Fried Stuffed Olives

Inspired by one of the dishes I had in Italy, I decided to make my own version of stuffed Olive Ascolana. The dish is originally from Le Marche in central Italy and traditionally uses large fleshy Ascoli olives. The recipe for the stuffing varies, some call for a mixture of various meats/sausages. I used ground pork and prosciutto ham because these are what I have in the fridge and they need to be used up ASAP. I also added basil to the stuffing just to experiment. The only tricky part in the recipe is cutting the fleshy olives in a spiral, much like peeling an apple, to pit the olives. (As can be seen in the picture, my spiral olives are not perfect….yet.) The ground meat is then shaped into small ovals and the spiral olives are then slowly wrapped and manipulated around them to form a stuffed olive. I hope my description is making sense. Alternatively, use pitted olives. Make a long length-wise slit on each olive and stuff them with the meat filling. They are then breaded and fried into these succulent olive balls. I find they are great when served with a light sprinkling of chili powder and a wedge of fresh lemon.

Fried Stuffed Olives

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:

30 Olives (Ascoli if possible, if not, any large fleshy kind will do)

1 cup ground pork (or any other kind of meat you like)

¼ cup of chopped prosciutto ham

3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of chopped basil

1 egg

Chili powder, ground nutmeg, salt and pepper to season.

For the batter:

1 cup of bread crumbs

1-2 eggs beaten

Olive oil for frying

The Method

1. Pit the olives by cutting from the top in a spiral like peeling an apple.
2. Light fry the ground pork and ham. Do not cook them totally. Remove from pan and mix in the rest of the other ingredients. Let cool.
3. Form ovals with the mixture in step 2, and slowly wrap the olive spirals around them.
4. When done, dip each one in the beaten egg then coat it with the bread crumbs. Set aside.
5. Set up pan with olive oil on medium-high heat. Fry the olives until light golden, remove and let drain on a paper towel. Then deep fry them, again. I personally prefer to double-fry any fried dishes as it makes them crispier.
6. Sprinkle with ground chili pepper and serve with a wedge of lemon.

Chocolat

I just got back from Italy for a school fieldtrip and all I can think of is Chocolat.   Not just any chocolat but this Chocolat. As the name suggests, the place specializes in all kinds of chocolate but it also offers great coffee, pastries, jams, balsamic vinegar… For my 6 days in Milan, I was only able to visit the store twice while, for the other four days, I bugged my classmates into making the trip to Chocolat again, and again, and again, and again… Unfortunately, we couldn’t squeeze it into our tight schedule (life is hard, isn’t it), and I didn’t want to make the trip alone after the “uneventful accidents” of two classmates. Sorry to say this, but Milan is a ghetto disguised as a fashion city…nevertheless, I walked away with great memories of these:

Spicy Amarene (sour cherries) Chocolate Tart – while the combination may sound unappetizing, this tart is surprisingly refreshing and has that little kick from the chili sprinkled on top.

A simple slice of premium dark chocolate cake………..sometimes the best things in life are the simple things.

Amarene Cholocate Cake – my favorite in the shop.

Who would have thought Italians make such wonderful crosissants???? The crust was crispy and flaky while the inside is soft, meaty and chewy. This particular one was oozing with a smooth abricot jam……..why can’t they make jam-filled croissants in France?

What can I say? The coffee is just as decadent as the chocolate.

Last but not least, the best gelato in the world! The Chocolat Fondente (extra dark chocolate) gelato is a class of its own – smooth, sticky, and chewy – and goes especially well with the hazel nut gelato…….classmates, we should have gone there everyday!

The Secret Club

Ever wonder why in many Chinese restaurants there is always a separate list of food written only in Chinese pasted on the wall? Or how sometimes the table next to you orders things not even on that list but when you attempt to order the same thing, the manager informs you that they are out of that particular dish????? I can understand the reason for separate menus but there are times (numerous indeed) when I just want something not on any of the lists. Specifically, I want that sumptuous Lobster Yee Mee like the table nearby. Cliché as it may sound, but to get good food in certain restaurants one just has to be part of a club. Otherwise getting that lobster noodle is harder than teaching a sloth to run. Luckily, I know someone who has the key to what I call The Secret Club.

