Brittany is well known for its ‘galette’ and ‘crêperies’ are scattered all over France. The French enjoy their ‘crêpes ‘and eat them as a snack all year long. However, we also celebrate Shrove Tuesday and keep to the tradition of this day by indulging in stacks of them before the Lent season starts. The pancakes served on that day in Britain are usually sweet but I thought to ignore the tradition and offer you few ideas for delicious savoury options.

A classic is the buckwheat ’galette’ with ham, egg and gruyere cheese- a whole meal of its own. Another more contemporary option is a ricotta, spinach and mushroom filled crêpe, topped up with a parmesan white sauce and finished off in the oven for a golden ‘gratinée’ touch.

The batter can be plain, but why not flavour it with some finely chopped black olives and red peppers for example?  And include some chorizo slices when turning the batter into a yummy pancake?

Last but not least, go for the ‘whoa’ factor with ‘aumonières de fruits exotiques’ , a crêpe filled with pastry cream, mixed diced exotic fruits, with lashings of warm chocolate sauce poured over it or, why not try the famous  crêpe Suzette. Hungry yet?!  So maybe time has come to get the pancake pan out, swirl that batter and flip the perfect crepe, galette or pancake over? Bon apétit!

For the Healthy Meals cooking lesson last Saturday, I chose a selection of easy, quick, cheap and colourful dishes, packed full with vitamins and anti-oxidants.

We made 5 dishes comprising of a red cabbage, pomegranate and sunflower seeds salad, a quinoa taboule, a mackerel rillettes , a sweet potato, leeks and soft boil egg salad, and a leek and feta flan.

What was the cost and time?

The average preparation time for each of the dishes were 10 minutes for the mackerel rillettes, 15 minutes for the red cabbage salad and 20 minutes for the sweet potato salad, the quinoa taboule and the flan.

The red cabbage salad served up to 6 portions – £ 1.50

The sweet potato salad served 4 portions – £1.50

The quinoa taboule served 4 portions – £ 2.50

The flan served 4 portions: £1.50

The mackerel rillettes served 3 portions – £ 2.50

Every dish looked healthy and tasted fantastic. If you would like to attend the next cook healthy classes on 6/13 and 20 March, click here.

A new week, a new recipe!  This is the first of these week , it ticks all the boxes. It is healthy, seasonal, delicious, colourful with lots of different ingredients, and  super quick to prepare, and last but not least, it is gentle on the purse.

I present you: Salad of Chick peas, Chorizo, feta and pomegranate.

This salad can easily be served for a light snack or a quick lunch or dinner. It can be eaten either luke-warm, with the Chorizo and chick peas served as soon as they have been sautéed, or cold .

What was the cost and time?

The list of ingredients below will be enough to serve 2 lunches or dinners. I used organic dried chick peas purchased in a health food store and  cooked them in a pressure cooker. I prefer to use dried pulses despite the fact that they are more time consuming , I find them tastier because they are usually cooked longer which make them more tender; I cook mine for 45 minutes. However, if time is an issue, using tinned chick peas is perfectly fine too- all the other ingredients come from the supermarket. The cooking time for this recipe is reduced to a minimum and just involves pan-frying the cooking Chorizo and steaming the green beans.

Preparation time 15 minutes – if using tinned pulses, cooking time – 10 minutes

A tin of chickpeas- 0.80

3 cooking chorizo’s or more, depending on how much you like these little sausages- £1.25

1/2 a pomegranate- £0.50

50 g of Feta cheese- £0.40

Green beans pack- £ 0.75- they were on special

Pantry items consisting of olive oil, salt pepper, vinegar- £ 0.20

Conclusion

This comes to a grand total of £ 3.90 , or 1.85 per person. Beside being healthy , appetising to the eye and delicious to eat, this salad is a much better option than a bland and overpriced salad or prepared meal from the supermarket. It does not even require any cooking skills, you just need some love and appreciation for food and eating well.

