The streets of Avignon are dead on this wintry night with the exception of a few Chinese tourists. How did they get here? Where is everyone else? We arrive late at Christian Etienne, but when we open the door, we are greeted with all the human warmth and sunshiny southern French accents were had been…
Tag: beets
Haddock and beets @ Le Chassagne
I have a soft spot for chefs who use beets. Surprisingly complex aromatically with an interesting mixture of red fruits and earthiness, beets are an under-rated vegetable. My most recent visit to Le Chassagne, chef Stefane Léger brought out a smoked haddock and beetroot appetizer with not one, but two different preparations of beets. What…
Psychedelic risotto @ Castel de Tres Girard
It was what we call bonus sunshine. Sun when everyone said it would rain. The kind of day where you feel strange putting on a big coat. But after an hour’s tasting in a cool cellar, you’re really glad you kept the extra lining in your coat. It’s actually a tough season for tasting in…
Recipes for Port Salt cod fish with baby potatoes, strawberry/beetroot purée and coconut milk with spices
Saltcod with potatoes, sweet onions and strawberry sauce I actually OD-ed on Salt Cod while we were in Portugal, but to be true to the Portuguese traditional ingredients, we decided that we had to do at least one recipe that included salt cod, quite literally, their national food stuff. We de-salted the cod (it…
Recipes for Port: Tuna steak with black Italian rice, spices and cherry/beetroot sauce
We cooked the black rice* with salt and pepper and then incorporated curcuma, cinnamon and mild curry. Into the rice we also added some cherry/beetroot purée that we had made (just pitted cherries, cooked beetroot and a little water to thin it out). We pan seared the tuna with salt and ample black…
Recipes for Port: Boudin Noir with apples and beetroot sautéed with cinnamon and curcuma
Boudin Noir (also known as black pudding or blood sausage) is very easy to find in any butcher shop in France. We tried it on its own with the port and the combination was already close to perfect. The butchers often automatically put a lot of cinnamon in boudin. In France it is traditional…
Recipes for Port: Pan fried Calves liver with cherry and beetroot sauce
We pan fried small portions of calves’ liver with salt, pepper and olive oil. We kept the heat high enough to get the outside of the liver crispy (bitterness) on the outside and keep a soft rare center (sweetness). We took the liver out of the pan and deglazed the pan with old…
Recipes for Port:Sautéed chicken gizzards with baby spring potatoes and boiled beets
Gésiers with potato and beet Use either confit gizzards or gizzards that have been cooked for a long time. The gizzards must be really soft and really cooked so that their sweetness comes out. The spices we used were: Cinnamon, cumin, ginger powder, curcuma, mild curry, salt and pepper. The key to the recipe…
Spoon Recipes to accompany Port: Why
What inspired us to create these recipes? 1. We found that even the Portuguese do not actually ‘drink’ a lot of Port. They sometimes have it as an aperitif, but even that is rare. 2. Port is rich, both in alcohol and tannins, making it hard go through a full meal with only Port. That…
Saltpepperlime 