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Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Wednesday, July 11, 2001
Breezy summer fare
Local chef demonstrates easy, warm-weather menus of cold soups and salads
By Leanne Libby
Caller-Times
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| David Adame/Caller-Times |
| Mexican Gazpacho soup is one of chef Christian Chavanne’s original recipes. Chavanne uses bottled water and tortillas as its base. |
Summer cooking doesn't have to mean sweating over the stove, oven or grill. Cold soups and salads offer healthy, low-fuss alternatives to meat and potatoes fare. Basically, if you have a blender and a good knife, you've got it made in the shade.
Christian Chavanne, owner of Christian's House Bistro in Heritage Park, recently stepped over to the park's Galvan House to demonstrate three salad recipes and two soups that will help diners fill up and cool down in a hurry.
Chavanne, a native of France, recommended the Chilled Fruit Soup as an ideal appetizer.
"I'm a chef, not a nutritionist," he said, "but I know having fruit before a meal raises your blood sugar a little bit, which will cause you to want to eat a little less."
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| David Adame/Caller-Times |
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Chef Chavanne samples the spiced soba noodle salad during a cooking demonstration at the Galvan House. |
After Chavanne blended one honeydew-based mixture and one dominated by peaches and cantaloupe, his wife Fredna demonstrated how to simultaneously ladle each flavor into a bowl so that half of the bowl would be an explosion of orange and half would be a deep purple.
"If you have leftovers, you can add ice and a little sugar to make a smoothie," Chavanne said. "Add a banana to make it creamy."
Spicy soup
The Mexican Gazpacho, one of Chavanne's original recipes, was an opportunity for Chavanne to emphasize the importance of authentic flavors.
"The Spanish and French use a lot of fresh herbs," he said. "Real gazpacho has water and tortillas as its base, not V-8 or tomato juice."
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| David Adame/Caller-Times |
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Japanese marinated shrimp and cucumber salad improves with time as marinating allows the flavors to emerge.
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Good gazpacho, he added, also uses lots of crunchy vegetables. Cooks who don't want to spend a lot of time dicing can pulse the vegetables in the food processor in small bunches.
His recipe calls for bottled water, he said, because water is a central ingredient and you want the best taste possible.
"Filtered water is fine too, but really, it's so important and not much expense," he said.
Chavanne suggested wowing guests by garnishing the simple soup with a few shrimp or cod fingers.
"You know, there are a lot of people, who, if there isn't flesh in it, they won't eat it," he teased.
Eastern flair
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David Adame/Caller-Times
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Spiced soba noodle salad is a variation of the Italian pasta salad.
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Two Japanese salads are longtime favorites of Chavanne's, going back to his days as a chef in California.
The Spiced Soba Noodle Salad is something of a variation on the traditional Italian pasta salad. There are several varieties of soba noodles; Chavanne said the one closest to linguine has the best consistency for this salad. The buckwheat flavor, he added, gives the salad a "nice, nutty" flavor.
The keys to this salad are taking care not to overcook the pasta and to julienne the vegetables, which will complement the consistency of the noodles.
All of these recipes, Chavanne noted, can be prepared an hour or so before serving, making them perfect party menu items.
The Japanese Marinated Shrimp and Cucumber Salad, in fact, improves with time, as marinating allows the flavors to emerge.
A French staple
Chavanne could not leave out Salad Nicoise, or "Salad Nice," which originated in the French Riviera. While it can be eaten as a salad, Chavanne highly recommended it as a sandwich.
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David Adame/Caller-Times
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Chilled fruit soup is a combination of peaches, honeydew and cantaloupe.
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"This is the hamburger of the French Riviera," he said. "Use a bread like a good sourdough, fill it with the salad, wrap the sandwich tightly in plastic and chill for 30 minutes. The dressing will soften the bread and it's a great meal to have at the beach."
The preparation is straight-forward, but cooks should keep an eye on which vegetables they choose so the salad is as colorful as possible. And please, he begged, spring for decent olives.
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David Adame/Caller-Times
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Chef Christian Chavanne tosses some soba noodles during a food demonstration at the Galvan House.
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"Don't eat those canned black olives that taste like nothing," he said. "They're good for finger puppets, but for this, buy good olives."
Salad Nicoise
4 Roma tomatoes, quartered
1 red pepper, seeded and sliced
1 green pepper, seeded and sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced
¼ small red onion sliced thin and soaked in cold water for 4-5 minutes
12 red radishes, thinly sliced
2 hard-boiled eggs, quartered or sliced
1 6-ounce can chunk white tuna
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
20 basil leaves chiffonade (stacked in groups of 4 or 5, rolled up and chopped)
1 tablespoon capers
20 kalamata or nicoise olives, pitted
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Optional:
4 or 5 anchovy fillets in oil
boiled and sliced potato
12 blanched green beans
Arrange all vegetables and egg in a pleasing display and sprinkle with tuna, herbs, olives and capers. Drizzle oil and vinegar over entire dish and sprinkle with salt, pepper and sesame seeds. Toss and serve.
Spiced soba noodle salad
½ lb. soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles)
½ lb. julienne or coarsely-grated diakon radish or red radish
1 medium carrot, julienne or coarsely chopped
½ lb. julienne peeled cucumber
¼ head julienne red cabbage
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger or ¼ teaspoon dried ginger
4 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/3 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Bring three quarts of water to boil in large pot or saucepan. Add one teaspoon salt. Add noodles and cook for 2 ½ to 3 minutes. Drain and toss with oil to keep from sticking. Toss in rest of ingredients. Top with sesame seeds and serve.
Serves 4.
Japanese marinated shrimp and cucumber salad
¾ lb. medium shrimp, boiled, peeled and deveined
¾ lb. cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
¼ red onion, sliced paper-thin
5 or 6 radishes, sliced paper-thin
1/3 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dried wakame or hijiki seaweed, soaked for 2-3 minutes in cold water
Cut shrimp in half lengthwise in a bowl and toss in the remaining ingredients except the sesame seeds. Chill salad for 1 hour to marinate. Serve in small bowl and garnish with greens of your choice.
Serves 4.
Chilled fruit soup
1 ripe honeydew, peeled, seeded and cubed
1 lb. pitted cherries
2 cups ice water
4 tablespoons sugar
juice of 6 limes
1 lb. peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 ripe cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cubed
In blender, puree honeydew melon, cherries, 1 cup ice water, 2 tablespoons sugar and juice of 3 limes together. Chill for 1 hour. Blend peaches, cantaloupe, sugar, remaining lime juice and remaining ice water. Chill for 1 hour. Simultaneously pour or ladle each mixture into chilled serving bowls so that each one side of bowl contains honeydew mixture and the other side contains peach mixture. Garnish with sprig of fresh mint or drizzle plain yogurt through a squirt bottle.
Serves 4-6.
Mexican gazpacho
4 cups bottled water
2 corn tortillas, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
salt to taste
1 serrano or jalapeno, seeded and diced
pinch of oregano
juice of 2 limes
1 lb. red ripe tomatoes, diced
2 cucumbers, peeled
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 small jimaca, peeled
1 chayote squash, peeled and diced
½ bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
½ red onion, minced
2 green onions, minced
Pour 2 cups water, tortilla, garlic, oil, vinegar, salt, jalapeno, oregano and lime juice into blender. Blend thoroughly, add half of tomatoes and puree. Dice cucumber, red bell pepper, green pepper and jicama. Pour contents into bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Chill and let stand for ½ hour to let flavors blend. Serve in small bowls.
Serves 4.
Contact Leanne Libby at 886-3615 or libbyl@caller.com
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