Category: Vegetables

Butternut Squash and Leek Soup

inspired by Thomas Keller’s recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 3-to-3 1/2-pound butternut squash
  • 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 garlic cloves in skins
  • 2 sprigs sage
  • 1 thinly sliced leek
  • 1 thinly sliced carrot
  • 1 thinly sliced shallot
  • ½ cup thinly sliced onions
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 4 cups vegetable stock, more if needed
  • 8 sprigs thyme
  • 2 bay leaves

For garnish:

  • crème fraîche
  • grated nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon minced chives

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350° F/176° C. Cut the buttersquash into chunky pieces. Scoop out seeds and discard. Brush each piece inside and out with oil, salt and pepper mixture. Tuck a sprig of sage into each. Tuck in garlic. Place cut-side-down on the baking sheet and roast until completely tender, about 1 hour. Remove the squash from the oven and let cool, then scoop out and reserve the flesh (discard sage).

Put the remaining oil in a stockpot over medium heat, add the leeks, carrots, shallots and onions and cook, stirring often, for about 6 minutes. Add the squash, garlic (skins removed), 1/2 tablespoon salt and cook gently for 3 minutes.

Add the stock.

Let mixture cool a bit. Transfer to a blender in batches and purée.

Put puréed mixture back on stove.

Add the the honey to the purée.

Add the bay leaves and thyme.

Simmer gently for about 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves and thyme.

Strain the soup through a fine sieve into a bowl. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.

Heat a medium skillet over high heat. When it is very hot, add the butter and rotate the skillet over the heat as necessary to brown the butter evenly, scraping up any bits that settle in the bottom. As soon as the butter is a hazelnut brown, remove from stove and place in a separate container to prevent further cooking.

Ladel the soup in bowl. Top with a drizzle of brown butter, a dallop of crème fraîche and nutmeg to taste.

Heirloom Tomato Comté Tarte

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 multicolored tomatoes, sliced
  • Kosher salt
  • Piment d’Espelette (to taste)
  • Herbs (your choice – I go back and forth with lemon thyme and chives or herbes de Provence)
  • 1 sheet packaged puff pastry, thawed (about 7 ounces)
  • 1 tablespoon + Dijon mustard
  • 150g Comté cheese

Directions:

Slice and remove seeds of tomatoes.
In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, Piment d’Espelette and herbs. Use it to season the tomatoes evenly and let sit for 15 minutes, allowing the salt to draw moisture out of the tomatoes. 
Heat the oven to 200º C/392º F and set a rack in the middle of the oven.
Roll out the puff pastry onto parchment paper into either a 9-by-11-inch rectangle, or pie shell trimming any uneven edges. Prick the inside with a fork every few inches, leaving a 1/2-inch border.
Place pie dish on cookie sheet (easier removal from oven). Bake shell for 10-15 minutes using pastry balls. Remove shell from oven.
Carefully strain the tomatoes, maintaining their shape. Tomatoes generate a lot of water when cooking and too much will destroy the tarte. Let tomatoes sit in strainer.
Place a layer of mustard on the puff pastry with a basting/pastry brush. 
Place the cheese on top of the mustard.
Working within the border, layer the tomatoes on top of the tarte, allowing them to overlap slightly.
Transfer to a sheet pan and bake, until puff pastry is browned and puffed, roughly 25 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Guacamole

Ingredients:

  • 1 ripe avocado
  • 1/2 tomato or handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
  • 1/4 purple/red onion
  • 2 healthy dashes of Worchester sauce
  • 1 dash of Tobasco
  • 1 lime juiced with skin grated (using a microplane zester)
  • 1-2 garlic cloves (grated using a microplane zester)
  • handful of coriander/cilantro, finely chopped
  • Kosher salt (to taste)

Directions:

Chop up ingredients as outlined above to preference.

Mix and serve with chips, tacos and/or a really tasty Margarita.

To-Die-For Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

  • Brussel sprouts, as large as possible, washed and dried
  • Sriracha hot chili sauce
  • olive oil
  • sea salt, to taste
  • handful of sliced almonds

Directions:

For each Brussel sprout, slice off base, then cut in half or quarter (if smaller in size). Peel leaves. Take the time to do this. Set in bowl. Mix in 1 big dollop of Sriracha, to taste. Add in a pinch of salt. Add in enough olive oil so that mixture is lightly coated. Stir well.

Pre-heat oven on broil. Spread Brussel sprout mixture on a baking sheet with adequate spacing. When oven is ready, put Brussel sprout mixture in oven. Watch carefully as to not completely burn. After 3-5 minute, add almond slivers to mixture and mix. Place back in the oven for another 3-5 minutes, watching carefully. The objective to to get the mixture crisp, but not completely burnt.

Serve.

Christine’s Greek Salad

This is one of our go-tos for a quick, easy and healthy meal. We like pairing this with small veal meatballs, but it can be served on its own as a main. Serves 2-4 people.

Ingredients:

  • 2 healthy stems of ripe, cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 1/2 English cucumber, with skin, cut in 3cm pieces
  • 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
  • 100 g good quality crumbled Greek Feta cheese (I find many in the States to be a bit salty, so experiment)
  • 150 g olives, sliced in half or quartered (I prefer Spanish olives with anchovies, but can choose other varieties to keep vegetarian)
  • healthy handful of mint leaves, chopped roughly
  • 3 sprigs of thyme, picked
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons brine from olives
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Prepare ingredients, as instructed. Mix together and serve.

Mustard Slaw

Recette de Christine.

This is the perfect addition as a side dish for ribs. I had my first mustard slaw at the landmark restaurants Rendezvous and Corky’s while visiting Memphis during “Memphis in May” in my road warrior days at Salomon. Good ribs, slaw and mac & cheese always stuck with me as the best comfort food. Pair this with a good cider. Delish.

Continue reading Mustard Slaw