Tomates farcies (Stuffed tomatoes)

This is one of my favorite french dishes, full of flavours and one of these dishes that are even better reheated. Not difficult and great for eating at work the next day, it can be a main on its own, or served with rice or couscous. A doodle to make, you can leave the dish to simmer whilst you are busy doing something else.

Ingredients for 4:
For the meat stuffing:
- 500g minced pork
- 500g minced beef
- 1 onion or shallot chopped
- 2 clove garlic peeled and chopped
- thyme
- laurel
- salt, pepper
And
- 16 tomatoes approx(if you have more, add them to the dish anyway)
- olive oil

Method:

Mix all the meat stuffing ingredients together using your hands. Divide it in equal size balls (smaller than the tomatoes).

Heat the olive oil in a pan and sear the meatballs - don't cook them, just brown the outside. Then reserve them.

For a better presentation, cut a reversed pointy hat in the tomatoes - so that they can contain a meatball each. However ince I could not find reasonnable sized tomatoes, I cut the tomatoes in two and cooked the tomatoes alongside with the meat.

Using the same pan, with the meat juice, cook the tomatoes, and first cook the tomatoes upside down to cook the flesh inside.

When the inside is confit looking, turn them all around and drop a meatball in each of them, place the lid of the pan 1/4 open and let it simmer for 1/2h, until the tomatoes are soft and the meat is simmering in the juice of the tomato.

That's it, the dish is ready!

Source: my mother's recipe, and my photos.

Sweet and sour cold summer soup & hot sweet grilled gammon on the side

You have never heard of this dish?
Me neither. I just invented it today, and it is definitely worth sharing. I had a very sudden burst of good inspiration. And once again, it is very quick to prepare and is very tasty, and the salad is very healthy.


Per person for the sweet gammon you will need:
- 1 slice of gammon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- black pepper, coarsely ground.

Prepare the gammon first as it takes 18 minutes to cook.
Lay the slice of gammon on a flat over proof dish or plate, brush it with the maple syrup, sprinkle with the black pepper. Done.
Cook at 200 degrees (last 5 min with the grill on) in the oven for 18-20 min depending on your oven.

Per person for the cold soup you will need:
- 4 little tomatoes cut in quarters or 8/10 cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1 mango, diced (use the juice too)
-1/4 lime juice
- fish sauce - same amount as the lime juice
- 1 small clove of garlic (optional)
- 1 slice of fresh ginger finely chopped
- a small handful of roasted peanuts
- 1 lemongrass stalk, sliced
- 1 kaffir lime leaf, fresh if possible
- 1/2 a chili pepper (less if you use the Birdeye type)

Mix all the ingredients. Done, how's that for easy!?

Serve the sweet gammon and the soup at the same time, and enjoy. It is very refreshing, very tasty in flavour, rich and satisfying. And there you are, you have your five a day...

The dish looks beautiful and colourful, so if you have guests to impressed and want to spare some efforts, that's the one.

On a funny note, I'd probably describe this dish as Thailando-Canadian!

I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I have!

Recipe and photo: me.

The make-do Phở (Vietnamese noodle soup)

I was talking to @lovingpho's and looking a his great website the other day, as was already thinking of the trip to Vietnam I am planning for the end of the year. I sent lovingpho's address to my friend Marjolaine (see previous posts there, there and there) who in turn sent me her recipe and encouraged me to make my first Phở. Impatient, and missing some of the ingredients, I decided to proceed nevertheless.

So my Phở is definitely not authentic, but was surely tasty. And it took no time to prepare.

Here are Marjolaine's instructions for a quick Phở soup:
Ingredients:
- rice noodles
- Beef slices
- stock (beef used if sliced beef used)
- nước mắm
- ginger
- star anise
- chinese 5 spice
- slices of red chillis
- lime
- ngò gai (culantro, or long coriander)
- Thai basil
- bean sprouts

Heat the beef stock with the spices, ginger, sliced onion and star anise.

In a bowl, place the chilli, herbes, beensprouts, lime, noodles and beef slices. Pour the stock on top and serve.

NOW. I ran out of nước mắm (but I still have some thai fish sauce. not quite the same though. they taste very different..) did not have beef slices, bean sprouts or thai basil, I had cilantro but not culantro, and I had rice flakes only as I also ran out of rice noodle.
BUT, it was lunchtime and I was hungry so decided to go ahead anyway. So here is my heretic alternative:

I used some chicken stock I had, in it I threw finely sliced shallot, 1 star anise, a pinch of chinese 5 spice and some rice flakes (they are flat square type noodles see in the next photos), and the ginger chopped .

