Zucchini soup

I've think I've passed the first grade in my American cuisine explorations. I dove into Thanksgiving's potatoesstuffingjellyturkey! Very interesting experience, thanks again to James' mom; such a hospitable and likable person who invited us to share this enjoyable time.
I can say that i recovered quite quickly after the considerable amount of rich food i filled my stomach with. Fortunately, they don't have to thank the pilgrims every month! So whatever, here is a recipe for extremely easy, fast, delicious soup which will help you feel better if you over eat doing the holidays.


Time : 20 minutes
For 2 personn

2 small zucchinis
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp of ricotta cheese
1 chicken or beef broth cube
1 cup ( 1/2 ltr) of water


















1) Chop the zucchini into slice.( not necessary finely).
Put in a pam with your cup of water and your beef or chicken broth.
2) Cook for 15 minutes, and mix in a blender.


3) Serve immediately.

Chicken coconut steamed in wrapped paper

Time: 30 minutes
For 4 persons

1 pd of breast chicken
7 oz of edible podded peas or sugar snap peas
5 oz of portobello mushrooms ( optionnal)
2 branchs of scallion
Half lime
3 branchs of fresh cilantro
1 tsp of sugar
1 tsp of curry
1 tsp of crush red pepper ( optionnal )
1 tbsp of nuoc-nam or fish sauce
10 fl oz of coconut milk


















1) Chopped finely the cilantro, scallion, and cut the chicken into large pieces.
2) Marinate the cilantro, scallion, chicken, half lime juice and zest, nuoc-nam, curry and sugar in the coconut milk for 10 minutes.


3) Blanch the peas in boiling water for 2 minutes ( if you like them crunchy, if not, boiled for 3 more minutes). Chop and pan the mushrooms in a tsp of olive oil as you see below . Tu comprends?
And leave on the side for the moment.


















5) Pour some of your marinade in a parchment paper ( you' re supposed to make 2 like that! ).
Then add the mushrooms and peas on top.


















6) Steamed for 12 minutes ( if you don't have any steamer or steam basket like i use, you can go get one in chinatown for 3 dollars, otherwise, it works also with a regular pan)

Farmer's Market

A good way to find cheap vegetables and fill up your fridge for the week! Every sunday and wednesday, Larkin and city Hall.

Velouté de carottes

The last time I tried this "velouté de carottes", I tried making it with coconut milk. Unfortunately the milk we had at home didn’t work well with this recipe. My wife and I didn’t like it much. But I’m going to experiment with this again later until I find a milk that works well.

So if you’re feeling adventourous, give it a shot with your own kind of milk. Maybe it will turn out better !

Time: 25 minutes

4 servings

About 5 to 10 carrots (depends on the size)
3 branchs of coriander
Half cup of coconut milk (The taste will depend on your coconut milk, if you re not sure, you just can add 2 tbsp of crème fraîche or cottage cheese in your blender at the end)
1 tsp of cumin (if you choose not to add coconut milk)
Salt and pepper

1) Chop your carrots into thin slices, as you see above

2) Put into a pan with 2 cups of water and your chicken stock and cover.


















3) When your carrots are tender (usually after 15 to 20 minutes) put them into a blender with your cilantro. Add the chicken broth until you have the mixture you like, and a tbsp of crème fraîche at the end for the « velouté ».
Salt and pepper

4) Serve imediately in a glass or small bowl. It’s a starter soup.

Penne Provençale

Today, like we say in France , "C'est un temps de chien", means a rainy and cold day ( proper meaning: dog's weather). It puts me in a mood to eat my fresh little bell pepper I just bought yesterday at the farmer's market near city hall. Grown by local Berkeley farmers, these tiny peppers are a bit sweet and their skin is so thin that you don't even have to peel them, especially if you like them a bit crunchy.



Time 10 minutes
For my lunch, so 1 person

3 small bell peppers
1 glove of garlic
1 tomato
Basil leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Pepper


















1) Bring a pot of water to boil and add the pasta.
2) Chop the bell peppers, tomato, garlic and the basil leaves.


















