Salsa Verde

Salsa verde goes wonderfully with grilled meats. We had it with our BBQ beef, I want to try it next with lamb. Jamie Oliver recommends chopping all the ingredients by hand, but seriously, with all that mountain of cooking we had to do, I just used a food processor, and it still turned out great. But shhhh...

Salsa verde
from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver

1.5 to 2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small handful capers
1 small handful pickled gherkins (the ones in sweet vinegar)
6 anchovy fillets
2 large handfuls flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch basil leaves
1 handful fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Finely chop all the ingredients that can be chopped. Put this mixture into a bowl and add the mustard and vinegar. Slowly stir in the olive oil until you achieve the consistency you are looking for and balance the flavors with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and if necessary, more red wine vinegar.

Shallot Confit with Spiced Red Wine

There're always shallots in my kitchen. Shallots here are much longer than the small pungent bulbs we find back home. I put them in almost everything. A simple green salad with vinaigrette is so much better with some minced raw shallots. I also love a good steak topped with a pat of butter and sliced raw shallots as how it is served at Le Palatium, our favourite brasserie in Bordeaux. I love them cooked too, nicely caramelised. I found this recipe in a duck cookbook.

There's quite a funny story behind this cookbook. Shank had been raving about a cookbook on duck (his fav) that he chanced on at Virgin Megastore in Bordeaux. Since Christmas was coming, I thought I'd get him that book. I had no idea what the book looked like, who was the author, etc, I only knew it was a book on duck. So I searched all the bookstores in Amiens, but no luck. We were spending Christmas in Bordeaux that year. I went down only 3 days before Christmas - just 3 days to go and I didn't have a Christmas present yet. What if I didn't find the duck cookbook?! I rushed to Virgin, there was only one single duck cookbook in sight, so I decided that must have been it. I was so happy with my purchase (not to mention relieved)!

The funny part starts when we both put our presents under the Christmas tree. Hmmm, both presents had the same dimensions, same weight, same feel... We both had the same idea! What a laugh we had! We ended up with two copies of Le Canard de Julie. Shank admitted too that in addition to his duck passion, Julie was very pretty. I admit it's true. He has good taste. :) So what were we to do with 2 identical cookbooks? Shank wanted to keep both, but the practical side of me persuaded him to exchange one of them to another cookbook. But now, the romantic side of me is regretting that move. But then again, we wouldn't have had the Délicieuses Tartes Sucrées et Salées to make the wonderful tarts we made for our wedding.

Practicality wins?

Shallot confit with spiced red wine
from Le Canard de Julie by Julie Andrieu

2 tablespoons olive oil
500 g shallots
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 bottle red wine
3 star anise
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick cinammon
10 grains black pepper
4 cloves

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the shallots to brown. Add the sugar and caramelise the onions for 5 minutes. Add the salt, wine, and the rest of the ingredients. Bring the mixture to boil and simmer for 30 minutes on low heat. Serve at room temperature.

Vodka-marinated Steak

Hmmm... Why did I have a feeling this would be so good? *grin* Many people tell me they hate vodka, I tell them they haven't tasted real vodka. Forget Smirnoff or Absolut. An evening of vodka-tasting between a few friends and a few bottles of Russian, Ukranian and Polish vodka unanimously concluded that the Russian vodka was the best. So get the original stuff. This is supposedly a Scandinavian recipe. I'd never made this before, ok, i think this is a confession post, I'd never made 99% of the recipes before. My experiments* turned out rather well I'd say. But back to the vodka-marinated steak, maybe it was the vodka, maybe it was Nigella Lawson, I just knew it'll taste good. *double grin*

Vodka-marinated steak
from Feast by Nigella Lawson

700 g approx. piece of rump steak (I used filet steak)
1/2 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, crushed
3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped thyme
3 cloves garlic, crushed
80 ml vodka
60 ml olive oil

Combine all of the marinade ingredients and put into a freezer bag with the meat. Smear the contents around to get the beef evenly coated in the salt, pepper and herbs. Leave for two or three days in the fridge. If you can't find the time, the leave the steak to marinate for a good 3 hours at room temperature.

Bring the beef in its marinade to room temperature. Take the steak out of the marinade, but reserve the marinade itself. Heat some vegetable oil in a large frying pan, and sear the beef on all sides over a high flame until it colours. (If you like your beef rare like me, take it out of the pan at this point. But if you like your meat well-cooked, cover the pan and turn down the heat to low and cook longer.)

Wrap the meat in foil to rest for a good 15 minutes while making the sauce.

