A Triathlete Cooking Spot

Warm Goat Cheese w/ Vanilla Tomato Salad

2011-03-06T21:56:00.000-05:00

It has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog, actually more than a year! Recently a friend and teammate of mine, reminded me of the blog and suggested that I'd come back to it... As an added incentive, she brought back from a trip to Indonesia a whole bundle of Vanilla beans and so kindly gave me several of them. Thank you! You know who you are... Some others can probably put 2 & 2 together and figure it out!
Anyway, this was a thoughtful, wonderful gift, which I have to put to good use. A special gift calls for special attention. Dear vanilla, aroma of far away tropical places, hints of sweetness, reminiscent of a woman skin's fragrance, I visualize myself by a blue lagoon, where the sun lights up the skin. Corny isn't it? That's why I'd rather cook than write poetry...
So I have been searching for an acceptable recipe in my usual recurring theme: tasty, light, quick to make and savory. I did not want to fall in the common set of vanilla usage, but find instead something a little more unusual. This will be the first posting of a series of vanilla focused recipes.
So tonight I choose to make for dinner this very light recipe for a clean finish of the day. It could be served as an appetizer as well.

Warm Goat Cheese w/ Vanilla Tomato Salad
(4 servings)

For the salad:
a container of mixed greens
2 pints of cherry tomatoes (can be replaced for striking effect by 8 medium size heirloom tomatoes)
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
salt crystals

For the dressing:
1 vanilla bean
2 tbsp of lemon infused olive oil (if not available, replace by 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice - preferably Meyer lemons)
1 tsp of red wine vinegar
1 tsp of salt crystal

For the goat cheese:
2 bijoux or Crottins de Chavignol
4 slices of country bread
olive oil

Turn on your oven broiler.
Start by preparing the vanilla dressing. Slit the vanilla bean and extract the seeds using a knife. Place all the seeds in a bowl with the other ingredients, emulsionize with a whip or a fork.
Toast the bread slices, lightly rub olive oil and cut the goat cheese in 2 halves, placing a half goat cheese on each slices of bread. Place under the broiler to obtain a slight melt. Be cautious as it will go fast...
Do not remove the tomato seeds or skins. Half the cherry tomatoes after having washed them (if using heirloom tomatoes, cut them in 8 pieces). In a mixing bowl, toss the tomatoes and the dressing together.
Lay a handful of mixed greens on a plate, garnish with some tomatoes, and place the warm goat cheese on toast beside it. Just before serving (be quick as you want the goat cheese to still be warm), sprinkle some chopped chives and salt crystal on top of the salad.
Serve with either a glass of chilled Sauvignon Blanc or a Chardonnay.
Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Compote of Banana & Orange with Vanilla

2009-11-10T07:45:00.008-05:00

So yesterday, my "End-Of-Week" Soup cooked all day in the crockpot. We came back home and this wonderful cooked vegetable and chicken smell was throughout the house... Oh wonderful feeling, not to have to cook anything... Serve, sit and eat... Well, well... I couldn't resist to do a little sweet dessert for the family. I had tasted this dessert several years ago (2002 or 2003) at Le Gavroche, Michel Roux Jr's restaurant in London and I had loved its delicateness. Chef Roux is an avid marathon runner and he wrote a cookbook called The Marathon Chef - Food for Getting Fit. He was kind enough at the time to sign one copy for me.

His dessert was then prepared with muscovado sugar instead of the brown sugar I used tonight. Muscovado has a slightly lower sugar content with a more intense taste. It carries notes of anis seed, caramel and coffee... Huuummm...

A quick note - when doing pastry/desserts, you ought to use a metric scale as it is more accurate. Pastry is almost like chemistry. It is a precise science... Of course, it is more important for some desserts than others. Most household electronic scales will have a oz & gram function.

