4 From "Nature" by Chef Alain Ducasse 🌞

[justaprogressive]

Last edited Sat Dec 13, 2025, 04:46 PM - Edit history (2)

Tomato salad with Romesco sauce

Serves 4

Prepore the Romesco sauce .
Turn on the oven grill Cut 1 smali red pepper in half, remove the seeds and place on a baking tray, skin side up. Peel half a small white onion, slice finely and slip it under the pepper. Cut 1 tomato in half, squeeze to remove the seeds and add it. Then add 4 pink garlic cloves and 1 slice of stale bread and put the tray under the grill .

Remove the bread as soon as it is toasted, but grill the onion pepper, garlic and tomato for 20 minutes

In the meantime, heat a dry frying pan, add a heaped tablespoon of almonds, a heaped tablespoon of pine nuts and a heaped tablespoon of hazelnuts. Brown them, then drain them on kitchen towel. Then crush them

Take the tray out of the oven and remove the skin of the garlic cloves and the tomatoes, but leave the pepper skins o . Combine the bread, grilled vegetables and toasted nuts in the bow! of your food processor, add 2 pinches of Piment d’Espelette and 3 tablespoons of sherry vinegar. Blend until you have an even purée, then add 5 or 6 tablespoons of olive oil too thick, thin it with o little water .

Adjust the seasoning and put it somewhere cold

Prepare the tomato salad .

Wash 6 to 8 ripe tomatoes of different varieties and colours, cu out ony hard stalk bases and quarter but do not deseed them. Pu If the sauce is them in o salad bowl

Cut 5 to 6 gherkins into pieces at an angle, drain 1 heaped tablespoon of capers and 5 to 6 pickled onions. Take the leaves off 2 sprigs of basil, and rinse and dry a small handful of wild rocket.

Pour the Romesco sauce over the tomatoes and stir gently Arrange these seasoned tomatoes in a large serving dish then add the gherkins, copers, onions, basil, rocket and perhaps o few garlic or chive flowers, Serve nice and cold.

AD— Vary the tomatoes (green,
yellow, black, pineapple, beef heart
etc] according to what you can find
in the market. Romeoco sauce is
suitable for making in advance.

PN— Carotenoids and vitamin C
in the tomatoge, flavanoide in the
pepper and chilli, vitamin E in the
almonds, pine nuts and hazelnuts,
this is a real potpourri of protective
antioxidants.

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Poached Young Leeks with Gribiche Sauce

Serves 4 .

Prepare a bowl of gribiche sauce without grating the hard-boiled eggs over, and keep cool Put salted water to boil in a saucepan. Also prepare a large bowl with water and ice cubes Trim the rootlets at the base of 12 sioll “pencil” leeks and slit their green part lengthwise with 2 or 3 knife cuts . Wash in the sink filled with water holding them by the base and shaking them to remove all traces of earth. Then tie them into 3 bundles with cooking string and immerse them in boiling water for 12 minutes.

Check when they are done with the tip of a knife they should be fairly soft

Take them out of the soucepan with a slotted spoon and plunge
them in the iced water for just 30 seconds to help keep their colour
without cooling them too much

Drain them, squeeze gently, then arrange in the serving dish and
season immediately with salt and freshly ground black pepper
Spread the Gribiche sauce over Then grate the hard-boiled eggs on
top and serve immediately.

AD— It's perfectly possible to
adapt this recipe to other vegetables.
such as French beans, asparagus and
even fresh carrots with the tope on or
baby turnips, why not? Always choose
the freshest possible vegetables
and don't overcook them

PN— Rich in fibre, mineral
salts, carotenoids and other
antioxidants, vitamin B9 and vitamin C
(especially in the green part}, the leek
{already praised by Hippocrates}
is a vegetable much lauded
by nutritionists for its
health-giving properties

Gribiche Sauce

Hard boil 2 eggs (10 minutes). Cool them and remove the shells.

Rinse, pat dry and chop the leaves from a small bunch of flat-leaf
parsley, a small bunch of tarragon and a small bunch of chervil.

Chop 1 tablespoon of capers and cut 5 gherkins into very fine rounds.

Strain 2 fat-free yogurts (125 g (4 1/2oz )each) through a very fine sieve the yogurt into a large bowl. »

Mix in half a tablespoon of mustard, 3 tablespoons of
wine vinegar, the chopped herbs, the chopped capers,
the slices of gherkin and well with grilled meat or 4
tablespoons of olive oil, stirring well.

