Roasted pepper soup -- Soupe Catalane aux poivrons

Sitting in the dentist's office--the dentists who inspired Jane Smiley's novella Age of Grief, about a husband-wife dentist practice--I found a recipe that I dictated into my phone while sitting in the waiting room. And it is really 1 minute.

Roasted pepper soup shots
one 16 ounce jar fire roasted red peppers with your juices.
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar.
1 fourth cup olive oil.
Salt and pepper.
Blend and serve in shot glasses.
Bon Appetite October 2012 page 104

I wondered if there is anything like this in Julia or de Pomaine. Turned out
there is: MAFC II p. 21, Soup Catalane aux poivrons, which I adapted and served last week to Rich and Julie.

Serves four as a first course

1 large garlic clove
one16 ounce jar fire roasted red peppers with their juices
1/4 cup cocktail onions
2 tablespoons sherry
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cooked rice, preferably brown basmati
Salt and pepper

1. Peel the garlic and chop it in a food processor. 
2. Add everything but the rice and blend until smooth.
3. Pour into a small sauce pan, add the rice, and heat.

Tartare de saumon

Easter brunch 2013 continues, with salmon tartare. This is a sort of French ceviche, where lemon juice "cooks" raw fish. It's really really good. It made a nice little starter for us, before the quiche.

This is another lightning dish if the fishmonger (butcher here in Iowa) dices or minces the fish, as the friendly folks at Fareway did for me. Don't dare use a food processor, as it mangles the fishie's tissues.

I suppose verrines are really supposed to have layers. That's easy to do, such as Thomas Keller's with a layer of red onion crème fraiche, or one I did yesterday with capers. A red layer of marinated roasted pepper, drained from the jar and chopped would be nice too.

These "verrine" glasses are actually votive candle holders from Walmart, 88¢ each.

Serves 4

8 ounces of salmon filet (belly if possible) cut into 1/8 in dice or minced
10 chive spears or 2 green onion tops
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, preferably Maille
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice (about 1 medium lemon)
salt and pepper

1. Chop the chives or green onion tops very finely
2. In a bowl, beat the chives, mustard, olive oil, and lemon juice into an emulsion.
3. Toss the salmon into the dressing and season.
4. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
5. Serve in small "verrine" glasses, garnished with chives or green onion tops.

Melon and champagne soup

The bubbly is Segura Viedas Brut Reserva 2011 cava

We had a champagne brunch for Easter, just the three of us. Salmon tartare, Maddie's quiche. And to start this melon soup. It's lightning fast. I bought some melon cubes (Chilean) at the store, popped them in the blender with the juices and bubbly, and -- ZAP! -- summrery froth.

I found some little airplane bottles of bubbly, so it's possible to make an ordinary day special by making this speedy soup. This is a another dentist waiting room special, adapted from Shape magazine. But it's really elegant, and it sort of tickles the nose. Or maybe that's my imagination.

Serves 4

2 cups cantaloupe chunks
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon juice
1/4 cup champagne
fresh mint

1. In a blender, puree all the ingredients except the mint until frothy. 
2. Garnish with chopped mint

Salade de tomate ou/et concombre / tomato/cucumber salad

The best things are the simplest. I write this in early March, when there is a lot of snow on the ground. And it is barely above freezing days. And I hate Iowa. Next pic, please.

And I do dream of summer tomatoes. Heirlooms, sure. But also just Burpee garden variety tomatoes. With some basil. No vinaigrette. Maybe some salt and pepper. Maybe not.

And then maybe some cucumbers. On the deck. (next pic please). Overlooking the miserable tomato vines that I try to grow almost every year, from the glorious smelly young plants the farmers at the market sell before there's anything else to sell, except maybe rhubarb or greens.

And then, about the fourth of July, I realize, again, that I am no farmer, nor even a vegetable gardener. I am just a tomato eater. And a pretty good one.

I am, however, an excellent tomato slicer. And that is really all it takes. Some say it doesn't even take that. Some eat tomatoes like apples, whole, just biting into them, and letting the juice go where it goes.