3) In a tbsp of olive oil, start cooking the bell pepper for 2 minutes, then add tomato, garlic and basil leaves. Leave on low heat until your pasta get ready. If you used a normal bell pepper , just leave it cook longer to make it more tender.



4) Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Moussaka

Time : 45 minutes

For the bechamel sauce :

¼ cup of butter ( or 4 tbls )
¼ cup of flour
½ cup of milk

3 eggplants
½ big onion
2 cloves of garlic
About 1 pound of fresh ground beef
Parmesan cheese, to sprinkle on top


















1) Slice your eggplant into thin slices.


















2) Pan each side with a tsp of olive oil every 2 rounds.


















3) In a frying pan, cook your onions for about 5 minutes, they should have a light golden brown colour, then add your beef and your chopped garlic.

4) Cook until the meat is cooked just enought. It will cook more in the oven so take it easy, dont burn it! When it’s done, leave on the side.


















5) Once you’re done with your egplants, and your meat is waiting for you on the side, and you have successfully made your Bechamel,you can begin layering your ingredients.
Here a link to the Chef Keith Snow, and he's american :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfTR7juCgUg&feature=player_embedded

Like below, in the pictures , position the eggplants in a layer on the bottom of the pan, cover with a layer of meat, add a bit of bechamel . This is a similar process to lasagna, the only difference is that your pasta are eggplants. Check your amount of bechamel, you need a little bit with each layer, so go easy with it. Finish with a layer of eggplants.


















6) Once you’ve finished layering , sprinkle your dish with parmesan cheese and cook for 45 minutes.

Mushrooms ravioli

This recipe was inspired by something I found in an asian cookbook. But I added a few personal touches.

When I opened my fridge this morning and saw its contents; mushrooms and 3 slices of ham forgotten in the back after a picnic on the weekend, the idea of combining all these ingredients in a ravioli appealed to me.



Time : 30 minutes

3 slices of ham
Parmesan Cheese
Half onion or 2 shallots
2 gloves of garlic
1 Ib of Paris mushrooms
Parsley
1 tbs of olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper


































1) Pan the mushrooms in 1 tbs of olive oil until they're golden brown in color.



















2) While the mushrooms are cooking, finely chop the garlic, parsley and the ham.


























3) In a bowl, mix all ingredients together with the parmesan cheese.




















4) Place the mixture in the middle of the Wonton, wet the edges with your finger or a small brush. Fold opposite corner to opposite corner and press the edges firmly together.




















5) When it's all done, steam them for 4 to 5 minutes.

Cauliflower Tart

Time: 20 minutes


1 pie crust
1 Cauliflower
1 Lemon
1 tablespoon crême fraiche
1 egg
3 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon of grated cheese
Salt and Pepper


1) Bring a large pot of water to boil.

2) Prep cauliflower by cutting and rinsing.


















3) When the water is boiling, add lemon and salt . Watch out, hold that lemon tightly because it's slippery and can fall into the scorching water and burn your tiny little fingers…
Then add the Cauliflower. Cook for 10 minutes


















4) While the cauliflower is cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing the egg and the crème fraiche.


















5) You can re-cut the cauliflower as well, if the shape looks too big or inapropriate for
your pie size… as i did


















6) Sprinkle powdered parmesan cheese onto crust.
7) Position your vegetables in a nice circle on your crust , in a way that seems the most beautiful to you. You know when something looks stupid, just figure it out...

8) Add the sauce and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of it


















9) Baked in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes at 400 degrees

Mediterranean Eggplant

1 Eggplant
.30 lbs of fresh mozzarella
2 tomatoes
4 tablespoon of virgin olive oil
Basil leaves
Salt and fresh ground pepper



1) Gently brown eggplant on both sides with one tsp of olive oil.
2) Then layer tomato, basil leaves, and mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Fresh vegetables in Pita

Time: 15 minutes
Makes 4-6 pitas

1/2 large cucumber or 1 small
1 tomato
1 bowl of spinach
1/2 cup of feta cheese
Basil leaves
Salt and fresh pepper

1) Peel and chop cucumber into small quarter slices.
Chop the tomato into small cubes.
Chop basil leaves finely.


















2) Mix in bowl with feta and fresh spinach.



















3) Toast pita for 1 minute, and fill with mix.