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Hello sun, could Spring be coming early?
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05 March 2010
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… for which I must have now become a total no-profit fixture, sitting for hours in a row sipping happily and shamelessly my one cup of green tea. Thank God the sun was out to comfort me (and them) and remind us all that Spring is around the corner! Your basket this week should include seasonal apples, leeks, carrots, freshly arrived rhubarb, watercress, garlic, lean pork tenderloin, rice noodles, red snapper, Cantal cheese and lots of year-round seasonal dark chocolate. The three WorkWeek recipes are as usual easy, fun and delightful. Try the cantal stuffed apple for a good dose of guilt free cheese eating (the apple playing the righteous element of the dish), go for the simple and gorgeous recipe that got me into stir fries or step into Spring with the delicious watercress velouté. The WeekendMeal features an amazing garlic soup from the Glasshouse restaurant, which I am featuring a second time in TD as we found it so fabulous we had to have it again. The main dish is a colourful, sweet and sour and resolutely Springy red snapper on a bed of rhubarb, followed by a thoroughly enjoyable caramelized pineapple and vanilla ice cream combination with an unusual use of olive oil. Oooh, and DO read the TastyExtras section, where I am sharing the recipe for the perfect American chocolate chip and nut cookie, so meltingly soft and chewy our household goes mad until none are left. As Fairtrade fortnight is drawing to a close, refresh your memory on what the little blue, black and green logo is all about and share your thoughts on whether you buy fairtrade products or not. Have fun in the sun, enjoy good home cooked food et à la semaine prochaine! Anne-Laure x
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QUICK week treats
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Baked apples stuffed with cantal cheese, smoked pancetta, hazelnuts and raisins
Busy: 15 min, Total time: 45 min
| Olivier grew up in Cantal and in his family, cheese is a serious matter. When we lived in Chicago his parents smuggled at each visit kilos of cantal, vacuum packed by a conspiring cousin. Thank God they never got caught and we can now source our own Cantal legally. Apples make a dream team with tangy old cantal, and this great recipe illustrates their chemistry beautifully. A lovely meal for a laid back evening. |
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Pork, ginger and leek stir fry
Busy: 25 min, Total time: 25 min
| The heavy weight of French culinary tradition means my country opened up to world cuisine much later than in the UK. The first stir fry I ever tasted was cooked for me a few years ago by a cousin 's trendy boyfriend in his small Parisian flat. The boyfriend is now gone but his gorgeous stir-fry recipe stayed with me. With only two veggies to chop, a great soy, fish sauce and ginger marinade and ultra moist pork, it is now one of my favourites. |
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Watercress soup with iced herbs and cream cube
Busy: 15 min, Total time: 25 min
| This crisp green watercress soup is a lovely introduction to Spring which thankfully seems to have come early this year. Raw watercress tastes quite peppery but when cooked, its flavour becomes rounder and softer. Add in a few potatoes and you get a delightfully light yet filling velouté. To add un petit peu de chic, I accessorized it with iced cream and herb cubes. Fun, restaurantey-pretty, practical and delicious, these are my toys of the moment! |
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Weekend THERAPY
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Garlic and cream velouté
Busy: 20 min, Total time: 20 min
| Of a pristine white, this soup makes a stunningly elegant starter. Its delicate flavour is a tour de force that manages to distill garlic to its very essence without any heady garlicky taste. The reduced wine, broth, infused herbs and lemon all work together to gently round the garlic flavour, further softened by the cream. We fell so much in love with this velouté that we served it twice in one weekend to our enchanted guests. |
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White wine and honey glazed red snapper fillet with rhubarb compote and sticky rice
Busy: 30 min, Total time: 2h15 (includes 2 hours chilling time)
| This easy fish dish is superb. The presalting technique I learned from Le Cuisiner Gascon worked wonders on the red snapper, yielding a uniquely salty, dense and smooth flesh on the outside and a tender inside. The zingy and gorgeously pink rhubarb complements the fish better than lemon juice, and the sticky rice takes centre stage in coalescing this cascade of flavours and textures into one truly sensory experience. |
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Pineapple chunks and raisins roasted in olive oil and rum with vanilla ice cream
Busy: 15 min, Total time: 30 min
| In this refreshing and unusual dessert, olive oil is used to caramelize the pineapples, infusing them with a subtly grassy flavour and giving them a beautiful gloss butter can't match. The chunks fray away effortlessly in the mouth, their warmth and sweet acidity contrasting deliciously with the cool and soft ice cream. The sticky, rum flavoured raisins keep your throat warm between bites - a perfect antidote to the last Winter cold. |
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IN SEASON
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I have been all over the place this week and the few days I spent at home were without gas, courtesy of National Grid replacing the Victorian pipes in my street. My hob-less and heating less days saw me erring with my laptop between my two favourite wifi-equipped local coffee shops, ... | |
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KITCHEN TALK
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All American chewy chocolate chip and nut cookies
I spent a memorable year in Pennsylvania as a young exchange student. One of my many revelations there was the discovery of the American cookie. Where French supermarkets were selling dry and tasteless "cookies Américains", I discovered a hidden world of intense softness, chewiness, and rich, melting chocolate. My wonderfully exuberant roomate Amy gave me the secret to this national gem, which I am sharing with you here. Be thankful.
read more .. >
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The Conscious Cook: Star of the week: fairtrade products
As the fairtrade fortnight is drawing to a close, let's remind us all of what the fairtrade certification you see on selected products really means. From humble beginning in 1988, the fairtrade product certification has grown into a massive international movement, offering consumers in wealthy countries an increasing array of products to choose from. Fairtrade coffee alone is now offered in the UK by a total of 69 brands, who combined provide consumers with a choice of nearly 400 different fairtrade coffees. Overall, the UK fairtrade association, which manages the certification in the UK, has certified more than 3,000 products. The[...]
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Ask Anne-Laure:I often fry fish and cook spiced food but this leaves sometimes nasty smells in my flat. How can I get rid of these? (Sean)
Hi Sean,
My kitchen is open plan so I know your problem - not nice to have your guests sit on a coach reeking of fried meat. The first thing to think of is prevention. When you know you will cook potentially smelly food (frying being the worst offender), always ventilate your kitchen as much as possible, even if that means opening your window in the middle of winter, and close any doors you have to seal your kitchen. Also if cooking fish, don't fry it unless it is in its absolutely freshest state. If it isn't, bake it with lemon in your oven instead, poach it in water and milk or cook it in foil en papillote with lots of ar[...]
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