In a bowl I prepared: the cilantro (coriander leaves), lime juice, diagonal slices of a bird'seye chilli

I used the vietnamese sausage I had in the fridge:

I cut slices in dice, but with hindsight I should have cut long thin strips.

Then I poured the stock mix on top of the ingredients...

Like for thai food, one of the big secret is the right balance between the fish sauce and the lime (adjust). The soup was great for a speed lunch, but I can't wait to make a proper one, as the flavour with the indicated ingredients will be more delicate of course. I already have quite a lot of the ingredients because I often cook Asian food, but I guess it demands some specialist fresh ingredients, and in the UK, even if it is easy to find them in chinatown (ahem, I live next door from it), in this recession time, some people might find it a bit costly to make.

I am looking forward to taste the original vertsion during my trip in Vietnam, can't wait!

Source: Marjolaine's recipe + my own heretic modifications

Le pâté en croute (pâté lorrain) PART 2

This post is a follow up of this one, where I had not given the recipe for the pâté lorrain. UponMarjolaine's request, I will now post the recipe.
Where I come from, we call this dish the pâté en croute, but it is recognised other parts of France as the pâté lorrain. I have eaten this pâté many times in France since I am originally from the Champagne region, next to Lorraine.

Here in Britain, I really miss it. So everytime I go back to France, I ask my mum to cook it for me.
Why don't I cook it myself?
Well, I cannot get hold of rabbit or veal very easily here, it's quite a big hassle. And rather than compromise on the taste - if it does not taste of my childhood, what's the point...- I prefer to eat it only in France. The bakeries sell it in Lorraine and we used to buy it there, but my parents have moved to the sunny south of France, so we have to cook it as it can't be gotten hold off down there...

For the stuffing:
- 500g porc neck, noix de veal, rabbit, cut in thin strips

- 2 shallot chopped finely
-2 tblsp parsley chopped - 10g sel + pepper
- 10 cl of Riesling white wine

Mix the ingredients with the hands, then marinate for 12h in the friedge, covered with plastic film.

Assembling of the pâté:
- 500g puff pastry
- 1 egg yolk
- salt
- water Roll the puff pastry, cut a rectangle, place the meat in the middle, fold the sides onto the meat.

Add a smaller rectangle on the top, and create 2 little chimneys, cut a pattern on the top.

Brush the yolk mixed with salt and a bit of water over the pastry.

Leave to rest for 1h30 in the fridge

Place in oven at 200degC for 45 min and at 175degC for 15 Minutes. The pâté can be eaten hot and cold. Serve with a salad and a pinot noir red wine.

Source: my mum...

Winter Warmer stew

Yup, still cold here in Britain. Sunny, but cold! So it makes me a bit lazy about spending time cooking. But I still want to eat healthy and balanced. So here's another easy recipe for you.

Ingredients for 2:
- 2 pieces of pork (filet mignon will do nicely)
- 4 tblspn chinese white wine (or dry sherry)
- salt flakes &cracked pepper
- 4 tblspn soy sauce
- 1 red pepper bell chopped in squares
- a handfull of sweet dried cranberries
- 4 medium to small potatoes (not new potatoes, King edwards will do nicely) chopped in quarters if small potatoes
- 4 carrots chopped in short sticks
- 1 big onion chopped in squares
- 4 big cloves of garlic chopped in big bits
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes
- 1 tblspn of herbes de provence
- a dash of olive oil
- water

Rub the meat with a bit of oil, salt, pepper, soy sauce and chineese white wine. Leave to rest at the bottom of an oven dish big enough to contain all the ingredients above. Add the cranberries and red pepper bell Then top with the carrots, garlic, onion and potatoes, pour a dash of oil, add the tins of tomato, top up with water so that the meat is covered, then sprinkle with the herbs. Place in the oven at 200deg Celsius, set the timer for about 1h30, forget about it and snuggle with a cup of tea in front of a good film. When the timer rings, dish up and eat, the sauce is rich and flavoursome, and satisfying! Enjoy and bon apetit!

Source: the inspiration of the day....

Marinated pork noodles

Another improvisation on the Chinese theme... Easy, and effortless....However If you don't have the Asian ingredients at home, forget it, the marinade is balanced but quite complex.

