White Beans with Lamb Pastrami

White bean ... a healthy ingredient to eat and incredibly versatile and easy to cook. White bean is a staple in my kitchen. It is an extremely versatile ingredient that can shows up in any course, from salads, appetizers and soups to stir-fries and stews. It can also be served as an accompaniment to other foods, from grilled meats to roast vegetables. The beans can also be mashed or blended to make a savory dip that is similar to hummus.
White beans are very high in fiber, potassium, calcium, iron and a good source of protein, which can make an great meat substitute for vegetarians.
Today I'll show you some of my creations and some suggestions for this versatile ingredient.

White beans puree with pastrami of lamb
400 g pastrami of lamb
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and black pepper
a little olive oil, for frying

White Beans Puree
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
salt and black pepper
2 x 400 g cans white beans
1-2 tbsp lemon juice to taste

Smoked paprika and onions
4 tsp olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped thyme
salt and black pepper

To garnish (optional)
edible flowers
Affilla cress
2 red radishes, sliced
baby asparagus

To make the white beans puree, place the white beans, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in the bowl of a small food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
For the lamb, mix together, cumin, salt and pepper. Sprinkle all over the clean and sliced lamb pastrami.
Heat a little olive oil in a heavy-based fry-pan or grill and cook lamb over a medium to high heat until done to your liking (about 2-3 minutes each side).
To make the Smoked paprika and onions, in a pan, heat and the olive oil add chopped onions, smoked paprika, garlic, thyme, salt and black pepper. Give it a good stir until onions become soft.
To serve, heat 4 dinner plates. Heat and divide the white bean puree between the plates, arrange the lamb pastrami on top, then the onions and smoked paprika sauce. Garnish with sliced of red radish, baby asparagus, Affillia cress and edible flowers.

Here is another way to play with white beans. I added beetroot jus to my white beans puree and I served with Sea bass, green peas and salmon caviar.

And here we have Mediterranean white beans salad with Red Snapper and coriander tomatoes salsa.

Enjoy! :) Pin It Now!

Linguine with avocado and Tiger Prawns

I Start Posting On My Blog Again!
I know I haven’t posted in a long time. We just had a lot of stuff going on, but we shouldn't have neglected the blog. :) My last post was in August last year, just before my family moved with me in Norway. After ten months we start posting again.
We created this blog around 3 years ago because our prime interest in life is food, so we decided to write about it, about our experience with food, about the way we see and understand  the food, recipes  and bunch of other stuff. But soon after that I found out that it takes tons of time and effort to manage a blog covering all aspects of food. It's hard and time consuming! :) During these ten months I have realized that I don't write about food, but I write about my Pleasure, and this is the purpose of my life and this is what the blog is going to be about.
I’m looking forward to getting back to this. We honestly missed it a lot.

I don't think I have to many pasta dishes on the blog! So, today I will share with you one pasta dish with avocado, which is one of our family most favorite ingredient.

Linguine with avocado and Tiger Prawns
Ingredients (for 2 servings):
300 g linguine pasta, cooked ''al dente''
1 large avocado
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 lemon
1-1/2 cups white wine
200 ml sweet whipped cream 32% fat
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 shrimp size 6/8 (Banana Prawns) - complete with head
8 shrimp size 15/20 (Tiger Prawns)
1-1/2 tsp butter
salt and pepper
a teaspoon of fresh coriander, chopped
For decoration I used mini red shisho leaves, watercress sprouts and edible flower petals.

Method:
Cut half of avocado into cubes, sprinkle with a little lemon juice and the second half of avocado is mashed with honey, lemon juice and salt.
In a pan boil the wine and 1 clove garlic finely chopped. Reduce by half, then add the cream, season with salt and reduce until it becomes a creamy sauce.
Meanwhile, until cream becomes sauce, prepare the prawns. In another pan, fry the prawns in hot butter on both sides, and when the butter is brown, add 1/2 cup white wine, 1 clove garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Continue cooking about 30 sec., until wine evaporates, then pull from heat and add chopped coriander.
In the cream sauce add avocado puree and linguine pasta. Stir until all pasta is coated with sauce.

Serve pasta with prawns and butter sauce, plus avocado cubes.

Garnish as desired! I decorated with mini red shisho leaves, watercress sprouts and edible flower petals.

Enjoy! :)

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