two countries. many kitchens. one table.
vanilla bean Madeleines
makes 2½ dozen
what you need:
9 tablespoons (4.5 oz) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup (7.5 oz) granulated sugar
4 large eggs (7 oz.), room temperature
1½ tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup 2 % milk, room temperature
1½ teaspoon lemon zest Read the rest of this entry »
potato and wilted escarole salad
this winter salad is full of protein and tossed in a creamy dressing made with avocaodo (no mayonnaise or cream)
serves 4-6
what you need:
salad
1 small head frisée
1 small head radicchio
1 Belgium endive
8 fingerling potatoes, steamed or boiled
1 small head escarole, leafed
½ cup Cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
(optional) ½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Valentine beet carpaccio
serves 6-8
what you need:
1-2 red beets, roasted, peeled
(optional) ¼ cup chopped nuts (nuts, pistachios or walnuts), toasted
home for Valentine’s Day;
cooking for the important person or people in your life:
“ la blanquette d’amour”
In honor of Saint Valentine’s Day (a little early), I share something with you beyond a great recipe, the words of author Leo Tolstoy. It is Tolstoy’s “pursuit of life” which inspired this week’s simple pleasure: la blanquette de veau (veal stew in a white wine-crème fraîche sauce with mushrooms, pearl onions, and artichoke hearts served on garlic-rubbed toasted French bread). I also call it “blanquette d’amour” because cooking is all about what you put in the cocotte, namely, a little love with hand-chosen ingredients. Read on.
la blanquette de veau
(veal stew in a white wine-crème fraîche sauce with mushrooms, pearl onions,
and artichoke hearts on garlic-rubbed toasted French Bread)
(a/k/a “la blanquette d’amour” for Valentine’s Day 2013)
serves 4-6
preparation time: 10 minutes
oven time: 1 hour
stove time: 30 minutes
what you need:
veal
2 pounds veal shoulder (or beef or chicken breast), cut into 1 ½ -2″ cubes (fat discarded)
all-purpose flour (as needed)
kosher salt (as needed)
freshly ground black pepper (as needed)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter Read the rest of this entry »
culinary nostalgia and reliving the season:
preserving lemons
When I was small, my father sang to me the song “Time in a Bottle.” It was a 1970‘s hit by Jim Croce lamenting about preserving the days with a loved one. He wanted to capture the soon-to-be lost time in a bottle. Humans like things to stay as they are and when the moments are gone, we like to fondly think about the way things were. We are nostalgic. I thought of this song this week (which I will explain later) but the concept of preserving the moment naturally made me think of preserving food. Culinary nostalgia. This thought inspired this week’s simple pleasure: preserved Meyer lemons.
preserved Meyer lemons
makes 1 large Le Parfait jar (34 ounces)
what you need:
10-12 Meyer lemons
~½ cup kosher salt
fresh lemon juice (as needed)
1-2 bay leafs
10 black peppercorns
French thyme or lavender (optional)
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
mushrooms, black truffles and terre à terre;
mushroom soup with truffled straws
It became our holy grail; a sort of “Da Vinci Code” chase by default. I am not talking about a religious relic or an art piece. I am talking about soup. Over the holidays, the daily soup special on every Parisian menu seemed to be velouté de champignons (cream of mushroom soup). Miam ! The problem was this: by the time we headed out to eat, the mushroom soup was gone. It happened a few times. Even twice in one evening. Frustrated, we became obsessed (and I vowed not to cook for the week, at least I tried). Finally, we managed to get our rumps in gear earlier and we finally had the sought-after mushroom soup. As I watched my friend, a Paris first-timer, enjoy his soup, made with French butter and fresh cream, I was inspired to recreate it (a bit healthier and vegetarian) and combine it with another one of his new favorite things and that thought inspired this week’s simple pleasure: mushroom soup with truffled straws.
mushroom soup with truffled straws
makes ~ 32 ounces
what you need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound sliced and trimmed mushrooms
⅓ cup sliced leeks (whites only)
½ cup sliced shallots
½ pound diced and peeled Yukon or Russet potatoes Read the rest of this entry »
New Year’s resolution: I will eat well in 2013 because
“je le vaux bien”
(I am worth it)
New year. New resolutions. The most common resolution is “to loose weight” or “to eat better” and it is not surprising given our consumption of holiday sweets and heavy food chased down by champagne and other caloric beverages. The only ones who escaped the weighty culinary holiday traditions were Santa’s reindeer (no wonder they can fly).
Recently, a friend gave me a tour of his new studio used to film cooking shows for French television. After I lingered on the kitchen set we passed through the back dressing rooms where I spied a tube of mascara on the dressing table. The L’Oréal label reminded me of the French company’s slogan “because I am worth it” which began in the 70‘s in the States and later used in France: “parce que je le vaux bien “(pars kǝ jǝ le vo be an). Know it? The slogan justifies our expenditures on beauty products through the promotion of our self-esteem. A sense of healthy entitlement to treat yourself well in a consumer way. Genius. The thought occurred to me that the message is equally applicable, if not more so, on the kitchen set as it is in the back make-up room and that thought inspired this week’s simple pleasure: fennel and orange salad with toasted walnuts and Argan-honey dressing.
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