Wine Cake with Butter Wine Glaze

I've received my share of thoughtful gifts in my life.  But when someone gives me a beautiful bundt cake pan (and I'm talking beautiful here, truly.  I would be displaying it if there were a single available inch of display surface in this little apartment.) and a tried and true recipe for putting it to use, well, that just about tops everything.  My Aunt Karen did just that when she found out I was engaged, all the way back last October.  And I would have put this pan to use much, much earlier, except that there are only two of us living here.  Two people with little will power means an entire bunt cake would have been consumed in one day.  And half a bundt cake is too much, even for me.  So when we finally convinced some friends to come over for dinner (you wouldn't think it would be so hard, but I have a feeling most people think we're extending empty niceties when we invite them, instead of honest to goodness invitations) this was always going to be dessert.

Have you ever had a wine cake?  This was my first time, and I have to say Aunt Karen sure knows how to kick it up a notch.  Although I've never sampled one, I've seen other wine cakes that get their names from the 1/2 cup or so of wine in their batter.  This one, however, also sports a glaze made from wine, sugar and butter not only on top, but inside.  When the cake is pulled from the oven, it gets a few good jabs from a wooden spoon, then half the wine glaze is poured into and around the holes.  There's nothing to do but watch the cake greedily absorb its liquor, before you turn it out onto a serving plate and drizzle the rest of the glaze on top.

And this, my friends, is a lot of glaze.  it puddles and pools, dripping down sides and into creases.  Ragnar actually broke out the turkey baster to collect the glaze from the cake's center and redistribute it back on top (genius use of a turkey baster, by the way).  And you know, it's a strange fact that this was actually the first time I've made a cake from a mix.  I've made plenty of cakes from scratch, creaming butter and sugar and all of that, and I think it's still my preferred way to go.  But this one does not taste like a box mix.  Absolutely does not.  And it was met with so many oohs and aaahs  (not to mention the fact that is was decimated by 4 people in one sitting) that it will never occur to anyone to ask.

Aunt Karen's Wine Cake

1 box Duncan Hines Yellow Cake mix

1 3 1/2 ounce box jello instant vanilla pudding

1/2 cup white win (like pinot gregio)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and beat well with an electric mixer.  I beat for about 5 minutes.  Pour the batter into a 10" bundt pan which has been well greased.  Bake on 350F for between 45 and 50 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the cake is done, make the glaze:

1 stick butter, cut into chunks

1 cup sugar 

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 cup water

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, stir the butter together with the water and wine until it is all dissolved together.  Add the sugar and continue stirring until it is also dissolved.  Increase the heat and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and set aside as you take the cake out of the oven.

Remove the cake from the oven, and, using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes in the bottom.  Pour 1/2 of the glaze over and around the holes and let the cake absorb the glaze. 

Invert the cake onto a serving dish, and drizzle the rest of the glaze on top.  You may need to do this in several batches.  Serve and enjoy.

Cranberry Coffee Cake: Recipe

You know it's Fall when fresh cranberries appear in the supermarket. I always buy a few extra packages and throw them in the freezer. One more culinary confession? I still have a package left from last year! Ok, I'm not sure exactly when I bought them, but it wasn't in the past couple of months so I can only assume...

Cranberries are grown in bogs in the Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Washington State and Oregon. Native Americans were using cranberries when the pilgrims arrived here--they cooked with them, used them to dye fabric and even used them as medicine. Cranberries are most commonly used in sauce served with turkey at Thanksgiving but the introduction of dried cranberries has made them more popular year round. They are tangy and filled with vitamin C. Fresh cranberries freeze very well, though I suggest not waiting a whole year to use them!

With the weather cooling down, it's a perfect time of year to bake a coffee cake. This one is not too sweet and has a lovely cranberry stripe through it. I baked it in a bundt pan, but you could also use a springform pan if you like.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen)

Spray or butter a bundt pan or 8 inch springform pan. Chop the cranberries coarsely and add 1/4 cup of sugar. Set aside. In a small bowl whisk together to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl cream together the butter and one cup of sugar until fluffy, using an electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating together the mixture after each addition. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place have the batter in the pan then place the cranberries on top of the batter, leaving a little space between the berries and the side of the pan. Spread the remaining batter evenly over the top of the berries.

Bake at 350 degree for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

January 30

Greetings from Book Proposal Land.I lied. That isn’t really what Book Proposal Land looks like. Not in the winter, anyway.(Only in the summer, from a ferry.)It’s quiet here. The nightlife isn’t much to write home about.Socks and slippers, mostly.There’s not a lot of sensible eating here in Book Proposal Land. Almost no vegetables.Just pancakes and coffee. Cereal. Girl Talk. Some John

Fresh Herb Potato Salad:Recipe

What do Jerusalem artichokes, horseradish and dandelion greens have in common? You'll never guess. Each has a name that is an English version of a foreign name. The Jerusalem artichoke is a variety of sunflower, and the name is derived from "girasole" which means sunflower in Italian. Horseradish is "meerrettich" in German and because "meer" sounds like "mare" the English called it horseradish. Dandelion comes from the French "dent de lion" or lion's tooth, in reference to the jagged leaves of this bitter yet tasty weed.

Like horseradish, dandelion has quite a bite to it. It can be eaten raw or cooked and like other leafy greens, it is a good source of vitamin A, calcium and iron. But frankly, I'd never cooked with it until this weekend. I found a Jamie Oliver recipe for a potato salad using chopped dandelion greens and I also heard raves about a potato salad with chopped fresh mint, so I decided to combine the two.

Unlike many potato salads, this one uses a vinaigrette instead of mayonnaise. As a result, it holds up very well and it was a big hit at the picnic this past weekend. The mint lends a refreshingly summery quality and balances the tang of the dandelion greens but I'm sure other fresh herb combinations would be delicious as well--perhaps chives and taragon or chervil and parsley. Experiment with this one and let me know how it goes.

