I went grocery shopping yesterday and again I went crazy with fish and seafood. I have always thought I knew what red snapper was in French…in my mind I had no doubt it was “rougets” because of the red connotation (rouge = red) and rougets are red and very trendy nowadays in France, they’re served in many new and hype restaurants. Snapper looked a lot bigger but I though, oh well, anything American is bigger anyway. Yesterday I could feel I was wrong for all those years and when looking closely at the fish, I started having doubts. You might think, ok what’s the big deal, if she doesn’t know the translation. The thing is that I like to know what I eat and find out more about the fish and what it’s called in my mother tongue, wouldn’t you? Some people might think I am weird, and maybe I am.

For a while I was just staring at the fish and could not make up my mind if I was going to buy it or not. I was somehow worried that snapper would be perche du Nil which I refuse to eat. It’s been exported in France from countries like Kenya, and other African countries and it’s one of the most invasive specie you can find; it destroys every other specie around and is somehow like a parasite. Since its introduction in some African lakes, the other species that lived there, are all extinct and it created many environmental issues in those regions. I am not sure if perche du Nil is grown or sold in the US, and would hope not.

After searching all over the place, I was releaved that Snapper is not perche du Nil, but it’s called Vivaneau. Honestly I have never heard that name before yesterday. Don’t you think it’s such a cute name? sounds like the name of a kid with rosy cheeks from the 18 th century, “hello, my name is Vivaneau, nice to meet you”. First I could not believe a fish would be called Vivaneau, then I had to come to the conclusion that it was its proper name, even though there are a lot of different species in that category.

Anyway, that mysterious snapper ended up in a skewer and I was glad I learnt Vivaneau is living among many in the ocean. Snapper tends to have a fragile texture, so if you overcook it, it will break.

Fennel, orange and white fish are some of my favorite ingredients, they blend beautifully together. This dish is so simple and quick but still delicious and flavorful, let’s not forget healthy.

Ingredients for 3 kebabs

• 1 lb red snapper fillets, cut in large cubes (about 2.5 inches)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut in large cubes
• 1 large fennel bulb, shredded
• 1/2 onion, sliced

For the marinade

• juice of 1 small lemon
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbs olive oil
• Szechuan pepper

For the vinaigrette

• 1 tbs dill, chopped
• 2 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 large orange
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a mixing container mix snapper pieces with marinade ingredients, place in the refrigerator and marinate for about 2 hours.

In a pan, add olive oil and brown onions. Add fennel and cook at low heat until the fennel is tender, almost melting. Add salt and pepper.

Prepare vinaigrette, by mixing all ingredients together.

Start making kebabs using bamboo skewers, (previously soaked in water to prevent them from burning). Alternate a piece of fish with a piece of bell pepper. Sprinkle with Szechuan pepper and salt and broil under broiler. Do not over cook, fish is very tender and might break.

Serve with fennel fondue and kebabs on top. Drizzle with orange-olive vinaigrette.

I was listening to Yves Montand’s classic song “les Feuilles Mortes” translated by “Autumn Leaves” but it literally means “Dead Leaves” and it never fails, I get tears in my eyes…that song makes me shiver. And yes, automne (fall) is coming…and I felt this soup really is a nice representation of fall, with its yellow and green colors.

Originally I bought this squash to stuff with a goat cheese mousse…it did not make it. I tried to resist for days to not cut it. It was too beautiful to cut and would have been such a great dish if I could have stuck to my plans…but no, I wanted a soup, and the only thing that was left to turn into a soup was this baby. So here. Morale of the story, don’t be too rigid, sometimes you can change plans.

I never get tired of soups, they can be blended, in chunks, cold, whatever, I love them…besides when they’re as healthy as this one, I love them even better, because I do watch roughly my calories intake and my weight. They say French women don’t get fat, well the bad news is, they do get fat, if they eat a lot…They do not have a particular nor wonderful metabolism (and the truth is that I am not even French, I just pretend, because I am just a confused woman).

