Cooking recipes
by Olivier Duhamel

       Recipes - Recettes de Cuisine
 

The fish soup  - The soufflé au fromage  (Puffed cheese) - Le Gratin Dauphinois, facon Onetangi  - La Soupe à l'oignon - Mushrooms Waiheke  - The omelet - La dorade farcie - Beef kebabs - Stuffed cabbages  - caviar and champagne
 

The fish soup

This fish soup is always a success, does not cost much but needs a solid two hours to make. On that particular occasion we were 6 for dinner and I choose two not too big snapper’s heads, the essential basis of the dish, and one good-sized gurnard. I was really looking for two or three other smaller fishes such as, pipers, flounders, mullet, or mackerel. It all depends on what is available on the day. You will also need one leek, two large carrots, two fat tomatoes (In winter these can be very expensive, I paid four dollars for two big ones, this can be replaced by tomato sauce really), one big onion, two or three potatoes, one branch of celery, spices such as pepper, oregano, thymes, fresh dill, and turmeric, parmesan cheese, one egg and a bit of vinegar, olive oil, one clove of garlic, one bottle of 1997 Clifton road sauvignon blanc, a flask of Pastis or Pernod ( or Ouzo), one fresh baguette.

Nina caught a nice snapper.

I also bought one large bunch of flowers to brighten the house.

You will need a large pot, a strong wooden spoon, a small glass and the most essential utensil: a mechanical vegetable mill with three sieves of different grades, large, medium and fine. (It is not recommended to use an electrical appliance. A manual process will sort out the fish bones, which would otherwise be mashed into the soup, giving it an unpleasant aftertaste. Fish bones are used to make glue, not soup.)

The fishes being scaled and gutted slice them in large chunks and throw them in the pot on hot cooking oil, along with the two fish heads. Do not waste virgin olive oil for that, plain cooking oil will do. Peel and slice all the vegetables and add in the pot, along with the spices, cover with water, add some salt and half a cup of Pastis. Let the whole thing cook on medium heat for about an hour, turning with the wooden spoon every now and then.

Use that time to prepare other things; grate the cheese finely and keep aside, break the egg and mix the yolk with a spoonful of vinegar,  and pour yourself a glass of wine. You can also use this time to prepare eight croutons. Cut eight fine slices out off the baguette and in a flat pan; fry them for a few minutes each side in lots of your best olive oil, until golden crisp. Let the oil drip out of the croutons and frig them liberally with garlic.  Keep the croutons aside for later use, pour yourself another glass on wine and do not let yourself be distracted by your loving wife musing around you, drinking out of your glass, fixing you in the eyes with a wicked smile, for you will need all your energy for the next step.

Pass the soup through each grade of the mill until you obtain a very smooth soup. This can be quite a messy business, put on an apron. My wife loves it when I wear an apron. I remember one hot day when I was not wearing much under the apron, she mused around me, drank out of my glass, fixed me in the eyes with a wicked smile but that is another story…

Add the egg the soup. It can then go back on a very small flame until it is time to serve.   I had a quick shower, shaved, dressed, and poured myself another glass of wine. When they arrived, I was glad to see that my guests had brought with them a nice bottle of Chardonnay as I had already well tried the day’s reserve.

To serve, place one crouton at the bottom of each plate and pour the soup over it, sprinkle with grated cheese. Offer your guest to add a few drops of chilli sauce. (Not half the bottle Robyn !)

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The soufflé au fromage  (Puffed cheese)

This is a detailed recipe for the "soufflé au fromage" (literally: Puffed up cheese). This is for four people.
The first thing you need to make a good soufflé au fromage is about 45 minutes. Then you also need:

HARDWARE:
- a BPU ( Baking Process Unit or oven).
- A soufflé peripheral ( I don’t know what that is, If you don’t have one, any dish that's about 2 to 3 inches deep, slightly more than half a foot wide and goes to the oven will do)
- A bowl, large and deep.
- 2 cups
- A saucepan.
- A wooden spoon.
- A fork or ideally an egg mixer with all the network connections

SOFTWARE:
- 3 fresh eggs.
- a handful of finely grated gruyere (75 grams), Cheddar will do just fine, the older the better.
- About 3 spoonful of butter (30 grams). Some use margarine, but it is not the same without butter!
- A pinch of salt, another of pepper.
- A bottle of wine ( red or white ).
- 4 spoonful of flour (30 grams)
- Half a cup of milk ( 1/4 Litre)

First, break the eggs and separate the yolks into the first cup, the white into the bowl. So far, so good.