Fresh Herb Potato Salad
Serves 4-6

1 lb red potatoes

Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tablespoon Champagne vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 Tablespoons chopped shallots
Salt & pepper to taste

Handful of fresh mint
Handful of fresh dandelion greens


Boil a big pot of water with a good couple teaspoons of salt (the water should taste like sea water) Cut the larger potatoes into pieces or halves as close as possible to the same size as the smaller red potatoes and add them to the water when it boils. Cook the potatoes until they just fall off the blade of a knife when you pierce them. You don't want them too mushy or too firm. (I find it takes about 15 minutes or so, but it will depend on how many you cook and how large they are) When cooked through, drain them and when cool enough to handle cut into chunks. You can peel them if you wish. Whisk together the ingredients for the vinaigrette and pour over the potatoes while still warm. Season with salt and pepper once the salad has cooled slightly, then refrigerate. Right before serving, roughly chop the mint and dandelion greens and toss lightly or layer with the potatoes. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

A flurry of fingers and cupped lettuce leaves

I love driving home alone at night. I race west across the lake, Seattle blinking silently before me, its streets wide and burnished-looking under the lights. I know my way without thinking, and it feels so solid here on my own, coming home to myself. A noteworthy day all around. My belly hurts from laughing too much.The rains have returned, and this evening Keaton quite literally blew off the

Soda Stream Sparkling Water

When the waiter asks what kind of water I say "tap," but my other half says "sparkling." Until recently we had been drinking plain filtered tap water at home, but not anymore, now our water sparkles there too. My dad used to buy seltzer water in cans by the case and then by the liter until he got a carbonating machine. He's been raving about it for ages, so when Soda Stream offered me a unit to review I said sure.

Soda Stream sells an entry level soda machine for under $100 and frankly, I can't imagine why you'd buy any other model. It's easy to use, takes up barely any counter space and doesn't even require an electrical outlet. You do have to buy carbonator cartridges, but the cost per liter comes out to only about 20 cents. I'm particularly impressed that the water bottles you get with the machine keep the water very fizzy even after they have been repeatedly opened and closed.

I'm fine with a glass of sparkling water garnished only with a slice of lemon or lime, but if you want to make soda, they also sell various syrups to mix with the water. The soda mixes I tried were too sweet for my taste, but then again, I'm not a soda drinker. If I was going to make soda, I'd use the lovely syrups from Sonoma Syrup.

Having switched to drinking carbonated water I can really see the appeal. Little bubbles just make water even more refreshing somehow. Last year I wrote about cocktails and spirits over at Glam and this year I've been writing on the same subject for Project Foodie. I don't have much experience as a bartender but I think I may start experimenting now that I have soda water on hand...

Read All About It

There have been a number of bloggers making headlines lately. There have also been several interesting stories about food bloggers and food blogging. This blog has been referenced in various publications several times, going back almost two years now. But this is the first time I can recall that Cooking with Amy has made the front page!

Of dubious distinction I am now famous for being an obsessed blogger. To those who know me personally this may not come as a great surprise. You may recall I jumped the gun back in December when I was interviewed for a story in the San Jose Mercury News. Well the story finally ran earlier this week. You can read all about it in the article Bloggers' Internet obsession. The story has also run in various other newspapers around the country including the Grand Forks Herald, The Charlotte Observer, The Wichita Eagle, etc.

That's me sipping hot chocolate at the bottom of the page. And to think you knew me way back when...

Photo du Jour - Mimosa

February is when the little, golden, pom-pom flowers burst into bloom on the mimosa trees.

If it’s Friday, it must be eggs-and-beer night

It was a Friday night, and you know what that means: good Catholics won’t eat meat; Shabbat-savvy Jews won’t sow, plow, reap, grind, sift, knead, bake, spin, weave, tie, or untie; and good, savvy Seattlites won’t hesitate to crack open a beer, break a few eggs, and call it a day.Dear reader, this may be the closest I’ll ever come to getting religion, and I owe it all to my petite, ingenious

The Famous Zuni Bird

I fiddle with recipes some.  Some recipes I fiddle with a lot. But not with the Zuni Roast Chicken.  That one I'm leaving alone.  Not because I don't mess with Judy Rodgers, I'll gladly take liberties with her, but because this recipe is at base about a specific technique for roasting a chicken at home, and it has garnered Judy Rodgers a lot of admirers.  In fact, in an episode on roasting chickens on America's Test Kitchen, Christopher Kimbal actually acknowledges that there is no better method than this one.  If it's good enough for Christopher Kimbal...

According to Rodgers, there are three main necessities for a well roasted chicken:

1. The chicken must be small.  The high fat content in a small (hello, organic/free range!) chicken can withstand the high heat needed to crisp up that skin and keep the moisture inside.

2. The heat must be high.  See above.

3. The bird must be salted at least 24 hours in advance, although it's not going to need extra fat or trussing!

The bread salad is more recipe than method.  But do make sure your bread is day-old so it doesn't absorb too much liquid and become a gloppy mess.

Zuni Roast Chicken with Bread Salad

For the chicken:

One small chicken 2-3/4 to 3-1/2 pounds

4 sprigs of fresh thyme (or anything you want, really)

Salt/pepper

For the salad:

1 loaf day-old country peasant-style bread, crusts removed (don't use sourdough)

6-8 tablespoons olive oil

1-1/2 tablespooms Champagne or white wine vinegar

Salt/pepper

1 tablespoon dried currents (I used raisins)

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon warm water

2 tablespoons pine nuts

2-3 garlic cloves, passed through the press

4 scallions, slivered

2 tablespoons lightly salted chicken stock or lightly salted water 

A few handfuls of arugula or some other fresh, spicy green.

Season the chicken: about 2 days beforehand (especially for the 3-1/2 pound bird I had) rinse your chicken and pat it very dry, inside and out.  It's really critical to get it dry here so that it roasts properly later on. Slide a finger underneath the skin of each of the breasts and on the thickest section of each of the thighs.  Slide a sprig of thyme into each of these pockets. Season the chicken liberally all over with salt and pepper.  Don't worry too much about seasoning the inside.  Cover loosely and refrigerate.

