Month: October 2020

Tellines with Parsley

28 October 2020

Many, far too many years ago, we were walking along the Mediterranean coast, enjoying the sea, the sun and the company of a dear friend. She asked us if we would like to eat tellines for dinner. “Yes of course”, we replied, “but what are tellines?” She smiled and said “I’ll show you”. She walked to the sea and kneeled down, just where the sand and the sea meet. All you needed to do was move your fingers through the sand, just under the surface and feel. She harvested a few tellines, opened them with her fingers, washed them in the sea and that’s how we enjoyed our very first tellines. Fresh from the sea: simple, tasty and good.
We harvested many more and went back to her house where we cooked the tellines in a hot skillet and enjoyed them with a beautiful local ro­sé.

Harvesting tellines is simple; knowing where you can do this is a challenge. Fortunately you can (occasionally) find them on the market.

It’s possible to use other small clams, but the fun of tellines is that they open quickly when in the pan, making sure they remain juicy. The meat of the tellines is soft and moist and they come with a nutty, savoury flavour.

Wine Pairing

Obviously a glass of Cô­tes de Pro­ven­ce ro­sé will be a great choice, for instance an Estandon from the Var region.

What You Need

  • 300 grams of Tellines
  • one Shallot
  • one Garlic Glove
  • Olive Oil
  • Parsley
  • White Wine
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

  1. Wash the tellines, preferably using salted water
  2. Discard ones with a small hole and ones that are broken
  3. Chop the shallot (you probably need half of it) and the garlic very fine
  4. Heat the skillet, add the oil, the shallot, the garlic and the tellines and cook until the tellines are open.
  5. You may want to add a splash of white wine during the cooking process
  6. Serve the tellines on a warm plate with black pepper
  7. Sprinkle with chopped parsley
  8. No cutlery needed!
Fresh Tellines © cadwu
Empty Shells of Tellines © cadwu
tellines ©cadwu

Parasol Mushrooms alla Milanese

21 October 2020

A Personal Favourite

The Parasol Mushroom is a fairly common mushroom in many countries. It is very tasty and easy to prepare. It has a beautiful juicy and meaty texture and its flavour is delicate with a touch of lemon. Simply fry the caps alla Milanese or stuff young parasol mushrooms with onion, sage or minced meat. Another great recipe is for sandwiched parasol mushrooms.

Yesterday’s Bread

Cotoletta alla Milanese and Wiener Schnitzel are based on a similar concept: breaded and pan fried thin slices of veal or pork, served with a slice of lemon. A very special variation is Cotoletta di vitella di latte alla Milanese, as described in 1891 by Pelligrino Artusi (1820-1911) in his book La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene (The Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well). Before breading the meat Mr. Artusi coats one side of the veal with a mixture of finely chopped fat ham, parsley, grated Parmesan cheese and truffle. Delicious no doubt!

The key to an excellent Alla Milanese are the breadcrumbs. Make your own breadcrumbs with yesterday’s bread and compare the result with the cardboard crumbs you can buy. Flavour! Texture!

Wine Pairing

A fresh, not too complex white wine will be great with the fried parasol mushrooms. Soave, Burgundy, Loire: all good.

What You Need

  • 100 grams of Parasol Mushrooms
  • One Egg
  • Three Slices of Yesterday’s Bread
  • Olive Oil
  • Butter
  • Parsley
  • Black Pepper

What You Do

  1. Start by making the breadcrumbs. Toast the slices of bread and let cool. Cut in smaller bits and then use a cutter or blender to make the crumbs.
  2. Whisk the egg. Feel free to add some water if you need more volume.
  3. Remove the stems from the mushrooms.
  4. Cut the caps in two if the mushroom is young.
  5. Make sure your pan is hot
  6. Add the oil and the butter
  7. Start breading: dip the mushroom in the egg, then coat with breadcrumbs
  8. Quickly add to the pan and fry
  9. Add black pepper and finely chopped parsley.
  10. Serve immediately on a warm plate.
Young Parasol Mushrooms ©cadwu
Young Parasol Mushrooms ©cadwu
Pellegrino Artusi - De weteschap in de keuken en de kunst om goed te eten
Pellegrino Artusi – The Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well
Parasol Mushrooms alla Milanese ©cadwu
Parasol Mushrooms alla Milanese ©cadwu

