Robin Ellis

Sardines–to go with the cucumber salad!

July 11, 2013 by Robin Ellis

We had these again yesterday for lunch with a reprise of the cucumber salad.

Filleted fresh sardines, sometimes available at the fishmonger, make life easier–though I remember feeling very virtuous after filleting sixty sardines with my cooking partner for a workshop Meredith ran a few years back.

We were rewarded with a loud exclamation of “LOOK at THAT!” from one of the participants, when he saw the wide sardine-laden platter.

Butterflied sardines for 2 takes less time!!

10 firm and fresh sardines–butterflied (see below)

100gms/4 oz wholewheat breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon parsley–chopped

2 garlic cloves–chopped fine

1 tablespoon of capers–chopped

a pinch of dried oregano

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Butterfly filleting is a bit of a business–but rewarding.

You’ll need a chopping board and plenty of kitchen paper. Have a pair of scissors to hand and a plate to receive the fillets.

Ensure there are no scales left on the fish, then (for right-handed cooks) hold the the fish in your left hand belly up and with a pair of scissors snip along the belly from the tail end cutting off the head when you reach it.

Then with your right thumb, coax out the rest of the innards. Place the fish, belly side down on the board and press gently up and down the backbone with both thumbs–to open it up and out.

Flatten the fish as much as you can with three fingers of both hands.

Lift the small fin and and snip it off, then cut the backbone at the tail end and draw it carefully away from the body, taking care not to take too much of the flesh with it.

Voila! You have a butterflied fillet.

Heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4

Wash and dry the fillets.
Place a sheet of foil on a shallow baking tray (makes clean-up easier!).
Using a basting brush, spread a tablespoon of oil on the foil.
Place the fillets on the tray.
In a bowl combine the breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, capers, oregano.
Season with salt and pepper.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mixture and turn it over thoroughly.
Spread the breadcrumb mix evenly over the fillets–using a teaspoon.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the fillets, adding a little extra if needed.
Sardines before going into the oven
Bake for 15 minutes.
Sardines post oven

Finish off by a short burst (under 30 seconds) under a hot grill.

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes | Tagged oven baked stuffed sardines | 2 Comments »

Cool as a Cucumber salad

July 9, 2013 by Robin Ellis

Hot, hot here, at last (chez vous too perhaps?)–begs a cool cucumber response!

Requested by Meredith a couple of days ago, this recipe features in Healthy Eating for Life–my new cookbook, out in January 2014.

As I didn’t have a red onions to hand, I substituted spring onions (scallions).
However the red onion lends a nice colour contrast.

Served this with sardines–cuts nicely the rich, oiliness of the fish.

serves 4 as a side salad

1 medium cucumber—peeled and sliced thin; a food mixer disc saves time here

1 small red onion—sliced thin

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

pepper

1 tbsp parsley or dill (dill is preferable but sometimes difficult to find).

Combine the prepared cucumber and red onion and sprinkle with salt.

Let the mix drain in a colander or sieve for 30 minutes or longer.

Spread the mix over a layer of kitchen paper, cover with a second layer and press down gently to lift off excess liquid.

Put it on a favourite serving plate or in a bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the vinegar and mustard; fold in the chopped herbs (dill or parsley).

Pour this over the cucumber and onion and mix well.

Leave this to luxuriate for an hour in the fridge.

Posted in Food, Recipes | Tagged cucumber salad, grilled stuffed sardines | 13 Comments »

Heard it on the Snakevine…

July 7, 2013 by Robin Ellis

On the journey home from an al fresco lunch to celebrate the Fourth of July with a group of like-minded friends, the theme music to the film Stand By Me was playing.

Meredith often mentions this rite of passage movie about four boys setting out on an adventure that will change their lives ; it reminds her of her childhood growing up in Northfield, a northern suburb of Chicago.

In the Hollywood film, four young boys find a dead body–which propels the story.

Animal lover who drew the line at rattlers!

In the car yesterday, the music reminded her of the day she and her three young friends (all boys and she was an enthusiastic tomboy) suddenly found themselves confronting an aggressive rattlesnake in a vacant lot.

A rattlesnake?

Yes, a rattlesnake!

But you lived in suburban Chicago!

I remembered my Dad telling me about seeing rattlers in Arizona when he was there in ’44, training to be an RAF fighter pilot.

Arizona: dry, arid, hot, rattlesnake country for sure!

Chicago: cold, windy, wet, rattlesnake country?

Our property backed onto farmland in those days.

What did you do?

We squealed, reeled backwards and ran for a Dad–but there were no Dads to be had at home that afternoon.

By the time we got back armed with a rake and a hoe, the snake would have high-tailed outta Cook County –if it’d had any sense! I don’t remember ever playing around that piece of prairie again!

