Category Archives: Saturday Refined Gourmet

Red Pepper Soup

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0930 Red pepper soup DSC_8820

A mild soup, full of flavour. To be served as a starter, or, with some fresh bread (please see our potato bread), as a lunch.

Serves 4
2 red peppers, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp butter
Ground paprika
200 ml white wine
200 ml Greek yoghurt
salt and pepper

some double cream for decorations

  1. In a pan, fry the peppers and onion in the butter until soft.
  2. Add the ground paprika and wine
  3. Simmer for 10 minutes, add the yoghurt and re-heat
  4. Using a hand held blender, mix the soup into a smooth texture
  5. Season with salt and pepper
  6. Pour into serving plates.
  7. With a spoon, place small droplets of cream in the soup. Use a sharp knife to swiftly cut through the droplets thus creating heart shapes.

Spicy Cod in a Vegetable Garden

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Spicy Cod in a Vegetable Garden-8873

Marinated, Spiced Cod with Cauliflower Quenelle, Steamed vegetables with Basil Sauce and Broccoli Puree. A delicious, easy and light dish that is very fun to arrange on the plate and serve.

Serves 4
Marinated Spiced Cod:
450g cod fillets, skinned and boned and sliced into serving portions

Marinade:
25 ml fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Finely chopped parsley and coriander, about 100 ml
A pinch of salt
A pinch of ground paprika
A pinch of chili powder

Flaked almonds
Thinly sliced lime

Basil Sauce:
5 g parsley
20 g basil
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp rice vinegar
50 g walnuts
1 garlic clove

150 ml olive oil

Cauliflower Quenelle:
One large head of cauliflower, stems and leaves removed, cut into smaller pieces
60g Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Broccoli Puree:
1 medium size heads of broccoli (about 200g) cut into florets
Salt
50 ml single cream
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
Pinch of nutmeg
1tbsp butter

Vegetables in Napkin Ring:
1 carrot, cut into long strips
1 parsnip, cut into long strips
4 thin, miniature asparagus
1 courgette, cut into long strips
1 small cucumber

  1. Combine all ingredients for the marinade and pour over the fish, refrigerate for a few hours. In order for the marinade to better penetrate, make a few cuts into the fish.
  2. Heat oven to 200C. Place the fish in an ovenproof dish. Season with salt and place the lime slices on top. Sprinkle with flaked almonds. Baked in oven for about 20 minutes.
  3. Place all ingredients for the basil sauce, except the oil, in a blender and process until smooth. While processing, slowly add the oil. Set aside.
  4. Boil the cauliflower in salted water until soft. Drain well (if too much water remains you will have to add more cheese to be able to form the shapes of quenelles). Using a hand held blender, puree the cauliflower in the pan. Add some Parmesan cheese, mix well and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Boil the broccoli florets in salted water. When soft, process into puree with blender. Add some cream, salt, pepper, lemon juice and nut meg and process futher. Lastly add the butter.
  6. Make sure the carrot, parsnip, asparagus and courgette are about the same length. Steam (or microwave) the vegetables until soft but still crunchy (the carrot and parsnip a bit longer than the other). Cut thick slices from the cucumber and remove some of the inside as to create a vegetable napkin holder.

Assembly:

  1. Place a spoonful of sauce on a plate.
  2. Prepare the vegetable napkins by placing the cooked vegetable strips inside the cucumber ring and add to the plate.
  3. Spoon the broccoli puree into a piping bottle/bag. Garnish the plate with some long piped lines and place a slice of fish on top.
  4. Using two spoons, create quenelle shapes from the cauliflower mix.

Passionate Raspberry Cake with Cheesecake Crème

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0930 Passionate Raspberry Pie w Cheese Cke Creme DSC_8860

This cake is very moist and will stay so for days. The Cheesecake Crème is wonderful and there’s usually not any leftovers but if you do have a small batch left, please place in a piping bag, pipe small piles into a tray and place in the freezer. The small frozen Cheesecake treats are great with a cup of coffee (see photo).

