I have made chicken bastilla quite often but never with shrimps. Originally, I was thinking of a vegetarian version, then I thought shrimps would be a good idea. Bastilla is a Moroccan dish usually filled with meat or fish/seafood and wrapped in filo dough, topped with almonds and cinnamon.

The base is of the chicken bastilla, then the difference is that I didn’t use cinnamon nor sugar. I didn’t think it would go well with shrimps, beside I am not a fan of cinnamon. I made a layer of spinach with preserved lemons and kalamata olives, topped with shrimps, and I loved it. This became my favorite thing to make for the moment.

Ingredients for a bastilla (2 people)

For the shrimps mixture

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 1 tsp ginger, grated
• 1 lb shrimps, peeled and deveined
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1 saffron dose, dissolved in 2 tbs hot broth
• salt and pepper
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4-6 sheets of whole wheat filo dough (or regular filo dough)
• butter, melted
• 2 tbs silvered almonds, toasted

For the spinach mixture

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 10-15 kalamata olives, chopped
• 2 small preserved lemon (or one large), rinsed and minced
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the shrimp mixture

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onions and cook a few minutes (do not brown) add ginger and cook a few extra minutes. Add shrimps, stir until they turn a little pink but not cooked. Add cumin, coriander, paprika, garlic, cilantro and saffron. Sir well and let it cook until the mixture is cooked and water evaporated. Add egg and cook well. Adjust with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

For the spinach

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add spinach, salt and pepper. Cook stirring until spinach is wilted. Squeeze excess water with your hands. Add lemon and olive and mix well.

In two round pans of about 10 cm diameter, coat bottom and sides of pan using a brush. Cut filo dough sheets lengthwise and place those 2 strips of dough at bottom of the pan in a way that the border of the dough shifts to one side. Brush with more butter. Proceed three more times. Sprinkle toasted almonds. Add the last layer of dough.

Place spinach at the bottom, spreading evenly. Add shrimp mixture and start covering the shrimps folding the filo dough edges on top of the shrimps. Brush with butter at each stage of the folding process. Brush again the last sheet of dough.

Sprinkle almonds on top and cook on a pre heated oven at 375F until golden brown.

Bourride is a Provencal dish, let’s say the cousin of bouillabaisse. It’s originally made out of monkfish. In this version, I added shrimps and clams and fennel in the broth. I love the combination of fennel and fish/seafood. It’s a light and flavorful dish that can be enjoyed all year round. Not being difficult to make, it can also be prepared in advance, just get the broth with the vegetables ready the night before and you can only cook the fish the day you are consuming it. That is a big convenience.

These days I have not been a big fish and seafood eater, but once in a while if I make an ocean dish, it needs to be special. Bourride is delicious and light, especially if you don’t add too much aioli.

Bourride is served with aioli. Aioli is used in all Mediterranean basin such as Provence, Spain and Northern Italy. It’s usually a condiment made out of garlic and oil, sometimes an egg is added but for purists, egg is to be avoided.

Ingredients

For the soup

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 fennel, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced (1/2 inch pieces)
• 1 leek (the white part), sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1.5 lb monkfish, cut in 5 cm pieces
• about 15 shrimps, peeled and deveined
• about 15 clams

For the aioli

• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 yolk
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3.4 oz (or 100 ml) vegetable oil
• 3.4 oz (or 100 ml) olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the aioli

In a bowl, or mortar crush garlic, add yolk and mustard then add slowly vegetable oil. Add olive oil and continue stirring until the mixture is smooth. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the bourride

Heat olive oil in a deep pot. Add cut vegetables and let them sweat for about t0 min until they get soft. Add garlic, parsley and wine. Stir well, then add broth. Let it cook for about 20 min until the vegetables are well cooked. Mash roughly with a potato masher. Remove about 1 laddle of broth and set aside.

Cook monkfish in a little oil on all sides, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Add monkfish to broth, add shrimps and clams. Cover and cook at medium temperature until the clams open.

