Kolokithopita (Greek courgette pie)

 Delicious and refreshing veggie pie to make during the summer when courgettes are plentiful. Can be eaten as a main course with a tomato and basil salad or as a side.

 

Ingredients:

• 6 zucchini medium, shredded
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 eggs
• 200g feta crumbled
• 100g goat's cheese, cubed
  
• 12 sheets phyllo dough
• 1/2 cup olive oil extra virgin
• 2 T finely chopped parsley
  
• 2 T finely chopped mint
  
• Freshly ground pepper

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 180°C

 Shred the courgette and place in a colander for about an hour to drain.Mildly heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan, add chopped onions and cook  until translucent, allow to cool. I've replaced the onion with chopped leek at times when I don't have an onion in sight 😂In a bowl beat the eggs, combine the feta and goat's cheese and season with the pepper.Squeezing the extra excess water from the grated courgettes, place them in a large bowl; add the onions, herbs and eggs/feta mixtureBrush the bottom of baking dish with olive oil; place the first layer of phyllo dough and brush with olive oil; continue until you have 6 layersPour the courgette filling into the phyllo base, cover with a sheet of phyllo, brush with olive oil and continue until you have 6 layers of phyllo dough.Fold over the flaps of the dough, and brush the entire top with olive oil.Using a knife make few holes in the dough.Bake in the centre of the oven for an hour or until the crust is crisp and golden brown. Serve warm

 

Mushroom lentil patties

 

An easy patty recipe for yummy veggie burgers or a quick on the go snack. Make into balls for your favourite meatball recipe. Keeps for about 3 days in the fridge. Picture taken before baking. Can also be pan-cooked in a little coconut oil.

Ingredients:

• 400g cooked lentils
  
• 200g mixed mushrooms
  
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
  
• 2 t smoked paprika
  
• 2 t Miso paste
• 2 garlic cloves
• Small bunch of thyme
• 75g breadcrumbs

Method:

Lightly pan fry the onion in a little oil. Blitz the mushrooms in a food processor, then add the cooked lentils, the fried onion, the smoked paprika, miso paste, garlic, thyme and lastly the breadcrumbs. Mix to a rough paste.

Shape the patties and leave to cool in the fridge before cooking. Bake at 180C for 20 to 25 minutes.

Serve with salad or use for burgers - enjoy!

Greek style savoury cake

 Great for a picnic, an apéritif or a light summer lunch with a mixed greens salad. Don't be shy, keep the basic recipe and substitute the ingredients with leftovers eg, salmon, or that piece of leek, courgette, etc. In winter, I like to pair up a warming soup with a savoury cake for a hearty meal 😻

 

 

 

Ingredients:

• 150g f flour, I used 80g white flour and 70g buckwheat flour
• 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 3 eggs
• 50g grated emmental (or cheddar cheese)
• 1 marinated red pepper cut into cubes
• 5 to 6 sun-dried tomatoes cut unto small pieces 
• 8 green olives cut into quarters
  
• 75g feta cheese cut into cubes
• Half a ball of mozzarella cheese cut into cubes
• I T olive oil
• 2T fromage blanc
• 1t black pepper
• 1 t dried parsley
  

Method:

In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder and spices with the emmental and combine. 

Add all the other ingredients except the eggs, olive oil and fromage blanc. Mix with a spatula until all ingredients are coated with flour.

Add the eggs, mix gently until eggs are incorporated, the mixture will be quite sticky.

Lastly drizzle in the olive oil and add the fromage blanc. The batter should be thick but not dry, add a little more olive oil/fromage blanc if it's too stiff. Don't overmix, just bind it all together gently with a silicone spatula. The batter should look like this:

Pour into a cake pan and bake at 180° for 45 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

 

Rabbit à la moutarde

 

Rabbit is a very lean meat and also very versatile, it can be made with prunes, Mediterranean style, baked or with red wine... Here is my version of the famous Lapin à la Moutarde. It's delicious even the next day if there's any left as everyone asks for seconds 😀

 

Ingredients:

• 1 rabbit (ask the butcher to cut it into pieces
• 3/4 bottle of white wine
  
• 200g Dijon mustard
  
• 200g button mushrooms, roughly chopped
  
• 2 carrots, finely sliced
  
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 leek finely chopped
• 2 t yummy spice
  
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• A bouquet garni
  
• Crème fraîche & chopped parsley
  

Method:

Slather each piece of rabbit with a generous coat of mustard. Heat a large cast iron pot with a little cooking oil then add the pieces of rabbit one by one. Lightly brown the rabbit, add the onion and leeks. Wet with some wine if the pieces stick to the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle in the yummy spice. Once the onions & leeks have softened, add the carrots, mushrooms, garlic and bouquet garni. Pour in the rest of the wine, cover and leave to simmer for about an hour or more. The rabbit and vegetables must be thoroughly softened. 

