Category Archives: Friday Shortcut Gourmet

Avocado Gazpacho

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Avocado Gazpacho 7343

A very festive starter for a summer day, pleasing to both the eye and the palate. The Tabasco sauce is decorative but also quite hot so use with care. This recipe is best made a day in advance. The citrus juice prevents discolouring. To be served chilled.

Serve as part of a menu with
Main Course: Seafood Quinotto
Dessert: Duo Choco Mousse with Cassis Syrup

Serves 6:

4 avocados, stone and peel removed
1 small lime, juice
1 small lemon, juice
½ garlic clove (when used in a cold recipe the garlic taste comes out much stronger), crushed
1 green chili, deseeded, in pieces
2 yellow tomatoes, quartered
1 cucumber, cut into pieces
3 salad onions
fresh coriander
100-120 ml cold chicken broth
crab tails
olive oil
Tabasco
Black pepper

  1. Place the avocado pulp, lime juice, lemon juice, garlic, chili, tomatoes, cucumber, onions and fresh coriander leaves (save some leaves for the garnish) into a blender and puree until smooth.
  2. Gradually add the chicken broth until you have desired gazpacho consistency, thick but not too thick.
  3. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for several hours.
  4. Before serving, pour into small (the soup is quite rich) bowls. Place crayfish tails on top, some drops of olive oil and Tabasco, a few coriander leaves and some freshly ground black pepper.

Seafood Quinotto

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Seafood quinotti

A wonderful alternative to risotto. This dish is creamy, yet light. I prefer using the white quinoa since, although colourful and beautiful, the black and red versions can be perceived as a bit hard in texture.

 

Serve as part of a menu with
Starter: Avocado Gazpacho
Dessert: Duo Choco Mousse with Cassis Syrup

Serves 4

200 ml Quinoa
400 ml chicken broth
1 banana shallot, finely diced
100 g pancetta, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
0,5 g saffron
250 g mushroom, sliced
200 ml white wine
100 ml cream
30 g parmesan cheese, grated
cooked crayfish tails, shrimp, clams or other seafood
Black pepper

  1. Boil the quinoa (in chicken broth) according to the instructions on the package. Set aside.
  2. Sauté the onion over medium heat, then add the pancetta and sauté another couple of minutes. Add the garlic and saffron and then the mushrooms. Cook until most of the water (from the mushrooms) have evaporated, about 5-6 minutes.
  3. Pour the wine into the mixture and cook for a few minutes. Then add the cream and let simmer for another few minutes.
  4. Add the cooked quinoa and reheat while stirring.
  5. Add the parmesan cheese and gently fold in the seafood, saving a few pieces for the garnish. Carefully stir for a few minutes to heat through.
  6. Serve on individual plates (in ring molds) and add a few pieces of seafood on top. Finish by sprinkling some black pepper over the dish.

Duo Chocolate Mousse with Cassis Syrup

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Duo Choco Moussse 7396

Apart from being a delicious chocolate mousse dessert, this is like a piece of art on the plate. Be prepared for guests wanting to photograph your masterpiece! This dessert can be prepared a day in advance and plated just before serving.

Serve as part of a menu with
– Starter: Avocado Gazpacho
– Main Course: Seafood Quinotto

Serves 4

Dark mousse:
100 g dark chocolate
2 tbsp milk
200 ml double cream
1 tbsp whiskey

White mousse:
100 g white chocolate
2 tbsp milk
1 tbsp rum (or Malibu if you prefer)
1 egg yolk
200 ml double cream

Cassis syrup:
100 ml caster sugar
2 tbsp crème de cassis
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp gin
2 tsp lemon juice
½ vanilla pod, cut open and scrape out the seeds, discard the shell

Garnish:
Fresh berries
Icing sugar
Fresh mint leaves

Dark mousse:

  1. Break the dark chocolate into pieces and melt with milk in a bain marie (a heatproof bowl placed over a pot of boiling water). Add the whiskey. Cool.
  2. Whip the cream and fold into the chocolate.
  3. Spoon into the bottom part of individual molds and refrigerate for 1 hour.

White mousse:

  1. Melt the white chocolate with milk in a bain marie. Cool.
  2. Combine the rum with the egg yolk and add to the chocolate mix while stirring. Whip the cream and fold into the chocolate mix. Spoon the white chocolate mix on top of the dark mix in the individual molds. Freeze for several hours.

Syrup:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat for about 3-4 minutes, until thickened. Let cool and then refrigerate until serving.

