Shrimp Crostini with Saffron Aioli (+Saffron Giveaway)

This is a recipe that combines two of my favorite ingredients: shrimp and saffron. Specifically, I made a shrimp crostini with saffron aïoli. I flavored the mayonnaise with garlic and freshly ground saffron threads. I placed the shrimp on a bed of toasted bread to create a nice contrast of texture. The taste of the saffron is so intense in the aïoli sauce that it feels almost sinful.

Today's giveaway is an awesome combination of pure saffron threads & vanilla from Saffron.com. There are few things in this world as fragrant, exotic or luxurious as saffron. I love using it in drinks, savory and sweet dishes. It's as versatile as it is unique. Quality can vary greatly, and the saffron from Saffron.com is some of the best I've had, which is a tribute to the passion of the owner, Juan. For a chance to win, just enter on our 25 Days of Giveaways page.

We’re in the home stretch of the giveaways, and we have some really special ones in store for you, including a Zojirushi rice cooker, some very fine chocolates from John Kelly Chocolates, and a huge assortment of AMAZING goat dairy products from Redwood Hill Farms. Don’t forget to enter!

Make sure you're a fan of PhamFatale Facebook fan page or follow @Phamfatalecom and tweet about this giveaway. To make it easy, you can just copy and paste this tweet if you’d like: "Win Saffron and Vanilla #Giveaway from @Phamfatalecom: http://bit.ly/sp4V7y".

Pumpkin French Toast (Pain Perdu Recipe)

It’s that time of the year again! Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. The time for fall flavors has definitely arrived. Pumpkin is one of the most versatile ingredients of the season, and today I used it to put a twist on French toast. I prepared a simple custard batter flavored with pumpkin purée and saffron and soaked day-old stale bread. I paired it with a saffron-sweetened heavy whipping cream. The dish is fragrant and flavorful without being overly sweet. It’s definitely a departure from your average pain perdu (literally "stolen bread").

This would be a wonderful treat for Sunday brunch, or for the day after Thanksgiving. I’m making it today for Lulu as a reward for volunteering to take the girls trick-or-treating last night. The girls’ feet started hurting, so he cut the outing short and took them to the supermarket to buy bags of chocolates and candies. That still counts though, right?

Asian-Style Cioppino Recipe (Seafood Stew)

The weather is getting cold and damp, so I thought a cioppino-style soup was a good solution to fight the low temperatures we've been having. I didn't really make the authentic San Franciscan fish stew, nor the traditional Provençal version of bouillabaisse, but a more Asian adaptation of the seafood soup using ingredients I recently received from our friends at AsianFoodGrocer.com. The major change is that I made the broth using bonito flakes, Asian mushrooms and miso paste. Otherwise, the seafood soup is cooked with the more common ingredients such as fresh tomatoes, corn, fish and shellfish and flavored with fennel, mushrooms, garlic, lime peel, dill and saffron.



I also cracked one separately cooked Dungeness crab and gathered the meat at the last minute to add to the bass fillets, mussels, clams and small shrimp already cooking in the soup. I served it just the way I would bouillabaisse (the Southern-French stew originated in Marseille) with garlic bread and rouille sauce, which is a saffron-flavored mayonnaise. To bouillabaisse purists, the addition of bonito flakes and miso paste may seem sacrilegious, but I think it was a refreshing twist with an Asian flair.


If you’re considering making this dish, I have some good news: our friend Gustavo from AsianFoodGrocer.com is kindly giving away a $50 gift card that you can win this week on Pham Fatale! The deadline is Sunday, October 16th, 2011. And for those of you who can't wait to try AsianFoodGrocer.com products, head over to their online store, enter coupon code PHAMFATALE during checkout (exclusively for Pham Fatale readers) and get 10% off your entire order; the coupon expires on October 22nd, 2011 so make the most of it!

Ash Reshteh Soup Recipe (Persian Soup)

Ash reshteh is one of my husband Lulu's favorite soups. Lulu is a vegetarian, and this Persian noodle soup totally fits the bill. The combination of egg noodles (called "reshteh") and various beans and lentils makes a well-balanced meal for a vegetarian diet. I think the key to making this dish flavorful is the addition of crispy, caramelized onions, which give an amazing fragrance to the soup. The saffron and mint yogurt sauce also contributes a fair share of creaminess and complexity to the dish as well.

If you are a meat eater, you can add beef or lamb to the soup. I have had it with and without meat, and it tastes wonderful either way.

Cream of Asparagus Soup Recipe

Cream of asparagus soup is a dish I recently served for a dinner party as a first course. The soup is packed with asparagus flavor. This is because I made the vegetable stock with the roots from the asparagus, then I blended in the asparagus that I roasted for a few minutes. The usual roux helps thicken the soup to which I then added St Félicien cheese, -one of my husband Lulu's favorite cheeses-, for extra creaminess.

This step is optional but if you want to be met with a round of "oohs" and "ahs" when the bowls of soup are brought to the dinner table, I suggest that you cover the bowl of soup with puff pastry. For decoration, top with a little saffron cream and an asparagus spear. It's a truly seductive way to start a meal.