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Louisa's warm avocado salad

14/9/2013

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Easy, surprising, delightful salad, served as an entréee or as a side dish, it combines the tendresse of the warm avocado with the firm flesh of the prawns flavoured by the subtle touch of spinach aroma.

Forfour

Ingredients

2 avocados cut in half then in double half again and again…
500g of fresh English spinach
12 unpeeled prawns (from sustainable source)
2 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
Salt and pepper
A little bit of butter X 3

Methods

Heat a frypan over medium heat.
Add a little bit of butter.
Wash the fresh prawns in running water twice then dry them with a paper towel.
Add the fresh prawns in the frypan and let them cook until brown on both side, don’t overcook! it should be fine after 3-4 minutes on each side.
Set aside.
On the same frypan.
Add a little bit of butter.
Add the washed fresh spinach at once even if it looks like it is overloading the pan, turn it, then turn it until tender (it will reduce very quickly)
It should be fine after 3-4 minutes.
Set aside.
On the same frypan.
Add a little bit of butter.
Add the sliced avocados with the skin, on the flesh side.
Turn them regularly, until a nice leaf color autumn veil them.
Once it is done, add the reserved cooked spinach and the reserved cooked prawns in the same frypan.
Lower the heat to a minimum in order to keep them warm until you serve.
Salt and Pepper should be added at that stage according to your taste.

It is a nice easy entréee which will surprise your guest as it not that often that avocados are served, braised and warm, and it is a delight !

You can serve it as a side dish or warm first course or as a main, maybe add a simple puree or add more prawns.

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Pasta Vongole, Venise, Venise, Venise

12/9/2013

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Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I think, hum… lets cook Pasta Vongole for dinner!! I must have been dreaming all night long that I lived in a shell, deep on the Venice ocean floor Oui, oui I know I fell into a soup casserole when I was a baby and have never recovered since…. But I tell you, this extra simple recipe is a must-try and is easy to cook in few minutes. Besides, it makes a beautiful plate with pasta cooked al dente, holding in their twists and turns nice shells with a touch of red from the subtle tomatoes and refreshing chillies…

The most important thing is timing.

Ingredients
For four

500g spaghetti
200g cherry tomatoes
800g pipis (cockles) from sustainable sources (with their shells) scrubbed clean.
One red chilli, finely sliced
2 soup spoons of olive oil
250ml white wine
A small bouquet of flat parsley, finely sliced
2 or 3 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a big casserole of water to the boil (roughly 2-3L)
Add the pasta to the boiling water and put on the back burner to cook.
In a sauce pan, on medium heat, add the olive oil, the tomatoes chopped in two and the garlic. Let them cook for 3,5/4 minutes.
Add the wine, the pipis, the parsley, salt and pepper and crumble in the chilli.
Stir constantly.
Let it cook on medium/high heat until the pipis open and look happy.
Get rid of any clams that haven’t opened. This step is very important, as those which have not opened might be not fresh and should not be eaten.
By now the pasta should be cooked ; drain the water, put back the drained pasta to the pan and add the sauce.

Serve immediately with a little bit of grated cheese on the side and some fresh bread to mop up the sauce.

Enjoy !!!

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Spiced Lamb Shanks

1/9/2013

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Spiced Lamb Shanks

Love it, love it , love it, so comforting and easy slow cooking recipe.
You cook it until they are just falling apart. Just to think about it and I have the incredible flavours in my mind, on my lips…

For 4 gourmets
Preparation : 15 minutes
Cooking time : – 2 hours to 2.30h

Ingredients
4 lamb shanks, trimmed
4-6 tablespoons olive Oil
8 garlic cloves peeled and crushed
2 medium onions peeled and finely chopped
350 ml red wine
500 ml vegetable or chicken stock or both
2 tbsp of Balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of Tomato paste
a hand full of pitted prunes
a hand full of almonds.

Spices :
1 tbsp Taragon
1 tbsp Cayenne pepper or 1 small dried red chili
1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp Tumeric
1 bay leaf
2 springs of fresh thyme
1 springs of fresh rosemary
A small bouquet flat parsley
A small bouquet of coriander ( if not available, ground coriander will do)
Salt and Pepper

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.
The saucepan needs to be large enough to accommodate the shanks in a single layer.
Sear the shanks in the hot oil until well browned on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Return the pan to medium heat and add the sliced onions and garlic until soften.(3minutes)
Season with all the spices.
Pour in the red wine, the stock, the balsamic vinegar and the tomato paste.
Add sea salt and quite a lot of pepper.
Return the shanks to the saucepan.
Cover the pan with its lid and bring the mixture to the boil.
Then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2 hours.
Every ½ hour turn the shanks.
After the two hours add the prunes and almonds.
Let simmer ¼ to ½ hour more or until the meat is very tender.

If the sauce is too liquid, remove the lamb shanks from the pan, increase heat to high and bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat and uncovered, stirring occasionally, let the sauce thicken to the desired consistency.
Harmonize the salt and pepper level.

The recipe can be cooked in advance and needs to be re-heated when the time comes.

I serve this absolutely delicious winter recipe with a simple creamy mashed potatoes /puree (link) and a glass of Pinot noir.
Bon appetit !!

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Author

I wish to share with you my cuisine. For me cooking is cultivating an art as delicate
as it is succulent.
It gives l'amour de la vie, heals and softens the abrupt edges of life.
I love comments and feedback, and please, don't hesitate to share as well your best recipes with us, write them in Contact and it will be posted

Louisa's warm avocado salad

Pasta Vongole, Venise, Venise, Venise

Spiced Lamb Shanks

Spiced Lamb Shanks

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