Healthy Meals for Everyday Cookery Classes: 28th January / 6-13-20 March

Posted on 18 January 2012

As numerous articles from food magazines and newspaper claim, eating healthy does not have to cost the earth. As part of my healthy recipes month, I will be preparing 2 recipes a week that are quick, healthy, delicious and not dear to make. I will be using local and seasonal ingredients as always, strive to have as many ingredients as possible from the rainbow colours and document each recipe with a picture to stimulate your taste buds fantasy.

This week two of these recipes are: a potato and mackerel stew and, a gluten-free, reduced sugar beetroot – chocolate cake.

The stew is inspired from a cookery book from the famous A. Ferran, from the internationally acclaimed restaurant ‘El Buli’ in Spain. I love this recipe because it uses mackerel in an unusual way. It is not baked or pan-fried as I usually cook mackerel but it is quickly stewed in a tasty tomato sauce. The other great advantage of this recipe besides being quick, delicious and really cheap to prepare is that it is as good if not better next day.

The cake is inspired by a recipe I prepared at the Square Food Foundation when assisting with one of their cookery classes. I tweaked it so it uses less sugar and makes a really yummy gluten-free cake. Why did I choose to make a gluten-free cake? For many reasons: there are nowadays a lot of people intolerant to wheat, to prove that gluten-free does not need to be boring, and also, because we consume so much wheat in our every day diet that it seems a good idea to include foods that are free from wheat – varied and colourful are key words when looking at a healthy diet.

What was the cost and time?

The list of ingredients below serves 5 generous meals, plus some extra cake for a mid-afternoon treat for a couple of days-unless you are like me and you eat more than you should. I used organic vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, free-range eggs, and organic flour.

For the stew: prep time 20 minutes, cooking time 25 minutes

2 largish mackerels: £ 2

Potato: £ 0.60

Aioli: £ 1.35- you are left with enough sauce for the next 2 days sarnies.

Tomato tin: £ 0.75

Pantry item: £0.15

Total: £4.35

For the cake: baked in 20 cm tin/ prep time 20 minutes, cooking time 55 minutes

Beetroot: £ 0.50

Eggs: £ 0.40

GF flour: £ 0.70

Almonds: £ 0.50

Molasse sugar: £ 0.60

Butter: £ 1.80

Total: £4.70

Conclusion

For less than two pounds and less than one hour, you can prepare a great 2 course meal plus afternoon snack for 5 pers that will satisfy your taste buds and be gentle to your purse.

Healthy Meals for Everyday Cookery Classes: 28th January / 6-13-20 March

Posted on 26 September 2011

It’s already Monday and my next dessert class is coming soon. The theme of last week’s Delicious Puddings Class was baking, and so we baked. I love baking pastry and find it very sensual. I adore the texture of smooth and silky pastry, almost like play dough, soft and warm. Flaky pastry is my favourite pastry; it is quick and easy to prepare, has a lovely crackling texture, and it can be used as savoury or sweet tarts.

We started with a plum tart. Each pair of students rolled out their pastry, lined their flan case with it, and baked it blind. Next, the plums were carefully arranged on the golden pastry and a mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, and almonds was poured onto them. The tart was then ready to be baked.

The next tart on the list was ‘tarte Tatin‘. The apples for this classic French dessert need to be very firm and have the right balance of tartness and sweetness. Whilst peeling apples and making caramel, I checked on the the plum tart. It was ready and looked stunning with its round ruby plums sticking out of the golden filling.

We finished preparing the Tatin tart and while it was baking, we tasted the plum tart.   Needless to say that its looks were as good as its taste; the pastry was perfect and the balance of sweet and tart flavours was delicious.

After some fingers licking, the Tatin came finally out of the oven – oozing with golden caramel. The combination of baked apples, caramel and  buttery pastry was just perfect.

I reminded the participants of some good Old French ‘Tatin etiquette’: it can be eaten with a dollop of crème fraiche, and like a soufflé it does not like to wait too long before being eaten.

Each participants went back home with a half of each tart. Everyone looked very happy with their trophies and seemed very positive about future baking prospects.