0930 Frozen Cheese Cake Creme leftovers DSC_8956

Cheesecake Crème:
150g Philadelphia Cream Cheese
100 ml caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
500 ml crème fraiche

Passionate Raspberry Cake:
150 g butter, at room temperature
150 ml demerara sugar (brown sugar)
3 eggs
3 passion fruits
150 ml Greek yoghurt
150g gluten free plain flour
200 ml gluten free oats
2 teaspoons of baking powder
200 g frozen raspberries, do not thaw

Fresh raspberries for decoration

 

Cheesecake Crème:

  1. Oven at 125 C
  2. Whisk cheese and sugar in a bowl.
  3. Add vanilla extract and eggs
  4. Whisk the crème fraiche until smooth. Add to the other ingredients. Mix well together.
  5. Bake in a greased ovenproof dish for 1 hour.
  6. Let cool. Whisk until smooth. Chill.

Passionate Raspberry Cake:

  1. Oven at 170 C
  2. Whisk butter and sugar
  3. Add the eggs, the seeds from the passion fruits and the yoghurt.
  4. Combine the flour, baking powder and oats.
  5. Add the flour mix to the passion fruit mix and lastly add the frozen raspberries.
  6. Pour into greased cake tin and bake in the oven 50-60 minutes.

Assembly:

  1. Place a spoonful of Cheesecake Crème on one side of the plate and use a pastry brush to create a brush stroke across the plate.
  2. Cut a slice of cake and place on top of one end of the brush stroke.
  3. Decorate with fresh raspberries.

 

Cognac and Cheese Tartlets

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09 Cognac and Cheese PieDSC_8408

 

This is an absolutely amazing pie! It may not look the part but it is one of my very best dishes. Lots of cheese and butter and with a few drops of Cognac to give the pie a little sharpness in the taste. Hope you will enjoy this as much as my guests and myself usually do.

Serves 4

Crust:
100 ml buckwheat flour
100 ml gluten free flour mix (not self-rising)
2 tbsp Chia seeds
200 ml matured cheese (gruyere or maybe cheddar)
150 g butter
2 tbsp cold water

Filling:
300 ml single cream
3 eggs
200 ml matured cheese (gruyere or maybe cheddar)
2 tablespoons of Cognac
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:
200 ml Sour Crème
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp honey
1/2 garlic clove, crushed

 

  1. Combine the ingredients for the crust. Let stand for 20 minutes to let the Chia seeds gel.
  2. Heat oven to 225C
  3. Press into one large pie dish. Or use 4 individual pie molds. Place in a freezer for 15 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  4. Bake the pie crust in the oven for about 15 minutes.
  5. Mix the filling and pour into the pre-baked crust. Bake in the oven for another 20-25 minutes.
  6. Combine the ingredients for the sauce.

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Vegetable Medley with Marinated Baked Salmon

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09 Baked Salmon with Vegetable Medley DSC_8355

A light and beautiful dish. Use any vegetables that you can turn into spaghetti strands.

1 kilo fresh salmon, skinned and boned, cut into pieces

Marinade:
100 ml gluten free soy sauce
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated

2 large carrots
3 large parsnips
1 zucchini

oil to sauté in
Salt and pepper

 

  1. Combine the marinade, place salmon pieces in a plastic freezer bag, pour the marinade on top. Refrigerate 1 hour.
  2. Heat oven to 150 C. Remove the Salmon pieces from the marinade and bake for 10-15 minutes.
  3. Using a spiralizer/spiral slicer, create spaghetti like noodles out of the vegetables.
  4. Sauté the spaghetti in the oil. To remove excess oil, place for a moment on paper towels.
  5. Season

Chocolate Crisp Sandwich with Kahlua Cream and Berries

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09 Chocolate Crips Sandwich w Kahlua Cream and Berries DSC_8564

A fun and easy dessert which can be prepared in advance and assembled just before serving.

