Journalist David Lebovitz's fig tapenade
Preparation time: 40 min. Cooking time: 30 min (for the figs).
Ingredients
Step 1: Poach the figs.
In a small saucepan, poach the figs in simmering water for 30 minutes, until they are soft. Drain, reserving some of the liquid.
Step 2: The mix.
Place the pitted olives, drained figs, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, capers and thyme in the bowl of a food processor or mortar and pestle, and blend or grind to a crumbly paste. Gradually add the olive oil until the mixture has a soft texture. If necessary, dilute with a little of the fig poaching liquid. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with sourdough bread toast.
Chef Celine Tran's salmon bagel
Ingredients for 6 bagels
The dough
The filling
The preparation.
Step 1. Prepare the bagels by whisking together the water, malt syrup and yeast in a bowl. Add the flour, salt and sugar. Knead by hand or in a food processor on low speed for 15 to 20 minutes. Form into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl. Cover with a cloth and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Step 2. Knock the air out of the dough on the work surface and divide into 6 pieces of about 135 grams each. Ball up each dough piece and let them rest on the floured work surface under a cloth for 15 minutes. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and sprinkle with flour or polenta.
Step 3. With a floured finger, make a hole in the center of the dough pieces and turn the dough piece around the finger to make a ring, until the hole measures about 2 cm (it will shrink during rising and baking). Place the bagels on the baking sheet and cover with a cloth. Let them rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on room temperature). To know if the bagels have puffed up enough, the trick is to delicately put a bagel in a bowl of water: If the bagel floats, it is ready to be cooked.
Step 4. Heat some water in a large saucepan or sauté pan and preheat the oven to 215 °C. When the bagels have risen, carefully place them in the simmering water (one at a time or two to three, depending on the capacity of the pan). The bagels will immediately float to the surface.
Step 5. Poach them 15 to 30 seconds on each side, turning them over with a skimmer or two wooden spoons. Place the drained bagels back on the baking sheet. If you want to add seeds, now is the time. Once all the bagels have been poached, immediately place in the preheated oven. Bake for about 15 minutes, keeping an eye on them. The bagels should be golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
The filling.
Combine the cream cheese, chives, lemon juice and zest and pepper in a bowl. Cut a bagel in half. On each side, spread generously with the cream cheese mixture, add a turn of the pepper mill, a slice of trout or smoked salmon, a pinch of chives (or dill), 1 or 2 slices of red onion and possibly a few capers. Serve as an open-faced sandwich or sandwich together.
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Snowballs, by Christine Doublet, deputy director of Le Fooding guide
Ingredients (for about 40 balls)
The preparation.
Step 1. Using a mortar and pestle or rolling pin, crush the pecans until they resemble a mixture of powder and small crunchy pieces.
Step 2. In a food processor or in a bowl with a spatula, combine the salted butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Gradually add the flour and crushed nuts and mix lightly until you obtain a sandy texture.
Step 3. Quickly form small round balls of about 3 cm in diameter in the palm of your hands. Put a sheet of baking paper or a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet and then the balls on top. Bake in the middle of the oven at 180 °C (non-rotating heat) for 30 minutes.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.