Supernatural market

We are having a gorgeus springtime here in Provence and I do love go onto my very secret garden looking for wild vegetables . It's the season for detoxing and what's better than walking under the sun and picking up something that Mother Nature so generously gives us ?
One basket for that we'll be eating raw and the other one for herbs that will be cooked...I like to come home with my herbs cleaned & arranged ,ready to use .

Gordes

Can you imagine that it's amongst the ruins of some village that you can find the biggest variety ? I speak of Luberon , obviously : in the countryside we can't find so much , because of all the chemicals products that have been used along the years. Things are changing now , and a new generation of young farmers is coming .I'll tell you in a next post about them.



Wild blettes



Wild leek

Wild rocket 

When we came back we had an amazing wild rocket ( not be confounded with  arugula ) and Dandelion  salad with fresh eggs from the farm nearby : this is one of my favorites , a real luxe to me. The combination between the bitterness of dandelion and the spicy taste of wild rocket is so good that you  don't need to add anythyng else , just a normal seasoning.Accompanied with eggs is an healthy and light lunch or dinner . Your liver will thank you !

Dandelion & Wild Rocket Salad

Wash the herbs almost three times , till the water is clear , then put them in a bowl. Prepare a vinaigrette : in a cup put some fleur de sel ( how much as you like ) a drizzle of apple's winegar t dissolve the salt , extra-virgin olive oil and freshly grounded black pepper , mix well and add to the salad . Cook the eggs : raise the water to boil , put gently the eggs inside and let cook for five minutes , drain and cool with cold water . Serve with the salad and enjoy !
You can find here a traditional provençal recipe with wild blettes .

Bon appetit !

Winter's vegetables jelly

Winter’s vegetables jelly as if it were summertime

Last week a friend asked me to prepare a side dish for a T-Bone steak , something very light &fresh, even if we are in the middle of winter here in the South of France …sunny days but cold ! I wanted something summerlike but with seasonal products ,this vegetables jelly surprised me ( it’s really a recipe of mine ) I cooked every vegetable apart but in the same water and at the end I had a gorgeous stock , with which  made the jelly .The result is a colored , savory  and healthy side dish .I think that even children would love it !

Ingredients for 10 servings:

300 gr of pumpkin

200 gr of mushrooms( champignons de Paris)

300 gr of leeks

400 gr of broccoli

200 gr of parsnips

400 gr of spinach

1 liter of stock

30 gr of gelatin leaves  ( or 8 gr of agar-agar )

10 gr of fresh ginger

A little bunch or coriander

Half a lemon

3 teaspoon of salt

Freshly grounded white pepper ( I used a Sarawak)

Wash very well all the vegetables then cut the pumpkin, the leeks, the mushrooms and parsnips into thin slices .In a large stock-pan pour 3 liters of water, the salt and the ginger and bring to boil  You can begin by cooking parsnips and mushrooms : put them in a basket as you see in the photo below and plunge them into the boiling water for 3 / 4 minutes , till they are soft but still crunchy. Then you can go with the pumpkin and leeks , the same way , after retiring the second basket you can pour in the spinach , wait for the stock comes up to the boil , let cook one minute and then draw out from the stock with a holey ladle; soak into cold water and drain ,to stop cooking and keep the color, make the same way  the broccoli :plunge the whole broccoli and let it cook  about 8 minutes , then soak it into cold water as the spinach and drain .

Now that you have all your vegetables ready take one liter of stock and put it in a smaller pan, taste the salt ( it must be savory ) Keep the stock warm and pour in some leaves of coriander ,the juice of half a lemon and the pepper. In the meantime dip the gelatin leaves in cold water till they’ll be smooth , then drain them , mix in the stock( if using agar-agar you’ll have to mix the powder in the stock, bring to boil for 1minute)

Now you are ready to make the last step: take a silicon mould ( a big one of about 2 liters or two smaller  , otherwise you can even do individual portion , pretty nice )

Pour a layer of stock on the bottom and let in the freezer till solid then begin to make layers of vegetables, pouring some stock on each. Play with colors!!When your mould filled pour the last layer of stock .Refrigerate at least 4 hours (agar-agar will thicken earlier about 2 hours)Before serving unmold on a serving plate. You can serve with some sauce that you like, but it must be a cold one .