Last Friday, we were invited to dine at a Chinese restaurant that we normally ignore because the menu posted on its window is just about as appetizing as a fortune cookie. Yet, when the food was served, I almost cried with joy. None of the dishes served to us that night was present on any of the menus – French, English, or Chinese. Although, the following dishes may be commonly found in Asia, it is a BIG DEAL IN FRANCE. Not to mention, the owner of the restaurant whipped out his best tea!

The first dish was the Steamed Scallops with Ginger. The scallop was fresh and succulent, and the best part was scooping out the scallop juice that collects on the shell from the steaming.

The second dish was the Braised Dry Scallops (scallops again. But I wasn’t complaining.)

This is a dish I have never seen in Paris until now. The scallops were braised tender and matches well with the crunchiness of the pea sprouts (dou miao) hidden at the bottom. Next was a Steamed Sea-Caught Bar (I don’t know what kind of fish the bar is in English.)

What’s there to get excited about a fresh sea-caught fish steamed in ginger? When dining with The Secret Club, the ginger comes in the shape of a meticulously carved fish.

The dessert was my favorite Cantaloupe Sago or Tapioca Pearls. I haven’t had these in ages and I don’t know of any other Chinese restaurant that makes it well in France.

But the best part about dining with The Secret Club is the free alcohol provided. Not the best, but free.

And the Lobster Yee Mee? Of course, club members get the best.

Yuzu Miso Chicken

Paris has been enjoying a surprisingly warm weather for the past few days. Even my neighbors have donned on their sweaters and socks…. to sunbathe in the veranda. Maybe it’s because of the unusually warm weather, but I am thinking of the citrus fruit yuzu….or maybe it’s because I just ate a Chocoloate Yuzu Macaron. This, however, reminds me of the jar of yuzu miso that I lugged back from Japan. Along with all the other Japanese goodies, it’s been sitting in my fridge for about 5 months now. Luckily, the expiration date is still quite far away.

Yuzu is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. I adore its sweet tangy smell. So when I saw the yuzu miso in Japan, I know it would be great for use as marinades, sauces, soups… The weather today is perfect for a warm tangy salad. Hence, the creation below:

Yuzu Miso Chicken Salad

1 deboned chicken thigh or breast (if you like dry meat)

1 small orange

Romaine lettuce

1 teaspoon of grated orange or lemon peel

The marinade:

1 tablespoon of yuzu miso

2 tablespoons of sake

1 teaspoon of sugar

Almond brittles:

½ cup of sliced almonds

3 tablespoons of sugar

Salad dressing:

1 tablespoon sesame paste

1 tablespoon lemon or yuzu juice

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to season

1. Mix the yuzu miso, sake and sugar together. Use it to marinate the chicken for at least half an hour.
2. Grill or bake the chicken until done.
3. Heat up a pan. When it’s hot, pour in the 3 tablespoons of sugar. As the sugar melts, throw in the sliced almonds. Remove pan from heat immediately (do not let sugar burn.) Make sure the almonds are well coated with the sugar. Quickly pour onto a parchment paper or silicon sheet. Leave to cool.
4. Cut the orange into cubes.
5. Mix together the ingredients for the dressing.
6. Slice the chicken into bite sizes. Toss together with the orange cubes, grated lemon/orange peel, and dressing. Arrange on a bed of romaine lettuce.
7. Break the almond brittle into small pieces and sprinkle over the chicken. Serve.

My Cafeteria

There are a few restaurants within a 10-minute walking radius from where we live that we affectionately refer to as our kitchen or cafeteria since we frequent it whenever:

1) We lack the inspiration to cook.
2) The only things left in our fridge are dried Chinese herbs, expired vitamins, a jar of 2-year-old mayo, and a pack of frozen natto.
3) We are sick of eating instant noodles and frozen food.

In general, we usually grab something at Maison ASE, I mean Maison Kayser. (Ha!) However, eating bread for dinner everyday can be as appealing as growing belly hair. Therefore, most of the time we prefer to eat at Oh! Duo and Stéphane Martin.

