Steak with green peas Dijonnaise

Show me a pretty jar with a good story behind it, and I cannot resist it. Recently a newsletter from Maille popped into my Inbox announcing a new spring Collection of mustard as inspired by the court of King Louis XIV.
"The new Collection revives fine cuisine of the past and revisits the French Royal Court's favourite ingredients to produce three new creations that are both audacious and distinguished, and that share a single goal - to draw inspiration and explore flavours from the French royal kitchen garden". While the style of writing is undoubtedly pompous, it indeed piqued my interest. For some odd reason the box of three mustards "Le Potager du Roy" was considerably higher than if you buy three mustards separately (£25 or 3x£5.95), usually it's the other way around, when it's cheaper to buy a set rather than separate products. I have chosen 2 mustards from Le Potager du Roy collection as well as one of their older creations.
Each mustard in this new collection is "made with two selected key ingredients and is inspired by the epicurean splendour of the French royal tables.

Maille Mustard with white wine, green peas and chive blossoms looks very pretty. Apparently tender spring peas were loved by Louis XIV and were made fashionable by the famous Madame de Maintenon. I am not Madame Maintenon, but I also think the green peas and chive blossoms are beautiful.

Well, what was good for Louis XIV and his second wife, could only trigger a wave of curiosity. I had to buy that little jar of mustard, even at the rather Royal price of £5.95 for a tiny pot.

Photo Credit: Gwenaël Piaser via Compfightcc

"Infused with the scent of Spring, green peas bring all their freshness to this mustard, combining playfully with the aromatic, lively flavour of chive flowers. This delicate creation recalls the first warm days of the year, and would make an excellent accompaniment to grilled meats".
It promises to be green, leafy and intense.

What did I think of it? It was quite unusual, fresh, green and a bit like mushy peas with a mild aftertaste of chives. I would say it is more subtle than intense. If you love mild mustards, then this might be a right choice for you. If you're used to eye-watering intensity of the English mustard which takes your breath away, you might find it lacking in bite.

I fancied trying it as an ingredient of Dijonnaise for the steak.

Green Peas Dijonnaise for the steak (for 2)
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
1tbsp Maille Green Peas mustard
1tsp white wine vinegar
50g clarified butter (or melted standard butter)
Melt the butter in a small pan and set aside. Separate the egg yolk from the white. Place the yolk i a small heatproof bowl or dish, add the mustard and vinegar and mix well. Pour a bit of hot water in a small pan, heat until simmering. Place the bowl with yolk mixture over the pan (make sure it doesn't touch the water). Start whisking until the sauce thickens. Take off the heat, pour the melted butter and keep whisking. This will be the sauce for the steaks.
It won't be as smooth as the classic Dijonnaise because the mustard itself is rather lumpy. It taste lovely though, very seasonal and fresh, a beautiful little sauce.

Cook the steak in a frying pan or griddle, brushed with the olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Fry for 3-4 minutes on each side if you like it medium rare or longer if you prefer them well done.
Serve with roast butternut squash (drizzled with the olive oil and sprinkled with cinnamon).

Add some chive blossom (optional). It looks pretty and tastes lovely.

Honey and balsamic vinegar glazed rack of lamb

I sincerely believed we would spend our Easter Sunday in Italy, at my in-laws' house, and Monday was marked as a day of departure in my diary. However, my absent-minded professor got it all wrong and bought the return tickets for Sunday. So, instead of having an Easter lunch with my in-laws we had to be content with an overpriced EasyJet fodder. While Eddie was happy to munch through the kiddie lunch box with Dairylea dunkers and Hula Hoops, I had a horrible hot sandwich, microwaved to death and impossible to peel off from the cardboard it came in. At least they had Twinings tea, though at £2.50 a cup it is a total racket, of course.
Once we arrived home, all the shops were closed, it being an Easter Sunday, and we didn't even have a bottle of milk (I should have gotten a long life carton but I thought we were arriving on Monday, when I would have been able to grab some milk and bread in the corner shop).
We had our "Easter" dinner a few days later, with a rack of lamb, roast potatoes and wild mushrooms.

Honey and balsamic vinegar glazed rack of lamb
Ingredients:
rack of lamb (575g)
2tbsp olive oil + more
2tbsp honey
2tbsp Maille honey and balsamic vinegar mustard
2tbsp Maille balsamic vinegar
sea salt, dried mixed herbs
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
about 500g potatoes
1 big garlic, sliced in two
100g wild mushrooms
1tbsp butter
1tsp lemon juice
mixed herbs


2Whisk together olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar and mustard and dried mixed herbs. Sprinkle the rack of lamb with the sea salt, and pour over the marinade. Rub it well over the lamb, and let it sit in the marinade for a couple of hours.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the rack of lamb on a tray, sprinkle it with fresh rosemary. Half way through cooking turn the lamb over, and baste with the marinade.

