Friday, April 18, 2014

FFwD: Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is "Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote" – most often used in Asian cooking, baby bok choy takes rather well to the French technique of cooking  vegetables en papillote.
Das heutige Rezept für die French Fridays with Dorie Kochgruppe ist “Baby Bok Choy, Erbsenschoten und Knoblauch en Papillote”- Baby Bak Choy kennt man ja aus der Asiatischen Küche, eignet sich auch ganz wunderbar für die schonende Garmethode en Papillote.




Bok choy (or Pak Choi)  has a number of different names, including horse's ear, Chinese celery cabbage and white mustard cabbage. This leafy green Chinese vegetable belongs to the cabbage family, but it tastes more like spinach than cabbage. The bok choy has either white or very pale green short, chunky ribbed leaf stalks and glossy, deep green leaves. The leaves and stems of the regular boy choy are best suited to brief stir-frying or steaming so they retain their mild flavor. Go for bak choy with perky-looking leaves and firm, unblemished stalks. The smallest examples tend to be the most tender. If you like you can cut the leaves from the stems, as they cook at different speeds - the leaves cook much quicker, so you could add them just towards the end of cooking. Very young bok choy, or, as Dorie´s recipe calls for, so-called baby bok choy can be left whole, or halved or quartered  If very young it can be eaten raw in salads, but I still prefer it when briefly cooked.
Bok Choy (auch Pak Choy), deutsch auch Senfkohl oder Blätterkohl genannt, ist ein naher Verwandter des Chinakohls aber schmeckt eher wie Spinat. Die Blätter sind dunkelgrün, ähnlich dem des Mangolds. Der Bok Choy hat entweder weiße oder sehr blassgrüne, kurze, gerippte Blattstiele und glänzende, meist tiefgrüne Blätter. Die Blätter und Stengel eignen sich am besten für Stir-fries oder zum Dämpfen, so behalten sie auch ihren milden Geschmack. Man sollte beim Kauf immer darauf achten, Bok Choy mit knackigen, frisch aussehenden Blätter und festen, makellosen Stielen auszusuchen. Am besten schneidet man die Blätter von den Stielen und kocht sie nacheinander, da die Garzeiten verschieden sind. Man fängt also mit den kleingeschnittenen Stielen an und gibt dann am Ende der Garzeit die Blätter hinzu. Sehr junger Bok Choy oder, wie in Dories Rezept, sogenannter Baby Bok Choy, kann im Ganzen gekocht, halbiert oder geviertelt werden. Wenn der Bok Choy noch sehr jung ist, kann er auch roh in Salaten gegessen werden, wobei ich ihn aber am liebsten nur kurz blanchiere.




Mangetout (in French "manger" means "to eat" while "tout" means "everything") or sugar snaps are undeveloped garden peas, picked while the pod is still edible, they are relatively sweet tasting.  Similarly, petits pois are young garden peas that are picked and shelled when small, young and tender. Unlike mangetout pods, the pods of garden peas are too tough to eat, but popping fresh peas straight from the pod into your mouth remains one of life's great pleasures. You should always go for the fresh peas with bright green pods that are firm and plump. Since I could not find good mangtout, I went with fresh garden peas instead. To no ill effect.
Mangetout (frz. von manger = essen und tout = alles) Erbsenschoten oder Zuckerschoten unterscheiden sich von Erbsen dadurch, dass man ihre Hülse mitessen kann und sie einen besonders hohen Zuckergehalt haben. Im Gegenteil zu den Hülsen der Erbsenschoten, kann man die Hülsen der Erbsen nicht mitessen. Für mich jedoch ist es eine der großen Freuden, frische Erbsen direkt aus der Hülse zu verspeisen. Beim Kauf von Erbsen sollte man immer darauf achten, frische Erbsen mit hellgrünen und festen Schoten auszusuchen. Da ich beim Gemüsehändler keine Erbsenschoten finden konnte, dafür aber wunderbare frische Erbsen, habe ich eben die gekauft. Hat sich aber eher positiv auf das Geschmackserlebnis ausgewirkt.