Things get slightly more difficult.

You now have to make a thick " béchamel sauce ". This is also called a white sauce of which a good description can be found in the Edmond’ s Sure To Rise cookery book. On a low heat, melt most of the butter in the saucepan. Set aside a small nut of butter for later use. When the butter has melted, add all of the flour and mix it with the wooden spoon for a few seconds until a smooth mix is obtained. Gradually add some milk and continue to stir without stopping until all the milk is incorporated into the mix. If you stop stirring, the sauce will quickly stick. With your third hand, add salt and pepper. The end result must be quite smooth. Remove from the stove and cover with a lid.

You can now pour yourself a glass of wine in the second cup and take a short break. Turn on the oven on a medium heat. First make sure the oven is quite empty. ( Other people living in the house might use it to store various things that are not meant to be baked.) The next step is very important. Add a pinch of salt to the eggs whites and briskly beat them until quite white and quite stiff. If you use the fork this exertion can be long and tiresome. This is why I recommend the use of an egg mixer, mechanic or electric. The souffle will not puff properly if this step is not done to perfection. Congratulations ! you deserve a second cup of wine. Mix the yolks and grated cheese with the white sauce. The sauce should still be hot enough for the cheese to melt, but not so hot as to cook the yolks. This is why I recommended earlier that you take only a short break. Cautiously and gradually combine the eggs white to the béchamel in the saucepan. Use the wooden spoon as it presents less risk of breaking the white than a metal one with sharper edges. Grease the walls and bottom of your dish with the nut of butter that you left aside earlier. Pour the content of the saucepan into the dish. You should have spent no more than twenty minutes to reach this point, but it does not really matter if took you longer, this is only for planning purposes.

In theory you are now ready to put your soufflé in the oven for the final stage, In practice, just pour yourself another glass of wine and wait for you guests to arrive. This is because once baked, a soufflé must be served immediately. Should your guests run a bit late and your soufflé be ready early, it will deflate before you can serve it and all the visual effect will be lost. In cooking as in anything, first impression is vital. When ready put the dish in the oven and talk with your friends about the weather or some other light subject. Avoid asking them about their trip to Buenos Aires because you'll soon need to interrupt their account to go back to the kitchen and check on your soufflé. Some people may take offence of you not listening to their fables. Count on 20 to 25 minutes for your soufflé to start to puff up. If you do not have an oven with a glass window or if the window is, as it is often the case, so dirty that you cannot see through, you will need to open the door to have a peek, do this very carefully as a sudden change of temperature inside the oven may cause a soufflé which has just started to rise to deflate instantly which is not a happy sight. When the soufflé has finally reached nice proportion and the top has a nice golden color, wait another two minutes. Serve immediately and learn all about Buenos Aires.

I would suggest that the only two variable parameters be, firstly the kind of cheese you use, different cheese for different taste and secondly the kind of wine you drink for inspiration.

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Le Gratin Dauphinois, facon Onetangi  

Croyez moi si vous voulez, mais j’ai appris cette recette à Onetangi chez ma copine Isabelle. Ce jour là, le Tonton Pierre était de passage sur l’île et comme d’habitude nous nous retrouvions une vingtaine pour dîner chez Isabelle. J’avais ramené de Nouméa deux bouteilles de La Mauny pour abreuver cet équipage mais c’est Tonton Pierre qui décida qu’un gratin dauphinois nourrirait tout le monde à peu de frais.

Pour 20 :
Un très grand plat qui va au four (un grand four).
5 Kilos de pommes de terre.
Une livre de gruyère ou de cheddar
Un litre de crème fraîche
Une bouteille de vin rouge.
Beaucoup d’ail
Sel et poivre

Epluchez les patates, pour cinq kilos, il est généralement souhaitable de se faire aider. Une fois lavées, découpez les patates en fine lamelles. Beurrez généreusement le fond du plat. Servez vous un verre de vin rouge. Allumez le four à fond de balle.

