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 a 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 ~