Category Archives: Starter

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.

Fresh and Fruity Vegetable Starter

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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.

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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

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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Bresaola Basket with Pea Pesto

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The saltiness from the bresaola and the mildness from the pesto makes these little nibbles a perfect start of the evening.

Makes 20

10 slices of bresaola
200 ml green peas
2 tbsp olive oil
50 ml grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
salt
cress, for decoration

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
2. Cut the slices of bresaola in halves and put them in small moulds so they get the shape of a small basket. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, then take out and let cool before removing them from the moulds.
3. Mix the peas with oil, parmesan and sunflower seeds. Taste and add salt if needed. Add the pesto to the bresaola baskets and garnish with cress.

Smoked Salmon Salad with Lime

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Smoked salmon sallad 7234

In this crunchy salad, the salmon gives a salty, smoked flavour without dominating the dish. For some extra colour and sweetness, you may add a few, diced strawberries.

Serve as part of a menu together with
Main: Wild Rice with Chanterelles and Chorizo
Dessert: Strawberry Coconut Dessert Soup

Serves 4

150g smoked salmon
2 celery stalks
1 yellow pepper
½ green pepper
2 small avocados
50 ml fresh limejuice
Salt, pepper and a little chili pepper

Parsley to decorate

  1. Cut up the salmon and the vegetables in small pieces of equal size.
  2. Add the limejuice and spices to taste.
  3. Can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge.
  4. Decorate with parsley

Buckwheat Corn Fritters with Sweet Chilli Sauce

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Accompanied by a tangy, sweet chilly sauce these little fritters are perfect on your BBQ buffet. Make them very small and you have a great finger food! Can be made dairy free by omitting the cheese (or substitute with dairy free mozzarella style “cheese”).

Serve as part of a BBQ buffet together with:
Nutty Guacamole Pie, Cognac BBQ Marinade, Spicy Plum Chutney, Marinated Tofu and Berry Crumble Yogurt.

Cornfritters
225 g canned Sweet Corn
50 g buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
¼ tsp chilli powder
50 g grated cheese
1 tsp cornflour mixed into a little cold water
Salt
Rape seed or cornflower oil

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
  2. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a (non-stick) pan
  3. Drop a spoonful of mixture into the pan and cook over medium heat both sides until browned.

Sweet Chilli Sauce
The limejuice and the bell pepper provides some sweetness in this sauce but you may also add 50 ml sugar or 20 ml honey.

1 red chilli, for a milder sauce, remove the seeds
2 garlic cloves
1/2 red bell pepper
50 ml rice vinegar
50 ml limejuice
200 ml water
A pinch of salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with a little water

1. Combine all ingredients (except the cornstarch) in a food processor and blend together.
2. Transfer into sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the cornstarch/water mix and stir while boiling for another minute.
4. Cool and refrigerate.

Spicy Plum Chutney

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A great condiment on the BBQ! A pinch of added sugar will bring out the flavour (but, personally, I seldom cook with sugar).

Serve as part of a BBQ buffet together with:
Buckwheat Corn Fritters with Sweet and Spicy Chilli Sauce, Nutty Guacamole Pie, Cognac BBQ Marinade, Marinated Tofu and Berry Crumble Yogurt.

2 onions, sliced
300 g red plums, stones removed and quartered
2 medium sized courgettes, sliced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, shredded
Salt and black pepper

1-2 tbsp olive oil to sauté in

Sauté onions, plums and courgettes. When soft, add remaining ingredients and let simmer in sauté pan 7-8 minutes or until until everything is soft and the flavours well blended. Serve hot or cold.

Crackers with Glazed Onion and Blue Cheese

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Most of this starter can be prepared a day ahead. Serve it as a starter or mingling food, depending on your mood.

Serve with:
Main course: Chicken and Aubergine skewers with Dukkah and Sallad
Dessert: Warm Mango with Ginger and Honey

Yields one tray of cracker and 6 servings of topping

crackers:
80 ml sunflower seeds
50 ml linseed
50 ml sesame seeds
50 ml pumpkin seeds
200 ml cornflour
250 ml boiling water
50 ml olive oil
sea salt

topping:
3 red onions, peeled and each divided into 8 sections
2 shallots, peeled and each divided into 6 sections
olive oil for frying
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
75 g blue cheese of your choice
sea salt and pepper

1. Start off making the crackers: Heat the oven to 150 degrees. Mix the seeds with cornflour. Add boiling water and olive oil and mix well. Spread out on a baking sheet on a baking tray and make sure to spread it out to make it as thin as possible. Sprinkle sea salt on top. Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
2. Now prepare the glazed onions: Fry the onions in a generous amount of oil in a pan on medium heat for about 15 minutes to soften the onion without burning it. Add the vinegar and sugar, mix and fry for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Until here you can prepare a day ahead.
3. On the day of serving: Heat the oven to 225 degrees. Break the cracker into pieces. Divide onion mixture over the crackers and add pieces of cheese on top of the onion. Gratinate in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve as it is or with a salad.

