Salmon & avocado tartare

Love it or ... love it

Salmon & avocado tartare

Salmon is one of my favorite ingredients, I especially like it raw because it has so much more flavor than cooked. I know... some people don't like the idea of eating raw fish, but once you've tasted the fresh and almost sweet taste of raw salmon, you'll want more!

And what goes better with raw salmon than avocado? The combination of the two is almost divine.
There are lot's of ways to make salmon & avocado tartare, I like to keep the taste from the salmon and the avocado as pure as possible by not adding a lot of ingredients.

This tartare is perfect as a starter or as a light lunch on a nice summer day, and it is really easy and fast to prepare.

Wine tip: Raw salmon goes really good in combination with a fruity, flowery white wine. A Riesling wine will do the job perfectly. The Riesling grapes display a flower aroma and the high acidity is perfect to counter the fat omega-3 oils of the salmon.

Salmon tartare

Ingredients: 

• 400gr salmon (put it in the freezer for an hour or two before using it, it kills bacteria and it will cut easier)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 lime or lime juice
• 1 tsp of light soy sauce
• sesame seeds
• 10gr chopped chive
• salt & pepper
• some rocket salad

Preparation:

Dice the salmon and the avocado into brunoise (see terminology list). Carefully mix them in a large bowl with the soy sauce, chive and some lime juice. Add pepper and salt, not to much salt because the soy sauce is already a bit salty!

Put the salmon tartare on your plate, if you have a serving ring you can use it to make a nice tower.

Garnish with sesame seeds and some rocket salad leafs.

Serve with toasted ciabatta bread or other bread.

Enjoy!

April 28, 2013

Yakitori

Japanese snack

Yakitori

Yaki is Japanese for roasted and Tori means poultry. This is, besides sushi, my favorite Japanese dish. Do you also love sushi?! Share your favorite sushi restaurant (name& place) in the comment box below!

For you who do not know what a yakitori is; basically it is a Japanese, marinated, grilled chicken skewer. Nowadays yakitori are also made with beef, pork or fish.

These skewers are really easy to prepare. You can make them in advance, freeze them and use them as an aperitif or starter when you have unexpected guests... or you can eat them right off the grill!

Yakitori

Ingredients:

• 500gr chicken, cut into small pieces (the smaller the pieces, the faster they'll cook)
• 6-8 bamboo sticks (quantity depends on how long you sticks are)

Marinade:

• 80ml Dark Soy Sauce
• 80ml Sake (Japanse rice wine. If you can't find this, you can use a soft white wine)
• 80ml Mirin (Rice wine with less alcohol and more sugar than Sake. If you can't find this you can use dry sherry or vermouth with 1-2 tsp of sugar)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 chopped spring onion

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients, except the spring onion, for the marinade in a sauce pan and boil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Put the chicken on the bamboo sticks. Pour your marinade in a deep plate, add the spring onion, and coat you chicken skewer on all sides. Leave them to marinate for at least one hour. The longer they marinate, the more taste the meat will absorb. 

Grill the yakitori until they are nicely roasted on all sides. Serve hot with some sweet & sour sauce of peanut sauce! (I prefer peanut sauce!)

Enjoy!

If you can't find peanut sauce or you would like to make it yourself, let me know in the comment box below, and i'll post a recipe!

April 26, 2013

Sandwich time

Summer is coming

Sandwich time!

It is getting warmer: time for light snacks or a light, quick lunch.
Today I'll give you a very easy recipe for an easy and delicious sandwich, a chicken & avocado sandwich.
I ate this sandwich in Byron Bay during my 6 week road trip along the Australian East Coast, and I loved it! It was so simple and yet I had never thought about making it.
A few months later when I was back in rainy Belgium, feeling hungry and “home sick” about Australia, I suddenly remembered this sandwich. Luckily I had the ingredients I needed in my fridge. After prepearing it and taking the first bite, I felt right back on the beach in Byron Bay, enjoying this chicken and advocado sandwich. 
Food can be like a time machine, one bite can bring you back to your childhood or to that holiday you enjoyed so much. And that is what I love about food, it brings up good memories so easily! 

Here is the recipe for a chicken & avocado sandwich. It is something you can enjoy at home, or take it with you to the park or to your job. And it is so easy and fast to make!

Chicken & Avocado Sandwich

Ingredients:

• Some slices of toats bread
• A ripe avocado
• one chicken breast
• Salt & pepper
• Optional: cheese, sour cream, or whatever you like with it!

Preparation:

Cut you chicken in small pieces of 0,5 on 0,5 cm. Season them with salt & pepper and bake them for a few minutes (the small pieces will cook very fast. If you don't leave them on to long they will be soft and juicy). 

Toast you bread in a toaster, if you have a folding grill you don't have to toast it up front.

Spread your chicken on your bread, add cheese if you want to and put it in the folding grill (if you don't have a folding grill, you can add the avocado immediately).

When the toast is golden brown and the cheese has melted, you take the sandwich off the grill, open it and spread the fresh avocado on one side of the toast, if you want you can add some sour cream to give it some extra freshness.

Close your sandwich... cut in half... and enjoy!

April 24, 2013

Welcome! - Tajine

Eat It

Food!

That's what it's all about.

I love eating from when i was a little boy. Being a Belgian living in Italy with a world traveling father, I soon learned to enjoy different tastes from all over the world. I enjoyed the Italian way of eating; taking time for your food. 

It didn't take long before I could be found in the kitchen with my head above the pots, eager to lend a helping hand. slowly I started cooking on my own and after high school I went to cooking school to refine my cooking skills. Besides cooking I love eating out. During my travels I try to find small local restaurants and discover the local specialties.

But enough about me, you are here for the food!

I created this blog to keep you posted with recipes and tips on restaurants I find along my way.

I hope you'll enjoy it!

Next is a recipe i learned on my journey in Morocco:

Chicken Tajine with green olives

During my stay with a Moroccan family in Mohammedia, a coastal city, I learned to make this delicious Tajine. It is a really easy dish which takes some time to prepare, but it's definitely worth the wait! 

For the best result you should marinate the chicken one day in advance, it gives the meat time to absorb the flavors and makes it more juicy.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken legs
• 250 grams green stoneless olives
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tbs Smen, regular butter or olive oil (Smen is a salted fermented butter from Northern Africa)
• 1/2 Lemon or pickled lemon (Pickled lemon is an often used ingredient in Moroccan cuisine)
• a bundle of flat leafed parsley and cilantro
• ± 125 ml chicken broth

for the marinade:

• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 ts paprika powder
• 1/2 ts turmeric (kurkuma)
• 2cm fresh ginger root, grated
• pinch of saffron
• pinch of cinnamon
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt & pepper

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and rub it all on the chicken. Place the chicken in a sealed food bag and leave it in the fridge.

Heat the butter in a tajine or casserole on a low fire. Bake the chicken until it has a little crust, whilst turning the meat add the onions. Put you fire on low and add the chicken broth, the parsley, the cilantro and the lemon. Close the lid and let it simmer on a low fire for at least 2 hours. Check your chicken once in a while and turn it around to make sure it doesn't burn.

Add the olives and let it simmer for another 20 minutes.

Remove the bundle of herbs to serve.

Best served with couscous or bread!

"Bismillah" or bon appetit!

شهية طيبة

April 24, 2013