Morels Carot and Almond Pesto Attraction Lasagna

The last but my favorite shot among all was the Wild Morelle mushroom and almond paste with leek pesto lasagna. Nothing beats a succesful mix of flavors! LOVE IT.
So for this session, the challenge was to make all the layers pretty and looking tasty! Take a look of it what do you think?


I love to improvised with food. This is not your traditional tomato sauce lasagna!I used pesto instead because it accentuated the flavor of our earthy morrels, and the almond paste give the richness that cream offer but healthier. Do i need any reason for carrot?They are sweet, source of vitamin A and the color just pop right in your eyes. Gotta love carrot! Off course since this is a wild mushroom lasagna, wild leek is the best companion!

The process of making the lasagna is quite simple.

The ingredients:

• Sauteed Wild mushroom mixture ( morels, chanterele , any kind of wild mushroom or regular you want)
• Lasagna noodle, boiled and cooled
• 2tbsp of butter
• 4 tbsp of of flour to make roux
• beef bouilon / chicken bouilon
  
• Sauteed garlic, pesto, and wild leeks mixture
• Salt , pepper & nutmeg to taste
  
• Raw carrot peeled and shaved into long ribbons
  
• Feta & Mozzarella cheese
• Blanch almond/toasted almond powder (you can use food chopper and add a little water to make the almond paste)
  
• Olive oil to sautee the ingredients

The execution:

• Sautee the mushrooms and the leeks separately or together depending on your choice
• Make the roux from the butter and flour and bouilon, add almond paste ( this will be used as the paste to glue the noodle)
  
• Once this two steps are done, layer the noodle and place the sauce on top of noodles and put different ingredient on each layer.
• Top it off with the sauce and seal it with the feta and mozzarela cheese and garnish it with the morels and wild mushroom arrangements on top!

M Mmm Good!

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Fiddlehead Mushroom Omellete

Do you believe that omellete is an ordinary item that could start an extraordinary day? My omellete always do! But what about having omellete everday? Getting tired of it?
Never!!! There are just too many ways of making omellete. Egg is the essential and I love to mix it twist it with something new!


We are so fortunate that the spring in Ontario yield plentiful of beautiful harvests. Fiddlehead was one of them. Some of you might not know the name, but surely when you see it, it makes sense right away.

Fiddlehead also known as cicinate vernation refers to the unfurled fronds of a young fern harvested for food consumption. The fiddlehead, unrolls as the fern matures and grows due to more growth in the inside of the curl. Fiddleheads are usually located by the bottom of a fern plant. It was named so due to its resemblance to the curled ornamentation on the end of the string instrument ( Wikipedia, 2009).

Hand picking fiddle head is a very treasurable moment! You don't get the chance so often!
Once they comes out...they will be gone very quick. Last thing you know spring is over! So here I present to you the more lasting taste of fiddlehead!

The ingredients:

• Mushroom, sweet pepper, feta cheese
• 2 eggs
  
• salt and pepper to taste
• blanched fiddlehead
• olive oil

As simple as early morning! As delicious as you can imagine!

Happy trying!


Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Ramp, Dandelion and Violet dance

Dear : Friends!

I can barely remember the last time I wrote this Blog! The past 4 weeks I have been so lucky to volunteer with Dave Sloan a photographer who was an alumn in my university. He and his wife have been so kind to allow me exploring my artsy imagination on my dream job! Food stylist! He needed to make a portfolio and so did I, so it was a win win situation. I keep telling myself I would be the luckiest person in the world if I could work as a food stylist. Having so much fun, and dealing with the challenges is always a thrill. I cant wait!!!.

Since both Dave and Linda ( his wife) own a cottage up north, they wanted to bring in the wild taste of rustic leeks, dandelion and the smell of the forest to your eyes। We came up with three recipes: The wild salads, Fiddlehead omellete, and the must try Wild Morelle and Almond Lasagna! It was so mouthwatering… except that you can’t ever break the rule number 1: never eat the hero food! Too bad… BUT Good thing I kept the recipe for you to try, and surely you can spoil your eye a little with shot that we took few weeks ago

Here we go:

The salads was consisted of

• Ramps ( wild leeks leaves and stalk , you can use the bulb too)
• Dandelion
• Trout lily leaves ( do not use if it flowered already)
• Lemon zest
• Red pepper sliced in julienne cut.
• Violet ( flower is edible)

Dressing:

• Vinegrette using olive oil, a little red wine vinegar, lemon juice
• Drizzle of honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

The macro look of the salad looks so pretty.

I hope you enjoy the salad if not, enchant your eyes a little!

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.

Pan Seared Fish with Sweet Fermented Chilli Paste and Roasted Tomatoes

Dear :  The food connoisseur!

 

There is nothing better than eating fresh seafood right from the seashore, however if you are far away from the sea breeze, a trip to a local fish market would always be exciting and fresh! Now… a fresh whole fish should have clear eyes and shiny scales. If you buy a fillet however, look for a firm intact flesh. Picking the fresh fish is the key in flavorful and tasty fish dish.

 

As always, I love to experiment on combining flavors. This time we are going to use my  express taste booster : The asian fermented chilli paste. You can get this in most asian ( Chinese and Korean market in a jar. The sweet and hot taste gives a perfect kick that I need to enhance the fish flavor while minimizing the fishy smell that some people can not stand.

 

This dish actually the east meet the west for me. Being brought up in the Asia, fish is most enjoyably consumed by deep frying it, and serving  it on  rice  with the shrimp paste chili sauce. Omitting the deep fried part, I tried to play around with the idea of keeping the crispy skin texture and the goodness inside. Not to forget a little kick of our favorite friend; the chilli sauce. For those who are sensitive to the heat, dont worry, the fermented chilli paste are very mild and friendly! Just give it a try, and you will definetely back for more!

 

The " ingredients":

 

• Fish fillet cut to medium portion (approximately 4 x3 inch) you can use meaty white fish such as Halibut, Haddock, Marlin if not Salmon will do well too.
• Lemon pepper seasoning
• Sun Flower/ Olive oil
• Fresh Tomatoes/ Roasted tomatoes
• Finely chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp Fermented Chilli paste ( Korean or Chinese grocery)
• 1tsp honey
• Cucumber
• Spanish onion
• ½ tsp minced ginger
• Juice from half of lemon & lemon peel
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• Salt to taste

 

The “execution”:

 

• Pat dry the fish, and sprinkle the fish with lemon pepper seasoning

 

• Pan Seared the fish to crisp the skin  for 2 minutes each sides ( I love using iron cast or stainless steels pan so I can put the pan inside the oven right after)

 

• Meanwhile, in a bowl mix  the fermented chilli paste, with lemon juice, honey

 

•  Take off the fish from heat, leave in a little oil in  fish pan

 

• Put the sliced onion,  minced ginger, tomatoes, chopped garlic on top of the fish in the pan

 

• Put into oven to bake at 350 F for 16-20 minutes

 

• Once its done, the aromatic vegetable should infused their flavor through the oil, and the natural juice of the fish will ooze out.

 

• Plate the fish and the onions, tomatoes. Add the mixed fermented chilli paste on the side or you can drizzle it on top of the fish

 

• Cucumber on the side is good for cooling down the palate.

 

In order to add servings of vegetables to your diet, you can add in mixed vegetable salads and use the juice from the fish and the sweet fermented chilli sauce as the dressings.

I can not wait until summer comes and try different fish dishes on the grill! For now…I am taking a break to stroll around the town. See you soon!

 

Love always,

Passion + Patience

*Gastrobutterfly*

A food to your soul.