Home-made Chicken stock

Chicken stock

(Yields around 5 cups)

You will need:

• 1-2 lbs chicken carcass
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into half
• 1 rib celery, cut into half
• 1 small leek, white part only, cut in 1/2 lengthwise
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (2 brins)
• 4 sprigs fresh parsley with stems
• 2 bay leaves (optional)
• 1/2 Clove garlic, peeled.
• 1 litre cold water

Steps:

• Place all ingredients in a stockpot.
• Cook on high heat until you begin to see bubbles break through the surface of the liquid.
• Turn heat down to medium low so that stock maintains low, gentle simmer.
• Skim the scum from the stock with a spoon from time to time.
• Simmer uncovered for around 2 hours or more if possible (no longer than 6 hours though). The vegetables and chicken should be submerged at all times. Add hot water if necessary.
• Strain stock and discard all the ingredients.

The stock can be stored for up to 3 months in the freezer. You can use it as a base for soups and sauces. It can even be used as an alternative for water when cooking rice for a different, smokier flavor.

Bouillon Crabe recipe

The recipe is super simple.

Bouillon crabe

For 2-4 people (depending on your hangover!)

You will need:

• 4 crabs (I used King crabs)
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 Tsp oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 Tbsp chopped thyme
• Green chilies, finely chopped (according to taste)
• 1 Tsp Ginger and Garlic paste
• 2 Cups Chicken stock
• 1 Cup water
• Salt and Pepper
• A bunch of fresh Coriander, chopped (Cilantro)

Steps:

• Clean up the crabs and separate into pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil in a big pot and make a rougaille – Put in the onions, chopped thyme,ginger and garlic paste and chilies. Mix well then add the tomatoes and season with salt.
• Simmer for 5-10 minutes then add half of the chopped coriander, the water and the chicken stock.
• Bring to a boil then dump the crab pieces into the bouillon and let it cook for 5 mins. Check the seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Cover and boil for 10 more minutes.
• The crabs are cooked when they get a reddish orange hue. Take off the heat.
• Garnish with coriander and the bouillon is ready à être déguster.

A couple of quick tips about this recipe:

First, the crabs cook quicker than you would think so monitor them as soon as they turn red else the crab meat will be overcooked and will float. Since the “meat” is pretty sparse in the crab, you would not want that.

Secondly, this soup can be made rather quickly. The ingredients are very basic but the key to a successful bouillon is a good chicken stock. If you can’t get it ready-made, you can make some of your own. See recipe in the next post. And the best thing about it is that you can always re-use the stock to make other goodies such as bouillon boulettes or a “Mauritian” risotto.

A little bit of sunshine

We drove to Belle-Mare beach yesterday. The weather was glorious, inspite of the impending cyclone on Rodrigues. The beach was really quiet, too quiet for a sunny sunday afternoon..We just had time to take in the magnificent scenery...and a few drinks..and there were already a few more cars coming in..In any case, we went into the warm blue lagoon...exquisite..I had forgotten how relaxing that was..There were some nice quirky waves who teased us as we showed off our best swimming moves!lol..The weather darkened and we were sprinkled with a light shower...It was enough to make most of the others head back..It just lasted about five minutes..and the sun was back again...We stayed through..breathing in the fresh air and crunching on nice pineapple chunks with tamarind sauce and ground red chillies..yummy!!!It was a great afternoon...For all of you guys out there, here's a little bit of sun, sea and sand to warm you in the cold and to comfort your nostalgic souls.

Bouillon Crab / Crab soup

Okay, so a couple of days back, I posted this beautiful picture of the yummy typical Mauritian crab soup that I made and received tons of comments about it. I know there are a lot of you guys out there who are far from home and who would love to just get a taste of a good “bouillon crabe.” So, I will be sharing the secret of my delicious “bouillon crabe” fait maison with you soon. I hope you will appreciate it.

A bientot!

Salad Ourite / Mauritian Octopus Salad

Salade Ourite / Mauritian Octopus Salad

For 4-6 people (Appetizer portions)

You will need:

• 3 baby octopuses (approx. 2 lbs each)
• Juice from 1/2 lemon and the zest
• 2 Tsp olive oil
• 1 medium tomato, cut into thin wedges
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 Green chilies, finely chopped
• Salt and Pepper
• Fresh Coriander for garnish

Steps:

• Rinse octopus in cold water, drain completely and place in a large pot.
• Add 1 Tsp of salt and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for about 25-30 mins until the octopus become pinkish in color and slightly tender.
• Remove from the heat and set aside. Cut the flesh, along with the head, into bite-size chunks.
• Place them in a large salad bowl. Toss in the sliced onion, olive oil, tomato wedges, and chopped green chilies.
• Season the salad with salt and pepper and finally add in the finely chopped lemon zest and the lemon juice.
• Mix well and leave to rest for at least half an hour before serving.
• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Bon appetit!!

In Mauritius, Octopus is a seasonal find so sometimes you get a lot of them on the market and at other times less. This recipe is mostly generic. You can adjust the ingredients listed to your quantity of octopus. The most important thing is to boil it and season it properly so that it can be stripped of any unpleasant odor. The rest is to make the salad, have a drink and enjoy!!