Place a cheese grater over the bowl and grate the hard-
boiled eggs into the mixture. Stir in gently. Season to
taste and store in a cold place.


AD— Taste this sauce before you
season with salt and pepper.
There is no point in making it too salty.

PN— The herbs are an excellent source of vitamins and mineral .
salts of all kinds, and the yogurt provides calcium and protein
This sauce goes particularly well with grilled meat and steamed
vegetables.


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Endives With Ham

Serves 4

Wash 10 endives and cut in half lengthwise. Take out the heart,
which is the bitter part, but avoid detaching the leaves

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan and add the half
endives, side by side Add 2 garlic cloves crushed. Add salt and
sprinkle with a pinch of caster sugar flat side down Cover and
cook gently for 15 minutes

Turn the endives over, pour in half a glass (100 ml)(4oz)of water
scrape well with a spatula to deglaze the cooking juices and
baste the endives with the liquid from time to time Cook for a
further 5 minutes, basting

While the endives are cooking, crush a handful of shelled walnuts
Take out the 4 least attractive half endives and the garlic
cloves Blend them, adding a glass (200 ml)(8oz) of semi- skimmed milk
and 1 tablespoon of grated emmental {3 tablespoons required in
total for this recipe} until you have a nice thick sauce

Correct the seasoning, adding salt to taste and plenty of freshly
ground black pepper Light the grill Cut 4 slices of braised ham
in half. Roll a half-endive in each half of ham and place them in
a gratin dish. Pour the endive sauce on top, sprinkle with
crushed walnuts and 2 tablespoons of grated Emmental . Put under
the grill to brown. Serve immediately, nice and hot.

AD— Endives are not so bitter as
they used to be, and if you remove
the base and add a little sugar
they are not bitter at all

PN— And they are rich in fibre
and low in calories. These are their
only virtues, apart from a small
amount of carotenoids, they are
dreadfully poor in vitamins,
If you cook them like this, you
will have plenty of calcium and
protein however. Then round off
the meal with a good vitamin-rich
fruit salad!


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White Cabbage Salad with Soft-Boiled Egg

Cut the base of 1 white cabbage. Separate the leaves and wash
themRemove the tougher outer leaves and then finely slice the
rest into 5 cm strips

Heat a flameproof casserole dish with 4 tablespoons of wine

Add the sliced cabbage leaves, cook for just 1 minute, stirring,
then transferto a large bowl. Pour 4 tablespoons of olive oil
over and add freshly ground black pepper

Leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, soft boil 5 eggs [6 minutes], cool and shell
them

Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400°F) (gas mark 6)

Wash, dry and cut the leaves off a small bunch of parsley,a small
of chervil and a very small bunch of tarragon

Put the soft-boiled eggs in a bowl and crush with a fork! Add
them to the cabbage when it has sufficiently marinated. Also add
the herb leaves

When your oven is hot, place 8 thin slices on the rack and dry
until crunchy and slightly coloured (1 to 2 minutes}.

Put the cabbage in the serving dish. Break up the slices of dried
slices of whole meal bread and arrange them decoratively on top.
Serve straight away

In the meantime, soft boil 5 eggs [6 minutes], cool and shell them

Preheat the oven to 200 °C (400° F (gas mark 6)

Wash, dry and cut the leaves off a small bunch of parsley,
a small bunch of chervil and a very small bunch of tarragon

Put the soft-boiled eggs in a bowl and crush with a fork!
Add them to the cabbage when it has sufficiently marinated.
Also add the herb leaves

When your oven is hot, place 8 thin slices on the rack and dry until
crunchy and slightly coloured (1 to 2 minutes}.

Put the cabbage in the serving dish. Break up the slices of dried
slices of whole meal bread and arrange them decoratively on top.

Serve straight away

AD— Use walnut bread, if you can
get hold of some. Its flavours go
very well with those of cabbage
marinated in vinegar.

PN— Cabbage has many virtues,
due to its fibre and antioxidant,
and to the special molecule it
contains. It's a very healthy
food, and very easy to digest
when blanched


All the above from "Nature" by Chef Alain Ducasse w/dietician Paule Neyrat
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12080335-nature

Enjoy!

[tazcat]

1. Looks yummy! Gonna try 3