Cooking with Steam: 3 Crazy Good Ideas for Dinner

Cooking with a combo steam/convection oven offers many advantages—Food cooked in steam retains moisture better than food cooked in a regular convection oven. Steamed food also tend to retain the more flavors and nutritional value. When you combine steam with convection you obtain crisp chicken, puffy soufflés an smooth custards using less fat, and without drying. So if you find you regular steamed goods too bland, here are 3 recipes that make the most of your combination steam/convection oven.

Eggs and Mushrooms Cocottes

Serves 4:

• 1 tablespoon (15g) butter, plus extra to grease the ramekins
• 1 tablespoon cajun spice blend
• Fresh parsley, chopped
• 7 oz (200g) button mushrooms
• 8 large eggs
• 8 tablespoons cream
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Buttered bread toasts, to serve (herbed butter recipe here)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Heat the butter in a small pan and quickly fry the spices, then sauté the mushrooms until golden. Add parslsey and cook one minute more, until wilted. Season to taste and set aside. Butter 2 deep ramekins and crack in two eggs and season with salt, then add 2 tablespoon cream to each ramekin.
3. Arrange the ramekins in a roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up each ramekin. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes in steam mode, until the eggs are just set but the yolks are still runny. Add sauteed mushrooms and parsley on top then bake for 5-10 minutes more. Serve hot with toasted bread.

Cod and Vegetables in Foil

Serves 4:

• 4 cod fillets (or other white fish)
• 1 large zucchini
• 2 carrots
• 1 orange
• Fresh herbs of your choice (mint, parsley…)
• Salt, Espelette pepper
• Olive oil

Directions
1. Start by slicing the zucchini into thin sticks. Cut carrots into ribbons with a vegetable peeler. Cut 4 thin slices in the widest part of the orange. Cut 4 large pieces of parchment paper (or aluminum foil).
2. Divide the vegetables into each foil. Add a few leaves of parsley and mint, a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Squeeze a little orange juice. Place the fish fillets on top. Season again with salt, and Espelette pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Place the orange slices and herbs on top. Close the foil and set aside until serving time.
3. Turn your oven on 390°F (200°C). Cook the fish in foils for 20 minutes.
4. Serve the foils still closed on the plates and let everyone enjoy the fragrance when opening. Bon appetit!

Note: You can spice up this dish by adding spices of your choice like cumin, paprika, curry, 5 spices mix etc. A dash of lemon juice and some zest will add tanginess.

Creamy Chocolate Coconut Cups

Serves 6:

• 1 2/3 cups (400ml) coconut milk
• 1/5 cup (40g) granulated sugar
• 2/5 cup (100ml) whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 oz (70g) dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 3/4 oz (50g) milk chocolate, chopped
• Lemon juice (optional)
• Shredded coconut, for garnish
• Unsweetened cocoa powder, for garnish

Directions
1. Pre-heat your oven to 340°F (170°C).
2. Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy. In a saucepan, combine coconut milk and milk and heat gently to a simmer. Cut the fire and add chopped chocolate, whisking vigorously to get an homogenous mixture. Add the egg mixture and whisk again, until the texture is smooth (you can use an immersion blender if needed).
3. Divide the custard into ramekins and add a few drops of lemon juice on top. Transfer into a rimmed baking pan (or a springform pan) filled half way with hot water. Bake in the oven on steam mode for about 20 minutes, until set but still a little bit runny in the center. Allow to cool down and serve at room temperature or chilled in the refrigerator. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and cocoa powder just before serving.