Culinary workshop

 This blog will not be updated any longer.  You can still enjoy my cooking experiences on
http://culinair-atelier.skynetblogs.be (in Dutch) 
Thank you for visiting. 
Food fan

Red Chicory (Belgian Endive)
Crab meat
Cocktail sauce
Chili powder
Tangerine
Chives

Cut the peeled tangerine in small pieces.  Mix the crab meat with some cocktail sauce, the tangerine and a pinch of chili powder.  Pull off the leaves of the chicory and fill with the crab mixture. 

 Note: This recipe can also be made with normal chicory and imitation crab (surimi) 

 Wine: Arneis Vigna Elisa 2006 – Paitin di Pasquero-Elia

Serves 6 to 8

Chicken in Red Wine with winter root vegetables

Serves 4

300 g Arborio rice
1 l vegetable or chicken stock
Butter
½ Onion
A pinch of saffron treads
Pecorino or Parmesan cheese (grated)
½ Small pumpkin
Pepper and salt

Chop the onion.  Cut the pumpkin in small pieces (about ½ cm).  Heat the stock and keep it hot. Melt in a heavy saucepan a tablespoon of butter.  Add the onion and pumpkin and sauté for a few minutes.  Add the rice and saffron and keep stirring for about 2 minutes.  Add a ladle of stock (enough to cover the rice).  Lower the heat to moderate.  Simmer, stirring constantly, adding the rest of the stock gradually so that the rice is always covered with liquid.  Exactly 15 minutes after the first stock was added, remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in a tablespoon of butter, a few spoons of grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.  Cover the pan with a lid and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Note: this risotto can be served with shortly grilled scallops. 

Serves 4

For the gnocchi
2 sweet potatoes
salt
ground nutmeg
1 egg
2 cups flour 

Preheat the oven to 200° C. Bake the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven, and leave to cool. Remove the peels, and mash them in a large bowl. Blend in salt, nutmeg and egg. Mix in the flour a little at a time until you have soft dough. Use more or less flour as needed.

Divide the dough in pieces. Roll the dough out in several long snakes on a floured surface, and cut into pieces by 1 to 1 cm.  Shape them in the palm of your hand and with a fork into gnocchi.  Cook the gnocchi in salted water until they float to the surface.













For the Pesto
25 g pine nuts
30 g peanuts
1 hand full of coriander (cilantro)
salt
½ clove garlic
100 – 150 ml olive oil

Ground the nuts and cut the coriander and mix with garlic, salt an olive oil in a blender until you become a silky, pouring dressing.  

Note: Serve with grilled fish fillets.

Serves 4

4 ripe figs
200 g ricotta
1,5 tbps liquid honey
2 sage leaves, finely cut
salt
black pepper
4-8 slices of Parma- or another ham
Rucola (rocket or argula)
Olive oil

Cut the figs on top in 4.  Mix the ricotta, honey, sage, salt an a lot of grounded black pepper.  Fill the figs with the ricotta mixture and wrap them in the ham.  Place on a oiled baking plate and bake the figs for 8 to 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 200°C.  Add a little olive oil, pepper and salt to the rucula and serve with the figs.  

Note: leave the ham for a vegetarian starter, just place the filled figs under the grill for a few minutes until the ricotta is golden brown.
Wine: Oyster Bay, a sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand
Music: (an oldie) All this useless beauty van Elvis Costello  

Tot voor kort was ik helemaal niet thuis in de Sushiwereld.  Ik had het vroeger wel eens gegeten en zelf al eens geëxperimenteerd met sushirollen, maar dat was het dan ook.  Tijdens onze vakantie hebben we enkele keren sushi gegeten en ik was verrast hoe veel keuze er eigenlijk is.  De beste aten we bij Kabuto in San Francisco.  Omdat we er niets van kennen, lieten we ons verrassen.  We kregen heerlijke dingen voorgeschoteld (zie foto’s), met namen als Escolar sushi (white tuna), Red snapper, Hamachi jalapeno, Heilbot ceviche, Tuna toro, Pear en mustard hamachi en de allerlekkerste Dragon roll (avocado scampi nori vis makreel sojasaus) en tenslotte een verrassende Tempura omelet (tamago).  Naast de traditionele Japanse sushi werden hier ook ‘fusionsushi’ geserveerd.  Na ons bezoek lazen we ergens dat wanneer de sushichefs uit de restaurants in de buurt een dagje vrij hebben, ze allen afzakken naar Kabuto, wat aangeeft dat ze echt wel kwaliteit afleveren. 