To serve:

  1. Remove the duo chocolate mousse molds from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
  2. Turn out each mold with the chocolate mousse onto individual serving plates.
  3. Place berries and menthe leaves by the mousse. Pour the cassis syrup from a spoon all around the mousse. Lastly, powder the plate with icing sugar.

 

Mint Lemonade Drink

Posted on by — Leave a reply

lemonade

Why not start the evening with a refreshing summer drink!? This one will certainly put you in the mood, with or without vodka!

Serve as part of a menu with:
-Main course: Salmon with Piperade Basquaise and Cheddar-Quinoa
-Dessert: Vanilla-Crème Fraiche with Balsamico and Berries

Yields 1 L

250 ml caster sugar
250 ml fresh juice from lemon
1 large package of mint (100 g), roughly chopped, keep a few leaves for decoration
optional: vodka

1. Start off making the sugar syrup by bringing sugar and 250 ml water to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.
2. Place the lemon juice in a large pitcher. Add 500 ml water, about 250 ml sugar sirup and chopped mint. Refrigerate and let infuse for about 2 hours.
3. Take out and sieve the lemonade. Keep refrigerated until use. Serve with ice and mint leaves, and a bit of vodka if you like.

Seared Salmon with Piperade Basquaise and Cheddar-Quinoa

Posted on by — Leave a reply

photo 1

This dish is simple but oh so tasty. A perfectly cooked fish with the sweet, slow-cooked vegetables is hard to beat. Feel free to prepare the Piperade Basquaise a day in advance and simply reheat it on the day before serving.

Serve as part of a menu with:
-Starter: Mint Lemonade Drink
-Dessert: Vanilla-Crème Fraiche with Balsamico and Berries

Serves 4

4 x 150 g salmon filet, skin on

For the Piperade Basquaise:
2 red capsicum (bell pepper)
2 yellow capsicum (bell pepper)
4 tomatoes, blanched and peeled
olive oil
4 brown onions, peeled, halved and finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 thyme sprigs, levees picked
sea salt and pepper

150 ml quinoa
300 ml vegetable broth
50 ml grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

1. For the Piperade Basquaise: Peel the capsicum with a peeler. Thinly slice each capsicum, removing the white ribs from the inside. Cut the tomatoes into quarters, then remove the seeds and inner core and thinly slice the flesh. Fry onion, garlic and thyme (keeping some of the leaves for decoration) in oil in a pan with a pinch of sea salt to help the onions to soften. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid giving colour to the onion. Add the capsicum and cook for another 20-30 minutes, until very soft. Now add the tomato and cook for another 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Mix quinoa with the vegetable broth and let boil according to instructions on the package. Once ready, remove from heat and add the cheese. Mix well, and season with salt and pepper if needed.
3. For the salmon: Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees. Season the fish on both sides with salt and pepper and fry in oil in a pan with the skin-side down until it has a nice colour. Transfer to the oven for another 4-5 minutes.
4. For the plating, use a ring mold to assemble the quinoa at the bottom, followed by the Piperade Basquaise. Carefully remove the ring mold and place the fish as illustrated in the picture, with the skin-side up. Decorate with fresh thyme leaves and sprinkle some sea salt over the fish.

Vanilla-Crème Fraiche with Balsamico Reduction and Berries

Posted on by — Leave a reply

dessert

Sweet and tangy in a lovely combination. Add your favourite berries from the season and enjoy!

Serve as part of a menu with:
-Starter: Mint Lemonade Drink
-Main course: Salmon with Piperade Basquaise and Cheddar-Quinoa

Serves 4

2 vanilla pods
400 ml crème fraiche
1 tbsp honey
200 ml berries of your choice, washed
1 mint sprig for decoration

100 ml balsamic vinegar
50 ml caster sugar

1. Add balsamic vinegar and sugar to a pot and bring to the boil. Let simmer to reduce the liquid to about half, to a sirupy consistency. Take off the heat and let cool.
2. Cut the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Mix the seeds with crème fraiche and honey.
3. Add the crème fraiche mixture to a serving bowl. Top with berries, add vinegar reduction and decorate with some mint.

Cheese Ball with Black Lumpfish Roe

Posted on by — Leave a reply

A beautiful appetizer to be served with crackers, celery or maybe cut up cucumbers. Can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge.

0306 Cheese Ball-0807

As it is quite rich, it goes well with a light main course, such as the Asian Monkfish and the Cool Creamy Strawberry Dessert.