Banana & Orange Compote with Vanilla: (4 persons) - 35 minutes

Ingredients: 4 bananas, 6 oranges, 2.5 oz (75g) granulated sugar, 2 vanilla pods, 4 oz (120g) brown sugar, 30 ml dark rum

Peel and julienne the skin of 2 oranges. Juice the oranges and reserve. Cover the orange peel julienne in cold water and bring to a boil, strain and repeat 2 more times. While boiling the peels, prepare a sugar syrup with the granulated sugar and 100 ml of water. Once the peels have been boiled 3 times in cold water and drained, cover the peels with the sugar syrup. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes to make candied orange peel.
While you are making the candied orange peel, peel the remaining oranges and divide them in segment being careful to remove the membranes between each segments. Do not waste any juice, press the remaining core and segment membranes as well as peel for any juice. Add it to the pressed one made earlier.
Place all the juice in a pan, with the split vanilla pods, the rum and half of the brown sugar. Boil & reduce by 1/3.
Peel the bananas, slice and add to the juice. Simmer stirring with a wooden spoon until lightly cooked. Remove the vanilla pods, Portion the bananas and juice in 4 terracota ramequins or shallow bowls. Arrange the orange segments on top, sprinkle the remaining brown sugar and glaze under the broiler or with a blow torch as I did here (see picture). Decorate with the candied orange peel.

This dessert served warm is delicious... You could even, after a hard and long training day, gives yourself a little satisfaction by adding a small portion of good quality vanilla ice cream!

End of the Week Vegetables and Chicken Soup

2009-11-09T18:28:00.001-05:00

Fall is here, winter is coming, but throughout the year, I have basically made a similar recipe roughly once a week. It all depends on how much I cook, what recipes I try or repeat, etc... When shopping, either the product packaging requirements or my pars are off sometimes. So I have instituted this recipe which is basically the leftovers either in a stew or soup format.
I try to avoid wasting anything so I will use vegetables peelings (specifically turnips, carrots, etc...) if they are clean and in a good shape or when some unused vegetables are starting to wilt or rot, it's time to make a soup...

Green Vegetables & Chicken Soup:
Ingredients: 5 small zucchinis washed, quartered in length and diced, 1 cup of green peas, 3 branches of celeri washed and diced, 1 cup of wilted romaine salad, 1/2 cup turnip peelings (from another recipe), 3 tomatoes quartered, 3/4 qt beef stock, 1/2 qt chicken stock, leftovers of a roasted chicken, 1/2 cup sage leaves wilted, salt, pepper

In a crock pot with a low setting, pleace all the diced vegetables, herbs and pulled meat from the chicken (remove all bones) and pour the stocks. Cover and set on the low setting in the morning prior to leaving for work. When back, the soup is ready...
We traditionally eat it as is witout blending it. If there is soup left, I blend it and let it cool. When cooled I pour it a liter size empty bottles of water (3/4 of the way, otherwise the bottle will pop in the freezer) and freeze for later us when I do not have any time to cook!

Boeuf Bourguignon et Celeri Remoulade

2009-11-08T21:16:00.000-05:00

Tough challenge to manage kid's homework, work, search for a new job, triathlon training, overuse injury post marathon and the resulting frustrations, not to forget weight... Oops... And a blog... My appetite is still the same as when I was training for my A race... so... Yep! I've put on 6 lbs in a blink!

Today, I had a little more time so I decided to tackle one of my old favorite recipes. This was a dish my mother used to make often and it created a wondeful smell in the house coming back from school. It's also one of the first I learned how to make! Hopefully it'll come out just the way my mother used to make it. Le Bœuf Bourguignon!! A wonderful braised meat in a delicious Bourgogne wine w/ pearl onions and bacon, served on a bed of pasta... Rectification: tonight it will be served with a green salad and a Céleri Rémoulade. Salad will be for the recovery part of the training! On a buildup periodisation, I would serve the Bœuf Bourguignon either with steamed potatoes & parsley or with a dish of tagliatelle, cooked "al dente" and just drizzled with olive oil.

The appetizer part of our meal tonight is the Céleri Rémoulade. This is a very typical recipe of the Parisian catering and butcher shops. It is very simple, quick and healthy, specifically if you substitute a light mayonnaise. Celery is an excellent source of vitamin C, fibers, folic acid, potassium, vitamin B1, B2 & B6. It is also said that celery has anti-cancer and lowering blood pressure properties… Actually, celery root juice (using a juice extractor) is a great post-workout replacement electrolyte due to its natural high concentration of sodium and potassium!

