Friday, February 6, 2015

Winter Ceviche & Simplest Breton Soup


Winter Ceviche
Per Nana~
Since we are on the last leg of the journey through Dorie Greenspan's 
wonderful cookbook, Around My French Table, I did not want to miss
 making another recipe (too many recipes to make up as it is). 

As I have mentioned before, I do not eat raw seafood but decided to 
prepare a small portion of this recipe.  I decided to buy only three scallops 
but wasn't sure I had the nerve to ask for such a small quantity.  
At $19.00 per pound, however,  it turned out easy. 
I prepared the recipe as per Dorie's instructions and it was the prettiest 
dish I have seen. As for the three little scallops.....after taking all the photos
 I sautéed them in butter. Delicious.
Per Tricia~
Evidently I have inherited a "non appreciation" of raw seafood from my parents. 
Luckily I also got a great tip from Nana about sautéing the scallops too :)  
Prepping the ingredients was like a bit of summer added to a cold winter day. 
My kitchen smelled amazing with the citrus juice and zest. 
My taste testers were all out of the house this week which was  shame because 
they would have loved this. I "dug deep" to take a slice  sliver before throwing
 them into the frying pan... and the flavors were lovely and quite refreshing.
 The texture remains the issue for me (and a bit of time in the pan resolves that). 
I will say that this ceviche and similar recipes from AMFT have truly shocked 
me with how much I enjoy the mixture of tropical, seafood and onion/shallot. 
It was a delicious combination that balanced sweet and savory, soft and crunchy.

Breton Soup
Per Nana~
This recipe brought back memories of a trip Jim and I made a few years 
ago when we visited  Bretagne, France. In the late afternoon, after visiting 
Quimper (famous for faïence pottery since 1690) we stopped in a small
 fishing village called Pont de Albe on the coast.
We sat at a small outdoor cafe and enjoyed our usual, Kir Royale and 
Pastis, while watching the fishing boats coming in with their daily catch. 
People were waiting around to purchase whatever looked good for dinner.  
We were amazed by all the activity in such a small village.
As for this soup, it was delicious, even without using any mussels. 
 I used fresh cod, potatoes, onions, shallots and leeks. When I 
prepared the vinaigrette with the shallot I thought it would be too 
strong, but it was delicious and perfectly complimented the soup. 
Jim has already requested a repeat of this recipe and even suggested it 
would make a great new addition to our Feast of the Seven Fishes. 
Per Tricia~
I made this soup a few weeks back on a particularly cold winter day.  
Even though I am not a fan of mussels, I had to admit it was gorgeous 
dish when prepared and smelled fantastic. Talk about comfort food. 
My husband and younger son were home to be taste testers.

My son commented that he liked it, but would have LOVED it if
  it had a cream base. My husband preferred the broth as prepared. 

I fished out the mussels and enjoyed the novelty of a new soup on a cold day.  
And one more fish recipe being done from the book...... 

Happy French Friday ~

9 comments:

  1. You two are hysterical. And I think this is a FFWD First (I will check with Laurie and Betsy). I know of no one who has actually purchased the ingredients, made the week's recipe choice, taken the photos (and, your Winter Ceviche preparation pictures and final results were both gorgeous) and then flipped those babies into the frying pan with a big dollop of butter, creating a meal to your liking. Now what's not funny about that. Is that even legal? The best part is that I know you and I can just see you both doing that. Knowing you both, you hatched that one up together, didn't you. I do give you kudos, however, for admitting to sabatoging the raw fish with butter. Well done. On to the Breton Soup. There was nothing funny about that - it just looked marvelous, so delicious. Prefect for the type of weather you are having right now. Ro, I always enjoy the pictures both of you show of your trips to France. Those memories get better and better, don't they. I thought you would like to know that I have worked my way through 2/3 of the Garrett's popcorn and am showing GREAT restraint regarding the last 1/3. I need to check on Betsy and Howard's progress. We're reporting in to each other. Once again, thank you so very much.

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  2. Glad you both liked the cooked version of the ceviche and I'll second Mary's comment that it's pretty funny that you took photos and then cooked it. :)
    Nana-love your photos from France and your soup looks fantastic!
    Tricia-glad you enjoyed the soup without the mussels!

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  3. I generally have no issue with raw fish, but raw scallops have never been a particular favorite and I probably would have preferred your butter-sauteed version.

    Love your pics of France. Brittany is still on my list of places to visit.

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  4. Nana: what a lovely and fresh apresentation of the winter Ceviche as well as the Breton Fish Soup - jsut wonderful, both ofthem - you didi make me smile though when I readthat you tossed those lovingly arranged scallops ino tha pan after these pictures were taken...what is important though is that you enjoyed these recipes!
    Tricia: beautifully presented Mussels and Winter Ceviche - so fun to read that you enjoyed both these dishes but in different "stages", one liked the broth, the other the mussels...
    Have a wonderful weekend ladies - great post, lovingly presented dishes and wonderful pictures!
    Andrea

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  5. Nice job on both recipes, you two! I enjoyed both, but I was the only taste tester in my household. And those are wonderful photos from France, Nana. I'd love to be sitting in the warm sun sipping a Kir Royale---sounds blissful!!

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  6. Ladies…you have both done a fabulous job on these two recipes! I skipped the Ceviche, like both of you, I just can’t eat raw fish! I did a make up of Gerards Mustard Tart! I’ve made it in the past, but have never posted it…so I thought it was about time!
    Nana…your photos of Bretagne, France are simply gorgeous! Tricia…I don’t think I could have gotten a sliver down…you are braver than I! Lovely post…happy weekend! Hugs!

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  7. You guys are cracking me up. I think it's hilarious that you made it raw and then cooked it. And it seems like you made that choice independently. You must be related! This would be the perfect soup for the Feast of Seven Fishes (with or without mussels). We're 2/3 through the popcorn too. Howard and I shared the first 1/3. I think I ate the second 1/3 myself. It's snowing AGAIN so we'll probably polish it off after today's round of shoveling and snow blowing. Is it spring yet?

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  8. I am also amused at making the official version, then cooking the scallops. Although, since I've met very few recipes that I have actually followed I am totally not judging :-)
    Stay warm and have a great weekend.

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  9. Thank you for taking the time to write this post

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