Organic Rocket

Today I like to share a special recipe with you. It is based on our homegrown rocket, something that our guests are talking about all the times. We grow very successfully rocket since many years, it is just plain big rocket, not the fancy baby one but the flavor is just incredible, it is spicy and slightly bitter, but if combines with a great olive oil and balsamic vinegar it is a delicacy.

The other recipe is a cold soup, just simply with blended rocket, without cooking it. As soon as you cook the rocket it will lose a lot of its vitamins and the spiciness of the fresh rocket. To mellow the flavor a bit I am serving the soup with a sorbet, it will just help with the overall look and of course taste

The secret to get it a little thick is one of my fancy powders, when blended it acts like a gelatin, but does not have to be heated, it just thickens the soup gently. One only needs a little bit of it. Of course one can take normal gelatin as well, just soak it in cold water and then press it out gently. Take a little bit of the soup and melt the gelatin over low fire. Then mix it with the rest of the soup. Just before serving stir it up again as otherwise the sou will be more like a soft pudding.

The I make a sorbet with it, this time it is a green apple sorbet, just to give it a different flavor, otherwise the soup will be a bit boring, the apple will give a pleasant sweetness to it

Last but not least, some almonds and olive oil, this just rounds the soup up and as all the rest of the ingredients is extremely healthy 

The recipe is for 4 friends

Recipe
500 g (1 lb) Rocket
500 ml (0.5 pint) Vegetable stock
4 leaves Gelatin
4 scoops Apple sorbet
20 ml Olive oil
36 Each Almonds, peeled

Method
Wash the rocket well, then blend together with the vegetable stock. Use a high speed or thermo blender to get the best result.
Season to taste
Soak and then melt the gelatin, add to the soup and mix well
Just when serving garnish with the apple sorbet and the almonds

Crab and Avocado Timbale

Another quick dish with crab, this time a starter, very easy to prepare and so delicious in the end.

The easiest way to prepare this dish is actually to buy the crab meat and if you want you can even buy the avocado puree, it will make your life a lot easier. Yes of course it is great to take the meat out of the crabs, but believe me, it takes quite a bit of time and after buying so much crab, you won't have that much meat left over......

I serve the avocado as a puree, just because it looks really nice and tastes delicious. the peppers are roasted, peeled and marinated for a while.

I like this dish a lot because it is a perfect way to start a light summer lunch or if you want to can simply make the salad bigger and enjoy the crab as a salad main course

Recipe
700 G White Crab Meat
100 G Mayonaise
150 G Chopped Celery Stick
20 G Basil Leaf
150 G Red Bell Pepper
150 G Yellow Bell Pepper
150 G Green Bell Pepper
300 g Red Onion
500 G Avacado Puree
300 G Feta Cheese
150 ML Lime Juice
Salt & Pepper

Method
Sautee crab meat with chopped onions and garlic, cool down

Finely chop the celeriac, mix with crab mix and mayonnaise

Roast the peppers in the oven with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary
Cool the peppers down in a bag, then peel
Cut the peppers in wedges and roll them up

Season the crab mix with lime juice, salt and pepper

Serve with baby leaves, cocktail tomato, avocado puree
Lime and balsamic reduction

Cured Salmon

I have been away for a while, but now I am back in full swing with new recipes and tips, some more about travel and other interesting stuff.

One of the first things I did when coming back to work is some cured salmon, or Gravad Lax. This is a wonderful way of marinating fresh salmon, the flavor comes out beautifully and it is extremely versatile. I like to serve it with a honey-mustard dressing, rocket salad and beetroot.

Just a bit about the history of the cured salmon. It was originally done in the middle ages as a way of preserving the salmon as it is a seasonal fish. The fish was simply salted and buried in the sand to ferment. Of course the flavor of the fish was not even close to what we have today, it was a very strong smelling fish, but it gave food to the people in hard times.

Presently the salmon gets cured with a lot more ingredients, the other main ingredient is sugar, but then one uses as well juniper berries, black pepper, mustard seed and dill.

