Cuisine Magicienne

I've been writing about cuisine quotidienne for about six months now, so you may be wondering if I ever get away from my everyday cooking to enjoy a meal out. Eh bien, not enough -- but when I do, I do it right. You can read about my recent meal at Rodez's best restaurant Goûts et Couleurs in my latest post for La France Profonde.

Boeuf à la Mode

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! That should be the name of this dish.

It is so easy to prepare, and absolutely delicious when you're craving some well-cooked meat. This tastes even better the next day, so if you have time to plan ahead, I would make this the day before you want to eat it.

Braised Beef - serves 1

quick note: I made my own quatre-epices really quickly, which I think gives it a little more kick on the outside of the beef. If you don't want to make your own, just use 2 tablespoons of allspice. To make your own quatre-epices, mix together 2 tsp cinnamon, 4 tsp ground allspice, 1 tsp. fresh ground cloves, 2 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg, and 4 tsp ground coriander. Store in an airtight jar.

1 1-lb piece well-marbled beef chuck pot roast
2 medium onions
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons quatre-epices (all spice)
salt
pepper

1.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Chop up the garlic cloves and thinly slice the onions.
3. Wash and pat dry the beef chuck, and rub it with 2 tablespoons of the quatre-epices, 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp black pepper.
4. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil, and lay out 1/2 of the onions and 1/2 of the garlic.
5. Place the beef on the pan, then cover with remaining onions and garlic. Give it a shake or two of salt.

6. Now, you'll want to wrap this very tightly with aluminum foil - if too much air gets into the roasting pan during cooking, the beef will dry up, and all of its juices will evaporate (and the juices are what make this dish fantastic!). I triple-wrapped mine like a christmas present.
7. Cook it in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours, taking it out halfway through to flip the beef over.

8. Let it cool for a couple of minutes, slice it against the grain, and sprinkle with fresh parsley.

You can store this for several days, by cutting it, letting it cool completely at room temperature, then covering it up and placing it in the fridge.

Bonsoir a tous!

Coming out -- of my pseudonym

When I started my two blogs five months ago, I was reluctant to reveal my real identity. I wasn't that clever, though. How many Americans with the initials B.C. have been living in Aveyron for 11 years? Just me, myself and I -- as far as I know.

With the publication of my first freelance article on Expatica, which includes a bio linking to my other blog La France Profonde, the gig is definitely up.

Au revoir, bcinfrance. Hello, Betty Carlson.

Mini Mandoline, My Love

I love puttering around in junk shops. The funkier and cheaper the merchandise the better. In Japantown there is a great store called Ichiban Kan filled with tons of cheap stuff. Ichiban means number one or best, I can't say what kan means (there were too many definitions when I looked it up online).

The English name on the sign out front is "different things". How true! They carry everything from Japanese toothpaste to Pocky snacks to sparkly ribbons to plastic storage containers. It's really just a Japanese version of a "dollar store". And I simply can't go in there without finding some treasures I have to buy.

Take for example this mini mandoline slicer. Is it not the most adorable thing you could ever hope to find for your kitchen? I mean who doesn't need this to sliver radishes, garlic and even scallions. It's so cute! I use my standard full size mandoline all the time, but this one comes in handy when making a salad.

Obviously this would be a bad tool for slicing large quantities of just about anything. It would also not work for larger items like a potato. But when you only want to sliver 3 radishes, it's perfect; it takes up no space and is sharp as can be. If all of that wasn't enough reason to buy, how about this, it only cost 99 cents!

I also bought a vegetable peeler and while miniature sized and quaint, it is nowhere near as adorable as my m.m. (mini mandoline). If you find yourself in Japantown do check out Ichiban Kan. I'm sure you will find something that you Ichiban Kan't do without.

Ichiban Kan
22 Peace Plaza #200
San Francisco
415.409.0472
Open everyday 10:30 am - 8 pm

Happy Easter -- and yes, I still do cook

I just downloaded some photos from a recent trip and, to my surprise, found some photos of food in the camera!

Just for your information -- I do still cook. I'm just not blogging about it and, if truth be told, I've been in something of a slump as far as creativity and trying new recipes go.

But this is the (school) year where I have really learned to appreciate everything I've already mastered about cooking in France: throwing together quiches, soups, salads, and all sorts of other simple fare without ever really looking at a recipe.

Anyway, I'm not sure where, if anywhere, this blog is going but I did want to "chime" in and wish a Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it.

Scandinavian Sweet Fruit Soup - Søtsuppe

I don't think I've ever written a blog post from my desk in the reading room at school before, but today is an exceptionally gray and dreary day, and I'm feeling particularly ambivalent about the development of the French Academy in the 17th century (that was already too much information, wasn't it?). Anyway, the one thing that does make me happy right now is knowing that I have a couple more bowls of this soup waiting for me at home. Because it's an old truism that we crave what we can't readily have, and for me, that's always good fruit in winter. Since I'm no miracle worker, I often settle for dried fruit. Dried fruit has never been as delicious as it is in this recipe.


I could go on and on about how flippin' delicious this stuff is. How you can serve it warm and cold and how both have their charms. And believe me, all of that is the gosh darn truth. This stuff is addicting, and satisfying and it just brightens moods. But one of the best parts about it is the pie-crust croutons floating on top. I feel like I'm bringing a certain chocolate tart up a lot lately, but if you do make it, you'll probably end up with some extra Super Delicious pie crust that you won't want to throw away. So instead, you might roll it out and using your smallest cookie cutter, make little rounds to be sprinkled with rock sugar and popped in the oven.


If you do that, you'll have no excuse not to make a wonderfully heady and deeply spiced Scandinavian Sweet Fruit Soup to go with your sweet croutons. Actually, one possible obstacle could conceivably be the location of pearl tapioca (how many times did I have to explain that I just wanted the pearls, not the pudding, to the people at the various grocery stores? Many.) So save yourself some hassle and if you have access, head directly to Whole Foods. They have it there. They might even know where it is when you ask. If you can't find it, please don't let that stop you. I'll admit it adds a little something, but it's only a little something, and the soup will be equally delicious without it.


Scandinavian Sweet Soup - Søtsuppe
Recipe and idea for the pie-crust croutons from About Scandinavian Food

5 cups water
1/2 cup dried apples, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins or currents
1/2 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes, finely chopped
1 heaping tablespoon pearl tapioca
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 cup fruit juice (apple or cranberry, or even lingonberry if you can get it. I used apple)

In a large pot, boil the water and add the dried fruit, the tapioca, the cinnamon stick, and the star anise. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir in the fruit juice and continue to warm for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the cinnamon and the star anise. Serve with pie crust croutons (see below).

For the Pie Crust Croutons

Roll out your leftover pie crust, or scraps of any rolled cookie, use your smaller cookie cutter to cut out little croutons. Brush them with a little water or egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon and pearl sugar if you have some of that laying around as well. Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of your croutons). They should be a light golden brown. Serve floating atop a bowl of søtsuppe.

The very definition

I am bad at weekend mornings. I hear that some people, maybe even a lot of people, have weekend mornings that involve a hot breakfast, hot coffee, the Sunday Times, and hours that pass slowly, quietly, as though on tiptoe, but I am not familiar with that kind of weekend morning. I like mornings a lot, but I am not good at planned relaxation, and I married someone who is similarly impaired. We

Photos du Jour

Our garden.


Yesterday the clouds cleared up and the brilliant blue skies and sunshine came back. We need the rain, but Thursday and Friday were so dark and gloomy with showers...couldn't wait for that to end!

Eating Local, Buying Local

Not long ago I was in North Carolina visiting a beautiful garden at the Biltmore estate. I asked the gardener if it was organic and he got very agitated. "Let me get on my soap box" he said. He then proceeded to explain that most pesticides in the US were organic and that just because something is organic doesn't mean it is free of pesticides and that some organic pesticides are not very effective. He said that sometimes he would have to use an organic pesticide 6 or 7 times instead of using a non-organic pesticide once. The gardener then told me about an integrated insect approach that he used, attracting beneficial insects to do the work to help keep his garden as healthy as possible. But when he must resort to pesticides he chooses whatever he thinks is best, organic or not. Is organic always best? Clearly, it's not that simple.

Because a few years back I was critical of a campaign to "eat only local food", I left some people under the impression that I disagree with the principles of eating local. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, some of the reasons I felt it wasn't sustainable then are now changing. Here are the main reasons why I like "eating local" and why I have subscribed to a local CSA for over 5 years.
* Local food is likely to be fresher and fresher food generally tastes better and is healthier
* Buying local helps support local farmers and producers

But as with eating organic, it's not that simple. Here are the reasons I doubt I will ever limit myself to eating ONLY local food.
* Many products I love (such as mangoes!) can't be grown in my region
* The quality of local products is not always acceptable to me
* Some local products are just too expensive for my budget
* There are too many non-local ingredients that increase the diversity in my diet such as spices, imported cheeses, grains, wines, etc.
* Buying local doesn't necessarily mean saving resources--a recent story in the Boston Globe called The Localvore's Dilemma explored the issue of energy costs associated with local produce and found sometimes more energy is used than when food is imported.

A few weeks ago I did a taste test with Sonoma lamb versus New Zealand lamb and not only was the New Zealand lamb cheaper, but it tasted better to me. As far as I'm concerned, taste trumps everything. I hope one day the local lamb will be tastier not to mention cheaper than the imported lamb. But until then, I'm sticking with whatever tastes best to me and fits my budget. Diversity in my diet is too important to me to forgo eating foods that aren't produced locally. But will I seek out local fruits, vegetables, meat? Yes. I will and I do!

FOOD

Photo du Jour - Les Nems

Ah, les nems!

We actually went out to lunch. In a city.
In other words, I got my you-know-what out of bed early enough to feed and walk the dogs, have coffee, take a shower and get dressed and all pretty, and drive 35 minutes to Narbonne.
All of this before noon!

You see, I had to get to les Halles to get some cheese for la Fête du Fromage as I've pretty much exhausted all of my cheese sources here in the Minervois. Husband was easily enticed along by the promise of lunch in a little Chinese (i.e. Vietnamese) resto that we enjoy.

It was fabulous to Get Out of the House and Get Out of the Village.

And the cheese I found in les Halles - amazing!
Lunch was pretty darn good too. No rosé and no baguette, just nems and fried wontons, Tsingtao beer, super spicy sautéed chicken and steamed rice and Vietnamese chicken salad.

All in all, a great afternoon.

Photo du Jour - le Pique-nique

An impromptu picnic with Cantal vieux and crusty sourdough bread.

Its name is farro

As I type this, it is cloudy again, and cold. The weather today leaves much to be desired. Such as some sunlight, for starters, and warmth, and caramelized onions. Right now, I really, really desire caramelized onions.I know that this picture doesn’t seem to have much to do with onions, nor does it even seem appetizing, I imagine, but bear with me for a second. What you see there is my new ideal

Tarte Tatin

Ahh, the beautiful tarte tatin. Not only is the presentation stunning, with a perfectly caramelized glaze, but the taste is equally unbeatable, a perfect combination of sweet, silky, and crisp. I decided that I'm going to go for it, and I'm going to write my master's thesis on gastronomy and all the beautiful things that entails. So, I knew that in order to win my professor's hearts and convince them that I am qualified to write a thesis on food, I had to make them a tarte tatin.

Ainsi commencait mon bel trajet avec la tarte tatin. And although the end result came out beautifully (if I may say so myself), I would be lying if I said that there weren't some trying moments. Immedieatly after I took it out of my tiny oven, I panicked - I just had a feeling, this tarte tatin was going to fall apart if inverted it - to finalize the tarte, you have to flip it over after you take it out of the oven, so that the pie cover is on the bottom of the dish and the apples are what you see on top. However, there was so much liquid that didn't solidify, I was positive the whole thing would fall apart, and the tarte tatin wouldn't stick together. However, thanks to either a grace of god or the beautiful laws of physics, my tarte tatin stuck together!!!

Oh, happy day!!! I danced around my apartment in glee, because that was a major success for me. Ok, now on to the recipe. I'm going to try my hardest to make this a simple recipe to follow, because it's really not difficult to make, you just need to believe in yourself!!

A couple of notes: Firstly, you will need several hours to put the whole thing together, and this includes the time it takes to cool the pastry crust and caramelize the apples. However, I did this over two days. Last night, I made the pastry crust, placed it in a plastic bag, and kept it in the fridge. I also peeled, cored, and quartered the apples last night because I knew I had to save time. I was meeting with my first professor at 10 AM, and I needed a good two hours to make this little guy in the morning.

Otherwise, this recipe is pretty easy - there are no special tools required, and the crust is one of the easiest I've ever made. Also, just note that the pan you caramelize the apples in is the same one that you put in the oven, so make sure the pan you use can fit into your oven!

Merci et bonne dégustation !

To make the pastry crust, you will need 6 tablespoons butter, 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, a pinch of salt, one egg yolk, and water. Spread the flour out onto a large flat surface and sprinkle a pinch of salt over it. Make a tiny well in the middle, and place the butter in the well. Use your fingers to pinch the butter and flour together, until they just combine and the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center, and plop in the egg yolk. Again using your fingers, slowly massage the flour and butter into the egg yolk, and add water (up to 6 tablespoons) until the ingredients are fully combined.

At this point, you'll want to knead your dough. I really wish I took a picture because that makes it so much easier to describe, but essentially what you want to do is, with the bottom part of the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you, while rotating the dough so that you are able to push all of it.

Flatten it out a bit, then place in a plastic zip-lock or other plastic bag, and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or up to 1 day.

Now let's get to the good stuff, the apple filling: you will need 8-10 small apples, (I used gala, but any cooking apple should work great), 1 stick of butter, and 1 cup of sugar. Wow, now that I write this list out, I realize that this really is simple to make! You'll need to peel, core, and quarter your apples.

Place the butter and sugar in a 8- or 10-inch skillet, and cook over medium-low heat until the sugar just begins to dissolve, and small bubbles start to form. Take the skillet off the heat, and place the apples on their sides around the edge of the skillet. Place as many more apple quarters as you can in the center. Now, you'll probably have a fair amount of apple slices that don't fit, but you'll need to put them on the skillet as well (the apples will shrink during cooking, so you'll want to put in extra apples that will fill in the empty spaces).

Place the apples, butter and sugar back on medium-high heat on the burner, and cook for about 30-40 minutes longer, until the liquid is bubbling vigorously in the center and all of it has become pretty thick. Remove from heat.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees (or as high as possible if you have an oven like mine). Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it thin enough so that it will cover the apples. Cover the apples with the dough, and tuck in the dough around the edges. Cut off any extra dough with some scissors. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the dough has become golden and crispy.

Take it out of the oven, place a larger dish on top of the skillet, and carefully flip it over (do this over the sink, in case some of the liquid falls out!)

Let cool five minutes, then please enjoy!!!! I think there is usually some argument in France over whether or not this should be served with creme fraiche, however general consensus seems to be that it should be served plain and while still hot.

Photo du Jour

I don't think this baby was edible or else I would have taken it home with me. The cap was about 6 inches across!

One great thing about mushrooming here in France, the pharmacies will check them for you so you don't unknowingly eat a poisonous one.
If it had been a cèpe I could have made a delicious risotto with it!

Feeling Lucky?

Lots of winning opportunities this week. First off, over $4000... $10,000 has been raised over at a Menu for Hope. That's fantastic, but there are so many gifts that not everything has gotten a nod yet. Lots of books perfect for gift-giving, plenty of homemade treats and some late additions. If you haven't donated yet, take another look. Pick out the right gift and you could easily be a winner.

Speaking of treats, head over to Bay Area Bites for my interview with Alison McQuade who makes award-worthy chutney in my estimation. Don't forget, if you're in town, tomorrow is the chutney tasting over at The Hidden Vine. Do stop by and say hello.

Last year while traipsing all over Mexico I missed out on the fun of the Food Blogger Awards. This year that event is back again; make your selection for your favorite food blogs in categories such as Best Post, Best Writing and Best Recipes. If you're an avid food blog reader or even if you're not, here's your chance to nominate your favorites (hint, hint). The deadline is this Friday.

Finally the lucky streak continues this Friday when I will be posting a Julia Child post and contest with the Julie and Julia book as the prize!

Happy 2009

Thought I might share some New Year's Eve cheer a few days early....I think this picture epitomizes the grandiose feeling that each New Year's Eve brings, or at least, evokes: elegance, hope, celebration of what has been and what will be, good company and good cheer. No matter what the state of the economy today, I'm holding on to this ideal....

Blinis with smoked salmon, crème fraîche & caviar


Wishing everyone a happy and healthy, (and let's hope prosperous) 2009!
Happy New Year to you!

I'll be back in touch after we return from our "desert adventure". :)

The End of the French Hypermarket?

The French apparently invented hypermarchés, the huge, sprawling superstores that sell everything from food to clothes to appliances. Nobody admits to liking them, but they have replaced countless grocery stores and small supermarkets -- at least until now. According to a recent article in La Dépêche, Toulouse's newspaper, French consumers are becoming disenchanted with their hypers and are ready to rediscover a more intimate shopping experience.

Personally I've always found the hypermarchés far too exhausting; you often have to roam through a whole shopping mall just to get to them. Fortunately in Aveyron, where I live, we have been spared the truly immense megastores. Maybe if the theory in this article is correct, we won't have any in the future either.

French Habits

Living in France has fulfilled one of my greatest dreams and although I complain endlessly about my seemingly endless bureaucratic hiccups, I love living here!

Alas, there are certain habits of the French that I will never pick up, nor understand.


I will never swoon over Johnny Hallyday.

I will never belly up to the bar for a glass of Pastis at 9:45 in the morning.

I will never hang my panties out to dry in front of our house.


I will never learn to appreciate Steak Tartare.

I will never understand why men often face the traffic when they pull over to pee on the side of the road.


Ah well, vive la différence!

Photo du Jour - Stuck

Sections of the Canal du Midi have been drained for winter cleaning and maintenance, leaving these boats stuck in the mud.

First Buches de Noel of the 2009 Season

I very recently made my first buche de Noel of this year. Three of them in fact. It was for a catering job that I did for a private party of 65 people in a very nice part of Paris. The customers are extremely gracious people, who have both an air of approachability and warmth alongside a very hefty dose of elegance. I wanted to try to make a Buche de Noel that reflected this.

The occasion was a birthday celebration for the husband. So, of course, a birthday cake of some sort was in order. Why not in the form of a buche de Noel. It is the season afterall!

And with that as a backdrop, I have to share a little insight into the difference between the French and Amercian cultures...

What I just explained about using a buche de Noel as a birthday cake with candles and all.....that is soooo American! When I went to shop (and hopefully buy) a rectangular box especially made for a buche de Noel.......I received a look of disbelief from the clerk. The specialty boxes were stacked on the highest shelf in the store - not at all reachable -- as if it was just part of inventory (in a Costco kind of way). I had to ask for help to get them down (as tall as I am, I could not even consider trying to grab them myself). Eventually there were two guys helping me on this little project and both shook their heads, "No, no - pas possible (not possible). It's too early for a buche de Noel". I chuckled to myself (if only they knew the sacred Buche would be used as a birthday cake...). I chuckled some more to myself (it's not like it's July or something....it was already the 3rd of December afterall!).