Serves 4-6

50 g butter, melted and cooled
100 g icing sugar
15 g cocoa powder
25 ml espresso coffee, cold
25 g gluten free flour mix (not selfrising)
25 g walnuts, toasted and chopped

200 g double cream
3 tbsp Kahlua liqueur

Berries

  1. Mix all the ingredients. Let stand for 1 hour (in rooms temperature).
  2. Set the oven to 200 C.
  3. Using a small spoon, drop the batter in small piles onto greaseproof baking parchment.
  4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 6-7 minutes. The cookies will float into very thin “crisps”. Take care not burning.
  5. If you need to cut them into smaller pieces, do this upon removing them from the oven, while still hot.
  6. Let cool on the baking sheet
  7. Whisk the cream with the Kahlua.
  8. Assemble as Chocolate Sandwiches just before serving. Put one crisp on bottom and one on top with Cream and Berries in between.

Russian Buckwheat Blini

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Russian Buckwheat Blini 0503

Amazingly good and traditionally gluten free. The Russian kitchen does not use wheat flower in this dish but uses buckwheat instead, which makes for richer blini with a fuller taste. Buckwheat does not, inspite of its name, contain any wheat. It is actually a relative to rhubarb.

Serves 4

50 g butter
15 g fresh yeast (or 5 g dry yeast)
75 ml milk
75 ml cream
1 egg yolk
1 egg white
100 ml buckwheat flour
50 ml corn starch
salt

Butter to fry in

50 g Lumpfish Caviar
200 ml crème fraiche
½ red onion, finely chopped

  1. Melt the butter and let cool.
  2. In a bowl, combine yeast, milk, cream, egg yolk and the melted butter.
  3. Combine the flour and corn starch with some salt and add to cream mixture.
  4. Let stand, rise, in warm place for about 90 minutes.
  5. Whisk the egg white into stiff foam and fold into the cream mixture just before frying.
  6. Using a spoon, drop small amounts of batter to a heated pan and flatten them slightly with the spoon.
  7. Turn once when gold brown.

Serve with the onion, crème fraiche and lumpfish caviar.

Sweet and Spicy Meatballs with Tricolore Pepper Salad and Walnut Cabbage

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Sweet and Spicy Meatballs with Tricolore Pepper Salad and Walnut Cabbage 0658

These meatballs are so rich and full of flavour so they don’t need anything else than a salad or two to go with them. In this recipe I have combined the meatballs with a pepper salad, a walnut cabbage salad and a honey chili sauce.

The Sweet and Spicy Meatballs

To make the perfect meatballs, you need a binder. Here I have substituted the traditional breadcrumbs/egg mix for some Chia seeds. The Chia seeds provides the binding agent through the gel it will form with the liquid. Chia also ensures moist and delicious meatballs. Some people use mashed potatoes instead but please try the Chia, it is well worth it!

Serves 4

500 g ground beef
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ grated yellow onion
Fresh coriander, chopped
1 cm ginger, grated
2 tbsp gluten free soy sauce
2 tbsp chia seeds

Glaze:
50 ml gluten free soy sauce
1 teaspoon of rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey

  1. Mix all the meatball ingredients together. Let sit in the refrigerate for 30 minutes in order to let the Chia seeds swell and form the gel.
  2. Heat the oven to 225 C. Line an oven sheet with greased baking parchment.
  3. Form small balls and place on baking sheet.
  4. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes until cooked through.
  5. Combine the ingredients for the glaze.
  6. Pour the glaze in a (non-stick) frying pan and fry the meatballs a few minutes.
Tricolor Pepper Salad

1 orange pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
Juice from ½ lemon
Salt and black pepper

  1. Half and slice the peppers very finely using the fine blade on a food processor or a mandolin.
  2. Mix in a bowl. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper.
Walnut Cabbage

200 g red cabbage
20 ml red wine vinegar
60 ml walnut oil
40 g walnut halves

  1. Discard the outer leaves. Quarter the cabbage and cut off root.
  2. Taking a few leaves at the time, cut the cabbage into very fine strips. Place in bowl.
  3. Heat the vinegar and pour over cabbage. Add the oil. Cover bowl with cling film and shake to cover evenly. Let sit to soften a few minutes.
  4. Toast the walnuts.
  5. Mix the walnuts into the cabbage just before serving.
Honey Chili Sauce

150 ml greek yoghurt
2 tsp crushed chilli
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients.

