The inspiration for this warm salad was southwestern France’s classic cassoulet: a slow-simmered white bean stew featuring duck confit. Our lighter, faster twist marries the slightly bitter bite of watercress with the richness of duck meat and the sweetness of the dressing. It makes a great side for this meal, but could also take centre stage as a main. You can cook the veggies an hour or two ahead of time, but the salad is best thrown together just before serving.
Рубрика: Appetizers
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Twist Shandy
Make a twist shandy by topping a tart blond beer with a sweet grapefruit syrup and zingy ginger ale!
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Hearty Soup with Quinoa and Pork Meatballs
Quinoa and ground pork join forces to not only jazz up the protein mix but add fluffy texture and nutty notes to meatballs that float in a fragrant broth.
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Hummus with Pine Nuts
This simple recipe uses ingredients you likely have on hand. The je ne sais quoi that makes this hummus so creamy and addictive is twofold: First, we poach the garlic for seven minutes before puréeing it and adding it to our chickpea mix, which takes away its bite but none of its flavour. Second, we pass the hummus through a sieve, ensuring the smoothest of textures.
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Israeli Couscous Salad
There are countless variations on this country’s national salad staple. Salad in Israel is an important part of every meal, and despite the endless ingredient combinations, chopping techniques, bright garnishes and final touches, some things do remain definitive: It’s always made with raw vegetables (and usually includes cucumber, tomato and onion), is served at room temperature, and tastes best when eaten as soon as it’s made (so toss it together right before you tuck in!). We gave ours a two-in-one twist: In addition to the mixture of juicy tomato, cool cucumber, bell pepper, raw red onion, cilantro, mint, lemon and oil, we added Israeli couscous and pine nuts, boosting it into satisfying main-course territory.
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Marinated Mushrooms
All party spreads need at least one kind of pickles, and these can be whipped up in a flash. By cutting the mushrooms nice and thick, you keep them in toothsome chunks that sit pretty on a tear of fresh pita. Make this recipe the morning of party day, or even a couple of days before. The Provençal twist, with red bell pepper, fresh thyme, coriander seeds and white wine vinegar, brings a ray of French sunshine into the mix.
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Turkey Pastilla Meat Pies
This sugar-dusted pastry may look like a dessert, but surprise! It’s a savoury pie. The must-try of Morocco’s cuisine, pastilla is traditionally served as a main-course dish on special occasions. Just one bite and you’ll know why this flaky parcel is a gift that keeps on giving: Turkey, apricots, slivered almonds and a warm blend of spices (cinnamon, cardamom and ginger) are delicately folded into pastry and pan-fried to perfection. Whether served as a light meal or with a pre-dinner glass of wine, this complex, crazily addictive dish will have you hankering for more.
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Rouille Sauce
No bouillabaisse is complete without rouille, a garlicky, saffron- (and sometimes tomato-) based mayonnaise spread on crusty baguette for dipping.
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Bouillabaisse
This seafood stew hails from the port city of Marseille and is truly the south of France in a bowl. The name originates from Occitan—a Provençal dialect—and means to boil and then simmer. The base is made from a purée of tiny rockfish the fishermen can’t sell, and then at least three kinds of whole fish are added: red rascasse, sea robin and conger (our version uses more common fish, but you can use any combination available). Although the fish are cooked whole in the soup’s broth, they’re removed, filleted and then added to each individual bowl. No bouillabaisse is complete without rouille, a garlicky, saffron- (and sometimes tomato-) based mayonnaise spread on crusty baguette for dipping.
