Salade Niçeoise, Deconstructed (more like Salade Juliaoise)

Kindof like a 4 seasons pizza, but with this awesome salad.  The dressing is particularly good and I was left with absolutely none of it, even though I would have loved to have had some the following day.  The base for the dressing is the white wine that cooks the seafood, so all the delicious oceany juices give it a delicious twist.

For 4 hungry hungry... well not hippos, but you know.

You will need:

2 large handfuls of tender green beans

1 large head of broccoli (fun alternative: brussel sprouts, 4 per person)

Cherry tomatoes on the vine, enough for 4-5 per person (a little vine each)

1 small red onion, sliced finely

1 red pepper, sliced into strips

Celery root, 2 big ones, cleaned and boiled until tender, then salted

Some good black olives, 10 per person

2 cups of clams

8oz of Salmon or any other fish

1 cup of white wine

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp of tarragon dijon mustard

Juice of 2 big limes

Salt, to taste

3 tbsps of olive oil

Blanch the green beans, broccoli until they’re slightly tender yet still brilliantly green.  Put aside.

Take a big pot and put 1 inch of water in the bottom.  Bring to boil, Add the white wine and add your seafood, with the fish at the bottom and clams at the top.  Leave on high until all the clams are open, turn off heat, then remove seafood from liquid, but aside, pour juice of one of the limes on top and salt.  Add the garlic, mustard, juice of other lime and salt to cooking liquid.  Mix thoroughly then start adding olive oil, whisking it in.  Dressing done!

Plate up a bit of every vegetable, each on its own side of the plate, a few clams and 2 oz of salmon on top and drizzle dressing over.

Serve with some good white wine and a hearty dark rye bread with some good butter.

Accidental Bitter Orange and Red Wine Soup

There are always happy accidents and this is a recipe rife with them.

Firstly, my nice bottle of red wine was left out on the table as I was sick and unable to drink it, effectively turning it a little into port.  Secondly, I had wished to purchase oranges at the supermarket and accidentally got “naranja agria” or bitter orange, which just won’t do.  But that along with a whole chicken, some onions, tayota, carrots, garlic and splashes or spice and herb magic rendered a fantastic soup!

To re-create this accident, you will need:

1 BIG cooking pot

1 whole tasty chicken

2 huge tayotas, peeled and cut into chunks

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced

3 large red onions, peeled and sliced

8 cloves of garlic, minced

2 bitter oranges, zested and juiced.

½ tsp of oregano

¼ tsp of cumin

Half a bottle of red wine and 3 cups of water

Salt to taste

Lime juice to taste
4 tomatoes, chopped

Cilantro, chopped to garnish

Mix together the juice of the oranges with the zest, the oregano, cumin, garlic.          Wash chicken with vinegar and pat dry.  Apply bitter orange paste all over and refrigerate overnight.  The next day shove everything in the big pot, chicken on the bottom with breast pointing up (yes, skin and all).  Bring to a boil, then turn down heat to simmer for 2 hours.  At the end of 2 hours, turn off and let cool until you can handle the chicken.  Take all meat off chicken and dispose of bones (meat should be very soft and easily removed).  Skim grease off top of soup, then add chicken and tomatoes.  Bring back to almost boil then turn off, taste and adjust seasoning with salt and lime juice.  Serve with a flourish of cilantro, or even better some fresh zest sprinkled on top for some real zing!