Kahlua Semifreddo

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Kahlua Semifreddo

Semi soft ice cream with a hint of coffee liqueur. Deliciously creamy but can also be made with full fat yoghurt instead.

2 eggs, separated
1 tbsp sugar (for the yolks)
1 tsp sugar (for the egg whites)
2 dl whipping cream
3 tbsp kahlua liqueur
1 tsp cocoa powder
Berries

  1. Whisk the yolks with sugar
  2. Whisk the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks, then add the sugar and whisk some more
  3. Whisk the cream until firm, add the Kahlua
  4. Combine the cream and egg yolk mix.
  5. Fold in the egg whites to the cream and egg yolk batter.
  6. Fill any mold you like (I use the small, portion sized, silicon muffin molds)
  7. Place in freezer for a few hours (more if you have a larger mold that needs to set).

Turn onto plate and serve with berries. Sprinkle some cocoa powder on top.

Fresh and Fruity Vegetable Starter

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0902 fresh and fruity vegetable starter-8254

This starter takes a while to prepare since everything must be cut into really fine pieces. Quite time consuming but definitely worth it! The flavours will come out much stronger and also mix better with eachother.

Serve as part of a dinner with:
Main course – Chilli Crab Cakes and Rosemary Courgette Spaghetti
Dessert – Sweet and Sour Sauce with Strawberries and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Serves 4

3 large tomatoes, discard seeds and chop
½ medium size cucumber, discard seeds and chop
½ large red onion, chopped
3 sundried tomatoes, chopped
½ ripe mango, chopped
1 tbsp parsley, chopped

3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Season with ground coriander, salt and pepper
(OPTIONAL – Smoked Salmon Slices)

  • Mix all finely chopped ingredients together
  • Season
  • Add the oil and juice

Serving options:

  • In a glass
  • Using a ring mold, shape on the serving plate
  • Fill a rolled up slice of smoked salmon.

0902 fresh and fruity vegetable starter w salmon-8299

Rosemary Courgette Spaghetti

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0902 courgette spagetti-8222
I love making dishes with Courgette Spaghetti. There are so many possibilities. This version is not so spicy in order not to take anything away from the crabcakes. For this recipe, you need a “spiralizer” or a mandoline (with blades to make “juliennes”).

Serve as part of a dinner with:
Starter – Fresh and Fruity Vegetable Starter
Main course – Together with Chilli Crab Cakes and Home Made Chilli Sauce
Dessert – Sweet and Sour Sauce with Strawberries and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Serves 4
2 large courgettes
1 stalk of fresh rosemary
1 clove of garlic
olive oil
Chilli flakes, salt and pepper

1. Using a spiralizer, create long, spaghetti like, strands of courgette. Take care not to make them too long. Cut with scissors now and then, if needed.
2. Start by infusing the olive oil. Heat the oil in a pan and add the rosemary and the peeled, whole garlic clove. Sauté for a few minutes.
3. Saving the flavoured oil, discard the rosemary and garlic and place the courgette spaghetti in the hot pan. Fry on high heat for a few minutes, drain on paper towels, season with salt and pepper and serve with some sprinkled chili flakes on top.

Chilli Crab Cakes

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Chilli Crab Cakes
These crab cakes are great on their own or you may want to add a chilli sauce. In that case I would recommend my home made version, more flavours that the bottled kind and less sweet.

Serve as part of a dinner with:
Starter – Fresh and Fruity Vegetable Starter
Main course – Together with Rosemary Courgette Spaghetti and Home made Chilli Sauce
Dessert – Sweet and Sour Sauce with Strawberries and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Serves 4

2 eggs, whisked
75 ml Quinoa flakes
1 tbsp psyllium husk

500 g crabmeat
Fresh coriander, chopped
½ stalk of lemongrass, chopped
½ medium sized red onion, chopped
½ lime, zest
1 red chilli fruit, chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

Chilli flakes, salt and pepper
Rapeseed or olive oil to fry

  1. Combine eggs, quinoa and psyllium husk, set aside for 10 minutes.
  2. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Add the egg mixture to the crab mixture and form small patties/crab cakes.
  4. Heat some oil in a pan and fry the cakes until golden on both sides turning one time only.

