Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Pineapple carpaccio with saffron syrup and pine nuts.


I had a crazy craving for pineapple yesterday, so I went on a hunt and found the sweet Victoria from South Africa, the big green andwatery pineapple produced in  Costa Rica, coming from Miami, Florida????…. and lastly the heavy, bland one from the Ivory coast. First painting them(and in the meantime eating some), I afterwards made a carpaccio from the small , sweet Victoria, which has a beautiful dark yellow colour and an intense flavour.

…Pineapple carpaccio with saffron syrup and pine nuts…

  1. Take a pineapple of your choice(I prefer the small dark yellow Victoria), peel and cut into thin slices.
  2. Arrange on dessert plates.
  3. In the meantime, bring a 1/2 cup of water to the boil, add 1/4 cup of sugar, a pinch of saffron threads, juice of half a lemon and zest of a lemon. (Be careful fro too much saffron, it is very powerful. Two to three strings on 1/2 cup water is plenty) Reduce until syrupy, about 15 minutes. If you want a thicker syrup, simmer for longer.
  4. Leave aside to cool down.
  5. Dry roast a handful of pine nuts in a pan, leave to cool.
  6. Spoon some juice over the pineapple slices, decorate with some pineapple leaves and sprinkle with the roasted pine nuts.

One Victoria pineapple serves 2 people

…Gigi…

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Courgette feta salad

This is a quick starter, popular with everybody. It can be played up or down, with more vegetables added, or less or different ingredients. Instead of the pine nuts, pumpkin seeds can be added, in which case a roasted pumpkin seed oil would be perfect. Be sure to serve it with the courgettes still warm. A great dish for spring and summer, served on a hot spring day or a summer evening, while watching the sun fall away slowly below the horizon.

Courgette feta salad

  • Olive oil, rosemary salt (or any other herbed salt)
  • Four courgettes
  • salad leaves – rocket, watercress, batavia…
  • a handful of roasted pine nuts (or roasted flaked alomonds)
  • feta cheese
  • olive oil
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • teaspoon  of dark honey
  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degr. C.
  2. Wash and slice the courgettes on the diagonal.
  3. Plce in and oven dish, sprinkle with olive oil and rosemary salt. Roast in the the oven until nicely caramelized.
  4. Place a mixture of washed and dried salad leaves on 4 plates.
  5. Serve the still warm courgettes on the salad leaves and top with crumbled feta cheese and dry roasted pine nuts (or almond flakes).
  6. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice, honey and finish off with a sprinkling of pepper.
  7. Serve immediately.

      Serves four

…in the footsteps of the shadows…