So my question is why not eat delicious gourmet dishes that are most of all a bundle of health and nutrition (hope my English makes sense). The pancetta is optional, I love its crunchiness on top of the soup though.

The yogurt touch at the end is somehow a substitute to crème fraîche. In France we usually add 1 tbs crème fraîche in any velouté to make it even more velvety (velouté). Yogurt works perfectly fine here, let’s make it light, fat does not necessarily mean flavor anyway. Now do I sound like those “freaks” who watch every little bite they eat and do not enjoy anything always counting calories and talking about non-fat? Please say no, because I am really not, if you know me.

The roquefort tartine is a nice addition to the soup, they really make a pleasant combination of flavors, but you need good walnut bread to truly enjoy the roquefort. Obviously you don’t need to have a tartine to enjoy the soup, but the combination is something to absolutely try. Melting roquefort on walnut bread is a real treat.

I got a little frustrated with my camera today, obviously I am no photographer, I could not shoot anything despite the great light I had coming from the bay window, everything turned out awful, just two shots out of 30 came out just ok and not even great. Too bad you cannot see the white dash of yogurt in the middle of the bowl because of the angle. I have no idea why some days where light is great I get terrible shots and days where it’s all grey, I get decent bright pictures. Is there a little demon in my Canon? Could be. Maybe taking one class or two where I bought this camera would not hurt.

Ingredients for 4

For the soup

• 1 leek
• 6 large sunburst squash
• 1 onion
• 3 tbs fresh oregano, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• vegetable broth
• 4 tbs plain yogurt
• 4 slices of pancetta (optional)
• salt and pepper

For the roquefort tartine

• 4 tbs Roquefort cheese (or any blue cheese)
• 4 slices walnut bread
• pepper

Preparation

Wash leek and cut it in medium size chunks. Wahs squash and cut in quarters. In a large pot, heat olive oil, add onion and let it cook until it becomes transparent. Add 1 1/2 tbs oregano, cook for a few minutes, then add squash and leeks. Cook for another 10 minutes at medium heat, stirring. Add broth. I never measure broth. I add enough so that it covers the quantity of vegetables and that is the perfect quantity for a veloute. Add salt. COver with a lid and cook at medium heat until the vegetables are soft and cooked, about 30 minutes.

Blend using a hand blender or mixer.

In a small bowl, add yogurt and the remaining chopped oregano

In a non-stick pan, cook pancetta until it gets crunchy.

Cut roquefort in slices and place on top of bread. Broil until the cheese has melted.

Serve soup in bowls, adding a tbs of yogurt/oregano mixture in the middle of the bowl and top with a slice of pancetta. Serve with roquefort tartine on the side.

The first interesting part of this dish is the rice…yes indeed. An Indian friend of mine who arrived straight from Cochin used to prepare this type of rice and I loved its subtle fragrance. So now anytime I cook something with an exotic flair, I always prepare rice this way. Rice is steamed in a water that had been infused with lots of spices, so when the rice cooks, it absorbs a distinct and very unique flavor.

I substituted cinnamon with vanilla in my recipe. I am not a huge cinnamon fan, I liked cinnamon when I lived in France, but since I moved to the US, I think I got a little turned off by it, just because, almost all desserts and sweets have cinnamon in it, and I even got served many times cinnamon on my cappuccino which I was unable to drink. What is it with cinnamon? A little discreet touch once in a while is fine, but not all over the place. The funny thing is I have such a cinnamon phobia that when I order desserts in restaurants, I always ask the waiter if the dessert contains cinnamon. Then I get the weird stare as if something is wrong with me. Oh well.