After a bit more talking, and coxing, they eventually agreed to at least try to ring it up to see if it's sell-able. The skeptical clerks went all the way to the other side of the store.....and 20 minutes later I had my answer. With an air of perplexity and disbelief, they said "mais, oui". I could buy it afterall. And let me tell you something......this whole episode that I just described.........it is sooooooo french!

p.s. In case you're wondering, here are the flavors used in my modern take on the classic Buche de Noel: lemon genoise (sponge cake) with a rasberry jelly filling, coated with a layer of chocolate butter cream frosting, that was then coated with a dark chocolate glaçage (layer). And decorated as shown.

/dma

Special occasions, special measures

Never mind that I was awake into the wee hours last night, having coughing fits and nearly choking to death on a Ricola lozenge: as of this post, I am hereby trading my fever for holiday fever. It is the second week of November, with Halloween now tucked away for another year, and nothing can stop me from taking a great, whooping, breathless dive into all things holiday – not even the fact that

Sunday Lunch

We have wonderful friends with big kitchens (ours is really small) and big dining spaces (again...tiny) and big terraces (don't have one of those) who like to have us around for long, Sunday lunches. We reciprocate, but on a smaller scale. Having six around our table is a stretch, having eight means moving large pieces of furniture around.

Last Sunday we spent the afternoon eating, drinking, laughing and watching one of the little ones swim. The house and garden has come a long way since last spring, the site of the nine hour lunch. This time it was about a seven hour lunch. Guess we're losing our stamina...


creamy pumpkin soup inside


stuffed pork loin with roasted cherry tomatoes and potato gratin


I brought dessert, but no photos were taken. It was a dense, rich, flourless chocolate cake called (Almost) Instant "Fix" Chocolate Heroin Cake. I used some coffee liqueur and didn't add any nuts. It was delicious and a highly recommended recipe!


she decided to swim even though it was only about 68 degrees outside


and the other little one did what he normally does, sleep


Today we're invited to another friend's for lunch. It's a long, lazy Saturday lunch this weekend!

Whole Wheat Vanilla Pancakes: Recipe

Want to know the most scrumptious thing you can make for breakfast this weekend? It's these pancakes. Seriously, they are so good I made them twice this week. I've been slowly but surely testing out more and more recipes from whole grain cookbooks, trying to learn how to cook with whole grains. I just want to perfect that handful of recipes I can turn to time and again.

Whole wheat flour can be a tough ingredient to work with because it has such a strong flavor and texture. Often I use white whole wheat flour from King Arthur or I mix half all purpose white flour with half whole wheat but in this recipe, use all whole wheat. The pancakes are both fluffy and moist at the same time. Of course, I put maple syrup on them too! If you have a vanilla syrup like the ones from Sonoma Syrup Company, you could use those instead.

The recipe originally comes from the Betty Crocker Whole Grains: Easy Everyday Recipes, but I've taken more than a few liberties with it. I've made a smaller batch since the original recipe served 7(!) and I've added more leavening and bumped up the vanilla flavor. I hope you like it.

Whole Wheat Vanilla Pancakes
serves 2

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon oil (canola, grapeseed or rice bran oil)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together the whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder and soda and salt in one bowl and make sure there are no lumps. In another bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt, water, oil and vanilla. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir until moistened. Use a very scant 1/4 cup per pancake cooking on a griddle over medium high heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until bubbles form and flip, cooking until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Barley Risotto: Hunger Challenge Recipe

This is a recipe I originally made for a friend who was allergic to just about everything. It's an adaptation of a Bon Appetit recipe. She liked it a lot and so it became a regular addition to my repertoire. It tastes a bit like mushroom barley soup and makes a great vegetarian meal with a salad and a glass of wine, but none of those extras fit on the Hunger Challenge budget!





Mushroom Barley Risotto
$2.00 for 2 servings

1 bouillon cube 14¢
1 teaspoon Smart Balance 3¢ (substitute butter or oil, as desired)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion 13¢
2 cups water, or more as needed
1/2 cup pearl barley, 25¢
1/4 lb pound mushrooms, sliced $1
1 garlic clove, minced 2.5¢
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan, 42¢

Melt Smart Balance in large nonstick pot over low heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add mushroom and garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Add barley and toast in the pan for 1-2 minutes, then add water and bouillon; bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to very low and simmer until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently. Cook until barley is tender but still "al dente", about 45 minutes adding more water as necessary. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of each serving.

Observations:
I really enjoyed this meal, so many budget meals are soup or pasta, this was chewy and meaty and satisfying. While the original recipe calls for fresh thyme, it was flavorful without it. A smaller serving would make a nice side dish for a grilled pork chop. I was pleased that it came in right on budget.

GET INVOLVED!

♥ Learn about the San Francisco Food Bank

♥ Join the Hunger Challenge

♥ Donate and a receive a thank you special thank you gift!