When fish is cooked, mix 3-4 tbs aioli with the left aside broth and mix well. Add to the fish/broth mixture. Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot with toasted bread or as is.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2016/07/a-different-kind-of-bourride-bourride-of-monkfish-clams-and-shrimps/feed/ 0 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2016/04/edamame-and-mung-bean-fettucine-with-cabbage-peas-and-shrimps/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=edamame-and-mung-bean-fettucine-with-cabbage-peas-and-shrimps http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2016/04/edamame-and-mung-bean-fettucine-with-cabbage-peas-and-shrimps/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2016 00:01:27 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=17765 Fettucine di edamame e fagioli mungo, cavolo, piselli e gamberi

Today I had to battle my demons, and stop obsessing about some terrible thing that happened recently, so I decided to try anything I could, and went for a long run. It did help somehow. After a few hours of running in circles, I went home and had no idea what I would make for lunch. I had no appetite and and no inspiration either. I found among my million items in my pantry those edamame fettucine I bought along with the black bean spaghetti a while ago.

So basically, edamame and mung bean fettucine are simply a type of pasta made with edamame and mung bean flour, that’s why they have this beautiful light green color. In the picture they could be blending with the cabbage color, but if you look closely, you can distinguish the fettucine.

This type of pasta is filled with fibers and proteins, so you will not feel bloated or stuffed as you would when eating regular white flour pasta. They are easily digestible, nutritious and very delicious. They remain a bit chewy and al dente, and personally I love chewy textures.

The combination of the sweetness of the cabbage and peas, complement the nuttiness of the noodles, so we have a very balance dish as far as textures and flavors. I ate two whole plates so this portion is enough for three people, or two if one of them is very hungry.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 yellow onion, finely diced
• 1/2 cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 handful of shrimps, peeled and deveined
• about 3.5 oz (or 120 grams) edamame fettucine
• salt and pepper

 Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion and let soften about 5 minutes at medium temperature. Add cabbage and mirin. Cook and cover until cabbage softens but still a bit firm and mirin evaporates. Add peas, shrimps and garlic. Cook until peas and shrimps are cooked. Adjust with salt and pepper. In the meantime, cook fettucine in hot salted boiling water until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain and serve with cabbage, peas, shrimps mixture. Drizzle some extra unrefined extra virgin oil on top and serve hot.

This recipe is neither French nor Italian but Middle Eastern. I first tasted molokhia when I lived in London at a Palestinian lady’s house. My good friend Stephanie and I wanted to learn English so in our 20′s we went to live in London (which needless to say was a long time ago!!). We rented two rooms at this wonderful lady’s house who was a writer mostly focusing on women condition in Islamic countries. That was the first time I ever tasted or heard about molokhia. She treated us with chicken molokhia once in a while which was a feast for us. Molokhia is basically the leaves of jute, a green leafy vegetable, a little bitter. Its texture is a little slimy like okra, so if you like okra, you’ll like molokhia.

Then we went back to France, time went by and living in a small town in France, molokhia was nowhere to be found in the markets in France. Not that long ago (about 20 years later), strolling down the frozen section of a middle eastern store in San Francisco, I found frozen molokhia. I could not believe it! Here I am with three bags of frozen molokhia, and no idea on how to prepare it.

After some intense searching, I found various recipes for molokhia, one of which is a Tunisian version and is made out of dry leaves and prepared with lamb and like a thick stew consistency. The one I tasted 20 years ago was made out of fresh leaves, with chicken and with a consistency of a soup and eaten as a soup. I found a recipe from Cairo similar to what I was used to, so Inspired myself from this recipe – It is usually served with rice but I was in the mood for quinoa, and it just works as well.

 Preparation for 2

• Fish broth
• 2 small tomatoes, peel, seeds removed, and diced
• 2 tbs chopped onion
• 1 bag frozen molokhia
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
• 3 tbs cilantro, chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tbs olive oil
• 8 shrimps, peeled and deveined
• salt and pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Preparation

In a medium pot, heat fish stock, then add frozen molokhia, tomatoes, onions, cumin powder, coriander powder, salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes. Add cilantro. In a pan, add olive oil and garlic and cook until fragrant but don’t burn the garlic. Add to the molokhia pot and cook for a few minutes. In the meantime, saute shrimps and keep warm. Add lemon to molokhia, stir well and serve molokhia with shrimps and rice or quinoa.

It’s been ages I haven’t made soup for myself, I’ve had no desire for soups whatsoever. Maybe with winter coming this way and cooler weather, this will change.

Simple traditional minestrone is delicious, hearty, filled with vegetables, colors, etc… but as any dish, it can be modified a bit switching some ingredients and give it a little modern twist.

Some people might wonder why I used the provencal pistou instead of the Italian (Genovese) pesto since minestrone is originally from Italy. Pistou and pesto are probably related since Provence region and Genoa are not too far from each other, besides the ingredients are similar (but not the same!).

In France we have la soupe au pistou, a very famous soup from Provence made with lots of vegetables, that could be a relative of the Italian minestrone. Now let’s not argue on which one came first.

In this recipe, I decided to use a pistou whose ingredients are basil, garlic and olive oil  instead of a pesto which has those three ingredients in addition to pine nuts and parmesan cheese because of the shrimps. I have been taught by my mom to never use cheese with fish or seafood, so here I am, still following her strict rules. If you decide not to use shrimps, then a basic pesto will work fine….and if you want to use a traditional pesto to go with the shrimps, do so. My kitchen is not a dictatorship kind of regime! It’s just an idea box…so are you pistou or a pesto?

I substituted pasta with quinoa, but you could also use farro, wheat, barley, etc…I love the little grains of the quinoa, they keep me light for the day.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 3.52 oz (or 100 gr) cauliflower, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 potato diced
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 3.52 oz (or 100 gr) peas
• 1 leek, diced
• 1 cup kale, chopped (optional)
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 5.30 oz (or 150 gr) quinoa
• 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3.52 oz (or 200 gr) cooked cannellini beans or garbanzo beans
• 12 large shrimps
• salt and pepper

For the pistou

• 1 bunch basil
• 3 garlic cloves
• 150 ml olive oil
• 3 tbs parmesan (optional)

Preparation

In a large pan, heat olive oil, then add onion and soften. Add all the diced vegetables, quinoa crushed garlic. Cover with water and let cook until all the vegetables are soft, about 45 minutes.

In the meantime, saute shrimps in a pan.

Serve minestrone in bowls, divide shrimps on each bowl, and add one tbs of pistou on top. Stir and enjoy.

For the pistou

In a mortar crush garlic and salt until it turns into a cream, then add basil and keep crushing. Add oil progressively to obtain a smooth paste.

It’s seems like a long time since I prepared a savory dish with coconut or vanilla, but lately I have been thinking about vanilla and spices, so I guess I am ready to take a little vacation in the tropics. Anytime summer comes, I just want to pack my bags and go somewhere. My yearly trips to France are not really a vacation, it’s more like family time with everything that it implies. Going home to the city I grew up in is always a great pleasure, but does not make me feel I am on vacation. I think I want to go in a country where I don’t understand the language and feel completely “depaysée” (in a new world), discover new flavors, scents and feel new emotions.

My friend Laurent offered me a book called “La Bonne Cuisine Végétarienne de Babette“, a wonderful vegetarian book written by a French Créole chef, Babette De Rozières, where she presents recipes with a créole flair using tropical ingredients. Her cuisine if full of colors, sunny and vibrant like the islands. After I finished reading that book, I just wanted vanilla…everything needed to be vanilla.

Vanilla blends well with fish and poultry too, one aspect of vanilla is that it’s very delicate, and not strong nor overpowering, unless of course you use a lot of it. It’s better not to add too many other spices or flavors with vanilla, because it’s so delicate that strong spices will kill it subtle flavor.

You can substitute the spinach with some more exotic greens and use yams instead of the sweet potatoes. I used sweet potatoes and coconut, to complete the dish, and I really liked it. It’s fast to prepare as well, so nothing to complain about. Depending on the length of your vanilla beans and size of your shrimps, you might add more than two shrimps on the vanilla bean. My shrimps were quite large so only two fitted.

Ingredients for 4

For the shrimps marinade

• 12 shrimps
• zest of 1 lime
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 vanilla bean scraped
• 4 vanilla beans
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the spinach

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 1 lb baby spinach
• salt and pepper

For the potatoes

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and sliced 1 cm thick
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

For the sauce

• 1.5 tsp butter
• the rest of the marinade
• 1/2 tsp cider vinegar (optional)
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 2-3 tbs coconut milk

Preparation

Place two or three shrimps in the vanilla bean. Mix all the ingredients of the marinade and pour on top of the shrimps. Place in a container and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Coat potato slices with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and broil in the oven until tender in the middle and golden brown on the outside. Keep warm.

Heat olive oil in a large pot, add shallot, let it sweat, then spinach, salt and pepper and keep stirring at high heat until wilted.

Melt butter in a pan. Add shrimps (removing excess marinade) and let them cook at medium heat, add marinade, stir well. Remove shrimps. Deglaze with vinegar, add honey and coconut milk. Let the sauce reduce a little.

Place two slices of potatoes in a place,  top them with spinach, then shrimps. Spoon sauce on top and serve hot.

My Friend’s Julia mom, Florence a delightful lady from Paris came for a visit to the Bay Area during the holidays. She is an attorney in Paris but cooking is her hobby when she has time to spend in the kitchen. She wanted to learn some new tricks and recipes she could use while having her large family and friends for dinner (she has six children and and seven siblings).

While in San Francisco, I took her shopping to Berkeley Bowl and then spent the rest of the day preparing a four course meal for the rest of the family who joined us for dinner. I promised that my next recipe would be just for her, I wanted to make something easy, that could be a perfect canape, or appetizer for her large gatherings. Et voilà, c’est fait! Florence je pense que vous apprecierez ces canapés faciles à faire, goutûs et avec une pointe d’originalité.

Florence had all the qualities to be an excellent cook, she is curious, has lots of energy and is an excellent listener, so maybe good attorneys are great cooks after all!

These crostini can also be served an appetizer with a small side of green salad, you can of course adapt their size to the occasion. For canapes use, make them a slightly bit smaller than if you would serve them as an appetizer.

For an easy process, use express polenta, the one that cooks fast.

Recipes for me are versatile and are just ideas, you don’t need to replicate them exactly. For example here if you prefer to use roasted red peppers, you could. I like to combine different textures, so that’s why I made a coulis, just to complement to grainy texture of the polenta, the leafy spinach and crunchy and sweet shrimp.

If you read French, La cuisine du marché avec Silvia is a little note written by Florence to describe her little cooking experience in San Francisco. Lovely isn’t it?

Ingredients for 12 canapés

• 1 pint water (or 500 ml) salted water
• 4.4 oz (or 125 g) pre cooked polenta
• 12 shrimps, uncooked
• 12 slices pancetta, thin sliced
• 1 garlic clove, diced
• 1/2 bunch kale, stems removed

For the roasted red pepper coulis

• 1 large bell red pepper
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1 tbs olive oil
• cayenne pepper to taste
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the polenta

Bring a pint of water with salt to a boil. Pour polenta gradually, and stir well for about 3 minutes until the polenta thickens. Remve from heat and spread over a flat food surface in about 1/2 inches (1 cm) thick circle. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Let it cool and refrigerate for about one hour until the polenta is hard. Using a round 2 inches (or 4 cm) cookie cutter, cut polenta disks. Sprinkle with olive oil and broil under broiler or grill until the top is golden brown.

For the kale

Remove stems from kale and cut in about 2 inches pieces. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic clove and stir, add kale and cook until it wilts, adjust with salt and pepper

For the shrimps

Wrap one pancetta slice around each shrimp. Saute in olive oil until both sides are golden brown.

For the coulis

Place pepper under broiler, and char broil until the skin darkens. Proceed the same way on all sides. Remove from oven, let cool. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in small pieces and mix in a blender with garlic, oil, cumin and cayenne pepper. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Place one kale leaf on top of polenta, then add shrimp and top it with pepper coulis. Serve hot or warm.

Passatelli is a specialty from Romagna and Marche regions of Italy. It’s usually served in a broth (in brodo) or asciutti (dried) which means as a pasta dish and of course no broth. I grew up eating passatelli which was my mom’s favorite soup, but when you’re a kid you are not too excited eating soups. Over the years when going to Italy, I noticed they started serving passatelli asciutti (no broth) with all kinds of sauces and became ever since one of my favorite dish.

We were in Italy last month, and I got the chance to eat passatelli with seafood in the restaurant Da Tano (city of Fano) which is now my favorite restaurant ever. That was such an amazing dish, and since then I have been dreaming of Tano’s passatelli.

So after looking on the net for passatelli recipes and proportions, and getting so many different ones, I called my mom and got her recipe. I thought that would be closer to what I was used to, but I told my mom, the passatelli need to remain extra firm and not break or I will not like them (I really hate overcooked pasta to the point where I will not eat it), so you need to be precise and give me exact quantities of ingredients for extra firm passatelli.

The mixture needs to be hard otherwise the passatelli will break during the cooking process. The other tricky thing is to grate the bread and parmesan very finely in a mixer, so store bought bread crumbs will not work. You need to use stale bread (preferably country bread) and grated it extremely fine, like a powder. For the cheese it’s the same

I have another recipe of passatelli in brodo here, but this one is a little different and is perfect for this “dry” preparation.

You need this particular potato masher to make those little cylinders. I have seen it available in the US on the web.

If you are interested in some other passatelli recipe, and read Italian, here Sabrina and her blog called La creatività e i suoi colori.

Ingredients for 3-4

For the passatelli

• 3.52 oz (or 100 )g homemade very fine breadcrumbs
• 3.52 oz (or 100 g) freshly grated parmesan, very fine
• 2.82 oz (or 80 g) white flour
• 3 eggs
• nutmeg
• zest of one lemon
• salt
• 4 cups broth

For the sauce

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• 1 tomato, peeled, seedless and diced
• 2 small fillet of sole, cubed (about 13/4 inch)
• 3/4 lb shrimps, chopped roughly
• 1 tbs fish fumet
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallot and let soften. Add tomato and fumet. Add shrimps and sole and let it cook until half of the water evaporates. Adjust with salt and pepper. Add extra olive oil if desired.

For the sauce

For the passatelli

Mix all ingredients together forming a thick paste. Let it rest for about 20 minutes. Bring broth (or bouillon cube) to a boil, then using a potato masher place half of the dough inside the masher and press to form long cylinder, proceed one more time using the rest of the dough, and cook in broth for a few minutes at very low heat (need to boil very slowly or the passatelli will break). Drain and carefully place the passatelli in a large plate. Pour sauce on top and mix carefully. Serve hot.

Yes, life is a coconut, after the hard work of breaking the shell, you get the good stuff – I am on a coconut craze lately, and I make everyone around me eat coconut. It’s delicious in anything sweet or savory, I just cannot get enough of it. In this recipe, you need some kind of sticky rice, a non sticky rice such as basmati would not work very well. When making the balls, it will fall apart, and you won’t be able to stuff them. Jasmine rice would be better, or if you like the real sticky rice, you can use it too.

I inspired myself from the Italian risotto balls called “supplì“, those delicious rice balls stuffed with mozzarella and fried. Of course, these are more exotic (for me they are, since I did not grow up with Asian flavors) and are perfect when you feel like something different. They should be about 1.5 inches in diameter, a little bigger than a walnut.

Now there are different ways to cook these balls, one way is to steam them, the other way is to bake them. You can chose the method that is more appealing to you. In my case, I rolled them in panko breadcrumbs mixed with shredded coconut and I baked them. If you steam them, no need to roll them in that mixture. I am not a fan of frying, and always bake instead of frying unless, I have been requested a very specific dish, for which I have no other choice. But if you are into frying, you can try it out.

For the stuffing, you can substitute the zucchini with shiitake mushrooms, and of course play with the stuffing if you are in the mood for playing.

For coconut milk quantities, or other liquid when I cook rice, my Cambodian childhood friend taught me to measure the rice/liquid ratio “à vue d’oeil” as we say in French (with naked eye). There needs to be 1 cm (about 0.40 inches) of liquid above the rice. In this case, the metric system makes a lot more sense (as in many other cases!). I will never get used to imperial system.

Ingredients for about 7-8 balls

For the rice

• 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup rice
• coconut milk
• 3 tbs shredded coconut, unsweetened (+ 2 tbs)
• 1 cup panko
• 1 egg beaten
• salt
• chili sauce for dipping

For the stuffing

• 1 shallot, chopped finely
• lemongrass (2 inches stem), cut finely
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 6 large shrimps, uncooked and cut very finely
• 1/2 zucchini, grated
• 1 tbs cilantro, finely chopped
• sichuan pepper
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• salt

 Preparation

For the rice

Heat olive oil in a pan, add onions and cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add rice and transfer to a rice cooker or a pot. Add salt and coconut milk. Steam rice for about 15-20 minutes until cooked. Remove from stove and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

For the stuffing

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add onion, lemongrass and ginger and cook for about 10 minutes at low heat. Add garlic and stir well. Add shrimps. Using your hands, squeeze water from zucchini and add to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes at medium heat. remove excess water if any. Add soy sauce, salt and pepper. stir well, then add cilantro. Mix everything well.

Using your hands, take a good amount of rice and place some of the stuffing in the middle, and form a ball.

Mix panko with shredded coconut.

Dip a ball in the beaten egg, then in the panko/coconut mixture.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400F for about 15 minutes, until the balls turn golden brown. If you want to steam them, omit the panko mixture and steam in a bamboo steamer.

Serve with chili sauce.

I am a heavy smoker of those cigarettes! The excitement is more related to the feuilles de brick (the wrapping sheets, literally translated into “sheet brick”) than to those cigarettes themselves. I used to bring feuilles de brick from France anytime I went there, just because I cannot find them in the US. Strangely enough, no store carries them (even though feuilles de brick are Middle Eastern), not even the Middle Eastern stores. Most people here use filo dough instead or won ton wrappers, which are very different.

I love feuilles de brick just because they are not as fragile as filo dough and the texture is much more pleasant, the “crunch” is very different. You can check more recipe here with feuille de brick.

Now my frustration ended, thanks to Laurent and his “Gourmet and More” Epicerie he opened in San Francisco, in Hayes Valley. Whoever lives in the city has to go to Gourmet and More if they’re into real French products (not imitation). They even have a “cheese room” where they cut the cheese for you, yes! you have “Fromage à la coupe“, like in France, and not wrapped in plastic like at Whole Foods or most stores. They sell boudin noir, boudin blanc, saucisse de Toulouse, de lapin, rillettes, crozet (pasta specialty from Savoie), many olive oil, teas, etc… a heaven for French people or those who like French products.

Anyway, those cigarettes are filled with leeks, shrimps and mushrooms and baked in the oven. You can also fried the cigarettes in a pan with oil but I prefer to bake them to make them lighter and not as oilier. You can fill them with whatever you like and served with a simple green salad as an appetizer or light lunch, they’re delightful.

Don’t forget, if you are rooming around San Francisco one of those days, drop by “Gourmet and More“, say Bonjour to Laurent and Josiane (his wife), get some cheese…and some feuilles de brick!

Ingredients for 4 cigarettes

• 1 tbs olive oil + 1 tsp for basting
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 leek, chopped
• 6 large shiitake, finely diced
• 20 medium shrimps, cut finely
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs crème fraîche
• 1 tbs chives, chopped finely
• 4 feuilles de brick
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and cook them for a few minutes until soft. Add leeks and shiitake, cover and cook at medium heat until the vegetables are cooked and the water evaporated. Add shrimps and cook for a few minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Add garlic and stir well. Add crème fraîche and cook until the cream has thickened and reduced (no liquid in the pan). Add chives and mix well.

Place about 3 tbs of mixture in a feuille de brick and roll in order to form cylinders, like you would do to make egg rolls.

Baste with some olive oil. Pre-heat oven at 370F and bake for about 20 minutes or until all the sides are golden brown and crunchy. Serve hot on a beg of green mâche or peppery salad.

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