This is truly a fun way to eat Brussels sprouts. In case you thought they were a tiny intimidating or boring, or just unappealing, you can play with them so they become exciting. It’s true they tend to have a strong flavor, but I don’t find this “déplaisant” (literally translated into depleasing, a word that does not exist).

The saltiness and sweetness of the cooked prosciutto contrasts quite well with the strong soft sprout. I think I must have consumed them in any shape and form, shredded, chopped, quartered, whole, roasted, steamed, pureed or any way they can be eaten, so I figured why not wrap them for a change. I rarely use meat when I cook, but in this case, I made an exception. You can use pancetta if you’d prefer, or thin bacon would work too. In France, sprouts are often combined with lard fumé (similar to bacon), like most types of cabbages.

Mâche being so tender, delicate and almost naturally “greasy” when you eat it, tones down the powerful flavor of the Brussels sprouts.

So give Brussels sprouts a chance, after all, they’re not really boring!

Ingredients for 2

For the Brussels sprouts

• 6 Brussels sprouts, cleaned
• 2 slices prosciutto, cut in 2 strips lengthwise
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 cup mâche salad

For the vinaigrette

• 1/2 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and diced
• 4 tbs olive oil
• A few drops of lemon oil (to drizzle at the end)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp basil, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cook sprouts in salted boiling water. Drain and let cool. Wrap 1 strip of prosciutto around each sprout, and using a toothpick close the extremity so that it won’t open while cooking.

Heat olive oil in a pan, and cook wrapped sprouts until golden on all sides. Remove toothpick

For the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients together in a bowl, mix well.

Divide mâche on each plate, top it with three sprouts and pour vinaigrette on top, drizzle with some lemon oil. Serve at room temperature.

Don’t you guys love truffles? I grew up eating them, since my father himself grew up in Italy in a region producing lots of truffles, so when he moved to France he brought with him a dog called Boby, whom he trained to smell truffles and find them. Boby died when I was about 10 and it was the only dog we had. My father has always been a truffle “hunter”, wild mushroom “picker” and unfortunately a bird hunter too (which I hate) and anytime I go home, I have to argue with him about this. In France, there are unfortunately lots of hunters (in Italy too, to the point where there are barely any wild birds left). The argument of hunters is, oh well they are destroying the crops of the farmers (talking about the wild boars), well they don’t realize that humans have invaded all animal habitat and have left no space for animals to live.

My dad’s aunt, in Italy used a pig to find those rare mushrooms, so did most people in the countryside. I remember after days of truffles hunting with Boby, my dad would come home with bags filled with them…and of course, my mom would make tagliatelle with a ragu and truffle sauce. Now the ones I bought were not as good as the ones I am used to eating, they barely had flavor, so if you can find great truffles, you’ll be the lucky one. Truffe means truffle in French, but it also means the nose of the dog. Yes, every dog has a truffe…I am wondering if it has to do with his sense of smell finding truffles.

I love the sweetness and creaminess of the corn combined with the shrimps, then the truffle adds such an elegant and refined final touch. It’ s a little unconventional salad due to the corn purée, but all the elements work perfectly well together.

Ingredients for 4

• 16 shrimps
• 1 large black truffle
• 2 cups mâche salad
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the corn purée

• 1/2 lb fresh corn
• 2 tbs heavy cream
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• salt and pepper

For the truffle vinaigrette

• 3 cl truffle oil
• Sherry vinegar
• fleur de sel

Preparation

In a pot, combine corn, cream and broth and bring to a boil, let it cook slowly for about 10 minutes until the liquid has evaporated, adjust with salt and pepper. Blend in a mixer, and pass through a sieve to obtain a smooth cream. Keep warm and set aside.

Saute shrimps in olive oil, salt and pepper until cooked.

Prepare the vinaigrette by combining truffle oil and sherry vinegar gradually.

Place corn in the middle of a plate, top it with the shrimps, shave some truffle on top of the shrimps. Sprinkle with the vinaigrette and fleur de sel, then decorate with the salad sprinkled with additional vinaigrette.

I met haloumi cheese in the US, I never saw it in France nor Italy. Maybe because France has about 400 kinds of cheeses, so they don’t have any lacking in that category, you can eat one different cheese a day for one year! Isn’t that wonderful? I am wondering how they were able to come up with so many cheeses. Italian cheeses are great but they don’t have as a many varieties as the French. Even though I am not a huge cheese eater like most French people, I really enjoy and appreciate good cheese with great crunchy baguette. But this is not about French or Italian cheeses but about Cyprus and its wonderful haloumi.

The particularity of this cheese is that it can be grilled and as I said comes from Cyprus, that little Mediterranean Island, even though it’s been considered European, it’s closer to Turkey and Syria. The Northern part has been occupied by Turkey since 1974, I guess there must be a heavy Turkish population and influence. So haloumi is becoming more and more popular in the Mediterranean countries. It’s traditionally made with a mixture of goat and sheep milks and has a somehow salty taste. I really like it on salads with pears or grapes, but it needs to be served as soon as you grill it or the cheese tends to become rubbery when it cools down.

Mâche salad is one of my favorite, it’s soft and tender and my parents used to grow it in their garden, so I remember when I came back from school my mom had always a huge bowl ready for me. The good thing is when you buy it, it’s already cleaned, so you don’t have to go crazy cleaning the earth that got inside the leaves. The washing and cleaning process is not an easy one.

Ingredients for 2

• 1.5 cups mâche salad
• 5 oz (or 140 g) haloumi, sliced 1 cm thick (3 slices per plate)
• 1 large pear not overly ripe, peeled and sliced
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

First prepare vinaigrette, by mixing lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper together. Then, grill pears in a grill pan, then set aside. Grill haloumi.

In a plate, place some mâche, top with one slice of pear alternating with one slice of haloumi and drizzle with vinaigrette.

You can make extra vinaigrette and toss some salad in it, then with the rest you can drizzle on top of pear and haloumi slices.

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