Kabuto: http://www.kabutosushi.com/special_sushi.html

Hoso-Maki (dunne sushirollen) met tonijn en komkommer

Voor 24 stuks

2 vellen nori, diagonaal gehalveerd
1 hoeveelheid sushirijst (bereiden volgens verpakking met Japanse rijstazijn en suiker)
3 el wasabi-pasta uit een tube
90 g zeer verse tonijnsteak
10 cm komkommer
1 tl geroosterd sesamzaad
sojasaus
ingemaakte gember (Gari)

Nodig: Sushi rolmatje

Snijd de tonijn met de draad mee in repen van 1 cm breed. Snijd de komkommer in repen van 1 cm dik. Verdeel wat wasabi over de rijst en leg er horizontaal een rijtje tonijnreepjes op.  Rol de makisu (rolmatje) plat uit op het wenkblad. Leg een vel nori met de ruwe kant omhoog op de makisu. Verdeel een kwart van de sushirijst over de nori, maar laat aan de achterkant 1 cm onbedekt. Druk de rijst glad.

Neem de makiso in beide handen en rol hem voorzichtig, van u af, op waarbij u ervoor zorgt dat de tonijn in het midden blijft. Knijp voorzichtig in de opgerolde makisu om de nori-rol stevig te maken.  Ontrol de makisu voorzichtig en maak met de rest van de ingrediënten nog een toniin-rol. Herhaal het proces met de komkommer, die u bestrooit met sesamzaad voor u de sushi oprolt. Bewaar de sushi op een vochtige snijplank en bedek ze met plasticfolie. Uiteindelijk hebt u 3 tonijn- en 2 komkommerrollen.

Dien de sushirollen op de volgende manier op: Snijd de rollen elk in acht stukken met een zeer scherp mes. Veeg het mes schoon met een met rijstazijn bevochtigde doek na elke snede.

Serveer ze op een mooie schaal en geef er een schaaltje wasabi en een schaaltje gari (ingemaakte gember) en sojasaus bij. Geef iedere gast een klein schaaltje waarin hij naar believen een hoeveelheid wasabi met sojasaus mengt, waarin de sushi voor het opeten ingedoopt kunnen worden.

Tip: Vul een klein kommetje voor de helft met water en 2 el rijstazijn. Bevochtig hiermee uw handen tijdens het rollen om te voorkomen dat de rijst blijft plakken.

Last weekend we were in Piemonte (Italy), one of our favourite places in Italy.  We had agnolotti, which are small ravioli, mostly filled with meat, sometimes with vegetables. 





for 6 people
The dough:
600g flour
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks

Start making the dough by beating the eggs and four together with a regular motion. If mixing proves difficult, dampen the hands with warm water and continue mix by hand.  Roll the dough out thinly, into two equal sheets, and don’t let them dry out. Place small knobs of the filling on one of the sheets of dough, keeping each portion 3cm from the next, and the same distance from the edge of the sheet of dough. Place the second sheet of dough over the first, matching up the edges. Press the dough down with the thumb around the portions of filling, pressing in both directions. Use a serrated pastry cutter to separate the ravioli.

Ingredients for the filling
450g ricotta cheese
250g grated parmesan
1 whole egg
2 yolks
250g leave vegetables of your choice (young nettle shoots or spring herbs or endive or borage, etc)
Butter
A sprig of parsley
3 leaves sage
Nutmeg, pepper, salt

Make the dough according to the preceding recipe.  Put the cheeses in a bowl and mix with the pre-cooked vegetables utter and mix to a paste with the finely chopped parsley, the sage, the nutmeg, pepper and salt, using a wooden spoon.  Make the ravioli in the usual way and cook in salted water or stock. Serve with melted butter infused with a sprig of sage, with grated Parmesan.

 


Sadly but true, our holiday is over.  Click on the photo to see some of our holiday pictures.  In the next few days you will read more about our restaurant experiences, our favourite Californian wines and our preferred places.

My other (original) blog Culinair Atelier (in Dutch) will be updated every day. 