Disposez les patates dans le plat en faisant glisser les lamelles l’une contre l’autres. Il faudra sûrement deux ou trois couches. Entre chaque couche, saupoudrez sel, poivre, fromage râpé et ail hachée finement. Versez la crème fraîche sur le tout et complétez par une dernière couche de fromage râpé.

Baisser le four au trois quart et mettez y le plat.

Servez vous un second verre de vin rouge. Conservez le rhum La Mauny pour plus tard dans la soirée.

Les temps de cuisson dépendent du four et de l’épaisseur du gratin mais il faut que les pommes de terre soit tendres et non encore croquantes.

Se mange chaud.

Variante : remplacez le fromage par du poisson coupé en dés et des œuf durs en lamelles., au dernier moment, rajoutez une sauce blanche. (béchamel)

Si c’est raté, le rhum consolera tout le monde.

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La Soupe à l' oignon

Bonjour Patrick,

Comme promis :
Pour 40 il te faudra :
30 gros oignons.
600 grammes de beurre.
200 grammes de farines.
10 tranches de pain de mie.
500 grammes de gruyère râpé.
10 litres d’eau
1 litre de vin blanc.
Sel, poivre
Deux gousses d’ails
Une profonde gamelle de 15 litres ou plus, son couvercle et un brûleur à gaz assez grand pour la faire chauffer.

Epluche les oignons puis tranche les en rondelles le plus mince possible. Fait doucement blondir ces rondelles d’oignons dans le beurre fondu. Evite de rajouter de l’huile car cela ferait noirci les oignons trop rapidement. Pour éviter qu’ils n’attachent au fond de la casserole, ajoute un verre d’eau et remue fréquemment.

Lorsque les oignons ont une belle couleur dorée, saupoudre de farine et mélange bien avec une solide cuillère en bois. Verse 10 litres d’eau et 1 litres de vin blanc, sale mais pas trop, poivre, couvre et fait bouillir une demi heure. Goûte de temps en temps et rajoute du sel si nécessaire.

Pour faire les croûtons : fait chauffer de l’huile d’olive bon marché dans une grande poêle plate. Lorsque l’huile est chaude met y autant de tranches de pain que la poêle peut contenir l’une à côté de l’autre. Fait dorer chaque côté et puis met à égoutter sur un torchon propre. Recommence jusqu'à ce que toutes les tranches soient faites. Erreur typique : s’écarter de la cuisine pendant cette manœuvre, on est quasiment sur de retrouver le pain carbonisé et l’huile bonne à jeter. Frotte ensuite les tranches de pain avec une gousse d’ail puis coupe les en quatre.

Pour servir, mettre un quart de tranche de pain au fond du bol, verser dessus la soupe très chaude et saupoudrez de gruyère rapé.

Bon courage,

Olivier

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Mushrooms Waiheke

Easy, cheap, quick and delicious.

A team of journalists and cameramen from Noumea came to Waiheke island to cover a meeting of former crew members of the Rainbow Warrior for R.F.O. (Radio France Outremer,  a French TV channel for overseas territories.)

On the last day of their visit we invited them for dinner. We simply threw some steaks and veges on the barbecue in the true Kiwi fashion. They asked me for the recipe of the mushrooms I cooked to go with the meat.

There it goes.

Buy some large flathead mushrooms.(These are the same kind of mushroom as the white button. They simply have been left to mature an extraday.)  Plan for one mushroom per guest but buy a couple more because they are very fragile and if some break during transport and handling, they will become useless for this particular recipe.

First prepare a pesto made of garlic, capsicum, parsley and some basil all finely chopped or crushed and mixed in olive oil. Also add bread crumbs, salt, pepper and whatever else takes your fancy. Make enough of this mixture for one table spoon per mushroom or more.

Gently wash the mushrooms under cold water, leave their skin on but cut off any protruding stems. Turn the mushrooms flat on their back, the gills facing up and pour some olive oil on each of them, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, Spread one table spoon of your pesto on each mushroom, topping it with a generous sprinkle of finely grated parmesan cheese.

