17.11.10

Don't miss: special appearance at the culinary event Fourchet Vedet!

In the last post I was revealing my secret recipe for ginger & mustard Japanese dressing. I guess it's time for you to learn why do I cherish this dressing so much.

It's simply because it played an important part in me winning the Fourchet Vedet cooking contest two years ago. The winning dish was lamb sushi and miso aubergines paired with a zingy little watercress salad (with this amazing dressing on top). Don't even wonder if lamb sushi does exist - it doesn't, or at least didn't exist until I had the idea of making it.

Why invent this dubious dish then? Because the aim of the contest was to cook a creative, tasty & beautiful Asian-inspired dish in less than 1 hour, using 4 mandatory ingredients and adding a maximum number of other three ingredients. Needless to say I wished for salmon and all I got
was lamb.


The next year the theme was Turkey and lamb was again on the menu. I asked for
my friend's Călin help this time and we served the lamb sliced in between crispy brick pastry with quince jelly and a pistachio sauce. We won again.

But that was it. I couldn't stand seeing lamb again. In preparation for the contest we must have cooked about 10 kilos of lamb, in any imaginable and unimaginable way, experimenting with countless flavours and cooking methods. I wanted to make a deal with the organizers: they give up the lamb and I give up participating & winning their contest.

Someone must have read the frustration in my eyes. Apart from the lamb, I really enjoyed their contest and I wanted to be part of the fun. And the organizers had a great idea: to put me in the jury! I finally get to say: "dzee aciditee of dze wine combines verrry well with dze euh... dze earrrthiness of dzees mushroom"...

So if you want to see me doing my French accent or if you wonder what will replace lamb this year, come see the show this Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. The cooking contest is part of a bigger event involving tasting of dishes from around the world and it's free. It will also rain on Saturday, so there's nothing better you could do.

Address & other infos on the
site of the event.


Contest photos by my faithful and patient photographer Lucian.

16.11.10

Wasabi beef & plums salad

Though it sounds fancy like everything else on this blog, this is a salad very simple to make. But as you might expect it's a very special one too. The big secret lays in the dressing: an explosion of sweet, salty and spicy of which you can never have enough. Or at least I can't.



Wasabi beef & plums salad for two
2 x 150g beef steaks
1 tsp wasabi paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bag mixed salad leaves
4 plums
1 small red onion
bunch of radishes
toasted sesame seeds

Ginger & mustard dressing
1 tbsp grated ginger 1 tbsp grainy mustard
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar (or lime juice)
1 tbsp mirin (or 1 tsp brown sugar)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper


1. Season the beef steaks with salt & pepper. Spread the wasabi on the steaks and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes at least. They will change in color but wouldn't you if you were covered in burning wasabi?

2. Slice the onion and radishes. Pit the plums and cut in eights. Toss with the salad leaves.

3. Heat a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Sear the beef on both sides. You will need to adapt the cooking time depending on the thickness of the cut, but usually 3 minutes on each side is enough.

4. Leave the meat to rest for 5 minutes. Cut in thin ribbons and arrange on the salad.

5. Put all the dressing ingredients in a jar, replace the lid and give it a good shake. Pour over the salad. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top or go for gomasio.



Combine with rice for a very satisfying & healthy lunch.

This recipe makes 0.30kilos of pure goodness.