Strain the marinade into a measuring jug and then make the liquid contents up to 150 ml with beef stock. Pour into the frying pan to deglaze, adding any resting juices that the beef has made. When the sauce is sizzling, whisk in a pat of butter.

Carve the meat into thin diagonal slices, arrange on a plate, then pour over the sauce.


*Afterthought: I am in research. :P

Tarts

Savoury tarts. I've finished with the desserts and shall now start on the main dishes. One regret I have is not taking pictures of every single food item we made. Such a pity. Especially since Aunty Lina made a very nice pattern on the smoked salmon and dill tarts. Many people also liked the goat's cheese and leek tart with walnuts. All these tarts are easy to make. The quantities given also can make 6 small tartlets for an elegant first course. They also look so cute. Don't you love miniatures?

Goat's cheese and leek tart with walnuts
from Délicieuses Tartes Sucrées et Salées by Maxine Clark

250 g puff pastry
50 g butter
4 small leeks, minced
200 g goat's cheese, sliced
125 g walnuts
3 garlic cloves, crushed
6 tablespoons walnut oil
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200 °C.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the leeks. Add a few tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of salt. Give the leeks a stir and cover. Cook the leeks on low heat for about 20 minutes until they are very soft. At the end of cooking time, take off the cover to allow the excess moisture to evaporate. Let the mixture cool.

To prepare the walnut paste, process the walnuts and garlic in a food processor with 2 tablespoons of water. Add the walnut oil and parsley and process again.

To assemble the tart, line a 28-cm tart tin with the puff pastry and spread out the leeks in a single layer. Cover with the slices of goat's cheese and top it all with the wanut paste. Salt and pepper and finish off with a filet of olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the cheese is golden.

Onion and rosemary tart
from Délicieuses Tartes Sucrées et Salées by Maxine Clark

200g shortcrust pastry
75 g butter
600 g onions, minced
30 cl crème fraîche
2 stalks rosemary
6 large garlic cloves
olive oil
4 egg yolks
grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
30 black olives for decoration

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Line a tart tin with the shortcrust pastry and line with a round of greasproof paper and a layer of baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until golden. Take out the crust from the oven and let cool.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the onions. Add a few tablespoons of water and a teaspoon of salt. Give the onions a stir and cover. Cook the onions on very low heat for about 30 minutes to 1 houe until they are very soft, almost like a paste. Leave the onions to cool.

Place the crème fraîche and rosemary stalks into a saucepan and heat until nearly boiling point. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for as long as possible.

Cover the garlic in olive oil in a small saucepan and cook over very low heat for about 4o minutes until the garlic is golden and soft.

Put the crème fraîche in a food processor with the garlic (reserve oil for another use. eg. salad dressing) and egg yolks. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and process until a smooth paste is obtained. Add in the chopped rosemary.

Spread the onions on the bottom of the crust and cover with the crème fraîche mixture. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Decorate the tart with olives before serving.

Smoked salmon and dill tart
from BBC Good Food magazine

200 g shortcrust pastry
200 g smoked salmon
2 eggs
2 tablespoons chopped dill
280 ml single cream

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Line a tart tin with the shortcrust pastry and line with a round of greasproof paper and a layer of baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for about 5 minutes, until golden. Take out the crust from the oven and let cool.

Cut the smoked salmon into strips and spread evenly over the bottom of the crust. Whisk the eggs, cream and dill and pour over the smoked salmon.

Bake for 20 minutes until the filling has set and the top is golden.

Easy Almond Cake

The reason why Aunty Lina was so happy was that the cake rose despite batter mishandling. We had poured the batter into the pan and were ready to put it into the oven when we realised that we forgot the baking powder! So we had to turn the batter out, fold in the baking powder c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y, and then put it all in the tin again. We all crossed our fingers and hoped for the best!

In fact, self-raising flour is used in the recipe. But we bought plain flour instead, and so had to add the baking powder. Is self-raising flour available in France?

Easy almond cake
from How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson

250 g softened unsalted butter
250 g softened marzipan
150 g castor sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond essence
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs
150 g self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 170 °C. Chop the butter and marzipan to make them easier to break down, and put them in the bowl of the food processor, fitted with the double-bladded knife, with the sugar. Process until combined and pretty well smooth.

Add almond essence and vanilla extract, process again, then break the eggs one at a time through the funnel, processing again each time.

Tip the flour down the funnel, processing yet again, and then pour the mixture into a buttered and floured 25-cm Springform pan, scraping the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 50 minutes, but check from 40. Then, when the cake looks golden and cooked and a cake-tester or fine skewer comes out cleanish, remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin before turning out.