Céleri Rémoulade (Celery Root Salad): (4 Persons)
Ingredients: 1 large celery root, ¼ cup lemon juice, 1 tsp salt, ½ cup mayonnaise, 2 tbsp of spicy mustard, 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar, salt & pepper

Peel the celery being careful of removing all roots parts, wash and shred using the fine grate. Toss in the juice and a tsp of salt, mix in well. Hold in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Prepare the rémoulade sauce by mixing the mayonnaise with the vinegar and mustard. Add pepper and salt to taste.
Drain the celery and using your hands press out any remaining lemon juice. Mix well in the sauce. You want to add the sauce to the shredded celery progressively as the amount of sauce will be dependent of the size of the celery root. You want it coated, not drenched in sauce…
Just before serving, sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley or chopped green pitted olives.

Bœuf Bourguignon only requires a good red table wine, however made with a good Bourgogne wine it becomes a very delicate dish. Every French family has a recipe each with slight variations (some will have a couple carrots or button mushrooms, others will use a few shallots instead of pearl onions), however the consensus is that the dish becomes even better when warmed up again… So as triathletes with a job and in some cases with a family, who seldom have extra time, it is an interesting recipe to work on as you can make it on a Sunday, post bike work out and then chill it and either freeze or refrigerate portions of it for a fantastically tasty meal during the week. 20-30 minutes warming it up on the stove on medium heat and voila!

Bœuf Bourguignon: (6 persons)

Ingredients: 3 lbs of beef chuck or rump, 2 tbsp flour, 1 lbs of thick slices bacon diced in ½ inch , 20 pearl onions, 1 tbsp of butter, 1 bottle of red wine 13 proof minimum, salt & pepper, nutmeg, 1 bouquet garni (thyme and bay leaf tied together).

In a deep sauce pan with heavy bottom, gently sweat the onions and the diced bacon. When they start to turn golden, remove them from the cooking pot and reserve. Add the butter, let melt on medium-high heat to avoid it to turn black, add the meat, sprinkle the flour and let the flour brown a little. Pour the entire red wine bottle (open a 2nd bottle, not to be tempted to drink your cooking wine…) and add some water so the meat is just covered. Add salt and pepper, a dash of grated nutmeg, the bouquet garni and bring quickly to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmering and add the diced bacon. Simmer without covering for 1:30 to 2 hours. Add the onions 20 minutes before the end.

Again, you can serve this dish with steamed or boiled potatoes or even French Fries. As a child, it was always with fresh pasta. Tonight because of calories and my training level, I will serve it with a green salad of mesclun with a simple red wine vinaigrette.

Pesto Silders

2009-11-05T11:26:00.002-05:00

Found this recipe in Cooking Light - November 09 issue and decided to do it last night! Super easy and tasty... Unfortunately they were eaten before I could actually take a picture... So I will have to come back to this recipe another day just for teh sake of pictures! And I already see the variations I'll be creating on this recipe. I will report them here for your enjoyement!

Pesto Sliders: (4 persons counting ONLY 2 sliders each...) - 20 minutes max!!
Ingredients: 1 lbs ground lean beef, pesto, 8 mini hamburger buns (we bought the whole grain ones at Wegmans), 2 medium tomatoes, salt, pepper, ground cumin, shaved parmiggiano
Season the meat to taste with the salt and pepper, add a generous pinch of cumin (now the Cooking Light recipe does not call for it, but as always I digress with variations and trying out flavors - Cumin pairs very well with red meat & has digestive help benefits). Mix well with a fork (If using your hands, make sure they are OBVIOUSLY clean! And do not forget under the nails... The reason I make this comment is that I cooked our meat medium rare, 130F which does not kill all...) and separate in 8 meat patties. Warm the buns in the oven, heat the grill pan on the stove or even a BBQ if you feel like it... Spray the pan with a good quality pan spray. Grill the meat to your desired cooking temperature...
Spread pesto on the lower part of the bun, top with a slice of tomato. Place the patties inside the buns, top witha couple shaving of cheese and serve immediately with some ovenable French Fries and a simple green salad. Et Voila! A quick, easy and tasty meal!

I will talk tomorrow about the everyday vinaigrette I make.