 






I love to create dishes with leftovers.  This is such a recipe.  I opened my fridge and there where some cherry tomatoes, black olives, a jar of artichokes hearts and Parma ham.  I also had some white bread and basil and rocket (argula).   So I toasted the bread, rubbed it with garlic and drizzled with some olive oil and placed the ham on top .  All the other ingredients, I arranged on a plate like a salad and finished it with some olive oil and red wine vinegar, pepper and salt and the ‘open’ sandwich.          Note: Serve as salad or a starter
 Wine: Verdicchio, Italy
 Music: Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanagan - Ballad of the broken seas

Beef fillet (sliced very thin)
Parmesan cheese (sliced very thin)
Rocket salad (argula)
Pine nut
Green asparagus (sliced very thin)
Alfalfa sprouts (Luzerne)
Olive oil extra virgin
A handful of basil
Black pepper
Sea salt
Lemon 

Roast the pine nuts in a dry hot pa, until light brown.  Mix the asparagus, alfalfa sprout, rocket and pine nuts and some olive oil, pepper and salt.  Mix the basil very fine with a pinch of salt and olive oil.   Arrange the beef on cold plates, season with black pepper.  Add the salad, drizzle some olive oil and lemon on top and finish with the parmesan cheese en some basil oil.  

Note: Carpaccio is a typical Italian starter of very thin shavings of raw beef. 

Serves 4










 12 scallops
almond flower (grounded almonds)
½ cauliflower
2 tbsp butter
pepper
salt
nutmeg
Pata Negra ham  

Steam the cauliflower until tender, mix while adding small amount of butter until you become a smooth puree.  Taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Serve immediately or warm au-bain-marie.    Coat one side of the scallops wit the almond powder, and bake them shortly on both sides until golden brown.   Put some of the cauliflower on the plates; arrange the scallops on top with a slice of the ham.   

Note: you can also use other kinds of ham.

Wine: Mille X – Costières de Nîmes – 2006

 Music: Shut your Eyes – Snow Patrol      

Serves 3-4

Seafood (shrimps, prawns, squid, scallops, clams, mussels etc.)

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

olive oil

1 small glass dry white wine

Saffron

1 can peeled tomatoes (diced)

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley

400 g spaghetti

a pinch of chilli powder

Pepper & salt

Clean the seafood, peal the shrimps and/or prawns, and cut the squid in rings.  Wash the clams and/or mussels and cook in a small amount of white wine.  Drain, but keep the liquid and put it true a fine sieve.  Soak the saffron in the white wine.  Cut the onion in half and then in slices, chop the garlic.   Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes, until softened.  Add the white wine with saffron and the cooking liquid from the clams.  Leave to cook for an few minutes until the liquid is increased.  Add the tomatoes and half a can of water.   Season with salt, pepper and chilli.  Leave to cook over medium heat for 8 – 10 minutes.  Cook in the meantime the spaghetti ‘al dente’.  Ad the prawns and/or the shrimps to the sauce and cook form 2 minutes.  Then add the squid, scallops and mussels and/or clams, leave to cook for 1 minute.  Drain the pasta mix with the pasta and serve with chopped parsley.

Note: you can also use firm white fish

Wine: Italian Pinot Grigio

Servers 4

2 Aubergines (Eggplant)

½ cup dried breadcrumbs

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Pepper & salt

2 egg whites (beaten)

Oil

Peel the aubergine and slice thin (4-5 mm). Mix in a shallow dish, the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese with some pepper and salt. Put in another shallow dish the beaten egg whites. Coat the aubergine slices in the egg white and then in the breadcrumbs, making sure that they are completely covered. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the aubergine. Fry for a few minutes on each side over medium heat until golden brown.

Note: Delicious as a vegetarian hamburger with baked onions and tomato ketchup.

Wine: A Corbières from the Languedoc

Music: Gold - Ryan Adams

This is a recipe from the Provence in the south of France

Serves 4

1 small yellow pepper

1 small red pepper

8 asparagus tips

1 fennel bulb

2 firm plum tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 small eggplant

olive oi1, extra virgin

2 sprigs thyme

fleur de sel de Camargue

1 dl anchovy purée (anchoïade)

Clean the vegetables. Remove the seeds and membranes and use only the flesh of the peppers. Do not cut the asparagus. Cut the fennel in four, top to bottom. Halve the tomatoes. Cut the zucchini and eggplant in thin slices. Marinate the vegetables for 2 hours in a flat dish with about 1 inch (2 cm) olive oil and thyme. Drain on a rack and use the oil later.

Heat the grill to a high temperature. Grill the marinated vegetables on both sides. Turn the vegetables 90°, to create a diamond pattern. Arrange on a plate and sprinkle with fleur de sel de Camargue. Serve with well-seasoned anchovy purée.

Anchovy purée

100g salted anchovies

2 dl extra virgin olive oil

Drain the anchovies of excess oil and place in a small saucepan.  Add olive oil and leave to steep over low heat for at least 2 hours.  The fish has to ‘melt’.  Blend the mixture well an store in a cool place.