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, “Food Drive/Event Information (not required)”
4. Use the drop-down box to select “Bloggers Hunger Challenge,” so we’ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you’ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

Syrian Lentil Chard Soup:Recipe

When I was growing up, "leafy green vegetable" meant spinach. At some point swiss chard was added to the repertoire and then bok choy. But that was really it. Oh sure, we had salad every night, but no other cooked leafy greens. Later on I discovered the sharp bite of mustard greens, the silky mellowness of cooked escarole and the spicy bitterness of turnip greens. These days my organic market delivery brings me kale and collard greens too. But I still like spinach and swiss chard for sentimental reasons.

Another category mainly skipped over in my childhood was legumes. We ate Mexican refried beans, chili beans, and baked beans, but that was about it. I guess if I had been raised in the South I might have been exposed to more beans and greens, but I wasn't. In college on a budget I lived on black beans, and in Italy I discovered white or cannellini beans. Out on my own I experimented with lentil stews and soups of all kinds until I discovered a recipe for Syrian lentil and chard soup. That was it. No other lentil recipes need apply.

Beans and leafy greens make a great combo nutritionally. Leafy greens are high in calcium and live in the non-starchy vegetable category and beans are high in protein and iron. You'll find that lots of soups combine beans and greens. While lentils by themselves are somewhat tasty, they have an earthy flat flavor that really comes to life when combined with the sharpness of leafy greens and lots of lemon juice. To top it all off, this recipe adds sauteed onions, celery and garlic to punch up the flavor even more. It's one of my favorite vegetarian meals, perfectly satisfying me for dinner with a hunk of crusty French bread. This recipe is adapted from one by James Beard.

Syrian Lentil Chard Soup--'Adas bi Haamud

1 1/2 cups of lentils
3 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large bunch chard, shredded and chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 rib celery
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon flour
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the lentils in plenty of water (more than enough to cover) until done, approximately 40 minutes. Add chard leaves and one cup water, reserve the stems. Meanwhile saute the onions, chopped chard stems and celery in a skillet with the olive oil. Crush garlic with a pinch of salt and add to onions, continue to saute until vegetables are softened and golden. Add with the vegetables to the chard and lentil mixture. Stir. Add lemon juice mixed with one teaspoon flour to flavor the soup. Let simmer until it thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

A starting place

I got some very exciting news on Saturday, and before I do anything else, I can’t help but share it: namely, that my book is available for pre-order on Amazon! A very kind reader of this site wrote to tell me (Thank you, Emily!), and apparently she’d heard because Amazon sent her a notification e-mail. Maybe this happened to others among you? Either way, I promised to let you know when you

La Fête du Fromage

Running a bit behind with things today. Actually I've been running a bit behind all week! Tis the season...

Look for a delicious fromage de chèvre from the Loire Valley in la Fête du Fromage tomorrow.

Speeding up school night dinners

I don't know if it's a European thing, but the French are big on pressure cookers, or "cocottes-minute." I was surprised and even alarmed to find this utensile among my husband's rather limited cooking equipment when I first moved to France. To me, pressure cookers had always represented a mysterious, antiquated and vaguely dangerous way of cooking.

My grandmother (in the USA) has one, but I think it has mainly been used for canning or sterilizing -- I'm not really sure. I do know that actual meals never seem to come out of it. But in France, cooks make plenty of things with them, especially stews and soups.

I have gone through a few cocottes-minute (I'm not sure of the correct plural form, so corrections are welcome) in my years here. The one I had used for about ten years came to a sad end, as pressure cookers can, when I didn't put enough liquid in it. But ten years is enough time for technology to change, and I took it as an opportunity to finally buy the famous SEB Clipso model, which is easier to close than the traditional cookers.

As you can see if you click on the link, these are not cheap pots, but they do allow one to reduce cooking time on many recipes by about two-thirds. I have lived without one for about a year now, but am glad to get back to 10-minute soups and one-hour stews!

Photo du Jour - Jardins du Palais Royal

Relaxing in the gardens behind le Palais Royal, one of my favorite spots in Paris.

Cod tenderloin on a bed of beans with mussles

I had liked so much the main course at the Grand Atelier that I have tried to replicate the recipe.So, impress your guests with this delicious fish recipe!
BEANS
2/3 cup of white beans
1 small leek
Salt and pepper
MUSSLES
½ lb mussels
FISH
4 portions of Cod tenderloin (Thick filets)
1 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper - I used piment d’Espelette instead of pepper
SAUCE:
1 shallot
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp flour½ cup dry white wine (I use a Macon Villages)
½ cup crème fraiche (use heavy cream if you do not find crème fraiche)

Beans:
Cut the leek lengthwise in 2. Cook the beans in a pressure cooker with 3 cups of water and the leek. Season with salt and pepper. Our beans were probably last year’s crop and we had to cook them for 35 minutes.
Mussels:
Wash them until the water is clear, remove the algae if any, put in a pan, cover and cook over medium heat until they are open. Turn the heat off and keep warm.Fish: Melt the butter in a pan with a cover. Put the fish, add salt and pepper, cover and let cook over medium low heat, about 6 minutes)
Sauce:
Melt ½ of the butter in a saucepan. Add the chopped shallot. Drain the water from the mussels and add to the sauce. Add the wine. Add some of the water from the fish, if any. Add the cream. Season to taste. In a small bowl mix the other half of the butter and the flour until you have like a ball (beurre manié). Add to the boiling sauce, stirring constantly. Rectify seasoning.

