Tarragon and Mushroom Chicken Tagliatelle

Everyone needs an easy to cook tasty go-to dish for lazy evenings, and this one ticks all the boxes. I actually cooked this recipe last week after a long day at work. Couldn't be bothered with thinking about dinner, and wanted something that didn't require much time or any special ingredients. The prep time was 10 minutes, and cooking time 35; overall it took me only 45 minutes to get this baby on my plate, and boy was it packed with flavours!


Serves 2


Ingredients:

- 200g of Tagliatelle
- 2 Chicken Thighs
- 1 Onion
- 1 large clove of Garlic
- 4 to 5 Button Mushrooms
- 1 glass of White Wine
- 1/2 cube of Chicken Bouillon
- 1/2 liter of Hot Water
- 5 stalks of Tarragon
- 2 tbs of Crème Fraiche


Start by chopping the onion, crushing the garlic clove, and dicing 3 of the button mushrooms very finely.

Heat up a large pan, add some olive oil, and throw in the chopped ingredients together with the chicken thighs. Cook the thighs until the skin turns golden.

Add the glass of white wine, let the alcohol evaporate for about 2 minutes, and then add in 4 stalks of tarragon, the hot water and the half cube of bouillon (normally one Knorr cube has to be diluted in 1/2 litre of hot water, but here the cube is only used as an enhancer so the bouillon is actually very diluted).

Let the chicken simmer on medium heat for half an hour.

Chop the remaining 2 mushrooms in slices. 10 minutes before the end, take the chicken thighs out, remove their bones and shread the meat in smaller pieces. You can now add the meat back in, as well as the crème fraiche and sliced mushrooms. Adjust seasoning if needed, and start cooking your pasta.

Once the pasta is cooked, place in a bowl, add your tarragon chicken sauce, and delicately add the remaining tarragon stalk for decoration purposes!

Crab Dumplings with a Coriander Sauce Vierge

I absolutely love dumplings but the problem is, cooking them from scratch is a mission of its own.
I however found myself home alone recently, and a mission was exactly what I needed to pass time quicker before the return of my other half.
The ingredients list is actually quite short, but because you need to prepare the dough, the filling, the sauce, and cook the dumplings at the end, some organisation is needed.

Serves 4

Step 1: Prepare the dough

- 250g of flour
- 1 cup of lukewarm water
- 1/2 tsp salt

Start by mixing together the water, the oil and the salt. In another bowl, pour the flour. Form a well and pour half of the liquid. Stir, and slowly add the remaining liquid mix. The mixture should form a ball that will be a bit sticky but able to easily hold itself.
Cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes (You can actually prepare step 2 and 3 during this time).

Once the dough has rested, start kneading for about 10 to 15 minutes. The dough should become elastic and you should be able to stretch it without it breaking.


Step 2: Prepare the filling 

- 200g Crab meat
- 4 Spring onions
- 2 Lemongrass stalk
- Coriander
- 1 thumb sized piece of Ginger
- 2 Limes
- 2 tbs of Soy Sauce

Chop all of your ingredients and quickly blend them using a fork. This will separate the crab meat fibres and give the mix a more homogenous texture.


Step 3: Prepare the sauce

- 4 Fresh Tomatoes (diced)
- 2 Lemons
- Olive Oil
- Coriander
- Salt

Add salt to the diced tomatoes to extract their juices. Add in the lemon juice, olive oil, and chopped coriander.


Step 4: Prepare your wrappers

Put the dough on a floured surface, and spread it as thinly as possible with a rolling pin. Spreading the whole batch of dough really thin might prove difficult, so I would recommend to quarter it first, before rolling each ball individually.

Once you think the dough cannot be stretched anymore, use a pastry cutter to make round wrappers as shown on the picture.

Keep the rolling pin out, and just before adding the filling to your wrappers, re-roll the wrappers once more; you'll be amazed to see they can still be made much thinner.


Step 5: Prepare your dumplings

Take a wrapper, put the equivalent of a teaspoon of filling on the upper half of the circle, and fold the wrapper in two. Use a wet fork fork to seal the edges.


Step 6: Cooking and platting of the dumplings

When you're ready to eat, warm up a pan of boiling water, and add no more than 6 dumplings at a time. Once they start resurfacing, take them out of the water using a slotted spoon. Put them on a plate and finish with a drizzling of sauce.

Asian Sea Bass Papillote

One of the most important concept in Japanese cuisine is to respect the product and I very much agree with this philosophy. When you can get your hands on a beautiful Fresh Fish, not much is needed to make it beautiful. The flavour of sea bass is naturally gorgeous and very delicate, the goal is thus just to enhance it. Steaming will keep the fish moist and allow the aromas and spices you stuff it with to gently infuse the flesh. Here I've chosen Asian herbs and spices, but the same technique can be used for a Mediterranean version, with for instance Lemon, Thyme, and Fennel.

Start by preheating the oven at 200°C. 