Brush your bread with a bit of olive oil and then toast it under the broiler, turning once. Tear the bread into irregular sized chunks.  Combein 1/4 cup olive oil with the Champagne or white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Leave aside just a bit of this vinaigrette to toss on the salad just before serving.  Toss most of the vinaigrette with the chunks of bread, and add more salt if necessary.  Re-hydrate the currents/raisons in the red wine vinegar and the warm water.

Begin roasting chicken

Oven set to 475.  Preheat a shallow pan (I used a 10" oven-proof skillet) over medium heat until a little water flicked on the surface sputters. Wipe the chicken dry and set it breast side up in the pan.  The chicken will sizzle, so move it straight into the oven.  Roast for about 30 minutes, then turn the chicken the other way so that the breasts are facing down.  Continue to roast for another 10-20 minutes.  Flip the chicken one more time to re-crisp the breast skin, then remove to a warm plate.  While the chicken is roasting, toast the pine nuts just so they're heated through.

In a small skillet, sweat the garlic and scallions until just tender. Stir constantly to avoid browning. Add them to the bread, along with the strained currents/raisins and the chicken stock or salted water.  Put the bread in a baking dish, tent with foil, and place in the oven with the chicken once the chicken has been flipped for the last time.

Finishing and serving

Take the chicken out of the oven and turn it off.  Let the bread salad rest in the oven to keep warm. Transfer the chicken to a plate and pour off the clear fat from the roasting pan.  Add a little water, about a tablespoon, and swirl it.  Pour any juices that might have accumulated under the chicken into the pan, and bring to a simmer. Be sure to stir and scrape up the pieces that are stuck to the pan. Combine the bread salad with the greens and the bit of held-over vinaigrette.  Then drizzle with the pan juices, toss and serve.

5 Facts

It's been an awfully long time since I've been personally tagged for a meme. I am busy unpacking, sorting the accumulated mail and plowing through email, but since I don't have time for much of a real post this meme is a nice stop gap measure.

Thanks to Sarah of Suite Apple Pie for tagging me.

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules
2. Share 5 facts about yourself
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.

4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. I'm sending them direct messages via Twitter instead.

5 Facts (you probably don't know about me)


1. Last week in the Italian city of Benevento I was one of the judges of a student cocktail competition with the theme "Cucina & Magia" which means cooking and magic. The winning cocktail used white rum, Strega, lemon and blueberry juice, muddled basil leaves and was garnished with a spiral of zucchini. Refreshing and light, I wish I had the recipe. The winner was the only woman contestant. Brava!


2. Last night after seeing a movie I dined at a very inexpensive North African restaurant called Cafe Zitouna on Polk street. The fantastic homemade merguez was served over couscous with a big bowl of vegetables, and the fragrant chicken b'stilla was moist and flavorful. I look forward to going back.


3. A few weeks back at the Maker Faire I was totally smitten by these knitted cupcakes and donuts. Utterly useless but so darn cute!


4. At the Frankfurt airport I ate a surprisingly delicious sandwich of thinly sliced ham, green apple and horseradish cream on a wheat roll studded with pumpkin seeds. It helped steady my nerves after being frisked by German airport security.

5. My first breakfast after coming home from Italy was a smoked fish platter at Miller's East Coast Delicatessen. It had whitefish salad, belly lox and sable. There was so much fish I bought extra bagels and it was enough for another breakfast--for 2 people! The coleslaw, potato salad and pickles are still in the fridge.

5 people/bloggers I'm tagging are--Gluten Free Goddess, Hedonia, Lucullian Delights, Vanilla Garlic & Ms. Adventures in Italy. Each are bloggers who inspire me in one way or another, they are also all on Twitter. Are you?

Photo du Jour

Vivid color on our neighbor's doorstep.

Contest: What the heck is that?

I found this item while shopping just the other day. I was intrigued in part because I saw something like this in another blog in the past month or so. Perhaps you remember it too. Do you know what it is?

The first person to correctly identify this edible mystery item and its country of origin will win Food Smarts from SmartsCo and the second winner will receive a packet of Cranberry Jelly Candies from the Oregon coast.

Is it:
A. Beet chip with sesame seeds
B. Dried dragonfruit
C. Micro watermelon
D. Raspberry mustard seed jam

Did it come from:
1. United States
2. Australia
3. Mexico
4. Thailand

Choose the correct answer and country where you think it comes from and post your guess in the comment section be sure to include your email so I can contact you if you win!

Food Blog? Do I Write a Food Blog?

I have officially succumbed to France's joyful June madness.

My family and I are like these birds, barely finding the time to scratch about for food as we flit around.

Food blog? Do I write a food blog?

(Thank you to Terre Adélie: Le carnet for the artwork: "Les oiseaux de juin")

Baked Ham and Cheese Savory Custard

From Tessa Kiros's Apples for Jam, this simple, homey dish is a breeze to put together and just decadent enough to be completely satisfying. Kiros calls this a variation on the ham and cheese sandwich, and indeed it does have the same simple appeal.  I have to admit I dialed down the dairy a bit, using only 1/2 cup of cream and 1 1/2 cups of milk.  I also elected to only use a thin layer of parmesan cheese and I melted 2 tablespoons of butter instead of 5 1/2 so the bread could be lightly dipped in the butter, rather than slathered.  I also used Challah, which, I have to say, is almost always the best choice for any kind of custard, bread pudding or french toast preparation.  Nothing beats it!

Baked Ham and Cheese Savory Custard

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Freshly grated nutmeg to tatse

Salt

About 5 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened (or less if you melt the butter first)

1 loaf white bread, crusts removed and cut into 1/2 thick slices

8 ounces thinly sliced ham

1 2/3 cups grated fontina, pecorino or something similar

2/3 cups crated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350, and lightly grease an ovenproof dish.  Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then add the cream and milk along with the nutmeg and a bit of salt.  Dip half of the bread slices in the melted butter and arrange them on the bottom of the dish, overlapping slightly, so that the dish is completely covered.  Pour on half of the egg/milk mixture and allow to sit for 5 minutes of so to give the bread a chance to soak up the milky goodness.  Next, add a layer of half of the ham and top with a layer of half the cheese.  Repeat the process with one more layer of bread, milk, ham and cheese.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and crusty.  When finished, allow the custard to cool a bit before serving.

*   *   *

I'm sorry about the quality of the picture.  I can already tell that photographing at night this winter is going to be a challenge! 

Photo du Jour

Old staircase tucked into a corner of a courtyard.

Don't you think this looks like it could have been taken in Mexico or the Caribbean? It has that verdant, overgrown look of the tropics.

Great Food Magazines

I have a shocking confession to make. There are times, sometimes whole weeks when I don't feel like cooking. The fridge may be empty or full; it makes no difference. Not in the mood. The muse has left the building. In this predicament we just have to eat out, order in and wait for the feelings to pass. Another good solution to jump start one's cooking mojo, is to turn to cooking magazines.



There are so many cooking magazines available at my local newsstand it boggles the mind. There are the widely available typical American ones like Everyday Food, Bon Appetit, and Cooking Light and the more esoteric ones like Saveur, Cook's Illustrated, Food Arts and Gastronomica. There are also a whole host of foreign ones, from English speaking countries mind you, like Olive, Delicious, BBC Good Food and Food & Travel. English ones, Australian ones, Canadian ones. Some really interesting stuff too. But because they are printed abroad they come at a high price.



Browsing at the newsstand can inspire a weeks worth of recipes, easy. Because reading a cooking magazine allows you to daydream a bit, a chance to ponder the possibilities. But all cooking magazines are not the same. All of them offer recipes, techniques, travel and restaurant reviews but each has a different slant. Here is a run-down of cooking magazines I actually subscribe to and why. (I've included links to their websites, though none of the sites can hold a candle to the actual magazines.)



Food & Wine

My favorite among the bunch, Food & Wine has a more contemporary even sophisticated sensibility than other typical food magazines. The wine articles are not intimidating and the recipes are more original and inspiring than I find elsewhere. It also has travel articles in fact, the best restaurants we tried in Spain were recommendations from a copy of Food & Wine.



Bon Appetit

"America's food and entertaining magazine". Bon Appetit offers readers favorite restaurant recipes and it truly excels with it's "every night cooking" and "too busy to cook" recipes each month. The recipes are interesting, appealing and accessible. But it's focus is on how to entertain with food and it does a great job at that too.



Gourmet

Gourmet's best issues are the collector's editions that focus on one city and cover recipes, restaurants, markets, trends and history. Since the redesign, Gourmet has become much less the magazine for the epicure than it used to be. It now features the "quick kitchen" and "five ingredients" recipes in addition to the more involved preparations. Unfortunately it doesn't do as a good a job with those as Bon Appetit does. It also offers up plenty of travel and shopping articles.



Saveur

Saveur is like the National Geographics of food and cooking. Not only are there recipes, but stories on origins of different kinds foods, drinks, ingredients and culinary traditions. Their emphasis is on authenticity but it's not at all snooty. It's here you will discover unusual ingredients and little known places to shop and dine.



If you are interested in subscribing to any cooking magazines, I highly recommend you check out MagazinePriceSearch.com. For right around the price of one issue, you can get a whole years subscription. As as an example, available through their site at the moment is Saveur, a one year subscription 8 issues will set you back $3.99 (single issue on the newstand is $5.00).

Ravioli Salad:Recipe

We have soup for dinner once every week or two. Soup is comforting and easy because you can make it in advance if you like. Healthy too. Now that the weather is warming up, salads also seem like a good choice for dinner, yet I'm always afraid they won't be hearty enough. I love a Cobb salad or a chicken salad, but they can be a bit too hearty, if you know what I mean. A green salad just needs that extra something to make it feel like a meal.

Last week I had a salad at an Italian restaurant that had included a few toasted ravioli. A very American thing to do, but it really worked. Usually when I make ravioli I like to mix it with some kind of vegetable or serve a salad on the side but this was a great amalgamation. I don't remember all the things in the salad so I set about to make my own version with the chicken herb ravioli I had on hand. I added some vegetables, cheese and a vinaigrette and voila! a salad supper if there ever was one. Just the thing when you're not too hungry and you want something healthy to eat.

I think you could make endless variations on this salad, it really depends what you have available and what strikes your fancy. Consider using a combination of herbs, greens, vegetables and cheese that compliment the ravioli and you're on your way.

Ravioli Dinner Salad
Serves 2

10 ravioli (I used chicken herb but any flavor/filling would work fine)
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil

handful flat leaf parsley
handful fresh cilantro
3 Tablespoon crumbled feta cheese
4 canned artichoke hearts, cut in quarters
1 small tomato sliced in wedges
green or red leaf lettuce

balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Mix up the vinaigrette to taste (or you could use bottled salad dressing). Boil the ravioli according to instructions, then drain and saute in butter and oil over medium heat until lightly brown on each side and slightly crispy. Toss the greens and the vegetables and herbs with the vinaigrette composed of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Plate up the salad and top each serving with the warm ravioli and a sprinkling of feta cheese.

Enjoy!

Michel Roth said he liked my poched egg!

I got a phone call late last week asking if I'd be interested in doing a breakfast. It would be for about 12 people. A sit-down. I said yes. We settled on a simple menu. A day later, the twelve people turned into six who would "trickle in" instead of dining together. And then a 2nd cuisinier (cook) was added to help do coffee and such. So my motivation went from OK to low in the course of a few days that this thing evolved. Finally, the day of the event....it turned out to be a very slow trickle....of just 3 people. However, one of the three was Michel Roth! Suddenly, all the mise-en-place became somehow worthwhile.

Michel Roth is the chef at L'Espadon, the restaurant gastronomique of the l'Hôtel Ritz, and with Monday's release of the 2009 Michelin Guide, his two-star status was officially announced. I still hold a high regard for those who have achieved the Michelin mark, despite some of the controversy that surrounds the Guide. I was pleased to meet Chef Roth (as brief as it was) and even more pleased to prepare something for him to taste. He arrived around 10:30am, much too late for breakfast, and yet he still kindly sampled my "oeuf poché façon Bragance, mediterannée" (poched egg in a half-tomato with a ratatouille). Me simply bringing it out to him with a "voila" might have had something to do with this! Guess what. He said he liked it! It pleased me to hear such words from a two-star chef. He seems to be a genuinely nice guy, and that's probably all it is, but still, it's not everyday that a chef etoilée samples your food. Pretty cool.

