Mediterranean Fish Soup

Fish soup photo by Jpazam

When I was little, my dad was taking my brother and I fishing near the harbours or in the rocks, in Saint tropez, where we were spending our summers, we were going early in the morning, and my brother was protesting, always impatient.

It was great fun fishing with the bamboos we'd carefully selected to turn into fishing rods, using various baits. With the mediterranee being so transparent, we could see the fishes approaching most of the time, which was making the activity even more exciting. We were getting small fishes of all sorts, colourful or ugly and rocky, red, rainbow...

and when the fishes were failing to fall in our traps, we'd go in the rocks trying to catch little green crabs, those who add such a great taste to the soup.

Ingredients:
- 1kg of varied small mediterranean rock fishes
- 1 small rock crab
- olive oil
- 3 or 4 tomatoes
- 3 garlics sliced
- thyme - laurel
- pepper
- 1 to 1l 1/2 of water
- as many garlics as guestsplanted on a fork each

Method:
Wash the fishes, roughly scale them. Do not empty them. Heat the oil in a pot at medium fire (preferably not metal) and throw in the fishes. mix the fishes until they are soft and falling apart. Add the three tomatoes, and the garlic, herbs, pepper and water. Simmer for approx 1/2h Pass the fish soup through a vegetable grinder. Prepare croutons , and the rouille (mayonnaise with rouille spice mix) Serve the soup with the croutons, the garlic planted forks and the rouille.

Source: familly recipe from my mum, and fish soup photo by Jpazam, other photos by me.

North African Tabouleh

Very common in France, but much more difficult to find in the UK, a tabouleh is a (cold) fresh and summery salad with a base of couscous. Very easy to make, it has very fresh minty notes and can be easily taken to a party or a picnic.
In the middle east, boulghour is used instead of couscous grain.


You will need for 4:
- 300g couscous
- The same volume of boiling water as that of couscous grain.
- 4 tomatoes cut in dice
- 1 diced white onion
- 1 bunch of parsley chopped finely
- 1 bunch of mint chopped finely
- the juice of a lemon
- 10cl oil
- salt, pepper.

Mix the couscous grain with the oil, salt, then add the boiling water, and set aside for 1/2h.
Then add the other ingredients, then leave in the fridge for a while.

Serve cool.

Easy no?
North African cuisine is completely integrated in French cuisine and kitchens, and you will find the dishes cooked in French homes as well as in restaurants everywhere. It is a very fragrant, fresh and full of flavours.

Enjoy the tabouleh whilst the good weather lasts!

Source: Photography, me , and recipe, the one I tend to make.

Baked fragrant tofu

When I was in Singapore, I tasted a dish called fragrant tofu: a slab of hot silken tofu covered with a meat and herbs topping. I absolutely loved it, it was like a savoury creme brulee!

So recently I have bought some silken tofu, and it stayed in my fridge until I was reminded of my intent by an article about baked tofu I read on the internet. So my intents gave birth to a cross between fragrant and baked, hence the title!
And today, I wanted to eat something healthy and tasty, easy, and most of all satisfying.
Hence I knocked my own version of fragrant tofu with what I had in my fridge and baking it because I fancied it caramelised:

- 1 slab silken tofu
- 1 big slice of ham chopped in small squares
- 1/2 big green chilli chopped
- 1 spring onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon full of chopoped ginger
- 1 dash oyster sauce
- 2 tblspn sesame oil

Place the tofu on a small oven dish, mix all the other ingredients together and cover the tofu with it.
Place in the oven for 1/2h at 200 degC
I did not have time, but marinating the tofu in the mix first could have worked really well too, if you have the time. For vegetarian or vegans, skip the ham and replace by vegges.

Also, the same dish could be steamed, and I reckon it would be pretty tasty too!...


Source: my own food meanderings

Express Asparagus starter

Here's a very simple yet gorgeous starter. It could not be easier.

You need for 2 people:
- fresh Asparagus tips
- 1 heaped tblspoon dijon mustard
- 1 spoon liquid honey
- 2 or 3 tblspoons of vegetable oil (I like to use grapeseed oil)
- 2 tblspoons of white wine vinegar
- salt and pepper

Steam the asparagus tips for 15 minutes

For the sauce: in a small bowl, mix well the mustard and honey, add the salt and pepper, then add the oil beating with a fork to form an emulsion, add the vinegar and beat with the fork to 'fix' what is an eggless mayonnaise in a permanent emulsion..