 

I tasted some absolutely amazing cured wild Norwegian salmon when I was in Bergen, Norway. There is one of the most amazing fish markets in the world, it has become very much a tourist attraction, but it is still authentic and a must for every traveller going to Norway. It is amazing the array of fresh fishes one can get there. One is welcome to sample and it is possible to buy some and eat right there. I was fortunate enough to be there early in the morning while working on one of the cruise ships and we had at around 7.30 in the morning tasters of cured and smoked wild salmon on freshly baked bread......with a glass of Aquavit....... yes the day started well. The combination is absolutely wonderful and I was hooked on the wild salmon. Of course I went wild in buying and all the residents on the ship were able to sample the salmon for the next couple of days while back at sea.

Recipe
1 Ea Salmon Fillet
50 G Salt
50 G Sugar
15 G Pepper black coarse
10 G Juniper berries
10 G Caraway seeds
10 G Mustard seeds
2 Ea Lemon rind
2 Ea Orange rind
250 G Dill fresh

100 G Onion

100 G Beetroot

50 G Pommery mustard
20 G Honey
30 Ml Cider Vinegar
75 Ml Oil

100 G Rocket

Method
Remove all the small bones from the fillet
Leave the skin on.
Sprinkle with all the ingredients, starting with salt and sugar
Crush the juniper berries slightly
At the end cover generously with freshly chopped dill.
Leave for three days in the fridge, then slice and serve.

The more salt and sugar used, the faster the salmon will cure.

Roast beetroot in the oven with the skin till soft
Cool, peel and cut in cubes

Slice onions in fine slices

Mix all other ingredients to a nice Dressing

Garnish with rocket salad and toasted brioche bread

Prawn Cocktail

I thought today I do something nice and easy, something that fits well for a Sunday or a dinner party, a Prawn Cocktail. Ahhhh, this is so 70 ties....yes it is but it is an absolute all time favorite. When I was working on the ships I was amazed how many of them we sold every single night during the cruise. It must have been hundreds every single day, so yes you might say that it is old fashioned, but it is a classic.

Now what can we do with a classic? We could go the El Bulli way and do little Spheres and powders and you would not recognize what you eat, or we can just play around with the plating of the cocktail.

That is exactly what I did. So we still have the prawns, I took king prawns, we still have the Thousand Island Dressing and we still have the lettuce. I just like to take nice little fancy lettuces and then plate them nicely like a little mixed green salad, then poach the peeled prawns carefully, cook them down and then add the thousand island dressing. For the salad I usually make a little bit of a honey dressing which really goes well with the Thousand Island Dressing

So, here is the recipe

1 Kg Prawns
150 G Onions
100 G Leeks
100 Ml White wine
15 G Salt
5 G Pepper corns

400 G Mayonnaise
200 G Cream cheese
200 Ml French Dressing
75 Ml Chili Sauce
50 Ml Tomato Sauce
100 G Gherkins
100 G Red Peppers
10 G Garlic
50 G Chives
Tabasco
Salt, Pepper

40 G Lollo Rosso
40 G Baby Spinach
40 G Endive
40 G Frisee
40 G Radicchio

100 G Honey
250 Ml Cider Vinegar
650 Ml Olive oil
10 G Salt
5 G Pepper
10 G Thyme leaves

Method

Prawns
Boil water up with all the ingredient for the Court Bouillon
Peel the prawns the poach in the stock till just cooked
Take the prawns out and cool everything down
Add the prawns back in the stock and let them marinate over night

Thousand Island
Cut the gherkins, garlic and peppers in brunoise
Cut the chives in very fine slices
Mix together mayonnaise, cream cheese french dressing, chili sauce and tomato sauce
Add the brunoise
Season well , it should be a spicy sauce

Salad
Clean all the lettuces

Honey Dressing
Blend all ingredients well together
Season to taste

Plating
Mix the lettuce with a little honey vinaigrette
Plate in the middle of the plate
Add the Prawns around drizzle the Thousand Island dressing on the prawns

Confit Salmon Salad

Today I want to show you a bit of a different way of how to prepare salmon, this time as a Confit. So what is actually a confit? It is pretty simple, usually it is pork or duck that has been very slowly cooked in its own fat. So long that it is nice and tender and falls off the bone.