150 g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
3 tbsp crème fraiche or sour cream
½ finely chopped red onion
70 g lumpfish roe

  1. Mix the cream cheese, crème fraiche and onion together.
  2. Transfer to a bowl covered with cling film, turn upside down onto plate and remove the cling film. You now have a smooth half ball.
  3. Spread the roe on top.

Asian Monkfish with Bomba Rice and Asparagus

Posted on by — Leave a reply

This light dish can be prepared in advance and is an absolute favourite of mine. On the day of the dinner, all you need to do is to put it in the oven when the guests arrives. It goes well with the richer Cheese Ball starter and the Cool Creamy Strawberry dessert.

0306 asian monkfish _DSC0856

Serves 4
600 g skinned and boned monkfish fillets, cut into pieces of equal size.

Marinade:
1 cm grated root ginger
½ large green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Grated rind from ½ lime
Juice from 1 lime
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 stalk lemongrass, chopped

Bomba Rice (a Spanish rice that will absorb much more liquid than other rice. Becomes very tasty and moist)
Vegetable broth, 3 times the amount of the rice
Asparagus

1. Mix the marinade ingredients together for in a bowl. Can be done the day before.
2. Pour over fish. Marinate for 30 minutes.
3. Oven 200 C until done, about 25 minutes
4. Cook the Bomba rice in 3 times the amount of vegetable broth
5. Cook the asparagus in salted, boiling water for 3 minutes, dip in ice water to retain the green colour

Cool Creamy Strawberry Dessert

Posted on by — Leave a reply

This is a quick and beautiful strawberry mousse. For an elegant Friday menu, serve after the Cheese Ball starter and the Asian Monkfish.

0306 cool creamy strawberry dessert _DSC0720

Serves 4

 

500 g fresh strawberries
4 table spoons of whipping cream
Sugar to taste

 

  1. Puree strawberries with a bit of sugar (optional) in blender.
  2. When smooth, pour half of the puree into 4 glasses
  3. Add the cream to the blender, blend well. Spoon the remaning mixture on top in the glasses.
  4. Chill several hours.
  5. Serve with cut up strawberry on top.

Dates with blue cheese and parma ham

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

TGFG-0345

This nibbling food can quickly be prepared the day before and kept in the fridge until you want to cook it in the oven. Follow with a cauliflower crust pizza and finish off with a fresh fruit sallad with homemade ice-cream.

Serves 6

1 package pitted and dried dates
150 g blue cheese
1 package parma ham
toothpicks

1. Stuff each date with some blue cheese, wrap half a slice of parma ham around the date and secure it with a toothpick.
2. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees for around 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

photo 4

For a while now I have been trying to figure out the perfect recipe for a cauliflower crusted pizza. This one is a winner. I used a pizza stone, which I highly recommend you to get. It gives the perfect crust and is easy to work with. You can find pizza stones in most kitchenware stores. However, if you do not have the time to purchase or the space in the kitchen, you can do without it. Just put the pizza with the parchment paper on a baking tray.
I have given some options on topping for your pizza, but not the specific amount. You know best how you like your pizza, so experiment! To avoid eating all the topping in the kitchen prepare some dates with blue cheese and parma ham to have available while cooking. Finish off your dinner with a fresh fruit salad with cinnamon-star anis sirup and homemade vanilla ice-cream.

Serves 2

For the crust:
1 medium sized cauliflower
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
20 g shredded parmesan cheese
20 g shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
salt and pepper

For the tomato sauce:
1/2 yellow onion
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 canned tomatoes
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp caster sugar
salt and pepper

Optional topping:
mozarella, spiced
parmesan, grated
slices of parma ham
baby asparagus, blanched
green beans, blanched
fresh basil, chiffonade
ruccola
pine nuts, roasted
balsamic vinegar

1. Pre-heat the pizza stone in the oven at 230 C. Make sure to put in the stone when the oven is cold, otherwise the stone may crack. For the best result, heat up the pizza stone for 40 minutes before baking the crust.
2. Wash and dry the cauliflower. Cut off the florets and steam for 7 minutes, or until tender. For the steaming process, place a steaming rack in a pot and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot, not touching the rack. Bring the water to the boil, add the florets and let steam with lid on.
3. Prepare the tomato sauce by frying onion and garlic in oil in a pan until soft. Add the tomato paste and fry for another minute. Pour in the canned tomato and dried basil, and let simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Pulse the steamed cauliflower florets in a food processor for 30 seconds, until you get a powder. Wrap up the powder in a dish towel and twist to squeeze out as much liquid as possible (this will make the crust hold together better). Put into a bowl, add the remaining ingredients for the pizza crust and mix well.
5. Using your hands, form the dough into a crust on the parchment paper. Slide the crust onto the hot pizza stone and bake in the oven for 11 minutes, or until it starts to turn golden brown. photo 5 6. Taste the tomato sauce and add sugar, salt and peppar. Taste and season more if needed.
7. Once the crust is ready take it out. Add the tomato sauce, mozzarella slices and grated parmesan. Place back into the oven for another 7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and slightly golden.
8. Remove the pizza from the oven, add the slices of parma ham, the vegetables, basil, ruccola, pine nuts and balsamic vinegar. Voila!