Swiss Style Healthy Morning Muesli

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This Bircher Muesli gives a really good start to the day. To be prepared the evening before and enjoyed with your favorite fruits and berries the next morning.

Serve as part of a breakfast menu with
– In a Hurry Breakfast Buns
– Yoghurt Bread with Cream Cheese

250 ml rolled gluten free oats
100 ml apple juice
50 ml milk
A handful of almonds
Raisins to taste
1 red apple, grated, no need to peel first
100-250 ml plain yoghurt (the amount depends on how “runny” the yogurth is)

Raspberries, blueberries, bananas…

Honey to drizzle on top (optional)

  1. In a bowl with the oats, add enough apple juice and milk to moisten. Stir in raisins and almonds. Cover with cling film and refrigerate over night. The oats will soak up all moisture and swell.
  2. Before serving, add yoghurt to get a “porridge like” consistency. The oat mix will have become quite hard in texture and you must stir well to avoid any lumps.
  3. Add the apple.
  4. Sprinkle fruit and berries on top and perhaps end by adding a few drops of honey.

Pan-Fried Goat’s Cheese, Hazelnuts, Honey Dressing and Thyme

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Goat cheese starter

If you prefer, feel free to grill the goat’s cheese instead!

Serve as part of a menu with:
– Main course: Black cod
– Dessert: Rosemary panna cotta

Serves 4 people

200 g goat’s cheese, with skin on
olive oil for pan-frying
150 g whole skinned hazelnuts
50 ml olive oil
50 ml clear honey
1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
8 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
salt and pepper

1. Start off by roasting the hazelnuts in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes, taking them out after half the time and stirring them. They are done when they have an even golden colour.
2. For the dressing, mix honey, olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Add the hazelnuts to the dressing and mix.
3. Cut even slices of the goats cheese, about 1 cm in thickness. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a pan with olive oil and quickly fry the cheese for 2 minutes on each side to give colour.
4. Put the goat’s cheese on a plate, add hazelnuts with the dressing and sprinkle some thyme leaves on top.

Avocado Gazpacho

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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.

Mint Lemonade Drink

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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.

Summer Salad with Basil and Walnut Dressing

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Sallad m basilika sas
A light and fruity summer salad with a beautiful, creamy dressing. Please choose small strawberries with lots of sweetness and taste.

Serve as part of a menu with:
– Main course: Caribbean Corn fed Chicken with Avocado Wild Rice and Red Pepper Vinaigrette
– Dessert: Chocolate Rum Cake with Chocolate Crème Anglaise

Serves 4

10-15 mini asparagus
2 avocados, in quartered and sliced
2 spring onions, chopped
10-15 halved cherry tomatoes
10-15 quartered small strawberries
5-8 walnuts in pieces
8 gem lettuce (2 on each plate)

Dressing:
25 g walnuts
20 g basil leaves
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lemon
4 tbsp crème fraiche
Salt and pepper

  1. Mix all salad ingredients, except the lettuce, in a bowl.
  2. Mix the dressing in a blender until smooth.
  3. On a serving plate, place two pieces of lettuce, put the salad on top and drizzle with the dressing.

Seared Scallops with Butternut Squash Puré, Balsamic Vinegar and Roasted Pistachio

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scallop

 

I love the textures of this starter. The crunchiness from the pistachios and the creaminess from the puré make a beautiful contrast that complement the scallop. Try to find a good quality balsamic vinegar! The older the better!

Serve as part of a menu with:
– Main course: Venison with Smokey Bean Puré and Sauce Poivrade
– Dessert: Daim Cake

Serves 8

500 g butternut squash
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp crème fraiche
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp tabasco
juice of 1/4 lime

8 scallops with their shell
balsamic vinegar, preferably of 10 years of age
2 tbsp pistachios, roasted and roughly chopped
salt and pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to 225 degrees.
2. Cut the butternut squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Put the squash with the cut side facing down on a tray with baking paper. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the squash is soft. Take out and let cool.
3. Carve out the meat from the squash using a spoon and mix with butter, crème fraiche, ginger, tabasco and lime in a food processor until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
4. Remove the scallops from the shells by running a small, sharp knife along the bottom of the shell. Clean the scallops and separate them from the roe. Put the shells in a pot with boiling water and leave for a minute to disinfect. Take out and clean the shells properly.
5. Season the scallops and roe with salt and pepper. Heat a pan with some butter. Sear the scallops and roe about 1 minute on each side.
6. For the plating, place a spoon of the puré in each shell and place a scallop with its roe on top. Drip some balsamic vinegar around the scallop and scatter the chopped pistachios above.