Tons of recipes combine spinach and coconut; that’s because they perfectly match together . If you never tried the combination, this soup is a perfect occasion for doing it. It’s slightly spiced thanks to half a red scotch bonnet chili pepper, a variety of hot chili from the Caribbean.  You can adapt this soup recipe’s spiciness to your own tastes: skip the pepper, use half for a slightly spiced soup or use a whole one (or two) if you like it really hot.

Preparation time: 10 minutes  – Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

1.1 lbs (500g) of fresh spinach
2 1/4 cups (56 cl) of vegetable stock
2 1/4 cups (56 cl) of coconut milk
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
1/2 lemon
1/2 red scotch bonnet chili pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
4 tablespoons of grated coconut for decoration
Salt

Instructions

1/ Carefully clean spinach leaves and pinch off the stems if they’re thick and tough. Chop spinach leaves roughly.

2/ Peel onion and garlic cloves. Chop onions and crush garlic cloves with a spoon.

3/ Take seeds off chili pepper and finely chop it.

4/ Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and chili pepper, take temperature down to low heat and leave them for 5 minutes.

5/ Add cumin, turmeric and grated ginger. Add vegetable stock and coconut milk and take to a boil. Reduce heat and leave covered for 10 minutes.

6/ Preheat oven on broiler setting.

7/ Add spinach and leave them for 3 minutes or until they wither.

8/ Liquidize 3/4 of the soup and put it back in the pan with the remaining quarter.

9/ Squeeze lemon, add to soup and season with salt.

10/ Grill grated coconut for 2 minutes in the oven.

11/ Serve in individual bowls and decorate with grilled coconut.

It’s freezing cold in Paris… I’ve been dreaming of potatoes and melted cheese for days! French traditionnal cuisine is full of that kind of dishes from our mountain regions. Tartiflette is one of them. Do I need to say my favorite? All I can say is, if you’re a cheese lover definitely go for it!

Each time I’ve been living abroad from France, Reblochon was THE cheese I always brought back with me when I had a chance to visit my homeland. Now you know what to get when someone asks you what souvenir you would like from France! If you can’t wait to try it, here is Reblochon cheese I found on amazon. I’ve been impressed by its price though, much more expensive than what it actually costs here.

But lets get back to this tartiflette recipe. By now, you all understood Reblochon cheese is the main ingredient for this dish! I’m not a conservative cook when it comes to traditional dishes. As long as it tastes good, it doesn’t matter if you didn’t use the original ingredients…but I can’t think of anything that could replace Reblochon in Tartiflette. Sorry

The hot melted cheese combines with the white wine and cream to form an inimitable sauce, I’m just telling you this…

Preparation time: 20 minutes  – Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients (for 6 servings)

1 Reblochon cheese (500g – 1.1 lbs)
2.2 lbs (1 kg) of potatoes
0.5 lbs (250 g) of bacon, diced
1 cup of creme fraiche
3 tablespoons of small chives
1 tablespoon of butter
1 glass of dry white wine
1 onion
Salt and pepper

Instructions

1/ Clean potatoes and cut them by half.

2/ Boil potatoes into salted water for about 30 minutes (They’re ready when a knife enters easily). Then, you’ll take them off water and let them chill.

3/ Meanwhile, peel and slice onions.

4/ Melt butter in a frying pan. Add sliced onions.

5/ When onions are translucent, add bacon dices and leave over medium heat for 5 more minutes stirring often.

6/ Preheat oven to 460° F (240° C / Th 8).

7/ Peel and slice potatoes.

8/ Rinse and dry small chives. Chop them.

9/ In a bowl, combine creme fraiche with wine and small chives. Season with salt and pepper.

10/ Grease an ovenproof dish. Start by arranging a layer of potato slices at the bottom of the dish. Top with bacon dices and onion, then spread the  cream mixture on top. Repeat with another layer of everything.

11/ Grate Reblochon’s rind lightly with a knife. (Don’t take it off! Just grate what’s coming off easily).

12/ Slice Reblochon cheese into 2 thinner circles, each one having rind on one side and inside cheese on the other side.

13/ Place both circles on top of the potato layers with the rind side up and bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese sauce is simmering.

Serve immediately with green lettuce and vinaigrette.

I’ts perfectly fine to eat the Reblochon’s rind (it’s the best part!), although if it’s a few days old it might have a pretty strong taste

Appetizer spoons are great for an « apéritif dinatoire » when your guests are only going to eat finger food. But they’re also perfect as an elaborated amuse-bouche to be served before a nice meal. We’re in the middle of holiday season, it’s a perfect time to share with you this delicious coconut ceviche recipe. Believe me, it would make a great appetizer for your Christmas or New year’s eve dinner.

Ceviche is a Peruvian dish in which citrus marinade contributes to « cook » the fish. That’s why the indicated marinating time can vary depending on your tastes. If you like eating raw fish, then you won’t let it marinate for long. On the contrary, if raw fish doesn’t appeal you at all, you can even prepare it the day before so it marinates overnight and gets a harder consistence.

Preparation time: 10 mn – Marinating time: 15 to 30 minutes

Ingredients (for 10 to 15 spoons)

1/2 lbs (225 g) of white fish fillets (sole, bass, hake, cod etc.)
1 lemon
1 lime
5 tablespoons of thick coconut milk
1 tablespoon of small chive
1 tablespoon of cilantro
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 teaspoon of grated coconut (optional)
Salt

Instructions

1/ Rinse fish fillets and dry them with kitchen paper. Take bones away and dice them (size around 1 square inch).

2/ Rinse and chop small chives and cilantro.

