Cricket?

An amazing looking bug, hanging around among my flowers and herbs.

Restaurant Alameda, Hondarribia Spain

I had a very satisfying meal at this one star Michelin restaurant at the border of Spain & France. On top of excellent cooking, creative mix of flavor and good fresh ingredients, their offer of having half portion for starter and main courses is very smart, a great way to taste more dishes without being too full, price range for half portions are Euro 11-15!

amuse bouche-cheese foam in cold tomato soup

Spider crab cannelloni & water melon in cold cucumber soup

marinated tuna in orange sauce

 pork neck with seaweed salad

foie gras in bean broth with pineapple infused in coconut liqueur

 

seared baby squid

turbot with red onion & pickled orange peel

ox tail with mushroom cubes

roast pigeon, liver and cumin pate

Peach Roussane

An old variety of yellow peach, I harvested around 20 from a 3 years young tree planted 2 years ago.

The peaches are small, because I do not water fruit trees at all, very lazy. The flavor is more intense than those big ones from well watered trees!

The best ground cover

I sprinkled chia seeds on the bare slope of a newly dug flower herb bed. The seeds germinated within days, and in a month have grown into bright green seedlings. This will replace sweet potato as my most favorite ground cover.

Nutty beetroot

Mixing nut with beetroot makes the flavor more complex, not only sweet, and also more nutritious as a snack or appetizer.

1. Cut beetroot into thin slices, like 1-2mm, season with a pinch of salt for half an hour to soften, add black pepper/chili if you like an extra kick.

2. Toss with a tablespoon of olive oil, then cook on medium heat, turning regularly, until the earthy raw taste is gone.

3. Mix with any nut paste, here I use rough grind walnut with olive oil.

Poppy flower

The edible poppy seed used in bakery that I sown a month ago has started to flower, the purplish pink flower is small and delicate unlike the bright red wild poppy.

Bresse chicken

This is the most famous breed of chicken in France, it has blue feet, white body and bright red crest, exactly the same as French flag, and tasty. Bresse chicken lives outdoor for 4-5 months, nearly double normal farmed chicken, and eat good cereals.

The first thing I noticed is that unlike commonly available chicken, it has relatively big thighs and small breast, a good sign of an old variety not being messed with to get bigger breast meat.

It has a lot of fat under the skin, which helps to keep the flesh moist and sort of gelatinous.

Cucumber

I planted cucumber - Thai 5 Stars, in the courtyard, with a triangular wood frame to let the plants to climb up. It is on itself a pretty "flower" arrangement.

Sort of isolated from the vegetable garden, where similar species are growing: hairy cucumber, melon, pumpkins etc, the bees still manage to cross fertilize them!

Smoked mackerel

Smoking is a good way to preserve oily fish, and adds another flavor dimension.

1. Salt mackerel with around 0.5% its weight of salt for a day.

2. Pass a skewer through their eyes to hold them up on top of some charcoal, with shavings of apple wood piled on top, in the smoking chamber, for around 30-45 minutes.

Zucchini tomato quiche

I have planted 4 zucchini and by now, they are reaching the peak of production. So I have to find ways of preparing zucchini, and also be able to keep the cooked dish in the freezer for later use.

1. Cut zucchini into slices, season with salt & pepper for an hour, to soften and release some liquid.

2. Mix 100ml tomato paste with 200ml sour cream, 3 eggs, big pinch of salt, a teaspoon of fennel seed, pepper, and a handful of basil torn into pieces. Let the flavor infuse for an hour. Cut roasting cheese, like feta, into cubes.

3. In a baking dish, place a layer of zucchini on the bottom, cover with a egg cream mixture, a few cheese cubes, repeat once.

4. Bake at 170˚C until golden, around 45 minutes.

Red Starts

This years newborn babies, they like to hide below the roof during the hot afternoon.

