Risotto with shrimp

Plump, short-grain Italian risotto rice is the only rice to use for risotto. Arborio is quite widely available, but experts say that carnaroli is the best risotto rice. In our supermarket in Nice I recently found carnaroli, so of course I had to try it.
Risotto rice has a soft, starchy exterior which absorbs cooking liquid a little at a time and gradually swells to the desired thick and creamy consistency. For this reason risotto rice must never be soaked or rinsed before cooking, these procedures only remove the starchy exterior. Cooking risotto needs attention, but is a relaxing experience.
Risotto is usually made with lots of butter, but a good olive oil works just as well- and it is heart healthy!


Picture 1. Ingredients for 2 servings of risotto with shrimps


2 servings

400 ml fish stock (made of 400 ml water and 3 heaped tsp Ducros fumet de poisson)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
120 ml arborio or carnaroli risotto rice
150 ml white wine
Black pepper
Lots of chopped parsley (NB! You might try dill for a change)
200 g cooked and peeled shrimp or gambas, cut into smaller pieces

Cut the cooked shrimps or gambas into smaller pieces. Set aside.

Start with making the fish stock. Ducros fumet de poisson is a dehydrated fish stock in powder form, and is easy to use for making tasty stock. In a saucepan, heat 400 ml water to almost boiling. Add 3 heaped tsp Ducros fumet de poisson and whisk well. Set aside, but keep warm, barely simmering. NB! Ducros recommends using 1 heaped tsp fumet pr. 100 ml water. Because both fumet and shrimps are quite salty, I have used a bit less. You probably don’t need to use all the fish stock when cooking the risotto.




Picture 2. Making the fish stock from fumet de poisson

In a heavy large casserole, warm the olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic, shallot and tomatoes. Cook the vegetables, stirring, until they are soft but not brown for about 10- 15 minutes. You may need to lower the heat somewhat. Stir in the rice and mix until the rice is thoroughly coated with the oil.







Picture 3. Stirring the risotto rice in the casserole and mixing with the oil and vegetables



Now add a little of the wine in the casserole and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed most of the wine. Then add the rest, little at a time, and again keep stirring until most of it is absorbed before adding more. This takes about 10 minutes.





Picture 4. Adding the wine and the fish stock, little at a time




Start adding the warm fish stock, a little at a time and stirring all the time. Do not add more stock until the previous addition has been mostly absorbed. There should always be a little liquid in the casserole, though. It is this procedure of slowly adding the liquid and stirring all the time that creates the creaminess of risotto. Total cooking time should be about 25- 30 minutes, and risotto should be thick enough to eat with a fork. You may not need to use
all the fish stock.

When about 5 minutes of cooking time remains add the shrimps to the casserole to be warmed, stir.

Picture 5. Adding the shrimp to the creamy risotto









When the risotto is cooked, remove from heat, and stir in the parsley and black pepper. Serve at once.

Winter hike to Madone d'Utelle

Pork chops with red cabbage and potatoes

This is a true winter recipe for those cold, rainy and dark evenings that do occur also on the French Riviera.

Red cabbage is a member of a family which botanists call the brassicas or the cruciferous vegetables. They are nutritional power houses, full of vitamins C, K and folate, minerals and antioxidants.

In this recipe, the red cabbage is slowly braised in a small quantity of oil in a heavy casserole. This method will enhance the true taste of red cabbage and make the cabbage soft and sweet.

2 servings
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 pork chops
2 medium potatoes cut into chunks or 5 small new potatoes
About 200 g red cabbage cut into strips
2 shallots cut into strips
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp water
100 ml chicken stock
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp low-fat crème fraîche (15 % fat)
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
Fresh thyme to garnish (NB! Leaves only)

Start braising the red cabbage. In a heavy casserole warm 1 tbsp rapeseed oil over low- medium heat. Add the red cabbage, shallots, turmeric and water and stir. Cook for about 5 minutes without covering stirring now and again. Then reduce the heat to low, cover the casserole and let simmer for 45 minutes. Stir now and again, and check if you need to add 1 tbsp more water.

Meanwhile cook the pork chops and potatoes. In a frying pan heat 1 tbsp rapeseed oil over medium heat and brown the chops on both sides until nicely coloured. Mix the mustard in chicken stock and pour into the pan. Reduce the heat a little until the source is nicely simmering. Cover and continue simmering for 20 minutes. The pork needs to be well-cooked, and this will take about 30 minutes in all. Towards the end of the cooking add the crème fraîche in the pan and mix; this will make a nice sauce. Grind over black pepper.

Microwave the potatoes. I now think that this is the easiest way to cook potatoes, or do you still cook them in water in the traditional way?

