On the side – Page 15 – Myfrenchkitchen

It may seem that all we eat in this house, is salad. Well, in spring and summer, that is pretty much the case! The vegetables and fruit are so beautiful and abundant that we can’t do it any differently. And because of the freshness it would be a shame to dress them up. We leave “creative cooking” for the colder months and eat fresh and simple in spring and summer.

Here is another salad, straightforward and unadorned.

Fava and peitit pois salad.

Decide whether you’d like to serve this on the side or as a starter or even as a light meal and measure your quantities according to that.

Fresh fava beans, blanched in boiling water and shelled. OR use frozen fava beans, treated the same way. I find the frozen beans in excellent condition and much easier when pressed for time. The same goes for the peas. Go fresh and hull them if you have lazy weekend days on hand, otherwise go frozen. I’m not such a purist that I would bend backwards just for the sake of announcing: “I’ve hulled my own, garden picked peas!” Some frozen products are really great substitutes and I have no qualm in using them…petit pois, fava and spinach, comes to mind.

Fresh/frozen fava beans blanched and shelled.
Fresh/frozen petit pois, blanched
A spring onion, finely chopped
A handful of dry roasted sunflower seeds
a spoonful or two of caraway seeds (or cumin seeds)
A vinaigrette made of olive oil, feshly squeezed lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar(optional), salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients toghether gently and serve at room temperature, decorated with some herbs of your choice.
Serve as a starter with a cold dry white wine of your choice or a cold rose, seeing that we’re in spring/summer. Maybe something like your trusted Sauvignon Blanc, from our region here in the France Loire valley or why not a crisp Tariquet Ugni Blanc/Colombard from the south west of France.

…five, six, seven, eight….

This is an entry for WHB at Kalyn’s kitchen, this week hosted by Sweetnicks.

Few people like beetroot. I was one of them, until I started playing around with beetroot….roasting them, making a creamy soup, combining them with different flavours, of which mint and apple and pear are my favourite.

I made them into a terrine here, combined with mint and red onion and served with a minty lemon zest yogurt…which my judging panel all seemed to enjoy. I hope you do too.

Beetroot terrine

4 large beetroots, cooked and skin peeled off
1 small red onion
a handful of mint leaves
5 gelatin leaves
45 ml white wine vinegar
45 ml white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of honey
45 ml water
salt and pepper
Yogurt sauce: a cup of natural yogurt
chopped mint leaves
lemon juice
zest of a lemon

Line a terrine pot with baking paper.
Chop the onion and mint leaves finely.
Cut the beetroot into small cubes or thin rounds. Layer some beetroot at the bottom of the terrine. Follow with a layer of chopped onion and then a generous layer of chopped mint. Repeat and finish with a layer of beetroot.
Mix the vinegars, the water, teaspoon of honey and salt and pepper in a small bowl and heat together, until the honey is dissolved.
Soften the gelatin leaves in a bowl with cold water, completely covered. Once soft, squeeze the excess water from the leaves and add to the warm vinegar/water sauce. Stir until completely dissolved. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the warm, runny gelatin over the terrine until covered. Press slightly down, cover and refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight or longer for a better flavour.
Mix all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce and leave to infuse.
Serve a fairly thick slice of terrine with some drizzled sauce, alongside a green salad for an interesting starter and decorate with some mint leaves and fresh pepper.