Not me. I am civilized. See the pics?

Shirred eggs -- Oeufs sur le plat -- Oeufs miroir

I know I saw The French Chef episode called "Elegant Eggs" (the video in a new window) with these cool eggs. But I had forgotten it (as I have most things I saw in the 1960s). So it was with a sense of revelation that I discovered a new (to me) way to fix eggs. And super fast (MAFC I p. 122) and so versatile. You can throw anything on them, almost, including chicken livers!--Julia puts this first! 

Plain (or with cream and cheese) it takes only 5 minutes. With sauteed chicken livers it takes 10 minutes. And they really do come out "perfect," as she says in the video.

Serves two as a first course

2 eggs
olive oil cooking spray
[optional:] 2 tablespoons cream or crème fraiche
[optional:] 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Swiss cheese
[optional:] chopped herbs or scallion tops

1. Heat the broiler and place the rack in the closest position to it. 
2. Place a half sheet or shallow pan over two burners on high heat and add 1/4 inch water. 
3. Spray small two shallow dishes (3-4" diameter) or ramekins with olive oil cooking spray, place them in the water, and carefully crack an egg into each.
4. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember the cheese will add some saltiness).
5. [optional:] Spoon one tablespoon of the cream over each and grate about 1 tablespoon of the cheese on them.
6. When the eggs have just begun to set on the bottom (you see the first white), place the pan of water under the broiler so the eggs are almost touching the flame. 
7. Broil for 30 to 60 seconds or until the top has just begun to bubble and set.
8. Garnish with chopped herbs or scallion tops.

VARIATIONS:

Oeufs sur le plat avec leur foies de volailles 

Serves two as a first course

2 eggs
olive oil cooking spray 
1/4 pound chicken livers
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons Port, Madeira, Muscatel, or other fortified wine

[optional:] chopped herbs or scallion tops

1. Heat a small skillet over high heat.
2. Dry the livers on paper towels. Season them.
3. Heat the broiler and place the rack in the closest position to it. 
4. Place a half sheet or shallow pan over two burners on high heat and add 1/4 inch water.  
5. Add the butter and olive oil to the skillet, and when the foam subsides, add the livers. Saute 5 minutes, tossing once or twice so that all the surfaces are browned. When done, the livers will be springy to the touch. Or poke and peek at one. The interior should be rosy pink. Remove to a warm plate and season again if necessary.
6. Spray small two shallow dishes (3-4" diameter) or ramekins with olive oil cooking spray, place them in the water, and carefully crack an egg into each.
7. Season lightly with salt and pepper (remember the cheese will add some saltiness).
8. [optional:] Spoon one tablespoon of the cream over each and grate about 1 tablespoon of the cheese on them.
9. When the eggs have just begun to set on the bottom (you see the first white), place the pan of water under the broiler so the eggs are almost touching the flame. 
10. Broil for 30 to 60 seconds or until the top has just begun to bubble and set.
11. Garnish with the livers and chopped herbs or scallion tops.

Shrimps a la plancha

Shrimps are so sweet. When my John was about 12, he used to do them on the grill for Sunday lunch, carefully heating it up with charcoal to get two minutes of fire--all it took to make them juicy and full of smoke. And he'd put them proudly in the middle of the table and we'd dig in peeling them, with lots of crusty bread.

Now I usually just saute them quickly, with a bit of butter, lemon and garlic--or other seasonings. And I buy them peeled and deveined. Something lost. But are still sweet and good, if I don't overcook them.

But last month I got to go to Barcelona where they cook everything A la Plancha, on a stainless steel griddle, hot, with olive oil. I had the best meal of the trip no doubt at a seafood bar in city market, La Bouqueria--the butcher shop. It is a huge market, with all the fruits and vegetables and meats laid out like a painting. And this little bar is tucked in the back, and locals and vendors come by for a quick coffee or cava (Spanish champagne, drunk like Coke, as far as I can tell). The combo platter I had contained seven things. And all was drenched in an herbed seafood broth (la soupa). Salty and marvelous. The best seafood I think I've ever had.