Serve on top of spinach leaves with a sprinkle of chilli flakes on top

Sweet and Sour Sauce with Strawberries and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

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Sweet and Sour Sauce with Strawberries and Vanilla Ice Cream

As usual, the secret lies in the sauce, and this is no exception. This is a wonderful, wonderful sauce, which can be served with a variety of desserts other than vanilla ice cream (for instance white chocolate ice cream, cardamom ice cream, chocolate cake, fruit salad…).

Serve as part of a dinner with:
Starter – Fresh and Fruity Vegetable Starter
Main course – Chilli Crab Cakes and Rosemary Courgette Spaghetti
Dessert – With Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Serves 4

200 ml sugar
200 ml white wine
50 ml lemon juice
1 small avocado

Strawberries, sliced

A batch of Home Made Vanilla Ice Cream as per our previous recipe

  1. In a saucepan, simmer the sugar and wine over low to medium heat until reduced to about half the amount.
  2. Remove from heat and let cool.
  3. Combine the wine/sugar mix with the lemon juice and avocado in a blender and process until smooth.
  4. Cover tightly with cling film and refrigerate. Serve well chilled.
  5. Pour some sauce onto a plate, arrange the sliced strawberries and ice cream on top.

Stuffed Marinated Courgette Rolls

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08 Stuffed Courgettes pic-8099

A delicious starter stuffed with your favourite filling.

Serve as part of a menu together with:
Main Course: Balsamic Chicken with Fruity Quinoa
Dessert: Frozen Coffee Banana After Dinner Drink

Serves 4

3 courgettes, shave thin slices using a mandolin slicer, do not use the middle part containing the seeds
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Stuffing 1
1 sundried tomato
1/3 red pepper
100 ml Greek Yogurt

Stuffing 2
3 Walnuts, chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
½ clove of garlic, crushed
salt
100 ml Greek Yogurt

Stuffing 3
100 ml Philadelphia cream cheese
Shrimp (or smoked salmon), chopped

Chopped red pepper and walnuts to decorate

  1. Marinate the courgette slices in the lemon juice for at least 30 minutes and season with salt and pepper.
  2. Combine the ingredients for the 3 stuffings in separate bowls.
  3. Arrange 2 courgette slices lengthwise, overlapping a little bit on the long side., creating a wider courgette slice. Place a spoonful of stuffing at one end and roll up tightly. Place standing up on a serving plate. Make 2 more rolls with the other stuffings. Decorate the plate with the walnuts and peppers and serve.

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Balsamic Chicken with Fruity Quinoa

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08 Verbier Chicken and Quinoa-8076

The soy sauce creates a quite salty chicken dish which is really delicious together with the fruity quinoa. Perfect on a hot summer day!

Serve as part of a menu together with:
Starter: Stuffed Marinated Courgette Rolls
Dessert: Frozen Coffee Banana After Dinner Drink

Serves 4

500 g chicken fillets diagonally cut into 2 cm strips
75 ml gluten free soy sauce
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbsp oil, to sauté
1/3 green pepper, finely diced for decorations

300 ml Quinoa (white)
600 ml vegetable stock
1 finely diced leek
3 tomatoes, finely diced (seeds removed)
1 ripe Mango, finely diced
1,5 tbsp olive oil
2,5 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp hot mango chutney
Salt and pepper
chilli flakes

Chicken:

  1. Marinate the chicken in the soy and vinegar mix for 30 minutes or longer
  2. Gently sauté the chicken in the oil, while saving the marinade for later.
  3. When the chicken is browned, add the marinade and let simmer until done.

Quinoa:

  1. Boil the Quinoa in the vegetable stock according to instructions on package
  2. When done, combine the oil and vinegar with the Quinoa in a bowl.
  3. Add the finely diced vegetables and fruit and season with salt and pepper.

08 Verbier Chicken and Quinoa-8029

Assembly:

  1. Using ring molds, arrange the quinoa on serving plates and sprinkle with chilli flakes.
  2. Add the chicken with some finely chopped green pepper on top.