Although it’s name is as bizarre and senseless as le fooding, Oh! Duo actually refers to the husband and wife team that runs the establishment. Naturally, the hubby is in the kitchen and the graceful wife acts as the perfect hostess. (Psst! The hubby used to work with Bernard Loiseaux.) Though it is a small restaurant, The Duo (wife & hubby) take great care in the presentation and preparation of the meals. The food at Oh! Duo is simple and fresh – much like great homemade food if you have a talented chef in your kitchen, that is. My favorite restaurant-made homemade food is its seasonal dishes of fish.

No, we didn’t eat the dog for dinner.
I don’t have any good pictures
of the food at Oh! Duo.
The Shih-Tzu belongs to the owner.

Another restaurant that we like is Stéphane Martin. Again, it’s great simple fare with a touch of fusion. The one that sticks out on the top of my mind the most is its Jarret de Porc Braisé de Miel d’Epices et Enveloppe de Chou Rouge. Yes, the name is long but the dish is worth the 15 seconds to pronounce it. In fact, it reminds me of Taiwanese braised pork with red sauce. The pork is braised splendidly tender and slightly gelatinous as all respectable jarret de porc should be (the gelatinous texture is probably from the pork skin.) Furthermore, the chou rouge that accompanies it has been braised in anise seed and various spices that gives it that nostalgic hint of Thai Kao Ka Moo, Thai braised pork (only less less sweet.)

The portion is large and meant to be shared between two people but I don’t know of many two people who can finish a whole leg of pork. Interestingly, the hostess actually asked if we want “to doggy bag it.” Can you believe that? It was the first and only time anyone asked if I want a doggy bag in a French restaurant. Needless to say, we did. It was great on a hot plate of Thai Jamine rice (homemade, mind you) the next day.

Who cares if the fat is thicker than Brooke Shield’s eyebrows.
“For food this good, you can take an hour of my life.”

Ho Ran

I love ramen and at the moment I am craving for a hot piping bowl of those delectable noodles. Unfortunately, there are no palatable ramen in France….well, maybe one or two places serve acceptable ones. On my trip to Japan last year, MSOH’s colleague highly recommended us ramen at Ho Ran. He specifically advised us to order the Shark Fin Ramen. I gave up eating shark fins many years ago, besides I never really like the tasteless cartilaginous fins anyway. But I adore the soup that the fins are braised in (the soup is usual a ragout of various meats such as Chinese ham, pork, chicken, dried scallops, abalone, etc.) Therefore, eager to taste the Japanese version of the soup that shark fins are braised in, MSOH and I each ordered a large hot piping bowl. So sorry, shark!

We were immediately seduced. While the soup is thicker and more gelatinous than any shark fin soup I had ever had, it matches extremely while with the tender but smooth and slightly chewy texture of the noodles. On the other hand, the fins were just as I thought – bland like unflavored jelly. So, so, so sorry, shark! I also noticed on the menu that someone had helped the restaurant wrote Moo Tom Kaem (Salted Braised Pork) in Thai. Hmmm….guess who comes here often. ^^

Guess what, shark? Next time I am ordering the Salted Braised Pork Ramen…sorry, pig!

Chez Michel

As I was going through my small archive of pictures, I came across many that I just simply couldn’t figure out the 5 W’s and 1 H (who, when where, why, what & how) of taking those images. Most of the time my reactions were in the line of “Is there a black crow nestled in his nostril or is that just his nose hair?” Some, I remember vaguely. Others, sadly, I have completely forgotten the implications of taking those pictures. A particular set that my fleeting memory can still make out is taken at Chez Michel shortly before I left for my school field trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai. Back then I rarely took pictures, but I figured there would be all these interesting food and places in China, so I should hone my skills before the actual trip. Little did I know that food-picture taking would be so additive. Since I still remember the implications of taking these pictures, I might as well write about them.

The restaurant had been highly suggested by many friends but I was hesitant to visit it simply because my knowledge of Breton food at the time is limited to Kouign Amann and Mère Poulard’s omelet (is her omelet considered Breton???) Nevertheless, we finally gave it a try last year at the suggestion of Bald Shrimp.

