Family Tradition of Summers in Provence: Pissaladière à ma façon

June 2nd, 2012

 

Nice France on the water by chef Morgan  

family traditions of easy summers in Provence:
Pissaladière à ma façon

Every summer I travel with my daughters to the southeast of France. We stay in the same quaint port village, about 15 minutes from Nice. Year after year we celebrate summer with the same families. The children catch little fish and crabs in the clear blue ocean and chase one another in the fields of wild herbs and lavender. The adults gather over a bottle of Provençal rosé produced nearby and discuss what has gone on throughout the last year. We pick up where we left off and not much changes except the height of the children. It has become a family tradition. Summer is just around the corner and we will be in back in France very soon. However, my head and palate are already there and as I was sitting in the never-ending Los Angeles traffic, I was whimsically thinking of  Provence and that morning daydream  inspired this week’s simple pleasure: Pissaladière (à ma façon). Read the rest of this entry »

Pissaladière (à ma façon)

June 2nd, 2012

 Pissaladière (à ma façon) french pizza

Pissaladière (à ma façon)

 makes one 9” tart

what you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
20 ounces sweet onions (i.e., Vidalia), sliced ¼” width
1 fresh sprig of thyme, stripped
2 pinches kosher salt
⅓ cup Muscat, Sauterine or Verjus 
14 olives noires de Nice (or black oil-cured olives with the pits removed and olives halved)
12 anchovy fillets packed in oil (optional to rinse) 
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted Read the rest of this entry »

start the new year with something good

December 31st, 2010


a new hors d’oeuvre for the New Year

2011 is almost here and I cannot wait.   I am ready to get past the large meals, stuffings, and the sugary treats that dominated my December 2010.  Seafood is a wonderful contrast but it seems like I see the same hors d’oeuvres over and over.   New year.  Time for something new.  So the issue is whether we can have a lighter hors d’oeuvre that is special enough for a New Year’s celebration but easy to prepare at the same time?  Of course we can.   This week’s simple pleasure is just that: shrimp saor cocktail.

The shrimp saor cocktail is my take on shrimp cocktail. Saor is a traditional dish from Venice, Italy.  It is thinly sliced onions (usually white or yellow) that have been marinated in a sweet and sour sauce made of wine, sometimes vinegar, and sugar.  Typically saor is served on top of steamed or grilled sardines (“sarde in saor”) although it can grace the likes of more expensive lean fish such as dover sole. Saor is served with raisins, currants, pine-nuts, and often polenta cakes.  It can also be served with a small green salad.

This dish is ideal for New Year’s because you can prepare the saor the day before (it actually tastes better if you let it refrigerate overnight) and it is served at room temperature.   While you can steam the shrimp, I think sautéing the shrimp and serving them warm is ideal for this cold weather.   Either way  the active time for this recipe is about 25 minutes.

The saor shrimp cocktail can be a passed hors d’oeuvre or served as a first course if you are having a sit-down dinner.  If you want to fancy it up a bit, you can serve it on a bed of creamy white, warm polenta or a squash purée (the sweetness of the squash pairs wonderfully with the tartness of saor).  If you have leftover saor, it is great on burgers or on a brie sandwich with green apple slices.  It will also keep in the refrigerator for at least a week.

A couple of notes on the ingredients.  Do not use expensive balsamic vinegar for the reduction.  Use good balsamic vinegar, but do not use balsamic vinegar that has been aged longer than you have been alive.  It is a waste.  Save the expensive vinegar for finishing salads or drizzling over other items.  With respect to the shrimp, you can use either prawns or smaller shrimp.  Make your choice depending upon your individual circumstances (whether these are passed hors d’oeuvres,  stationary at a buffet, or plated as a first course).  You will see that in the recipe in parenthesis there is a number next to the shrimp (i.e., “11/15” for the prawns).  That means that you will get 11-15 prawns per pound, just so you have an idea of how many to buy and the price.  Also, because the saor stores so well, you do not have to buy and make 24 prawns.  If you only need 12, make 12 and use the extra saor for something else delicious.

Je vous souhaite bon appétit, de joyeuses fêtes et une très bonne année (I wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year).

 

LM

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vegetables first

November 24th, 2010

vegetables first

When you think of the Thanksgiving meal, vegetables do not immediately come to mind.   They are side dishes and the last thing to be eaten, if at all.   It is time to change our perspective and give vegetables their proper place in our celebration of the harvest.  This year, make vegetables a first course, a purposeful dish with importance as well as a preview of more (not the only) good things to come.

Vegetables first makes sense for several reasons.  Vegetables are good for us and their texture, flavor and colors balance the bland starchy, fatty foods to follow (i.e., the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and butter-basted turkey).    Additionally, eating a modest serving of vegetables first makes us less likely to overeat the subsequent things that are not so healthy (and if you are watching your caloric intake, this will help you keep your calorie consumption down as well).

Below are three recipes for your vegetable “first course”.   All are simple to make and if you do the prep work (the washing and cutting of the vegetables) the day before then you only have to roast the vegetables on Thanksgiving day (and at the same temperature you are roasting your turkey).

A couple of comments about the vegetables.  First, always buy vegetables with their tops on.  The tops of vegetables are the first thing to decline if the vegetables are old (which is why some markets remove the tops).  Second, do not feel committed to my vegetable suggestions but buy what is freshest in your market and take advantage of the various textures and colors of the season.  Lastly, if you cannot decide which vegetable first course to serve, make two.  It is no more work  (the vegetables are all basically roasted so you can put it all on the same baking tray) and it can make things fun.   For example, if you have 12 guests, give every other person (guests # 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11)  starter #2  with squash, mushrooms, and onions, and remaining 6 guests starter # 1 with carrots, turnips, and beets.   If you have a young child who is learning patterns at school this is a great way for them to practice their pattern skills by creating a pattern (i.e., ABABAB)  to correspond with plate assignments.

Keep the old traditions and add a few new.    I wish you and your family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving and, of course, je vous souhaite un bon appétit !

LM

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