Monday, April 14, 2008

A new look and a recipe


I'm not quite satisfied with the new template, yet, but I'll be fine tuning in the coming days. I'm getting there. And don't worry; also my sidebar will be updated.
However, I am leaving you with the recipe of one of my favourite side dishes: Green bean and tomato gratin. It's one of O-X's specialties (this one's for you, ET). I love it so much because it's easy to make, very tasty and accompanies any grilled meat or fish very well.


You will need:
250-300g of fine, green beans (Fresh, or deep frozen*)
1-2 eggs (1 large or 2 small)
Approx. 2 dl half fat cream (or coffee cream, if you’re counting calories)
1-2 tomatoes (depends on the size)
Brie or Camembert
Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F)
  • Eventually clean (the fresh) and cut the green beans into bite sized (2.5 cm /1 inch) pieces
  • Cook in boiling salted water until “al dente” (They should have a bit more bite than if you would serve them right away. They still have to cook a bit)

  • Drain and put in ICE COLD water immediately to stop the cooking and keep the bright green colour, drain again and put in an oven dish.

  • Slice the tomatoes and cover the green beans with a layer of tomato slices. Salt & pepper.

  • Cut the cheese in slices and cover the layer of tomatoes. Slightly salt & pepper.
  • Whisk the egg(s), the cream 1 large egg (or 2 small), approx. 2 dl of half-cream, salt & pepper to taste, and pour the creamy mixture over the vegetable.

  • Place dish in oven for approx. 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

    Serve with grilled chicken, pork chop, steak or fish. No extra sauce needed.

Bon appetit!

*I’ve had very bad experiences with frozen veggies in Canada, so if you can, go for the fresh instead.

PS: Vegetarians can use this recipe as a main dish. Just adapt the ingredients and enjoy with fresh bread.

19 comments:

swenglishexpat said...

Hi CS - New template eh? Same as mine. But I can't figure out how you got your header with the beautiful picture to span the entire page! I have looked at your html and compared it to mine,for about five minutes, but not yet spotted the difference. Do you know the secret? I won't give up, because I managed before to comment out in the code, the borders around my header and posts!

And the food looks good!

The Ferryman said...

That looks tasty. And it might even be easy enough for ME to make.

LOVE the new look. Very crisp and sharp!

Unknown said...

I love the new look and I love the new photo!

The photos are fitting in a lot better already though!

And the receipe, oh man, we will have to have that by the weekend!

Now I'm so lazy I don't want to swim and need to be thinking about doing some things..

I could just dream how good that tasted at your place!

I'll be sure to show P!

Jay said...

Oh, it looks delish!
And your template is cute too.

CanadianSwiss said...

Swenglish: If you go in the blogger main page, click on settings, choose the layout tab/Page Elements. There, you should see the different elements. Click on Edit of the header, upload a pict from your computer and tick the field “shrink to fit”. Voilà!

Fab: Thanks! Still a bit of tweaking to do, though :)

ET: The photo is one of my favourites, but I must say that I was not expecting it to be so powerful.

Let me know how the gratin turned out.

Jay: Thanks :)

christina said...

Wow, I LOVE your new header! So pretty.

That recipe looks great. I don't care that much for frozen vegetables, especially carrots and broccoli, but I have had good results with the thin frozen green beans available here since the quality and availability of fresh ones can be kind of iffy sometimes.

2 dl would be 200 ml, right? We use ml here and that always confuses me.

Anonymous said...

I love your new header,the flowers and colors are so beautyful.Your recipee makes my mouth water,I going to try it this weekend.Moore of your secret recipees ..please.KH

Shammickite said...

Oh you are inspiring me, perhaps I need a new look to the blog too! I'll have to investigate how to do it, as I'm a technopeasant when it comes to such intricacies.
The recipe sound great, I'll try it, and if it turns out OK I'll pass it on to my vegetarian DIL.
Yummy.
And yes, I think it was next door's cat who got poor Mr Bunny. He's in the recyling bucket now.

Shammickite said...

I mean Mr Bunny, not the cat!!

CanadianSwiss said...

Christina: Yes, I know. I also prefer fresh stuff, but I must say that the quality of fine green beans, but also cauliflower and spinach leaves is very good. And yes, 2dl are 200ml.

Anon/Dad: I think you'll really enjoy this recipe. I'm sure we can think of a few more to add on the blog, too. And thanks for the heads-up on the new look :)

Ex-Sham: I got tired of the old look and it was really easy. Just make sure that you copy your old template (in html) before you change (so that you still have all your sidebar links... which I still need to add again). You'll find in the layout tab. If you feel too insecure, open a test site at blogger's and try out there until you're happy with the results.

PS: Not that I'm happy that Mr. Bunny's in the recycling bin (you recycle bunnies?? Never mind...), but I'm glad the cat didn't join him there as well ;)

merlinprincesse said...

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!
Seeeeeemzzzzzzzzz sooooo gooood!!!!

CanadianSwiss said...

MP: It IS! Try it out... ça vaut la peine. :)

Shammickite said...

Ewww, your weather sounds cold and nasty! Sunny here, and I hope it stays that way!!
I was just printing off your recipe (green beans etc) I'm off to a Red Hat Ladies Pot Luck supper tonight so I thought I'd try it!
I'm off to the grocery store now, bye!!

Shammickite said...

Recipe update: I made your recipe for the Red Hat Ladies pot luck dinner, with a couple of additions.... I added a few pre-cooked sliced mushrooms between the beans and the tomatoes, and I sprinkled some grated parmesan on top..... DEEEEEEEEELISSSHHHUS!

CanadianSwiss said...

Ex-Sham: I'm really happy you and the ladies liked it. :D

That's also the fun things about these simple recipes: you can experiment with it by adding/exchanging ingredients. I hope I can put up a nex post this weekend.

Ryan said...

That looks real good.

The Big Finn said...

It sounds pretty good, but I think I'd add some bacon!

Ginnie Hart said...

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE your new look, CS! It was such a nice surprise to see it here from Magnetic Island, off the Queensland shore by Townsville, Australia! :)

CanadianSwiss said...

Theo: Hi! I hope you enjoy cooking it, too.

TBF: Again? You just added bacon to Roxane (above post)!

Ginnie: Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?Or did you just miss blogging so much ;)