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In keeping with our Moroccan theme this week, Lou agreed to share his Lamb Tagine recipe. As well you'll find a quick recipe for sardines and chemoula in the Market News. This lamb tagine recipe is a favourite with customers who eat regularly here on Friday nights. Lou actually makes his own ras-el-hanout spice and herb mix but we've made it easier for you by selling a great mix from wellknown Australian chef, Greg Malouf.
Ras-el-hanout can be used both in poultry, meat and game dishes. In North Africa it also used to be used widely as a medicine against colds. Nowadays, even in Morocco, ras-el-hanout can be bought ready-made in the spice markets. Up to 25 spices can be used in its preparation.
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With Father's day a few days away we thought it would be a good idea to show you how to make an omelette to serve your father for breakfast or lunch. An omelette is one of those things that is very easy to do well and equally easy to do badly. Billy is the chief omelette maker in our kitchen here. Warwick and Lou have taught him really really well. Every omelette he makes is perfect. Billy is a wee bit shy so Lou agreed to all the talking, while Billy shows you how to make a great omelette. Click here and watch the attached clip.
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Here's three favourite recipes using Valfleuri Pasta and easy but flavoursome ingredients. The main thing is to keep it simple. Use top quality fresh ingredients and let them do the work. What our family loves about this pasta is the lightness of it. You aren't left with a heavy full feeling after eating.
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The origins of this soup are uncertain, as several regions of France claim credit for it. Its popularity is undisputable though, as a favourite throughout France – and the rest of the world.
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This is a simple but very popular dessert.
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I'm always surprised about how many people say they're nervous about cooking fish and think it's too expensive to buy. Yes some places do charge too much for fish but I find it's easy to spend less on a meal of fish than many other things. Buy from your local fishmonger or come and see Jimmy in our Market for fish that's really fresh. I think in the past that many experienced eating overcooked fish that wasn't fresh and had a overpowering smell. I'm determined that Frances shouldn't be afraid of cooking fish therefore this week I've taught Frances two very simple ways to panfry fresh fish.
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I hope you don't think this week's recipe 'Smoked Fish Pie' is too simple but it's delicious comfort food and another in my 'Teaching Frances to Cook' series. I chose this because it meant making bechamel sauce again - an important basic in any cook's repetoire. The important thing in this recipe is obviously the smoked fish. It needs to be fresh and moist. We've been buying ours from MULLEEZ who are at our Market Saturday and Sunday. They always have a great selection. I like to buy whole smoked fish (usually kawhai) and take it apart myself but if you don't feel like doing that buy the smoked fillets. Last week for 3 of us I bought two whole fish. This meant the pie was big enough for 2 meals.
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We can see that many of you have been keeping up with our 'Teaching Frances to Cook' series of recipes. My aim is to teach her a few really simple, nutritious meals that aren't just the usual beginner's things. While it's winter and I think of warm comforting food, it's particularly easy to come up with dishes that combine both meat/chicken and vegetables and are cooked in my favourite Le Creuset cast iron casserole. All that's needed to go with these dishes is a simple salad or green vegetable.
This week it's 'Chicken with Mushrooms and Rice'.
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Another in the 'teaching Frances to cook' series - this time slow cooked lamb shanks with only 10 mins preparation. Late one recent afternoon we were rushing to go out knowing that we wouldn't be home till about 8pm, hungry and tired. I hadn't made any dinner plans so this quickly prepared meal was a result of using what was in the fridge and on the pantry shelves. Luckily during the weekend I had bought some organic lamb shanks at our market from Jamie of Te Kainga Meats. The only vegetable we had were leeks. The pantry was pretty lean but we did have tins of chopped tomatoes and white beans, tomato paste, garlic, stock and half a bottle of red wine. Our herb garden always has plenty of parsley, thyme and a bay tree.
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Frances has been helping me in the kitchen again this week. I was fighting off a cold and thought homemade chicken and vege soup might just do the trick to keep it at bay and at the same time Frances would learn how to make chicken stock and a simple vege soup. This is a whole meal in a pot. If you can get yourself organised it's best to make the chicken stock the day. This means you can let the stock cool and the next day take the layer of fat off the top.
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Our younger daughter Frances doesn't have great cooking skills so I'm on a bit of a mission to teach her a few things. Recently I dragged her from her computer to help me prepare dinner. I decided to do something really easy but delicious. This recipe CHICKEN WITH FENNEL AND LEEKS is one I adapted from an Italian cookbook. I taught Frances to make the bechamel sauce that tops the chicken and vegetables. She made a very smooth, thick sauce which was perfectly seasoned and flavoured. She was justifiably very proud of herself.
