Sunday, April 17, 2011

Asparagus are back on farmers markets


A quick idea to accomodate fresh asparagus: peel them and cut the thin ones in 2 and the thick ones in 2 thin parts and then in 2 again. If you have some carrots, peel them and cut them just the same way.

Fry all the vegetables in a frying pan (ideally a wok) on a high heat for 3 min then cover, add pepper and salt, and reduce to low heat; cook for 10 to 15 min until the vegetables get smooth but not too soft. Add 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar or xeres vinegar and this is a perfect side dish for any forthcoming barbecues.

You can also use, in that dish, almost any vegetable of the season, such as onion pearls, small artichokes, peas...



Les asperges sont de retour chez les maraîchers!

Une idée toute simple pour cuisiner une poêlée de légumes de saison : peler les asperges et coupez en deux dans le sens de la largeur celles qui sont épaisses, puis coupez les toutes en 2 dans le sens de la longueur. Si vous avez encore des carottes, pelez-les et coupez-les de la même manière.

Faites les revenir à la poêle à feu vif pendant 3 minutes puis couvrez et baisser le feu pendant 10 a 15 minutes. Les légumes doivent rester fermes et légèrement croquants. Ajoutez avant de servir 2 cuillères à soupe de vinaigre balsamique ou de xérès. Cette poêlée est un accompagnement parfait pour tous vos barbecues à venir.

Vous pouvez, bien sûr, être créatifs sur les légumes choisis : petits pois, oignons grelots ou tige, artichauts poivrade...

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Kids friendly spinach

The question of the day: how do I get my kids eat spinach, the 3 of them, with no grumpy face? What a challenge! The idea of the day is Stuffed Crêpes with Béchamel, with ham and parmesan. Whao, it worked! two out of three said it was very good and the last one said he did not really liked it but ate it.
This is not a short recipe but you can also use it as an idea to make savory crêpes before the sweet ones.
Serving 5, you need :
- 10 crêpes
- chopped cooked spinach, 10 tbsp
- 2 tbsp of grated parmesan
- 2 thick slices of cooked ham and 5 slices of prosciutto
- 2 tbsp of flour
- 2 tbsp of butter
- 1 1/2 cup of milk (400ml)
- grated cheddar cheese

Make a thick Béchamel or white sauce: 2 tbsp of butter melted in a sauce pan, add 2 tbsp of flour, whip vigourously and add 2 cups of milk and cook slowly for 10min until it gets thick, then add the grated parmiggiano.
Dice the ham and prosciutto
Mix them in the Béchamel with spinach.
Put 3 tbsp of the spinach Béchamel on each crêpe and fold them. Add some cheddar cheese on top and put the crêpes in a preheated oven (400F) for 15 min until the cheese has melted and got nicely brown.
And please share your success... or not...