Tourte de Blette

14 October 2020

For many years Chard was a popular and cheap vegetable. It has many names, including Bietola (Italy), Blette, Bléa (France), Acelga (Spain), Krautstiel, Stielmangold, Mangold (Germany, Switzerland), Snijbiet (the Netherlands) and also Swiss Chard, Leaf Beet, Silver Beet, Spinach Beet and Seakale Beet.
Many names equals many recipes and easy to buy? Not at all. Nowadays it’s hard to find chard and the number of recipes is limited. According to Dutch Food Critic and Culinary Legend Johannes van Dam the chard leaves wither quickly, making it a difficult product for supermarkets. The image of chard is not positive: ‘Poor Man’s Asparagus’ for the stems for instance. Another reason is probably the fact that the leaves require a different preparation than the stems.
Johannes van Dam gives a number of recipes, including what he refers to as the primal recipe from Italy for Tourte de Blette and the recipe for Bledes amb panses I pinyons from Menorca.

Tourte de Blette

When in Nice we very much enjoyed our Tourte de Blette, locally known as Tourta de Bléa. It comes in two varieties: sweet and savoury. If you want to prepare the sweet one, please visit the inspiring Variations Gourmandes.

The crust of the Tourte de Blette is not straightforward. In most cases it’s a combination of flour, water, butter (or olive oil) and eggs. We were inspired by a dear friend who bases her Tourte on the Italian Torta Verde del Ponente Ligure. This is a very similar dish with zucchini, chard, basil, sage, rise, onion, Grana Padano or Parmesan and eggs. The dough of the Torta Verde is easy to work with and the result is both tasty and crunchy.

Back to the main ingredient of the Tourte de Blette: the chard. We found it on the Amsterdam Albert Cuyp market but were shocked by the price, so we had to look for an alternative. We decided not to use normal spinach because it doesn’t have the right structure. We choose water spinach (also know as Kang Koen or Ong Choy): a very popular vegetable in Asia. The leaves have lots of structure and the (hollow) stems are tasty and crunchy.

Wine Pairing

Obviously a wine from the region, for instance a Côtes de Provence (preferably rosé) or a more expensive Bellet Blanc.

What You Need

  • For the Dough
    • 200 gram of Flour
    • 100 gram of Water
    • 20 gram of Olive Oil
    • 2,5 gram of Salt
  • For the Mixture
    • 500 gram of Water Spinach
    • One Shallot
    • Olive Oil
    • 50 grams of Rice
    • 2 Eggs
    • Fresh Nutmeg
    • 75 gram Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

What You Do

  1. Cook the rice and leave to rest
  2. Combine flour, salt, water and olive oil
  3. Make the dough, kneed for a minute or so and store in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes
  4. Remove the leaves from the stem and chop half of the stems. Best is to have the stem slices the size of cooked rice
  5. Same for the shallot
  6. Warm a large heavy skillet
  7. Gently fry the shallot
  8. After 10 minutes add the chopped stems
  9. Leave for 5 minutes and then add the leaves
  10. Cook for a few minutes until done
  11. Transfer to a plate and let cool
  12. Slice the leaves using a kitchen knife
  13. Whisk the two eggs
  14. Combine the vegetables, the egg, the rice and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  15. Generously add freshly grated nutmeg
  16. Cut the dough in two, one part slightly bigger than the other. The bigger part will be the bottom, the smaller part the top
  17. Roll out the bigger one with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface
  18. Coat a 22 cm or 9 inch round baking form with oil (or use a sheet of baking paper)
  19. Place the first disk in the baking form, add filling and close with the second disk of dough
  20. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together
  21. Make holes in the top, allowing for the steam to escape
  22. Transfer to the oven for 40 – 50 minutes on 180˚ – 200˚ Celsius or 355˚ – 390˚ Fahrenheit
  23. Immediately after having removed the tourte from the oven, brush the top with olive oil. This will intensify the colour of the crust
  24. Let cool and enjoy luke warm.
Slice of Tourte de Blette ©cadwu
Fresh Chard ©cadwu
Fresh Water Spinach ©cadwu
Tourte de Blette Three Quarters ©cadwu
Tourte de Blette ©cadwu

Duck Breast with Sichuan Pepper

7 October 2020

Why call something pepper when actually it is not hot and spicy like black pepper or chili? Perhaps because of the shape? The Chinese name is huā jiāo, meaning something like flower pepper. Actually it is a dried berry from western China. Other names are Szechuan Pepper, Chinese Prickly Ash, Mala Pepper et cetera. The quality may vary, depending on the actual species used. The taste has two components: the aroma of citrus and an intriguing tingling effect on the tongue.
The Sichuan cuisine combines it with chili pepper, star anise and ginger.