The second interesting part of this dish are the shrimps. Well, the shrimps are cooked with a colombo spice mixture, colombo is a typical creole spice mixture made out of turmeric, cumin, cloves, black pepper, coriander, fenugreek, mustard and ginger. What we call DOM TOM (Département et Territoires d’Outre Mer) in France are the Antilles Islands such as Martinique, Guadeloupe, La Reunion, etc…therefore territories and districts that belong to France and who do have a créole cuisine, so yes many French go on vacation on those islands and they do come back with some new exotic recipes. Colombo is somehow the créole curry.

Since there is no perfect meal if there are no vegetables, I served a simple side dish of grilled zucchini…no spices, since the rice and shrimps do have lots of flavors, the zucchini balance the whole dish by being simple and neutral but nonetheless tasty.

So here we have a quite spicy and flavorful dish, you will be in Martinique and in Kerala at the same time, isn’t it a great trip? Oh let’s not forget Tahiti for the vanilla flavor.

Ingredients for 4

For the shrimps

• 24 large jumbo shrimps, deveined
• 1 small yellow onion chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 small piece of ginger, grated
• 1/2 tsp colombo powder
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the rice

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 vanilla pod
• 3 cloves
• 4 cardamom pods, cut lengthwise
• 1/3 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/3 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/3 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 cups water

For the zucchini

• 4 zucchini
• 1 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped

Preparation

First prepare the “spiced water” for the rice. Add water to a pot, then add cloves, cumin, cardamom, fennel and vanilla bean split in two. Scrape the beans. Bring the water to a boil and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes to infuse the spices. Remove from pot and let it cool.

Place rice in a pot and add “spiced water”. To steam my rice I never measure quantity of water. I always add enough water so that 0.4 inches are above the rice level and I get a perfectly cooked rice. If the quantity of water has reduced (it certainly did) while boiling you might want to add some in order that rice gets 0.4 inches extra on top of its surface. Bring to a boil, then cover with lid and reduce heat to a minimum. Cook for about 20 minutes at very low heat. Remove from heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onions and ginger, brown them, then add garlic. Add colombo powder. Stir well then add coconut milk, let reduce a little then add shrimps.

Grill zucchini in a grill pan or regular grill, add olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and sprinkle with cilantro.

Serve spooning 3 tbs rice in a plate, top with shrimps and serve zucchini on the side.

You can make those just for the fun of it because they’re so easy and quick to make. Those cute flans have been always a favorite of mine and whoever tried them too. They are addictive and once you’ve made them, you will keeping making them over and over again just because they’re so quick to make and for such a fasted prepared meal, the result is worth the effort. Sometimes, it happens you spent so many hours cooking and then when it’s time to eat, you realize that all that time cooking was not worth it, because the result ended up just ordinary. This is not the case.

I did some research to find out what was the right translation for the word heirloom in French since I have never seen them over there, and weirdly enough, it’s literally translated by “ancient tomatoes” or tomates anciennes. I have never seen them in France in supermarkets but seems like they do exist, so I would imagine it’s something that had been introduced recently to the market.

Anyway, I bought one giant yellow tomato that weighted 1 lb, it was huge and was enough to use in a few recipes. You might want to use a red tomato instead of a yellow one, the contrasts will be much prettier since the flans are already on the yellowish tone, here it looks like yellow on yellow. I have always learnt that you just don’t wear the same tones of colors together…and what works for clothes, works for food too. Colors and just colors after all.

The tomato vinaigrette is a great and refreshing way to accompany this kinds of dishes, and I use it quite often.

Ingredients for 6 flans

For the flans

• 3 small zucchini, grated
• 6 tbs feta
• 12 mint leaves, roughly chopped
• about 8 kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbs heavy cream
• 4 tbs milk
• salt and pepper

For the heirloom tomato vinaigrette

• 3 medium heirloom tomatoes, grated
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• cayenne pepper
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the zucchini flans

Grate zucchini. Squeeze water with your hands and place in a container. In small silicon molds (you can get any shape you want) place about 1 tps zucchini, then add feta, olives and mint. Proceed with zucchini and with the other ingredients for a second layer.

