As the days get longer and warmer, it’s time to equip our kitchen and pantry with a whole new slew of colorful and refreshing dishes and treats. And, of course, we want to spend as little time as possible in the kitchen.
Learn more about Pascale's Kitchen here>>
I recently had the honor of hosting chef Ivan Maslov, 35, owner of Maslov Food Solutions, at home in my kitchen. I asked Ivan if he would prepare a few gourmet dishes together with me that would be appropriate to serve guests on a hot summer day. I emphasized to Ivan that I’m particularly interested in recipes that are quick and easy to prepare, even for people who do not have much cooking experience.
When Ivan entered my house, I was shocked by how tall he is – over two meters, I think. But I soon overcame my shock and we got down to business.
Over the next few hours, I learned so much from Ivan, who was born in the Ukraine, but feels completely Israeli. He didn’t attend culinary school, and is 100% an autodidact. He learned on the job at a number of popular restaurants, including Topolopompo, Rafael and Messa.
Ivan explains that he has a love/hate relationship with Russian cuisine, but in recent years he’s allowed himself to include flavors that he recalls from his childhood.
Ivan is particularly sensitive to even the smallest details, including using only the freshest and highest-quality ingredients, and understanding how they interact with each other.
He loves to play around with techniques and recipes hailing from French, Spanish and Asian cuisine, and has come up with his own recipes for fish, smoked meat and vegan dishes. To learn more about Ivan and see some of his distinctive recipes, take a look at his website: www.maslov.co.il.
Here, Ivan shares with us recipes for pickled pumpkin carpaccio, fish tartare with smoked gazpacho and plum crumble.
The pickled pumpkin carpaccio, which has a really surprising taste, is beautiful and of course tastes amazing, is a perfect summer treat.
The second dish, fish tartare with smoked gazpacho, Ivan serves in a transparent bowl so that you can see all the layers before you even begin eating it.
Use a 24-cm. or 26-cm. diameter round pan, or a 23-cm. X 23-cm. square pan.
2 kg. plums or peaches
100 ml. water
200 gr. sugar
50 gr. butter
300 gr. flour, sifted
100 gr. sugar
Pinch of salt
200 gr. butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
Quality vanilla ice cream
Cut the plums in half and take out the pits. Rinse the plums well and dry them.
Pour the water into a large pot that can also be put in the oven. Add the sugar and cook until the sugar has caramelized. Add the butter and stir until it’s completely dissolved. Lower the flame and add the plums. Mix well and continue to cook over a medium flame for five more minutes until plums have softened.
To prepare the dough, add the flour, sugar and salt into a blender and blend well. Gradually add the butter cubes and mix until crumbly. Spread the crumble on top of the plums.
Place in an oven that has been preheated to 180° and bake for 30 minutes until the crumble has lightly browned and is bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool a little. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
500 gr. pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Handful roasted hazelnuts
Handful spicy red chili pepper slices
100 gr. brie cheese, sliced or crumbled
Handful of tarragon leaves
To prepare the marinade, add the vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper to a pot and bring to a boil over a medium flame. Let the marinade cool completely.
Slice the pumpkin with a mandoline vegetable slicer so that all the pieces are uniform in shape and size. If you don’t have a mandoline, use an extremely sharp knife. Place the pumpkin in the marinade so that all the pieces are covered for 3-4 minutes.
Arrange the pumpkin pieces on a serving platter, drizzle with the olive and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the chopped hazelnuts, chili peppers, brie cheese and tarragon leaves.
1 eggplant, blackened and peeled
3 maggie tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
1 cucumber
½ red onion
1 handful of spicy pepper, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Juice from 2 lemons
6 basil leaves
300 gr. white fish, cleaned and cut into ½-cm. cubes (can use greater amberjack, sea bass, red snapper or sea bream)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Juice from ½ a lemon
100 gr. sour cream
1 turnip, sliced thinly
6 basil leaves
Roast the eggplant over an open flame on your stovetop. Keep turning the eggplant so that it gets cooked all over until all the skin has burned and fallen off the eggplant. Let it cool completely, then peel off the rest of the skin.
Put all of the gazpacho ingredients in a blender (or use an immersion blender) and blend until smooth. Pour the gazpacho into a strainer held over a large bowl. Push down on the mixture with the back of a ladle until all the liquid has dripped into the bowl so that you end up with a perfectly smooth liquid.
Put the fish pieces in a large bowl and season with salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice.
Pour the gazpacho into glasses so that they’re 1/3 filled. Then, place 1½ tablespoons of the fish on top of the gazpacho, then a ½ teaspoon of sour cream and on top a few slices of turnip and basil leaves.
