Vide-Grenier and the Village Soirée

My poor, crimson colored shoulders!
The Minervois finally had some sun over the weekend so I spent most of Sunday getting sunburned while trying to sell some wares at a village vide-grenier. The word vide-grenier translates directly as "empty the attic." It is a village wide garage sale or car boot sale where you purchase a stall and try to sell whatever stuff you want to get rid of (and usually end up buying stuff from other people that you really didn't need in the first place and that you'll be trying to get rid of next summer at another vide-grenier.) Anyway...
I shared a stall with some friends which made the day more of a social event than a day trying to make money. A good thing too, as I sold only 10 € worth of stuff, spent 4 € for the space and bought a set of dishes for 3 €.

So, I made a 3 € profit.

WhoopDeDoo.


But a fun day was had by all. There were pony rides for the little ones.



And a great lunch complete with refreshing Muscat Sec from la Domaine de Blayac.
Our friends live just around the corner so they hauled a table, chairs and an umbrella to the street just behind our stall and we enjoyed lunch al fresco.




That evening was the village soirée, complete with an apéro, four course dinner, wine and the DJ with his light show and crazy mix of disco, Gipsy Kings and French pop music. The meal was actually pretty good this year. Charcuterie, paella, fromage et tarte Normande.




After dinner we GOT DOWN AND BOOGIED!

Zucchini Frittata

A recipe?
I still post recipes around here?

Yes, it has been a while...more than a month since I posted the last one and I have yet to produce my grandma's gnocchi recipe (it's coming, I promise!), but today I have something nice and simple to share.

Also, I haven't been inspired to cook much since my return two weeks ago. Between catching up on French paperwork, appointments, writing a lettre de motivation for my CV, catching up with friends and struggling through a full 7 days of mind numbing jet lag, cooking has been about what is comfortable, what is familiar and what is easy!

Like simple pasta dishes.
And eggs. With a few vegetables thrown in. Zucchini Frittata, for example.



Zucchini Frittata
6 small servings or 2-4 main course servings

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound zucchini, diced
• 6 large eggs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then whisk in the cheese and half the salt and some freshly ground pepper . Set aside.
Pre-heat the broiler.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a 9-inch oven-proof nonstick skillet on medium heat.
Add the zucchini pieces and stir so that they are well coated with the oil.
Season with half the salt and cover the pan. Cook until the zucchini is tender and has started to turn a light golden brown.
Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and stir through. Lightly mash about half the zucchini pieces with the back of a spoon.
Pour the eggs and cheese over the zucchini and shake the pan so they are evenly distributed.
Cook without stirring until the bottom is set and only the top 1/4 of the eggs are still liquid.
Place the pan in the oven, about 5 inches from the broiler, and cook until the top is set and puffy, about 1 or 2 minutes. Don't overcook!
Turn the frittata out onto a serving dish.
Serve hot or cold.

Adapted from Susan Herrmann Loomis's Zucchini Frittata recipe from the Italian Farmhouse Cookbook.

Spring, sliced and straight from the bowl

I try to keep things exciting for you. Really, I do. So far, in the lifespan of a single food blog, I’ve baked savory flans à la Dr. Seuss and had night sweats. I’ve declared a national emergency in the name of Brussels sprouts. I’ve made—and consumed—an heirloom egg nog containing five pints of ½-and-½ and four types of alcohol. Hell, I even went and got engaged. It’s a lot of work, frankly, and

Photo du Jour

Rusty pump under a fig tree.

CocoaBella: A Chocolate Love Story

Don't you just love those stories about people who come to a crossroads in life and find true fulfillment? Stories with the ultimate sweet ending. This is one of those stories.



Michael Freeman was a passionate chocolate lover who had what might have seemed like the perfect job, he was in charge of buying food for the department store chain DFS (or Duty Free Shopping as you might know it from airports all around the world). But as Freeman travelled the world on business, he discovered most European cities had something we didn't, little chocolate shops on almost every corner.



And so he began his quest to find the best chocolate in the world and sell it under one roof. He began asking his contacts "who's making the best chocolate?" and the answers became the basis for the store CocoaBella. As Freeman says, finding the right chocolate to sell took "one year of intense preparation but a lifetime of loving it".



The CocoaBella shop though only a open a couple of months, feels like it has been on Union street for ages. The store has an old world charm and the helpful staff make sure shopping there is a welcoming and friendly experience. CocoaBella carries small artisan chocolates from Europe and the United States, some that you may have heard of, such as Jubilee Chocolates the brand that made the cover of Gourmet two years ago and was just recently rated best-tasting chocolate by Consumer Reports. They also carry a tiny local San Francisco brand, Charles Chocolate, that Freeman discovered when the chocolate-maker brought samples of his chocolate to the store.



So what other kinds of chocolates can you find at CocoaBella? Top sellers include an amazingly crispy Italian cocoa almond, an exotic French milk chocolate with a jasmine ganache and an American tangerine ancho chili chocolate. In addition to individual confections you can find cocoa, exquisite chocolate bars, chocolate tasting kits, bulk chocolate for baking and even books on chocolate. The store also features a beverage bar so you can take a break from shopping and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. While prices for artisan chocolate may be high, the average cost per piece of chocolate is only about a dollar. Whether your budget allows you to buy a box or just a piece or two, you are bound to find something to love at CocoaBella.



CocoaBella

2102 Union St @ Webster

San Francisco

415.931.6213

Little Pots & Pans Tarts: Product Review

To cook or not to cook? THAT is the question. Of course, I love to cook. For me, cooking is a creative outlet, a way to share, to experiment and at least partly how I make a living. I also think it's a great skill everyone should know how to do. But I recognize that some people don't enjoy cooking and don't want to cook. I mention this because this past weekend an op ed piece in the New York Times took Michelle Obama to task for saying that she prefers not to cook, if given a choice.

I understand the need for a strong advocate for home cooking, really, I do. But we all get weary of cooking sometimes and if I was Michelle Obama I can imagine having other priorities. Which brings me to the savory tarts from Little Pots and Pans. Thanks to my friends over at Foodzie, I got to try a selection of their terrific pastries.

I have a hard enough time struggling with pastry dough so I was amazed at how crisp, light and flaky the crust was on each of the tarts I tried. The fillings range from a traditional spinach and feta combo to vegan indian curry and my favorite, the roasted tomato, caramelized onion and goat cheese. They heat up quickly in the oven, have a good balance of crust to filling, and delectable seasonings. In short, they are one of the tastiest prepared foods I've tried in a long time. Believe me, a lot of products I try never get a mention.

If I was better at making pie crusts I might consider making something like these pies, but actually I'm happy to let someone else do the cooking now and again.

Start the year with a good salad!

January's recipe teaches us how to make a good French vinaigrette sauce, so let's use it daring variations on the vinaigrette theme!
Endives are aplenty in winter (you will eat seasonal). They are crisp, light, and delicious and can be eaten raw or cooked, for example in a light veloute with clementine juice.
This is a classic recipe made with raw endives: Apples and Endives Salad.

Take 2 large endives

1 medium apple (I used a Royal Gala).

1/4 cup sultanas

1 tsp sesame seeds

3 tsp virgin walnut oil

1 tsp cider vinegar

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Clean the outside of the endives, cut every leave in stripes 1 inch wide.Wash the apple thoroughly, cut in small pieces. Prepare your vinaigrette in the salad bowl, add the endives, apples, sesame seeds and sultanas. Toss and serve. .. et voila!

I have omitted the Dijon mustard in the vinaigrette. I love virgin walnut oil and I think it goes very well with endives.