Your winning combination of ingredients to this Asian style Sea Bass will be:

-Lemongrass
-Ginger
-Garlic
-One deseeded chili
-Coriander
-Keffir lime leaves
-Kombava fruit or Lime

Roughly chop all these ingredients and put them aside. Score the flesh of the Sea Bass and rub it with salt. Put the seabass on a sheet of foil, stuff it with all your chopped ingredients. If some of it doesn't fit in the cavity, don't throw it away, just put it on the seabass and fold the foil to close the papillote.

Put the papillote in the oven for about 15 minutes for a 300g fish.

Homemade Speck and Mozzarella di Bufala Pizza

Summer is back and that can only mean one thing: Al Fresco dinners and Italian cooking!
I love pizzas, but this dish has been brutalized and played with so many times that it has somehow taken on a reputation of a low quality fast food dish. The truth is Pizza doesn't tolerate well being neglectfully cooked, it needs attention to details, mainly Fresh High Quality products!

First the dough, make it yourself and you'll know what ingredients were used! It should be as simple as Flour, Water, Baker's Yeast and Salt! On a weekend just mix into a bowl 500g of flour, 250 ml of water, a pack of dry baker's yeast and 2 tsp of salt. Kneed for about 10 minutes and let the dough rest for an hour in a bowl, covered with cling film.  Your dough is now ready, cut in 4 and freeze it if you want to use it later.

Tomato Sauce: Don't buy ready made pizza sauce, you'll never achieve the same flavour balance then if you made it yourself.

- 1 can of chopped Tomatoes
- 2 fresh Tomatoes
- Half a big Onion
- 1 big clove of Garlic
- 1 tsp of Chili Powder
- 1 tsp of Oregano
- 1 tsp of herbes de Provence
- 1 tsp of Olive Oil
- Salt

Chop all the ingredients and put them in a frying pan on medium heat, let simmer for an hour. Once again, you can freeze the sauce if you're not planning on using it right away.


The Pizza making:

Preheat your oven at the maximum temperature possible (275°C for me).
Roll the pizza dough on a very well floured surface. You can either use a rolling ping, or simply use your hands by gently stretching the dough and brushing it in circles.

Now only the fun part is left, place the dough on a pizza pan, spread the tomato sauce, (don't use too much or the dough will become soggy), and garnish with speck ham, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, oregano, olives...etc Put in the hot oven for about 10 minutes (you can test if it's cooked by putting a spatula under the pizza, the pizza shouldn't stick to the pan).

Finish by adding fresh basil and some olive oil, and you'll be able enjoy a pizza that will most likely be better than any pizza you'll ever taste outside of Italy!

A Two Days Plan: Asian Poule-Au-Pot/ Mexican Tacos

When cooking for two people, it can be frustrating to always stick to chicken legs or chicken breasts as let's be honest, the results are never as tasty as when you cook a whole bird!
But why shy away from a whole chicken, you just need to make a plan, and you'll be able to fully enjoy the taste and tenderness of this meat... for two days!

On the first evening, I prepared an Asian style Poule-Au-Pot. The concept of this very traditional French dish is simple, slowly cook a chicken in vegetable broth so you end up having extremely tender and moist meat and a soup packed with flavours. The trick here was to use Asian ingredients to make the soup more punchy and add a tangy dimension.

-1 Whole Chicken
-2 Carrots
-1 Leek
-1 Celery Branch 
-1 Onion stuck with 4 Cloves
-2 Garlic Cloves
-1 thumb of Ginger
-3 Shiitake Mushrooms
-2 Limes
-1 tbsp of Yuzu Juice
-1 Keffir Lime Leaf
-Thyme
-Coriander 
-1 Bird's eye Chili
-Salt
-Pepper
-Szechuan Pepper


Rub your chicken with some salt and pepper and put it in a pot. Add some water and bring the pot to the boil (it's important to add room-temperature water as in the process of heating the water with the chicken, the chicken will release its tasty juices in the broth).

Chop the carrots, leek, celery in big pieces, grossly slice the ginger, quickly brush the mushrooms, and crush the Garlic Cloves. Half an hour in, add all the vegetables, herbs, spices, and juices in the broth (keep some coriander aside as it will be a nice last minute addition to the soup).
I thought of using some Yuzu juice because of its tangy and sweet qualities (it could be described as a hybrid between mandarin and lemon), but Lime will be almost as good.
You'll know only need to wait for an hour while the chicken simmers. 

I personally prefer not to season too much the broth at the beginning as the flavours will evolve a lot, and salt can never be removed, so you can taste the broth when close to the end and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

You can now take the chicken out on a board, detail it into piece, serve it with your wonderful broth and vegetables and sprinkle with coriander.

The chicken ends up being so tender it melts in your mouth, but you'll awaken quickly when getting a sip of the tart and spicy soup!


...

The morning after, I of course ended up with the dreaded leftovers, but instead of throwing away all the hard work done, I "recycled" it!
Going from Asia to Mexico I prepared some tacos, and this only took 20 minutes.

