The vote was unanimous! Tatiana, Casimir, Siméon and myself ranked this sauce amongst the very best sauces I made in the last little while. And believe me this jury votes everyday so they know an ordinary sauce from a winner!

MY BEST GRILLING TECHNIQUE FOR MEAT OR FISH

In a pan sprinkle dried rosemary generously and add a little less then a tablespoon of sea salt. Heat up to maximum.

When you start to smell the perfume of the rosemary’s add your meat or fish. Wait until it no longer sticks to turn.

If you feel that it gets too hot add a couple tablespoons of water.

Once turned the meat or fish is 80% cooked so be careful not to overcook…

INGREDIENTS for the sauce

• 150 ml (5 ounces) 35% cream
• 150 ml (5 ounces) 10% cream
• 75g (2.5 ounces)  Le Grand’s Sun dried tomato Pesto or Tapenade
• 30g ( 2tbsp) of Dijon’s mustard

PREPARATION

• While your meat/fish is cooking, mix the 35% cream and the Pesto and mustard in a bowl
• Set aside your meat/fish and while the pan is still hot add the 10% cream and stir
• Then add the 35% cream mixture and cook at low heat for 2 to 3 minutes
• Top the meat or fish and serve!

Do you get the blues when fall comes around, when the light changes and the north winds blows the last sunny days in the yonder. I do. This “not too spicy “omelette however, is a modest contribution to ease the transition between seasons. To boost the effect, serve with a glass (or two) of good cab.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
• 100g (3,5 ounces) of mozzarella or cheddar cheese
• 75g (4 tablespoons) of Spicy or Mild Tapenade or Le Grand’s Sundried Tomatoes
• 2 green onions, minced
• 1/3 of zucchini, shredded

PREPARATION

• Sauté the onion and zucchini in a little oil (a minute or 2 @ high heat)
• During that time whisk the eggs and Tapenade and pour over your “sauté”
• As soon as it gets a little firm, add the cheese
• Fold the omelette when the cheese starts to melt
• Flip and serve!

A little recipe for a rainy night… Might come in handy!

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 or 6

• 1 1/2 lb (680g) of frozen shrimps peelled and deveined
• 2 cups of green beans, cut in 2 or 3
• 12 onces (350ml) of pasta of your choice (uncooked)
• 1 cup (250ml) of sour cream or yogurt
• 5 tablespoons (75ml) of  Le Grand’s Spicy Tapenade, or Mild or Sundried Tomaoes Pesto
• 1 bunch of coriander, chiseled
• 4 green onions cut in 3
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed

PREPARATION

• Cook the pasta
• In a big pan, “sauté” the garlic in oil (High heat)
• Ad the frozen shrimps and cook them until they turn to pink (turn down the heat)
• Ad the green beans and cook until they turn dark green (not grey…) 1 or 2 minutes, then ad the Tapenade and the sour cream
• Toss a little then ad green onions and the coriander, let them warm up and serve!

Our kids are picky eaters… Except, when it comes to junk-food, they love it all!  This recipe  almost generated the same enthousiasm amongst them, if I may brag. And remember it’s easy and quick, but it does taste like slow lovin food…

INGREDIENTS for 4

• 1/2 a spanish onion,minced
• 3 peppers, red, orange, and yellow ( or the most colorful ones… )
• 5 or 6 merguez sausages
• 4 tablespoons (60ml) of Spicy or Mild Tapenade
• 1 bunch of fresh coriander, minced

PREPARATION

• Heat up some oil in a pan and “sauté” the onion at medium heat
• Add a little water if it gets too dry
• Add the Merguez sausages and cook for about 10 minutes
• Remove the saussages from the pan cut them in 1 inch size and put them back in the pan (you cant do that when they are not cooked because Merguez are not firm enough)
• Mix a the Tapenade with a cup of water cup and add to the mixture
• Cook for 5 minutes
• Add the coriander, mix and serve!

A tasty Pizza for all occasions!

