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

Roast Marinated Quails with Couscous Salad

I just felt like it, I just felt like cooking some quail. It is not an everyday dish, that is for sure. Not because it is a very difficult dish to cook, but more because that quails are not the cheapest bird we can get. But what can I do, I just had this urge of cooking quails.

Quails are game birds, the smallest ones and they are not too gamey, which makes them even nicer. I do like the game taste, but then again, not everybody does. Other game birds are pigeon, partridge and pheasant. And then there is the grouse....not that is really a bird with a strong game taste, but back to the quail.

Mostly quails are sold frozen and already deboned which makes everything so much easier. If you have to debone your quails you are in for a lot of work, but if you get deboned quails, you are ready to cook.

I decided to marinate them in Middle Eastern spices , so I took Ras el Hanout, a Moroccan spice mix and a couple of other spices and marinated the quails for a couple of hours, the fried them in a pan, finished them off in the oven and made a nice couscous salad with it, it was the perfect summer lunch

Just a quick explanation about Ras el Hanout. It is a mix of ground spices consisting of Cinnamon, Cardamom, Cloves, Chili Peppers, Coriander, Cumin, Nutmec and Tumeric. It is available in most specialty shops

So here is the recipe good for 6 friends

Ingredients
6 ea Quails, deboned
Ras el Hanout
Olive oil

100 g (3 oz) Couscous
60 g (2 0z) Dried Dates
1 ea red Chili
1 ea Oranges
18 tips Dill
18 leaves Mint
30 g (1 oz) Pistachio
45 ml (1.5 oz) Olive oil
15 ml (0.5 oz) Champagne Vinegar
1 ea Yellow Peppers
1 ea Red Onions
1 cup Radicchio
1 cup Rocket

Method

Marinate the quails with the Ras el Hanout and Olive Oil for several hours, then fry in a little olive oil till golden brown. Finish the quails off in the oven at 160 C for another 5 minutes, set aside and keep warm.

Cook the Couscous as directed on the box you bought the couscous.

Cut the dates in fine strips

Cut the pepper in julienne

Toast the Pistachio quickly in a dry pan

Cut the Orange in wedges

Slice the red chili

Mix the salad ingredients carefully together and add olive oil and vinegar, season to taste

For serving place the salad on a plate on the radicchio and rocket and garnish with the herbs. Serve the quail right next to the salad and enjoy the meal with your friends

Eating in Miami

I am getting into the sandwich culture here in Miami, there is plenty and something for everybody. From the rich, cheese topped, toasted foot long Sub with everything in it, to the healthy turkey and avocado sandwich....anything goes.

My favourite are the stands where you choose your own ingredients, I think the ultimate of freedom (Welcome to the US). First one chooses the bread, rye, whole wheat, baguette or soft rolls. Then the topping, turkey, beef, pastrami, cheese, chicken salad, tuna mayonnaise, salami, ham and many more, often one chooses single serving or double serving, to make the sandwich nice and thick. Then the toppings, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and to end it off extra mayonnaise, butter, mustard or ketchup.....would you like it toasted? Ohhhhhhh Yes please.

Then there are all the special ones, the Reubens with Pastrami and Sourkraut, then grilled with cheese, or the Cuban Pork which is marinated pork neck roasted in the oven, then sliced, fried again, loads of lettuce and tomato on the bottom, then generously topped with the pork, then cheese, in the oven and yummy, go wild!!!!

Of course being at the sea here there are plenty of fish sandwiches, often Mahi Mahi, grilled, fried or blackened with the usual suspects of tomato and plenty of lettuce. The fish is so fresh and juicy, just a dream.

So one can live off sandwiches very well, some of them are heavy but many are lovely and light and actually very healthy.

I am off for the weekend, so lets see what else is out there, will let you know what is happening here in Miami!!!!

Poached Salmon Salad

I love salmon, especially a good and fresh quality, or salmon trout, especially from Tasmania, lovely stuff. I was living and working for a year in Seattle and was there for the Salmon Run, what an experience to stand at the Locks and watch them jump, then go home and cook some of this lovely fish. For me salmon should be just cooked, I eat is of course as well raw as Sashimi, but when I cook it it has to be moist inside. The recipe today will poach the salmon at 65 o C or 150 0 F. This will just cook the salmon, but leave it tender and moist.


It is actually difficult to believe that about 100 years ago in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries staff was fed salmon daily and they had to make a law regulating the amount of times salmon was fed to staff. In Basel, Switzerland one was not allowed to feed staff more than 5 times a week salmon......now they don't exist anymore in the river Rhine.

There are different types of quality, the main ones being wild salmon and farmed salmon. Wild salmon beats the farmed one hands down, it is slightly leaner and has more flavour, but is a bit more expensive. Then of course there is the salmon trout, smaller than the salmon, but still with the pink meat. Salmon, salmon trout and the common trout are all from the Salmon family.

But now to the recipe, it is a very easy one, but one has to be careful with the cooking of the salmon as it over cooks quickly.

• Salmon fillet
• Rocket leaves
• Fennel, shredded
• Capers
• Oranges
• Raddicchio Rosso leaves
• Olive oil
• Champagne vinegar

Cut the salmon in 120 g pieces and wrap them tightly with plastic or cling wrap. Heat water to 65 o C/150 o F. Poach the wrapped salmon for about 10 to 12 minutes, take them out of the water and let them cool down slightly

In the mean time clean the salad leaves, peel the oranges and cut in segments. Then mix the salad with a bit olive oil, vinegar, season with salt and pepper.

Plate a bit salad on the bottom, hen carefully pull the warm salmon apart and dress on the salad, then top with the rest of the leaves. Drizzle a bit olive oil around and sprinkle salmon pieces with a bit sea salt, best take Maldon Sea Salt.