Leek tops soup

An easy soup made with leek tops (the green hard top parts), onion, garlic, chili and 2 small potatoes. Simply served with bread and salted butter. The sprinkle of finely chopped leeks makes the whole look much prettier. Yes, pretty food does taste better!

Stuffed rondini squash

I know it's been ages, 2013 has been very busy so far, with LOTS of travelling, weddings in foreign places and hardly any time to cook, let alone write about it. Please forgive me! However, I am back with comfort food. Winter is almost here (it snowed in the Alps!) and food should be comfortable, easy and not involve cleaning too many pans :-)

The main player today is the small rondini squash, which looks very similar to courgettes, with a much harder skin. Its cute round shape makes it perfect for stuffing and very neat on the table. I got 2 of them last week in my veg' box, which came together with a recipe for stuffing. As I am utterly unable to follow a recipe by the letter, here is my take on stuffed rondini, inspired from la Halle Romande's recipe. I used a mix of minced pork and beef for the stuffing, but you could really do as you feel, either one or the other, or use turkey or even a meat substitute like minced Quorn. I used a lot of different ingredients and herbs in the stuffing, don't worry if you don't have them all, the original recipe was much more straight-forward. Finally,if you have leftover stuffing, you can use it the next day to make a starter by shaping small meat balls and frying them in a pan. Serve with a cold yogurt and mint sauce, it's delicious.

Stuffed rondini squash - serves 2

Inspired from La Halle Romande

2 rondini squash
250g minced meat (I used a mix of pork and beef)
1/2 cup breadcrumbs, soaked in milk
1/2 cup parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 egg
1 teaspoon soy sauce
chili paste
1-2 sprigs rosemary
1/2 cup rice (I used parboiled)
1 glass white win
at least 500 mL vegetable broth

[1] Start by cutting out the top part of the rondini. Using a spoon, empty as much of the flesh as possible without damaging the skin. Remove the seeds from the flesh.

[2] Drain the milk from the breadcrumbs. To make the stuffing, mix the meat with the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, onion, thyme, egg, soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon chili paste. Season with salt and pepper. Fill the emptied rondini with the stuffing and put the "hat" back on the top.

[3] Use an oven dish about 15x25x5 cm in which your rondini will fit nicely. Put the rondini in the middle and cover the bottom of the dish with the seedless rondini flesh (see picture above). Sprinkle the rosemary sprigs and 1/2 teaspoon chili paste on the squash flesh. Add a second layer with the rice, it should cover the squash completely. Pour the white wine over the rice and fill up with broth until the liquid is about 2 cm over the rice. If your dish is too shallow, simply refill with broth during baking time.

[4] Cook 40 minutes to 1 hour in the oven at 200°C. Check the liquid level from time to time and add broth if necessary. The rice should not be allowed to dry out. 

 

Et voilà! Bon appétit!

Légumes de janvier

Ce jeudi dans mon panier j'ai trouvé:

La betterave peut être utílisée en salade ou en soupe, promis je posterai une recette très vite, ainsi que des instructions pour cuire les betteraves crues.

Je compte me faire une super salade avec la feuille de chêne, cubes de comté, du riz frit et des graines de courges toastéeset essayer une fois de plus de reproduire la sauce à salade incroyable du restaurant Les Cornettes. Vinaigre de vin rouge, huile de pépin de courge, moutarde à l'ancienne... j'essaie mais il manque toujours un petit quelque chose!

Les endives font un repas de semaine vite fait. Voici une de mes recettes préférées: Parer les endives et les couper en deux. Les arroser d'un peu de jus de citron et d'huile parfumée au romarin. Faire revenir un peu de bacon dans une poêle, le retirer et y faire griller les endives 2 minutes de chaque côté. Servir avec le bacon et de la crème fraîche.

La demi-courge butternut est devenue une soupe délicieuse ce soir.

Faire revenir une échalote et une gousse d'ail émincées dans un peu d'huile d'olive dans une casserole moyenne. Peler et couper la demi courge en cubes. Les ajouter à la casserole. Faire revenir 2-3 minutes puis couvrir de bouillon de légumes. Laisser cuire environ 20 minutes ou jusqu'à ce que la courge soit tendre. Laisser refroidir un peu et passer au mixeur-plongeur. J'ai encore ajouté environ 50 mL de lait de coco, des nouilles chinoises et beaucoup de poivre fraîchement moulu.

Et puis, en bonus, une photo des érables au bord du lac à Vidy. Les ramifications font penser à des esquisses japonaises.

Poireaux vinaigrette

Leeks poireaux  vinaigrette is a classic of French bistrots. Strangely, we never had it at home, despite having leeks in the garden every winter.
I have to thank Orangette for making me discover this dish through a blog post 2 years ago. This is definitely my favorite way of eating leeks. The delicate vinaigrette infuses into the tender leeks, the vinegar kicking through the almost sweet vegetable.
I strongly advise to use fresh leeks to make this. It's even better to wait until the ground has frozen, as the frost transforms the sharp onion-like flavour of the leek into sweetness. Good quality mustard and white wine vinegar are also important. As in every recipe with few ingredients, you can really taste each one, so you should use the best.
[recette en français plus bas]

Leeks vinaigrette - serves 2 or 4 as side dish 
Inspired from Orangette

7-8 small leeks
3 TB white wine vinegar
1-2 tsp. Dijon mustard
¼ tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small shallot, chopped

[1] Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Adjust seasoning to taste.
[2] Cut and discard the tough green part from the leeks. Make 2 cuts in the length of each leek but keeping the white bottom part whole, so that the leek still holds together. Wash thoroughly in cold water.
[3] Cook the leeks in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender and their color is slightly muted, 10-15 minutes. Drain and press the leeks into a kitchen towel to remove as much humidity as possible. Don't skip this step or the taste of your vinaigrette will be diluted in leek water.
[4] Serve the leeks warm or at room temperature with the vinaigrette.

Poireaux vinaigrette - pour 2 personnes ou 4 comme accompagnement
Inspiré par Orangette

7-8 petits poireaux
3 CS de vinaigre de vin blanc
1-2 cc de moutarde de Dijon
1/4 cc de sel
4 CS d'huile d'olive
1 petite échalote, hachée

[1] Mélanger tous les ingrédients de la vinaigrette. Corriger l'assaisonnement.
[2] Ôter les feuilles vertes épaisses des poireaux. Couper en 4 dans la longueur mais en gardant la partie blanche du bas intacte de manière à ce que l'ensemble tienne encore. Bien laver pour ôter la terre.
[3] Cuire les poireaux dans une grande casserole d'eau bouillante salée, 10-15 minutes, jusqu'à ce que les poireaux soient très tendres. Bien égoutter puis presser les poireaux dans un linge de cuisine pour ôter un maximum d'humidité. Ne pas négliger cette étape sinon la vinaigrette sera diluée dans l'eau de cuisson.
[4] Servir les poireaux tièdes ou à température ambiante avec la vinaigrette.