Category Archives: Starter

Crab Salad Starter

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151216 Crab Salad Starter-0809

This dish is inspired by a wonderful Cordon Bleu recipe.

An increasing number of people have started following the difficult Low Foodmap Diet. This recipe is fodmap friendly and dairy free.

Serves 6

200 g rice

300 g cooked crab meat

1 yellow pepper, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 celery stalk (maximum 5 cm per serving if following the foodmap diet), finely chopped

100 ml crab bisque

salt and pepper

Vinaigrette:
50 ml Red wine vinegar
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
25 ml garlic infused oil
50 ml olive oil
Pinch of Cayenne pepper

2 tomatoes, peeled
Parsley, shredded

  1. Boil the rice according to instructions on package. Rinse under cold water and drain well.
  2. Finely chop all vegetables for the salad, add the crabmeat.
  3. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, reduce the bisque until thick enough to leave a “coat” on the back of a spoon. Add to crab mixture and season.
  4. Combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette, saving the oil for last and whisking well while pouring it in.
  5. Pour the dressing over the crab mixture.
  6. Prepare 6 small bowls with plastic lining. Spoon the crab salad into the bowls. Chill.
  7. Peel the tomatoes. With a sharp knife, cut a shallow cross at one end of the tomato, dip the tomato for a few seconds into boiling water then chill immediately in ice-cold water. The peel can now easily be removed. Cut the tomato into 8 wedges. Turn them into “petals” by removing the seeds.
  8. Chop the parsley.
  9. When serving, turn the bowls onto plates. Place a few tomato petals on top of each and sprinkle with parsley.

Sumptuous Salad Starter

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151202 Sumptuous Salad Starter-0693

The dressing and the nuts are really the main ingredients in this salad. Any thinly sliced raw vegetable can be used, for instance red cabbage, leek, peppers… Just keep it beautiful and colourful.

2 carrots, thinly sliced
4 beetroots, thinly sliced
½ cucumber, thinly sliced
Mixed dark green salad leaves
Pecan nuts, toasted
Pine nuts, toasted

Dressing:
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 tbsp Tahini
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

  1. Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl.
  2. Mix the salad dressing in a salad shaker.
  3. Drizzle the dressing over the salad.

Vegetable Casserole with Capers

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Many people aren’t too keen on capers, but please don’t leave them out entirely. They give such wonderful balance to this dish!

3 Courgettes, cut into thick slices, then halved
1 onion, sliced
Olive oil
Salt
4 stalks of celery, chopped
Broccoli, cut into small florets
2 tbsp tomato puree
6 tomatoes, quartered
100 g green olives, pitted
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp white vine vinegar
Coriander leaves to decorate

  1. In the oil, gently fry the courgettes and onions. Season.
  2. Add the celery and broccoli, fry another few minutes.
  3. Add the tomato puree, stir through, then add the tomatoes
  4. Simmer for 15 minutes.
  5. Add the olives, capers and vinegar, simmer another few minutes.
  6. Decorate with coriander

Marvellous Midday Muffins

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151118 lunch EggMuffins0623

 
This recipe was part of a great brunch my daughter served me a while back.
 
Serves 4 – makes 12 small muffins

8 mild sweet piquante peppers
6 mushrooms
3 shallots
Fresh spinach, a handful
8 eggs
20 pecan nuts, chopped
 
4 slices prosciutto ham
 

  1. Oven at 200C
  2. Chop peppers, mushrooms, shallots and spinach and place in greased muffin tins.
  3. Pour whisked eggs on top (fill up to max 2/3 of the tins)
  4. Top with the pecans.
  5. Bake in oven 12-15 minutes or until slightly browned.
  6. Place one muffin on the serving plate, the ham on top and then the other two muffins on top.

Baked Avocado

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I love to make this dish with avocados but you can make it with other vegetables too.

 

Serves 4
2 avocados, halved with stone and peel removed
150 g Mozzarella, diced
25 g walnuts on small pieces
75 g grilled peppers, cut into pieces (I sometimes roast my own with olive oil and garlic, sometimes I buy the ready-made)
Basil leaves, shredded
2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
(chilli flakes or Tabasco if you want it a bit spicier)
4 gem lettuce leaves

  1. Oven at 200 C
  2. Cut off a bit of the round bottom of the avocado to make a steadier stand. Put the cut off piece in the hole where the stone used to be. Place the avocados on greased baking sheet.
  3. Mix all remaining ingredients together.
  4. Spoon the mixture on top of the avocados.
  5. Baked until the mozzarella has melted and started to brown (15-20 minutes).
  6. Serve on a piece of gem lettuce.

Spicy Aubergine Dip

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Spicy and lemony, a great dip that goes with almost anything. I like to serve it with sugar snaps or other cut up raw vegetables.

 

Ingredients

3 medium sized aubergines
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice from 1 large lemon (or a bit more)
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chilli flakes
1 tbsp olive oil

  1. Oven at 180C
  2. Prick the aubergines with a fork. Bake for about 30 minutes until soft.
  3. Halve the aubergine lengthways and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Puree with a handheld blender.
  4. Add the lemon juice, tahini, olive oil and salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
  5. Add some chilli flakes, stir and spoon into serving bowl. Sprinkle some extra chilli flakes on top. You may also want to add a few drops of olive oil on top as decoration.