Somebody please remind me next time to take a picture of the chef! Even if the encounter is brief. I'll have to get some advice from Ulla on how to do this better...
:

Orange-Yogurt Coffee Cake

Things I am not motivated for: doing real work. Things I am motivated for: eating cake. Actually I am having a bit of a motivation problem lately, and "next monday" seems always to be the day of reckoning for when I'll begin taking my life seriously again. The great thing about next monday is that it can always be put off for a week. So I do. I try to feel guilty about it, something I'm normally good at, but not this time. So anyway, next monday.

But that doesn't mean I've turned my brain all the way off until then. In fact, there's something I'd like to talk about a little because it regularly Pisses. Me. Off. (you heard me.) And that, my friends, is advertising. Specifically, advertising that always hinges on the photoshopped woman-as-object. It gets to me. It's why I haven't read a fashion magazine in years. It angers lots of other people, turns out, including Newsweek. And this article on 2009's worst photoshopping offenses proves it. Why do we women put up with this crap?

So you know what I think we should do this New Year? I think we should shelve all of that damn body shame heaped on us by corporate America and eat cake instead. Can we do that, please? It would make me feel a lot better.

Orange-Yogurt Coffee Cake

From Cooking with Shelburne Farms

Cake:

2 large oranges, washed well (I used 2 navel oranges that were Huge)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup white sugar

2 large eggs

3/4 cup vanilla or plain yogurt (come on, stick with the spirit here and don't use fat free)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Glaze:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice, from those oranges up above

1/2 cup apricot-orange marmalade (There are several brands of apricot-orange, but if you can't find it, just use orange)

confectioner's sugar (optional)

For the cake:

Oven preheated to 350F. Zest one of the large oranges, and that should be just about the perfect amount. If it's not, use some of the second orange as well. Juice both oranges, then measure out 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of juice and set aside, separated.

Grease your bundt pan and put it in the refrigerator. (I have to admit I'm not totally sure why this step is here, but I did it, and the cake turned out, so...) whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.

With a standing or hand-held mixer (standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream the butter and sugar together. I like to add the zest at this point, because the sugar acts as sand paper and releases the oils from the zest, making it even more fragrant. So add the zest. Cream for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating between each until they're fully incorporated.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup of the orange juice, the yogurt and the vanilla. Keep your mixer on low speed and add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients, alternating, to the creamed butter and sugar. Do this in three parts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until it passes the toothpick test.

While the cake is baking, it's time for the glaze:

Melt the butter, the remaining 2 tablespoons orang juice and the marmalade together in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately turn it from the pan onto a serving plate. Pour the glaze over the hot cake. Cool the cake and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving.

Dronning Maud Pudding

The first time I had Dronning Maud Pudding was as a dessert in Norway on New Year's Eve. Since then, it's been something of an obsession around here. Which is fitting, because the story of Dronning Maud is all about obsession (which is overstating it a bit, but good for drama). Anyway, the story is that this pudding was developed by a Norwegian chef in R's hometown of Haugesund and it was originally called Haugesundsdessert. In 1906, Norway crowned its first King and Queen after seceding from Sweden. Tradition states that after the crowning, the new King and Queen, in this case Queen Maud (or Dronning Maud in Norwegian) and King Haakon (Kong Haakon), travel around the country. When they stopped in Haugesund, they were served this dessert, and Dronning Maud loved it so much that she not only asked for a second helping, but the pudding was renamed for her and saw its popularity blossom throughout Norway as a result.

I've tried making this pudding once before, but my experience with gelatin is admittedly limit, and it balled up becoming gummy, rather than incorporating smoothly into the cream. This time, rather than just dumping it into the cream, I took a slightly different approach which worked, and which I describe in the recipe.

I wanted to use the version of the recipe translated by my sister-in-law, but her recipe called for sheets of gelatin, rather than powder, and the sheets I found were evidently of a different size than what they have in Norway. At that point it seemed like a risk to try to convert it a million different times, so I found the same recipe in my beloved Norwegian cookbook. Since we were making this for a party, and since we have a rather large truffle dish, I double the recipe. However, since I was just learning to work with gelatin, I didn't double it right away, but rather made the below recipe twice.

Dronning Maud Pudding
Ingredients from Rane Brimi and Ardis Kaspersen's Norwegian National Recipes, steps by me

4 egg yolks
8 ounces white sugar
2 envelopes Knox gelatin
Boiling water to cover the gelatin
2 cups heavy cream
1 bar chocolate, finely grated

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until fluffy and a pale yellow. Dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, and allow it to come to just warmer than room temperature. If it starts to set up, just whisk it with a fork.

In a clean, cold bowl, with clean, cold beater (in order to get maximum volume), begin whipping the cream. When it start to thicken, pour the gelatin in a very thin stream into the cream as you whip in order to avoid lumps. Stop whipping before it's quite done and add the cream to the egg/sugar mixture. Resume mixing once again until the pudding is smooth and well combined.

In a serving bowl, mound half of the pudding, then add a layer of chocolate, and then another layer of pudding. End with a layer of chocolate. Refrigerate overnight to allow it to fully set up.

UPDATE: The egg yolks in this recipe are uncooked. You should use fresh eggs from a reliable source, or you may be able to find eggs that have been pasteurized in the shell. If not, you of course shouldn't feed raw eggs to, say, pregnant women, the elderly or young children.

Supperclub & SubCulture Dining: Mystery Meals

This week I was treated to dinner at both Supperclub and SubCulture Dining, two interesting and unusual dining experiences. Sometimes, though not always, the experience of dining out is about much more than just the food, it's about the environment, the service, the company and the "why" as opposed to the "what", and that's what both of my dinners highlighted.