Potato Oeil de Perdrix

Potatoes planted in end April is ready to harvest. I am digging the plant up one by one as needed on the table. So there will be a continuous supply from small ones to big ones later on in the season.

This is my favorite variety, Oeil de Perdrix (Partridge eyes), has irregular pink splotches, hence its name, it has a nutty taste and a bit waxy.

Artichoke & bumblebees

Very pleased to have grown many artichokes, for their flowers, not for eating the buds. They provide important food for bees in peak hot summer, there are 4 bumblebees in this flower. These days I see more bumblebees than honey bees, luckily bumblebees also do a great job in fertilizing vegetable and fruits.

Coconut date rum ice cream

A fantastic combination of flavors from these 3 products grown/produced in hot climate. The sweetness of ice cream comes only from date, no added sugar.

1. Mix 500ml coconut cream with a teaspoon of cornstarch, then whisk in 2 egg yolks. Cook at medium heat, stirring regularly, until boiled.

2. Cut around 12-15 dates, depending on size, into small cubes, soak in 30ml dark rum for half an hour.  

3. When coconut mixture is cold enough, pour into ice cream machine, when nearly hard, add date & rum, churn until hard.

Pizza dinner

It is great to entertain friends in cool summer evening with pizza, more relaxing than a formal 3 courses meal.

1. Pizza bianca with mix herbs and sesame - marinate thyme and rosemary with a big pinch of salt in olive oil for an hour before spreading on pizza, then sprinkle sesame on top.

2. Pizza with sardine, zucchini, preserved lemon, chive & Gruyere- season sliced zucchini with salt & pepper for an hour, then pour away juice and mix with olive oil. On pizza dough, put a layer of zucchini, then bite size pieces of cooked sardine, strips of preserved lemon, a handful of grated Gruyere cheese, when finished baking sprinkle chive on top.

3. Pizza with cow tongue, mushroom, parsley & Gruyere - season sliced cow tongue with smoked pimenton, chili, salt and olive oil (chorizo flavoring) overnight, then quickly cooked in a pan. Season mushroom with salt & pepper for an hour, remove juice and mix with olive oil and a handful of parsley leaves.

4. Pizza with beetroot, Camembert and fennel - cook sliced beetroot in a little water and a small piece of butter until soft and liquid evaporated.  On pizza dough, place cooked beetroot, then fennel, and finally Camembert cut into slices.

Peach tree

This young tree planted 2 years ago is bearing quite a few yellow peaches. The peaches hang on well without dropping off even with the strong northwest wind that made the tree lean to one side.

I have to cover the tree with a net from attacks by greedy blackbirds, so that there is a chance for me to enjoy the peaches one by one maturing slowly on the tree.

Spit roasted duck

I have equally good result from spit roasting this semi-wild duck. It is smaller and less fatty than farmed duck, and has rich gamey flavor.

Just season with salt and pepper and let it dry in the fridge for at least a day.

Metallic green beetle

Amazing colour !

Blackcurrant clafoutis

Harvested around 2 kg of blackcurrant from 3 bushes planted 2 years ago, very happy. Other than making jam, I also made clafoutis, traditionally made with black cherry.

 

blackcurrant clafoutis

400gm blackcurrant.

3 eggs

150gm brown sugar

a pinch of salt

150gm sour cream

200gm milk

25gm cornstarch

25gm flour

1. Beat eggs with sugar and salt until light, mix in sour cream, followed by milk, and lastly sifted cornstarch and flour.

2. Oil a shallow baking dish, place blackcurrant in the bottom, pour mixture on top.

3. Pre-heat oven to 210˚C, bake at 180˚C until set, around 40 minutes.

Spit roasted pigeon

This is the best home roasted pigeon, slowly spinning in front of the vertical fire, not above. While the skin crisps up, the oil drips down to the tray of par-boiled potatoes and mushrooms, the meat is juicy and tender.

Simply season pigeon with salt and pepper, dry in the fridge for at least a day before roasting.