Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Fish filets with mustard and carrot juice sauce and carrot ginger purée



Some good friends came over for dinner a couple of days ago and I cooked one of my favorite recipe I picked 3 years ago in a very good and famous French Chef, Jean-François Piège. At the end of the dinner, they asked for the recipe... for them and all my readers, here it is.

You need, for the sauce just carrot juice and Dijon mustard, the one with grains. This sauce is great on any fish filet, like Tilapia, sea bass or scallops. It's very simple : you heat a frying pan, add one tbsp of olive oil and cook the filets for a couple of min on each side. Then you put the filets aside and pour in the frying pan 3/4 of a cup of carrot juice (200ml) and 2 tbsp of mustard. Wait for a couple of min, then reheat the fish for 10s in the sauce. It's ready!

For the purée, you need, serving 4 people, 8 average carrots, 3/4 oz of fresh ginger (20g) , 1 garlic clove, 3/4 cup of heavy cream (crème UHT) and 3/4 cup of 2% milk (200ml). Peel and slice the carrots; peel and slice the ginger; peel the garlic clove. Fry them together for 5min with one tbsp of olive oil, then add the cream and milk. Cover and cook for 10 to 15min until the carrots are tender. Blend the carrots, ginger and garlic together with part of the milk and cream, according to the texture you like...
There you go! Very easy, different and yummy!!!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Delicious libanese spices, tahini and zaatar


I was not familiar with these spices, except of course, as everybody, I knew that the tahini was the specific spice for the hummus.
These ideas came from a specific issue of one French magazine I love, Saveurs.
Tahini is made with sesame seeds. You can make a chickpeas purée with one can of chickpeas, you would mix with olive oil and tahini, salt and pepper. Add olive oil until you get the desired texture.
Zaatar is a blend of oregano, sumac, sesame seeds and salt. You can use it on a fish filet, like tilapia or sea bass. Just spread it one on side of the filet and cook it in a frying pan for 5 min.

Serve the chickpeas purée warm with the fish filets with zaatar. Add a pinch of lemon juice on the fish and some cilantro leaves on the purée. I hope you'll like it... Enjoy!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Happy New Year!!! and winter squash soup

New Year resolutions, I love the idea. You know, those resolution you make and you follow for 2 days before giving up... This year, I decided, I won't give up so easily.
So, resolution number one: try at least a new recipe or idea per week and post it on my blog
Resolution number two: exercise bike at least twice a week so that I can try these new recipes without feeling guilty
Resolution number three: find a job, and make resolution number 3 compatible with number 1 and 2...

Therefore, here is my first recipe of 2011: a very quick one I tried yesterday.
Winter squash soup is very easy but the result could be disappointing if you use only winter squash.
Just add in the boiling water with the winter squash (a big slice) peeled and cut in small pieces, one or two peeled baking potatoes and one sliced leek. You can add in the water, according to your taste one or two tablespoon of curry paste, and of course salt and pepper.
Once all the vegetables are cooked, blend them together... and enjoy.
And please, make the resolution, my beloved reader, to comment these posts!