Part 1: Supperclub
Supperclub is located in SOMA and consists of various environments. There is a bar, a lounge and main dining room. Each is beautifully lit and has a different theme and feeling to it. The bar is a vibrant red, the lounge an intimate and cozy space and the main "Salle Neige" in addition to being white, is cool and a bit of a blank canvas. Each of the spaces has a nightclub vibe. So why the mystery? Because in addition to not knowing the menu beforehand, you also won't know exactly what the evening entails and that is really the point.

In any case, there are some things I will share. At Supperclub, you eat dinner in bed. The main room is like a u-shaped day bed with small tables for resting your drinks. The most comfortable seats are definitely in corners where you can prop yourself up. The food is always some sort of tasting menu and takes place over several hours where performances of the mostly conceptual sort take place. The chef Jon Stevens does a fine job, but I can't say my meal was tremendously exciting. On the night I dined there the starter was easily the best dish of the evening. It was seared scallops served with a cool cilantro sauce and chunky avocado salsa. It was hot, cool, refreshing and herbal. Unfortunately the rest of the dishes weren't quite as enticing. We also had an almond soup, and because it was aphrodisiac week, men got a carrot soup instead. We enjoyed a hummus dip with toast, mozzarella and basil, a perfectly cooked steak with chocolate red wine sauce, and molten chocolate cake with an odd peanut sauce.

But a big part of the dining experience IS the experience and not just the food itself. I love the idea of Supperclub, and I bet some nights it is a brilliant experience, but like any performance it depends greatly not just on the audience but the performers. I enjoyed the tightrope walker the best, and our waiter was charming, but in general I felt everyone was trying too hard. The blank canvas format has great yet unrealized potential, for example, why not serve only finger food? Or at least skip anything that needs a knife. One of the performances featured acrobatics and utilized the stairs, the bar in the kitchen and even the ceiling and that was terrific. I think the more interactive the experience the better. For a special night out when you are looking for something "different" this could be the ticket. With the right group of friends you could have some fun here. Would I go again? I'm not sure.

Part 2: SubCulture Dining
The second dining experience took place in an unnamed location. Actually it was a bit cloak and dagger to gain entry. My dining companion found out about the dinners on the sly, and invited me to attend with a group of friends. After reservations were made, the directions were to meet at a street corner in Noe Valley, call a phone number and be escorted to the secret location. After being lead up a set of back stairs and through a kitchen we found ourselves in a lovely private home. There was a table for four in the kitchen and a large dining room table where three separate parties were seated for dinner.

I have read a lot about these underground dinners including a piece just recently in the LA Times. With so many great places to eat in San Francisco, why would you want to try something where the quality of the food and the experience is really a mystery? Well, I guess it's because some people thrive on the taboo nature or are fans of the chef or the concept. In the case of SubCulture Dining chef Russell Jackson's concept is described in a "creed of ethics" that includes a commitment to good food, community and sustainability for all. Call me curious.

So aside from the environment, how was the food? It was good. It reminded me of recent tasting menus I've had at Silks and Campton Place. Some dishes were outstanding, others just slightly missed the mark. Highlights were a fantastic Moroccan spiced venison with huckleberries and rapini. The meat was unbelievably tender and delicious and it was wonderfully paired with a Chinon that was also full of black fruit. The guinea hen roulade with persimmon and porcini and brussels sprouts was also noteworthy, as was the starter of King crab with a cube of trotter gelee and a cliantro and leek chiffonade.

As for the other courses, sous vide pork belly was served with a cider vinegar reduction and apples, the texture was good but it could have used some contrast both in texture and flavor. The presentation of the ricotta and cardoon mezzaluna with a chunk of oxtail in a parsley broth was lovely. But the elements did not come together. I didn't taste any cardoon in the ravioli, the oxtail was unctuous and rich but didn't help the pasta and the broth was cold and too mild. The pan seared salmon was perfectly cooked but the bitter greens were too old and bitter and needed more blanching. The cranberry ginger soup would have been better served as a sauce with ice cream, the double chocolate ice cream was fantastic but the brown butter marjolaine pastry with pears was a bit heavy and unrefined.

As for the service I won't go into details except to say that similar to the service at Supperclub, everyone was trying too hard and unfortunately that came across. Perhaps serving a chef (who was one of the guests) made the servers nervous, I don't know. All I can say is some mistakes were made. The dinner was smoothed over by the outstanding wines one of the guests brought and the equally wonderful company. Frankly, I look forward to hanging out at a taco truck with my dining companions in the near future. Because when you are striving to create something of very high value and quality, unless you can pull every element off without a hitch, sometimes simpler is just better.

FOOD

A week-end in Sanary

Sanary is a small port in Provence, between Marseilles and Toulon. The freshest fish can be found, straing from the boat to the consumer. We visited our good friends Michele and Jean Pierre the time of a week-end that was so revigorating that it seemed a whole week. While Michele biked to the port, did some shopping, and chose the cafe called Sport for a drink, Jean Pierre was preparing, as usual, a most sophisticated meal. He had asked us to buy chestnut flour and I was wondering what he was going to do with it! This time the meal started with a cream of chestnut flour with sauteed wild mushrooms and cream. It was very delicious - but Jean-Pierre will not share his secrets! The main course was a pair of small grilled red mullets with a garnish of a spinach canelloni prepared with rice flour. Miam! For dessert, Michele presented a beautiful tray of Middle East delicacies she had brought from their recent trip to Jordan. A beauttiful meal plus a solid friendship is a perfect combination! I take this opportunity to share with you a blog I have just discovered: Paris on Demand Paris lovers will find tons of information and treasures!

Laura's Cheese Knife giveaway & Honest Scrap Award!

Today, November 11, is a public holiday in France. We commemorate the end of World War I. The armistice was signed in 1918 by the Allies and Germany. It is said that it was signed at 5 am in a railroad car parked in a French forest near the front lines.
This year, Chancellor Angela Merkel will come to Paris to attend a ceremony at the Arc du Triomphe, where the unknown soldier tomb is.

Get ready for 10 truths
and participate in my November giveaway !!

Fellow blogger Di loves gardening, among other things, and her blog is devoted mainly to gardens and photos and developments of her life. She has awarded me the Honest Scrap award!