-Leftover chicken
-1 cup of Leftover stock
-3 tsp of ground Cayenne Pepper 
-1 tsp Cumin
-1 tsp Paprika
-1 tsp Thyme
-1 tsp Oregano
-1 clove of Garlic

-2 Tomatoes
-1 Red Onion
-Tabasco 
-1 Lime
-Coriander
-Refried Beans
-Grated Cheddar
-Tacos Shells
-Salt
-Pepper 

Warm your oven at 200°C.

Shred the chicken leftovers and put in a hot pan with the spices, garlic, baste with the leftover broth and season, put aside 10 minutes later.
Prepare the salsa by chopping the tomatoes, coriander and onion really finely. Mix them in a bowl with the juice of a lime, some tabasco, and season.

Spread your taco shells on a baking tray, and add layer by layer, the chicken, the refried beans and the grated cheddar. Put in the hot oven for 10 minutes.

Set the tacos on a plate, and sprinkle with tomato salsa.


None of these two recipes are very complicated, but I must say you do get a sentiment of accomplishment and satisfaction for having made two very different and succulent dishes from one good old chicken!

Grilled Lamb Chops and Cannellini Beans/Artichoke Salad

Making a BBQ when you live in an apartment can be a tricky mission, but there is luckily a very good alternative than can fit in anyone's cupboard: the griddle plan.

You'll get the same char taste that we all love, without the charcoal mess. 

This time, I've used my favourite tool to make grilled Irish spring lamb chops with herbs accompanied for a refreshing twist by an aromatic Cannellini beans and artichoke salad.

This was not a fussy meal, but sometimes simple really is better!

-Lamb Chops

-1 Garlic Clove

-Herbes de Provence

-Salt

-Pepper

For the Salad:

-Cannellini Beans

-Artichoke Hearts

-Coriander 

-Basil

-Olive Oil
-Lime

-Salt 

-Pepper 

Marinate the Lamb with Garlic, Herbs, Pepper, and Olive Oil (which will serve as the medium to convey the flavours in the meat) for an hour.

During that time prepare your express salad by simply mixing Beans, Artichoke Hearts cut in 4, chopped coriander and basil. Season with Olive Oil, the juice of a Lime, salt and pepper.

In this case, I decided to quickly boil some new potatoes to make the meal for hearty, but this is optional.

When you're ready to eat, add salt on the chops at the last minute, and put on the hot griddle plan. A useful tip when using a griddle pan is to not set your hobs/gas too hot as the cast-iron will accumulate great amounts of heat very quickly, and excessive heat will burn your ingredients. There is also no need to add oil on the griddle plan itself, as the meat has already been oiled thanks to the marinade.

 Your meal is now ready to be eaten, Al Fresco if possible to enjoy a full Summer experience!

Happa Flavours: Duck Shiitake Gyozas

Hapa is a Hawaian term that denotes someone of mixed descents, hence the title of this blog that refers to my French and Japanese origins.

The following recipe is quite typical of this mix. Gyozas evoke home food to me, simple, comforting, and tasty, but I'm always disappointed when I go to a Japanese restaurant. I thus decided to take things into my own hands and made fresh Gyozas... with a French twist. Gyozas are traditionally either vegetarian or pork based, but my love for Duck being eternal, I went a slightly different route and combined the deep flavour of Duck with earthy Shiitake mushrooms and Chinese 5 spice, the result was more satisfying than I had ever dreamed.

 For 25 gyozas

-300 g of minced duck meat
-5 Shiitake Mushrooms
-6 Chinese Chives
-Half a Chinese Cabbage, finely shredded
-1 Thumb of Ginger
-1 Garlic clove
-3 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
-2 tbsp Soy Sauce
-2 tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar (non sweet)
-Gyoza Wrappers

For the Dipping Sauce:
-2 tbsp of Rice Wine Vinegar
-4 tbsp of Soy Sauce
-2 tsp of Sesame Oil 


Dice all the non liquid ingredients and combine in a mixing bowl.
Add the 5 spice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and mix with your hands to make sure the filling is evenly seasoned and let the filling marinate for 20 minutes.

Prepare the Dipping Sauce in the meantime by simply mixing the Rice Wine Vinegar, Soy Sauce and Sesame Oil.

Take 1 teaspoon of filling and place into the centre of a wrapper (quenelle shape).
Brush the edges of the wrapper with water and fold in half to make half circles. Now for the aesthetic part, crimp the edges of the semicircle about 5 times as shown bellow:

Cooking:

The actual cooking of gyozas is the hardest bit to control in the recipe, and the secret is actually to cook it using 2 different methods.
First, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a non stick pan. Place maximum 8 gyozas at a time with the crimped edges up. Allow to sear for 1 minute until they turn golden and crispy on the bottom. Then add a dash of water ( it should evaporate fully in 2 minutes) and cover immediately. This will allow the rest of the dough to be cooked with the steam.

Serve right away while still hot, and don't forget to dip the gyozas in the sharp and tangy sauce, it complements the deep flavour of the gyozas perfectly.