Mediterranean food | The Rambling Epicure

Mediterranean Food Connection: Zucchini and preserved lemon salad, a recipe by Christophe Certain

Published by Jonell Galloway + Tuesday, July 9, 2013 Permalink 0

zucchini preserved lemon salad christophe certain North African cuisine

Mediterranean Food Connection: Zucchini and preserved lemon salad, a recipe by Christophe Certain

Recipe translated from the French and adapted by Jonell Galloway

This recipe is perfect for Ramadan.

Recipe

Ingredients

2 onions, chopped

4 zucchini / courgettes

1 tablespoon of capers in vinegar

1 preserved lemon (see note I posted here a month or so ago about how to make them), chopped into 3 mm / 1/8” cubes

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil or butter

Equipment

Large, deep frying pan

Instructions

Heat olive oil or butter. Sautée onions.
While onions are cooking, wash zucchini / courgettes. Start by cutting off ends, then cut then slice them into medium-thick slices, leaving the skin on.
When onion is translucent, add zucchini / courgettes. Mix well, but gently.
Let this mixture cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the water from zucchini / courgette has evaporated. They should remain crunchy, but if you prefer them soft, just cook them a little longer.
Add capers and chopped lemon.
Leave on burner for a few minutes, gently stirring, so that the zucchini / courgette will absorb the lemon flavor.
This dish can be eaten warm with chicken or fish, for example, or cold, as a salad.

You can view the original recipe in French on Christophe’s website Cuisine Pied Noir.

Simon Says: Daily Food Quote, July 8, 2011

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, July 8, 2011 Permalink 0

by Sim ón de Swaan

Poverty rather than wealth gives the good things of life their true significance. Home-made bread rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with olive oil, shared – with a flask of wine – between working people, can be more convivial than any feast.–Patience Gray, Honey from a Weed: Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia

Patience Gray was an English food writer who introduced Mediterranean tastes to Britain. She died in March of 2005. More can be read about her in The Guardian’s obituary.

Mediterranean Food Connection: Grilled Peppers, a Classic Mediterranean Dish

Published by Jonell Galloway + Friday, February 11, 2011 Permalink 0

by Christophe Certain

Click here for French version.

Grilled Peppers, à la Grand-mère

This recipe is simple but absolutely delicious. It was passed down to me by my grandmother. When people who’ve never eaten it taste it for the first time, they always ask me what I put in it to give it that incredibly special taste. The answer is: nothing.

Grilled bell peppers have a totally different taste from raw bell peppers; they are sweet and fruity. A chemist might say this is due to the transformation of the starch into sugar during cooking, with undoubtedly a few Maillard reactions thrown in (a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar).