I have been neglecting my blog recently, and I feel I should refocus my attention on it. I guess not having too much time is the reason, but maybe because as we say “j’ai la tête ailleurs” (I have my head somewhere else).

I made this recipe a while ago but then never finish writing it. I think I know where the problem is…the writing. Sometimes my recipe has no story behind it, just me wanting to test new combinations and that is it. I will not pretend that by some magic lightning, I got a magic inspiration about this recipe and a very interesting story to share. This recipe is one of those with no story.

I love celeriac, love mung beans, love wild mushrooms, love tarragon, so here we are.

I really enjoyed the whole combination, which made me feel very well nourished and happy. I always make sure that whatever I eat makes me happy.

Celeriac is a French staple vegetable, we eat it in the traditional céleri rémoulade. My mom used to boil it, slice it and serve it cold with a vinaigrette. You can do all kinds of things with celery root, purées and soups are delicious.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the celeriac

• 1 medium celeriac, peeled and sliced crosswise in 1.5 com thick slices
• olive oil for coating
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt and pepper

For the mung beans fricassée

• 1 cup mung beans
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1 leek, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 1.2 cups mixed wild mushrooms
• 2 tbs vegetable broth
• 2 tbs toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

For the tarragon oil

• 1/2 bunch tarragon
• olive oil
• salt

Instructions

For the celeriac

Place celeriac slices on a tray. Coat with the listed ingredients and broil under broiler (far from broiler) until both sides are golden brown. The slices need to be firm and not overcooked to be able to maintain their shape.

For the mung bean fricassée

Cook mung beans in water until cooked about 15 min. They need to keep their shape, and not mushy. They can get easily mushy if overcooked and will lose their pretty shape. When cooked, drain and set aside.

In a pan, heat up olive oil, add shallot and let it soften for a few minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, leeks and broth. Cover and let cook at medium heat until vegetables are cooked. Add mung beans and stir well for a few minutes. Add garlic, parsley and nuts, and mix well until the strong garlic flavor fades away.

For the tarragon oil

Place tarragon and olive oil in a mixer and blend until obtained a nice green oil. Adjust with salt.

Place one slice of celeriac in a plate. Add 2-3 tbs mung bean mixture on top and top it with another slice of celeriac. Spoon one tbs of tarragon oil around and heat hot.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2017/10/roasted-celeriac-with-mung-beans-forestiere-fricassee-and-tarragon-oil/feed/ 2 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2017/07/yams-and-brussels-sprouts-napoleon-with-herbs-and-red-bell-pepper-jam/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=yams-and-brussels-sprouts-napoleon-with-herbs-and-red-bell-pepper-jam http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2017/07/yams-and-brussels-sprouts-napoleon-with-herbs-and-red-bell-pepper-jam/#comments Mon, 24 Jul 2017 22:05:06 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=18632  

Napoléon de yams et choux de Bruxelles, herbes et confiture de poivrons

Last time I was at my parents’ in France a few weeks ago, I saw this empty jar of a delicious red bell pepper jam I bought during a vacation in Seville. That certainly did bring up some beautiful memories. I remembered buying it in an open market, as being a local specialty, and served with sheep cheeses. Then I decided to read about it and do a little research on this particular jam and it seems like it’s consumed in the Pays Basque as well where they say it’s a Basque specialty. So obviously it originated in that area, as to who created it, France or Spain, I think we’ll never know.

Back in California, a few weeks later, I went to this wonderful restaurant in Healdsburg called Chalk Board (if you ever go in that area, you need to try it) and to my astonishment, my delicious grilled zucchini dish was served with red bell pepper jam! what a strange coincidence! As soon as I came home I went to buy red bell peppers and I made jam. I had no choice, this was a sign…

So the highlight of this dish and the main purpose of this dish is the red bell pepper jam, not the yams and nor the Brussels sprouts. Maybe I should just have made a post with the jam only, but then you need an example on how to eat it. Actually, this red bell pepper jam is often served with sheep cheeses, but also with grilled meats and fish. Here it goes perfectly well with this vegetable combination.

The jam I bought in Seville was more liquid, so for the next batch, I will just cook it less. This was a thick jam, so depending on your preferences, you might want to play with the cooking time. Its flavor is amazing, sweet, flavorful and spicy. It truly enhances many dishes and if you want to eat it like in Spain, try it with any hard sheep cheese like manchego, it’s magic.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the Napoleon

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 large yams, peeled and cut 1/2 inch thick slices across
• 1 lb Brussels sprouts, shredded
• 3 tbs white wine
• salt and pepper

For the herb dressing

• 1.5 tbs mixed herbs (scallions, chives, basil, etc)
• 4 tbs olive oil
• juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• salt

For the red bell pepper jam

• 600 g red bell peppers, peeled and seeds removed and cut in small strips
• 250 g brown sugar
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Piment d’Espelette

Preparation

For the napoleon

Place yams in a non stick tray. Coat with olive oil, salt and pepper and broil on both sides until cooked.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic, stir until fragrant then add Brussels sprouts and wine. Cover and let cook at medium heat until wilted and wine evaporated. Adjust with salt and pepper.

For the herb dressing

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

For the belle pepper jam

Place peppers in a pot along with the sugar. Let it cook at medium temperature until soft and the texture has thickened. Add lemon juice and let it cook a bit more. Add piment d’Espelette at the end and cook for another 5-10 minutes. At this point, the texture is syrupy and thicker, more like a coulis.

Using a rind, mount the napoleon. Place a slice of yam at the bottom of the plate, then add Brussels sprouts, then a tsp of herb dressing. Continue the process to a second layer. Serve with some red pepper jam and herb dressing.

I just realized that I took the pictures and I forgot to add the chick peas…too late!

I love this dish, I wouldn’t have thought I would have loved it so much but the cauliflower “semoule” goes so well with it. There is a little confusion when translating couscous from French into English.

For us, French people when we talk about couscous, it refers to the Middle Eastern dish (vegetables/meat stew + semoule) and not only the little wheat grains that in the US they call couscous. What people call couscous in the US, we call it “semoule” or semolina.

As usual, being a huge eater of vegetables, I thought to substitute the couscous (wheat semolina) with cauliflower. I was wondering if the flavor wouldn’t be too strong. The truth is, it was not, it was just perfect.

If you want to consume less starch, don not hesitate to use cauliflower in couscous, it works perfectly.

The vegetables need to be cut in larger pieces, over one inch, maybe 1.5 inches. I found the same harissa as we use in France in a Middle Eastern store. Harissa is a middle eastern hot chili sauce made out of roasted peppers, hot chili peppers, and many other herbs and spices. You can equally make it. If you cannot find harissa, you can use any chili based hot sauce to add at the end.

Ingredients for 3-4

For the vegetable stew

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 celery stem, diced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 turnip, diced
• 3 zucchini, sliced
• 1 small eggplant, diced
• 4 tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and chopped
• 1 cup chick pea, cooked
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tsp ras el hanout
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 dose saffron
• harissa to taste
• salt and pepper
• cilantro for garnish

For the semoule

• 1 medium cauliflower
• 2 tbs pinenuts
• 2 tbs raisins
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Instructions

For the vegetable stew

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and cook until soft, then add garlic. Add tomato paste and stir well. Add all vegetables except chick peas, and add some water. Add all spices, mix well and cover with lid. Let cook at medium heat for about 20-30 min until vegetables are cooked but not mushy. When cooked, add chick peas, drizzle with olive oil, cilantro and serve hot.

For the cauliflower semoule

Using a food processor, grate cauliflower on the same blade you would grate carrots.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Pour cauliflower and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. Keep warm. Add pine nuts, raisins. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Eat with vegetable stew and that’s what we call couscous!

Who said tofu is boring? When you start preparing it like you would prepare meat, it’s the same thing. Meat by itself is boring too in my opinion. The great thing about tofu is that it absorbs all the flavors it is exposed to. So you cook it the same way, you would cook meat, and the problem is solved.

I like to always have two vegetable dishes on my plate, mo matter what I eat, so you can play around with this recipe. I always say recipes are just there to give you ideas, it’s not something rigid, you can modulate them to your tastes.

This recipe is very simple, it would almost be an express dish, if you didn’t have to cook the spaghetti squash which takes quite sometime.

 Ingredients for 2

For the tofu skewers

• 1 extra firm tofu package, drained and cut into 1 inch squares
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 inch ginger pieces, grated
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbs sake
• 1 tbs coconut sugar
• salt and pepper

For the spaghetti squash

• 1 small spaghetti squash, cut lengthwise
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 3 large king oyster mushrooms, sliced into 1 inch pieces
• 3 large heirloom tomatoes, peeled, seed removed and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbs dry white wine
• 2 tbs mixed herbs (parsley, basil, chives, etc…)
• Salt and pepper

For the dandelions greens

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• chili flakes
• 1 bunch dandelions, cut into 1.5 inches
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the tofu

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except tofu. Mix well, then add tofu, coat it with marinade and let marinate for about 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Grill on a skillet until golden brown.

For the Spaghetti squash

Cut the spaghetti squash lengthwise. Wrap it in aluminum foil, making sure that it’s sealed and no air is going through the wrap. Bake in the oven at 390F for about 45 min. Remove from the oven, unwrap and remove seeds. With a fork carefully detach the spaghetti from the skin and place in a container.

Heat olive oil in a pan and add shallots. When shallot are soft, add mushrooms. Stir well. Add tomatoes, garlic and wine. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cook until water evaporates from tomatoes and tomatoes thicken. Add mixed herbs at the end.

Add spaghetti squash to the tomato-mushrooms mixture and mix well.

For the dandelions

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add garlic, chili and stir until fragrant. Add dandelions, salt and pepper. Add stir well until wilted.

Serve spaghetti squash, add tofu skewers on top and dandelions all around. Drizzle with olive oil and eat hot.

I love weekends, especially when I have enough time to explore new recipes and cook. That is my perfect weekend, and even more perfect when my experiments turn out delicious.

Strangely beets remind me of my childhood. The first time I had beets was in elementary school, I must have been 6 or 7 years old. I used to have lunch “à la cantine”  (the school canteen where kinds have lunch?) since my mom could not come pick me up for lunch. They were cut in small cubes and served with a vinaigrette. Most kids didn’t eat them, but for some reason, I like them and always asked for a second serving. I have been eating beets since then. Some of my friends in their adult life ended up hating everything they ate “à la cantine” and were traumatized by that food.

A discussion with my mom this morning led to this recipe. She was mentioning a delicious zucchini carpaccio she ate at some friend’s house, topped with parmesan and basil, that she loved. It made me realize that I don’t make vegetable carpaccio very often. Usually when talking about carpaccio, it’s mainly referring to beef or salmon, topped with olive oil, lemon, etc…

I had a bunch of beets in the refrigerator, that I kept postponing to cook and I wanted to explore more recipes using my raspberry vinegar too. What more perfect than this!

Another alternative to Greek yogurt sauce is to shave some pecorino on top of the beets. It’s all up to your inspiration.

I loved this combination of beets, raspberry vinegar, goat yogurt and herbs, especially when you add extra dressing and extra goat yogurt, when everything mixes up; then all different nuances of colors, flavors and textures dance in your plate and palate.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 2 golden or red beets, peeled and finely sliced using a mandoline
• pumpkin seeds, roasted

For the raspberry dressing

• 6 raspberries, crushed with a fork
• 2 tbs raspberry vinegar
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• 3 tbs olive oil
• salt

For the yogurt sauce

• 1 plain goat Greek yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbs fresh mint, finely chopped
• zest of 1/2 meyer lemon
• juice of 1/2 meyer lemon

Preparation

In one container, mix raspberry dressing  ingredients together. Mix yogurt sauce ingredients together.

In a plate, lay out beet slices nicely. Drizzle some raspberry dressing on top of the beets. Add one tbs of yogurt sauce. Decorate with pumpkin seeds.

Serve with more yogurt sauce and dressing on the side.

Today I am celebrating zucchini, this vegetable that is quite considered ordinary, with not a lot of character. It’s its day of glory (son jour de gloire) and it’s well deserved. By dressing it up a bit, you can make delightful little meals with it. Zucchini is naturally bland, so like any other bland ingredient, it absorbs the flavor of whatever you are combining it with.

I love the simplicity of this dish, yet with character. Thinking about it, I love simple things with character and that is true for people I like in general too. In my opinion is if you add too many powerful ingredients to a dish, it tends to lose the true nature of its key ingredient, then it’s confusion for your palate.

The interesting part of this dish is that you have cooked zucchini in small pieces in the farro, then puree zucchini which has such a velvety texture, then raw and marinated zucchini for a more crunchy bite. I love all the contrasts you get with these three kinds of preparations.

As far as farro is concerned, I used Italian farro instead of the domestic one. I find it easier to cook, and it remains a little softer. You can substitute barley to farro. If you want to keep it vegan, don’t add the parmesan.

For 4 people

For the cream of zucchini

Cook zucchini in vegetable broth until tender. Add thyme and cook for an extra 5 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend in mixer and add more broth if it’s too thick.

For the farro

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 zucchini, finely diced
• 1 handful of shitakee, chopped
• 3 tbs peas
• 2 tbs dry white wine
• salt and pepper

For the cream of zucchini

• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 4 zucchini, peeled and cut in pieces
• 1 tsp fresh thyme
• salt and pepper

For the zucchini ribbons

• 1 zucchini
• 1 tsp olive oil
• juice of 1 meyer lemon
• 1 tbs basil, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• shaved parmesan

Preparation

For the zucchini ribbons

Using a potato peeler, form stripes going from one end of the zucchini to the other end. Place in a bowl and add olive oil, lemon juice and basil. Marinate for about one hour. When ready to use, add salt and pepper.

For the cream of zucchini

Cook zucchini in vegetable broth until tender. Add thyme and cook for an extra 5 minutes. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend in mixer and add more broth if it’s too thick.

For the farro

Cook farro in vegetable broth until cooked. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots and onions and let cook a few minutes until fragrant. Add zucchini, mushrooms and peas. Adjust with salt and pepper. Cover with lid and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add farro to the vegetable mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add 2-3 tbs of cream of zucchini, mix well and keep warm.

In a plate, using a rind, place some cream of zucchini first around the rind. Then add a few tbs of farro in the rind. Pressing so that the shape does not collapse. Add zucchini ribbons on top with shaved parmesan.

After a recent trip to Japan I came back with tons of recipes, ideas, inspirations, and a fascination for this wonderful country. Needless to say that for someone like me who spends most of her time cooking, and who loves to cook, Japan is the place to go. Everything is perfection, to the quality of the products, to the gorgeous presentations, to the meticulous creations, Japanese strive for perfection and they do it better than any other country. Everything is an art, and people take pride in whatever they do. Many countries should take example on Japan.

Since I took pictures and notes on everything I ate, in order not to forget it, I have the goal to reproduce most of the delightful dishes I ate to the best of my abilities. So within the next month or two, the dishes will be Japan-inspired.

The amazing things about Japanese cuisine is that it seems simple, with simple ingredients, but it’s not that simple. It all depends of the cut of the ingredients (the types of knifes they have is incredible, almost one knife for one ingredient, definitely one knife for one particular type of fish). The herbs are cut very finely which gives a subtle and distinct flavor to the dish.

I ate this daikon dish in a small Izakaya (pub serving small dishes and sake, wine, beer and other types of alcohol) in Kyoto. I had no idea what to expect, but the owner told me that this would be good for me, so I let her decide.  Basically daikon is a big radish, some are smaller, some are bigger. Western supermarkets in San Francisco like Whole Foods carry them, but for this steak, you need a large one (about 10 cm diameter), available in Japan town at Nijiya supermarket.

The original dish in Kyoto was served without any herbs. I took the liberty to add herbs at the end. Adding them or not adding them would be your choice. I got this recipe from my Japanese neighbor, Rui. it tasted identical to the one I ate in Kyoto.

This dish is very simple to make yet delicious.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 large daikon, peeled and cut in 2 cm slices
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs butter
• 2 tbs soy sauce (I used the reduced salt one)
• salt
• 2 scallions, cut very finely
• 2 tbs mitsuba, cut very finely (Japanese parsley)

Preparation

In a large pot of salted water, cook daikon  for about 30 minutes, until soft (a knife should be able to go through the slice) but still firm. Drain. In a pan, heat olive oil, and brown daikon on both sides at high temperature (about 3-4 minutes). Add a little salt.

Add butter and soy sauce, stir well coating the daikon and serve. Sprinkle with herbs.

I had some leftover saffron quinoa that I didn’t want to throw away but I didn’t want to eat either. Obviously the choices were limited…so I used the quinoa to make galettes. I figured it would be a nice balanced meal with a butternut squash purée with it.

The quinoa was originally cooked using as a risotto ingredients, with shallots, saffron, broth and white wine minus the parmesan. I did not add cheese, I think it would add some heaviness that it did not need. If you want a more pungent galettes, you can of course add parmesan or feta for the matter.

I steamed the quinoa with all the ingredients instead of slowly adding broth while cooking.

Ingredients

for the quinoa galettes

• 1.5 cups cooked quinoa (risotto-style)
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 tbs amaranth flour
• 2 tbs corn starch
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs mixed herbs (chervil, chives, basil, parley, etc…), chopped
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbs olive oil

For the butternut squash purée

• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed in 1.5 inches cubes
• 1/2 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 tbs coconut cream
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the galettes

Place quinoa in a mixing container. Add flour, corn starch and baking powder and mix well, coating the quinoa with the flours. Add carrots and herbs and mix again. Add beaten eggs and adjust with salt and pepper. If the mixture is too liquid add a little more flour.

