Pescetarian Pleasures

Steamed Mussels in Cream & Cider Sauce – delicious easy seafood

As some of you may know, my other half hails from Normandy, in the North Western corner of France. Their biggest exports are seafood (mussels and oysters), apples (therefore cider and calvados) and dairy products (including milk, cheese, butter and cream). The cream is thick, rich, calorific and lovely, similar to Clotted cream for those British…

Baby Octopus, with Rocket & Cherry Tomatoes

Variety is the spice of life they say, and I´m always looking for something a bit different to feed my friends. I found the answer here….my recipe for Baby Octopus, with Rocket & Cherry Tomatoes. An easy, healthy seafood dish, packed full of flavour; just the kind of meal I love! Since the flesh of octopus is mainly muscle,…

HAPPY NEW YEAR! From Char @ Pescetarian Pleasures

2016 was an interesting year, to say the least! On a personal note it was great, because I finally started Pescetarian Pleasures, which I´ve wanted to do for years. But looking at the bigger picture, it wasn´t quite so fantastic. I´m not going to talk politics here (it´s a food blog!) but we all know there…

Wild Mushroom Tartiflette

As a lover of all things cheese, the Après Ski dishes from The Alps are right up my street. Fondue, Raclette, Tartiflette….all contain loads of melted cheese, so press all the right buttons for me! We were lucky enough that Lore and Sebastian bought us some Reblochon from the source, close to Lake Geneva. So, on…

A DOZEN DO´S AND DON´TS OF LIVING WITH A CHEF

Living with a restauranteur and chef can have it´s high and low moments! There´s something about having a professional pair of eyes, evaluating your every move in the kitchen. Here is Pescetarian Pleasures´ guide to success, if you´re thinking of shacking up with a chef…. Do save every glass jar that you come across, you…

Merry Christmas!

Char from Pescetarian Pleasures wishes you a very Merry Christmas, filled with lots of fun, fab food and many mince pies!

Gravlax

One of the pescetarian highlights of the festive period is Gravlax or smoked salmon. Gravlax is a traditional Nordic dish where fresh salmon is cured using salt, sugar and dill. So, this year Pescetarian Pleasures decided to buy a whole, line caught salmon and cure it ourselves. The important thing is to buy the highest…

Foodie Christmas holiday viewing – Netflix series ´Chef´s Table´

On a cooking programme ´Cooked´, producer and host Michael Pollan said… “This phenomenon of cooking shows has just grown and grown….the less time we invest in cooking ourselves, the more time we spend watching other people cook on television” Well Michael, that´s not quite true in our household! Having recently finished the last episode of Netflix…

Baileys Truffles

Rich, boozy and indulgent…. perfect for the festive period! These truffles are so easy to make, they can easily become a part of your annual Christmas routine. Ingredients: 300ml double cream 50g butter 300g dark chocolate 150ml Baileys 35g desiccated coconut, toasted 250g chocolate sprinkles Method: Gently heat the cream and butter in a pan,…

Cranberry Roasted Shallots, with Capers

Having seen these beautiful shallots on a recent Retreat to Sarnac I bought two bunches and decided to revisit an old favourite recipe, oven roasted shallots! They just looked so appealing, vibrant and shiny, I was sure they would taste great. I couldn´t resist them! Shallots are much sweeter than regular onions. Their flavour is more subtle and…

Raclette

This post was written on a recent Retreat to Sarnac to visit Rayen and Joan. I went to make Raclette, one of the trio of ´Apres ski´dishes that I love and that involves copious amounts of delicious, salty, gooey, lovely melted cheese. Raclette is a semi hard cheese, that is especially good when melted. The name of the dish Raclette…

Festive mince pies

It’s early December and Christmas is officially approaching fast. The best thing about Christmas for me, has to be the mince pies! Well, obviously there’s the tree, decorations, spending time with family, presents etc etc, but let’s face it, the food is the only important thing really. I’m a big fan of Christmas; the ritual…

Fermented Salsa and homemade Corn Chips

You know when a person’s enthusiasm for something is contagious….meet Matthew Calderisi. He’s the ultimate ‘fermentation fanatic’. Having been a restauranteur in Montreal, before coming to Barcelona many years ago, he has always been very interested in food. His years of experience fermenting foods started when his Korean friend Donald’s mum taught him to make Kimchi,…

Baileys and coffee panna cotta – with salted caramel sauce

The home bar needs some movement; we need to clear some room for the new bottles we will no doubt gather over the Christmas period. We are not alcoholics, honest! But as we enjoy having friends over for dinner regularly, with good food, always comes alcohol! We have boxes of our favourite bottles of wine, a case of…

French onion soup

Our kitchen has seen a lot of onion action recently, as I made Char’s Sweet ‘n’ Smokey Chipotle Salsa just a few of days ago. Onion soup has been around for centuries. Dating back to Roman times, it used to be seen a food for the poor, because onions grow in such abundance. It has…

