I have felt the whole day as if today was Sunday…what a “tête en l’air” (head in the air) that would translate into air-headed, I do not have that particular reputation but today it really felt like a Sunday to me, the energy in the streets, the pace, just the overall feeling did not seem like the beginning of the week. Three day weekends are so rare in the US, that when it happens, you get confused.

Yesterday was Mother’s day in France and this would have been the type of dish I would have prepared my mom, she would have been intrigued and skeptical to see a blackberry next to a shrimp, but I’m quite sure she would have loved the flavor.

Even though French cuisine does not often traditionally combines sweet and savory flavors, there are indeed many recipes that do combine fruits in savory dishes. Some fruits such as berries are combined with game, I do like to associate them to seafood once in a while, you know for those particular days when you have one of those cravings…

Now when you look at the title, that might seem odd to you, shrimps and blackberries, well if you decide you ever want to try it out, you will definitely realize that the flavors are matching in a very harmonious symphony and this dish is something has a refined and subtle touch to it.

I love those types of quick dishes that look like they have been taking forever to prepare…this dish fits the express category and is a perfect choice when you want to impress your guests with a chic touch.

For a long time, I have been reluctant to add sugar to some savory dishes, just because I had a more traditional culinary background where sugar was an ingredients mainly used in desserts. I love berries of all kinds, and the first time I saw blackberries in the US, I was amazed by their huge size, they are just BIG (like everything else in the US)…nonetheless delicious. Now I only buy the big kinds, if they’re small I don’t even look at them!

Ingredients for 4 (20 shrimps)

• 20 large shrimps, peeled and deveined
• 5.29 oz (or 150 g) blackberries
• 5 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed
• Szechuan pepper
• Fleur de sel
• 0.88 oz (or 25 g) balsamic vinegar
• 0.70 oz (or 20 g) salted butter
• 0.70 oz (or 20 g) sugar
• 3/8 cups (or 50 cl) water
• mint leaves, finely chopped

Preparation

Dissolve sugar with water and bring to a boil. Add blackberries, stir carefully, remove from the stove and blend the mixture with a  immersion blender. Pass the coulis through a sieve to remove the seeds. Keep aside.

Crush cardamom seeds (the seeds inside the pods) with a mortar and set aside. When the

In a pan, saute shrimps in butter, add salt and Szechuan pepper, then add cardamom seeds. Remove shrimps from the pan, and keep them warm. Deglaze pan with vinegar, and reduce to a half. Add blackberry coulis and let it reduce for 1 or 2 minutes.

Place some coulis in a plate, add shrimps in the middle, and sprinkle with mint.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/06/for-french-mothers-day-saute-shrimps-with-cardamom-and-blackberry-coulis/feed/ 33 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/my-first-american-cake-carrot-and-walnut-cake-with-cardamom/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-first-american-cake-carrot-and-walnut-cake-with-cardamom http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/my-first-american-cake-carrot-and-walnut-cake-with-cardamom/#comments Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:50:37 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=4113 Mon premier gâteau americain – Gâteau aux carottes, noix et cardamome

This is an odd and very bright picture of the cake but I have so much light under my window with direct sun light to the table, that could not manage to shoot with a more subtle lighting.  The picture is incredibly bright, you might want to put on your sun glasses if you look at the picture for too long, you don’t want to get permanent vision damage!! Sorry about the lighting.

I have never had carrot cake before I moved to the US, and at the beginning I found that weird. I thought Americans and their crazy ideas…using carrots in a dessert! I was horrified…So it took me a few years before I actually attempted to taste it.

I have to admit that coming to America, allowed me to be more open to new things. Europeans in general are a little more conservative (especially the French and Italians who have a strong gastronomy history) in terms of cuisine and tend to be more rigid about how things should be done. That’s why I really love Alain Ducasse, he is an amazing chef, he knows how to keep the traditions but in such an inventive and creative way that it all blends beautifully together. He does not combine too many overpowering ingredients in one dish, and focuses on one primary flavor enhanced with less strong ingredients. I think that too many complex flavors in one dish, mess it up, because you don’t know what you eat anymore and it gets confusing for your palate.

