Tarte au Thon et Tomate

My breakfast this Sunday was a piece of tart I bought at the butcher shop in France.

They offered 5 different ones. Huge baking dishes, either round or rectangular. It took me a while to decide which one was looking the best. 

My choice was thon et tomate. The lady behind the counter hefted the tart out of the display. It had a good wait and asked me for the size to cut off.

The piece was 288 g and I paid €4,88 for it. A regionale price for a very good tart.

I asked if I could reheat it in the microwave. Non, non. In the oven at 140C for 8- 10 min. Since I was to lazy to heat up my oven for 1 piece of tart, I usef the Air fryer. Same result and less hassle.

      

 

Rainbow Trout with Blueberry Iceberg Lettuce

Finally after 13 month I was able to go grocery shopping in France again. I have missed this so much. Now that I have my two covid 19 jabs and the waiting time of 2 weeks over, I looked forward to this trip very much.

Just as in old times, I arrived at the Auchan supermarket 2 minutes before opening. Now the fun started.

The fishmonger was one of my first stops. A large side of a rainbow trout and some giant prawns went into the shopping cart.

Easy to prepare after I got home and was hungry. The only downside were the long fishbones. About 25 of them. But after pulling them out, a coat of seasoning and some flour for the skinside was all the work to do. Butter and oil in a large pan and 5 min on the skin and 2 min on the other side.

Done. Iceberg lettuce and fresh blueberries with fresh herbs and s cream dressing was all I needed.

Served with baguette and cidre de Breton.

 

 

Bell Peppers in the Air Fryer

Served with unpolished barley.

Just some veggies and a bit of barley for an evening snack. I am a huge fan of my Air Fryer and use it for lots of different things.

I thought about preparing the peppers in the oven, but I did not want to get all the pan and baking sheets out, which I store there.

The next best thing to the oven is the large egg shaped kitchen gadget. Easy to use and easy to clean.

Ingredients:

3 bell peppers - red, orange, yellow

1 red onion, smoked sea salt  smoked paprika, herbes de Provence, pepper, 4 tbsp olive oil

Greek tiny basil, fresg thyme

100 g unpolished barley in 500 ml veg stock, 1 spring onion, 1 lovage stalk

Golden Milk

The health benefits are the reason I wanted to try it.  I remembered a Tumeric Latte I made a long time ago. This is a similar kind of drink. 

I often order spices online. When I checked their new offers I found the Golden Milk spice powder. I saw some pictures online and decided to try it. The main spice is tumeric, but nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon and ginger are in it too.

Drinking it with hot milk short before you go to bed, it should help you sleep well. It should help as anti-inflammatory for joints as well.

It tastes good, just like the tumeric latte.

Lentil and Corn Fussili with Avocado Yogurt Sauce

I bought a package of red lentil and corn pasta. These fussili were made from otherwise wasted food. There is a group who tries to minimize the amount of food that goes into the bin. The red lentil flour gived the fussili their lovely pink shade. But you have to be careful when you cook them. They are hard a long time and from one second to the other they need get out of the pot.

The other ingredient I did not want to go to waste  were the avocadoes. They were on the very hard side when I bought them. But after 5 days in the kitchen, they were finally ready to eat. A good amount of seasoning broughf them to life. Mashed onto the Greek yogurt they made up a great sauce.

Recipe for 2:

180 g red lentil and corn fussili, 1 spring onion, 1/2 yellow chili

2 ripe avocado, 1 /2 lemon, 150 g Greek yogurt, salt, pepper, dried onion and garlic powder, Trader Joe's Mushroom seasoning. 1 medium tomato, basil

Cook the pasta, the last 2 min add chopped onion and chili to the pot. Drain.

Get the avo out of the skin and mash it with the yogurt and the seasoning. Cut the tomato into small strips. Bring everything together.

Roasted Chicken with Mushroom Pasta

Sunday dinner and roasted chicken go so well together. I bought a free range chicken with 1,5 kg. Since that usually need a lot of time in the oven to get done, I decided to spatchcock it. The cuts the time in the oven down to 45 min.

The only thing you need for that method is a strong and sharp knife and some elbow grease. Cut out the backbone and flatten the chicken on a baking tray. Don't throw thr backbone away. Use it together with the carcass and the leftovers later to make a stock.

I rubbed the chicken first with butter and put lots of seasonings on top. Spice and some paprika helps to get a nice color. So does a bit of agave syrup just drizzled over.

I had a bag of button mushrooms. With some green onions and garlic they were a good side. I chucked in some small thin pasta too.

 Ingredients:

1,5 kg chicken, salt, pepper, butter, chicken seasoning, paprika, agave syrup

200 g button mushrooms, 2 spring onions, 2 garlic cloves, olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme

Thin pasta

 

 

Shiitake Celeriac Skewers with Orange Tahin Sauce and Sumach Parsley Salad - vegan

This is a time consuming dish and you will need lots of Asian ingredients.

My friend found it in a health magazine. She knows that I stock all kinds of Asian bottles and spices from around the world. I only had to buy 4 fresh ingredients. I made that as a midweek meal. Cooking relaxes me after a long day and I go step by step to get the best results.

For tomorrows lunch break at home, I just have 1 skewer and some sauce left. A small bowl of fresh cooked rice added, and my work in the kitchen is done.

Shiitake Celeriac Skewers:

Medium sized head of celeriac, 150 g Shiitake mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, pinch of cayenne pepper, 2 tsp Teriyaki sauce, salt and pepper

Orange Tahin Sauce:

Zest and juice 1/2 orange, 5 g grated fresh ginger, 1 tbsp Mirin, 3 tbsp rapeseed oil, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp agave syrup, 1 tbsp roasted sesame oil, 2 tsp Tahin, pepper

Sumach Parsley Salad:

1/2 red onion, 1 large bunch of parsley, 1 tsp Sumach, salt, 2 tbsp olive oil

Water the wooden skewers.

Start with the celeriac. Peel it and cut 1 inch slices into 1 inch cubes. All the stuff around that looks wonky or is too small, set aside and freeze later for soups or stews.

Cook in salted boiling water for 5 min, cool down. Clean the Shiitake and cut out the rubbery stems. Skewer both, seadon with salt and pepper.

Press the garlic, add oil, cayenne, Teriyaki sauce, salt and pepper and brush the skewers with it. Let them sit to marinate. 

Mix the orange sauce.

Cut the onion into strips and blanche them for 60 sec in boiling water. Chop the parsley and make the Sumach dressing.

Use a griddle pan or a BBQ. Spray lightly with oil and grill the skewers until golden   brown.

Serve on top of the salad and dip in the sauce.