Ropa Vieja with Capers and Olives

2009-11-02T21:35:00.001-05:00

All right on this one, I cheated a little as I cooked this dish yesterday afternoon. It truly requires 20 minutes of cooking time in a pressure cooker, but add up the ingredients prep and you find yourself deviating from my initial rule of 30-40 minutes dishes. Overall, with prep and cooking this dish takes about 50 minutes, however if you organize yourself correctly and cook this meal ahead over the week end, it will keep in the fridge well. You only have to heat the dish for about 20-25 minute at medium setting to have an excellent dish ready.
You can even freeze this meal ahead and use as needed when you do not feel like cooking!

Another variation, definite time saver & most likely my choice next time I will prepare this meal, would be to seal the meat juice in a saute pan by searing the meat (NOT COOKING IT!) and "sweating" the vegetables in the same pan after the meat. Do not clean the pan between as the vegetables when sweating will render liquid which will lift the searing juice from the pan and give a wonderful flavor. This can eb done the night before, rserve in the fridge until morning, and just before going to work, place all the ingredients with the seared beef and sweated vegetables in a crock pot on low setting. When you'll come home, you will be welcomed by the wonderful aroma of this Cuban Pot Roast recipe! Additionally, the slow cooking of the crock pot will allow the meat to be slowly braised, dissolving all its conjonctive tissues and rendering it so tender it will melt in your mouth! You will only have left to cook that night a rice pilaf seasoned with a generous pinch of saffron.

Cuban Pot Roast (Ropa Vieja): (4 Persons)
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 lbs. (3/4 in thick) beef chuck steaks, cut into 4 or 6 pieces, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp ground black pepper, 1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedge, 3 fancy cloves,15 baby carrots cut in half or 2 carrots, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch chunks, 1 celeri branch cut in 1/2 in chunks, 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips, 2 garlic cloves finely chopped, 1 28 oz jar of tomatoes in juice, drained and chopped, 1 cup low sodium beef stock, 1/2 tsp oregano, pinch of cinnamon, 1/4 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives, 2 tbsp capers rinsed.

Heat the oil in the pressure cooker, sear the meat until browned on all sides. Remove, season with salt & pepper and reserve for later.
Place in the cooker the onion in which you have inserted the fancy cloves, carrots, red pepper and garlic. Sweat until the vegetables began to soften, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, oregano and cinnamon. Stir well to scrap all meat pan searing. Add the meat and any juices.
Lock the pressure cooker's lid in place and bring to high pressure on high heat. Adjust the heat to maintain a consistent pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat, release the pressure and open the lid while being careful of the escaping steaming. IT SCOLDS! Transfer the meat to a warm serving platter, cover with foil and keep warm until serving time.
Let the cooking liquids stand for about 5-7 minutes and remove any excess fat from its surface. Add the olives and capers and cook for 3-5 minutes over high heat to reduce. When slightly thickened, pour over the meat and serve immediately.

I served this dish tonight with a saffron mixed rice pilaf made of wild rice, red whole rice and kamut rice. Because of the wild rice and the red whole rice, cooking time should be about 40 minutes. Proportions are as follows: for every measure of rice, you will need 3 measures of water (here you could use a mix of vegetable stock and water - if using a stock, make sure it is low sodium). I also added to the cooking liquid 2 large pinches of Iranian Saffron (The best one!) and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer until all liquid have disappeared. The rice is ready.

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

2009-11-02T08:30:00.004-05:00

I have been focusing so far on lunch or dinner recipes, so today I have decided to prepare a breakfast item. This morning I could not make the "Boot Camp" with Team Z, intense work out session focusing on dynamic stretches, strength building, etc... As we are starting our new winter focus, Coach Ed is having us follow a strength periodization with anatomical adaptation today. I ended up working out at home for about one hour. Pfeewww! Hard work out.

In foresight, last night, I "prepped" all the necessary ingredients and place them in different air-tight containers in the fridge, ready to be assembled and blended!

Hell to pay probably tonight as the sound of the blender at 5 am in a sleepy family home may not be a welcome one for all....

Blueberry & Banana Smoothie (4 persons)

Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas, 9 oz blueberry (fresh or frozen), 7 fl oz of milk, 2 tbsp maple syrup

Peel, chop and put the bananas in the blender with the blueberries, milk and maple syrup. Reserve 2 blueberries per glass and a thin slice of banana to decorate the drinks.