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs with milk and cream, salt and pepper.

Pour on top of the zucchini layers filling all molds equally.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 30 min or until the flans are slightly browned and cooked in the middle.

For the tomato vinaigrette

Cut the tomatoes crosswise and remove seeds. Using a cheese grater, grate tomato halves and place in a container. Add olive oil, cayenne pepper, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Place one flan per plate and spoon about 1 tbs of tomato vinaigrette around it.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/just-for-fun-zucchini-flans-with-olives-feta-and-mint-in-a-heirloom-tomato-vinaigrette/feed/ 12 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/i-ate-all-the-fishes-in-the-ocean-mahi-mahi-fillet-and-candied-lemon-with-cardamom-on-saffron-rice-with-wilted-dandelions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=i-ate-all-the-fishes-in-the-ocean-mahi-mahi-fillet-and-candied-lemon-with-cardamom-on-saffron-rice-with-wilted-dandelions http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2009/09/i-ate-all-the-fishes-in-the-ocean-mahi-mahi-fillet-and-candied-lemon-with-cardamom-on-saffron-rice-with-wilted-dandelions/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:28:37 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=3620 J’ai mangé tous les poissons de l’océan – Filets de mahi mahi au citron confit et à la cardamome sur riz saffrané et pissenlits sautés

The funny thing is that if you look at the picture, you wouldn’t have any clue that under the rice, there is a layer of beautiful wilted dandelions. Even through the transparent glass, you cannot see those colorful greens.

I just love dandelions. In France, we get a different kind, they’re smaller, and the leaves are more dented and are more flavorful, probably because the ones you get here in the store are grown and not wild. When I was young with my parents we used to go pick them up from fields, that was the fun part, then the cleaning part, I hated it. They have tons of dirt and you have to remove the bad leaves from the outside, it can take the whole day and really I would have preferred to do something more “kids friendly”.

They grow everywhere, but not all year round. You need to pick them up in March, then after, they grow big and their yellow flower blossoms. I loved those so much, I was going crazy for those pissenlits. My mom prepared them with lard fumé (our version of smoked bacon) and croutons. The ones you get here are too hard to eat as a salad, so you have to cook them like spinach. Either you saute them directly in the pan, or you boil them in water, then saute them in olive oil and garlic. Those dandelions tend to be slightly on the bitter side, not fitting everyone’s taste. I love it.

I need to diversify my posts since there are almost no meat recipes, it’s just that I do not enjoy cooking meat. I run into some article about Brendan Brazier the famous tri-athlete who is vegan and explained how he gets tons of energy just from a raw food diet and that’s the best diet you can follow for performance. It’s just amazing to see how vegetables and grains can turn your body into a turbo engine.

I am not a tri-athlete nor planning on becoming one for sure (I can barely swim), nor planning on living on just raw vegetables, but I really think we have to nourish our bodies with the best possible nutrients and I don’t think meat is included in that list.

Going back to my fish, it’s a great combination of ingredients, flavors and textures. The cardamom added to the fish and the candied lemon turns this dish into an elegant entrée. The saffron rice is so delicately flavored and lays on top of the wilted dandelions, like a perfect color match.

I used fish stock I brought back from France, they come in cubes and are an alternative to fish stock (Fumet de poisson, if you don’t have any).

I will leave the fishes alone for a while…if I can…but I can’t promise it.

