Mozzarella & Anchovy Toast

I couldn't quite finish my buffalo mozzarella, so decided to marinate it in some chili-laced EVOO from my jar of anchovies. What a superb snack, almost like a mini pizza. Love my fish and cheese!

buffalo mozzarella
best quality anchovies in chili oil
baguette

1. slice baguette
2. top with mozzarella and pieces of anchovy
3. drizzle with chili EVOO
4. grill in the stove until bread toasts and cheese melts
5. take out and drizzle over more chili EVOO and serve

Avocado & Cottage Cheese

Was feeling peckish tonight and this hit the spot.

ripe avocado
best quality cottage cheese
EVOO
maldon sea salt
lemon
crushed dried chili

1. mash the avocado flat on a white plate
2. drizzle with EVOO, lemon juice and add salt and chili to taste
3. spoon some clumps of cottage cheese on top of avocado
4. season with a bit more EVOO and salt and serve

Khoo's Winter Salad

Was watching Rachel Khoo in her little Paris kitchen earlier, and simply couldn't pass up making a note of this recipe. Sumptuous, reminding me of a similar salad I had at Three Blue Ducks in Sydney with bits of beets and haloumi, as well as some sort of cheese mousse.

2 parsnips

1 yellow carrot

1 orange carrot

1 purple carrot

1 quartered apple, skin left on

100 gr of Selles-sur-Cher goat cheese (or a blue cheese)

lardons

sunflower oil

cooked red beet root

various colored raw beetroot

simple vinaigrette

maldon sea salt

1. set oven at 200 degrees
2. cut up parsnips into large bite-size pieces; do the same for carrots
3. place vegetables on a tray with some oil, cook 45 minutes
4. to make cheese mousse, break up 200 gr of the cheese and mash with 8 tblsp of milk into a paste
5. make some whipped cream, and add about half of it to the cheese paste first, then the remaining to keep air in the mixture; put in a piping bag
6. fry 100 gr of lardons
7. in a mandolin, slice both raw and cooked beet root
8. on individual plates, assemble all the vegetables in an artful way
9. pipe the cheese mixture into little pockets, place a few lardons here an there
10. drizzle some vinaigrette over the salad, followed by a sprinkling of salt

Corn & Chile Salsa

Thanks to Alice Letondot for introducing me to this delicious salsa from Trader Joe's. It is particularly good because it doesn't taste at all like a commercial product. I thought it was home-made. Looking at the ingredients label, I will try to reproduce myself, but maybe eliminate the guar gum!

best quality corn kernels
sugar
onions
red bell peppers
jalapeno peppers
distilled vinegar
crushed red pepper
black pepper
coriander seed
mustard seed
salt
guar gum

1. buy best quality frozen corn
2. chop the onions, bell and jalapeno peppers
3. heat all the ingredients except for the corn in a pan, sugar to taste
4. when the sauce becomes syrupy, add the corn and heat another couple minutes
5. let sit at room temperature before storing in the fridge

Enoki Bundles

An elegant little amuse bouche to be made very soon.

4 x 100 gr packets of of enoki mushrooms, divided into 8 bunches
8 slices of parma (or san daniele, culatello, speck, maybe even smoked salmon)
4 tblsp EVOO
juice of two limes
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper

1. trim the base of the enoki
2. wrap around each bunch with slice of parma ham and fix with a cocktail stick
3. drizzle with olive oil and lime juice
4. sprinkle with a little salt and lots of pepper

Mushroom Sauce

Also from the Carluccio book as described below. Despite the straightforward title, Carluccio thinks this sauce is "utterly delicious".  Could be used for crostini, as well as pasta, risotto or polenta.  Thinking about using this sauce for lasagnette in place of the usual pesto.

300 gr small fresh ceps
15 gr dried ceps, soaked in warm water
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tblsp EVOO
2 tblsp finely chopped parsley
2 mint leaves, finely chopped
1 tblsp tomato paste
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper

1. clean the fresh ceps, then cut into small cubes; drain the dried ceps after 20 minutes, reserving the water; chop finely
2. fry the garlic in the EVOO until transparent, then add the fresh and soaked dried mushrooms; saute for 10 minutes over medium heat, season to taste
3. add the herbs and paste and 4 tblsp of reserved cep water; warm through and the sauce is ready
4. if using for pasta, sprinkle with parmesan before serving

Dried Morel & Truffle Sauce

From Antonio Carluccio's "The Quiet Hunt", on mushrooms. According to him, this is one of the best sauces to be used either for roasted meat, or game, or to flavor risottos and pasta dishes. Would also be good with lasagnette, in fact he does have a recipe for this and handkerchief pasta. I recall now the confusion when I bought my father this book. He thought I had already paid for it, so out he went with book in hand only to be greeted by a screeching security system and uniformed guards.

60 gr dried morels
55 gr summer truffle
55 gr butter
2 small shallots, finely chopped
400 ml chicken stock
150 ml double cream
10 drops truffle oil
maldon sea salt
ground black pepper

1. soak the morels in warm water 20 minutes; then trim off the base of the stems and chop mushrooms finely
2. clean the summer truffle and, and at the last minute cut into 3 mm slices, then dice
3. melt the butter in dish, add shallots and soften; add the morels to the dish with the stock, cook for 8-10 minutes
4. leave to cool, ten add the cream and season
5. process in a blender then, lastly, add the truffle oil and fresh truffle dice
6. warm before using