Divide the chops, cabbage and potatoes on the plates. Sprinkle with the sauce and decorate with thyme.

Exploring the Eastern peninsula of Cap-Ferrat

If a competition of the most beautiful coastal walks on the French Riviera would be arranged, the one starting from Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and going around the smaller eastern peninsula and pointe Saint Hospice  should certainly be shortlisted.

Not exactly a hidden gem, this trail nevertheless is missed by many visitors to the Riviera. This is a leisurely walk for everybody. The path is quite narrow after La Paloma beach, widening soon. The Guide Randoxygène has included the walk in their selection of coastal trails. The guidebook's duration of two hours seems to include the stops as the walking time is much less.

The legend tells that in the Middle Ages a hermit called Hospice stayed his whole life praying in a tower on the highest point of this peninsula. On this point, a chapel was later constructed.

There is also a reminder of the madness of war. 90 Belgian soldiers who were badly poisoned by mustard gas in WW I were later treated on the French Riviera and eventually buried in the cemetery of the chapel.

On a lighter note, in good weather the trail seems to be popular among locals all year round. Needless to say, the three small beaches (La Paloma, Les Fossettes and Les Fosses) on both sides of the peninsula attract sun seekers in summer.

My Best Endive Recipe

Endive is a true winter vegetable. It has been available in Nice supermarkets for some time already. Endive is a cousin of chicory, and it can be a bit bitter. So, how to prepare the poor, pale endive which has many nutritional virtues?

I used to think that the traditional Belgian recipe by covering the sautéed endives with ham and cheese sauce and then browning in hot oven was the only way to prepare them, until I started braising them. Most braising recipes use butter for braising, but I have replaced it with heart healthy rapeseed oil.
I have also used other more Mediterranean ingredients such as lavender honey and freshly pressed orange juice in this recipe. Braised endives are great with pork chops, grilled salmon or magret de canard, duck breast (as shown in the picture). And they even look nice when caramelized properly.

2 servings
2 endives
Juice of 1 orange
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp lavender honey (or other runny honey)

Choose crisp and pale endives that are not brownish in the stems. Slice off about 1 cm from the stem end, because this part is often quite bitter.
Simmer the whole endives for about 15 minutes in orange juice in a heavy casserole under lock. Turn once halfway. Dry them with kitchen papers.
Heat the rapeseed oil on a medium- high heat in a heavy pan. Add the honey in the pan. Halve the endives lengthwise and add them the flat side down in the pan. Fry them until they have a nice caramel colour. This will take about 10 minutes.

Auron - Aprés les Fêtes

Avalanche risk still 3/5











 Cîme de Chavalet (2453 m), the starting point for  several long runs
The resort preparing for the day. The Teleriou cable car station is visible in the lower right corner. It's just the transport between the village and the Las Donnas cable car station and the lower lifts









Las Donnas (1640-2256 m) cable car upper station.










So if you are considering skiing in Alpes Maritimes, this year seems to be really good so far. We will certainly go back.

Minestrone soup recipe

4 servings

500 g package of minestrone vegetables
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
400 g tin chopped tomatoes
400 g tin white beans, rinsed
700 ml vegetable stock made from 1 cube organic vegetable stock and 700 ml water
3 tsp pistou from Provence
4 tbsp olive oil
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Warm the rapeseed oil in a heavy casserole and soften the shallots and garlic for about 10 minutes.
Add the minestrone vegetables, water, vegetable cube and tinned tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce the temperature and let simmer partly covered for an hour. Stir now and again.
Rinse the white beans, add to the soup and let simmer for a while so that they are heated.
When the soup is cooked, stir in the pistou.
Divide the soup in bowls. Add the parmesan and olive oil just before serving. Serve with good whole wheat bread.

Snowshoeing in Alpes Maritimes

Le Boreon is the starting point for many trails. The route was specially chosen by our two guides. During the ascent, we even got a crash course in avalanche victim search, as shown in the video clip. The route was partly off-piste both during the ascent and descent back to Vallon de Salèse. Some parts of the tour actually followed the summer hike called “Circuit des Adus” described in the Randoxygène guide (posted recently in our blog). The summer hike, however, proceeds anticlockwise whereas the snowshoeing tour was done clockwise and started a little lower in the valley. Col de la Vallette (2356 m) was the highest point in both hikes.

Pan-fried scallops with clementine sauce

Step 2: The sauce

Press the juice of the clementines and add in the saucepan. Add the soya sauce, lavender honey and black pepper. Continue cooking and whisking occasionally until the sauce is reduced to about half. Set aside and keep warm.

Divide the vegetables and the sauce on the plates. Place the scallops on top of the sauce and decorate with clementine zest.