• Rules of this award:
  > Post 10 truths about oneself: done!
  > Pass the award to 10 others (with their links): done!
  > Include the link of the person who honored you with the award : done!

My Ten (Random) Truths !

1. I do not know how to dance and I am ashamed of it.
2. I hate going to the dentist and when I am sitting on the dentist chair I also hate the dentist!
3. When I say my height, I always add one centimeter!
4. I've never read Proust's "A la recherche du temps perdu" and pretend I know all about Proust's "madeleines".
5. I once served "fondants au chocolat" (chocolate cake) from a pastry shop and pretended I had baked them!
6. Doctor said I have to lose 8 lb - but I cannot get myself to work hard enough on this - and pretend everyday I am trying hard!
7. I never watch TV, I simply do not like it and do not enjoy it.
8. Inspired by Sonny who got the same award, I must say I am better at cooking than I am at baking.
9. I am petty busy during the week and sometimes I prepare two/three posts ahead of time (nos you know why sometimes I don't visit your blog)
10. I love blogging!

These ten fellow bloggers will have to tell us their ten truths too!
Allow me to introduce to you ten super blogs for you to visit:
1. Alice from Canberra, Australia, and her blog A Growing Delight
2. Dhanggit, from Aix-en-Provence, France, Dhanggit's Kitchen a blog where East and West collide.
3. Denise Clarke and her amazing Adventures of food and wine pairing
4. Pink Nest does not tell much about her in her blog, but it is delicious! Try Pinknest
5. Mardi? Is that her name? Her blog is about eat, live, travel, and write
6. RoyalTLady from Malaysia, who shares with us family tales, nice shots, delicious recipes, and more
7. Lindsey enjoys cooking and sharing what she has learned with my friends & family, and you are a friend so go and visit Tiny Skillet
8. If you believe that a home is more than a house, stop by Melissa's Sunbonnet Cottage
9. Betsy C. who has relocated from the US to Aveyron, France, and shares with her readers passions, great shots, feelings, and more, so visit La France Profonde for a ride into deep France and Frenchiness.
10. Jamie, a lovely blog of a mother' cooking abilities as they are trsnamitted to her children in Mom's cooking club

Congratulations to all!

And now...

Write a comment about this post and you may get this French cheese-knife! I bought it for you at La Vaissellerie, in Paris.
A name will be drawn on Friday November 13 at Noon Paris time among the fellow bloggers who will have left a comment here ! The French say that Friday 13 is an "unlucky" day, the lucky winner will prove them wrong.

Organizational Issues

After over a week of steady rain here in the Pacific Northwest, I just went through some cooking photos from France and realized this is the type of dish I was cooking in June! We didn't have much of a summer then either, which explains why I was baking potato gratin dishes at a time when we are usually living off salads.

These were excellent: individual servings of mashed potatoes, covered with a little cheese and cream and baked for...who knows? And from what cookbook?

I don't remember.

Organization is generally one of my strong points, but I have to admit that I don't have my cookbook-to-table-to-blog act together.

Fellow food bloggers, what are your tricks for organizing your cooking, recipes, food shopping and blogging?

Candy is dandy

If I were Ogden Nash, I would have something very clever to say today. I’m sure of it. Maybe something like, candy is dandy, but this biscotti is not(-y). Yes?Or candy is dandy, but I’m going to flush this biscotti down the potty? I think that might be it.Or, ooh ooh, I’ve got one: Molly isn’t jolly, because this salad was pallid. ZING!What a week it was. After the quiet glory of cabbage

Photo du Jour

My last morning dog sitting was a gorgeous one.

Now if I can just keep up the habit of walking every morning....

Photo du Jour - Calm After the Storm

After the howling winds and dark, rainy skies on Saturday we awoke to this on Sunday.
Blue, blue skies. No wind. A gorgeous day.

Photo du Jour - Pralines

A super sweet gift of Pralines arrived the other day from a dear friend in New Orleans.
One a day. They are so sweet, that's all you need.

Thankfully there are enough to last us for months!

Super Satisfying Comfort Food

Looking for a meal that is super satisfying comfort food? A dish that will fill you up with its robust, rich flavor and leave you happy, warm and content? (and probably way too full because it was just so damn good that you just couldn't stop eating it?)

If your answer is yes, then have I got a dish for you!

I found this on Stonesoup and was immediately attracted to its mix of tomatoes, chorizo, white beans and eggs. I had all the ingredients in the house and it was wonderfully easy and satisfying!


My photo definitely doesn't do the dish justice. Stonesoup's is much more professional looking.

baked eggs with chorizo & cannellini beans

serves 4

adapted from Stonesoup's recipe

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 chorizo, sliced

1 large red onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled & sliced

4 sprigs oregano, leaves picked

1 can whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed

4 Tablespoons tomato paste

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

2, 14 ounce cans cannellini beans, drained

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400F. Heat oil in a large flame proof casserole dish or frying pan. Cook chorizo over a medium heat until well browned. Remove chorizo from the pan and reserve. Add onion to the pan and cook for 10 minutes or until softened and not browned. Add garlic and cook for a few more minutes before adding oregano, tomatoes, tomato paste and vinegar. Season and bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened so it is no longer watery.

Stir through beans and chorizo and smooth over top. Bring back to a simmer and remove from the heat. Using a spoon, make 4 egg sized indentations in the bean mixture and crack and egg into each hole. Bake for 15 minutes or until egg whites are just cooked but the yolks are still lovely and runny. Remembering that this dish holds it’s heat so the egg will continue to cook after you remove it from the oven.

Divide between 4 warmed plates and serve immediately

Oeuf a la coque, a French classic!

Got (very) fresh eggs? Try "Oeuf a la Coque" or soft boiled eggs the French way.
There is in France a little stand for the soft boiled egg called "coquetier". I have improvised these elsewhere with ... napkin rings. Or find your own invetion, walking around the house and opening kitchen cabinets for ideas. Place them on a small plate.
Then do the "mouillettes" or bread sticks - I always indulge into buttering them, and so more so that I had fresh home made butter from the farm (see post below).
Boil water, place very carefully the eggs, and let boil 3 minutes. Remove from the water, place on the "coquetier", cap off the egg, and eat!
Eggs should not come out of the fridge, because they can break when you put them in boiling water.