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One of our family favourites during the winter is SEVEN HOUR LAMB. It's very easy to prepare but you do need to think ahead to get it into the oven at least 7 hours before you want to eat it. I cook this meal in a large Le Crueset casserole. You need something with a lid.
When buying your lamb you think about the size of your dish so the leg fits in. To cook this for 10 people recently I bought 2 small legs rather than 1 large one. The 2 legs fitted my dish perfectly. I always buy organic lamb from Jamie of TE KAINGA - at our Market on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
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Last weekend I was doing my shopping in our Market on Saturday morning and decided I wanted to do something slow cooked for Sunday night's dinner. I noticed that Deidre of WILD GAME had packs with saddles of wild rabbit. I promptly bought them remembering a rabbit in mustard sauce meal we'd had in Paris. Following is my version.
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In France this week's recipe NAVARIN OF LAMB is regarded as a spring dish with lamb and baby spring vegetables. However we think it works any time of the year. In the winter Warwick and the team make more hearty and earthy with the addition of winter vegetables.
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With a large new shipment of cheeses having just arrived. I've been trying out some recipes using Roquefort. I particularly like Michel Roux's easy Roquefort Vinaigrette. It's great on any bitter salad leaves such as frisee lettuce or radicchio or as a dressing on freshly cooked warm green beans, broccoli, cauliflower etc.
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It's so good having Jimmy with his fresh fish and oysters here at the market each week..... I'm giving you two fish recipes - PROVENCAL WHOLE BAKED SNAPPER WITH VEGETABLES and in the Market News is Jimmy's recipe for SARDINES AND BURNT ORANGE VINAIGRETTE. It's a favourite at Jimmy's restaurant, HARBOUSIDE.
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This week it's one of our old La Cigale favourites which I've been making for years. I'm regularly asked for this recipe DRIED FRUIT COMPOTE.
Serve it with a selection of French cheeses at the end of a meal instead of a dessert or alternatively make it your dessert and serve with whipped cream or mascarpone. For such a simple recipe it has a wonderful exotic flavour. I usually make twice the following quantity as it will last in the fridge for a few days.
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While we're still having beautiful weather with warm evenings, barbecueing is a must in our household. I'm always looking for easy and different thing to cook on the BBQ other than the usual sausages etc. One of our old favourites comes from Madhur Jaffrey's Indian cooking book - I've had the book since the late seventies and it's still my reference for delicious Indian food. You can make this spicy or not to your taste.
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These are such a big hit from our Saturday Market Kitchen.
Can be served with a simple fresh salad or as a side dish to another Spanish meal.
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Duck breasts are easy to prepare and cook if you're looking to something to impress. I really like having a sauce made with seasonal fruit to go with the duck. In summer it's red berries and Cassis and it autumn fresh figs and Port.
This is a recipe I found in Williams and Sonoma 'Paris'which was inspired by an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school.
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Now that evenings are a bit cooler I start to think more about slowcooked meals rather than the BBQ. Last weekend Deidre of WILD GAME convinced me that I should buy her diced wild venison. I'm glad she did. It was delicious. It was obviously meat from a young animal as it was the colour of veal. I decide that rather than cook it in red wine, it needed something a bit lighter but still full of flavour. I looked for inspiration in one of my books 'The Food of Spain'.
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When doing our own shopping at our Market each week, I find it hard to go past Deirdre's whole boned free range chickens. They' are so easy to cook in different ways. A couple of weeks ago it was a Indian inspired meal and last weekend I decided to make a flavour filled stuffing and roll up and roast the chicken. It was enough for 3 for dinner and the rest we had cold the next day for lunch with a salad.
All the ingredients are available from the La Cigale Deli and Market stallholders
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This is a really easy meal that can be prepared and cooked very quickly. I use a heavy cast iron frying pan that goes from the stove top into the oven, so everything is done in one pan. The fish sits on a bed of leeks and is topped with a herbed bread crumb crust. I serve it with a simple green salad.
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Tagines are really popular in France. This North African cuisine was imported by French colonialists a few decades ago and is now part of the diversity of French food.
We've been asked for our chicken tagine recipe - the one Warwick and Lou cook each week for our tagine evenings.
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We've been asked so often for the recipe of Warwick's version of the French classic, Beef Bourguignon. Well now we've finally been able to twist his arm for it.
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Were any of you brave enough to try last week's BBQ leg of goat? This week is another easy BBQ recipe and it's not at all scary like the goat.