Soon after we arrived home last night, I went out to pick up the post from the box.

On the ground a couple of feet away from me, stretching itself full length across the driveway–was a snake.

Not a rattler–lucky for me–a western whip snake or couleuvre, a non poisonous snake that eats small rodents.

Clearly it had HEARD IT ON THE SNAKEVINE and decided to make contact.

Posted in other sides to this life | Tagged couleuvre, heard it on the grapevine, Northfield, rattlesnakes, Stand by me, western whip snake | 32 Comments »

Short walks–post prandials–after meals

July 4, 2013 by Robin Ellis

Short walks after meals–15 minutes (’round the block’)–help with digestion and lowering sugar levels.

So says Diabetics UK, reporting on a study carried out at George Washington University. It found these walks particularly beneficial to older adults at a high risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

The report recommends a walk after every meal–i.e. three a day–ambitious!

Nonetheless we took the hint and made a start.

We set out on a short walk with the two “rascals”, Beau and Ben, after supper—

though with is pushing it a bit….

(A post-prandial it used to be called when I was growing up.)

After a bouncy start Beau developed a lumpen plod, tail down “wish I hadn’t come on this stupid walk” attitude, like a recalcitrant teenager–every step taken under protest.

Ben played the game and entertained with moments of sleek black speed running–effortless elegance.

They both made it to the turn-around point–the entrance to our neighbors’ property–and were visibly bucked when they clocked that the return journey was downhill all the way.

OK not so bad this post prandialating!

The next night we took a different route.

Down the field opposite–late sunflower plants just breaking the surface and garlic high–about to be harvested.

Both cats were happier with the new downward trajectory.

They reached the stream at the bottom of the field in leaps and bounds–downhill racers.

Then a right turn, following the line of the stream towards the road–on the flat. Oh so happy cats!

OK not so bad this post prandialating!

Ben on safari stalking through the garlic shoots–Beau rear–guarding, not sure what the game is.

Then they hit the road again–going uphill.

Oh dear–what goes down has to climb up–end of frolic–might give it a miss tomorrow–all very well this post prandialating; might be good for those old folks….

Well the old folks are profiting nicely from these short perambulations–thanks very much my beauties. Sleeping more deeply for one thing!

Last night the rascals made an appearance in the driveway as we set off, but it’s clear that their reluctance to go the distance is growing in the same proportion as our enthusiasm for it.

Beau was lying in the road waiting for us as we came back and Ben was doing mini streaks along the cemetery wall.

Each to their own!

Posted in Diabetes, other sides to this life | Tagged lowering sugar levels, post prandials, short walks, sleeping more deeply | 16 Comments »

Tuna salad–a reprise

July 2, 2013 by Robin Ellis

Meredith brought a cucumber home yesterday and requested the cucumber salad that’s included in my new book–Healthy Eating for Life due out next January.

I’m thinking to save it ’til tomorrow to go with some sardines from Realmont market.

We’ll have her cucumber for lunch though in this simple, quick-to-do tuna salad below from Delicious Dishes for Diabetics.

Tuna Salad

Adapted from an early Nigel Slater recipe, this is very handy as a quick standby when you feel at a loss for something to serve as a light lunch.

for 2 (in the book the amounts are for 4)

1 x 200 g/7 oz tins of tuna–drained and flaked

2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp tarragon vinegar (plain white vinegar will do but the tarragon flavour is a nice touch)
4 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp low-fat yogurt–put in a fine sieve and drained a little to thicken it

1⁄2 cucumber–peeled, quartered, deseeded and diced. Then sprinkled with salt and left to drain for half an hour

1 tbsp parsley–finely chopped

1 tbsp chives–finely chopped

salt and pepper

2 spring onions–cleaned and finely chopped
1 tbsp sunflower seeds–lightly toasted
a little extra parsley–finely chopped

Put the tuna into a favourite serving bowl and add a couple of twists of the pepper mill.

Whisk the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, yogurt

add the parsley, chives, salt and pepper together into a thick sauce.

Add the cucumber, onions and seeds.
Pour the sauce over the tuna and turn over all the ingredients carefully.
Sprinkle over the remaining parsley and serve with a crisp green lettuce.

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes | 12 Comments »

Aubergine Tortino

June 30, 2013 by Robin Ellis

The aubergine–eggplant–melanzane–enigmatic gentle giant of a vegetable.

Lovely conceit from Mark Bitman in The New York Times demonstrating its versatility.

Not included in the diagram but a useful addition to the repetoire, this tortino recipe is adapted from Paola Gavin’s Italian Vegetarian Cookery.

A tortino is a sort of soufflé crossed with a no-pastry pie–handy for those who need to watch their intake of refined carbohydrates.

It’s a little labour intensive but pays off.

