Healthy French Fries

Cod fillet with sauce vierge and cherry tomatoes

Cod is a tasty white fish and contains very little fat. Although it is not a good source for heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids it is good for your heart, probably because of all the minerals in seafood, or maybe fish protein is more favourable for your heart than protein in beef.

Sauce vierge means literally virgin sauce. In France, it is made of olive oil, lemon juice, chopped tomato and chopped basil. In the Mediterranean variation more or less crushed garlic is added. I don’t like too much raw garlic in this sauce, and it is important that the tomatoes are tasty and in season. In winter, the cherry tomatoes are a better option. The ingredients are combined and allowed to infuse in the olive oil to create the sauce.

If the ingredients are tasty, I don’t add any salt. You can add a pinch of salt at the table if you need to.

2 servings

2 portions of cod fillet, about 150- 180 g each
1 nice tomato, finely chopped
About 6 basil leaves, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
½ clove garlic, minced
A few drops of lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
10 cherry tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 180 ⁰ C.

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients for sauce vierge: 1 tomato finely chopped, ½ garlic clove minced, a few drops of lemon juice, chopped basil, black pepper and 1 tbsp olive oil. Set aside to infuse.

Line an ovenproof dish with baking paper and place the cod fillets in it. Drizzle the cod with 1 tbsp olive oil and grind a few rounds black pepper over the fish.

Pour 1 tbsp olive oil in a small ovenproof dish, place the cherry tomatoes in it and give it a swirl so that the cherry tomatoes are covered with oil.

Place the cod and cherry tomatoes in the oven for about 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Divide the cod fillets and cherry tomatoes on the plates, and decorate with sauce vierge. Serve with steamed potatoes and lemon wedges.

Daube Provencale, traditional beef stew

Daube Provençale, beef stew, is a traditional dish in the Provence inland, and it exists in many slightly different versions.

It is a brilliant example of slow food. In the old times, the dish was slowly cooked in a large heavy casserole in oven or on stove for hours; 5 – 7 hours were usual cooking times. The French have a nice word for this slow-cooking, mijoter, which means that the dish is so gently simmered that the surface only slowly moves but does not bubble.

The following recipe is inspired by a recent trip to Camargue. There the dish was made with local organic red wine, black olives, mushrooms, and tasty tomatoes, and served with red Camargue rice.

For modern times, I have reduced the cooking time for about two hours in oven. I have also omitted the traditional browning of the meat thanks to a great tip for stews from Jamie Oliver.

4 servings

About 1 kg stewing beef (a package for Bœuf Bourgignon is perfect)
3 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions cut into large chunks
3- 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, sliced
4 tasty tomatoes cut into large chunks (or a 400 g tin of Italian plum tomatoes)
2 tbsp tomato pure
8 large mushrooms cut into large chunks
About 20 black olives
1 tbsp flour
3 cloves
2 bay leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
1 strip orange peel
200 ml beef stock
400 ml Camargue or other South of France organic red wine
Fresh thyme

Trim the beef from extra fat and, if needed, cut into smaller chunks.

Warm the olive oil in a large heavy casserole over medium heat. Soften the carrots, onions and garlic for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 180 ⁰ C. Add the meat and flour into the casserole, stir.
Add the beef stock, wine, tomato pure, orange strip, cloves, bay leaves, black pepper, and a few sprigs of thyme (leave some for the decoration) into the casserole and stir. All the ingredients need to be just covered with liquid, if not add a little water. Bring to the boil, stirring now and again.

Transfer the casserole into oven for 2 hours. Check occasionally so that there is enough liquid. You want the liquid slightly reduced and the stew surface getting a nice colour, but you don’t want your stew getting dry. You may need to cover the casserole towards the end of the cooking time. Add the fresh tomato chunks when about ½ hour of the cooking time remains, you want them just cooked, al dente. If you are using tinned tomatoes, you can add them earlier.

Meanwhile, cut the mushrooms into large chunks and fry in a large frying pan in a little olive oil. Cook the Camargue rice. Remove the stones from the olives. Remove a little thyme leaves from the sprigs for decoration.

When the stew is cooked, add the mushrooms and olives. Serve with Camargue rice and decorate with thyme leaves.

Lentils with vegetables and chevre

It has been shown in a small scientific study that within two weeks, eating a vegetarian diet rich in fiber and vegetable proteins lowered 13 individual’s harmful LDL cholesterol levels by 30 % - almost as great a reduction as achieved with drugs.

Lentils are a good source of vegetable protein, about 25 % in dry lentils.

Green or brown lentils, chick-peas and fava beans are “European beans”, with a history that goes back almost to the very beginning of Mediterranean agriculture.

Dried beans must be soaked overnight before they are cooked – lentils are an exception.

2 servings
150 ml green or brown lentils
750 ml water
½ cube vegetable stock
250 g Brussels sprouts
250 g cherry tomatoes
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
8 slices low-fat chevre, goat cheese (12,5 % fat)
Fresh thyme, sprigs and leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

Wash the lentils. Cook them for 30 minutes in light vegetable stock, use only half the amount of recommended vegetable stock cube. Add a few sprigs of thyme in the casserole. As a rule of thumb, about 5 times water is needed for the volume of lentils.

Meanwhile in a large frying pan, fry the shallots and garlic in 1 tbsp rapeseed oil over low- medium heat for about 10 minutes.

If you are using fresh Brussels sprouts, cut the stem of the sprouts and remove the outer leaves. Cook the Brussels sprouts in microwave. This takes only a few minutes and about 1 tbsp water. If needed, you can use frozen Brussels sprouts.

Warm the oven to 200⁰ C. Wash the cherry tomatoes. Roast them for about 10 minutes with 1 tbsp olive oil in a small oven-proof dish.
Remove the leaves from the rest of thyme sprigs.
When the lentils are cooked, add them into the frying pan. Add also the Brussels sprouts and cherry tomatoes into the pan. Grind a few rounds of black pepper and mix.
Divide the lentil- vegetable mixture on the plates. Place the goat cheese slices on top and decorate with thyme leaves. Serve with a good whole wheat bread.

Hiking in Nice Hinterland

There are magnificent forests, great views, and a ruined, maybe haunted, hamlet  along the route of the hike.

This is the real Riviera back country, arrière- pays. 40% of Alpes Maritimes is forest. Remember that the village of Peira Cava is just 25 km from Nice as a crow flies. At 1423m, the village was the first winter sport resort in the department. Remnants of some ski lifts can still be seen. It also became a hideaway for celebrities. Even Marc Chagall spent some time there. Nowadays the village is very quiet, but has quite a few secondary residences.

Many hiking trails go through the village. The tour presented here is a shortened version of the hike shown on the map; we started from Peira Cava (signpost 37), not La Gabella.

The ruined hamlet of Béasse was destroyed by a fire in 1985. In spite of its isolated location, the hamlet had been inhabited for over 200 years. In the late 18th century, dissidents from Nice called Les Barbets were allegedly hiding there, perhaps to avoid the guillotine.


Music: Actual title: "Local Forecast - Slower" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Map courtesy of Conseil Général Alpes Maritimes