 

Parmesan Shortbread with Feta Cream and Pomegranate Seeds

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A great starter, easy to make and very versatile.
250 g gluten free plain flower
150 g butter, diced
150 g Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 eggs, slightly beaten

200 g feta cheese
75 ml Greek yoghurt
Salt and Pepper

1 pomegranate, seeds

Shortbread:

  1. Oven at 180C
  2. Mix butter and flour until crumbly.
  3. Add the Parmesan and the eggs
  4. Refrigerate 20-30 minutes
  5. Roll out the dough on greased baking parchement until about 0.5 cm thick
  6. Using a round cookie cutter (about 10 cm) cut out the shortbread
  7. Bake in the oven until done (10-12 minutes)
  8. Cool on wire rack

Feta Cream:

  1. Crumble the feta cheese
  2. Add the yoghurt
  3. Season

Pomegranate:

  1. Squeeze the pomegranate.
  2. Cut in half
  3. Squeeze to let the seeds fall out.

Peruvian Ceviche

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151021 Ceviche DSC_8298
This marinade stems from the Peruvian “tiger’s milk” so popular in Peruvian dishes. It is light, sweet, sour and spicy. I like to use it with cooked shrimp.
 
Marinade:
Juice from 1 lime
Juice from ½ large orange
Juice from 1 small lemon
A pinch of salt
A few drops of Tabasco
 
Cooked shrimp cut into pieces
(Optional – Salmon pieces, smoked or raw of sushi quality)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, cut into small pieces
Fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Fresh coriander leaves for decoration
 
Combine the marinade and add the shrimp (and salmon if used) and other ingredients except for the whole coriander leaves. If using raw fish then marinate at least 2-3 hours otherwise 30 minutes should be enough.

Before serving, decorate with coriander.

Potato Cake with Salmon and Caviar

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151014 potato cake starter DSC_8936

This potato cake, with smoked salmon and caviar, is a wonderful starter to a light meal or a can be a hearty lunch if served with bacon and cranberry sauce (see photo below).

Serves 6

6 large potatoes, finely grated
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp of butter

6 slices of smoked salmon
50g lumpfish caviar
Crème fraiche
Red onion, chopped (optional)

In a fryingpan, melt some butter and add 1/6th of the grated potato forming a thin potato cake. Fry for 5-6 minutes per side, until golden brown. Fry 1-2 cakes at the time.
Serve with salmon, crème fraiche and caviar.

Or, for a lunch, serve with bacon and cranberry sauce.

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Stuffed Aubergine with Roasted Balsamic Red Pepper Sauce

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Serves 4
Stuffed aubergine:
3 small aubergines
1 small courgettes (as “skinny” as possible)
5-6 large mushrooms
3 medium size tomatoes
(Concerning the size of the vegetables above, they should fit into the aubergine you’ll be serving in – see photo).
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

Red Pepper Sauce:
2 Red Peppers, in pieces
4 medium size tomatoes, in pieces
1 red onion, in pieces
1 garlic clove, crushed
2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3-5 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

1 cucumber (or an extra aubergine) to serve the sauce in.

Sauce:

  1. Oven at 200C
  2. Place all vegetables in oven proof shallow dish, drizzle with oil and vinegar. Season.
  3. Rost in oven for 45 min, until soft
  4. Let cool slightly, then, using handheld blender, mix in a saucepan
  5. Reheat and serve

Vegetables:

  1. Oven at 150C
  2. Slice the 2 aubergines lengthwise. Cut crisscross in the flesh, drizzle with oil and sprinkle some salt on top. Bake in oven with skin side down for 40 min. Carve the flesh out of the aubergine taking care not to damage the skin.
  3. Chop the carved out flesh and sauté in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Slice the courgettes and mushrooms. Saute in a pan.
  5. Slice the tomatoes.
  6. Assembly the stuffed aubergines by placing some aubergine flesh in the bottom of the empty aubergine skin, then layer the slices of courgette, mushroom and tomato on top. Bake in 150C oven for about 25 minutes.

Assembly on a plate:

  1. Place the stuffed aubergines on a plate, decorate with some chopped parsley.
  2. From a cucumber (or an aubergine), cut thick slices and remove seeds and some of the flesh, leaving a large hollow ring. Place on the plate.
  3. Spoon some of the sauce into the cucumber ring. Pour the remaining sauce into serving saucer.

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.

Spiced Artichoke Hearts Dip

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To be served as a nibble with crisps. Or really with anything you might like. Can be used as a wonderful spread on canapés, a cold sauce with a tuna steak and in many other ways. Should be stored refrigerated with a tight cling film wrapping.

1 can of artichoke hearts (300 g)
30 ml lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
30 ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper
5 large basil leaves
(some chili for a bit of heat)

Crisps or vegetables to go with the dip

  1. In a food processor, pulse all ingredients until smooth.
  2. Chill

Aubergine Rolls with Chanterelles and Pine Nuts

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These Aubergine Rolls are easy to make and can be filled with many different kinds of stuffing. They may be served hot or cold.

Serves 4

2 aubergines
Olive oil to fry in

Chanterells
Pine nuts, toasted (in oven or in a dry pan) for the stuffing
Pine nuts, toasted, for decorations
Crème Fraiche
Salt and pepper

  1. Slice the aubergines quite thin (5 mm)
  2. Fry in oil until golden brown
  3. To absorb some of the oil, place on paper towels
  4. In a separate pan, fry the chanterelles
  5. Add some crème fraiche and let cook for a 1-2 minutes.
  6. Season
  7. Add the pine nuts to the chanterelle mix.
  8. At one end of an aubergine slice, place a small spoonful of chanterelle mix, then roll it up. Do the same for all the slices.
  9. Serve on plates and decorate with pine nuts.

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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