 

 

Before serving add a few dollops of crème fraîche. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with rice, mashed potatoes or tagliatelles.

Can be made the day before and re-heated, adding the crème fraîche and parsley just before serving. 

                        Bon appétit!

Spicy pan fried prawns

 

A delicious finger-licking prawn recipe inspired from the peri-peri prawns that my Mom often made for special occasions

Ingredients:

• 800g uncooked prawns
  
• 4-5 garlic cloves (according to size and taste)
  
• 1t peri-peri or chilli powder (again according to taste)
  
• 2 t chopped parsley
• Crème fraîche (optional)
  

Method:

In a colander, rinse and prepare prawns by cutting off the long "feelers". Peel and finely chop the garlic.

Heat a large, heavy based pan, add a little oil then add the prawns. Turn them over frequently until they turn pink. Allow to sizzle for a few minutes, still stirring them around in the pan. When almost cooked, add the chilli powder and the garlic. Preheat a serving dish and after about 1 to 2 minutes, (don't let the garlic cook too long, it loses its flavour), tip the prawns into the serving dish. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. For a really gourmet touch, déglace the pan with a few dollops of crème fraîche and use as a sauce. 

Serve with basmati or thaï rice.

Bugnes

A traditional "doughnut" recipe made in February for carnival, going back to a long time before the 19th century. The name bugne comes from the word bugni, meaning beignet which transalates to doughnut. They are also known as merveilles or oreillettes depending on which region you live in with one or two minor changes to the recipe...do try it!

Ingredients:

• 250g flour
• 1t sugar
  
• 1t baking powder
  
• 1t vanilla essence
  
• 1&1/2T of rum
• 1 pinch of salt
  
• 75g melted butter
  
• 1 egg
•  zest of a lemon (optional)
  

Note to self

Method:

In a food processor, place the flour, the pinch of salt, the baking powder and the sugars. Mix on very low to combine the dry ingredients.

Add the egg, the melted butter, the lemon zest and the rum. Mix on medium until the dough the dough comes together and forms a soft but firm ball. The dough must be elastic. If too dry, add a little milk and if too soft, add a little more flour.

 

Allow dough to rest for a half an hour. Flour your work top and roll out the dough to a 5mm thick square or triangle. Cut into strips then slice across to form diamond shape pieces. Cut a slit into each piece as per photo.

 

 

Heat some oil in a shallow frying pan and per batch, add the "bugnes" allow to puff up before turning and fry fry on both sides until golden brown.

 

Remove with a slotted spoon and place on absorbent kitchen paper. Continue until all th epices are done. Transfer to a serving platter, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.
 

Riz au lait

A family favourite, make-ahead dessert. Keeps for 3-4 days in the fridge. Don't hesitate to tweak the flavour by using different sugars, such a coconut, maple or muscovado sugars.

Ingredients:

• 125g white rice
• 750mL milk
• 50g sugar
  
• 1 vanilla pod
  

Method:

Cut a slit in the vanilla pod. 

In a medium sized pot with a lid, bring the milk to a boil with the vanilla and sugar. 

Stir in the rice and set down the heat to low. 

Cover and simmer for about 2 hours until the rice has almost absorbed all the milk and the rice is creamy.

 

Chill well before serving. Enjoy!

Sushi rice

 As I don't make sushi very often, I tend  to forget how to make a perfect sushi rice, this recipe is just a "post-it" 📝 for a quick reminder of how to make it. Use it for sushi, onigiri or other Japanese delicacies calling for sticky rice.

 Ingredients:

• 400g round white rice (I use organic rice from the Camargue)
• 500ml water

For the vinegar seasoning:

• 80ml rice vinegar
• 1/2 T sugar
• 1/2 t salt
  

Method:

Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Allow to dry for at least a half an hour. 

Prepare the seasoned vinegar.

When the rice is dry, put the rice in a non stick pot, cover with the water and cover with a lid. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and allow to simmer on low heat for about 12 minutes. 

All the water must be absorbed. 

Turn off the heat and leave to rest for 10 minutes without removing the lid.

 

Transfer the rice to a large recipient (wood, ceramic or plastic, not metal) and with a special rice spatula or a flat wooden spatula, slice through the rice to separate the grains at right angles while sprinkling with the vinegar seasoning. 

Continue the operation until the rice is cooled.

Spread the rice onto a wooden board and cover with a clean, damp dishcloth. 

Use as needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choucroute

Choucroute is simply lacto-fermentation, healthy, easy to make, if you just follow a few simple rules. The first being, one should use very fresh ingredients, the salt used must not have any added fluoride or iodine, etc, just pure salt. The jar must be clean but not sterilised. Fermentation was one of the first methods used to conserve food, it's almost as old as man! A passionate history of food conservation told by Marie-Claire Frédéric on her blog, Ni cru, ni cuit, as well as recipes such as this recipe for choucroute. 