Ingredients for 4

For the mahi mahi

• 4 fillets of mahi mahi or any other dense white fish
• 4 lemon slices
• 1 tbs honey
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• vegetable broth
• 1 shallot, sliced (en brunoise)
• 2 carrots, diced (en brunoise)
• veg broth or fish broth dehydrated
• 1/3 cup white wine
• thyme and laurel
• salt and pepper

For the saffron rice

• 1 cup (or 200 g) basmati rice
• 1 saffron dose
• 1.26 cup (or 300 ml) vegetable or chicken broth

For the dandelions

• 1 bunch dandelions
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbs olive oil

For the sauce

• 1.6 oz (or 5 cl) dry white wine
• 3 tsp fish stock (dehydrated)
• 1 tbs crème fraiche or heavy cream

Preparation

Start making the candied lemon. Pre-heat oven at 375F. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil, then add thin sliced of lemon and boil for about 2-3 minutes depending on juiciness and ripeness of your lemon. Drain. Melt honey in a small pan and add lemon. Cook for another 3 minutes. Place in the oven for about 20 minutes (you can use an aluminum foil to place the lemon slices)

For the saffron rice, you can use the traditional way of steaming rice in a pot or a rice cooker. It depends on the time I have and still use both. Mix saffron and broth together, and let saffron  dissolve for about 20 minutes.  Add broth to rice, bring to a boil, then reduce heat at the minimum, cover with a lid and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork.

Bring large salted pot of water to a boil, add dandelions and cook for about 10 minutes until the dandelions are cooked but do not overcook. Drain well, and squeeze extra water. Heat olive oil in a pan, add crushed garlic, stir for 1 minutes without burning the garlic, and add dandelions, salt and pepper, stir well, to mix all ingredients. You can keep the dandelions aside and sauté them at the end before serving so they don’t get cold.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and carrots, when cook half through, add fish, cardamom, thyme and laurel, add wine. Cover and let cook until the fish is cooked and wine reduced.

For the sauce, mix white wine and stock and reduce, then add cream and reduce a little more.

For plating, divide dandelions at the bottom of a dish (I would use a hollow dish) then add rice, one mahi mahi filet on top, place carrots around. pour with sauce and one slice of candied lemon on top.

I love my rectangular molds and think I haven’t used them that much, so I need to place them somewhere I can see them, otherwise I tend to forget I have them. What a shame. Well, it’s the same thing with clothes, the ones you don’t see, you don’t wear.

I just realized the sun goes down sooner, it’s completely dark at 8pm in San Francisco, despite the weather being sunnier. Completely the opposite of where I grew up. The longest days are in June, you still have light at 10pm and it’s really a wonderful feeling. So fall is just around the corner, I feel time goes by so fast, you blink, and one month is already gone.

Fall recipes are coming and I will be exploring plenty of delicious savory tarts. They are a perfect light lunch of appetizer. J’adore les tartes salées! Tu veux une tarte? Do you want a tart? In French slang than can also mean a slap! Not sure exactly where that comes from.

The particularity of this tart is its crust. I have decided to use less and less refined white flours, and use organic spelt, whole wheat or other nutritious flours made out of grains. Then, in addition, I decided to flavor the crust. This crust has black sesame seeds, chili flakes and dried mixed herbs…and olive oil instead of butter. So we have a healthy version of the traditional French tarts with pate brisee made with white flour and butter. I prefer to use olive oil for savory tarts than butter, the crust is lighter, and you can taste the olive oil which adds a lot of character to the tart.

I am still dealing with the dilemma of eating wild salmon vs. the farm raised one, and I really don’t know what to do. I don’t want to eat salmon that had been injected with coloring, nor eat grey salmon (I don’t think they would sell it anyway) but I don’t want to contribute to destruction of environment. So I am confused.

I had leftover dough that I will use to make some other tart, but the quantities for the tart are good for a round medium size mold of maybe 8.5 inches diameter. My rectangular one is 14×4 inches. If you are using a larger mold, you need to adjust quantities, add 1 egg and more milk and cream and probably extra spinach.

The below pictures are a traditional French mustard, tomato and tuna tart, made with leftover crust I had. This is a very quick and easy savory tart, nonetheless delicious. You can use any type of dough for this an it turned out great with the sesame, chili and herb crust. You just need Dijon mustard, tomatoes, tuna, chives, and of course the egg/cream/milk mixture. This is what we make when you don’t know what to cook and you have some unexpected guest that pop in.

