Valmonti - Agence en vins & spiritueux

Grilled Squid au Naturel

Fabrice — 2011-09-19T13:31:56Z

Suggested wines:

Grechetto - Sergio Mottura (code SAQ: 10782309)

Pinot Gris - Irsai Oliver (code SAQ: 10800933)

target=ficheVin">Qba Riesling - Muller-Catoir (code SAQ: 11334920)

4 small frozen squid, almost thawed
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 lemon, sliced widthways
1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano
(rigani optional)
2 tablespoons salted capers,
rinsed and drained
squeeze of lemon juice and roughly
chopped flat-leaf parsley, to serve

Serves 4

It is comforting to know that squid is one of the ingredient that is all the better
for having been frozen, as it is tenderized in the process. Another benefit
of freezing becomes apparent when it comes time to clean them. As this is not
everyone's favorite task (indeed, it actually seems to bring some people out in a rash),it is made all the easier by partially thawing the squid first- this way you can pull out all the intestines in one go and not even bother to clean the outsides. The saltiness of the skins means that the squid don't need to be seasoned with salt before cooking.

To prepare squid, gently pull the whole of their guts out in one piece, along with the cartilage bone; this task is much easier when the squid have not thawed completely.
Leave their skins on. Use a teaspoon with a long handle to check that the squid tubes are completely clean.

Heat a char-grill pan or barbecue grill-plate as hot as possible.

Drizzle squid with olive oil, then scatter with oregano, if using, and place on the hot char-grill pan or barbecue grill-plate. Cook each side of the squid for about 90 seconds, turning several times to make sure each side makes contact with the grill plate and begins to caramelize (a total of 4-5 minutes for small squid).The skin will be a lovely crazed burgundy color.

Take the squid off the grill-plate and leave to rest for the same amount of time as you cooked them.

Brush lemon slices with olive oil, then cook on the hot grill-plate until caramelized.

Drizzle generously with more olive oil, then scatter with capers, squeeze with lemon juice and serve scattered with chopped flat-leaf parsley, with grilled lemon to the side.

Source : Maggies's Kitchen, Australie

Moroccan Ocean Trout

Fabrice — 2011-08-22T14:09:07Z

Suggested wines:

Chenin Reserve - Ken Forrester (code SAQ: 11093126)

Chardonnay - Château la Ragotière (code SAQ: 10690501)

target=ficheVin">Pinot Gris - Nyakas (code SAQ: 10800933)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup rose tea leaves (available from specialty tea stores or substitute with rose hip tea with a handful of unsprayed
rose petals added)
1 cup boiling water
extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
2 golden shallots, very thinly sliced
1 tablespoon dried currants
1 tablespoon sultanas
juice of 1 large lemon
1 teaspoon caster sugar
4 wide strips orange zest, removed
with a potato peeler
3 teaspoons ras el hanout (Moroccan
spice blend available from specialty
food stores) or ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plain flour
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4x160g ocean trout or salmon fillets,
skin removed and pin-boned
unsprayed rose petals and thinly sliced
mint (optional), to serve

serves 4

. Preheat fan-forced oven to 180 C (350 F)
. Place pine nuts on a baking tray and roast for 5 minutes or until golden.
Set aside.
. Combine rose tea with boiling water and set aside to steep for 5 minutes
. Heat a splash of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, then fry shallots
for 5-7 minutes or until translucent. Strain tea, then pour half over the cur-
rants and sultanas and leave them to plump. Pour the other half over the
shallots. Add currants, sultanas, lemon juice, sugar and orange rind to
shallot mixture and bring to the boil. Simmer over low heat for 3 minutes.
. Mix ras el hanout with flour and season with salt and pepper .Heat a splash
of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, then lightly dust fish with flour
mixture, shaking to remove excess. Cook fish fillets briefly in the frying pan
on both sides until golden, then transfer to a baking dish. Pour over the rose
tea liquid and bake fish for 4-6 minutes or until cooked through (the exact time
will depend on the thickness of the fillets)
. Divide fish between 4 plates, then spoon a little poaching liquid over and scatter
with roasted pine nuts. Drizzle with olive oil and finish off with rose petals and mint,
if you like and serve immediately.

Chicken Braised with figs, Honey and Vinegar

Fabrice — 2011-05-02T16:16:04Z

Suggested wines:

Pinot Gris - Nyakas

Spatlese Trocken - Kerpen

Pansé - Monte Schiavo

Serves 4

Ingredients:
extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
2 red onions, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons chopped lemon thyme
2 teaspoons chopped rosemary
4 large ripe figs, halved
1 corn-fed chicken (thigh and drumstick
joints, separated).
sea salt
1 stick cinnamon
½ cup chicken broth
½ cup verjuice
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
zest of 1 lemon, removed in wide
strips with a potato peeler
2 tablespoons honey
chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional),
to serve

Grilled semolina

2 cups milk
2cups water
1 fresh bay leaf
1 cup instant semolina
1 teaspoon salt
plain flour, for dusting
extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
unsalted butter, for cooking

Here is another of those one-pot dishes that your family and friends will love. The trick is to use a shallow baking dish so that the ingredients come almost to the top of the dish; that way, when you drizzle the chicken skin with honey it will caramelize beautifully as so much more of it is exposed to the heat than if cooked in a deeper dish. If figs aren't available, then add par-cooked and peeled baby onions tossed with vinegar, raisins and rosemary instead, to keep in tune with the lovely sweet-sour flavours of the dish.
I like to serve this with grilled semolina, however, the semolina needs to be cooked at least 2-3 hours in advance (or the day before) and chilled in the refrigerator until firm before char-grilling. If you don't have the time for this, then serve the chicken with boiled waxy potatoes.