Of course I can't use salmon fat to make the confit, that would never work and would not be very nice in taste as the fat of the salmon, apart from the one that is in the meat is very strong in flavor....one can see the fat directly under the skin and it has this grey look...usually it is cut away as it is not nice to eat.

So, what should we take to cook the salmon in? Olive oil....a really good olive oil and some spices. I use lemon rind, bay leave, pepper corns, gloves. The the cleaned salmon gets submerged in the oil and the whole lot gets heated up.......only to about 55 to 65 C and very slowly cooked. Then it gets chilled and kept over night in the fridge, so the salmon can marinate some more.

It is a delicious way to eat the salmon, I just flake it carefully and then mix it under garden greens, add some nice vinaigrette to it and finish. Eat it with some nice dark bread, you will see the flavor is even better

Recipe
500 G Salmon Fillet
600 Ml Olive Oil
50 G Endive Lettuce
50 G Radiccio Lettuce
20 G Dill
50 G Lollo Biondo
50 G Red Oak
20 Ml Cider Vinegar
60 Ml Olive oil
0.5 G Saffron
5 G Salt
1 G Pepper

Method
Heat the olive oil to 100 C, then take off the stove
Carefully submerge the salmon fillet in the oil Leave it in for 4 to 5 minutes till the outside is opaque but inside is still pink
Remove from the oil and cool completely
Flake the salmon

Clean the lettuce
Mix gently with the flaked salmon and a bit dressing
Plate in the middle of a plate and serve with brown toast

Happy New Year and another Scallop recipe

Happy New Year everybody

I hope it has been a good one for all of my readers. It has been a good one for me, one with many changes and new challenges.

I said good bye to ships life and have settled on land again, in a place I would not have thought I would be working, but you know how it goes, it usually doesn't end up how one plans these things and like with many other things, one has to go there where the jobs are.

Then when I have arrived in Ghana, I must admit, it was really a good experience. The hotel is amazing and I can be creative again. On the ships the creativity is somehow limited. Here I can say that each recipe I give is actually a recipe of a dish that is serve in our restaurant

I got a lot more followers over the year and the hits on the blog are now on average 150 a day, something I wouldn't have thought it could happen just a year ago.....now only the sky is the limit and I still have so much more to write.

So yes, there are so many more recipes to come. I just made the recipes for the entire New Years Eve Menu and will happily share them with you. Maybe we should just start looking at the menu first, then we go in the kitchen and start cooking. The first course are roast diver scallops on mange tout salad. It is nice and light, the perfect way to start the dinner.

I know I just made a recipe with scallops but it is just twice on the menu in different forms

Recipe
300 G Sugar snap peas
50 G Onions
250 G Tomatoes
50 G Radicchio lettuce
500 G Scallops
50 Ml Olive oil
10 G Salt
1 G Pepper
1 G Saffron
30 Ml Cider vinegar
70 Ml Olive oil
5 G Salt
1 G Pepper

Blanch the sugar snaps very briefly and cool immediately
Blanch the tomatoes, peel and cut in concasse
Cut sugar snaps and radicchio in very fine strips
Season the scallops and fry quickly in olive oil
Mix all ingredients together for the saffron vinaigrette

Plate the sugar snap pea salad in the middle
Top with the warm scallops
Drizzle the vinaigrette around

Seared Scallops and Tomato Mousse on Ratatouille Salad

It sounds delicious, but wait, it is actually just half of the recipe. Yes there is more! The tomato mousse and ratatouille salad are served with olive oil fried scallops and a capsicum vinaigrette. A lovely and light starter that is so easy to prepare.

I have done white tomato mousse before, so this time we are doing a red tomato mousse. It is the same way, cooking the tomatoes, then blending and straining, cool down, add gelatine and whipped cream.....finish...sounds easy enough? No worry, it is easy you will see when you follow the recipe.