Serve the sauce in a soup plate, add a few spoonfuls of beans, put the cod on top of the beans, and decorate around the cod with the mussels. Serve immediately.

Meet Chef Gopinathan of Campton Place

Campton Place the restaurant at Campton Place Taj Hotel San Francisco has an illustrious history. Many celebrated chefs have passed through the kitchen including Laurent Manrique, Jan Birnbaum, Bradley Ogden, Daniel Humm, Todd Humphries and Peter Rudolph. The restaurant added an Indian flair to the menu when the Taj took over the hotel and Executive Chef Sri Gopinathan took the helm. The restaurant has flown a bit under the radar for the last few years, but now it's back in the spotlight. Michelin just awarded Campton Place a star in their 2011 guide.

Chef Sri Gopinathan hails from Southern India, trained at the CIA Hyde Park and apprenticed in the kitchen of Raymond Blanc and Gary Jones at the famed Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, in Oxford, England, a Michelin 2 star restaurant.
Since Campton Place is sure to be on the list for local and visiting foodies, I checked in with the chef to learn more about him and his cooking.

How would you describe your food?
My style of cooking is French California with a subtle Spice Route
influence.

What is your signature dish or dishes?
Most of my dishes have my signature-  a subtle use of spices- but I have an emotional attachment to one dish in particular.  It is butter poached lobster with basmati crisp, a coconut curry sauce and cilantro. This preparation reminds me of home; it has typical southern Indian flavor but a French cooking technique.

How has your cooking been influenced by San Francisco and California?
I love the produce available here-  really some of the best produce in the world is from here!  Also there is a really great group of chefs in the Bay Area and the area offers a wonderful, and challenging, culinary platform for me.  The area is full of amazing farmers, artisans in baking and cheese-making, vintners… and the list goes on and on of people who are very influencing, inspiring and motivating.

What are your greatest sources of culinary inspiration?
This is really simple:  I’m inspired by fresh, seasonal produce…and there’s nothing like what is grown here in Northern California.  And secondly, my 90-year old grandmother’s cooking.

What do you like most about living in the Bay Area?
I’ve never lived in a part of the world that has so many people interested in food and wine.  It’s a dynamic influence on me…really everyone is so passionate about what they literally bring to the table.

What are your 3 favorite Bay Area restaurants?
Oh, and now a hard question to answer!  SPQR, Yank Sing and, of course, The French Laundry.

Thanks chef!

Wine Tours In The Languedoc

There's a lot to keep you busy while visiting the Languedoc.

You've got oodles of French culture in cities such as Carcassonne, Nîmes and Montpellier. There's Roman antiquity at sites like the Pont du Gard and the Oppidum d'Enserune. If you want to kick back and relax, there are miles and miles of Mediterranean beaches. If fresh air, hiking and river rafting excite you, head on up to the Haut Languedoc.

However, if you're like me, then the pursuit of great food and wine is the main reason to even bother boarding a crowded airplane, hurtling through space and time while trying to eat crappy airline food and ignore the kid behind you kicking the back of your seat only to land many hours later in a foreign place, disoriented and rumpled.



Luckily there is now a wine expert (and a great friend of ours) offering Wine Tours in the Languedoc. Juliet Bruce-Jones hold a prestigious Masters of Wine degree - one of only 246 in the world!
I've been fortunate enough to take a tasting trip with Juliet, attended Vinisud 2006 with her and have spent many, long lunches at her home, doing my best to help empty out taste the wine in her vast cellar. She's a delightful woman who loves to share her extensive knowledge of wine with others.

So if you're coming to the Languedoc, either for sun, for a dip in the sea or for soaking up some culture, make sure to save some time to learn about the region's fabulous wine with Juliet.

