Healthy summer salad 2 : The return of the fruit.

And so the saga of summer salads continues with this cheeky red number. It seems I really like to put fruit in my salads, I just think it goes really well, but I guess you have to be (like me) a fan of sweet and salty combinations.
Last night I cooked an Aloyau (a cut of beef you find in Bordeaux) with some potatoes cooked in butter, garlic and onion. There was loads of meat left-over so I cut it in thin slices and seasoned it to eat cold with a salad.
For the salad I mixed together tomatoes, lettuce gems, mozzarella, watermelon, mint, olive oil, salt and pepper. It was a lovely and fresh salad for a warm summery day.

Yumsters ! 

Healthy and simple summer meal

So, slight change of plans, I am now back in Paris for a week because I didn't want to stay alone in my very exciting (NOT!) childhood village with no car, money or food :p ! But I will go back very soon, however in the meantime I'm back in the apartment. 

Anywho... since my sister had missed me so very much (again i might be exaggerating slightly) she decided to come for dinner (basically, the dinner was already planned and I tagged along, but I did make the food).

I made a very simple meal, with lots of fruit and vegetables, to welcome the sunshine onto our plates.

The starter was just sliced figs with spanish Iberico ham.

Then for the main I made a salad with :

- Crayfish

- Shrimp

- Lettuce hearts

- Nectarines

- Peaches

- Cherry tomatoes

- Avocado

- Coriander

And for the dressing I mixed together :

- 3 Tbsp of passion fruit vinegar 

- 4 Tbsp of olive oil

- 1/2 tsp of ground ginger

- Salt & pepper

And voilà, it was a lovely fresh salad that excites all of your tastebuds. I would definitely recommend it if your looking for a healthy meal filled with good nutrients but not boring in any way.

Yumsters!

Pasta salad

Summer holidays have now started and I've arrived in Bordeaux ! 

The train was delayed and didn't start for an hour and a half and then it stopped along the way so all in all the ride took 5 hours and a half, plus i was stupidly wearing jeans and a jumper, so as soon as i got out of the train i almost suffocated from the heat ! However after a change of clothes and a glass of water,  it finally felt like the holidays ! I love Bordeaux and the sun so it's been great. 

We didn't have time to do any shopping, we could only buy a brocoli on the way to the house, so I made a salad from leftovers in the cupboard and it actually was delicious, I looooved it ! 

Here's what I put inside :

- 1 steamed broccoli 

- Cold pasta

- 1 tin of tuna

- 1 jar of roasted peppers

- 6 diced prunes ( it added a nice sweetness in the background that went really well with the salty tuna )

- Chopped mint and parsley

- Olive oil and salt & pepper.

Boeuf Bourguignon

     Yesterday was french Mother's day, and since I'm not crawling under bills or even coins, I thought I would cook her something special as a present. 

Now I need to start by telling you about this amazing polenta from Tenuta Castello in Italy, it's called rustic polenta and it's a bit like the corn has just been mashed up in a pestle and mortar. It has a lovely texture, creamy but chunky, and the taste is amazing ! They were serving it at the restaurant, but I loved it so much I searched the internet for a place to buy it and finally got some from www.bienmanger.com .

So my mother asked me to cook her a boeuf bourguignon to go with this polenta, and it was delicious  even if I do say so myself ! Lovely tender, fall apart, beef, with soft and sweet carrots, little mushrooms, and that deep, thick, delicious sauce...it's always a winner ! 

Ingredients :

- Beef chuck (or other pieces you would slow-cook) : about 1 kg for 4 people.

- 2 onions

- 5 carrots

- Button mushrooms

- A few cloves of garlic

- A bay leaf

- 1 Tbsp of flour

- Veal stock

- 1L of red wine (maybe slightly more)

- 250 g polenta

- 1L milk

- 30cL creme

- 70g butter

Recipe:

1) Sear the beef in a deep saucepan ( this method is similar to the one used in boeuf strogonoff).

2) Cut an onion and a carrot into a mirepoix (same sized ruff cubes) and smash the garlic with the blade of your knife.

3) Put the beef away on a plate and sweat the vegetables in the same pan deglazing with water if necessary (you don't want any coloration on the vegetables).

4) Then add the garlic and the beef, sprinkle the flour on top and then stir for about a minute.

5) Add a cube of veal stock, the bottle of wine and some water until all the meat is covered.

6) Bring it to a boil then let it cook with a lid on a very low heat for 4 hours. (Skim the fat and impurities of the top with a spoon while it's cooking).

7) Turn off the heat and let it rest over night.

8) Take the cubes of meat out of the sauce, and put the sauce through a sieve.

9) Cut the rest of onions and carrots into bug chunks and sweat them out in butter. Then add the meat, and the sauce, top up with more wine and veal stock to cover the beef entirely.

10) Let it simmer for 2 hours, then add some peeled and halved mushrooms, and let it simmer for an other hour.

11) In the mean time cook the polenta : Bring the butter, creme and milk to a boil, then add the polenta and whisk until it's thickened, put it to the side to rest until you need it. Before serving just warm it through with extra milk if needed.

12) When you are ready to serve, brink the beef bourguignon to a boil to reduce the sauce until it coats the back of a spoon. 

 And voilà it's done, you can also serve it with a few greens, i had cooked some wild asparagus ( just 5 minutes in boiling salted water. )

P.S. : If you are in a bit of a rush, forget the first stage, just start off with the big chunks of vegetables (but don't forget to add the flour) and cook it for 4 hours instead of 3 ( adding the mushrooms an hour before serving), the flavors won't be as deep but it will still be delicious.