Month: December 2015

Brandade

This recipe is one of our mother recipe and is a traditional Provencal recipe using the leftovers of salted cod . After the cod has been unsalted and washed, just boiled it, then add milk and stir until the milk has been all absorbed by the fish. Add pepper and olive oil, stir again.  This mixture, called “brandade” is delicious on toasted bread, with boiled potatoes, as a spread or to stuff veggies. It’s good eaten either warm or cold. Here is a preparation of stuffed cherry tomatoes, perfect for a buffet or finger food.

Kingfish with fennels, olives and capers

Making of the bouillon
Making of the bouillon

A Sicilian stay wouldn’t be complete without a recipe involving capers and olives. The delicious Mediterranean olives and Sicilian cappers are perfect for many recipes. The market has decided for us that it will be a fish recipe: December is great for kingfish. So we first prepared a bouillon with one onion and two fennels (remember we’re still cooking for our whole family!). The onion and fennels are chopped finely and golden in a bit of olive oil, then covered in water, where we add three large spooned of pruned olives in salt anc vinegar (made by our maid and really delicious), and one table spoon of large Sicilian capers. Then the fish is slighlty grilled in a frypan before being added to the bouillon and cooked under cover. We served it inlayees with the veggies of the bouillon, the fish and with some fresh tagliatelle and a touch of spinaches. 

Artichokes

In Sicily it’s easy to find delicious artichokes in December and fields covered with artichokes can be seen everywhere. They are little purple artichokes perfect for raggu and hot pot preparations. Delicious with onions, tomatoes…

They are really easy to prepare, you just need to remove the outer leaves, cut the leaves at mid height or more (until tender), cut then the artichokes in halves or quarters, add a bit of lemon juice in water to prevent the oxydation. In a large pan, heat some olive oil, add a chopped onion, then the artichokes. Cover in water and cook until completely soft. Serve warm or cold. Perfect as a side dish. Variations include adding a peeled large tomato, white wine, bacon, salty cod…

Fennel soup

Still enjoying some local Sicilian products, the fennels are, just like the cauliflowers a must of the season. Fennels are also found everywhere and are beautiful. For me in particular it’s a feast because in Japan it’s not easy to find fennels and they are usually small and not too good eaten raw. So I’m really enjoying eating plenty, raw, cooked, braised… And since soups are a big favorite for dinner in our family, the fennel soup we prepared with our mother was a big success. For 8 people we used 2 onions, 2 little tomatoes, 2 big fennels, olive oil, salt and pepper. First we cut the onions, the tomatoes, and the fennels and slightly cook them in olive oil (no need to say, Sicilian olive oil is amazing) . Then cover with water and cook for 40min. Blend and add some olive oil and serve. Simple and so delicious, perfect before the Christmas feast! 

Cauliflower soup

With all these beautiful green cauliflowers everywhere in town, sold at every shop, seen at every street corner, and in the fields, they seem to be one of Sicilian winter must eat! So it was impossible not to buy some and prepare something with. Our mother is really good with preparing soup and we prepared a cauliflower soup. The cauliflower is just boiled in little water, then blended with a little cream, salt and pepper. Served with some freshly made croutons: just old bread cut in chunks and slightly pan fried in oil. Thanks Mum for this homy-yummy soup.

Risotto with radichio and Italian sausage

Continuing our Sicilan food exploration, we bought in Castelvetrano some beautiful round radichio and decided to use it for a risotto. Cooking 6 hands now with the TPS and their mother, this recipe is really simple and delicious, always taking advantage of the quality of the ingredients. So, for that recipe for 8 people we used 2 onions, 1 round radichio, 6 cup of riso for risotto, 1 Italian sausage (chicken and parsley sausage), a good amount of olive oil, salt, pepper and some freshly gratted Parmegiano for those who like.

Gnocchi

Here we are in Sicily and the first dinner I cooked for the family wath plain gnocchi. We’ve found these beautiful potatoes in Menfi and some greens (something they said was between spinach and rucolla) so it was just simply boil and mixed with some olive oil. Of course served with some delicious Parmegiano. It was fun actually preparing gnocchi for 8 persons, usually my sizing is 2, eventually 4, so it took quite an other dimension! 

Little dinner before going on holidays

Et voila! We’re on our way to Sicily, now in transit in Rome, and before we start to cook some Italian anazing food, here’s a last little winter salad recipe with red cabbage, carrots on top of rice. Additional kabocha seeds, sesame seeds and smoked red snapper.  A bit of olive oil as dressing. A colorful and tasty crunchy one plate. 

The TPS in Menfi, Sicily

On Saturday the Tokyo-Paris sisters flew to Roma and then straight to Palermo where they are spending some time with their families in a big villa in the south of Sicily, in Menfi. The weather is amazing, the landscape is just as expected, and so are the people. The Mediterranean sea is beautiful and swimming in December is really nice without going to a tropical destination! A lot of time spent outside, walking and visiting. The food is also amazing:  cauliflowers, artichokes, fennels, oranges, tangerines, olives… So far it’s perfect.

So let’s start with a perfect “Sicilian” salad with fresh fennels, tomatoes, lettuce, artichokes in vinegar and oil, and a bit of olive oil, served with Italian sesame bread, and eventually speck, and topped with fresh parmegiano.

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