Lime & Salt Tortilla Chips: Recipe

Corn tortillas come in such huge bags, I don't know how can you possibly use them all. Buying one of those packages, though they are cheap, is a major commitment in my house. It means weeks of enchiladas, tacos, chilaquiles and when I run out of ideas, tortilla chips or totopos as they are known in Mexico. I love the word totopos, even though it sounds a bit too much like the Italian name of a certain well-known cartoon mouse.

Traditionally totopos are tortillas cut into triangular wedges that are deep fried in oil. If there is one thing I just can't bring myself to do, it's deep fry anything in oil. I just can't. Don't ask me. So here is what I do instead, I bake the tortillas. Baking doesn't make them as light, crispy and decadent as frying, but they are still yummy and as a bonus you can enjoy them with very little guilt.

If you look for tortilla chips in the store, you'll find they come in all kinds of flavors. With a little experimenting I found you can make great lime and salt flavored chips with--you guessed it, lime and salt! Eat them plain, with salsa or with toppings like guacamole, refried beans and crumbly Mexican cheese. Are you getting hungry yet? Because I sure am.

Lime & Salt Tortilla Chips (totopos)
serves two

5 corn tortillas
oil or cooking spray
1/2 lime, or about 1-2 tablespoons juice
kosher salt (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover a baking sheet pan (or two smaller cookie sheets) with tin foil or use a silicone mat (such as Silpat ). Spray with cooking spray. Cut the tortillas in half, then cut each half into three wedges. Place on the pan in a single layer without overlapping and squeeze the lime over them. Sprinkle with salt. Bake for 10 minutes, then spray tops with cooking spray. Bake for another five minutes. Keep an eye on the chips because you don't want them to overcook. Take out the crispy chips and return the rest to the oven for two - three minutes, or until just crunchy and slightly brown.

Enjoy!

FOOD

Photo du Jour - The Wine Co-Op

Discarding the grape stems and skins at Les Trois Blasons, our local wine coopératif.

The air is full of a yeasty, fermenting aroma and the tractor traffic has almost ended.
The vendange is almost over.

La Fête du Fromage - Margalet

A strange thing happened at my favorite Fromagerie in Béziers last week...
Either the woman behind the counter hadn't properly educated herself about her products or I was blatantly lied to.

This Camembert-like sheep's milk cheese, nestled in a little wooden box, caught my eye. The name printed on the box was Margalet. Never heard of it.
I posed a couple of basic questions; what kind of milk is it made from? pasteurized or unpasteurized? fermier, artisanal or industriel?

I was told that it is unpasteurized, fermier brebis. Wonderful, I thought, and bought a piece.

Well, it isn't.
Not unpasteurized. Not fermier.
Rather, industriel, pasteurized cheese that is a recent creation from Papillon, the producers of Roquefort in the Aveyron.
However it is brebis, so she got that right. Thankfully.



I have to say that I felt rather misled.
Luckily the cheese's gorgeous flavor made up for the Fromagère's mistake/deception.

Margalet has a very earthy aroma and a smooth, chewy and supple texture. The thin, bloomy rind is completely edible and underneath is a cheese with a deep mushroom flavor and a soft, lingering aftertaste. It was a real pleasure!

Enjoy a glass of Sancerre or a Costières de Nîmes with Margalet.

Happy New Year & Best of 2009

Is it 2010 already? How did that happen?

2009...it was a year that started off as a lamb (for me), ended as a lion. What an incredible year of ups & downs, and downs & ups!

For the new year, I wish simply to extend my warmest wishes to you. May we all share in the warmth of family, the bonds of old friends, and the kindness of strangers. May we find ourselves in good health, spirit, and outlook. May we take one step at a time, and even take a few big leaps along the way! May we grasp the best of life, each day. Have a great year!

I haven't reflected back yet on what has actually happened in my personal world, or what may come next for the new year...I still want to do that. However, today I did take the time to look back on 2009 through the lens of my camera. And here are my favorite food memories of the year! Never mind the odd non-food image...I can somehow relate it back to food!

Happy 2010.

And Best of 2009:

Spinach Falafel balls with a harissa mayo-yogurt sauce. This may be my favorite.

Taking a bite of one...sooo good.

My little creation: Tartelette au Rose (hibiscus infused apple, shaped like a rose), inspired by a romamtic & seductive photograph by Diana Liu at Galerie Sponte for its art opening in June.

Influence of Robuchon: eggplant, anchovy, roasted red pepper...the Med on a plate

Spring rolls with dipping sauce...fresh, tangy & lite

Warmed Vichyssoise (potatoe-leek soup) with a skewer of roasted vegetables & shrimp tandoori

Little gift packages of apple & cherry pâte de fruit that I created to sell in the shop that never got set up!! They still made nice gifts... (and I'd be happy to sell them, if anyone is interested!)

Crowd pleasing Shrimp masala with roasted eggplant & zuchinni

Freshly made "Everything bagel" with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, salmon eggs

done at a filming studio of my recipe (www.qooq.com)

At the same studio, the filming of my cheesecake & cherry sauce recipes

A personal favorite: a rhubarb & strawberry "cage" with the "cage"technique borrowed from
my friend Laura at lacucinatestarosa.com

A reminder to stop & smell the roses...especially when they are this beautiful!

Adventure in the Sahara dessert of Morocco

For the love of french cheese, Langres in this case...

For the fresh produce that I love to work with, segments of orange in this case. I used a lot of fresh oranges in 2009. I could eat them every day...

And avocados from the vegetable vendor down the street who consistently sells the best, perfectly ripe avocados...ever. I also used a lot of avocados in 2009. Often with those oranges...

A reminder of spring - with fresh fava beans & peas

The OFF4 Festival in Deauville - exceptional.

The Himalayas in Nepal

At 5800 m (19,000 ft)

Seared scallops, braised brussel sprout leaves, purée of navet

And last, but not least, I could not end the year without a few pictures of this:

Macarons, anyone?

:/dma