If you plan to serve this with grilled semolina, then bring milk, water and bay leaf to the boil over high heat in a saucepan, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Strain into a heavy-based saucepan, discarding bay leaf, then bring to the boil again. Reduce heat to low. Slowly pour in semolina and add salt, then whisk continuously to combine for 4-5 minutes, ensuring there are no lumpy bits. Grease a baking dish with olive oil, then pour semolina mixture into the dish. Cover with plastic film and leave to set in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours.

Preheat fan-forced oven to 200 C (400 F).
Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, then add onions, thyme and rosemary and sauté for 5 minutes or until softened. Transfer to a shallow flameproof baking dish. Quickly sauté fig halves in the frying pan and transfer to onion mixture in baking dish.

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and place on top of onions and figs, then add cinnamon, stock, verjuice, vinegar and lemon zest. Drizzle with honey, then bake for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked, basting occasionally with pan juices. Remove from oven and transfer chicken and figs to a dish to rest; keep warm. Simmer pan juices over high heat until reduced and syrupy.

If you've prepared the semolina, then cut it on the diagonal into 7 cm pieces.
Lightly dust each piece with flour, then heat a splash of olive oil and a knob
of butter in a char-grill pan over high heat and cook semolina pieces for 2 minutes on each side or until warmed through and grill marks appears.

Return chicken and figs to sauce, then drizzle with olive oil and scatter with parsley, if using. Serve at once with grilled semolina, if desired.

Lamb Moussaka

Fabrice — 2011-04-01T14:53:29Z

Suggested wines:

Ned & Henry's - Hewitson

Church Block - Wirra Wirra

Shiraz/Grenache - Ken Forrester

Ingredients:

extra virgin olive oil, for cooking
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
500 g minced lamb
1x1 cm piece cinnamon stick, pounded
sea salt
½ cup red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 cup tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chopped lemon thyme
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 medium-sized eggplants (aubergines),
cut into 1.5-2 cm thick slices
sea salt

Béchamel sauce

50 g unsalted butter
50 g plain flour
1 cup milk (full-cream is best)
1 cup chicken stock
pinch of freshly grated or ground nutmeg
– sea salt and freshly ground
white pepper
2 tablespoons grated
Parmigiano Reggiano

Crust

¼ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¼ cup fresh breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon thyme
1 tablespoon rinsed and finely chopped
preserved lemon rind

Serves 6

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large sauce pan over low heat and sauté onion for 5 minutes, then add garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Push onion and garlic to one side of the pan, then brown lamb with cinnamon in batches over high heat and season with salt. Return all meat to the pan, add wine, tomato paste and tomato sauce, then stir
to combine and bring to the boil. Add lemon thyme and lemon zest and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the béchamel sauce, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle over flour, stirring well to combine, then cook for another few minutes or until flour colours slightly. Remove from the heat and slowly pour in milk and then stock, whisking continuously to prevent any lumps forming.
Return to the heat and stir with a wooden spoon for another 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Add nutmeg, then season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in Parmigiano Reggiano. Cover the surface of the sauce closely with plastic film to stop a skin from forming and set aside until needed.

Brush eggplant with olive oil, then cook on a hot char-grill pan over high heat until golden on both sides.

Preheat fan-forced oven to 200 C (400 F)

Lightly grease a 1 litre baking dish with olive oil. Place a layer of eggplant in the base of dish, then a layer of lamb mixture, and repeating the layering process until all the eggplant and lamb mixture are used, finishing wit a layer of eggplant. Pour the béchamel sauce over the eggplant.

For the crust, mix together all the ingredients and generously sprinkle the mixture over béchamel. (This dish can be frozen at this stage, then baked later.)

Bake lamb moussaka for 30 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve at once.

