Grilled and marintated vegetables

Grilled and marinated vegetables are a delicious hearty but fresh company with all grilled meats, especially lamb and beef. It could also goes well with grilled goats cheese. To prepare, put a side at least 1 hour time. (served on ciabatta bread, this makes a delicious vegetarian sandwich)

Ingredients:

2-3 Aubergines
3-4 Sweet peppers, red (and yellow)
4 Courgettes
6 ripe tomatoes
1 bunch of basil, 1 bunch of parsley, some marjoram
3 garlic cloves
Olive oil, Sherry vinegar, salt, pepper
optional, but delicious, a bunch of green asparagus

Preparation:

Put the peppers as whole in the oven, 200 Celsius, 40 minutes.

Slice aubergines thinly approx. 1 cm, sprinkle with some salt and leave for about 30 minutes.
Slice courgettes.
Half the tomatoes.

In a heavy grill pan, or over a BBQ, grill the courgettes on both sides, about 1-2 minutes, leave still slightly crisp. Drain the water from aubergines, then grill.

The peppers need to be peeled. After they have browned – blackend in the oven, remove and put in a plastic bag to cool a bit, this will make it easier to remove the skin. Remove skin and seeds, tear in pieces.

Grill asparagus.

Squeeze the juice of the tomatoes over a sieve to remove the seeds, into a large dish or bowl.

Add the crushed garlic cloves, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar, then combine all vegetables in the sauce. Add lots of roughly chopped basil and parsley, some marjoram, season to taste, add oil and vinegar if necessary.

Now grill the tomatoes quickly, cut in half again and add to the vegetables.

Mix well and leave for a little while to infuse with the rest of the vegetables.

First BBQ of 2008, Chicken, Garlic, Chili, Lemon

First BBQ of the year, at Steffi’s house in Nivenheim…as usual, I take control of the shopping. For me a real BBQ essential is having tons of meat, fish, poultry, sausages and vegetables to throw on the hot coals. Salads on the side, also worth investing in, then you need some very good bread, baked potatoes, slow BBQ’ed whole garlic cloves, grilled juicy tomatoes, maybe even some whole grilled, slow cooked and caramelized onions, sauces from aioli to chived up sour cream, Sirachi and BBQ sauce, there are so MANY things that need to be part of it.

The pre BBQ shopping trips are always the battle, who much, which cut, who will eat all this food, but it must be a lot.

On our first BBQ of the year we had this delicious chicken which came out better then anticipated. It was actually the best!

Grilled Chicken, Lemon, Chili, Garlic:

Chicken crowns, (2 breast on the bone, could also be a whole flattened chicken)

Garlic, Chilli, Lemon rind chopped in pieces, Pepper, Olive Oil,

The above are rubbed over the chicken, left aside for some 1/2 hour. Before grilling, season with Salt.

On the grill it goes. Then, once nice and crisp on all sides, wrapped in tin foil and left on the side of the BBQ to fully slow cook and the juices are retained.

Simple, delicious.

And again, Penne all’Arrabiata – one of the best recipes in the world

I am reposting this recipe, posted originally June 2, 2006. It got some many hits and views that it needs to be on top again!!

This fantastic, simple and delicious recipe is from one of the greatest chefs. Thanks Theo and River Cafe Cookbook for this. It changed my life. The recipe is so quick and simple to make, tasty, spicy, yummy, it became instantly our favorite.

(I actually got it of Theo Randall, he was the Head Chef and partner at the River Cafe in London who now runs his own place Theo Randall at the InteContinental, on Park Lane.)

penne, de cecco, nothing else. don’t even think about another brand.

1 tin of good pelatti or chopped tomatoes

fresh garlic, 4 – 6 whole cloves (now in spring there are those beautiful pinkish fresh garlics…)

1 red hot chili, halved, without seeds

a bunch of basil leaves

olive oil, extra vergine, again, don’t trade down for somethin cheap crap oil

Now, this is the key to a great sauce…

Slowly cook the whole, peeled garlic cloves in enough olive oil so that they are covered in the oil, add the chili. It is crucial that the garlic and chili simmers very slowly in the oil, remove the pan if necessary and put back on the stove in order for it not overheating. (When Steffi did it last time she wanted to rush and the garlic burned and exploded, what a mess)

When the garlic is very light golden brown, quickly fry the basil in the oil. then remove it and put aside.

add the tomato and cook slowly for about 12 minutes on low heat. Be careful when adding the tomatoes as the oil is hot and it will blubber like mad.

Season with a pinch of sugar, Maldon sea salt and fresh ground black pepper. taste and season again until you find it right. you can now remove the chili, or leave it, depends on how spicy you like it.

Boil the pasta in water with plenty of salt. (if there is not enough salt in the water so you can actual taste it, the pasta and sauce will taste lame. so taste the water and make sure it is salty enough. often pasta tastes of nothing although the sauce is OK, that’s often because it was boiled in water without salt…)

when the pasta is very al dente remove, drain and add to the sauce, mixed it well, again and again and slowly finish in the sauce. the sauce will now really infuse into the pasta. be careful that you don’t overcook it, needs to remain al dente. add the basil.

serve with fresh Parmesan to grate and a nice bottle of red wine. We always get the £6 Crozes Hermitage from Sainsburys with it, it tastes strong enough but not overpowering, and the shop is open till late.

its the simplest and best dish I know. try it. if you don’t like it let me know. i invite you to my place and cook them for you.

Buon Appetio.

Loup de Mer with Courgettes, Tomato, White Wine Sauce

This is a really good recipe if you are starving for a good piece of fish. It combines a ever so elegant tasting roast sebass with the sweetness of fennel and sunny freshness of vine tomatoes. The white wine sauce is not so Italian but gives it a intersting dimension. The flat parsley and basil round it all off. A drizzle of reduced balsmic breaks the soft roundness of the white wine sauce.

All together it’s somehow an inspiration from a Enrico Derflingher dish, he is a Italian Michelin starred chef I once worked with. He was executive chef in the White House and in the Buckingham Palace and many other places. Now he has a restaurant in Tokyo. We cooked it once at home after he gave me some professional instructions, which from real chefs are ususaly quite vague as many staps are logic for them. Below recipe works 100% and I did put this step by step instructions together for my dad a long time ago, I thought this should be shared here and now!

Loup de Mer with Mediterranean Vegetables

(Recipe for 4 persons)Ingredients and preparation

this picture is from my cuisine…home made. (the kitchen in our previous flat in Swtizerland)

Before you start:

New potatoes, approx 4-6 pieces per person, wash and boil until cooked, then place
under tin foil in réchaud. Don’t cook them in the steamer pot.

2-3 dl of dark balsamic vinegar (place in a pot and simmer slowly until reduced to a
thick sirup, keep aside)

White wine sauce: reduce some white wine with same amount of fish stock, add a dash of cream, mix with mixer and season with salt, pepper, a dash of tabasco, lemon juice.

Other preparation and ingredients:
4 whole Loup de Mer filets of 180-200 gr. each, filets cut in half i.e. 2x ½ per Person
4 Zucchetti (medium size) cleaned and cut in slices of 0.5-0.7 cm
1 Fennel cut in slices of 0.3-0.5 cm
1 whole garlic, only peeled
1 packet (500g) cherry tomatoes de-branched and washed
10 branches basil, de-branched and chopped roughly
10 branches of flat parsley, de-branched and chopped roughly
(all together you should have a good cup full of roughly chopped herbs, more basil
then parsley)
Extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and ground black pepperMise en place (approx. time to prepare vegetables is 45 minutes)

Cooking:
(the whole cooking will take max. 8-10 minutes. Important is that the vegetables are
crispy and the fish only cooked for about 4-5 minutes)1. Season fish with salt, pepper and olive oil

2. Pan Fry fish on the skin side in a medium hot pan. (Fish should sizzle lightly)

3. Place fish skin side up on a non-stick tray when skin side is golden crispy
(sauté only on the skin side) The bottom side of the fish must be raw.

4. Take a large sautée pan and heat medium, add plenty of olive oil, the whole
garlic clove and vegetables (stir and remove garlic after 2 minutes)

5. Sautée for 4-5 minutes (vegetables should not get to much colour and remain
very crispy)

6. Place fish in oven 160° Celsius for approx 4-5 minutes (the cooking stage

should rather be on the raw then over cooked side as the fish would dry out)

7. Add tomatoes to vegetable pan and sautée for other 2 minutes

8. Remove vegetables from stove, add herbs, season well with salt and pepper
and check the seasoning several times.

9. Slowly reheat the Balsamico Reduction, check that it is not too thick, otherwise
add some water.

Platting: (optional)

10. Prepare 4 hot plates; place 2-3 spoons of the vegetables in the middle, a few
tomatoes around it. (serve the potatoes separately)

11. Place Fish on top of the vegetables and sprinkle with some olive oil

12. Around the fish, put a few thick drops of balsamic reduction (where the arrows
are), the remaining can be served in a sauce pan.

13. Place the remaining vegetables in a gratin plate, put fish on top, cover with tin
foil and keep in warm but switched off oven.

14. enjoy