Then there is the ratatouille salad, cut the vegetables in small cubes....not just anyhow, no, try to have them exact, 5 mm by 5 mm. I know it is a pain, but that is me, it has to be right. Then cook it like a normal ratatouille, cool down and just add a touch of balsamic vinegar.....yes an old one it will be nicer

Then you quickly prepare the capsicum vinaigrette, something you can even do a couple of days ahead of time, it keeps well in the fridge and can be used for all sorts of salads. Just roast the capsicum in the oven, peel, de pip, blend and add the other ingredients of the vinaigrette, voila and finish....now that was really easy

Then you plate everything and just before serving and adding the vinaigrette, flash fry the scallops. They have to be fried hot and very quick, you don't want to overcook them. I cut them in half, so it goes very fat with the cooking.

Isn't it amazing how easy this dish is to prepare? Mmmmmmm yes, I have to admit, it is not all that easy, it is a bit time consuming and one needs to have a bit experience in cooking the scallops, but let me tell you one thing.....don't be afraid to try something new, just follow the recipe step by step and you will see that you can make a starter at home you usually would only get in a fine dining establishment! Try, just try it out

10 Each Tomatoes
2 Each Basil
1 Each Thyme
50 Ml Champagne
2 Each Egg white
Salt, Pepper
3.5 Each Gelatine leaves
1 Lemon juice
10 Gin
10 Ml Champagne vinegar
Ml Salt, sugar
120 Ml Whipped cream

100 G Zucchini
100 G Eggplant
100 G Onions
100 G Tomatoes
25 G Tomato paste
25 Ml Olive oil Salt, pepper

600 G Scallops
50 Ml Olive oil Salt, pepper

150 G Red peppers
70 Ml Olive oil
30 Ml Cider vinegar
salt, pepper

Chop tomatoes, put in a pot with basil, thyme champagne and egg white

Blend everything, then bring slowly to boil, season

Strain through a Chinoise

Take 300 ml of the puree

Melt the soaked gelatine in it, add lemon juice gin and champagne vinegar

Cool down and fold in whipped cream

Cool in the fridge

Cut the vegetables in 5 mm cubes

Heat olive oil and fry vegetables

Add tomato paste

Simmer till still al dente

Season to taste

Cool completely

Season the scallops and fry quickly in olive oil

Roast the peppers in the oven, cool and peel

Take just the meat of the peppers and blend

Add olive oil and vinegar, season to taste

For the plating put the cold ratatouille in a round ring

Make a quenelle of the mousse and place it on top

 

Put 2 scallops around it and drizzle with vinaigrette

Lobster Terrine

Today we are attempting a different terrine, a lobster terrine. As usual it looks a lot more difficult than it actually is, the only thing you need a lot, is time. It takes a lot of time to prepare everything as you need all your ingredients ready when you start doing it.

I like to take whole lobster tails in the terrine, they have to be poached separately. I usually take a kebab skewer, stick it lengthwise through the peeled tail, then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and then poach them in court bouillon till they are just cooked. I then put them in the fridge immediately to stop the cooking process. Like this the tails will stay the same in the terrine, if they are put in raw they will curl up and the entire terrine will be messed up.

Then I like to put herbs in the terrine, just some parsley and dill, not too much, just for color. I have added some mushrooms as well, some wild ones and then some salmon that I cut in small cubes.

0.5 Lobster meat
0.6 White, firm fish fillet
0.01 Salt
0.005 Pepper
0.05 White wine
0.5 Cream
0.4 Lobster meat
0.4 Oyster mushrooms
0.4 Salmon fillet

Frisee lettuce
Radiccio lettuce
Rocket

Cider Vinegar
Saffron powder
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper, white ground

Season and wrap the lobster tails in plastic like a sausage
Poach in court bouillon till glassy inside
Cool down in the blast chiller
Take the white fish meat, preferably grouper
Make sure it is half frozen, then add to a blender
Blend till fine, then add salt and pepper
Put the mix in a new bowl on ice
Cut the lobster and salmon meat in cubes
Fry the mushrooms in olive oil, season and cool
Carefully mix the ingredients under the mix
At the end add roughly chopped parsley
Put cling film in a terrine form, then add half of the fish mix
Add the poached lobster tail in the middle, press gently
Finish off with the rest of the fish mix
Poach in the oven in a bain marie for about 45 min at 80 C

Chicken Galantine with wild Mushrooms

This is the second time I am writing a blog about Chicken Galantines. Last time I showed step by step how to make one....and yes, it is still a lot of work till it is done but it is so worth the while.

