Sunny side brunch

Bring a  little sunshine for this easy, delicious and comforting brunch : sunny side up egg, sauté potatoes and cherry tomatoes with olives and basil

Ingredients for 2 servings :

– 2 to 4 eggs

– 200g new potatoes

– 250g baby pomodoro or Datterini tomatoes

– 2 garlic cloves (optional)

– 100g small black olives

– A small bunch of basil

– 3 tbsp olive oil

– Sea salt and black pepper

Method :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190c

2. Bring a pan of boiling water to the boil and cook the potatoes (15 to 20 mins depending on size) until soft

3. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes in halves, lenghtwise and squeeze to get rid of the water and seeds

4. Pit the olives or chop around the pit

5. (Peel and finely slice the garlic)

6. Place the tomatoes in an oven proof dish with the garlic, olives and a couple of tablespoon of oil. Toss to mix together, season with salt and pepper and roast for 20 mins

7. When the poatoes are ready, slice them in thick slices and sauté in a  pan with olive oil, season and reserve in the oven until your eggs are cooked

8. Tear the basil and add it to the tomato mix. Keep warm with the potatoes, with the oven turned off

9. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the eggs to your liking

10. Serve immediately, dipping the potatoes in the egg yolk 😉 and enjoy

Roast cod on a bed of tomatoes and aubergines

Since the sauce doesn’t contain any animal produce and works great with pasta; this is a great dinner party dish if you have any vegetarian guests.

Ingredients for 6 :

– 5 tbsp olive oil

– 2 garlic cloves

– 3-4 large tomatoes

– 1 to 2 sprigs rosemary

– 4 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste

– Few drops of balsamic vinegar

– 3-4 tbsp pine nuts

– 6 cod fillets (150g each)

– S&P

Method :

1. Chop the aubergines into small cubes (5mm x 5mm)

2. Heat 3 to 4 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan

3. Peel and crush the garlic, sweat in the olive oil with the cubed aubergines for 5 to 6 mins on medium heat or until the aubergines are soft

4. Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes and pre-heat the oven to 190c

5. Add the chopped tomatoes with the aubergines, along with the sun-dried tomato paste and the rosemary. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to simmer

6. Meanwhile, add a couple of tbsp of olive oil to a roasting tray. Season the fish and top with the pine nuts (unless you are going for a vegetarian option)

7. Bake the fish for 9 to 14 mins, depending on the thickness

8. If you are going for the vegetarian option, toast the pine nuts in a  dry pan and add to the tomatoes

9. Leave the tomato sauce to simmer and thicken to the desired consistency whilst the fish is baking. Check the seasoning of the sauce when ready and add a few drops of balsamic vinegar

10. Place a large spoonful of tomato and aubergine sauce in the centre of the serving plates

11. Top with the fish and serve immediately with crusty bread

 

 

Gigot de mer a la basquaise – Monkfish basquaise

Piperade is the most famous dish from the basque region. It usually consists of green peppers, onions and tomatoes. Representing the colours of the Basque flag. You will often find the addition of eggs or meat (bayonne ham).

A dish described as “basquaise” will always describe most of these elements.

Ingredients for 2 servings:

– 1/2 red pepper

– 1/2 green pepper

– 1/2 yellow pepper

– 2 monkfish fillets (150g each)

– 2 slices Bayonne ham (Replace by dry-cured Italian or Spanish ham if unavailable)

– olive oil

– 1 clove garlic

– 1 sprig of thyme

– 1 pinch of dried piment d’Espelette (or 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped)

– 1 small bay leave

– 2 tbsp cold water

– 1 small red onion

Method:

1. Start by peeling the peppers : place them under a hot grill until the skin darkens and blisters

2. Place the peppers in a freezing bag to cool and “steam themselves” until cool enough to handle and remove the skin

3. Discard the stalks and seeds and chop in very fine strips

4. Pre-heat the oven to 220c

5. Prepare the “gigot” : wrap each pieces of monkfish in the ham and secure with a kitchen string or wooden skewer.

6. Heat some olive oil in an oven-proof  frying or sauté pan until smoking hot

7. Place the monkfish in the pan to sear and brown the ham on all sides. Make sure the oil is hot enough before you start as you only want to brown the ham before finishing cooking the fish in the oven.

8. Place the pan in the oven to finish cooking (5 to 8 mins, depending on the thickness of the fish)

9. Meanwhile, peel and de-seed the tomatoes : Cut a cross pattern on the skin at the bottom of the tomato and plunge in boiling water for 10 to 30 seconds, or until the skin starts peeling off. Remove the skin, pulling with the tip of a knife.