 

Ingredients:

• 900 g Cabbage, white, green or red
• 9 g pure sea salt, no additives
• A few Juniper berries
  
• 1 jar with a rubber seal
  

Method:

No need to wash your cabbage, just the remove dirty and/or damaged leaves. 

 

 

Shred finely (I used a mandoline) and place in a large plastic mixing bowl. 

 

Add the salt and massage the salt into the cabbage until the water from the cabbage is released and your hand is wet. 

 

 

Throw in the Juniper berries and mix with your hand to incorporate.

Still using your hand, place handfuls into the prepared jar and push down to remove all air bubbles. Continue until the jar is full and all the cabbage is in the jar. The water will now completely cover the cabbage. 

Seal and leave for 2 weeks. Place on a saucer as it may leak (do not open during this time) After 2 weeks, the choucroute is ready to eat. It may be kept for a year or more without opening.

 

Serve with veggie sausages, steamed potatoes and a very cold glass of beer!

 

Can also be eaten cold as a salad.

Seitan Couscous

Why not use up those last summer veggies from the potager in a delicious couscous. Couscous is a Maghrebi dish usually made with vegetables, chickpeas and cubed mutton or chicken served on top of steamed wheat semolina. Substituting seitan for meat, this recipe makes a delicious veggie couscous!

 

Ingredients:

• 400g seitan, cubed
  
• 300g chickpeas
• 2 aubergines
• 3 courgettes
• 4 carrots
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 large yellow or red bell pepper
• 1 large onion
• 4 large cloves garlic
  
• 2T tomato paste
  
• 2T ras-el-hanout
• 1T cumin
• 2t paprika
  
• Harissa to taste
• at least 500ml of water (about 2 cups)
• Spicy veggie sausages (optional)
  

 For the semolina (for 4 people)

• 2 cups wheat semolina
• 2 cups boiling hot water
• 1T olive oil
  

Method:

In a cast iron pot, fry the sliced onion and spices in some cooking oil. Add the diced peppers, aubergines and carrots. Cook for 5 min then add the cubed seitan, courgettes and tomatoes as well as the water and tomato paste (add more water if needed). Cover and allow to simmer for 30-40 min.

If using veggie sausages add them and simmer for a few more minutes to heat them.

In a dish with a lid, put the semolina, hot water and olive oil, then stir and cover for a few minutes. Remove the lid and with a fork separate the grains. The semolina will have doubled in size and is ready to serve!

 

With a ladle, scoop some liquid from the couscous and pour into a small serving bowl. Add about 1T of Harissa (according to taste) and mix well.

Serve the couscous with the semolina and the spicy sauce.

Cauliflower Gratin

Cauliflower at it's best...make an easy bechamel, steam the cauliflower, bake and enjoy! Comfort food for those cold winter days ⛄

Ingredients:

• 1kg fresh or frozen cauliflower 
• 600 ml Bechamel sauce (see recipe link)
• Breadcrumbs and grated cheese for the topping
  

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Steam (or boil) the cauliflower. Drain and place into an ovenproof dish.

Spread the bechamel sauce over the cauliflower, covering the florets completely.  Sprinkle evenly with the breadcrumbs and some Parmesan or Emmental cheese and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 

Tarte Tatin

 An upside down apple tart from the Centre region of France. It was made famous by the Tatin sisters, and legend has it that that Stéphanie Tatin, had started making an apple tar,  but left the apples cooking in butter and sugar for too long. Smelling the burning, she tried to rescue the dish by putting the pastry base on top of the pan of apples, quickly finishing the cooking by putting the whole pan in the oven. After turning out the upside down tart, she was surprised to find how much the hotel guests appreciated the dessert.

For a savoury version, use a puff pastry and tomatoes, courgettes, endives...

Ingredients:

• 280g plain flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 T organic sugar
• 110g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 120ml ice water
• 6/8 Golden Delicious or Boscop apples 
• 30g butter
• 30g sugar
  

Method:

For the pastry, place the plain flour, salt and sugar in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Stir lightly to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Remove the dough and quickly knead into a ball. Place in a bowl and cover with a silicon cover or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 

Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

Prepare the apples, peel, cut into quarters and remove the core and seeds. In a cast iron pan or a tatin pan, lightly fry the apples until golden in colour. 

 

 

Add the sugar and caramelise the apples.

Roll out the pastry to the size of the pan and cover the apples taking care to tuck in the edges. 

 

 

Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

 

 

Remove from the oven and place a serving platter over the pan and flip 😅

Serve warm with vanilla ice-cream or fresh cream.