You can now fry the mushrooms belly up in shallow olive oil. Use either a frying pan or the barbecue plate. Five to ten minutes is all it takes, I prefer them well done. Serve hot, with the meat and a side salad.

Please keep each steak under 200 grams. Red meat is delicious and nutritious but I find obscene and repulsive the huge steaks I sometimes see being served at some restaurants. lets not dig our own grave with our own teeth. If you think that your guests will be very hungry, make something else to go with the meat and mushroom, like a bowl of pasta.

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The omelet.

I have been told that Chefs evaluating the talent of candidates and young graduates applying for their first job often ask for an omelet to be prepared as this humble dish will reveal the passion and creativity of the cook. A good omelet will also satisfy the appetite of a hungry family at small cost and little effort.

Here is one that I frequently make whenever I find boiled potatoes leftover in the fridge.

Easy does it. Lets get started. One egg per person. Break them in a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper and beat briskly, with energy and commitment. There lies the secret of a good omelet; the eggs must be well beaten, into a lather of sort, so that the omelet will be light and spongy.

Now, act quickly, decisively and with accuracy.
Set aside about half a cup of the eggs mix.
Mix in the bowl half a cup of grated cheese.
Turn on the oven to medium heat.
Peel half an onion and chop into small pieces Fry in hot butter until golden, let them cool and add to the bowl.
Rinse the pan.
If you have any, slice a handful of mushrooms and fry in hot butter for a few minutes, let them cool and add to the rest.
Rinse the pan again.
Slice the potatoes and fry them in unsalted butter in a large pan for a few minutes. When starting to crisp, pour the egg mix on top and let the omelet cook on medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes.

During that time, you pour yourself a glass of gin/vermouth/tonic/grapefruit juice mixed in equal quantities and have a sip before cleaning the kitchen and buttering a shallow oven dish about the same size as the pan, or slightly smaller.

When the omelet is starting to set but is still a bit liquid and gooey on the top, flip it over in the dish and put it in the oven.
Wash, rinse, dry and put away the pan.

Chop some parsley finely.

Take the omelet out of the oven and, over the middle, pour the cup of egg mix you set aside earlier; return to the oven for  just a few minutes. The effect sought is an omelet wholly cooked but for a thin layer of almost raw eggs on the top. The visual effect is that of a cake, with a golden ring of cooked omelet on the outside and a yellow disk of shiny egg in the middle. When that is achieved, promptly take out of the oven, sprinkle parsley on top, to enhance the flavour and to add a contrasting color in the presentation. Serve immediately.

Your kitchen bench should be sparkling clean, with all utensils clean, rinsed, dry and put away; your Gin Martini ready to be replaced by a simple, unpretentious cabernet sauvignon.

20 minutes have elapsed. You can be proud of yourself and enjoy as a reward the moans of pleasure of those hungry mouths feeding themselves with delectation. This is best served with a green salad, which your wife has kindly offered to prepare for you.

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La dorade farcie.

La première étape est assez difficile. En effet il vous faudra en premier lieu attraper la dorade. Les grosses dorades s'approchent souvent des côtes en été et peuvent être pêcher par 20 à 30 mètres d'eau. Je connais quelques bons coins aux alentours d'Auckland où de belles dorades de 5 kilos et plus sont souvent capturées, mais ne vous attendez pas à ce que je publie cette information sur l'Internet.

Invitez un bon copain à vous joindre à bord avec une caisse de bière. Partez de bonne heure et soyez rentré avant quatre heures, cela vous laissera le temps de vous arrêter chez le poissonnier en cas d'échec sur l'eau. En cas de succès, ouvrez la dernière canette de bière, écaillez et vider les poissons. Le plus difficile est fait.

De retour à la maison, allumez le four et prenez une bonne douche. Dans un grand bol, mélangez une demi livre de beurre avec oignons, persil et fenouil hachés menus. Remplissez de cette farce le ventre du poisson. Placez le poisson dans un grand plat beurré, arrosez d'un demi verre d'huile d'olive et un doigt de pastis, mettez au four pour une bonne demi heure.

Servez avec des pommes de terre á l'eau ou du riz blanc. Assaisonnez avec du jus de citron ou de la sauce de soja ou une sauce pimentée.