So when I got back, I tried it shrimp a la plancha. I worked (see above, on the deck, where John used to grill them). I flamed them at the end with a little Pernod, to make it French of course. However, the Catalans have a strong French streak in them. And the southern French are starting to cook A la Plancha too, judging from recipes I've been reading. So here it is, with a few shots of Barcelona for good measure.

Serves 2. 5 minutes total.

1/2 pound peeled, deveined shrimp (24 to the pound or 32* to the pound)
1 tablespoon butter
1 lemon
1 clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon minced garlic in olive oil)

1. Heat a large skillet on high.
2. Peel and mince the garlic (or open the jar of minced garlic in oil)
3. Combine the garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and butter in a ramekin and microwave 20 seconds
4. Add 1 tablespoon cooking oil to the skillet and add the shrimp for one minute, or until they begin to just brown a touch, and turn pink on the cooking side.
5. Off heat. Toss them to turn, and with a fork or tongs turn those that didn't flip.
6. Add the butter mixture, cover, and shake.
7. Serve after one minute under the cover.
   
   

Here's the cook at the seafood bar working two planchas at once. Even the two kinds of clams and the mussels go on the plancha, but with a domed pot lid to steam them. And the squid comes about three ways--the body cavity sliced like calimari, but grilled, the tentacles soft and meaty, and little teeny squid you eat whole and crunchy, like a hairy potato chip. The sardines were a truly amazing food. So sweet. In fact everyting literally tasted sweet.

Most of the secret is no secret. The fish is superbly fresh, and the stuff on the combo plate was (so they assured me) right out of the Mediterranean that morning. The vendors were great at cutting the fish up with these huge knives, and always offered to send the bones and trimmings home (por la soupa), and seemed disapponted when refused.

I also really liked all the meat, mostly pork. The hams were hanging in every butcher shop. They's strip off paper thin slices and sell them for very high prices. Each region, each farm even, noted and advertised, like wineries. I sampled several, and it tased different than the Virginia hams I've had or the French ones. Can't say how. And they also have, lots and lots of bones for sale too.
You can eat very high on the hog there, all the way around the ears and snout. Oh, but of course most of the time the ears and snout of a hog are down in the feeding trough.

The people at the conference were very genial, and we ate a lot of tapas together. In fact, one meals was entirely tapas. Here's the tapas we had at a fancy seafood restaurant on the harbor. Tiny clams, squid, codfish balls, and the lightest vegetables fried tempura-like. I don't know how they got them so light.

Salade de Carotte / Carrot salad : Django Bistro

This is a bistro favorite. It's refreshing. It gets better the next day, and the day after. And it makes this season--when things are just blooming but not ready to eat--promise the summer.

This dish is not at Django, the new Bistro in downtown Des Moines, Django, where J and I ate at 10 (the place was packed) after watching our Katie compete for Yale in the national collegate mock trial competition at the Hotel Fort Des Moines. (The results are kept secret till the end, so stay tuned).

But they do have sweetbreads, the only place in Iowa that I know of that has them. So this makes me miss the little places in France that do such simple things. It's better with freshly grated carrots. So if you have an extra, oh, three minutes, it's worth it. But hey, this is is MA10MFC, not MAFC.

Salade de Carotte / Carrot salad

10 ounce bag of grated carrots
1 tablespoon lemon juice (1/2 lemon squeezed)--double it if you like!
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (2 if you like)
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons small capers

1. In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients and toss

By the way, the bowl in the photo above is from J's grandmother, via her mother. When I was newly married and moving, we had a bigger bowl from her grandmother, and my dear sister-in-law accidentally slammed the door on my finger while I was putting the bowl in the car. The bowl broke (my finger didn't break, but was blue for weeks). And my dear s-i-l gave us this little bowl--also from J's grandmother--as a consolation. I have cherished it ever since.

Official MA10MFC Launch and the Forgotten Cabbage

I had a party Saturday night to launch this blog, officially. I released it to the grinding search engines, and to the world (wide web). Nine people. Champagne. A lot of 10 minute dishes, of course. Brie with jam, salmon rillettes, roasted salmon, parfaits, and the best: grilled asparagus from my gourmet brother-in-law (who also took this commemorative photo).