My May market basket (in Paris)

I never go to the market with a list, I seek to be inspired - though I advise you do if you have a tendency to buy more than you need. If such is the case, write down the menus for the week, check the ingredients needed, and enjoy your market stroll. Here is yesterday's market basket! I bought three whole salads, a red lettuce, a lettuce, and a tender "oak leave" salad. They ar so fresh that I can keep them until I go back to the market next Friday. We have a bowl of green salad at least once a day. I do a vinaigrette and toss the salad before serving it. Of course, May is the month of asparragus - the ONLY one. I bought 3 lb of large ones. White asparagus are extremely delicate. I simply cut about 1 inch of the stem, peel them, boil them until soft, and serve them with a light mousseline sauce. You can have them cold or warm - but not hot. Asparagus are a starter, today I served poached free range chicken breasts as our main course.
I bought a bunch of fresh onions, I will use the onions to sautee with beans or with fresh fennel, I can also make a fresh salad. I use the greens, sliced, to make a tart with feta cheese, I'll make it Sunday night. I bought 1 lb of tomatoes, the first ones of the season! They looked ripe and of a tempting red. Salad? Yes: sliced onions, tomatoes, and cucumber: It's starting to feel like summer. A fresh salad and an only goat cheese platter, that's what you'll find at my dinner table tonight. I bought 2 lb of fresh spinach. I washed them, removed the stem, cooked them with a bit of water, drained them very well, and kept them in the fridge for the following day. We had them Saturday with a slice of cooked ham and a fried egg (organic). A French classic.
I bought a bunch of radishes .. you know if you read the my previous post I will serve them as hors d'oeuvre with butter and salt Sunday night. I made the potage with the leaves. It was delicious! I do not understand why I've been throwing away the leaves all this time!
I bought fennel and I prepared it with the spring onions, half red bell pepper cut in stripes, and a couple of tomatoes. I seasoned the fennel with Madras curry powder - for a change. I am going to have the fennel with steamed fish tomorrow for lunch.

What else? Well, I bought some potatoes, two medium onions, garlic, 6 free range eggs, 4 thin slices of cooked ham (for the spinach), carrots (just to have some in the fridge), 4 apples (last of the season), a baguette on the way home, and my two baskets were pretty heavy indeed.

Wordless Wednesday

So longed-for, so sighed-over

Hi, guys.Thanks for keeping the place so warm and tidy while I was gone. It’s good to come home to you.Three weeks, gone in a blur. It’s hard to know where to start.I remember saying to people sometimes, during the year or so that I lived in Paris, that the city felt like my second home. In retrospect, it seems funny that I should say that, since I hardly even know where my first home is. I

Photos du Jour - Wine Tasting

I spent two mornings last week doing blind tastings to help choose wines for le Chai in Homps. It was really interesting! Especially trying to describe the flavors and my general impression of each wine in French. I should have done some studying beforehand.

At each tasting there were about 10 of us, split into pairs, tasting 12 to 13 wines each. The wines were grouped by price and type - vin de pays, AOC Minervois or AOC Minervois la Livinière.
One morning I tasted 12 Minervois white wines and the next morning I tasted 13 AOC Minervois reds priced between €5-7.

I learned a lot.
Like teeth brushing just before wine tasting is counterproductive. Good thing there was some French bread to help clean my palate!



A bit of French wine tasting terminology:
expressif
boisé
fruité
très vanillé
notes de miel
bien équilibré
léger mais très agréable
encore bien jeune mais déjà agréable
arômes de fruits
exubérant
élégant
harmonieuse
complexe
souple
rond
fermé

HEAT!

A store called Grand Frais opened recently in Narbonne, a 35 minute drive from our village. They carry 3 or 4 kinds of chili peppers, as well as an amazing selection of "exotic" fruit and vegetables. This place is fantastic!
I know it seems strange to get so excited about this but when you've been living in rural France for the last 3 years after having lived in San Francisco and Seattle and New Orleans, getting hold of these "exotic" fruits and vegetables is like finding the holy grail. It has allowed me to crack open my dusty copy of Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen cookbook and to start making some of the Asian recipes from Mark Bittmann's The Best Recipes in the World, a new acquisition.

They even have okra! I haven't seen okra in 3 years. We hosted a curry night last Wednesday with 6 friends and I made Bhindi Masala in honor of this exciting purchase. I'll be making gumbo soon, if the filé powder I've been keeping isn't completely stale.

Thank you Grand Frais!

I've only recently discovered the thoroughly wonderful blog, Matt Bites. This week his post on artichokes answered a question I posed about Fiesole artichokes almost a year ago to the day.

Do you only have one bottle of soy sauce in your pantry? Well shame on you! Me too. But I've learned what I need to know about soy sauce from the latest primer over at Tigers & Strawberries and so can you.

You've heard of dessert for breakfast, crepes, fruit salad and the like, but how about breakfast for dessert? Check out a la cuisine who documents Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream, Pain Perdu and Tea Jelly.

FOOD

More Reading

If your social agenda looks anything like mine, you have some serious shopping to do for wedding presents. Wondering what would make a nice addition to something on the registry? How about a cookbook? Check out SF Station for my foodie feature Cookbooks for Couples . Even if you're not looking for a gift, you might want to check out the selections to update your own cookbook collection. I discovered some wonderful cookbooks I think you'll really enjoy.



For another bit of weekend reading, spooncore has published my most recent submission on Chocolate and Love . Like Recipe for a Kitchen Meditation, it's a bit of a departure from my usual musings here at Cooking with Amy, so let me know what you think and have a great weekend!