June 03, 2004
Paillassons de Pomme de Terre
[Potato Hashbrowns]
If you're perfectly honest with yourself, you'll probably realize that a lot of the things you do are in fact an alibi for something else.
Example? Example : I loved going out for breakfast in the US. I would order eggs, but really, that was just an alibi to get the hashbrowns. Of course, I could have just ordered hashbrowns, but that wouldn't have been quite the same : hashbrowns on their own won't hit the same spot. Their real value is in the fact that they come as a side, as a bonus, which in truth you like better than the main thing.
However much I adore hashbrowns, I'd never tried to make them myself, possibly because I had read it was difficult to keep the patties together, and to get them to cook thoroughly without burning. But on Monday morning (which was a holiday in France too, "La Pentecôte") we woke up late and I felt like eating something brunchy, so I set out to make hashbrowns with the young potatoes we had on hand -- which are your best bet for hashbrowns, as I understand.
They were really quick and easy to make, not to mention fun : squeeze-shaping the patties with your hands while the potato juices stream down your wrists will definitely take you back to your sandbox days, thus reconnecting you with your inner child. Try it, you'll see what I mean. I was also happy to use my Old Bay Seasoning mix, for a perfect and instantaneous flavor kick. They were cooked just right, soft inside (but not mushy) with a golden crust, and nicely crispy at the edges. With the scrambled eggs Maxence whipped up, my brunch yearning was satisfied perfectly.
Variations ideas. This can also be prepared as one big hashbrown and served in wedges, and you can add other things in with the grated potatoes, such as herbs, lardons or bacon bits. You can also make cheese-filled hashbrowns : make thinner patties, and pair them (uncooked) into little sandwiches, with a slice of cheese trapped in the middle : use goat cheese, for instance, or a firm, gruyère-type cheese.
In French, hashbrowns are sometimes referred to as "Pommes Darphin", but I prefer the alternate and lovely name of "Paillassons de Pomme de Terre", which literally translates to "Potato Doormats". Cute, no?
"Paillassons de Pomme de Terre" continues »
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June 02, 2004
White Bean and Nut Butter Dip
Our neighbor-friends Stéphan and Patricia have been busy repainting their living-room these past few weeks. On Sunday they were finally done, so they rearranged the furniture, knocked on our kitchen window with the Ceremonial Wooden Spoon, and invited us over for a little newly-repainted-house-warming drink.
You just don't go to a house-warming party -- however improvized -- empty-handed, so we decided to prepare a few nibbles to accompany the bottle of champagne we knew they'd open. This seemed like the perfect occasion to try a recipe I had noticed in Trish Deseine's latest cookbook, called "J'en veux encore!". This new book has a focus on kids : dishes they'll enjoy, recipes you can make with them, recipes they can make on their own. No particular conclusion should be jumped to here, we have no plans to start a family as of yet : this cookbook is just chock-full of great ideas and beautiful pictures -- for everyone, not just parents.
The recipe I used here is a simple dip made by blending a can of white beans (drained) with lemon juice and peanut butter. It caught my attention because the flavor mix sounded great, and I loved how it used ingredients that you can easily keep on hand, to deal efficiently with dip-emergency situations. Of course, I couldn't very well just follow the recipe as written, so I made a few modifications, substitutions and additions : lime juice instead of lemon, sesame butter in addition to peanut butter, sun-dried tomatoes for color and zing, and a little chili sauce and Worcestershire sauce for spice and seasoning.
We ate the dip with little sticks of young carrots and cucumber, and it was a real hit : creamy, tasty and quite addictive. A little rummaging around the kitchen had also produced a little tin of foie gras from the Perigord, which we sliced and spread on toasts, as well as a package of mini boudins créoles, spicy blood sausages like they make in the french Carribeans, to be served warm. So we were able to admire the pristine white walls in truly excellent conditions.
And you have just been introduced to the magic concept of "apéro dînatoire" -- a pre-dinner drink with so many accompanying nibbles it simply cancels out dinner!
"White Bean and Nut Butter Dip" continues »
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June 01, 2004
The Paris Potluck
When I went to the Salon Saveurs recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with a few Chocolate & Zucchini readers. A few hours of wandering up and down the aisles brought us closer, and as we all sat down, exhausted but exhilarated, the idea of creating a little supper club was brought up. The idea was to throw a dinner party where everyone would bring a dish, à la potluck. Isabelle and Ethan offered to host the first edition, which took place ten days ago.
We had a wonderful evening in Isabelle and Ethan's cosy appartment in the 12th arrondissement, everyone engaged in lively -- and often food-related -- conversation, and I was delighted to see my salon companions again, and to meet new friends.
The whole team from the Salon Saveurs was in attendance : Isabelle and Ethan, Alisa, Amy (who came with her boyfriend Nicolas), Pascale (accompanied by her husband David), myself and Maxence. Meg from Too Many Chefs was there too, and we had the pleasure of meeting Christoph, whose comments you may have read on C&Z;, and his wife Suzanne. Three foodie friends of Ethan and Isabelle rounded up the count to fifteen, Jonathan, Malory and Peter. Eight from America, four from France, two from Germany and one from Great Britain -- quite the cosmopolitan bunch!