Ingredients for about 6 people

For the crust

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup spelt flour
• 1 tsp black sesame seeds
• 1/2 tps chili flakes
• 1 tsp mixed dried herbs like herbes de Provences, etc…
• 80 ml olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• a few pinches of salt

For the topping

• 6 cups raw baby spinach (or 1 cup of unfrozen spinach)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 1 salmon steak (about 1/2 lb), cut in cubes
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup low fat milk (or regular milk)
• 1 1/2 tbs dill, chopped
• 1 tbs chives, chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the crust

Mix all flours in a mixing container. Add sesame seeds, chili and herbs, mix well to combine all ingredients. Add olive oil and salt.  Add water gradually, while mixing to obtain a smooth dough. Do not over knead. Form a ball and wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 min.

In large pot, heat olive oil, add garlic, cook for a few seconds to get flavor out, then add spinach. Add salt and pepper, and keep stirring until the spincah are wilted. Remove from heat and squeez excess water. Set aside.

In a pan, heat olive oil, and add onions. Cook the onions slowly until the melt and become soft. When cooked, add 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar, and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a mixing container, mix eggs, eggs, cream, salt and pepper.

Roll the dough and place in your greased non-stick mold (it’s better to grease them anyway even if they don’t stick). Add onion layer, then place spinach, followed by the cubed salmon. Add dill and pour egg mixture on top. Add cracked black pepper.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 30 minutes or until the top of the tart is golden brown. Serve hot with a simple green salad.

I just adopted the most adorable white parakeet and named him Pépito (named after some chocolate cookies in France when I was growing up called Pépito, they were cookies covered with milk chocolate and all the kids were going crazy for them)…so Pépito must have flown away from a cage somewhere and ended up on my stairs, good thing I found him….because he could have been the happy breakfast of the neighbor’s cat! So here it is, Pépito has been adopted.

I was reading that those little birds need a quite balanced diet, not only made out of seeds but also with vegetables, fruits, greens and other type of food humans eat. He eats from my hands now, and sits on my finger, but he is still afraid, if I move to quickly, he freaks out and flies away. So I happily got up this morning and prepared him a nice mixture of honey, corn flakes, cinnamon, peach, sesame seeds and millet…he stared at it for a while but did not touch it. I tried to made him accustomed to that mixture but nothing worked, so I gave up and was trying to find on the web what do those birds like, other than millet seeds. It seems like they love a bunch of mixtures, but apparently not mine.

So in the middle of my parakeet menu thoughts, I decided to make something for my tea time, and went for those green tea bouchées. Bouchée means morsel, those are so small that they can fit in any size mouth. I will share them with Pépito, if he ever decide to stick his beak in there, but I doubt it.

I don’t know why I am not crazy for green tea as a drink, I know it’s full of anti-oxydants but I its bitter flavor in the drink bothers me, but I love green tea flavor in desserts. Matcha green tea has been quite popular in France recently, probably because Japanese cuisine has been on the top of the trend for restaurants. Paris has tons of them now (something never thought of 10 years ago) and even Nancy my home town which is a town of about 300,000 inhabitants has three of them! the French are not too keen on raw fish, so I am stunned they’re starting to go crazy for Japanese food.

Those bouchées are great with a cup of strawberries and cream, with some mint tea, or just as is. They’re easy to prepare and to bake, overall time is 25 min!

Ingredients for 12 bouchées

• 2.8 oz (or 80 g) butter
• 1.7 oz (or 50 g) white unbleached flour
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) powdered sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp matcha green tea powder
• 2.7 oz (or 75 g) almond powder
• 3 tbs coconut flakes
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1/3 tsp of baking powder

Preparation

Pre-heat oven at 365-370F.

Cut butter in pieces and melt butter slowly in a small pan. Do not melt until the butter turns brown.