10. Chop the onion in as thin slices as you can

11. Quarter the tomatoes and discard the seeds and water, reserve for later- Remove the fish from the pan and leave in a warm place

12. Place the pan back on the hob, on medium heat

13 Peel and crush the garlic and sweat in the pan for a couple of minutes or until soft. Do not allow to brown

14. Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leave, water and the chilli (Espelette or finely chopped fresh chilli)

15. Bring to the boil and reduce the heat to low. Leave to simmer for 4 to 5 mins or until thick enough. Check the seasoning and add 2 tsp tomato puree if necessary.

16. Meanwhile, in a different pan, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium heat. Add the onions and sweat until tender. Add the peppers half way through to finish cooking and warm up. Season

17. Cut each pieces of fish in halve. Place a spoonful of tomato “ragu” in the centre of the serving plates.  Add the fish on top of the tomatoes and top with the onion and pepper mix

Serve immediately with some rice or sautéed potatoes

Bouillon de legumes potagers – Garden vegetable broth

The perfect summer starter for dieters. At 70 Kcal a bowl on average, do not hesitate to eat as much of this soup as you like. 😉

Ideally the soup will be made with chicken stock. However, if you are vegetarian or entertaining some vegetarian friends, do not hesitate to substitute the chicken stock by vegetable stock.
In any case, use some good quality stock, ideally home-made.
If you are using commercial stock, try to find some in the chill/fresh produce department of your store or some sous-vide stock. In any case, do not use concentrate (cube or liquid)
Be extra careful with seasoning if using commercial stock as most of them will already be very salty.

A food processor or mandolin are ideal to chop the vegetables.
If using the traditional knife method and you are finding it difficult to julienne the carrots and celery, do not hesitate to slice them (in rounds) but still as thin as you can.
The most important is that all vegetables are cut in the same way and with the same thickness to ensure even-cooking.

1 large  carrot
1 leek
75 g mushrooms
1 stick celery
150 g tomatoes
1 1/4 l  chicken stock
1 tbsp parsley (leaves only)
1  tbsp chervil, leaves only (if you cannot find chervil, use a little more parsley and a little more tarragon)
1 tsp  tarragon, leaves only

1. Peel the carrots and wash the celery

2. Cut the carrots and celery in julienne (2mm x 2mm x 4cm). Use 50g carrots and 25g of celery for this soup

3. Wash the leeks and finely slice them lenghtways in strips of 4cm. You will need 25 of julienne

4. Finely slice the mushrooms (2mm thick) and cut into strips. You will need 50g

5. Bring the stock to the boil and check the seasoning

6. Plunge the vegetables into the stock and reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Cover with a lid but leaving space for some steam to escape

7. Simmer for 15 mins. The vegetables should be softened but retain some bite

8. Meanwhile, peel and de-seed the tomatoes

9. Chop the tomatoes into a concasse (small cubes). Use 80g of concasse in the soup

10. Place a small mound of concasse in the middle of each plates

11. Finely chop the parsley, chervil and tarragon

12. When the soup is ready, check the seasoning and place some of the julienne around the tomatoes on each plate

13. Pour the broth over

14. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs

Servings: 4

Linguine con le zucchine – Linguine with courgettes

The children are back to school; or are going back to uni, here is a great way of making the most of the last tomatoes and courgettes of the season on a budget.

Spaghetti will work as well but tagliatelle would be too wide to absorb the sauce

The rule for pasta cooking is 100/10/1 hence 1 litre of boiling water per 100g of pasta with 10g of salt (2 tsp)

Ingredients for 4 servings :

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely sliced
1 clove  garlic, finely sliced
4 leaves  sage
1 pinch dried chilli flakes
2 medium zucchini, finely sliced
200 g plum tomatoes, skinned, de-seeded and diced
400 g linguine
150 g buffalo mozzarella, cut into 1cm cubes
40 g parmesan cheese

Method :

1. Heat the olive oil in a sauce-pan

2. Meanwhile, finely slice the onion

3. Sweat the onion in the heated oil over low-medium heat until very soft

4. Meanwhile, peel and slice the garlic, finely shred the sage

5. Wash and finely slice the zucchini

6. Peel, de-seed and chop the tomatoes. (you will need to score the skin of the tomato in a cross pattern at the bottom and plunge them in boiling water for 10-30s before peeling)

7. When the onions are ready, add the garlic, sage and chilli flake. Sweat for about 30 sec

8. Add the zucchini and cook for 2-3 mins

9. Add the tomatoes, raise the heat to very high

10. Cook for a further 5-7 mins or until the tomatoes desintegrate

11. Season to taste

12. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water until al dente (2 mins less than the packet tells you to)

13. Chop the mozzarella

14. Drain and place the pasta back in the pan over medium heat

15. Add the sauce and the chopped mozzarella, stir to re-heat the whole mix

16. Check the seasoning and serve with a grating of parmesan cheese