Myfrenchkitchen

I am back home from 2 months in SC, USA and I’m still slowing back into routine. It has been very quiet here on Myfrenckitchen front, but I hope that will change from now on…

It is rugby world cup time here in France. We watched the France/Ireland match last weekend with friends after sharing a simple dinner. Nothing gets you more in the mood than sharing a meal before moving on to some sports where, hopefully everybody won’t be cheering the same team!

I have to begin a meal with a starter, it enhances my appetite for the rest of the meal, it heightens the expectation around the table and it elates my tastebuds. Not forgetting that it stretches out a meal, gets everybody relaxed…it simply just sets the mood! It can be extravagant with truffels or simple with bread, I love it all ways and I enjoy making it. For this meal I made a simple polenta with wonderful wild mushrooms that fill our markets right now. I will do that in a next post.

And dessert I have to have too. It gives an exciting ending to any meal, much like an exclamation mark does to a sentence. I chose to end our meal with a simple, easy dessert as well. I don’t really know what to call it…maybe something like ” Caramelized apples with vanilla cream and pomegranate”….which will be presented in a next post too. Until then, here goes with the..

Salmon with brown rice and oven baked tomatoes.

4 salmon steaks
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice
coconut oil
knob of butter
6 tomatoes, handful of cherry tomatoes, handful of grape tomatoes..or any kind of your choice, mix and match.
balsamic vinegar, sjerry vinegar, spoonful of Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper
2 cup brown rice cooked in 4 cups of water
handful of rocket leaves(arugula)

Sautée the salmon steaks in the coconut oil: Place the salmon skin side down in the hot oil and sautee for 3 to5 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and the flesh has turned light pink from the bottom upwards, halfway through. Don’t cook on the other side. (Saumon à l’unilatéral) Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper and some lemon juice. Top with the knob of butter. If you want your salmon more cooked, you can place it in the oven for a few minutes after sauteeing.
Cook the brown rice until just tender.
Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange in an oven dish, cut sides up. Season with salt and pepper.
Make a vinaigrette of the balsamic and sjerry vinegar, mustard, and olive oil. Pour over the tomatoes and bake for about 20 minutes at 180 degrees C.
Add all the smaller tomatoes whole and bake for 15 minutes longer at 200 degrees C, or until all the tomatoes are nice and caramelized and the small tomatoes have broken open.
To serve: Place a helping of brown rice in 4 bowls. Place a salmon steak on the rice. Top with a generous helping of tomatoes and drizzle the juice from the tomatoes over. Finish off with some rocket(arugula) and a twirl of fresh pepper.

I am currently in South Carolina US for about three months. My blog was very quiet up to now – I was busy exploring. Because of the incredible heat and humidity we’ve encountered here, I don’t have the desire to cook in front of the stove. Although, I have to admit that the airconditioning sometimes stirs up the desire to warm up with a steaming stew! I still have to figure out this air conditioning thing.

Seeing that it is so hot out and it is summer and we’ll have enough time for stews and soups soon, we still enjoy quick, cool meals…and snacks.

On one of my exploring trips recently here in South Carolina, I came across these wonderful flatbreads at the Wholefoods Market in Greenville, SC. They have great organic produce, great wines, great cheese…

These flatbreads make wonderful lunches, served with a handful of green side salad or on its own for a quick snack. All natural and no preservatives.

For the first one I used:

Margaret’s artisan flatbread – sundried tomato & olive.

Spread the flatbread generously with some cottage cheese

I chose a filling of shrimp, quickly sauteed in olive oil and drizzled with ltmeon juice. Then added some peppadews, some capers, shredded some baby spinach leaves and topped off with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.

Serve on its own with a glass of chilled Etude rose wine from Napa California. Or serve with a green salad drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.

The second example is again:

Margaret’s artisan flatbread – cracked peppercorn and spice.

A spread of cottage cheese followed by a topping of shredded prioscutto, quartered figs, some small, currant table grapes and a few basil leaves.

Finish with a drizzle of balsamice vinegar over the figs. And of course some pepper.

Serve with a green salad on the side or on its own.

The third flatbread:

Margaret’s artisan flatbread – jalapeno & rosemary

Cottages cheese

topping of cherry tomatoes, green peas(shelled or frozen), some blue berries, small chunks of parmigiano(broken off pieces using the point of a sharp knife) and lastly sprinkled with some pumkin seeds and drizzled with olive oil.

Serve with a side salad of enjoy as a snack.

There are many healthy fillings and many different flatbreads and crackers, Matzos, Wasa crispbreads…Play around and enjoy !