If by any chance you have a couple leaves of fresh mint in your fridge, throw 2 leaves in the blender for an added flavor twist and reserve one for decoration as well.

This smoothie provided me with the right amount of fuel for my work out session. If on a week end, I would have used this recipe as a post work out recovery drink as it is very nutritious, packed with fiber, antioxydants and proteins.

Button Mushroom and Spinach Salad

2009-11-01T22:52:00.000-05:00

At lunch today, my wife had left for some errands, so my daughter and I shared this quick and super light salad recipe. To accompany it, we grilled some pork chops to internal temperature of 160F. A few slices of bread and we had a complete, well-balanced healthy meal!

Button Mushroom & Spinach Salad
This is definetely a low calorie recipe at about 100 calories (460kjoules). It is very easy to make, quick (no more than 10-15 mn) very fresh tasting and a great summer recipe. It's a great accompaniement to a grilled meat for examples. We would serve it with a French baguette as well.
Ingredients (6 persons):
11 oz white button mushrooms, 6 oz of baby spinach leaves, 1.7 fl.oz (1/4 cup) lemon juice, 6 tsp peanut oil, salt and pepper, chives
Clean the mushroom by removing the stem end and all dirt, wash them and slice them. Pour the lemon juice over the mushrooms, mix, season to taste with salt and pepper.
Wash the spinach, remove the larger stems and dry them. Create a bed of fresh spinach leaves in your serving dish. Arrange the mushrooms on top. Hold in the fridge until serving time. Just before placing on the table, drizzle with the peanut oil.
For convenience, you can use bottled lemon juice as long as it is not sweetened.

Variation: depending on your budget, you can alter this recipe by replacing the common button mushroom with wild mushrooms such as chanterelles! This will make an amazing salad, but you will have to make sure the chanterelles have been properly cleaned and freed from all dirt.

Note on the French Baguette or other French Bread: look at the ingredients included in the bread you are buying. A French bread should ONLY be made of flour, yeast, salt and water... That's it! No sugar or sweeteners, emulsifiers or vegetable oil, eggs or anything else... These would mean it is an inferior product.
Furthermore this is not a bread that can be kept more than 24 hours (it will harden) due to its limited ingredients and their proportions.

Butternut Squash & Sausage Risotto

2009-11-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

Time in our household is definetely a scarce good! Between our daughter homework (currently her science fair project... on the ability of men and women to differentiate a Duchenne and a non-Duchenne smile!!...), caulking the shower, walking the dog, cleaning the house and oh... almost forgot training...
This week end it was not too bad as I am still in the recovery period post Marine Corps Marathon. I went for a quick 25 miles bike ride, as a captain of a blind triathlete tandem. I was somewhat surprised that my legs had not yet recovered and tired quickly. Duh!
Anyway tonight I cooked this risotto recipe. I wanted to experiment with my pressure cooker Seb but specifically the cooking speed component of pressure cookers! I am converted!!! Love it... Cooking a risotto in 15 minutes top, instead of the traditionally 40-45 minutes... I will start adapting more risotto recipes in the future.
The recipe below will produced about 6 main course size meals or about 10 appetizers size dishes. If using the recipe as an appetizer, pair it with a light entree. We had it as a one-dish meal tonight and finished with a couple clementines each. It will be well paired with nice light rose, well chilled.

Butternut Squash and Italian Sausage Risotto:
Ingredients: 1.5 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes, 6 tbsp unsalted butter, 1 lb sweet italian sausage, casing removed, 1 large shallot chopped, 1 1/2 cups arborio rice, 1/2 cup dry white wine, 3 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken stock, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, a pinch of ground nutmeg, chopped sage, 2 leaves of sage per plate