Pumpkin Soup

Winter blues? Make this full-bodied, comforting and creamy soup for when it's too cold to go outside! Also, pumpkin is super low in calories, only 26 kilocalories for 100gms and is an excellent source of provitamin A, beta-carotine and Vitamin A.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 kg pumpkin
• 1 onion
  
• 1T turmeric
• fresh cream (optional)
• sunflower or pumpkin seeds (optional)
  

Method:

Fry the onion and turmeric in some cooking oil. Add the peeled and diced pumpkin. Cover with water and let simmer for 40-50min or until the pumpkin is soft, then blend the soup with a stick blender.

 

Enjoy with cream or and/or a sprinkle of seeds.

 

Duck Parmentier

A well known French recipe named after the famous Antoine Parmentier who brought the potato to France and persevered it's cultivation in France. The recipe is usually made with minced beef, known as "hachis Parmentier", but the recipe has evolved and modernised with a range of ingredients from sweet potatoes to fish. Today, I'm making a version with duck fillets, known as magret de canard. Most of the recipes using duck in Parmentier are made with "confit de canard" My recipe is adapted from a few recipes, it's easy to make and serves 4. 

Ingredients:

• 1 kg potatoes (for purée)
• 3 to 4 duck fillets
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2T tomato concentrate
• 1/2 bouquet of chives
• 100g of grated comté cheese (can be replaced with cheddar or emmental)
• Breadcrumbs for the topping
  
• Freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

Wash and cut the potatoes into small pieces and boil until soft (you can add some bouillon for a little twist).

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the duck fillets. Remove the fat and skin and place in a pan to melt on medium heat, turning as needed. While the fat is melting, with a sharp knife cut the duck fillets into small cubes or mince with a food processor.

 

 

In a bowl, mix the fillets with the minced garlic, the tomato paste, the finely chopped chives and the melted fat. 

Preheat the oven to 170°C

To assemble: 

Mash the potatoes with a little milk and fresh cream. Add the pepper. Set aside.

Place the meat mixture in individual ramekins and cover with the purée. 

 

Sprinkle with the grated cheese and some breadcrumbs. 

Place in the hot oven and allow to slowly bake for 40 minutes.

Enjoy! 😋

 

Gâteau au pastis

Brioche-like cake with an aniseed edge.

 

Ingredients:

• 300g flour
• 50g sugar
  
• 80g butter
• 4 eggs
• 15g active dry yeast
  
• 3T pastis
  
• 1t vanilla essence
• 60ml warm milk
  

Method:

Proof the yeast in warm milk. beat the eggs, sugar, pastis and vanilla together. Melt the butter and add milk so it cools down. Add the butter and yeast to the mixture, mix well and progressively incorporate the flour. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Bake for 40-50min at 180C.

Flan

A delicious flan!

 

Ingredients:

• 1L milk
• 100g maizena
• 100g sugar
• 20g butter
  
• 3 eggs
• 3T honey
• 1t vanilla extract
  

Method:

In a bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, maizena, honey, 125ml of milk and melted butter together (use an electric mixer so there aren't any lumps). In a pot, mix the other 750mL of the milk with the vanilla and bring to the boil while constantly stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Progressively pour the hot milk onto the egg mixture while mixing thoroughly so it stays smooth. Pour the batter back into the pot and cook on low heat until it thickens (keep stirring).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Pour the batter into a buttered (and optionally floured) mould and bake in the oven for 40min. Let it cool down before refrigerating. In a few hours the flan will have settled and can be served.

 

Nine Vegetable Tagine

Delicious veggie dish from North Africa. This is made in a tagine pot, the conical shape of the lid makes a moist, hot environment for the food. The base is wide and shallow, and the tall lid fits snugly inside. As the food cooks, steam rises into the cone, condenses, and then trickles down the sides back into the dish. After a short spell on the stove, it bakes in the oven. Cooking time is rather long so start early 😅😀Serve with cous-cous and Harissa. Serves 6 with leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 300g chick peas
• 200g chard
• 4 small onions
• 4 potatoes
• 4 carrots
• 4 tomatoes
• 8 small florets of cauliflower
• 1 turnip
  
• 1 big courgette
  
• 1 red pepper
• 2t paprika
  
• 2t cumin
• 1t quatre épices
• 1t ground coriander
  
• 1t ground ginger
• 300ml warm water (or more according to the size of your tagine pot
  

Method:

Mix the water and spices. Chop all the vegetables into chunks or slices. Preheat the oven to 180C.

 

On high heat, fry the vegetables and stir them well to get a little char (with enough oil so they don't burn). After 5-10min, add the water and the chick peas and cover the tagine. 

 

 

Bake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

Ever so often, take the tagine out of the oven and stir it, making sure there is enough liquid so it doesn't stick.

Before serving, remove about 200ml of juice and mix with 1 or 2T of Harissa for a spicy sauce.