Doc V's Healthy Kitchen

I’m a passionate cook, but my preferred recipes are simple, healthy, colorful and no waste. Now and again, I try something more ‘fancy’. Delicious.nl dedicated an article on Kobe Desramaults’new pop-up restaurant in Sicily. I was immediately inspired by the recipes.

As starter, a combination of calamari, stracciatella ( the inner part of burrata), pistachio and a delicate thyme-garlic perfumed olive oil. Start by cleaning 2 calamari. Put them in the freezer for an overnight ( or longer). Put 100 ml of olive oil in a pan. Add a few stems of thyme, the zeste of an untreated lemon, 2 peeled garlic cloves and a pinch of salt. Heat the oil until boiling. Cool down. Remove the zeste and thyme before serving. Defrost the calamari, dry and slice in thin stripes. Put the calamari in a colander. Heat water until almost boiling. Pour the water on the calamari. Drain. Season with, fresh thyme leaves, pepper and salt. Spread 2 table spoons of stracciatella and half portion of calamari on each plate. Finish with 1 table spoon of roughly ground pistachio and a drizzle of the delicate olive oil.

The following dish is a beautiful fish, we have turbot filet, with ovenroasted celeriac ( I wouldn’t survive without vegetables 🙃)and green lentils. Heat 1 liter of home made fish stock. Allow to cook until you obtain approximately 100 ml of concentrated liquid. Cool down. Put 100 mg of lentils in a small pan. Add 150 ml of dry marsala and 300 ml of water. Allow to simmer until the lentils are al dente. Cool down. Chop the celeriac in small cubes. Season with 4 chopped garlic cloves, 2 table spoon of dried thyme, pepper, salt and olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet on an oven tray. Bake for 30-40minutes. Stir halfway.

Mix the concentrated stock with 3 table spoons of the marsala boiling liquid, 3 table spoons of olive oil thoroughly. Add 2 table spoons of finely chopped fresh parsley and the zeste of untreated lemon. Taste, add pepper and salt if needed. Finish with lemon juice. Dry the fish filet. Heat a baking pan covered with oiled baking paper. Bake the fish for a few minutes at both sides ( my friend fishmonger removed the skin of the fish by mistake, so be careful). Reheat the lentils in the remaining liquid. Drain and mix with the sauce. Spread the celeriac cubes on a nice plate. Continue with the lentils, the fish and finish with the sauce.

Thanks Kobe Desramault for those inspiring recipes.

PS One of my followers asked me why I put the fresh calamari first in the freezer. The freezing process softens the calamari meet. This is a mandatory rule for the bigger squid, as polpo.