Salted caramel sauce

Oh my goodness, this stuff is to die for! The sweet, salty, sticky, gooey, buttery loveliness….it’s naughty stuff, but it just tastes so damn good! It can be spooned onto desserts, poured over pancakes, added to coffee, drizzled over ice cream, or even just enjoyed on a piece of toast. I made this batch be…

Purple carrots, fennel, ricotta & lime salad

I’ve been chatting to a lot of people recently, who talk about autumn being their favourite season. I do like seeing the colours of the leaves on the trees change as winter approaches, but ultimately I’m a summer baby! I spend most of autumn and winter anxiously waiting the first signs of spring, and therefore summer. It must…

Courgetti with salmon, rocket and spinach pesto

I´ve been really inspired this week, cooking lots and on a bit of a posting frenzy! Once I have got to grips with the admin side of the blog I will send you all a fortnightly roundup, highlighting the latest Pescetarian Pleasures recipes. I don´t want to spam you, so in the mean time if you are getting fed up with…

Ricotta stuffed courgette flowers

If you are lucky enough to have a big garden or allotment, it probably provides you with an abundance of edible flowers. Courgette flowers; what a delight! It always excites me when I see these beautiful, courgette flowers on a menu. The delicate structures are simple, light and take on any flavours you decide to fill them…

Stuffed round courgettes, with sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan

You can stuff these little round courgettes with just about anything, but my favourite combination so far has to be sun-dried tomatoes and parmesan. This healthy recipe does contain a bit of fish, but for a strictly vegetarian dish just omit the anchovies. Sometimes I add red quinoa or a handful of baby spinach leaves, but…

Kale, Halloumi and orange

Kale, kale, kale! This leafy, deep green veg (descendant of the cabbage family) is the real deal! I was a big fan of Kale, long before it was the hipster superfood of choice. Besides it´s health benefits (rich in nutrients and a great source of vitamin A, vitamin C & folic acid ) Kale’s nutty flavour is insanely good….

Cinnamon Pecan Pie

Pecan pie has to be in my top 5 list of favorite deserts (with sticky toffee pudding taking the gold medal position)! Best served warm, with a big scoop of quality vanilla ice cream, it makes a great end to most meals. With still loads of Barb and Dale´s maple syrup to get through, I decided to…

Pumpkin and peanut soup

Ingredients: 1 pumpkin (mine weighed 1.4kgs) 6 garlic cloves 400ml coconut milk 75g salted peanuts 1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed 1 tsp red pepper corns, crushed Hot sauce Salt and pepper Water Peel the garlic cloves and cut them lengthways. In a saucepan, heat a little oil and fry the garlic with the cumin seeds…

Why Pescetarian Pleasures?

I started Pescetarian Pleasures (food blog) a month ago now and I´m already loving it! I´ve been asked a couple of times ¨what´s the point?¨ and more importantly ¨what do I hope to get out of it?¨ Here are the 3 main goals for the blog…. To connect with a community of food lovers all over the world (and in the wonderful…

Red snapper, courgette and coconut gratin with spinach pesto

Whether it´s served on its own as a light lunch, or is bulked up with some carbs, the elements in this dish go so well together. You will love it, because it´s healthy, tasty and super easy to make. To prepare, make the Spinach, walnut and parsley pesto in advance. Follow the HOW TO…clean and scale fish post, if…

Pumpkin, Parsley and Pomegranate salad

This makes a zingy, refreshing vegetarian salad, great at any time of the year. Ingredients: 1⁄2 pumpkin (about 750g), cubed 2 garlic cloves, chopped 1⁄2 red pepper, sliced 100g Feta cheese, crumbled Parsley, small bunch 200g cherry tomatoes, halved 1⁄2 Pomegranate 1⁄2 red onion, finely sliced 25g pumpkin seeds, toasted 25g sunflower seeds, toasted 2tbs Reggae Reggae Hot Sauce…

Spinach, walnut and parsley pesto

Ingredients: 200g Spinach Parsley, small bunch 40g Walnuts 40g Parmesan 4tbsp Olive oil Salt and Pepper Put all of the ingredients into a food processor and blend. Some people like their pesto really smooth, but I prefer to leave a bit of texture. Store in a jar or airtight container and it will last for weeks…

La Castañada

La Castañada is usually celebrated on All Saints Eve, which is the 31st October. The origins of ‘All Saints day’ or ‘All Hallows day’ come from an old festival of the dead. La Castañada is a tradition where people used to go to the cemetery to commemorate those who had passed on. They would eat foods…

Olive and Bean Baked Pumpkin

With La Castañada and Halloween just around the corner, pumpkins are everywhere you look at the moment. Why not try out this vegetarian spicy, baked pumpkin? It´s a real winter warmer! The rich textures and flavors make it a popular dish in our household – it’s pretty easy to prepare, so once you conquer it I’m sure it…

Tangy Lime and Maple Syrup cheesecakes

We met Barb and Dale in Cuba earlier this year. They are from Ontario and we bonded playing Yahtzee on a rainy morning, at a beachside resort. Little did we know, that they would be over to Barcelona to visit us within 6 months, bringing 2 litres of some of the finest maple Syrup that…