Using your hands, form a galette of about 2 inches diameter and 3/4 inch think.

Heat olive oil in a pan and cook galettes at medium heat until golden brown on both sides. Keep warm.

For the butternut squash

Cook squash in a deep pan with vegetable broth at low temperature with lid on. Add salt and pepper. When the squash is tender and cooked all the way through and liquid absorbed, remove from heat and mash with a potato masher until smooth. Add coconut cream and stir well.

A clean and healthy meal to end the week…which I have to say has been kind and sweet. I am planning my trip to France with a few healthy recipes to bring along for my parents, and especially my mom who has diabetes. My parents who have been carnivorous all their life, have started to enjoy more of a vegetarian diet in their old days, so who’s to say people’s tastes don’t change.

I like to combine lentils with some vegetables and make it a balanced dish. The lentils and carrots are not really pureed, but have some texture, which is quite pleasant. This dish is fairly simple, with a few ingredients and spices. The tahini sauce enhances the whole dish and you need to use a lot of it.

For a vegan version, don’t use yogurt, and use more water in the tahini, it tends to thicken fast.

Ingredients for 2-3

For the lentil-carrot mash

• 60 g uncooked lentils
• 1 bay leave
• 2 cloves
• 1/4 onion
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 4 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
• 1 handful kale, chopped (optional)
• salt and pepper

For the tahni sauce

• 2 tbs tahini
• 1 tbs water
• 3 tbs plain yogurt
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• zest of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• 2 tbs Meyer lemon juice
• salt and pepper

For the roasted squash

• 2 cups butternut squash, cubed (1 inch)
• olive oil
• soy sauce

Preparation

For the lentil-carrot mash

Cook lentils in water with bay leaf, cloves, onion until tender but not mushy. Cook carrots separately. Heat olive oil in a pan, add carrots, 2 tbs broth and simmer until cooked. Adjust with salt and pepper. When carrots and lentils are cooked, mix them together and mash with a potato masher. In a pan, heat olive oil, toast cumin seeds until fragrant. Add garlic and stir for a few min, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add lentil-carrot mixture, stir well, then add kale and cilantro. Mix well to combine all ingredients and until kale is wilted. Keep warm.

For the tahini sauce

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and mix well. If too thick add some water.

For the roasted squash

Heat oven at 400F. Place squash in a baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil, soy sauce, adjust with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until all sides are golden brown but still firm.

Serve with lentil-carrot mash, squash and lots of tahini sauce, at least five times more of what you see on the picture!

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2015/10/lentils-and-carrot-mash-with-roasted-butternut-squash-and-tahini-sauce/feed/ 0 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2015/10/its-eatable-saute-beet-leaves-with-cumin-garlic-and-raisins/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=its-eatable-saute-beet-leaves-with-cumin-garlic-and-raisins http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2015/10/its-eatable-saute-beet-leaves-with-cumin-garlic-and-raisins/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2015 20:02:47 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=17298 Ça se mange – Fanes de betteraves sautées au cumin, ail et raisins secs

This morning I went shopping and I had beets on the menu…as usual this store (which I am not going to mention) never has what I need, some days there are no leeks, no scallions or no basmati rice, or no won ton wrappers, etc…so I have to somehow contain my frustration.

This morning was not that bad, I was looking for lose beets, and I could only find beets by the bunch with the leaves on. The good thing about this, is that you can use the leaves. So if you happen to buy beets with their leaves and stems on, do not throw them away. You can use them like you would use spinach, kale, or any other greens.

I remove the stems that were a bit hard and only kept the leaves.

In this recipe, I added a few spices to enhance the whole dish. It’s a fragrant way to cook greens and it was just what I was in the mood for. You can eat this as a side dish, I ate it with some marinated sardines and it made my day…if you try it, it might make yours too!

 Ingredients for 2

• 3 bunches of beet greens, roughly chopped
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbs raisins (soaked in water for 10 min)
• salt and pepper

 Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot and brown cumin seeds until fragrant. Add garlic and turmeric and stir a low heat until fragrant (you don’t want to burn the turmeric, it will be bitter). Add greens and cook until wilted. Adjust with salt and pepper and add raisins. Drizzle with olive oil and eat hot or warm.