3/ Rinse lime and lemon and grate their zest (optional: you can keep some for decoration, you’ll grate the rest over the spoons before serving them).

4/ In a soup plate, combine fish, lemon and lime zest, small chives, cilantro and a pinch of salt.

5/ Squeeze lime and lemon and add juice to the fish mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 15 minutes (depending on how raw you want to serve it).

6/ Combine in a bowl coconut milk and turmeric.

7/ Fill spoons with ceviche (leaving lemon juice in the marinating plate) and coconut sauce.  Top with grated zests, ginger and coconut (optional).

So what was this homemade fish stock recipe for?… Well… A veggie fight!

Mel of Bouchon for Two and Leela of She Simmers organize a veggie challenge each month. And December is… battle fennel!

So I bought fennels and spent days wondering how I was going to prepare them. First, option was a salmon, fennel and some fruit carpaccio. But I couldn’t decide which fruit… Orange, mango, papaya, pear?… Which one would you add it?… I haven’t made up my mind yet but I’m not giving up on that one

Since the recipe submitted has to, somehow, reflect its cook; mine definitely needed some butter and cream Let’s keep it French and forget about cholesterol!! Alright, you’re allowed to replace the cream by a plain yogurt if you really need to! But be aware it will taste different if you switch butter for margarine…

So, here is my dish: sea bass fillet and its aniseed sauce served with fennel puree and crispy fennel fries.

Preparation time: 25 minutes – Cooking time: 30- 35 minutes

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

Sea bass

3.3 lbs (1.5 kg) of sea bass fish (approx. 2 big ones)
3 tablespoons of Olive oil (click here to buy online)
Salt & pepper

Aniseed sauce

6 tablespoons of olive oil (click here to buy online)
3 tablespoons of chopped dill
1 teaspoon of aniseed liquor (Pastis, Ouzo etc.)

Fennel puree

3.3 lbs (1.5 kg) of fennel bulbs (approx. 3 bulbs)
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of homemade fish stock (recipe here)
4 tablespoons of creme fraiche (or plain yogurt)
3 tablespoons of chopped dill
1 oz (30 g) of butter
Salt & pepper

Fennel fries

1.1 lbs (500 g) of fennel bulbs (approx. 1 bulb)
4 tablespoons of flour
Salt

Instructions

1/ If you’re lucky, your fish merchant will remove the fillets for you. Mine just cleans it, then, client is on its own! If you’re a first timer, check Chef Simon’s explanation here. You can either keep the skin on the fillets or remove it. Store fillets in the refrigerator and use heads, bones and fins to make your own fish stock.

2/ Rinse fennels and dry them. You can take the outside leaves off if they don’t look so good. Slice leaves giving them a fries shape. Keep aside the slices of the last fennel for the fries.

3/ Prepare the aniseed sauce: mix together in a blender olive oil, dill and aniseed liquor.

4/ Melt butter in a pan. (Keep low heat so butter doesn’t get brown. If it does, change it; eating it is carcinogenic… At least, that’s what my mum always told me )

5/ Add fennel (the puree part) and leave covered for 8 minutes stirring from time to time.

6/ During that time, flour the fennel you kept aside and turn your deep fat fryer on. If you don’t have one, heat 2 cups of olive oil in a pan over medium- high heat.

7/ Go back to the puree, add fish stock to the fennel in the pan and leave it simmer until all liquid has evaporated.

8/ When oil is hot, dip fennel fries in it and leave them until they get a golden color.

9/ When fries are ready, put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper. Add salt and keep in the oven over low heat so they don’t get cold while you finish.

10/ Liquidize fennel the best you can (it tends to get stuck in the blender, but don’t worry if it’s not mixed well).

11/ Add cream and dill, then liquidize again. Season with salt and pepper.

12/ Prepare sea bass: In a frying pan, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add sea bass fillets, heating them on the skin side for 3 minutes, then 2 minutes on the other side. Season with salt and pepper.

13/ Serve sea bass on top of the puree adding some fennel fries and aniseed sauce on the side.

Here is a recipe for the last fish stock I made using sea bass. The ingredients I used are the ones I had on hand; keep in mind you can add any herb or flavorful vegetable to a stock. In this recipe, I used fennel trimmings because my fish stock was made to be used in a fennel puree but I could have used celery instead for example. Sometimes I even add it a glass of dry white wine, it gives it a great taste

Once you’re done, there are plenty of uses for your homemade fish stock. You can use it to cook pasta or rice (when making a seafood risotto for example). It’s also a great base for making a flavorful sauce for a fish or seafood. Don’t be shy, experiment with it

Preparation time: 5 minutes  – Cooking time: 30- 35 minutes

Ingredients (for 12 cups of stock)

1.1 lbs (500 g) of fish heads, bones and fins
16 cups (4 l) of water
1 thyme branch (or 3 tablespoons of dry thyme)
3 tablespoons of tarragon
2 tablespoons of parsley
2 tablespoons trimmings from a fennel bulb
2 tablespoons of chervil
1 bay leaf
2 shallots
1 carrot

Instructions

1/ Rinse fish pieces and dip them in 3 cups of salted water so all the remaining blood gets out.

2/ Peel shallots and carrot. Cut them by half.

3/ Fill a casserole with 13 cups of water. Add all herbs, fennel trimmings, shallots and carrot and get to a boil.

4/ When water is boiling, add fish pieces and reduce heat. Leave covered for 20 to 25 minutes.

5/ Take fish, carrot and shallots out and filter passing your stock through a strainer.

That’s it! Let it cool down and  freeze or refrigerate (if you’re going to use within a few days).