rocket form my garden and a bit of red cabbage I had left over. Other nice things to include are green beans, red or yellow peppers, button mushrooms, walnuts, tomatoes, just add whatever looks good to the barley and dressing.

Whisk all the dressing ingredients together. Finely slice and chop the cabbage, then roughly chop the rocket. Mix together in a bowl with the barley, sprinkle over the capers, dress and serve.

I have served it here with my healthy chicken brochettes.

Roast Chicken and Sweet Potato Pie.



chicken and sweet potato pie with roasted garlic, fully encased in shortcrust pastry.



A pie is not a pie unless it is completely encased in pastry. I have enjoyed a ‘pot-pie’ of course (lazy Friday, hang-over curing, lunches at The Newman Arms spring to mind) but these heartwarming pots are more casserole with pastry garnish than PIE. My husband agrees. He loves a pie and that is why I made him one to celebrate our first wedding anniversary.

I’ve never made a proper pie before; sure I’ve done shepherds pies and pot pies, but never the real deal. I did once live with a girl whose lamb and rosemary pie was voted Australian Pie of the Year, I learned a lot from that girl. Nicola…if you’re reading, I salute you!

I didn’t follow a recipe for this. I had a pie in mind though, or rather a slice of a pie, PROPER PIE with full pastry case, we once ate at The Birdcage pub in Stoke Newington. It was one of the finest pies I’ve ever tasted. For my inspiration, I simply conjured this pie in my minds eye and tried to recreate it.

For the pastry.

450g plain flour

½ tsp salt or to taste

120g butter, cold

120g white vegetable fat, cold

beaten egg, for glazing

a little milk

For the filling.

4 whole chicken legs (the complete leg and thigh)

3 medium sweet potatoes

1 cup frozen peas

100g bacon lardons (or diced pancetta)

5 large banana shallots

1 head of garlic

A little salt and black pepper

1 tsp thyme

Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, thyme and generous grinding of black pepper. Cut the top off a whole head of garlic and put it on a baking tray with the chicken, put the tray into the oven to roast for 1 hour. When it is done let it cool.

Meanwhile, peel your sweet potatoes and cut them into discs about 1cm thick put them in a pot of water, bring to a low boil and boil for about 12 minutes, until they are just cooked. Drain the potatoes and reserve in a bowl. Pour your peas on top to let them thaw.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a fry pan and fry your shallots until they begin to soften, then add you pancetta. Once the shallots are soft and translucent and the pancetta is starting to crisp, take them off the heat and tip into the bowl with the peas and potatoes.

Once the chicken and garlic is cool, you can add them to the bowl with the rest of the filling ingredients. For the garlic, simply squeeze each clove to pop it out of its skin and leave the cloves whole in the filling mix. Take the chicken in your hands and tear it off the bone and into chunky pieces, add some but not all of the skin (you can add the skin and bones to a pot cover with water to make some stock.). Use your hands to mix everything together. You can cover this mix and store it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Now the pastry; for the purposes of this blog I have made pastry, but honestly, next time I will buy readymade short crust. I am definitely not a snob when it comes to bought pastry. If you do want to make yours, this is how you do it. Sift the flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Dice the cold butter and vege fat and rub them into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (I was told that cold hands make better pastry, so I keep mine cool by dipping them in iced water as I need to). Mix in just enough cold water to form a stiff paste. Turn this out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently to form a smooth ball of dough. Wrap in the ball in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200degrees. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and use it to line a 20–25cm pie dish. Blind-bake the base for 15 minutes, then take it out and let it cool. Roll out and cut the remaining pastry into a disc to cover your pie dish. Pastry off-cuts should be kept for garnishes.

Take the chicken filling from the fridge and mix in 100ml of crème fraiche. Pile the filling into the base. Moisten the edges of the base with some milk, and then use a rolling pin to pick up your pie top and lay it over the filling. Press the edges down with a fork, which will seal the pie and make a pretty pattern. Prick 3 holes in the top of the pie to release the steam as it cooks. Now you can get artistic with your pastry off cuts, stick your shapes on using a bit of milk, then brush the top of the pie with a beaten egg.

Cook for 30 minutes. Serve with asparagus spears tossed in butter, lemon juice and black pepper.

Salt and Pepper Squid.

spicy aromatic salt and pepper squid.

Ingredients (for 2 people as a starter)

500g fresh whole calamari (cleaned)
2 tbsp self raising flour
1 tbsp oil
Corn flour
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
4 spring onions chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red chili, chopped
2 tsp Shaoxing wine

For the salt and pepper spice mix.1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp celery powder
1 tbsp chicken stock powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp five spice powder

Preparation

A good fish monger is a ‘must have as far as I’m concerned. You can forgot your ‘it bags’ and over-priced hair salons. For me the things I can’t do without are a good fish monger, a quality butcher and an excellent set of knives.

You can clean the calamari yourself by pulling the tentacles from the body, washing out the tube and removing the clear 'backbone'. Then remove the skin if desired, and finally cut the tentacles from the head and discard the heads. So like I said you can do it yourself, it’s not hard, but I get my fish-monger to do it. It saves a smelly bin and bedsides you need 500g after cleaning and you do lose quite a bit of weight in the process.

The next step is to cut tubes into triangles; this helps them to curl during cooking. The tentacles can be left as they are, or if you have a large bunch cut them into 2 smaller bunches.

Combine all the ingredients for the salt and pepper spice mix and set aside, you will have enough here for at least 1 other batch.

Now for the crispy batter; in a bowl mix self raising flour, oil and a little water to make a paste. Place calamari pieces and tentacles into the bowl and toss well with your hands until they are all coated. Sprinkle the calamari with corn flour until it is dry to touch. The calamari must be fried quickly before the dry corn flour coating gets soaked by the batter underneath.

Heat enough vegetable oil for deep frying in a wok. Add the calamari in batches and cook until crisp and golden, remove with a slotted spoon and set onto paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining calamari.

Finally, drain the oil out of the wok and add shallots, garlic and chili and stir-fry for about 30 seconds until aromatic. Return the squid to wok and add 2 to 3 tsp of the spice mix. Toss well to combine. Just before serving add the Shaoxing wine, making sure it hits the hot wok and steams rather than saturating the crispy squid. Toss well and serve immediately with a crisp white wine and a simple green salad.

Simple and utterly delicious.