And gifts of very slow food from my colleague and farmer's market friend right: pickled beets and beans and onions.

As sometimes happens, I forget to serve a dish. In this case it was red cabbage with raisins and balsamic vinegar. It stayed quietly in the microwave, until the next morning, when J discovered it there. "Did you forget to serve this?" Hmmm.

It's so fast to cook that it's easy to forget. Like so many of my vegetable dishes these cruel winter days with no farmer's market, it begins with a bag of pre-cut vegetables thrown into the microwave and cooked unopened.

Serves 4

16-ounce package shredded red cabbage
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup golden raisins
salt and pepper

1. Place the bag of cabbage in the microwave and cook 4 minutes on high (if the bag breaks, no problem).
2. Carefully open the hot bag (scissors or a knife help) and pour into a serving bowl.
   
3. Toss with the other ingredients and serve.
   Note: this keeps a good long while in the microwave--or the refrigerator

It's also very good with black raisins, and it makes a really nice little first course with red wine, especially if the balsamic vinegar is good. Very refreshing and crunchy.

Caviar and Martinis

I bought a copy of Escoffier, the bible of grand old French cooking, on my first trip to New York, in 1973, which was also the first time I ate at a French restaurant. I remember wondering why so many recipes were Russian--until I learned how many great French chefs cooked for Russian royals. Of course they brought back buffet favorites, the grandest of course was caviar.

J likes caviar for her birthday, which was last week. And it is of course very fast. As she is not finicky about her caviar (nor am I), we like whitefish roe from the state to the north of us. I like it as simple as possible, almost. Just some sour cream, chopped shallots or scallions, and chopped egg (another reason why Edouard is so right about having one or two always boiled and ready). We sat around the coffee table and put a bit of each on a cracker, as a way to make the Martinis special.

J likes a Martini most every evening, which is neither Russian or French, but thoroughly American. Cocktail culture began in New Orleans. The Martini was invented in the Bay Area. And come to think of it, the Martini combines Russian vodka with French vermouth. We just discovered Noilly Prat, the queen of all vermouths. (T. S. Eliot had a cat named after it.) We are anxious (in a bad way) to taste the reformulated product, which the cocktail critic J reads (Wall Street Journal Weekend) says is much inferior to the recipe in use for Noilly Prat in the U.S. market for decades. It will be a while before we find out, as a bottle lasts a very long time at a teaspoon a day.

J said she enjoyed her birthday. And as we drank, we reminisced about happening onto the Russian Tea Room by Carnegie Hall and having, for us, a record $16 Martini, surpassing our record from 07 set at the Algonquin. I looked on the Tea Room's web site and noticed there are some amazing specials. J said we need to get back to New York while there is still a financial crisis.

Smoked salmon roses, ol' fashion': Saumon fumé rosette

I like these little roses because the color is so beautiful. The color is, well, salmon.

4 ounces Scottish style, thin sliced smoked salmon
Dill or parsley sprigs.
Extra virgin olive oil or walnut or almond oil
Rose or mixed peppercorns in a grinder
[optional: and capers]

1. If necessary (and it usually isn't) cut the salmon into long strips.
2. Starting at one end, roll the strips into a rose shape, by rolling one side more tightly than the other.
   
3. Drizzle with oil and garnish with herbs and [optional] capers.
   

http://www.metzgerei.ch/francais/rezeptsammlung/fisch.php?navid=33

Omeletes as Julia's "Dinner in half a minute!"

Maybe this is what got me on this obsession with fast French food: Julia's intro to the first show of hers.

I remember so well: "How about dinner in half a minute?!"



So that about says it all.

I make an omelet almost every morning for breakfast, though usually with egg substitute (terrible name for egg whites--I like Eggbeaters so much better, the name and the product). Now in my new Calphalon ten inch omelet pan they go much like above.