600/700 gms aubergine [eggplant]–peeled and sliced thin

olive oil for brushing

2 1/2 oz tomato sauce–see below

2 oz grated parmesan

5 eggs

salt and pepper

Lightly salt the aubergine slices and leave them to drain for at least an hour.

Set the oven to 190C

Dry the slices in between sheets of kitchen paper.

Oil a couple of shallow oven trays.

Lightly brush the slices with olive oil and lay them out on the trays.

Bake for 5 minutes each side on the top shelf of the oven–one tray at a time.

Heat a cast iron grill pad to hot.

Transfer the slices onto the grill pad and char them for a couple of minutes each side.

(The grilling adds a smokey taste; you could fry the slices or just leave the slices in the oven longer but they must cook to tender.)

Oil a shallow oven dish and layer the cooked slices in the bottom.

Whisk the cheese and the tomato sauce together and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk the eggs and stir them well into the mixture.

Pour this over the aubergines.

Make sure the mix covers the aubergine slices.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Quick Tomato sauce

A handy standby sauce.

I made this in a jiffy this morning and used 2 1/2 oz of it for the tortino leaving easily enough for our pasta tonight–giving me time to follow some of today’s stage in the Tour de France!

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large tin of tomatoes–drained of their juice and roughly chopped.

2 garlic cloves–peeled and thinly sliced.

salt and pepper.

2 sprigs of rosemary–chopped.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the garlic and the rosemary.

Soften the garlic, being careful not to let it burn–a few seconds.

Add the tomatoes

and cook over a high heat–stirring often–until the loose liquid has evaporated and little pockmarks appear on the surface.

If you can part the Red Sea—running a spoon through it–it’s done.

Season with salt and pepper.

Voila!

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes | Tagged aubergine, aubergine tortino, eggplant, melazine, quick tomato sauce | 18 Comments »

Spicy puy lentil and basmati rice

June 28, 2013 by Robin Ellis

We first had this dish at Donald Douglas’s birthday lunch. (Donald played the dourly determined Captain MacNeil in Poldark and has been a cherished friend and neighbour of ours here in France for years.) It was his step-daughter Daisy’s birthday contribution to the celebratory feast…

…together with a magnificent cream sponge with lighted candles!

It’s versatile and can be served in a number of ways–as a salad or a vegetarian main course or a side dish–it has a pleasing depth of taste.

Soaking the brown rice beforehand helps it to cook more easily in time with the lentils.

100gms basmati brown rice

175 gms puy/green/brown lentils

1 tblsp cumin seeds

1 tblsp coriander seeds

2 tblsps olive oil

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp each ground allspice and cinnamon

salt and pepper

300 ml hot water

1 large onion–peeled, halved and sliced

2 tblsps olive oil

Small bunch parsley or coriander–chopped

Wash the rice and soak it in a bowl of cold water for twenty minutes.

Dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds in a small pan until they begin to colour.

Then pop them in a mortar and pestle them to break them up a bit.

Wash and drain the lentils, bring them to the boil in plenty of water and cook them until they begin to soften–about twenty minutes–they should not become mushy.
Drain the lentils and return them to the pan.
Mix all the spices with the two tablespoons of olive oil.
Drain the rice and add it to the lentils in the pan.
Mix in the spices and turn over everything together.

Integrate the hot water and season with salt and pepper.

Bring up to the boil, turn the heat to low and cover the pan tightly.
Cook until the rice is done–allow about thirty minutes.

As it cooks heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and fry the sliced onion slowly until it colours and crisps a little.

When the lentils and rice are cooked fold in the onions–leaving some to sprinkle on top with the parsley or better still the fresh coriander.

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes | Tagged brown basmati rice, Donald Douglas, puy/green lentils | 8 Comments »

Honey time or perhaps not…

June 26, 2013 by Robin Ellis

The Intrepids—Alice Frezouls and Meredith Wheeler are ready to go to work again.

Fearless and determined–covered from head to toe in case the bees get too excited.

Meredith employs her favourite tactic–singing to them to calm and reassure them they’re in friendly hands.

(Alice is politely doubtful that this makes a ha’peth of difference.)

I am reluctantly persuaded to accept the offer of protective clothing for my job as cameraman.

Subject not sure he wouldn’t rather get stung!

I’m soon glad I did, as the guardian bees launch their attack.

The experts set to work–

Alice using the more traditional way of calming–a smoke gun! In it she burns her special brew: burlap (jute), dried herbs and grasses with a dash of lavender water. heady stuff!

and discover a hive of activity!

I join the bees and the experts in the tomato patch to record the first recolte (harvest) of honey this year.

We are not expecting much. It has been the worst year we can remember for the seasonal crops that keep the bees busy.