I do love traditions and traditional cuisine, that’s how I grew up, (but that’s why I moved in a certain way because the weight of traditions was somehow suffocating me as a young adult and I wanted some freedom to be myself). I also do enjoy new ideas and flavors in the kitchen. I think you can use the knowledge of traditional cuisine to develop new ideas and combinations. I certainly don’t want to get into politics but if you look at French politicians and presidents before the current president and unpopular Sarkozy, they really were like Museum pieces. The same old dinosaurs with the same old speeches who have been around for ages, and I think that’s scary. (Berlusconi is a different story that I will not discuss here). The French do not like changes and this is ingrained in their culture and I think Italians either. If I look at my family in Italy, they would not eat anything “non Italian” and even for Italian food, it needs to be prepared in a particular way. My Aunt would never use basil with a meat based sauce for pasta, she only uses basil on tomato sauce. My mother never ever uses lamb in her pasta sauce, whereas in Abruzzo they do, etc…so to each its own.

I know that the original carrot cake does contain cinnamon, and I substituted it with cardamom to get a different twist, and the cardamom flavor was quite subtle, you might want to add more if you like. If you like cinnamon, you can use it too. The cake turned out very moist, with such a beautiful deep orange. Now for the “purists” who want to keep their carrot cake traditional, they might think that this is too funky. It might be funky but it’s delicious nonetheless.

Ingredients for 6 people

• 2 eggs
• 300 g carrots (about 3 medium)
  
• 100 g white flour
• 100 g wholewheat flour
• 100 g butter, melted
  
• 4 tbs plain yogurt
• 70 g granulated sugar
  
• 40 g light brown sugar
• 10 g palm sugar
• 2 tbs almond meal
• 70 g walnuts, chopped
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• 1 tsp baking powder
• one pinch baking soda
  

Preparation

Beat the eggs with the different kinds of sugars until the mixture double its volume and turns white. Add yogurt, butter and vanilla extract and mix carefully. Add both flours and almond meal. Add baking powder and baking soda, then add cardamom and mix some more. Incorporate carefully carrots and walnuts to the mixture.

Bake in a non-stick pan for about 45 min at 370F.

This has been something that arrived out of the blue after a crazy wedding weekend…ricotta is an ingredient I like to put everywhere, and I love it particularly in desserts.

On my last trip to France, I bought a pain d’épices spices mix. I have wanted to make pain d’épices for a long time, it literally translates to “spiced bread” and is a wonderful and spicy cake from Alsace, my neighboring region. The base of the cake is honey and lots of spices, it has a dark brownish color, and is quite sweet. Kids love it. Even though you can find many variations to the cake, the city of Reims has its own, the city of Dijon as well. In Alsace you can find a Pain d’épices Museum that retraces the history of that cake with all the tools developed for its fabrication.

I would certainly not call this cake a pain d’épices, but it does have a few important ingredients that pain d’épice has such as the spices and the honey, so there is an after taste of pain d’épices. The spice mix I used is composed of star anise, cinnamon, cardamom and clove. Since I don’t like cinnamon that much, I did not add too much, but I know that Americans are very fond of that spice, so whoever likes it can add more if desired. For those who won’t have the spice mix available, I would just use the loose spices powder.

The ricotta made this cake very moist and soft and the spices are not overpowering, so it turned out really well. To be enjoyed with a nice hot cup of tea a bowl of fresh fruits or whatever you feel like having.

I added Mirabelle liquor which is something I brought from France, my dad makes it with our mirabelle plums he grows in his garden. You can find it I think in some specialty liquor store in the US. You can use other fruity liquor as well, such as calvados, Grand Marnier, etc…

Ingredients for 6

• 3 eggs
• 4 tbs honey
• 6 tbs light brown sugar
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 cup white flour
• 1/3 cup quinoa flour
• 5 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tbs dried cranberries
• 3 tbs golden raisins
• 2 tbs candied orange zests
• 2 tsp pain d’épices spices mix or (1/2 tps cinamon, 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp clove, 1/2 tsp star anise powder)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• zest of half a lemon
• 1 tbs herbal liquor (I used Mirabelle, a liquor made out of plums)
• Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, sugar, honey then add ricotta. Add oil. Mix well. Add liquor. Add flour and baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Add spices, lemon zest, and dried fruits. Mix well to get a smooth consistency.

Bake in a non-stick deep dish, in a 375F pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes, check after 30 min. to see how the cakes comes along, and keep cooking or until the cake is cooked all the way through.