Place the steaming basket in a 5 to 7 quart pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water and put the squash in the basket. Close tightly and bring to high pressure of high heat. Cook for 1 1/2 minute. Remove from the heat and quick release the pressure, open the lid being carfully of the escaping steam. Remove the squash and reserve for later use.
Rinse and dry the cooker. Place back on the stove on medium-high heat and melt 4 tbsp of butter. Add the sausage and shallot, stirring often and breaking up with a wooden spoon the clumps of sausage. The sausage needs to lose its raw look, without browning. iIt should take roughly 5-7 minutes. If your sausage meat, generate lots of fat, remove all fat but for about 2 tbsp. Add the rice and saute for about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the wine, bring to a boil and stir in the stock, salt and pepper. Add the squash.
Lock the lid tightly and bring to high pressure on high heat. Adjust to maintain and cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the heat, quick-release the pressure and open being again careful of the escaping steam.
Taste the risotto; it should be "al-dente" (with a bite, barely tender). If necessary return to heat a few more minutes. If you do so, add a little bit of stock and stir until the rice is tender and the preparation appears creamy. Stir in the Parmesan and the remaining 2 tbsp of butter. Check on seasoning and adjust as necessary. Stir in the nutmeg and serve immediately with a garnish of chopped sage.

Lentil Soup with Thyme

2009-10-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I ran the 34th Marine Corps Marathon. Although a great course, a beautiful day among friends and a very well organized race, it was not my best marathon experience... So tonight, my lactic build up is almost at peak before it starts subsiding again... so I figured I'd play with a recipe which should have some therapeutic benefits: a lentil soup with fresh thyme!

Thyme has been used for centuries for its antiseptic, antibacterial and strong anti oxydant benefits. It also possesses some respiratory properties due to its essential oil often use as a component of cough drops!
Lentils are belonging to the legumes family with high fiber contributing to the lowering of cholesterol. Additionally, they contains high amount of folate (vitamin B), given to provide to a healthy heart and magnesium which contribute to improved blood, nutrients and oxygen flows throughout the body. Lentils provide slow complex carbs and consequent amounts of iron without the fat & calories found in a piece of red meat.

Lentil Soup with Thyme (20mn)
Ingredients (6 persons or 3 if you use as a one-dish meal...)
1 lb lentils, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1 medium yellow onion, 1 garlic glove, 4 thick slices of hickory smoked bacon, 1 tbsp oilve oil, 4 cups chicken stock (no sodium preferably), salt, pepper, thyme.

Peel the vegetables and cut in small dice. Thinly cut the bacon (matchsticks) into strips. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan, add the vegetables and bacon. Cook, occasionally stirring.
While the vegetables are cooking, rinse the lentils under cold water, drain and add to the sauce pan. Pour the chicken stock, bring quickly to a boil and reduce to simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add the fresh thyme leaves. Serve immediately.

I use in this recipe Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils, vacuum packed. they taste excellent are perfectly cooked and save a huge amount of time after a work day! If you decide to cook the lentils from scratch, you will need to make sure that:
1. you visually check your dry lentils for little stones and other possible impurities;
2. increase the cooking time from 10 minutes to 45 minutes.
It adds nice complimentary flavors if you serve with this soup a rustic roll, rosemary bread, sourdough roll.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Tomato Salad

2009-10-19T21:04:00.007-04:00

Over the week end I cooked a few different things. I tried a new Thanksgiving Turkey recipe... I know we are not there yet... Just trying new recipes... Anyway I found this recipe in Food & Wine (November 2009) on page 120: Roast Turkey with Fried Sage & Toasted Pecans... Not a bad recipe. The compound butter is excellent and would probably stand its own as a rub on a beef roast or even prior to grilled on a sirloin, etc... However on the turkey the outside rub gave a very unappealing look to the roasted turkey. So my next turkey tryout will be with Lemon & Chives for probably a cleaner visual and taste. So once we ate our share of this tiny 18 lbs turkey, there was plenty to bring to the office for today's lunch and feed the wolves... Scraps were left, so it either was good or they were starving. The gravy recipe made with roasted garlic and fried sage was outstanding! It may have been the sheer amount of BUTTER!

Basic Tomato Camarguaise
This is a recipe orginated in the South of France. Camargue is South of the town of Arles, in the Rhone River delta. It is still a beautiful wild area.
This is a nutritious, inexpensive recipe quick (about 20-25 minutes) to make, especially if you cook the rice the night before and gently let it cool in your fridge. You also should roast/grill the peppers the night before. If doing so, you should first let cool the rice at room temperature after having transferred it into a container, then when cooled enough, place it in the fridge. Cover it only when entirely cooled down to avoid condensation.