Dorie´s recipe not only calls for baby bok choy and peas but also for baby white onions which I could not find at the green grocer, so I substituted them with French shallots Then there is finely sliced garlic, orange zest, olive oil, and salt and pepper – I opted to skip the fresh mint.
Für Dories Rezept braucht man aber nicht nur Baby Bok Choy und Erbsen, aber auch kleine weiße Zwiebeln, die ich mit französischen Schalotten ersetzt habe. Desweiteren braucht man fein geschnitten frischen Knoblauch, Orangenzesten, Olivenöl und etwas Salz und Pfeffer – ich habe mich entschieden, um die frische Minze wegzulassen..




This recipe is a rather simple recipe. In order to create the little packages, all the lovely ingredients get wrapped up in parchment paper and foil with pepper, salt and some olive oil. After the packages have baked for a mere 15 minutes they will emerge from the oven not only delicious but also perfectly steamed.
Das Rezept ist sehr einfach, man bettet einfach die Zutaten auf Backpapier und Folie, bestreut diese mit Pfeffer und Salz, gibt noch etwas Olivenöl hinzu und schließt das Backpapier-Päckchen. Das geht sehr einfach und schnell – nachdem die Päckchen die angegeben 15 Minuten im Ofen gegart haben, hat man eine wunderbare, leckere und perfekt gegarte Gemüsebeilage.




The technique of cooking en papillote certainly makes for a nice preparation and cooking this way keep moisture as well as flavor intact – who does not like to open up a package at the table, full of wonderful, healthy spring vegetable and have the aromas waft at them. But you might want to consider baking the packages after baking (like I did), when the oven is already pre-heated or prepare a whole bunch of packages at the same time (like I did as well).
Durch die Technik des sanften Garens en papillote kommen die Aromen der verschiedenen Komponenten sehr gut zur Geltung und die natürlichen Aromen des Gemüses bleiben erhalten. Wer mag es nicht, bei Tisch so ein nettes Päckchen, voll wunderbaren, gesunden und duftenden Frühlingsgemüsen zu öffnen. Aber man sollte in Erwägung ziehen, die Päckchen zum Beispiel nach dem Backen (wie ich), wenn der Ofen bereits vorgeheizt ist zuzubereiten oder gleich eine ganze Menge von Päckchen gleichzeitig zuzubereiten, (wie ich).




To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.
Wer sehen möchte, wie die anderen Mitglieder der French Fridays with Dorie Kochgruppe diese Gemüse zubereitet haben, sollte hier klicken.

As a group we do not publish the recipe but if are lucky enough to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for ” Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote" on pages 348/9.
Wer Dorie Greenspan´s Buch "Around my French Table" besitzt, findet das Rezept für " Baby Bok Choy, Sugar Snaps, and Garlic en Papillote“ auf den Seiten 348/9. – In der Gruppe werden die Rezepte nicht veröffentlicht.



32 comments:

  1. Such beautiful photos! This was a winner at our house and, if I can remember, I'm going to be en papilloting a lot more.

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    1. Trevor, a winner indeed - at your house and wit us as well! Cooking vegetables en papillote is just wonderful - but it is easy to forget about this cooking method in our everyday lives - I usually cook salmon that way, with a bit of fresh garlic and ginger. Thank you for the nice commnt!

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  2. SO pretty! There's orange zest in there? I must try this.
    Wishing you & your family a very happy Easter, Andrea doll. xoxo

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    1. Colette, yes, there is a bit of organic orange zest in this - it adds a nice flavor component to the vegetables but actually very subtle.
      Have a wonderful Easter with your family and friends, my dear!