Fruit sallad with cinnamon-star anis syrup and homemade vanilla ice-cream

Posted on by — Leave a reply

photo 2

This fruit sallad can be prepared a day in advance; letting the fruit lay in the sirup will only enhance the flavours. The vanilla ice-cream can of course be bought already made, but nothing beats this homemade version, and you can prepare it way in advance as it can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 month! This is a great finish to a friday menu starting off with dates with blue cheese and parma ham followed by a cauliflower crust pizza.

Serves 4

For the fruit sallad:
1 dl water
1 dl caster sugar
1 star anis
1 cinnamon stick
1 of each of kiwi, banana, orange, apple, mango and a bunch of grapes

1. Add water, sugar, star anis and cinnamon stick to a pot and bring to the boil. Set aside and let cool.
2. Peel and cut the desired fruits into pieces of similar size, mix with the sirup and refrigerate for minimum two hours.

For the ice-cream:
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
300 ml full cream milk
3 large egg yolks
85 g caster sugar
285 ml double cream, chilled

1. Put the milk into a pan and add the vanilla pod and seeds. Bring the mixture almost to the boil, then remove from the heat, cover and leave to stand for about 20 minutes.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until well mixed. Sieve the milk mixture to remove the pod and add the milk to the egg and sugar.
3. Cook the mixture over a gentle heat in a bain-marie (put the bowl over a pan of gentle simmering water, but do not allow the bowl to touch the water) stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil! Once thickened, transfer the custard to a clean bowl and allow to cool.
4. With a whisk, stir the cream into the custard. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.
5. Freeze the mixture in the ice-cream machine, then transfer to a container and leave in the freezer for minimum 4 hours.

Grilled chorizo with roasted red pepper and cheese

Posted on by — Leave a reply

photo 1

Start off the weekend with a few appetisers while getting things ready in the kitchen. These are part of a menu with an asian-style chicken as main course. Enjoy!

Serves 6

200 g cooking chorizo, cut into pieces 1 cm thick
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into 4
1 red chili, deseeded and halved
150 g philadephia cheese
fresh thyme, for decoration
salt and pepper

1. Fry chorizo in a pan or grill until nicely coloured. Put aside and let cool.
2. Roast red pepper and chili on a tray in the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Take out and put into a plastic bag, let cool. Remove the skin and chop the red pepper and chili. Mix with the philadelphia cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Put the cheese mixture into a piping bag and keep in the fridge until serving.
3. Pipe a bit of pepper-cheese mixture on top of each piece of chorizo. Top with a sprig of thyme.

Asian-Style Chicken

Posted on by — Leave a reply

photo 2

This recipe is inspired by the magazine Food and Travel. Ideally it is served after Grilled chorizo appetisers.

Serves 4

2 tbsp jasmine rice
500 g boneless chicken thigh, finely chopped
2 lime, zest of 1 and juice of 2
1 cm ginger, peeled and grated
1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed and finely chopped
1½ tbsp sunflower oil
1½ shallot, finely chopped
1 tsp caster sugar
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
1 bunch of coriander, chopped,
4 sprigs mint, leaves chopped, keep a few for decoration
50 g roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
300 ml basmati rice

1. In a small frying pan, dry-roast the jasmine rice until golden while stirring continuously. Let it cool, grind it and put aside.
2. Mix chicken, zest and juice from one lime, ginger and lemongrass. Stir well and put aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
3. Boil rice according to instructions on the package.
4. Heat a wok until it is really hot and starts to smoke. Add the oil followed by the chicken mixture and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add the shallot and sugar and continue to stir fry for a couple more minutes. Take off the heat and add chili, fish sauce, chili sauce, the white part of the spring onions, the chopped herbs, the roasted rice and juice from the second lime. Mix well.
5. To plate, using a ring mould add basmati rice followed by the chicken. Top with peanuts, mint leaves and decorate with some sweet chili sauce if desired.