Source: Maggie's Kitchen, ed. Lantern (Penguin Goup), Australia, 2008

QUAILS WITH HONEYED FENNEL SAUCE

Fabrice — 2010-12-13T11:13:48Z

Suggested wines:

Pinot Gris - Nyakas(code SAQ: 10800933)

Riesling Trocken - Müller-Catoir (code SAQ: 10558462)

Chenin Blanc - Ken Forrester (code SAQ: 11093126)

INGREDIENTS ( 4 portions ) :
30 ml (2 tbsp) canola oil
8 quails
1 medium onion, chopped
15ml (1 tbsp.) fennel seeds
80ml (1/3 cup) white wine
250 ml (1cup) chicken broth
30 ml (2 tbsp.) honey
Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation :
In a large frying pan, heat the oil at medium-high and brown the quails all over.
Remove the quails from pan and set aside.
Add chopped onion and fennel seeds to the pan and brown for 1 minute.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine and then add the broth . Bring to a boil.
Place the quails in the sauce and cook covered at medium-low heat for
about 20 minutes
Drain the quails and remove from the pan. Keep them warm.
Add the honey and simmer the sauce uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes. Season. Serve the quails with the sauce.

Skewers of shrimps with dried tomatoes and basil

Fabrice — 2010-05-07T10:47:52Z

Suggested wines:

Le Vaglie - Santa Barbara (code SAQ: 11156449)

Gun Metal - Hewitson (code SAQ: 11034134)

GriVo' - Volpe Pasini (code SAQ: 11036527)

Nyakas - Nyakas(code SAQ: 10800933)

(2 portions)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon peel
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
Salt and ground black pepper
24 large shrimps (approximately 1 1/2 lb) peeled
24 fresh basil leaves
24 dried tomatoes in oil, drained and cut in fine thin straps.

Mix oil, lemon peel and juice, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add shrimps and let marinate from 15 to 20 minutes. Thread shrimps marinated on skewers, while placing between each one a dried tomato surrounded by a basil leave. Add salt and pepper.
Preheat the grill. Grill the skewers from 1 to 2 minutes each side, brushing with marinade, or until the shrimps are cooked.

Variation : Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Let marinate shrimps from 15 to 20 minutes. Cook shrimps and dried tomatoes with olive oil in a hot frying pan.

Chicken Breasts in Blue Cheese Sauce

Fabrice — 2010-03-09T13:56:02Z

Suggested wines:

Le Vaglie - Santa Barbara (code SAQ: 11156449)

Mondeuse - Domaine Quenard (code SAQ: 10884671)

Grechetto - Sergio Mottura (code SAQ: 10782309)

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
3 T. butter divided
1 T. flour
3/4 C. milk
1/2 C. chicken broth
1 C. blue cheese crumbled
1/4 C. onion finely chopped
1/4 C. dry white wine

Preparation:
Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Melt 2 T. of the butter in a skillet. Add chicken and brown on both sides, continue to cook until cooked through. Remove to a platter while you make the sauce, keep warm.

Melt remaining butter in a saucepan. Stir in the flour. Add milk and broth, stirring constantly. Add cheese and stir until it melts.

Add the onions to the chicken skillet. Add the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the cheese sauce. Using a sieve, strain sauce back into the saucepan, stirring and pressing down with a spoon.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve.

Source: click.

Stripe or scallops with béchamel, chorizo and spinach

Fabrice — 2010-02-08T17:43:41Z

Wine suggestion:

Qba Riesling Sec - Keller (code SAQ: 10358446)

Qba Riesling Sec - Müller-Catoir (code SAQ: 10558462)

Poggio Della Costa - Sergio Mottura (code SAQ: 10782309)

Ingredients:

4 pieces of boneless stripe, or scallops
One recipe béchamel (1/4 t. flour max), not too thick + nutmeg
2 chorizos cut in thin slices
4 large handles of spinach
juice of one lemon

Well season fish pieces and fry on each side in a frying pan. If the fish sticks, add a little water and leave to stand.
Drop a little water into a plate which goes into the oven and place fish.
In the frying pan, cook the chorizo and put it on top of the fish.
Still in the same frying pan, throw the spinach and cook them a little. Add on the fish. Pour béchamel over the fish. Cook in the oven at 350 degrees.
Before serving, add some lemon juice.
If prepared in advance, add a little water, place in the oven at 350 degree to warm it up and then, broil.

FOIE GRAS STOVE WITH APPLES AND ARMAGNAC

Fabrice — 2009-12-27T15:48:52Z

Wine suggested:

Auslese** - Christoffel (code SAQ: 11169717)

Auslese - Keller (code SAQ: 10276086)

Trockenbeerenauslese - Künstler (code SAQ: 10274689)

Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 15 min

Ingredients (for 4 people):

- 1 duck foie gras of 500 to 600 gr
- 400 gr of apples
- 70 gr of sugar
- 1 dash of vinegar of cider
- 10 cl of Armagnac
- 15 cl of poultry broth

Preparation:

Cut the foie in slices of 1 cm thickness.

Cook these slices in an anti-adhesive frying pan over high heat, for 2 minutes on each side. Add salt and pepper.
Remove from heat, drain the liver, then, set aside in a tepid oven.

Remove the grease of the frying pan and then caramelize apples (cut in fine slices) with sugar. Add the vinegar and Armagnac (do not make flame the Armagnac), let reduce a little bit.

Finally, add the broth and let reduce 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the preparation with apples on the warm liver. Serve immediately.

Source: http://www.marmiton.org/Recettes/Re....