(Recipes) Discover Antonio Da Costa’s Christmas menu

Starter: Shrimp, avocado and beetroot tiramisu

Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes
Preparation the day before possible, or 4 hours in the refrigerator minimum.

For 6 persons

• 200 g peeled shrimp
• 150 g of mascarpone
• 15 cl of whole liquid cream (very cold)
• 1 medium sized cooked beet
• 2 lawyers
• 1 lime
• 2 sprigs of coriander
• 2 sprigs of basil
• 40 g pine nuts
• 60 g of canistrelli with olives (dry Corsican biscuits) or aperitif biscuits with olives 15 g of melted Tabasco butter (or a pinch of Espelette pepper)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper.

1. Prune Brunoise the beetroot (into 5mm cubes), and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the chopped basil and coriander leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and the pine nuts. Mix and refrigerate.
2. Cut the shrimp into pieces of approximately 1 cm. Reserve them in the fridge. (If you also want to make the dish on this menu, you can keep the shrimp heads and carcasses.)
3. Zest lemon and reserve the zest. Then squeeze the fruit.
4. Peel and cut avocados in brunoise. Add the lemon juice, a pinch of salt and pepper, two or three drops of Tabasco and a drizzle of olive oil. Reserve.
5. Go up the very cold cream using a mixer, until you obtain the consistency of whipped cream. Add the mascarpone, a pinch of salt and pepper and the lemon zest.
6. Crush finely cut the canistrelli by placing them in a food bag and giving them a few strokes with a rolling pin. Melt 15 g of butter before mixing it with the canistrelli so that the tiramisu base holds together well. In 7 cm diameter circles lined with baking paper (or in glasses) place a base of canistrelli, a layer of beet brunoise, a layer of shrimp, a layer of avocado preparation and finally whipped cream. Place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. When serving, garnish with lemon zest.

Dish: Ocean tagine

Preparation time: 2 hours 30 minutes. Cooking time: 1 hour 10 minutes.
Preparation possible the day before for the bisque and vegetables.
Cooking fish, prawns and mussels at the last minute.

For 6 persons
For the bisque:

• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 potato
• 3 tbsp. tablespoon of tomato paste
• 20 cl of orange juice
• 1 clove of garlic
• 0.5 g of saffron threads
• 1 pinch of ras el-hanout
• 1 pinch of cumin powder
• 1 pinch of powdered ginger
• 1 pinch of powdered coriander.

For garnish:

• 2 carrots
• 2 potatoes
• 4 turnips
• 1 small butternut (or squash)
• 25 cl of orange juice
• 0.5 g of Pyrene saffron filaments
• 1 pinch of ras el-hanout
• 1 pinch of ginger
• Edible argan oil (or olive oil)
• Tomato concentrate
• 20 jumbo raisins
• 10 dried apricots
• 4 nasturtiums (for decoration)
• A few dill leaves (for decoration)
• 6 prawns
• 6 Spanish mussels
• 600 g pollack or cod
• 6 red mullet fillets
• 600 g monkfish or hake
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 clove of garlic.

1. For the bisque: peel the prawns. In a stewpot or saucepan (minimum 4 liter capacity), pour a little olive oil, add the heads and carcasses of the prawns (and the shrimp from the starter if you have kept them), the peeled garlic clove, the carrot and the onion cut into brunoise pieces (5 mm square cubes). Color everything.
2. add then the spices, the tomato paste, a pinch of salt, a liter of water and, finally, the potato cut into brunoise. Let it simmer until the vegetables are cooked. Add the orange juice, then mix everything to obtain the bisque. Filter it using a strainer or a very fine sieve. Set aside, and add the apricots and raisins. They will expand as the bisque cools.
3. For garnish, peel the carrots, turnips, butternut, cut them into large cubes. Brown them in argan oil, then add the spices (saffron, ras el-hanout, ginger). Add 20 cl of orange juice and cook over low heat.
4. While cooking the vegetables, prepare the fish. Cut the pollack and monkfish into six. Brown them in the pan on each side, as well as the prawns. For red mullet fillets, color only the skin side. Reserve the fish then, in the pan, caramelize the previously drained vegetables by deglazing with the remaining 5 cl of orange juice.
5. In a pot, pour a ladle of bisque over the fish and mussels. Cover the pan until the mussels open.
6. In deep plates, distribute the hot bisque then each element of the dish. Decorate with nasturtium flowers and dill leaves.

Dessert: Clementine and chocolate log

Preparation: 1 hour 30 minutes. Cooking time: 40 minutes
Preparation the day before recommended.

For 6 persons

• 700 g peeled clementines
• 150 g of dark pastry chocolate
• 75 g of T45 or T55 flour
• 3 tbsp. tablespoon of milk
• 15 cl of fluid cream
• 50 g butter
• 3 eggs
• 200 g of sugar
• 1 tbsp. teaspoon of baking powder
• Some chocolate subjects for decoration.

1. Once your clementines have been peeled, separate the quarters and cut them in half. Cook them for 30 to 40 minutes, watching closely, in a saucepan, with 130 g of sugar and 40 g of butter over medium heat. Start over high heat for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until you obtain a marmalade. Mix roughly.
2. Preheat the oven, thermostat 7 (210°C).
3. Line a baking sheet of buttered parchment paper.
4. Work egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture turns white. Add the flour and yeast, then the milk, and mix the mixture until you obtain a homogeneous mixture.
5. Beat the egg whites in firm snow. Add them delicately to the previous preparation until you obtain a smooth mixture.
6. Pour onto the plate, level the surface and bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 210°C.
7. Unmold on a damp cloth. Cover the hot biscuit with a layer of clementine marmalade, roll the biscuit, then leave to cool.
8. Grate chocolate. Bring the cream to the boil and pour it, still boiling, over the chocolate shavings. Mix and cover the log with this ganache. Decorate with chocolate subjects. Reserve in the refrigerator and enjoy chilled.