Basil Beef… err… Meatballs

by Pam, Paris (France)

One thing I like when cooking is moving away one dish into another form. It can be done for convenience or for a fun factor.
This time, when thinking about what I could cook for a picnic, knowing I wanted to make an asian dish, I just thought : Why not turn the well known basil beef into meatball?!
After all, meatballs can be found in any asian menu. But just not basil beef meatballs.

Please, if you try, tell me what you thought

• Servings: about 50 meatballs (see the picture)
• Preparation times:
  • Preparation: 15 minutes
  • Cooking: 30 minutes
• Ingredients:
  • 600 grams of ground meat*
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 bunch of fresh basil**
  • spices*** : cayenne pepper or ground chili, lemongrass powder, ginger, ground pepper
  • fish sauce
  • soy sauce
  • peanut oil
  • salt
• Steps:
  1. Chop the garlic, onion and basil thinly
  2. Mix the garlic, onion and basil with the ground meat and spices
  3. Add fish sauce to taste (about 1 or 2 tablespoons)
  4. Add soy sauce (about 1 or 2 teaspoons)
  5. Mix the lot and add salt if needed
  6. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium/low heat
  7. Make small meatballs and fry them over the pan in batches
  8. When a batch is cooked, remove from the pan and leave it to cool on a paper towel to soak the oil out
  9. Continue until all meatballs are cooked
• Notes:
  • * : ground meat could be ground beef or another mixture is fine.
  • ** : I realise that the term “bunch” can be misleading. Take it that you should get half a mug of chopped basil. (Nothing original in a mug, just the usual casual mug)
  • *** : spices are really according to your own taste. For a more authentic taste, use thai chili and kaffir leaves, otherwise you can play with whatever you have in your drawers.
  • The size of your meatballs is really according to you. My meatballs were about 2-3cm long. But I guess you could make nice burgers out of this recipe too

Eggplant Dip à la française (ie. Pam style…)

by Pam, Paris (France)

I know I know it’s been a while… BUT! By general public request! (basically a few friends of mine looking for recipes…) Here are new recipes again!
Here is a recipe for my famouse eggplant dip. Alright alright, in the same way some told me that my sauerkraut was polish, some will say that eggplant dip is lebanese. Look, eggplant is well used all around the Mediteranean sea. And France also happens to touch it. So yes! French people have eggplants too.

So here it is, my eggplant dip… à la française. I’ll be curious to get your comments about this eggplant dip since it does look different and also tastes different from the usual lebanese one.

• Servings: about 12 toasts (see the picture)
• Preparation times:
  • Active: 15 minutes
  • Rest: 30 minutes
• Ingredients:
  • 2 eggplants (the fat kind)
  • 1 medium sized onion
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 lemon (the yellow kind)
  • thyme, rosemary
  • olive oil
  • salt, pepper
• Steps:
  1. Cut the green base off the eggplants
  2. Put the eggplants in a large bowl and seal with plastic wrap. (Make sure that the eggplants are sealed and that no air can come in or get out of the bowl)
  3. Microwave the eggplants at full power for 15 minutes.
  4. When done, soak the eggplants in cold water until they cool down (they will be very hot as the come out to the microwave).
  5. While the eggplants cool down, chop the onion and crush the garlic.
  6. Heat the oil in a small pot over low heat.
  7. Add the thyme and marjoram to the pot and mix.
  8. Add the onion and garlic into the pot and stir gently until they become translucent.
  9. Remove the pot from heat.
  10. By now the eggplants should have cooled down, if not (and you don’t want to burn your hands) wait. When the eggplants are cool, slice them open (cut them in the middle in the long section).
  11. Using a tablespoon, scrape the eggplant pulp into a bowl.
  12. If the eggplant looks too fibrery use a knife to cut the fibres. Mash the eggplant using a fork.
  13. Add the pot content to the eggplant and mix gently.
  14. Add salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.
  15. Add the lemon juice last.
• Notes:
  • I already hear you screaming about the microwave part… Well if you can find a quicker way to reduce an eggplant in its mashable state without hurting it, I’ll be curious to find out. Effectively this technique is a quick way to steam and eggplant.
  • Lemon juice should be added last in order for it not to be cooked. If the eggplant mixture is still hot at the end, then wait a little before adding the lemon.
  • The eggplant dip will taste better one day after preparing it as the tastes from the herbs, onion, garlic, oil and lemon will have soaked into the eggplant.
  • One great way to eat it is to spread it on a toast, along with fresh cheese on a warlm summer day. (With an option on red wine…)