In one container, mix flour, sugar, green tea powder, almond powder, coconut powder and baking powder. Mix well. Incorporate egg and egg white. Add butter and mix the batter to obtain an homogenous paste.

Place in individual mini molds (I used silicon molds, that I can’t get enough of) and bake for about 15 minutes, check to see if they’re cooked around that time and continue baking if they’re not cooked in the middle.

More on the homemade vegetable pasta chapter… I am in my Italian cooking phase, I left French food aside and going back to my roots. Playing with pasta is a lot of fun. I love making homemade pasta, and having my hands in flour. Kneading the dough, relaxes me, it’s like a therapeutic anti-anxiety session. So I guess it’s better than taking Xanax!

I Found my pasta machine after searching for an hour, it was stuck at the bottom of a drawer, hidden with hundred of other kitchen utensils. I did not feel like using rolling pin (mattarello) this time, the beet tagliatelle were quite time consuming and I did not have time. Making those carrot tagliolini took a lot longer than when making regular pasta with plain flour and no vegetable, because the dough was somehow soft, due to the carrots and the water they contain. So I had to add flour constantly to prevent dough from sticking.

I’m not sure how to translate tagliolini in English, maybe angel hair? I think angel hair are thinner than those. My grandma used to make tagliolini in a tomato broth and we would eat them in a soup-based consistency. Tagliolini are a typical traditional pasta, larger than capellini but narrower than tagliatelle. When made fresh, they cook fast and usually they’re served with light sauces.

If you have a regular pasta machine (I have an Imperia one), it comes with that particular cut, it’s the thinner one (the other one is the tagliatelle cut). If you make the pasta with rolling pin, it needs to be about 2mm large

Zucchini pesto is quite tasty with a lighter texture than regular pesto since it mostly contains zucchini, you can slightly taste the flavor of zucchini which tends to be bland, but enhanced with basil, and parmesan.

Ingredients for 4

For the pasta

• 3 cups white flour + more flour
• 2 eggs
• 200g pureed carrots

For the pesto

• 2 zucchini
• 3 tbs walnuts, chopped
• 3 tbs freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
• 2 garlic cloves
• 10 basil leaves
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the pasta

Cook carrots in water until well cooked all the way through. Drain, let cool and puré with a potato masher, or a mixer so that you get a smooth and thin cream.  Place in a mixing bowl, add flour, egg and mix to get a homogeneous dough. Remove from bowl and start kneading on a flat surface. At this point, you might need to constantly add flour, so that dough does not stick to the working surface. Proceed like you would make regular pasta sheets with your pasta machine.

For the pesto

Cut zucchini in medium size pieces. Place in a blender with the other ingredients and blend to a medium consistency. Adjust with some additional olive oil if the pesto is a little thick and blend a little more.

Cook pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water for one minute and drain. Toss with pesto and serve hot.

Orzo in the US, is that tiny pasta shape like a bird’s tongue, orzo in Italian means barley, so when I just arrived to the US, I got confused. Now since I am in the US, I will try to use american names so that people don’t get confused either. I have known orzo to be a cereal whole my life, in Italy they use it even as a drink, caffè d’orzo, it’s basically a powder like the instant coffee, you add hot water, dilute it and you get a cup of dark drink that somehow tastes like coffee and has no caffeine. It’s an alternative to coffee.

My mom used to make me soups with this pasta when I was a child and called it “bicca” meaning “seed” in her local dialect, they’re called Risoni in Italian (riso = rice, big rice grain).

Anyway going back to the other orzo, the pasta-orzo, in this dish I cooked it like risotto, coating it with olive oil, then adding broth and white wine gradually. You can also cook pasta this way. The water is absorbed gradually and pasta gets all the flavors of the stock.