And the variations are endless. My favorite is the dessert omelet, mentioned famously in The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. Their cook goes a little crazy one evening and makes a meal of hors d'ouvres, capped with a jam omelet for dessert. Why not?

3 mousses au chocolat: légère, Julia's & 5-minute

Here is chocolate mousse three ways. I made it for Valentine's day yesterday, and I realized I can make Julia's version in 10 minutes, with some fancy footwork. And I even do a 5-minute version sometimes that feeds a crowd very fast. But my favorite is a light one that was inspired by Julia's. I give all three here.

I invented the light version for a dinner party my daughter gave for five of her teenage friends, years ago. She wanted me to make chocolate mousse. And I remembered back 35 years ago when I first made it from Julia. I loved the orange flavor (MAFC I p. 604). And it was this recipe (and TV episode) that taught me to beat and fold in egg whites. I had few of the ingredients and no time. So I made a light version for the girls.

I serve this in little 3-ounce cordial glasses. A fun treat rather than a big chocolate dig-in. Nobody complains except kids. And you can haul out the leftovers and let them fight over them.

Chocolate is always an issue in a small town. The other day, I picked up a bar of Hershey's Special Dark chocolate in the baking chocolate section, then noticed the same bar in the candy section (conveniently placed next to the express lane at Fareway) for almost exactly half the price. It worked fine. Of course you can buy the fanciest chocolate you can. If time is money, then this recipe is a bargain no matter how expensive the chocolate is.

The 5-minute version is heavier because you don't take time to beat the egg whites. But hey, it tastes really good. And it's not all that heavy. The guys at the shelter love it. So here they are: light, Julia's shortened, and 5-minute. (By the way, the Valentine's day menu yesterday was Caviar deviled eggs with Parmesan crisps, rib-eye steaks fry-broiled, roasted winter vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts), Maytag blue cheese with olive oil and pepper)

Mousse au chocolat légère

Serves 4-6

8 ounces excellent semi-sweet or milk chocolate
1 teaspoon Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur
4 egg whites

1. Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a clean metal mixing bowl and reserving the yolks for another use (they freeze fine).
2. Break the chocolate into pieces in a microwave safe plastic bowl. Add the orange liqueur and microwave on medium for about 35 seconds, or until just melted.
3. With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks (MAFC I pp. 159-160).
4. With a spatula, stir 1/4 of the whites into the chocolate. Then turn the chocolate mixture into the egg white bowl and carefully fold the whites and the chocolate together (MAFC I pp. 160-161)

VARIATION: Mousseline au chocolat; Mayonaise au chocolat; Fondant au chocolat

This is the original recipe from MAFC1 p. 604 speeded up. The ingredients from Julia's recipe are the same. A fast operator can have this ready to chill in 10 minutes, and two hours later, about dessert time, it's ready.

Serves 6-8

6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate broken into bits with a kinfe
1/3 cup powdered sugar
4 Tb strong coffee
1/4 cup orange liqueur
6 ounces unsalted butter (one and one half sticks)
4 eggs
optional: 1/4 cup finely diced, glazed orange peel (candied)
1 can compressed whipped cream

1. Run warm water in a large bowl or sink while you separate the eggs, putting the whites in a clean mixing bowl. Float it on the warm water.
2. Put the coffee and orange liqueur in the microwave on high for one minute, until very hot but not boiling
3. Place the chocolate and sugar in a blender and blend on high for 15 seconds.
4. Add the hot liquid and blend 15 seconds or until smooth.
5. Add the butter, cut into 1/2 inch slices, and the egg yolks. Blend on high for 15 seconds.
6. Using a hand mixer, beat the yolks with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form.
7. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg whites and fold the c
8. Pour into elegant serving bowls, wine glasses, flutes, or ramekins and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
9. Garnish with the whipped cream and optional candied orange peel or chocolates.

VARIATION: Blender chocolate mousse in 5 minutes
Serves 8-10

Here's the one I did for the Emergency Residence Project on 1/14/11. I made it in 5 minutes, with time to chop the pistachios.

1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips (Hershey's Special Dark is good)
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup hot cream (160 degrees F/71 degrees C)
1/4 cup strong coffee, heated
1/4 cup orange liqueur
[optional] whipped cream pressurized, pistachios

1. Open the cream carton and put it in the microwave on high for one minute.
2. Put the chocolate chips and the sugar in a blender and blend on high for 10 seconds.
3. Add the hot milk, hot coffee, and orange liqueur and blend on high for two minutes.
4. As it is blending, add the eggs one at a time through the top hole.
5. Pour into a glass serving bowl, individual glasses, bowls, or ramekins, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
6. Garnish with whipped cream and/or chopped pistachios

Eggs cocotte in 5 flat

This is a super fast version (5 minutes flat) of a French (and Julia) classic: eggs baked in a ramekin (MAFC I p. 123). This is capable of infinite variations, and a great way to use bits of elegant leftovers. And you can also save those last few tablespoons of some great sauce and substitute it for the cream. The best is an idea I took from The Café here in town: Green Eggs and Ham.

2 persons

2 large eggs
cooking spray or butter
crème fraîche OR cream OR sour cream OR no-fat sour cream
salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Spray (or butter) two four-ounce ramekins.
2. Put a tablespoon of cream (etc.) and/or other goodies in each.
3. Carefully break an egg in each.
4. With a pin or the point of a sharp knife, delicately pierce the yellow without spilling the yolk.
5. Add a tiny pinch of salt and pepper to each.
6. Microwave 35 seconds on high power for one, 1 minute for two, 2 minutes for four. Times vary with the microwave and the ramekins. The egg white should be white, but the yolk runny. Shaking the ramekin will give a good hint. Don't overcook or the whites can be rubbery.

VARIATIONS:

• Green eggs and ham: A tablespoon of diced ham on the bottom. a tablespoon of pesto on top.
• Aux fines herbes: Add one half teaspoon of mixed fresh herbs to the cream, and a sprinkling as garnish.
• A la russe: a tablespoon of sour cream on the bottom; a teaspoon of caviar (or red lumpfish roe) and very finely chopped red onion on top after cooking
• Provencal: a tablespoon of tapenade on the bottom; a tablespoon of aioli on top, and a sprinkling of herbs.
• Ecosse: Sour cream and smoked salmon in the bottom. Dill to garnish.
• Home grown tomato slice on the bottom

Aioli light--sauce, dip, garnish, whatever

This is an all-purpose sauce and dip. It has almost no calories. It tastes like it will make you fat. It's not the real thing, which has of course real mayonnaise and that deep down fat slip on the tongue (see MAFC I 92). This is a different food, really. But still loaded with garlic--which can be halved or doubled or tripled or whatever your tongue and stomach can stand. I use it all the time.

I use it mostly as a dip for crudites or shrimp, and keep the ingredients for it always in the pantry. If I'm asked to bring appetizers, I'll just pick up some cut vegetables and pre-cooked shrimp, and do this in 5 minutes flat.

But it has many uses because it's so colorful and flavorful (and keeps for weeks). I put it in a squeeze bottle and use it for decorating plates (like baked salmon). I dilute it with stock or drippings or wine to make sauces.

At party we had here recently for one of my wife's colleagues who was retiring, the guest of honor raved about the dip and ate bunches. When she asked me about it and learned it was light, she asked for the recipe.

5 minutes

5 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 4-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained
2 cups no-fat mayonnaise

1. Peel the garlic cloves (see below) and, in a blender, puree them for about 5 seconds.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until combined.

Brie with jam

I love to cook for our play reading group. Appetizer, first act, main, second act, dessert. And lots of wine and, well, hams.

I was totally behind in planning and time, so I swung by Fareway on the way home and picked up an 8 ounce brie and some crackers, slathered some apricot jam from our "handsome tumbler" on it. And then when I got to our host's--nuked it for 90 seconds and that's it.

Olives, pecans from Joanie's tree, toasted, and it's a party.

Variations:
Brie with Khalua.
Brie with any kind of jam
Brie wrapped in puff pastry and baked (courtesy of Jason and Shawnda).