Serve on plate and pour the sauce over it.
Another quick starter: walnut endive salad for 2 people.
You need:
- 1 big endive
- 1 spoon honey vinegar (balsamic will do)
- 2 tblsp grapeseed oil
- a palmfull of fresh walnut
- salt and cracked black pepper

Wash the endive, cut in slices, pour the rest of the ingredients on top, mix well and it's ready.

I find that these starters add a fresh and green touch to the winter dishes that come as a main. They are no hassle to make and are very quick too when you have guests.

Hope you like it, bon apetit!

Pomegranate Raita

I've always been fond of raita, and I am obsessed with Pomegranate at the moment. I spotted this recipe on the BBC and thought I'd give it a go. The ingredients are very easy to find, fresh, and the recipe is incredibly easy as well as healthy. You can use the raita as a dip or as a side dish or salad.

You can either buy ready pomegranate seeds, or do it yourself: once you learn how to, it does not take that much time, and has the benefit to be fresher.

It tastes very fresh and could well help you to calm down theses curry burning sensations....

Ingredients
- 200g Greek yoghurt (I always use total yoghurt)
- ½ cucumber, grated, excess water drained away
- 1 pomegranate
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt, to taste
- handful chopped fresh coriander leaves

Preparation
Beat the yoghurt so that it becomes fluffy-ish
Grate the peeled cucumber and carrors. Make sure you squeeze the water out of the cucumber by pressing it in your hands.

Now add all the ingredients in the yoghurt

Mix together, then place in the fridge for a bit, it's ready to eat!
Bon apetit!


Source: BBC program Indian made easy

Red hot soup for cold days

The weather has turned really cold the last few days, and it's meant to go worse (1deg C). So it's so good to go back home and have something hot and warming...

Lazy hurried people, this soup is dedicated to you. It will warm you up in the cold days (chili, ginger):

For 2 people:
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- a pinch of chili flakes
- 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
- a tsp of sugar

Optional Ingredients to your liking:
- 1 finely chopped onions,
- 1 finely chopped nail sized piece of ginger
- herbs of your choice. basil or cardamon, or thyme, or oregano
- 1 pinch paprika
- Grilled pepper chopped very finely in small sticks

Heat the tomato in a pan, add the garlic, and sugar to your liking to neutralise the acidity and chilli flakes. Once it's hot ,salt pepper, it's ready!

Add herbs and spices to your liking

Variant:
Fry the garlic and onion in a pan, maybe the ginger, add the tomato and grilled peppers, the sugar, once it's hot, add spices, herbs, salt and pepper.

Serve hot with croutons rubbed with a clove of garlic (so that you smell french!).

Source: the fruit of my own laziness

Sweet and sour prawns

This is a brilliant recipe given to me by Marjolaine, whom I thank very much for it.

Definitely easy, tasty and fast to prepare.

Ingredients:
- 1 Thumb of finely chopped fresh ginger
- 1 finely chopped clove of garlic
- 1 finely chopped small onion
- a dash of ketchup (or tomato sauce+sugar)
- chili paste
- Prawns (shelled and de-veined)

Shallow fry them the ginger, garlic and onion in vegetable oil, add some ketchup and chili paste, mix well and add the prawns, mix the cook with a lid for 5 minutes, check that the prawns are cooked, but still crunchy.

How's that for a tasty recipe! enjoy with a bowl of steamed, boiled rice or even better, coconut rice will be great with it!, and a pot of jasmine tea to drink with it

I cook king prawns simply with butter and garlic sometimes, another successful and quick dish:

Source: Recipe and first photo courtesy of Marjolaine

Vietnamese spring rolls

One of the dishes I missed terribly when I first arrived in Britain was the Vietnamese spring rolls (also sometimes called summer rolls in English). You can find them everywhere in France. Most of the Chinese restaurants serve Vietnamese food over there.
So When I saw spring rolls on the menu of a Chinese restaurant in England I gladly ordered them; however I was in for a huge disappointment as I ended up with deep fried vegetable filled chinese rolls. Horror!! So there, I decided to make my own..
The other thing I miss is the Vietnamese nems, but these are deep fried so I won't be making them since I can't stand deep frying smells in my dear kitchen (which has no window)...

It's a healthy, fun, and tasty starter. You can get the guests to roll their own for fun if they have never tasted them before, They'll love that! And you don't need to cook anything, which is the super bonus. You can have them as a starter or as a main...