Soupe à l’oignon or the French onion soup story

by Pam, Sydney (Australia)

This week end, I went camping with friends on a beach of the New South Wales central coast. While the scenary was breathtaking and the adventure fantastic, for food, we resorted most of the times to the casual picnic snack. In particular, someone had brought a series of crackers, same crackers, different flavour: bbq, pizza, cheese & bacon and french onions. French onions?! I knew that Frenchs have a tendency of taking over anything which is good about food, but I didn’t know that there was such a thing as a particular french species of onions. A taste of the cracker gave the answer. It was a French onion soup flavoured cracker! Soupe à l’oignon!

Tossing my 2 cents worth of recipie.

• Servings: 4 serves
• Preparation times:
  • Active: 30 minutes
• Ingredients:
  • 2 big onions
  • 1.25l of water
  • 0.25l of white wine
  • half a baguette (or any other thick-crusted bread)
  • cheese, grated
  • butter
  • salt, pepper
• Steps:
  1. Pre-heat oven at 250 degres Celsius.
  2. Cut the onions into thin slices.
  3. Heat butter in a pot over medium heat.
  4. Add the onions in the pot and stir gently until they caramelise into a nice golden brown colour.
  5. Add the wine and water. Bring to boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
  6. While the soup is simmering, cut the baguette bread into 8 thick slices (about 3cm thick).
  7. After simmering, the soup should have a nice brown colour. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
  8. In each bowl, place 2 slices of bread and pour the soup on top.
  9. Spread the grated cheese over each bowls. The more cheese the better.
  10. Put the bowls in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
  11. If you have a griller in our oven, action it to termostat 5 for the last 5 minutes to give the cheese a nice golden colour.
• Notes:
  • I like the silkiness of thicker slices of bread in the soup. However, some people prefer thiner slices of bread.
  • Frenchs often use Swiss cheese such as Emmentaler for baking, however any firm mountain cheese (eg. Parmesan) could do.
  • You can turn the above recipie into a main course. It will then serve 2. It will go well with a salad and a glass of white wine.

Fried cheese?! Introducing the Camembert poêlé

by Nancy, Paris (France)

Everyone in France knows that Normandie is the home of fabulously fragrant soft cheeses. The most famous of them are the Brie and its cousin, the Camembert. On a trip there, we noticed a very popular dish, served at almost every restaurant although it is virtually unknown in other parts of France. It’s called “Camembert Poêlé” or fried Camembert. I had no idea that any cheese, and the least being Camembert, could go in a frying pan with the approval of French restaurants! So we tried it and it wasn’t bad at all.

Back to Paris, I tried recreating what we had tasted. The result was quite satisfying.

• Servings: 4
• Preparation times:
  • Active: 20 minutes
• Ingredients:
  • salad, as desired
  • nuts, pecans or walnuts
  • breadcrumbs
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 Camembert
  • 2 tablespoon of butter
• Steps:
  1. Cut the Camembert in 4 slices.
  2. Dip each slice in the beatten egg and then in the breadcrumbs.
  3. Heat butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
  4. Add the Camembert and let it fry on each side till it gets a golden color.
  5. Remove the Camembert from the pan into serving plates.
  6. Insert the nuts in the Camembert while the cheese is still melted.
• Notes:
  • This is a relatively easy meal good any time of the year. A nice green salad goes well with this meal.