Ingredients for 2:

- 1 1/2 pork loin slice per person

- 1 slab easy cook noodles per person

- 1 head of broccoli

- 7 mangetout

- 7 mini sweetcorns cut in thick slices

- 4 sliced spring onions

For the marinade:

- 2 dashes of ketchup

- 2 dashes of oyster sauce

- 1 dash dark soy sauce

- 1 dash light soy sauce

- 1 big dash Thai fish sauce

- 1 dash dry sherry

- juice of 1 small lime

- 2 big cloves of garlic finely chopped

- 1 big thumb of ginger finely chopped

- 1/2 small tsp of tamarind paste

- 1 tsp full of chilli oil

- 1 tblsp Chinese 5 spice powder

Place the pork in the marinade, and leave minimum 1/2 hour.

Cook broccoli in the steamer for 12 minutes. Add the mangetout and sweet corn 5 minutes before the end of the 12 minutes to blanch them.

Cook the noodles, pass them under cold water and drain, reserve.

Cook the meat in a hot wok with the marinade.
When cooked, add the vegetables
and the noodles,
stir well and make sure the noodles are hot by cooking it 1 or 2 more minutes. serve in bowl with chopsticks and sprinkle with spring onions!

This dish went down a treat, the meat absorbed the dark and sweet flavours of the marinade, whereas the noodles absorbed the tangy tastes, delicious and very light tasting!

Source: the inspiration of the day

Summer tortilla wraps

Sometimes, and especially in summer - and i know some of you still have a gorgeous weather - , I fancy something fresh and easy and sloppy. the wraps provide me with the best answer for that.
They are great for using up what's in your fridge as well. They are also very healty.

I always have greek yoghurt,greens, tomatoes and herbs, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and eggs or ham as far as proteins are concerned, so I can always manage something. They are different everytime of course

The wrap illustrated contained:
- 1 wrap
- Greek yogurt,
- 1 hard boiled egg,
- balsamic vinegar,
- tomatoes,
- gem lettuce,
- fresh chive,
- guacamole
- sliced mushroom

Source: my own imagination

Ham-rolled endive gratin

I used to hate this dish when I was little, probably because my mum likes it bitter. But with time, I grew to love it!
Unfortunately it is quite hard to find endives in Britain... So when |I can't find endives (also called chicons), I use leeks.

Take two endives per person, remove the hard core to get rid of the bitterness, cook them for 10 min in the steamer.Roll each endive in a slice of ham. Place in an oven dish.
Cover with white sauce (with salt and pepper), then sprinkle with grated cheese (gruyere's my fav but use what you can).
Place in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes, and it's ready!!

How to make the white sauce:
Place 25g butter and the equivalent in volume of flour. heat up and mix well, cook it for a bit. Then add gradually the milk, still stirring. when all the milk (that is the quantity of white sauce you require) is added, if the sauce is still too liquid, bring to light bol stirring, and then take it off the fire, it's done! Add salt and pepper at the end.

Source: my mum!

Chinese BBQ ribs

I wonder how many people buy these ready made or at the take away, when they taste better at home, are cheap as chips, and so fast and easy to make...

Of course if you are not usually cooking eastern foods,you may not have the ingredients, sure. Here's the deal: making the marinade takes 10 minutes max, marinating, at least an hour (so you can prepare them in the morning), and cooking them takes about an hour in the oven, giving you time to have a life when you are back from work, and possibly preparing other foods if you have invited some friends over.

You will need:
- a rack of ribs, cut in pieces
- 1 big dash Hoi sin sauce (choose a gluten free Hoi sin sauce if required)
- 1 piece of ginger the size of your thumb gratted of cut finely
- a big dash of golden syrup (or ginger preserve, or honey)
- a dash of soy sauce (choose a gluten free soya sauce if required)
- 3 crushed or cut finely garlic cloves
- a spoonful of toasted sesame oil
- a dash of sherry or Chinese rice wine (choose a gluten free type if required)

Mix everything and massage the meat into the marinade, make sure the ribs are covered in sauce.
Leave to marinate for at least an hour.
Place on a foil sheet (very important: you don't want any dish washing, do you!) and cook for an hour at 200 degrees Celsius depending on your oven for 15 mins, turn the ribs over and cook another 15 mins.

Et voila, eat with your fingers, and lick them carefully once you're over with them....
Source: after having tasted a friend's, she mentioned the ingredients, I just put them together, and experimented with the quantities to get to this result...