Wine Pairing

A cup of Jasmine Tea is an excellent choice. You could also go for white wine, for instance a German Riesling or Gewurztraminer. We decided to go for a Pinot Noir from La Cour Des Dames. In general you’re looking for a red wine with aromas of berries, floral notes and delicate wood. The tannins should be soft or well-integrated.

What You Need

  • Duck Breast
  • Sichuan Pepper
  • Light Soy Sauce
  • Normal Soy Sauce
  • Mirin
  • Chicken Stock
  • Corn Starch

What You Do

  1. Start by warming a non-stick frying pan
  2. Add the Sichuan pepper (we suggest one or two teaspoons)
  3. Gently roast the peppers until you can smell their lovely aroma
  4. Transfer the berries to a mortar and let cool
  5. Take the duck breast from the refrigerator, clean it if necessary and transfer to the now hot non-stick frying pan. By starting with cold meat, you will get the best result: crispy fat, a golden brown colour and seignant meat
  6. Fry the duck breast for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat, give it 10 more minutes on the fat-side and finish with 2 or 3 minutes on the meat-side
  7. Wrap the breast in foil, making sure the fat is not covered
  8. Crush half of the Sichuan peppers
  9. Add stock to the pan, soy sauce, crushed Sichuan pepper and a teaspoon of mirin
  10. Stir and add liquid from the duck
  11. The duck must rest for 10 minutes, so occasionally add liquid and stir the sauce
  12. Taste the sauce and adjust
  13. When ready, make the sauce thicker using corn starch
  14. Coarsely crush the remaining Sichuan peppe.
  15. Slice the meat and serve with the sauce
  16. Sprinkle the remaining Sichuan pepper on top of the meat.

We served the duck breast with a combination of stir fried (Chinese, napa or oxheart) cabbage, spring onion, chili pepper and sesame oil.

Duck Breast with Sichuan Pepper ©cadwu
Duck Breast with Sichuan Pepper ©cadwu

Cod with Kimizu Sauce

1 October 2020

Fashion

Isn’t it interesting how our preferences for aromas and flavours change over time, influenced of course by producers, restaurants and chefs. In general we prefer dry white wine, we think a ragout made of pied de moutons, morels, Comté, oranges, bread crumbs and samphire is really intriguing and why not serve tea with your main dish?
Years ago we probably would have loved poached cod with Hollandaise Sauce and a small carrot sautéed in butter accompanied by a glass of Muscadet. But not today. No poached fish and no soft buttery carrots.
Fashion is about change; not improvement.

Let’s revisit the fish with Hollandaise Sauce and give it a ‘modern’ twist: we very gently fry the fish and serve it with a delightful Kimizu.

We mentioned Kimizu earlier when we wrote about White Asparagus. In this case we will make the sauce lighter by adding extra water. It’s wonderful to see and feel the consistency of the Kimizu in combination with the soft, opaque fish.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our fish with a glass of Chardonnay, produced by Antonin Rodet. The wine is made from 100% chardonnay grapes. Its aromas made us think of peach. It has clear floral notes. The taste is rich, with flavours of ripe fruit, subtle oak  and minerality.
In general we would suggest a chardonnay with a little oak and a long finish.

What You Need

  • For the Fish
    • Fresh Cod
    • Olive Oil
    • Butter
    • White Pepper
  • For the Kimizu
    • 2 Egg Yolks
    • 1,5 tablespoon of Rice Vinegar (depending on the size of the egg yolks and the acidity of the vinegar)
    • 3 tablespoons of Water
    • 2 teaspoons of Mirin (1 could also be fine, depending on your taste)

What You Do

Warm a non-stick frying pan. Lightly coat the pan with olive oil and butter and then place the pan over medium-high heat. Gently fry until nearly done. Best would be to buy tail end with the skin on, allowing you to fry the fish on its skin. Turn it for a few seconds, allowing for a light golden colour. The fish is ready when the flesh has become opaque.
In parallel whisk the two egg yolks, add the rice vinegar, the mirin and the water. Whisk well. Now set your microwave to 90 seconds and 30% power. Give the mixture 10 seconds and whisk, Repeat this with 5 seconds of warmth followed by whisking. You will notice the change in the consistency. Depending on the size of the eggs, the temperature of the ingredients and the quality of your microwave this may take something like 60 seconds.
Serve the fish with white pepper and a generous helping of kimizu. And if it makes you smile, please add some carrots, sautéed in butter!

Cod with Kimizu ©cadwu
Cod with Kimizu ©cadwu