You will need:
Vietnamese rice paper

You will need for the filling:
- Prawns (pre-cooked and de-veined)
- Optional: dried Chinese Black mushrooms that you will have soaked earlier - I personally prefer without
- crystal noodles (also called vermicelli) that you will have soaked in warm water for 20 min.
- beansprouts (if you have time, cut the dry ends)
- lettuce leaves
- grated carrots
- fresh mint

You will need for the presentation and to eat with it
- more lettuce leaves and mint

For the dipping sauce:
- 1 tablespoon Nuoc Mam (the Vietnamese fish sauce, very different from the Thai one)
- 2 tablespoon lime
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- crushed peanuts
- a little bit of finely chopped garlic
- a little bit of finely chopped red chili
- some grated carrots for presentation

Dip the rice paper individually for 5 second in a plate of warm water. in another plate, fill on one side of the rice cake and as a line with: lettuce leaf, then mushrooms, noodles, 2 leaves of mint, beansprouts, and a bit of grated carrot; a bit further and parallel (in the middle of the rice paper in fact), place 2 prawns.
Start rolling from the filling (not the prawn side) side of the rice pape, roll tight, and when you reach the prawns. fold the sides of the cake perpendicular to the filling lines. When you have finished rolling, you'll notice that the roll stays in place since the rice cake is a little sticky.
Put aside and roll the next one.

Be careful when you roll as the filling (especially the beansprouts if they are fresh) can tear the rice cake as it is a little fragile. Make sure you don't dip the rice cake too long or it will become too brittle.

I did not take photos of how I rolled them, so you can see the live action in a video I found on youtube (In french but who cares, you don't need the sound).

Serve the rolls with the green leaves and the dipping sauce (just mix the ingredients).

Et voila, it's fresh and lovely, and easy to put in the bento or bring to work for a healthy tasty lunch!

The ones on the picture I made with some cooked chicken instead of shrimp for a friend who can't eat seafood, but it's honestly not as good!

I am expecting some great comments from Marjolaine to improve the recipe: she's a champion of Vietnamese spring rolls according to a gourmet spy friend of mine...

Source: many + my own experimentation with them...

Spiced butternut squash soup

Humm, the weather has gone colder last week, and today, for the first time I smelt autumn in the air. So I decided to make a soup.
I chose a big butternut squash at the market, diced it up, and cooked it in a pan with a nut of butter(for the taste) and a bit of oil (to prevent the butter from burning.), until the flavour starts to come out and the squash is nice and a bit mushy at the surface of the dices.



Then I added:
1 half tin of chaokoh coconut milk
1 tsp of ground ginger
1 tsp of paprika
1 chicken or stock cube (or chicken/vegetable real stock, you can buy it fresh in the shop, and it's miles better than the cube, because all the ingredients are natural.. OR it could be your own stock of course) - don't add any salt if you use stock.
1 tsp of Gado Gado paste

Then adjust with water and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, just before serving, mash it with a potato masher - I like my soup not too smooth. it's ready. For the deco I sprinkled paprika and crushed roasted hazelnuts.

And I must say, it was absolutely delicious. Full flavored and very satisfying!

Source: moi, inspired by the winter coming...

For the little stories:
The yellow doodle background is a painting I've made and it's not finished, but I don't know what top do with it next... at least, if I don't finish it at least I've used it!
Also, just as I'd finished setting the table and props for the shoot, my camera fell in the soup, would you believe that!!??? So the shoot took longer than planned. I thought you'd like to know about this, one needs to laugh at least once a day - I'll be your laughing stock! -

This recipe is not classed as light because it contains coconut milk which is high ion saturated fats....skip the coconut milk if you want the soup to be 'light'

The fastest soup on earth - 5min top chronos

For the lazy but healthy days (for 2):

Wash, cut, and put directly in your steamer:
- 1 small broccoli,
- 1 green pepper,
- a few Brussels sprouts,
- 1 stem of fresh lemongrass,
- 3 to 5 garlic cloves,

Steam until cooked (set 20 minutes, depending on your steamer)

Pour in blender and add
- wasabi
- salt,
- pepper,
- 1 spoon of Italian olive oil (the one that tastes like freshly cut grass)
- water (to your preferred consistency)

Blend it as much as you like,

Serve!

That's too easy really. Tasty and healthy and very green.