Petits classiques : individual hachis parmentiers

That’s the basic classic hachis parmentier served by all French mamans. It’s economical comfort food that children love. Including grown up kids…
Today, they are small, in ramequin (what you may call cocottes) and verrines (it’s a glass, I hope baking won’t damage it too quickly).
The ramequins can be prepared in a large quantity and frozen. Their shape and size is ideal for quick thawing.

That starts with a leftover of boiled beef. It’s minced into hachis, then refried with a brunoise of veggies.

Mashed potatoes, flavored with butter. My only eccentricity is I’ve left the pink skin. I don’t buy pink potatoes to throw the skins.

Layered : puree, hachis, puree, butter.
Then baked and enjoyed !

Power azuki fro-yo, ready in 1 minute

A refreshing post work-out drink. Frozen yogurt with a Japanese flavor.

In the blender :

1/2 cup frozen boiled azuki beans (unsweetened)
1/2 cup yogurt
a few ice-cubes
1 scoop protein powder (unflavored)
honey or sweetener to taste

Eat immediately ! Mmmmm….

Alaska red fish and saffron soup

A meal cooked in one pot. The golden soup was the cooking broth of the fish.

Combining fresh and frozen ingredients is a way to get the best at a good price. Here the fish and corn are frozen, the rest fresh. The flavorings are white wine and saffron.

Ready.

The soup as a first dish.

Poached fish as a main.

Perfectly cooked, juicy.

Side veggies.

Double bean and dill, a neo-garbure in 5 minutes

For a rainy lazy Sunday, brunch ready in 5 minutes. You don’t get a garbure in 5 minutes, not even in 50. It’s a French peasant bean and veggie stew that simmers hours and is garnished with plenty of of meat…
Little anacdote, I went to a local so-called French restaurant in hip area full of skinny fashionistas. Surprisingly, while they were supposed to serve bird food, there was garbure on the menu. Someone ordered it and when I saw it, I thought : “… ah, yeah, they make it in XS size too.”. That looked like my dish today, except that I have 12 servings on my plate. So there is now a mutant version.

Defrost (in microwave) white beans, edamame (green soy beans), with Japanese roast pork and young onion.

Add in raw tomato and 4 pepper mix.

Dill was frozen too.

That’s colorful, tasty and filling. The white beans melted in to a earthy sauce, the edamame were crispy, the tomato and dill refreshing, the pork powerful….
A great simple meal.

Cal 458.3 F23.2g C41.8g P26.7g

Kaki-age tendon, a fried twist on rice and veggies

The shutter opens on tempura and sauce on a bowl of rice. It is a popular Gourmande eat-out. I’m afraid that it “was”. I mean that’s the first time I make mine, and I love it so much more that those they serve… Well some shops make it good, but not at my ideal serving size (smaller), nor on brown rice. Few make their sauce and it’s often too salty.

Let’s explain kaki-age tendon .
Take tempura, a style of Japanese battered fried veggies and seafood, and domburi (a big bowl of rice), and you obtain 天丼 tendon. It means “paradise bowl”… or it’s a short for tempura-domburi. You choose the one you like.

And this is kaki-age. It’s a mix of julienned veggies and sometimes a few small pieces of seafood, made in a hand-full size amount, and fried as tempura.

Here it contains : sweet potato, onion, negi leeks and a few bits of kabocha.
It’s a vegetarian version (not vegan, there is egg in batter).

I made a few a while ago, on a big tempura day, and I stocked in the freezer. They defrost perfectly, I put one 10 minutes at 120 degrees C, then 2 minutes a 160 degree C in the oven-toaster.