Ingredients (6 persons):
6 large tomatoes, 7 oz uncooked rice, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 7 oz back olives pitted, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 2 garlic gloves, 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of lavender flowers, salt and pepper.
Rinse the rice drain and place in a large pot of salted boiling water. Once cooked, drain, rinse under cold running water, drain well again. Reserve for later.
Delicately cut the top (where the stem is) of the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds, lightly salt the inside and turn them over on a flat dish so they purge for about 15 minutes.
Grill the pepper on all sides, peel and cut them open to remove the seeds, dice them 1/4 inch square.
In a salad bowl, mix well the coarsely chopped olives with the crushed garlic (I use this tool), the olive oil, the lavender flowers, salt and pepper. Add the chilled rice, the diced peppers, the mayonnaise. Add this point, if you feel like it, you may add any of the ideas listed below in variations.
Shake the tomatoes well and delicately fill them up with the salad. Set on a bed of lettuce, once again we used mache (Lamb's Lettuce) very lightly seasoned with drizzled olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Small advices:

Everytime you use bell peppers in a recipe, you should grill them whole either on the BBQ or under the oven broiler. Once grilled, place them in a zip lock back for about 1 minute or though. They will become very easy to peel. Open them, remove all the seeds and inside stems. Store for later us in the fridge.
You can use this recipe as an accompaniement of meat, fish, poultry, as a summer appetizer or as a whole meal as we did tonight. In that case, depending on your eater's appetite you may consider serving 2 tomatoes/person and you would want to garnish the above recipe with one of the variations below.

Interesting Variations:
My mother used to make these stuffed tomato salad all the time. They were great for finishing leftovers as you can easily add to the above recipe as I did tonight some of this week end Roasted Turkey pulled meat (1 cup). But you can easily use eggs (hardboiled chopped coarsely - 1 cup), surimi (fake carb legs), actual crab meat, a can of white albacore tuna, even spam if you'd wish (!), etc... Use about 1 cup of proteins.
You can also replace the plain long grain rice with a mix of grain as we did tonite... (yeah... I know lots of changes... That's why I love this recipe!) with a Black Pearl Medley (3 parts long grain brown rice parboiled, 1 part black barley and 1/2 part Daikon Radish Seeds). Great mouth feel, with some nuttiness and interesting look!
I usually like to serve the mayonnaise on the side as not everyone is fond of it. It does have an advantage to preserve the visual of the striking colors of each ingredient.

Have fun playing with this one!

Where do I buy my Olive Oils, Spices and other difficult to find ingredients such as marmite??

2009-10-17T17:16:00.001-04:00

As mentioned I buy our groceries mostly at Wegmans, WFM or Trader Joe's, however there are a few cooking ingredients for which I go to a different store, a more specialized store: The Mediterranean Bakery in Alexandria. I love this place!
They have about 15 to 20 different olive oils from all over the Mediterranean area, however I usually settles for a 1 Gal container of the an Extra Virgina Oil from Tunisia. Although French, this is the country I was born in and lived in many years.
Try them out and see what you like. They can be slightly different in color, flavor, etc...
I also buy there most of my spices, balsamic vinegars (great selection at many different price levels) and some difficult to find ingredients such as marmite, etc...
Once in a while I also order from them Middle Eastern Pastries.

Grilled Lime Marinated Pork Back Ribs

2009-10-15T22:09:00.001-04:00

Maintaining a blog is not an easy task... specifically on top of helping your child with his/her science fair project, searching for a new job, not to forget the stress of my current job. My training has slipped in the last 2 weeks since Bassman 1/2. I am nursing a possible medial malleolar stress fracture on the right ankle. Anyway, I have been thinking constantly about this blog and the gathering of more recipes to match a healthy lifestyle and not much time to give to cooking. There are plenty of cookbooks out there from so many celebrity chefs.

I am not a chef. I am French. I can have an attitude. I understand and love food... And it takes 5 minutes to dress like a chef. I even own a chef coat with name and full initials. However, you will not read there CEC (Certified Executive Chef, etc...) but C.W.B. for “Chef Wanna Be!”

My goal here is to gather a number of decent quick recipes, having my triathlete friends test and taste them. I am planning then to keep the best one and why not... turn them into a recipe book for triathletes by a triathlete.