This time I just want to show you a different variation of the Galantine, with dried fruit and wild mushroom salad. It goes with our wild mushroom promotion which has just started and I am sure it will be a great success.

Terrines are great starters of a menu, they are delicate and often involve a lot of work, labour of love I call it.

This time I had about 6 of my chefs with me, so we made a whole training about the Galantine and now they made their first ones themselves....I am very happy because slowly the standard is getting better and better here.

But now I got the recipe for all my readers

Galantine
1.3 Kg Chicken whole
0.3 Kg Chicken breast
0.015 Kg Salt
0.005 Kg Pepper
0.05 Kg Pistachios
0.1 Kg Cepes
0.1 Kg Chanterelles
0.01 L Cognac
0.3 L Cream

Salad
0.1 Kg Cepes
0.1 Kg Chanterelles
0.2 Kg Oyster mushrooms
0.1 Kg Trumpet mushrooms
0.05 Kg Shallots

Dressing
0.05 L Olive oil
0.05 Kg Walnuts
0.1 L Cider Vinegar
0.2 L Olive oil

De bone the chicken carefully, leave skin intact
Blend the chicken breast with salt and pepper
Add ice cold cream continuously till it is a smooth mix
Take it out of the blender, it has to stay cold at all times
Cut cepes and chanterelles, saute quickly in olive oil
Add mushrooms, pistachios and parsley to the mix
Season and add Cognac at the end
Roll the galantine in plastic and tinfoil to form a sausage
Poach in the oven for about 45 minutes till cooked

Clean the mushrooms, saute quickly with shallots and olive oil
Chop walnuts, add vinegar and oil
Let rest over night

Serves 10 portions

Cajun Chicken Salad

Mmmmmm Cajun Chicken is a lovely dish, so I thought to spice the normal chicken salad up a bit I will marinate my chicken breast in Cajun spices, then roast it in the oven. Then I deep fried some plantain which go wonderfully with the spicyness of the chicken. The dressing then is vhili infused, and a bit of sugar in it as well, so the combination is really tantalizing

It is actually one of our new salads we will serve on the new a la carte menu and all the readers of this blog are lucky as I am busy with doing all the recipes and photos, I can share them with you here on the blog

Recipe
50 G Lollo Rosso
50 G Endive
50 G Radicchio
50 G lettuce local
20 G Italian parsley
1 Kg Chicken breast
50 G Cajun spice
1 Kg Plantain
75 Ml Plain oil
25 Ml Cider vinegar
10 G Chili, red salt pepper
10 G sugar

Method

Wash all the lettuce leaves
Rub the chicken breast with Cajun spice
Heat the oil and fry in the pan till colored
Finish off in the oven, make sure the breast stay juicy
Cool the chicken down
Slice, one breast per person
Deep fry the plantain

Dress Chicken and plantain on top of the lettuce

Pea Brulee

Pea Brulee? You mean like a Creme Brulee but made with peas? Yes that is exactly it. So it is actually a savory dish but with a sweet hint from the peas and the caramelized sugar on top.

There is nothing new about savory custards, the japanese made it since hundreds of years and we do it too, for example with the Consomme with egg custard, which is lovely.

I love the pea brulee because it is so versatile, it can be combined with smoked or cured salmon, with seafood or as a vegetarian dish, so it really works with so many things and on top of that, it is really easy to be done

Today I serve with with marinated green and white asparagus and a little salad with tomato vinaigrette. The cinaigrette has a lovely acidity that balances the brulee so well, one really has to have them together to get the full flavor.