I love this dish, it’s healthy, flavorful and very delicate and an alternative to risotto, if you want once in a while get some whole wheat grain in your diet and still be fully satisfied with your meal, this would be be perfect. I love risotto, a well-made risotto is heavenly but sometime I just want some whole wheat grains.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 1 cup whole wheat orzo
• 12 shrimps with shell and heads on
• 2/3 cups small sea scallops
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 onion
• 3 cloves
• celery stick
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tbs fresh tarragon
• 12 mint leaves
• 6 large basil leaves
• 2 tbs parlsey
• 1 tbs fresh oregano
• 1/2 fennel, finely diced
• 1 cup shredded radicchio
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Start making the stock. Place 3 cups of water to a boil and add all the herbs, the fennel, the radicchio, let cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the water and drain. Chop the herbs finely and set aside.

Add carrot, celeri stick, stick cloves inside the onion, and add to the stock. Peel the shrimps, head and shell and add to the stock, reduce until you have about 2 cups of stock. Let it simmer for about 30-40 minutes, adding a little water if the water evaporates.

When the stock is ready, drain and keep the liquid.

In a pot, heat olive oil, add shallot and let it brown. Add risoni, coat them with olive like you would for a risotto. Add a little stock and wine, stir until the liquid has evaporated, and add continue stiring and adding stock and wine.

10 minutes before the orzo is almost cooked, add sea scallops and 9 shrimps cut in pieces, leave 3 or 4 for decoration. Stir well and cook until the seafood is cooked all the way through. Add the herbs, radicchio, fennel mixture. Stir well and let rest for about 5-7 minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and serve very hot.

At this time of the year, I am either in Italy or France with my family and right now I tend to get nostalgic…it’s cold, foggy and windy in San Francisco, and I wish I were home. When I get homesick, I start cooking things I make when I am over there. I love to use mascarpone in all kinds of desserts, it’s a wonderful cream, not sure I would call it cheese though, anyway it does not matter, what matters is all the wonderful recipes you can make with it.

It’s certainly not to be snobby but if you get mascarpone, please try to get the imported one, not domestic. The domestic mascarpone is thicker, more yellow and more rubbery, so your mousse will not be as fluffy. I think when it has to do with tiramisù, I tend to be very “purist” in the sense that I hate to see tiramisù with whipped cream, I don’t know why it’s just one ingredient that I don’t want to see in tiramisù, therefore will not call this tiramisù, even if it looks like one. Yes, sometimes as far as food is concerned, I can be strange.

I had some extra mousse so I made an additional little verrine…banana, pear and vanilla. You can use any other fruit, but I just had those two left and the good thing is that they are two fruits that mix really well together. You can add some chocolate coulis after the layer of fruits.

Ingredients for 3-4

• 1.5 lb strawberries
• 1/2 lb raspberries
• 1 pack lady fingers
• 1/2 lb (or 250 g) imported mascarpone
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tbs powdered sugar
• 2 tbs granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• juice of 1 orange
• 2 tbs sweet wine  (like Marsala, Pinot des Charentes, etc…)

Preparation

Wash and cut strawberries, add granulated sugar and cook at medium heat for about 15 minutes until the strawberries are cooked but not over mushy and that they have produced a deep red juice. Drain and keep the juice aside. Let cool.

Add orange juice, marsala, and vanilla extract to strawberry juice, mix well.

Separate yolks from whites. Beat yolks with powdered sugar until the mixture whitens and double its volume. Add mascarpone and mix thoroughly. Beat egg whites to a thick consistency, and until they start peaking. Fold carefully to the mascarpone mixture. Whip the cream and add to the egg/mascarpone mixture.

Deep lady fingers in the strawberry juice. Deep long enough so that they absorb enough juice. Place at the bottom of a deep dish or a glass. Add a layer of cooked strawberries, then add fresh raspberries. Proceed with another layer of mascarpone cream, and start again with another layer of lady fingers, straberries, raspberries and cream. Decorate with fresh raspberries, and/or powdered chocolate or any other pretty item.

Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours and serve.