Easy Tuscan Tuna and Beans Lunch

We are in the south west in France , best place for duck and foie gras...And trying to copy my girls  I am on the master cleanse diet...
But the husband has to be fed...nice and easy....
no food aromas to distract me and a dish he loves..

ingredients

1. A tin or a jar of cooked large beans ( best from Spain or Italy)
2. A tin or a jar of chunks of best quality tuna
3. One onion
4.  A bunch of parsley
5. Hot cayenne pepper
6. Super olive oil
7. A mild white vinegar on the table
8. Some salad leaves

Olive oil Le Domaine de Lulu de Waldner

First heat the beans . Do NOT cook them! Once they are hot drain them and rince them with warm
water , this will wash of any taste of the can...
then you can drain as well the can of tuna to get rid of the second rate oil..

Once it's done mix gently the tepid beans , the tuna , the sliced onion , first rate olive oil* ,
some cayenne pepper , drizzle with parsley and serve with salad and white vinegar on the side!
This salad works all year round..Fantastic with brilliant products and I guess awful with the wrong ingredients....

*Olive oil
I get it from my friends Diane and Oliver in Provence...It' the best!!!
Domaine de Lulu de Waldner
Las Créma 84330
Le Barroux
Vaucluse
Récoltées à la main, première pression à froid

Roman Holidays at Campo dei Fiori

On my last day in Rome after indulging on wild broccoli
at Fausta's house , total bliss...I thought I cannot go back to Switzerland
without FOOD !
So off I went to the market in Campo dei Fiori.
the photos will tell all...
Dont forget this is the month of february.
Italians are brilliant , they packed everything
and I just shoved all in the suitcase.
Recipe of Carciofi (artichokes) will be posted soon...

 Unpacking in Switzerland!!!

Irresistible Goodies in Italian Bars

My husband is convinced we would weigh half a ton
between us if we moved to Rome...
Life would become just masses of temptations.
Are'nt those the best looking sandwiches ever?
Who needs to go for lunch in a restaurant....

Inspirations for divine picnics!

Exquisite Village Paintings

There is this village in Orissa where all the walls are painted.
let's take example and draw on a terrace when we have a party...
maybe with masses of Indian curries....
we can get on the menu later in spring..

Be bold buy chalk and natural pigments and go for wonderful decorations for any party on
floors and walls you can hose away any excess at breakfast !

Racy Salmon Steaks and Canadian Wild Rice

There is always salmon sitting in my freezer..it'easy to
cook and you dont have to defrost it!
Ikea sells a pretty decent one.
perfect for a last minute dinner or week end crashers..
when it's summer I have a great device to smoke the fish as it cooks
but it has to be used outside and anyway it's in storage
so I'll use the good old fashioned oven..with a racy
marinade.

Ingredients

1. grated zest of a lemon
2. a knob of grated fresh ginger
3. a splash of soya sauce
4. a tea spoon of sugar
5. two or three salmon steaks
6. a cup of canadian wild rice

marinate the salmon for about an hour even frozen

place the salmon in one of those silicone magic boxes

one cup of rice, with a cup and a half of water and follow the instructions on packet

all ready for an oven preheated to 180 for fifteen minutes

GOOOOD.......

Fake Easy Peasy Healthy Risotto with Sage

As I was walking the dog I noticed I still had sage in the garden,
not springy bright but adequate for cooking and smelling nice.
So having no idea about dinner I decided to please my husband
with this tasty invention of mine he loves..I call it fake risotto
 because there is no onion , wine or stirring....

ingredients following :

brown rice it takes longer to cook, follow instructions on packet.

sachets of broth ..usually I always have homemade broth in the

freezer but being between 2 houses I cant be bothered and this brand

by a french chef is just tops...

fresh sage

butter

cream

parmesan cheese

cook the rice with water and broth.
cut the sage with scissors , fry it in butter and add the cream
if you are being good use light cream...
mix all together with a dash of pepper...
top with grated parmesan  cheese.

and if you want to be decadent drizzle with white truffle oil..it's exquisite...

"chapeau d'entrecote" ,trevisa and barba de frati

before the summer , I was at my favorite swiss butcher ,  boucherie du molard in Geneva ,
looking for an interesting cut of beef to cook outside on the "plancha". I thought the name of the cut :
a sirloin's hat was irresistible and the butcher told me it was very good...It also reminded me of a cut I had in Argentina : matambre.
Anyhow now it's freezing , I dont have a fireplace to roast the meat , but  I decided to cook it on the stove, and by luck I found at the market trevisa ( an italian red chicory ) and barba de frati (monk's beard ) also called agretti or salsola soda which will be perfect easy vegetables to serve with my meat.



first prepare the vegetables.
cut the trevisa in two , scatter on top some chopped pine nuts salt and pepper , drizzle with olive oil,
place in a heated oven ( 180° ) for about half an hour.

When I go to Italy I love the different types of greens they serve in restaurants...Here in Switzerland we are lucky to find some of them..Barba de frati being one of my favorites I was very excited to cook it...Actually I did it the simple way , once cleaned drop them in boiling salted water , cook al dente , drain , drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.

heat the pan with a dash of olive oil , when very hot drop the meat and some rosemary , once you turn it scatter on top coarse salt and pepper to taste.

Simple , healthy , and scrumptious !

 tuck in!!