Cook the way you like it, rare or well done. Personally I don't like pink meat, I find it really off-putting. Just before Easter I was invited to a posh dinner at Oxford. The food presentation was impeccable, a shame the duck was so pink, it was quacking. Everyone around me seemed to enjoy it, though my husband told me afterwards that the duck was awful. Anyway, back to our muttons, or lamb.
Once cooked, cut the lamb between the bones and serve as lamb chops.

Serve with the roast potatoes and garlic as well as the quince jelly. Cut the garlic head in half, sprinkle with the olive oil and salt, and cook with the parboiled potatoes.

Wild mushrooms need just a quick fry in the olive oil, with a tablespoon of Maille.

In this recipe I used a couple of Maille products, which I have talked about in a post Venison stew with juniper berries and Maille mustard. Maille Aged Balsamic vinegar is an excellent product, very flavourful and deep, with the caramel undertones. It is great in salad dressings, or as an ingredient in cooking.
The second Maille product which I used for the marinade was a Maille Mustard with Honey and Balsamic Vinegar. It has just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, and as such it perfect for marinades.
This is my 2nd entry to Maille culinary challenge (just in case you missed my first post, the foodie bloggers were invited to pick two Maille products and then create recipes, using these products).

Polpette di tonno (tuna meatballs) for Inspector Montalbano

"Meatballs!" the professor exclaimed, indignant. "Meatballs are for dogs!"
The inspector kept his cool. The aroma floating up from the dish and into his nose was rich and dense... Pintacuda chewed slowly, eyes half closed, and emitted a sort of moan.
"If one ate something like this at death's door, he'd be happy even to go to hell", he said softly.
The inspector put half a meatball in his mouth, and with his tongue and palate began a scientific analysis that would have put Jacomuzzi to shame. so: fish and, no question, onion, hot pepper, whisked eggs, salt, pepper, breadcrumbs. But two other flavours, hiding under the taste of the butter used in the frying, hadn't yet answered the call. At the second mouthful, he recognised what had escaped him in the first: cumin and coriander (Andrea Camilleri, The Snack Thief)

I love Inspector Montalbano books and movies (Luca Zingaretti is totally sex on legs). One of the major attractions of the series is the description and references to numerous local dishes. I fancied cooking some tuna meatballs after reading The Snack Thief, and looked online for inspiration.
I liked the sound of Jamie Oliver's polpette di tonno, and used it as a base but have changed the quantities, added some new ingredients and changed the way of cooking the meatballs, as I baked them rather than fried.

Polpette di Tonno/Tuna Meatballs
Ingredients:
For the sauce (that's a double amount):
2tbsp olive oil
2 banana shallots, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic (I used smoked garlic), finely chopped
sea salt
3tbsp balsamic vinegar (for example, Maille)
2 tins of tinned tomatoes (mix of chopped and plum tomatoes tins)
1/2tsp sugar
1tsp dried oregano
2tbsp chopped coriander

For the tuna meatballs:
2tbsp olive oil+ more for baking
2 tuna steaks (about 330g)
40g pine nuts
1tbsp chopped coriander
1/2tsp cumin
1tsp dried oregano
2 medium eggs
4 slices of bread (white+multi-seeded)
spaghetti
chopped flat leaf parsley

Finely chop the shallots and garlic and fry them in the olive oil for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised. Season with sea salt and sugar. Open the tins of tomatoes and add to the pan with the onion mix. Add the vinegar, herbs, both dried and fresh, bring to the boil, then simmer on low for half an hour. Set aside, once cooler, blend it until smoother consistency.

For the tuna meatballs, slice the steaks into strips of 2cm thickness, and pan fry with the olive oil and pine nuts for about 5 minutes. Let it cool slightly before dividing in half. Whizz half of the tuna and nuts mix with the eggs and herbs, using a blender, until you get a smooth paste. Break the other half of tuna strips with a fork, add to the paste, and mix well with a fork (don't use the blender anymore). Toast four slices of bread for a couple of minutes, then cube the toasted bread into big size crumbs and add to the fish mix. Mix together.
Make the polpette, rolling the fish mix with your hands. To make it easier, place a small bowl of cold water next to the bowl with the tuna mix, and dip your hands in the water in between making the meatballs.
Take a ceramic tray or big dish, and add a bit of olive oil. Place the meatballs on the tray and bake in the oven preheated to 180C for about 20 minutes or more until golden brown.