Here is the recipe

Pea Brulee
1500 G Peas
1000 Ml Cream
400 G Eggs
80 G Eggyolk
Salt, Pepper
Lemonjuice

50 G Brown Sugar

Method
Boil up cream and peas
Blend till very fine and strain
Add the eggs and eggyolk, season to taste
Poach in the oven at 110 o C for 20 min
When finished put immediately in the fridge
Pour sugar on the brulees and flambe

Tomato Vinaigrette
15 Each Tomatoes
50 G Tomato Paste
25 Ml Olive oil
10 G Garlic
1 Bunch Basil
Salt, pepper, sugar
150 Ml White Balsamic vinegar
250 Ml Olive oil

Method
Cut the tomatoes in concasse
Blend off cuts and pips
Chop garlic and saute in olive oil without colour
Add tomato paste and fry some more
Blend off cuts and pips
Blend garlic , tomato paste and offcuts in a soup blender.
Add the white balsamico
Monter with olive oil
Strain in a dish, add concasse and basil julienne
Season to taste

Spiced Butternut Salad

A new menu has started and of course we have a salad on it. The menu is all about spices, from Saffron to Chili to Harissa, Curry and Tandoori and of course I will share the recipes here. Like the title gives it away, I like to start with the salad. I love salads and like to experiment a bit with them. This one here is a very simple salad, totally vegetarian and delicious. The Butternut is cut in small cubes which are then roasted with spices and honey. The sweet chili dressing is really simple with bought sweet chili sauce, honey and a good vinegar and to give the whole salad some more texture, I made deepfried potato spaghetti and topped the salad with it.

To cook with spices is one one side challenging but on the other side very rewarding. It gives so much flavour to the food and atthe same time one can cut down a bit on the salt, which makes everything healthier again. Even in salads one can play with spices. For Example instead of doing a simple chicken Caesar, try to season the chicken with Cajun Spices, I tell you, the salad will have a lovel lick to it and taste delicious

But now to the recipe

750 G Pumkin
10 G Cinnamon
30 G Honey
25 G Chili
Salt, Pepper
75 G Green Oak Lettuce
75 G Red Oak Lettuce
75 G Lollo Rosso Lettuce
75 G Lollo Biond Lettuce
100 G Rocket Lettuce
50 G Cilantro
100 G White Beans
75 G Sweet Chili Sauce
15 G Sesame Oil
25 G Cider Vinegar
50 G Sunflower Oil

Peel the pumpkin and cut in 1 cm cubes
Season with Cinnamon, Honey, Chili, Salt and Pepper
Roast in the oven till tender
Clean all the lettuce leaves
Mix all ingredients for the dressing
Plate the lettuce in a deep pasta bowl
Sprinkle with the roast pumpkin
Drizzle with the dredssing

Spring Vegetable Salad

Another lovely salad is the spring vegetable salad. I give you a recipe but this does not mean that you really have to follow it, this is just a piece of art that is great to look at and very healthy to eat. It is gluten free and of course vegetarian. I just put it on the menu because the colors are so pretty and one can really play around a bit, so go wild and see what you can find on the farmers market, bring it home and put it in your salad.

I am finding more and more interesting goods here in Ghana, OK, still a lot is imported but I found some organically grown products here and i will write soon about them. I am very excited as I didn't expect all of these products

But now to the salad, it is something you can play with, just make it look really pretty

75 G Frisee lettuce
75 G Chicory lettuce
75 G Lollo rosso lettuce
75 G Radiccio lettuce
100 G Cocktail tomatoes
100 G cucumbers
100 G Snow Peas
100 G Fine green beans, French
100 G Baby Beetroot
100 G Baby Carrots
75 G Arugula lettuce
75 Ml Olive oil
25 Ml Sherry vinegar
Salt, Pepper

Clean all the lettuce
Blanch the vegetables
Cook the baby beetroot and peel carefully
Arrange the lettuce leaves nicely on a large plate
Top with baby vegetables
Mix olive oil and vinegar, season with salt and pepper
Drizzle over the salad

Nicoise Salad

And another salad recipe, again a total classic and great for summer. I love the combunation of freshly grilled tuna and the salad, I know often the Nicoise is made with canned tuna, but I prefer it fresh, just cooked medium rare. Of course you need to make sure you have a high quality tuna for that.

As the name says, this salad is actually from the Nice region of the Mediterranean France. It is beautiful there and the food is absolutely amazing, there are artichokes, olives, tasty tomatoes, aubergines and so much more that the list would be so long you could not believe it. Food is very important for the loacal people and the Nicoise is one of their great dishes, maybe the best known of them all.