The sunflowers–usually approaching flowering time now, ready to show off their glory for the cameras covering the Tour de France–are in their infancy. Green shoots barely above the ground.

The Judas tree enjoyed a brief blossoming in April and the false Acacia. There was a buzzing overhead of happy workers happily employed.

Little since then.

Alice predicts there will be “treasure” in the hive, but how much?

She weighs and surveys the cadres (honeycombs) and predicts two to three kilos of honey–under the circumstances, “pas mal!”

showing off some “treasure”

They even allow me to hold the trophy for a photo!

Posted in other sides to this life | Tagged honey harvest | 11 Comments »

Fresh trout simply grilled with thyme

June 23, 2013 by Robin Ellis

I wasn’t thinking of trout when I went to the market early Friday morning in Lautrec–I’ve got out of the habit of cooking it.

Rather, dorade (sea bream) perhaps or mackerel. When I approached the stall, which is usually packed with a good selection of fish,

it was covered in a white sea of ice but virtually no fish–except a small shoal of lonely-looking trout and an organic salmon–an unusual sight.

I’d noticed as I turned into the village that the road to Graulhet (fifteen minutes northwest of Lautrec) was blocked by two police vehicles and three determined looking gendarmes. I quickly decided my usual trick of not going fully round the roundabout but taking a sharp left into the village–strictly illegal but handy–was not a good idea!

Puzzled and dismayed by the absence of seafood I asked the unusually subdued fishmonger what was happening.

Qu’est ce que se passe, Monsieur?

Il y avait un accident avec le camion, il est en retard. [The fish wagon’s been delayed by an accident.]

Road blocked–gendarmes present–diversion signs–no fish—mystery solved–trout for lunch!

La Depeche du Midi (regional daily newspaper) carried the story the next day, with a graphic photo of the scene.

Mangled car in the ditch.

The young man in the car survived and is recovering in hospital. According to the report it took the rescue team two hours to free him. The lorry driver escaped with minor injuries.

It’s a safe bet that trout and salmon, obviously sourced elsewhere, remained the only fish on sale in Lautrec that morning!

This is what I did with the trout.

2 trout–gutted and cleaned

a handful of fresh thyme sprigs

olive oil

salt and pepper

Wash the trout and pat dry.

With a sharp knife, carefully make two shallow diagonal slits in the fish’s flesh each side.

Brush the fish top to tail with olive oil–(this helps to prevent them sticking to the griddle pad).

Rub salt and pepper into the slits.

Stuff the thyme into the cavities and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a griddle pad to hot–or use a sauté pan large enough to hold the fish.

Oil the surface.

Lay the fish on the pad and cook each side for about five minutes–testing for doneness by lifting the cavity and checking near the backbone. The cooking time depends on the size of the fish. (If pink/red, needs a little more time.)

Serve with green beans or a simple green salad.

Posted in Food, other sides to this life, Recipes | Tagged depeche du midi, griddle, Lautrec, trout | 4 Comments »

Fennel and sweet potato curry with chickpeas

June 21, 2013 by Robin Ellis

Not a recipe that normally springs to mind in the middle of June but this isn’t a normal June.

Perhaps it’s new normal June!

Normally (!) we would be eating supper outside–sun going down–cats on the wall–cows in the field–pale blue sky streaked with high-flying plane tracers–and remarking on how lucky we are!

Instead we enjoyed this in the warmth of the kitchen, in nodding agreement that this was indeed not normal.

1 onion–chopped small

2 garlic cloves–chopped

2 tbs olive oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp (each) turmeric, cumin powder, powdered ginger

1/2 tsp (each) coriander powder, cayenne powder

8oz tinned [canned] or fresh tomatoes–chopped

1 pint/500 ml stock (You probably won’t need it all!)

2 celery sticks–sliced in small (wine cork) size

1 smallish sweet potato–peeled and cubed

3 fennel bulbs–outer leaves removed, cored, cut in half vertically and each half cut thrice (i.e. six pieces in all–the ones in the photo are a tad too large)

3 tbs cooked chickpeas

salt to taste–bearing in mind there is salt in the stock

3 tbs coconut cream* or whisked smooth low fat yogurt

Heat the oil in a medium pan and add the mustard seeds.
When they start to pop add the onions and garlic, mix them in and sweat them until they soften and begin to colour.

Add the rest of the spices, the salt and mix in.

Add the tomatoes and cook on for five minutes to let them form a sauce.

Add half the stock and cook on for 5 minutes.

Add the cut up vegetables and mix in.
Cover and cook for 30 minutes–checking now and then that it doesn’t dry up (as it very nearly did for me!).
Add more stock as you need and cook on.
Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
When you are ready to eat, stir in three tablespoons coconut cream or whisked low fat yogurt and gently reheat.