In the meantime, cook spaghetti in the boiling salted water until they're al dente. Add half of the tomato sauce to the pasta and serve with the tuna meatballs and some fresh chopped parsley.
Keep the other half of the sauce in a container with a lid in the fridge for a couple of days, or freeze.

This is not a budget recipe, as fresh tuna could be quite pricey, but it is delicious and flavourful. Hope Inspector Montalbano would have enjoyed it.

This is my second recipe for #ReadCookEat challenge which both Chris from Cooking Round the World and I host this month.

Venison stew with juniper berries and Maille mustard (Maille culinary challenge)

I do love a good mustard, and have a selection of different mustards at home. I enjoy a generous spread of mustard in sandwiches, I add them to stews and sauces, and even chips. Dijon and honey mustards are among my top choices, and a jar doesn't last long in our house. I was thrilled to be invited to take part in Maille Cooking challenge, as Maille is one of my favourite brands.
Foodie bloggers were asked to create recipes which incorporate Maille products:
"Bring on the Maille flavour and demonstrate your cooking ability by participating in our “Maille Culinary Challenge”. In the months of March & April we are inviting you to share your inspired recipes and ideas for incorporating Maille products into your repertoire".
Each blogger had a chance to choose two products from the list, and believe me, it was a difficult choice, as there were lots of tempting choices.
And when I visit their online shop, I feel like buying the whole lot. Just seen their new Limited edition Spring-Summer collection, and it is absolutely gorgeous (Doesn't Morello cherry & almond
mustard sound divine?!).
So far I have been avoiding to read what the other bloggers have chosen, as I don't want to be influenced by anyone's recipe or selection. I picked two grand products: Maille Aged Balsamic Vinegar and Mustard with Honey and Aged Balsamic Vinegar.
My entry for the challenge is Venison with Juniper Berries & Maille Mustard

Venison stew with juniper berries and Maille mustard
Ingredients:
500g venison, cubed
1 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1tsp juniper berries
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (I used Maille)
3 tbsp Maille balsamic vinegar & honey mustard
400ml red wine
1 small onion
12 dried apricots
2 blood oranges
a bunch of fresh mint

Start with dusting the venison with the plain flour. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a big frying pan, add the venison and brown the meat on all sides. It will take about 5 minutes. Put the meat in a deep casserole/Pyrex dish. Add the juniper berries (some whole, some crushed) as well as the balsamic vinegar, mustard and red wine. Slice the onion finely and give it a quick fry in the oil with juices left from the venison, once it has turned golden brown, add the onion to the meat. Place the dried apricots and sliced blood oranges (both zest and slices). Add a half of chopped mint. Pour water on top to cover the meat. Put the lid on the dish. Cook in the oven preheated to 180C for an hour and a half to two hours.
Chop the remaining mint and add at the last minute, stirring through the sauce.
I served the venison with homemade chips, but it would go nicely with the mashed potatoes as well.

For the challenge I picked two Maille products, the first one was an Aged Balsamic Vinegar
Oak-aged balsamic vinegar with notes of caramel is a versatile product, which enhances both sweet and savoury dishes. I always get a bottle of an aged balsamic vinegar whenever we go to Italy, and I was surprised to discover that Maille has its own branded balsamic vinegar. I associated Maille with a variety of mustards, but their expertise of vinegar-making goes over 265 years back.
It is a tasty vinegar, which makes even a humble salad sing.
Or serve it drizzled in the olive oil with bread to dip in, simple and delicious.

The second product was a Mustard with Honey and Aceto Balsamico di Modena. It is quite runny, like a thick yogurt, dark-coloured, fruity and fragrant. Perfect for salads, or adding to meat dishes.

The sauce is enriched by the flavours of the balsamic vinegar and mustard, and the juniper berries and apricots give it a sweet note. It is a delicious stew.
I used the last of the blood oranges from my Abel and Cole box. Now we'll have to wait until the new season. They are so much more exciting than the standard oranges.

The dried apricots absorb the meat juices and wine, while the meat acquires the flavours of all the ingredients in the dish.

And if you like it even fruitier, scatter some pomegranate seeds over the meat.

Disclosure: I received two Maille products for the purposes of taking part in the culinary challenge. All opinions and recipe are mine.