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  3. Beautiful photos. These vegetables were quite tasty. Have a nice Easter:)

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    1. Geraldine, thank you - quite tasty indeed! Happy Easter to you and your family!

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  4. These veges were great, weren't they. I liked your informative post. Happy Easter Andrea!

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    1. Gaye, thank you - this was such a nice recipe, one that we all seem to have enjoyed quite a bit.And, of course, it was a fun technique - en papilotte renders wonderful results wit these types of vegetables.
      Happy Easter to you as well!

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  5. Lovely, my friend! I was unaware of all the other names for bok choy...I always enjoy your posts. Happy Easter!

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    1. Liz, so many names for one and the same vegetable with Asian origins, no surprise then that I sometimes have a hard time finding the right one - but around here, Asian stores usually carrying "Bak Choy" as well as "Baby Bab Choy".
      Wishing you and your entire family a very Happy Easter!

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  6. Lovely, Andrea. Only you could make the finished version of this dish look so appealing.

    Happy, happy Easter to you and your family.

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    1. Cher, thank you very much for your nice copliment - spring vegetables are sooo very photogenic at this time of year - loved doing this post!

      Wishing you and your family a very Happy Easter!

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  7. Frohe Ostern Andrea! Wishing you and your family a lovely weekend.

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  8. So happy that you enjoyed this dish. And your photos are amazing! Happy Easter!

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    1. Candy, thank you very much for the compliment - these spring vegetables turned out to be rather photogenic and delicious.

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  9. Sp pretty - and great idea to bake those when the oven's already hot!

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    1. Mardi, sometimes it seems as if the oven is constantly pre-heated. When I made these vegetabale packages, the oven was still hot from baking and I thought that was rather convenient!
      Joyeuses Pâques and Happy Easter to you - hope the weather is friendly these days in Canada.

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  10. Interesting descriptions of the vegetables I didn't realize that sugar snaps are young peas... makes sense. Lovely, lovely photos.

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    1. Diane, sugar snap peas are a very tender type of garden peas - they are only avialble fresh for a few weeks, making them rather pricey and hard to find sometimes - I substituted fresh garden peas which were also quite sweet.

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  11. What lovely green vegetables, Andrea. I'm glad you enjoyed them. Here sugar snaps with edible pods are a different variety than shell (or English) peas. We just planted a few rows of sugar snaps in our vegetable garden. I can't wait until they are ready to eat (probably in 2 months...). Wishing you and your family a very happy Easter.

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    1. Same to you Betsy - a very Happy Easter and hopefully the weather will hold up and you will be able to harvest lots of peas once they are in season.

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  12. Beautiful photos and awesome presentation!!

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  13. Your photographs are always outstanding but I especially enjoyed the third one of the the peas. The lighting is such that you can see the green of the translucent pod reflected on the plate….just wonderful.

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    1. Karen, that is my favorite photo as well - it is representative of that lovely springtime that we have been enjoying this year! Thank you for all your lovely and kind comments!

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  14. I have never heard the term, mangetout before. That is a new word, which I just researched also, and an interesting reference to underdeveloped peas. I'm going to kick that around at Whole Foods and see what happens! Lovely pictures. Wonderful post. Per usual. I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful abd blessed Easter and that the bunnies survived.

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    1. Maria, Easter went by well, the kids are off from school for two weeks so we are busy taking trips and get involved in Easter vacation related activities. Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. I loved this recipe, though I was not able to get a post up about it. Your photos are fabulous, and what an educational post!

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    1. Christy, thank you for your kind words - not all recipes make it into posts at our house, not even close - I do not think we would be able to eat at all if they did - it is wonderful that most of us really liked this recipe - a nice change to the ususal side dishes.

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  16. Love your dreamy shot of spring vegetables! So gorgeous. Even someone who don't like vegetables (not me! Id' gobble up!) will be tempted to eat when you take pictures like this. ;)

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    1. Nami, you are so very kind - I take this as a huge compliment coming from you!

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