INGREDIENTS for 1 small pizza

• 1 pizza crust
• Le Grand’s Sundried Tomato Pesto or Tapenade (enough to cover)
• A few thin slices of red or orange pepper
• A few slices of red onion
• 5 to 6 slices of Brie
• Chopped chive or green onion to sprinkle

PREPARATION

• Spread Le Grand’s Sundried Tomato Pesto or Tapenade on the pizza crust
• Add the peppers, onion, Brie, and chives
• Cook untill the crust has hardened and the cheese has melted

• 1 pork filet, about 8 onces (400g)
• 1 apple, minced
• 1 or 2 cups of prunes, cut in half and soaked in hot water for 15 minutes (at least double the volume of the prunes, you will need it to “steam” this recipe)
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed
• 8 onces (200ml) of 35% cream
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) of Dijon’s mustard
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) of Le Grand’s Spicy Tapenade or Mild Tapenade or Sundried Tomato Pesto

PREPARATION

• Soak the prunes for about 15 minutes in hot water
• Cook the pork to about 80% in the oven or BBQ
• In the meanwhile sauté the apples in oil and butter for 5 minutes at high then lower the heat a bit
• Add the garlic and brown lightly
• Add half of the prune juice
• Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes
• Once the pork filet is cooked cut in very thin slices
• Add the pork, mustard, Tapenade and stir gently
• Add the rest of the prune water, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 2 to 5 minutes

I used to be intimidated by mussels because I did not have a good and easy recipe to test. Intimidated no more!
This recipe is very flexible , you can play with it, make it your own. As long as the garlic, the Tapenade and mussels are in the casserole, you can’t go wrong!

INGREDIENTS serves 4

• 2 lbs (1k) of mussels (washed)
• 10 onces (300g) of fresh or frozen shrimps
• 10 onces (300g) of fresh or frozen scallops
• 2 cups of green beans, cut in bite size
• 3 cups of cooked fusili pastas
• 1 cup (250ml) of white wine
• 5 tablespoons (75ml) of Le grand’s Spicy Tapenade or Mild Tapenade or even Sun dried Tomato Pesto
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed

PREPARATION

• Sauté the garlic in oil for a minute and add the Tapenade
• Cook for 2 minutes and add the scallops, the shrimps and the white wine
• Cook for 5 minutes at low heat (or more if frozen) and add the mussels and add water to cover
• Cook for about 5 minutes then add the cooked pasta and the greenbeans which should take another 5 minutes to cook.
• Remove from heat and serve!

Salmon should be served twice a week in order for us humans to benefit from it’s rich omegas. Math is not my forte, but that’s around a hundred times a year… Life is always changing, salmon should tag along.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 piece of salmon around 300g (12 on)
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) of Le Grand’s Spicy Tapenade
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) of Le Grand’s Lemon Confit Sauce or lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons (45ml) or more of yogourt or sour cream
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) of fresh and minced coriander

PREPARATION

• In a large pan boil 1/2 inch of water
• Place the fish, skin down, and cover. Cook for 5 minutes
• Add the Tapenade, Lemon and cream
• Break the fish delicatly to cook evenly and mix the flavors
• Cook to your liking, not more than 5 minutes for me…
• Add the coriander and mix, again gently, you are not serving purée…

Tomorrow is lent… well not for everyone, but for everyone to enjoy is this shrimp casserole. Easy to make and quick, (my trademark!) it is nevertheless delicious and light.

Tapenade and sour cream are a pefect blend, spicy, but onctuous. Tatiana doesn’t  like shrimp… well exept for this new recipe!

INGREDIENTS serves 3 to 4

• 3 cups of shrimps, frozen or fresh
• 1 green pepper minced
• 1 red pepper  minced
• 1 orange or yellow pepper minced
• 1 cup of green beans (raw) cut in bite sizes
• 6 tablespoons of sour cream
• 5 tablespoons of Le Grand’s Spicy Tapenade
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 green onions, minced
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil

PREPERATION

• Heat up the olive oil at medium heat and add the garlic and the peppers, cook for 10 minutes mixing often, make sure the heat is not too high
• Add the shrimps, if they are frozen just add them as is, if they are fresh you may want to add a little water, maybe 1/2 a cup to make sure that at this point you will “steam” this mixture rather then browning it, so cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes
• Add the green beans 2 or 3 minutes after the shrimps, I like these vegetables to still be green and a bit crunchy, but cook them to your liking. Keep in mind that they do cook quickly
• Add the  Spicy Tapenade, the green onions and the sour cream, mix gently for a minute or 2, serve over rice and put some cajun music on!

Guacamole is a delicious dipp, but with the Spicy Tapenade contribution kick, flavor and body are now in the mix, for a different and exciting guacamole!