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I'm sure many of you will think I'm crazy suggesting 'goat' but I can assure you it's delicious. Mike and I first ate goat in the eighties in a small restaurant in Barcelona that's a favourite of King Carlos.
We returned with Frances 2 years ago and had the goat again. Still fantastic!!
Goat meat is actually the most consumed meat in the world. Think lamb with less fat and you'll be close.
Deirdre sells wild goat on Saturdays at our Market. I've adapted a recipe from 'The Food of Spain'.
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Warwick's arm is feeling a twisting pain! Our guests are treated to this delicious favourite at The La Cigale Bistro from time to time. The fresh tarragon flavour makes this a special dish. In summer serve with a salad or in the winter serve with crispy potatoes.
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Catherine at Dish has very kindly let me use the recipe from the December/January issue. I’ve added my own twist. This is great on the BBQ.
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This week’s recipe is another we’ve tried both on the BBQ and in the oven. The longer you can marinate it during the day the better. Deidre in our market has a really good selection of fresh free range chicken – pieces in various forms and whole chickens.
Next week I’ll give you a couscous salad that goes well with this chicken.
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This is easy on the BBQ but you could just as easily do this in the oven. The timing is for a small leg.
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This is a really easy meal to prepare and is great to serve family or friends. Moroccan cuisine is influential all through France.
Click here to view our Tagines to buy online.
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This Couscous salad will go really well as an accompaniment to many different meat and chicken recipes such as the BBQ lamb and Marinated Chicken recipes. Alternatively serve it with other salads. Couscous absorbs flavours – make sure you season this well.
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In the heat at this time of year I'm always trying to think of delicious meals that involve little or no cooking.
We all love the following Parisian bistro classic - 'Pear, Roquefort and Walnut Salad.' It's great for lunch, a dinner entree or make a bigger portion for a whole dinner.
The Roquefort cheese, Uncle Joe's Walnuts and walnut oil come from the La Cigale Grocery and Deli and the pears, lemons and rocket from Market stallholders.
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Salt encrusted baked fish
One of our favourite ways of cooking whole snapper (or whatever the catch is that day) is in coarse sea salt. As the fish bakes the salt forms a hard crust. This keeps the fish moist and delicious, and not at all salty.
Serve this with a potato salad, oven-roasted tomatoes, a green salad and Petit Chablis wine
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Warwick serves this for our guests some Wednesday and Thursday nights. It’s a classic French recipe – don’t think that it’s just suitable for winter. It’s an easy and delicious meal for any time. In summer serve with a salad or in the winter serve with mashed potatoes. Follow Warwick’s instructions and you’ll impress everyone.
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This can be warm or cold. Boil your potatoes in the normal fashion. While they're cooking, make the following mayonnaise (this is for 4 people)
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Slow roasting really gives tomatoes a wonderful intense flavour
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Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass.
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To make the broad bean salad, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Meantime, pod the beans. Put the beans in the pan and boil for about 2 minutes, then drain and refresh the beans under cold water. Drain well. Slip off and discard the thick outer skin to reveal the smooth, bright green beans underneath...
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In boiling salted water, cook the artichokes for 20-30 minutes or until one of the central leaves will come away with a little give and the base feels soft when you test with a knife. Drain and cool. Pull away the tough outside leaves, trim the stalks of string and fibre, and cut away the choke...
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The following day brown the chicken in a pan in the oil from the marinade, until nice and golden. Remove the chicken. In the same pan, brown 4 onions, coarsely chopped, 6 crushed garlic cloves, and 4 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped. Add a piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated, and simmer for about 10 minutes...
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A delicious way of cooking chicken. It is moist and succulent with a scrumptious flavour. Line a casserole dish or a pot that can go in the oven with tin foil (this makes it easy to lift out the chicken). Put a layer of salt in the bottom. Put the chicken on it and completely cover with salt until no flesh is showing...
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Use a cast iron frying pan or similar that can go in the oven. Combine the leeks and bacon and cook in the pan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes; stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes, thyme, salt & pepper, bay leaves and pour in the stock and vinegar. Bring to the boil...
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To roast the duck I used the classic Cordon Bleu method I use for chicken. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut off the wing tips. Dry the duck with paper towels, season the cavity with salt & pepper and add a sprig of fresh thyme and 1-2 bayleaves. Truss the duck and then rub allover with softened butter and salt and pepper...
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Allow 1 poussin per person. Poussins are perfect for grilling or barbequeing. To make them the same thickness throughout so they cook quickly and evenly, the backbone is removed, then the birds are flattened and secured with metal skewers...
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