Recipes will have to be quick, hopefully good, most of the times not from scratch or when from scratch will offer short cuts. I will in some cases point out to specific ingredients in specific stores when I find something good.
Enough! Let's get on with it...

So 2 nights ago, I made for dinner Lime Marinated Pork Back Ribs...

You should plan for about 2/3 lb/person. I always cook more as it allows us to have some leftovers for the next day lunch at work. This is a very quick dish, however it needs to be prepared the night before as the meat will have to marinate.
Ingredients:
4 lbs pork back ribs, 7 oz of lime juice, 1 medium yellow onion thinly diced, 3 garlic cloves crushed, 1/2 tablespoon of oregano, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 2 bay leaves, 1 bunch of fresh thyme, salt and pepper.
Cut the ribs in pieces of 2 to 3 bones each. Marinate them in a large dish with all above ingredients. Pour the lime juice, season with salt and pepper, stir well. Marinate in the fridge for 24 hours, stirring and turning over the ribs pieces as often as possible. Grill them either on a hot BBQ or under the oven broiler, 5-7 minutes on each side depending on the meet thickness.

I served these with oven baked French fries and a salad of mâche (Lamb's Lettuce) with a balsamic dressing made of 1 part of good quality Modena balsamic vinegar and 2 parts extra virgin oil, seasoned with coarse grey salt from Guérande and freshly ground black pepper.

If you keep the portions eaten reasonable this is a well balanced meal. As a rule of thumb, we try to stick to the following rule: size of your palm for the proteins, size of your fist for the starches, size of your hand for the vegetables. We usually always have a green salad at every dinner, and when time allows fresh green vegetables, if not I always keep a selection of frozen vegetables from Trader Joe's: extra fine green beans, asparagus tips and marinated grilled eggplant & zucchini (Misto all Griglia - Trader Giotto's brand), etc...

We don't do canned vegetables!

2009-10-12T20:36:00.044-04:00

So... I am starting tonight with a homemade lemon chicken and goat cheese pizza served with a lamb lettuce salad in simple lemon dressing.

Lemon Chicken & Goat Cheese Pizza (serves 6)
Ingredients: 1 pizza dough, 2 x 5 oz chicken breast cutlets marinated in lemon & garlic, 3 tomatoes, a handful of black olives pitted, 3 tablespoons of pesto sauce, 11 oz fresh goat cheese log, salt & pepper
Turn on your oven at 375F.
Using a stove top grill pan, we grill the chicken cutlet to 160F internal temperature on a medium high setting to achieve a slightly charred taste. Rest aside until later.
Flour your working surface. Spread the dough thin (1/8") to fit a large pizza dish. If you started with a 28 oz portion of pizza dough, you will have extra. Wrap it well and freeze it to use it within the next 3 months.
Apply a thin layer of pesto sauce. Cut your tomatoes in slices, select the slices with the largest diameter and remove the seeds to avoid any extra liquid. Slice the goat cheese log in thin slices and place ontop of the tomatoes.
Julienne the reserved chicken cutlets. Arrange the julienned chicken and the olives on the pizza.
Season to your own taste. As far as salt goes, I usually cook with Grey Coarse Sea Salt from Guerande.
Place in hot oven to cook the thin crust dough. Once edges are golden (about 15 minutes) remove and serve.
Depending on thick you have spread the pizza dough, you will need to adjust your cooking time.

Variation: For a different texture, taste and mouth feel, and or depending on your time available, you can replace the pizza dough by flatbread crust, afghan bread, etc... but do no forget to adjust your oven time accordingly...

Lamb's Lettuce Salad in Simple Lemon Dressing: (Serves 4)
Ingredients: 1 container of pre-washed Lamb's Lettuce (Mache) 3.5 oz/container, 1 lemon, olive oil, salt & pepper
Although the mache is triple washed, it is good to rinse one more time under cold water to remove any possible grit. Drain it well and toss in a large mixing bowl.
Squeeze the lemon juice while discarding any seeds. Mix with 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and season to taste with salt and black pepper.
Toss dressing and salad together just before serving. The mache has very delicate leaves which will turn darker quickly due the lemon acidity.

Voila... That's it for tonight.
Tomorrow night will be Porc Ribs Marinated in Lime served with French Fries and Cucumber Mint Salad.