Initially I had wanted to try the Kig-ha-Farz but settled for the wild turbot and oysters instead. Don’t ask me why I changed my mind. I will blog about it when I remember.

No, this is not a picture of the turbot I ate.
It’s MSOH’s fish soup without
the actual soup poured in, yet.
The turbot picture is too boring to post.

I do, however, remember that I like the wine. Now that I am looking at it, I plan to bring a few back on my next trip to Asia.

Naturally, my dessert was Kouign Amann.

Macarons

After dinner at Phu Do, we went to hang out at The Ice Couple’s place. The intent was for the guys to drink more whiskey and for the girls to play Wii and eat macarons. Plus, JL is a fan of macarons, so we thought it be great to have a dégustation for him.

“My sister calls them little hamburgers.”
“The first time I tried them was at Ladurée. I hated it. It took me two years to warm to it. Now I can’t live without Pierre Hermé’s macarons.”
“Someone should tell him to make pandan macarons.”
“No, kiam chai (dry salted Chinese cabbage) is better.”
“That is so disgusting!”
“Why not! If he can make truffle ones why not kiam chai?”
“He should make shrimp flavors.”
“I hate eating shrimp.”
“Aha! He doesn’t like shrimp, so he can’t invest in shrimp farms.”
“NO, no, no! He doesn’t like eating them. He just have to raise them.”
“If you don’t have the passion for something, you won’t do it well.”
“I have a passion for macarons. So, I can eat them well.”

“These cigars are rolled on the thighs of Cuban virgins.”

“I don’t think there are any virgins left in Cuba.”

“Please don’t say that! You are killing every man’s dream!”

Fauchon

Update: This post has been edited and some parts rewritten.  See my About page for more details.

I rarely venture into Fauchon or Hédiard unless it’s to bring visitors there. However, yesterday, while we were in the Madeleine area, I decided to visit their recently opened Boulangerie Fauchon. I actually like their newly renovated stores. Very eye-catching with the fushchia. Before the face-lift, you could hardly distinguish their difference from Hédiard from the outside. There are also tables set outside for you to much on the pastries and marvel at the beauty of Place de la Madeleine in general. But of course, your eyes would rather feast on these:

At the time, I remember being surprised that a Japanese female chef, Fumiko Kono, was made chef de cusine at Fauchon. No doubts about her talents but she is non-French and female. So much for French **cough** arrogance **cough**.

I didn’t grab myself a seat but bought a Croissant Amandes before skipping off to the nearby Lavigna. I remember the almond filling being a little too thin but I quite like the chunky almonds instead of the usual sliced almonds sprinkled on top. Guess I will be visiting it more often.

Note: Pictures above, except for the croissant, were taken in October 2005.

Pho Du

There is a Vietnamese restaurant whose name I can’t remember a little off the more bustling center of Avenue Choisy, I think. Or was it Tolbiac? Anyway, I went there after my intern last Saturday. Initially, we had planned to dine at Bonfinger but apparently a few of us were craving for Asian food. So, Vietnamese it was. It was a great choice. I don’t know the exact names of each dish but the food was one of the better VN food available in France. My favorites were the Caramel Pork and the Grilled Pork. The place is known for its roasted pigeons and beef spring rolls. The spring rolls were thick fillings of juicy beef slices – unlike other places that fill them with rice noodles & two shreds of beef. I didn’t really like the pigeon, but then, I never really like pigeon.

“You don’t like pigeons? Because it’s too cute to eat?”

“No, Bambi is too cute to eat. Pigeons are too ugly to eat.

This is the Caramel Pork. It is out of focus because I was too tired
from the intern to spend the extra 10 seconds to focus the object
before snapping the picture.

What I also like is its pandan soy bean milk. According to my friend, the owner of the restaurant still personally picks out the ingredients for all the food. I find that evident in the lettuce that was provided to wrap the grilled pork – it was LARGE and FRESH, not small and wilted like the other VN restaurants.

Lastly, the picture of the pigeons that I find too ugly to eat.
Those who did, gave it two big greasy thumbs up.

PS. Have just found out the restaurant is called Pho Du.