So, then lets get to it, the third salad of this little mini series of beautiful and healthy salads

Recipe
150 G French Beans
100 G Onions, red
100 G Tomatoes
150 G Potatoes
50 G Olives
5 Ea Eggs
50 G Frisee lettuce
50 G Endive lettuce
50 G Lollo Rosso lettuce
50 G Green Oak lettuce
100 Ml Olive Oil
50 Ml Sherry Vinegar
Salt Pepper

800 G Tuna, fresh

Boil the eggs till just hard, peel and cut in wedges
Boil the potatoes till soft, peel and dice
Dice the tomatoes
Clean the lettuche
Toss the vegetables and olives with the vinegar and olive oil
Season to taste
Grill the tuna steak rare
Plate the lettuce, then add the vegetables
At the end top with the tuna steak Drizzle with some more Olive oil and black pepper

Caprese Salad

Mmmmmm Caprese, this must be Italian and somehow it is, it is very Italian but it is by now one of the most favorite salads in any corner of the world. The fancy name of Caprese is actually just a simple Tomato and Mozzarella salad, but not just any Mozzarella, it has to be Buffalo Mozzarella.

Buffalo Mozzarella is a fresh cheese that is usually sold in bags swimming in its own water. The taste is absolutely delicious and cannot be compared with these "Mozzarella" Blocks one buys to grate and put on the Pizza. There are as well normal Mozarella balls made from cows milk, they are made exactly the same way like Buffalo Mozzarella, just instead of Buffalo milk one takes Cow's milk.

I see even here this salad is so popular, served not just with Arugla (Rocket) but as well some Endive and Radiccio Lettuce for the color. Of course there is basil and then we make a reduction of Balsamic vinegar and a bit honey that is then mixed up with some really nice Olive Oil

So enough talking, I am getting

already get hungry just thinking about it

10 Each Tomatoes

5 Balls Buffalo Mozzarella

1 Bunch Basil

1 Bunch Rocket lettuce

1 Head Endive lettuce

1 Head Radiccio lettuce

100 Ml Olive Oil

100 Ml Balsamic Vinegar

30 G Honey

Salt Pepper black

Slice the tomatoes Slice the buffalo Mozzarella

Clean the lettuce leaves

Place the lettuce prettily on a large plate

Layer one slice of tomato and then one slice of mozzarella always with a little basil between each slice

Reduce Balsamic vinegar with honey to half

Cool down completely

Drizzle salad with Olive Oil and Balsamic Add some ground pepper

Lyonnaise Salad

We are now having one special after the other, the lobster week is finished and was a great success, we sold a lot of dishes and people in town know that every time they come to us there is something new, something exciting. Next on my list is making some healthy salads

Unfortunately here in Ghana we don't get a lot of varity in lettuce, it is mostly just called salad and everybody has the same, so we got together with a food enthusiast who is importing gourmet delicacies from France to Ghana and he is nw bringing in a variety of salads that are nowhere else to be found. That makes my life easy and happy as with these beautiful products it is an absolute pleasure to work.

I like to start with a Lyonnais Salad which is basically loads of frisee lettuce with a poached egg, croutons and crispy bacon. Even the eggs are coming from France as the local eggs are not always up to our high hygiene standard and I am always extremely careful when it comes to eggs, especially if they are not cooked through.

So here is the recipe, enjoy it, it is really a great salad which is easy to prepare and extremely effective with your guests

150 g Frisee lettuce

100 g Oak leave lettuce

100 g Lollo verde lettuce

100 g Chicory lettuce (Endive)

50 g Italian Flat leaf Parsley

150 g Bread Croutons

8 ea Eggs

200 g Streaky Bacon

75 g Pommery Mustard

50 Ml Champagne Vinegar

25 g Honey

100 ml Olive oil

Clean all the lettuce and dress in a deep pasta bowl

Fry the bacon till crispy

Poach the eggs till soft in the center

Mix all ingredience for the dressing

Plate the soft warm poached egg in the salad and add the crispy bacon

Drizzle everything with the dressing