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Beef kebabs.

Easy kebabs for a delicious and nutritious summer lunch cooked on the barbecue.

One of the most important steps of this recipe is to remember to soak the bamboo skewers in water for 12 hours before making the kebabs. If you use dry skewers, they are very likely to burn on the barbecue thus removing one of the practical advantage of kebabs which is to be eaten with no plate, fork or knife and without getting your fingers dirty either by simply holding one extremity of the skewer and biting on pieces of meat and veges to make them gently slide off the bamboo between your teeth until they can be eaten.

Buy some beef, tomatoes, onions, capsicums, small button mushrooms as well as one bottle of a good red table wine. The rest of the ingredients should be found in all well stocked pantries.

Prepare the kebabs a few hours before cooking them so that they have time to marinate. Wash your hands. Dice the beef in small pieces. You can buy the best eye filet at great expenses or simply buy pre-diced, casserole beef at a fraction of the price; the kebabs will be just as delicious. Let the meat rest an hour or so with a liberal sprinkling of rock salt before using it. Cut the tomatoes in eight pieces, cut the capsicum in thumb sized pieces, peel the onions and cut in thumb sizes pieces, separating the layers so that the pieces are just one or two layers thick.

Wash your hands again before starting skewering the ingredients. I often use the following sequence: onion, meat, mushroom, meat, tomato, meat, capsicum, meat, onion. But feel free to be creative. . My preference is to press everything tightly against each other rather than leave a gap between each piece. This should only cover half of the length of the bamboo stick. You could obviously load more stuff on each stick but they will be heavier to handle comfortably and you will have less kebabs made. As the kebabs are ready, lay them side by side in a large and deep dish. When all kebabs are done, liberally pour olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper, and thyme, Pour red wine, Worcestershire sauce and Soy sauce. Clean the kitchen, fix yourself a glass of wine, relax.

Cook the kebab on the plate of the barbecue rather than the grill. That will prevent the bamboo skewers to burn if you forgot to soak them in water beforehand. It will also allow you to periodically wet the kebabs with the marinade while they cook.

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Stuffed cabbages.

This is a cheap an easy way to feed a hungry crowd with something delicious and out of the ordinary. When guests ask me what's for dinner and I say "cabbage" I usually get long faces, but after having eaten this one, they usually ask me for the recipe...

For 8 people you will need one curly cabbage, four carrots, four potatoes, two onions one small turnip, one cube of beef stock, half a bunch of fresh celery, 150 grams of pork sausage meat, 150 grams of mince, a large pot and a cold beer or two.

Start two hours before serving. Carefully remove the cabbage leaves without breaking them, cut off the white, hard stems, and throw these to the worms, the chooks or the compost heap. At the heart of the cabbage, the leaves are probably too tightly curled together to be undone. Just set that aside to make a soup or coleslaw the next day. Put the leaves in boiling water for 5 minutes or until soft. You now need to wrap two or three of these leaves around eight lumps of sausage meat. I prefer using pork sausage meat which I sometimes mix with a bit of mince beef. I have never tried lamb but I think that its strong taste would marry very well with the slight bitterness of the cabbage. The idea is to use a few leaves to form a little bag holding the meat by folding them on top of each other. I let you find the best way to achieve this. Depending on the size of your kitchen bench, you may want to spread all leaves in eight piles, dropping the meat lumps on top of each pile so that you can equally distribute cabbage and meat amongst each serving. If you are short of kitchen real estate, you may also make them one by one. Once done, press each bag firmly between your hands so that they won't unfold while cooking.

In the pot, melt some butter and add the sliced onions. When brown, add the chopped celery and place the eight little cabbages on top. Add the rest of the veggies cut in pieces, add one and a half cup of water and season with salt, pepper, beef stock and laurel. Cover and let cook on a slow heat for 45 minutes. Have a cold beer and clean the kitchen. Then let simmer until dinner time. I have accidentally discovered that cabbage can cook for a long time without disintegrating, so have a second beer if so inclined.

Pour the lot in a large dish to serve. If there are any left over, keep it preciously as the stuff is even better reheated the next day...

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