After a few recipes mixing shrimps and cannellini beans, or shrimps and fava beans, let’s have fun with chick peas, I think they’re closer to a bean than a pea, called pois chiche in French but it seems like it’s closer to a pea than a bean nonetheless so delicious in any form, salads, soups, stews, purees, and anything else.

I am getting a guest tomorrow for two weeks, she is coming from Paris and is 13 years old. I heard the pretty girl is picky, so I will have to figure out some “teenager friendly” menus during her stay. Not sure what it is, but I am quite certain it has to do with potatoes and pasta. I don’t remember what I ate during my teens years, my mom cooked a large variety of dishes, but at 13, honestly I don’t remember what I loved to eat. All I remember is that I was a little chubby, did not like it and I always wanted to hide.

This purée could resemble hummus, but actually, there is no tahini in it, and is thinner and creamier and is really more like a purée than anything else. It was like eating velvet, absolutely delightful.

This purée will go perfectly well with grilled fish too, and much more delicate than a potato purée. Actually, I don’t like any type of potato purée served with fish, and it seems like many restaurants are going that route. As for the skewer, the rosemary branch adds such a fragrant and unique touch to the dish. A consommer sans moderation! (to be consumed without moderation). I will certainly file this in my “to do it again and again” list of appetizers.

Ingredients for 4 people

For the purée

• 450 g cooked chick peas or canned one
• 1 garlic glove
• cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp powder cumin
• 1 tbs lemon juice
•  salt and pepper
•  1 tbs extra virgin olive oil

For the shrimps

• 20 large shrimps, de-shelled and deveined
• 1 tbs fresh rosemary, chopped
• 4 branches rosemary
• 1 tbs orange juice
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbs olive oil
• lemon oil
• sea weed salt or regular salt

Preparation

Drain chick peas and keep some of the cooking liquid. Mix chick peas in a mixer to obtain a smooth texture. Adjust with water to make the paste a little thinner. Add all other ingredients and set aside.

Marinate shrimps with olive oil, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, some of the rosemary, salt and pepper for about one hour.

Remove shrimps from marinade. Place 5 shrimps in one rosemary branch and grill on a skillet or grill pan.

Spoon 2-3 tbs of puree in a plate, place 1 skewer on top and drizzle with lemon oil and chopped rosemary.

Happy Valentine’s day to everyone! Joyeuse St. Valentin!

Valentine’s day is not only the celebration of love but also of friendship, so I think everyone is concerned. It seems like the celebration goes back to antiquity in Greece where February was the month of love and fertility and when Zeus got married to Hera. Also during Roman times, this time of year, took place a celebration honoring Lupercus who was the God protector of fields and herds and February 14 was celebrated love and fertility. So we are perpetuating a very ancient celebration.

This Valentine’s day it’s muggy and grey and all you want to do is stay inside. After looking at what is going on on the the East Coast and the snow storms, I am thankful to have an overcast sky, and not be burried under the snow.  I used to have really terrible cabin fever when I lived in Boston and I am afraid I cannot handle extreme weather.

On Sunday morning, Valentine’s day or not, I like to get my croissants and pains au chocolat, it just happens occasionally but when it does, it’s a treat. So when you have that type of breakfast, lunches are usually on the light side.

I somehow love the combination and texture of this salad, the sweetness of chickpeas and fennel, the crunchiness of  the shrimps and the bitterness of arugula are blending harmoniously together…just like a happy couple. Valentine’s day for me is all about harmony, balance, and of course….love.

Ingredients for 2

• 1.5 cup arugula
• 12 large shrimps, peeled, deveined, and cut in half
• 150 g cooked chick peas
• 1/2 large fennel bulb, shaved
• 2 tbs red onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 garlic crushed
• orange champagne vinegar
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the salad, mix arugula, fennel, chick peas, red onion together. Saute shrimps in a little olive oil, add salt and pepper and let them cool.

For the vinaigrette, combine oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Add shrimps to the salad, add dressing and toss well. Grind some fresh black pepper and serve.

I heard California got a lot of rain this season, all the news talked about it when I was in France and I heard it from my neighbors when I got back. The good things is that it’s clearing up. Eventhough France was very cold with -10C temperatures some days, my mom never made soup and neither did I. Of course during the holidays, we tend to eat “holiday meals” and strangely enough soup is not entitled to the be on the “holiday” list, so I somehow missed it.

One soup I really like is this cauliflower soup with chick peas and small pasta, you can put potatoes instead of the pasta, or even both. You can use any small pasta such as quadretti (little squares), ditali (small cylinders) or any small pasta to be used is broths or soups. I had none left so I cut some fettucine into small pieces, and it worked quite well. The difference is that quadretti are a egg pasta and thinner than fettucine which are not supposed to be used in soup as per the pasta étiquette. So I went against the étiquette, nonetheless it was really enjoyable. I think some ingredients can be substituted and some others, cannot. In this case, I would say it could be.

I am not sure how the word “pasta” is used in the US, if it refers to a particular pasta dish cooked in a particular way and not in soups. Then not sure what the word “noodle” refers to either, so I will try to be as accurate I can be. For me noodles reminds me of the Asian pasta, and not Italian pasta. Every kind of pasta in Italy has its own name, that makes it quite easy to what type of pasta you are talking about.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 medium size cauliflower
• 2 potatoes
• 4 medium  tomatoes, seedless, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbs onions chopped
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1/2 lb chick peas (either canned or dry and soaked overnight)
• 5 tbs quadretti or small pasta for soups
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot, brown onions, then add garlic, stir a few minutes. Add tomatoes, cook for about 5 minutes to let the water evaporates, then add potatoes, cauliflower and rosemary. Stir well to coat all the vegetables and cook for about 7 min stirring. Add enough broth to cover the vegetables (you might want to add extra to have enough liquid to cook the quadretti). Let it cook until the vegetables are tender but not mushy, remove rosemary then add chick peas. Cook for another 10 minutes. Add pasta and 1 garlic clove and cook until desired texture (I like them al dente). Sprinkle with olive oil, cracked pepper and serve.