Crayfish and artichoke starter

crayfish cocktail
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

It's strange when you start blogging. You start writing about all kinds of food, and dishes you happen to cook. But after a while you find, that you are actually eating a lot of similar dishes in a certain span of time! I seem to have spaghetti or some other pasta with tomato sauce ever so often, every week at least once. I make roast potatoes, probably every week too. And lasagna, every three weeks or so. I will make some special stuff, like jiaozi or chinese noodles or something, and blog about that. But you can only blog about these special dishes once, can't you? No use explaining it all again- although you could throw in some extra pictures on FLickr, or update the original slightly. Sometimes I think I make something original, only to find out it is already in the archives. Like this one. It started out as microwavable artichokes. That worked, although it took many more minutes than the claim of 17 - about 10 to 15 more. So I made a vinaigrette with strong Dijon mustard, loads of fresh tarragon and olive oil, but we didn't have the artichokes. They were supposed to be the starter of the meal, but, because of the microwave situation, we had the main course first. So, after that was finished, we were full and the artichokes had cooled off. Which left me with two artichoke hearts.
Cut these into small dice. Take about 100 grams of peeled crayfish, 3 tablespoons of mayonaise and 4 tablespoons of the tarragon vinaigrette. Cut 1 apple into julienne and add it to the cocktail. Add some more olive oil if the sauce is too thick. Serve with crackers or a slice of nice white bread, and some white wine.

Chinese style salmon

salmon
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

The salmon that day looked rather nice and I fancied eating it, not really sure on what to do with it. I usually fry it in butter in the pan and add some Noilly Prat or something. But this time, my Noilly Prat had run out - a shame, since my Marsala had finished too - and so the whole idea of a meal plan turned the other way and I had it Chinese Sichuan style. I took off the skins and the bones of the salmon steaks and cut each steak into two. Then I seared the salmon on not such a high fire in oil, and added soy sauce, half a clove of grated garlic and one centimetre of ginger, rice wine, some salt, some sugar; and in the end drizzled over some Sichuan chili oil (homemade). Don't overcook the salmon! Scatter finely chopped fresh cilantro on top. Lovely with noodles or rice.

scallops

scallops
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Inspired by Nigel Slater's Appetite: fried scallops. As a starter: for each person, buy 3 to 4 extremely fresh scallops (coquilles st. jacques). Pat dry with kitchen paper. You need one clove of garlic, finely sliced; some chopped parsley, and some tarragon. I just love the flavour of that herb, especially in some mayonnaise or vinaigrette setting... Take a frying pan and add a large knob of butter, heat until bubbly. Fry the scallops for about 2 minutes on each side, they should crisp a little bit. Don't overcook! Take out the scallops, add a fresh knob of butter and stir the sauce around. Add some salt, pepper and Noilly Prat to taste, add the chopped herbs. Put the scallops on a plate and pour the sauce over it. Eat with nice bread and a chilled white wine.