The goal had been reached: some fear had been taken out of baking.

Posted on 31st August

The Provençal cooking is not only delicious, colourful, bursting with flavours but is also healthy and make you feel good – and here I’m speaking from my own experience.

Of course if you like fish, bouillabaisse is a must, or if you prefer meat,  then a wild boar stew or a beef daube will provide you with plenty of gustative and olfactory pleasures.

However, vegetables and pulses are the king in Provence and the veggie option of this Supper Club will prove me right. I chose to prepare Panisse, golden batons made of chick pea flour and Boumanio, the ratatouille’s little known sister.

So if you find fish too fishy, why not go veggie?

To book a table for the next Supper Club, follow this link or call 0117 908 5035.

Posted on 5 July 2011

The next supper club will be all about the summer, packed full with sun drenched  Provençal flavours. Iza has put together a menu full of vibrant colours and strong savours which are so distinctive of Provençal cooking. The event will also feature some live music played by Joff England.

Come to taste sunshine on a plate in our next supper club on the 8th of September at the Bristol Folk House.

Vegetarian option available on request.

Date and time:

Thursday 8th September 2011 from 7.00 PM

Address:

Bristol Folk House, 40a Park Street, Bristol, BS1 5JG

Price: £ 25 p.p.
Cash only please.

To book a place, please call 0117 908 5035 or use the form below.

Posted on 22 March 2011

What do you get when you combine 18 food-loving people (some of them being returning guests), good atmosphere and a fantastic, honest food? Yes, the result of this recipe turned out to be another successful ‘Chez Iza’ Supper Club. We have to admit that we were slightly nervous this time, knowing that among our guests will be a couple of Bristol-based bloggers and foodies and we obviously didn’t want to disappoint.

The evening turned out to be far from disappointment, with plates returning mostly empty and a laud applause for the chef Iza when she entered the dining room at the end of the evening.

And what verdict did we get from Em, the owner of the Bristol Bites blog? Find out for yourself!

Unfortunately we were not able to get new lamb in time for the supper club but our supplier Dave Butcher provided us with some delicious lamb and the stew turned out perfect.

The April Supper Club (see below) will be our last one before September and we hope to see many of you here.

Happy spring.

Iza and Mirek

Posted on 9 March 2011

April Supper Club date: Saturday 2 April 2011

The March supper club has shown to be very popular and it is now almost fully booked, so we have decided to run another evening very soon. The next date is Saturday 2nd April and you can have a look at the menu below.

The starter will be made with beetroot, which is one of Iza’s favourite root vegetables. In this recipe, she combines three different flavours; the sharpness and intensity of the blue cheese goes hand in hand with the sweetness of the beetroot and roasted hazelnut, and the colour of the dish is vibrant and contrasted.

The main dish will introduce Daube, a mythical Provençal dish bringing together various flavours from the South of France.

And for desert, a rhubarb tart will feature as a symbol of spring, where the tartness of the fruit combines harmoniously with the sweetness of the almonds and butter.

The whole menu is a celebration of food – Iza loves cooking and you will taste it!

Date and time: Saturday 2 April 2011 at 7.30 PM

Suggested donation: £ 25 p.p. – b.y.o.b
Cash only please.

To book a place, please call 07768 253 384 or use the form below.

Posted on 26 February 2011

Next Supper Club:
Saturday 19. March 2011
(sorry, fully booked now)

The spring has sprung and so it is time for a seasonal culinary feast. In France, one of the most typical spring dishes is the Lamb Navarin.

It is a celebration of the new season’s lamb and the delicate young vegetables. The word ‘navarin’ comes most probably from ‘navet’ (turnip in French), which is traditionally added to the dish. And if you have a sweet tooth, the profiteroles will certainly make a glorious end to your evening.

Date and time: Saturday 19 March 2011 at 7.30 PM

Suggested donation: £ 25 p.p. – b.y.o.b
Cash only please.

Sorry, fully booked. To book a place on the next supper club, please call 07768 253 384 or use the form below.