Needless to say, we ate like kings :
- Isabelle made a Zucchini Carpaccio (I had never had anything like this and loved it) and a Spring Vegetable Risotto,
- Meg contributed her tasty Chickpea and Leek Soup, the recipe for which is posted on her blog,
- Amy brought a fantastic Pea and Roasted-Garlic Crostini with Olives and Pecorino Cheese,
- Great minds think alike : Christoph and I both brought terrines from the latest issue of the French magazine Saveurs : he made the Sundried Tomato and Fish Terrine, while I made the Fresh Cheese and Vegetable Terrine, the recipe for which I will post soon,
- Jonathan and Malory brought a colorful Instantaneous Carrot Salad and a lovely Asparagus Tart,
- Alisa made a scrumptious and goodie-filled endive salad,
- And we ended all this on a delightful sweet note thanks to Pascale's Hazelnut Financiers (recipe on her blog) and Pistachio Tuiles, as well as Isabelle's perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies (made from the famous Niemann-Marcus recipe).
And for the picture-curious among you, here are the friendly faces of Isabelle, Meg and Christoph, Pascale, Ethan, Suzanne and Maxence, David, Nicolas and Amy, Malory, Jonathan, Alisa and Peter. And I do wish that my pictures did them (and their dishes) better justice.
Below are some of the recipes from that night -- the others will be added when their authors get a chance to type them up for us.
"The Paris Potluck" continues »
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May 31, 2004
Cuisses de Grenouille aux Herbes
[Herbed Frogs' Legs]
A lot of the things the French are notorious for eating, like frogs' legs or snails, kidneys or horse meat, aren't really that common in everyday food. In the case of frogs' legs, I personally tasted them for the first time just a year ago, in a three-star restaurant no less, during a week-end getaway in the Perigord.
And then a few weeks ago, while shopping at my Picard store, I noticed that they carried frozen frogs' legs. Always one for bringing interesting food back into my kitchen, I bought a bag (500 g for 5.76 €) and more or less forgot about it, keeping it for a special occasion. Our recent mission to empty the freezer is certainly special occasion enough, so this past Saturday we decided to treat ourselves to herbed frogs' legs for lunch.
I had clipped a recipe in a recent issue of the French magazine Saveurs, I went on to search the web for alternate recipes, and ended up with this version : a simple, traditional preparation which uses few ingredients, so as not to mute the frogs' legs' shy voice.
The frogs' legs come in pairs, which should be handled with care so as not to be separated. I spent a little while just gazing at my army of frogs' pants, marvelling at the smallness and precision of their shape : they are snipped at the base of their spines, and you can see the tiny thighs and calves, the bones and tendons.
We dipped the frogs' legs in flour to help them develop a golden crust, cooked them in the skillet, and served them sprinkled with chopped parsley and garlic. The flesh on frogs' legs is often said to "taste like chicken" (the ubiquitous expression), but it struck me as being in fact closer to some white fish, like cod, both in texture and taste. The flavor is very delicate, so it's important to choose an accompaniment that doesn't overpower it.
The only realistic, enjoyable way to eat these is with your fingers, gnawing at the teeny weeny little bones, which you pile up into a mininiature mass grave. This is definitely not first-date food, unless you think sticky fingers and garlic breath will bring you closer, which may very well be the case.
"Cuisses de Grenouille aux Herbes" continues »
May 29, 2004
Compote Rose
[Pink Compote]
I've always been a great fan of tart and acidic things. I also love the French word for this special combination of tastes, "acidulé", which perfectly conveys the idea of something colorful and tingly and refreshing. As a child, my favorite candy were the ones that gave your tastebuds shock therapy -- I remember with particular fondness those little flying saucers made of pastel wafer paper, filled with a pink powder that tickled and fizzed and made your tongue pucker and curl with delight.
Now that I'm a big girl who can read ingredients lists (E128, anyone?), I don't really eat candy anymore, and I just turn to more natural sources to get my "acidulé" fix. Rhubarb season is, of course, a very happy time for me, and it sees me consuming this wonderful, humble, versatile fruit in all shapes and forms, while it lasts.
Much to my glee, the latest Campanier basket included a kilo of rhubarb. I decided to go for simplicity, and made compote, in the oven, pairing the rhubarb with some raspberries I had in the freezer.
The compote took on the most lovely shocking pink color, and was as soft and tart and sweet as I had hoped. A cup of this, with a digestive biscuit to dip in, and I couldn't possibly think of anything else I'd rather eat. Well okay, if I think a little harder I can, but you get the point.
"Compote Rose" continues »
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May 28, 2004
Mini Paper Cups
You know how sometimes, you'll be reading a cookbook or a cooking magazine, and a recipe will call for a specific piece of equipment? And all of a sudden you just have to have that thing, right that minute? Even though this is the first recipe you've ever laid eyes on that mentioned it? Because you can just feel, deep inside of you, that it will make your life better?
Well, this is exactly the story of my mini paper cups.
In no way can I be held responsible, of course. The culprit, in this instance, was Pierre Hermé, by way of his cookbook Mes Desserts Préférés. Among all the gorgeous tempting if-I-had-three-days-to-devote-to-it-I'd-definitely-make-this recipes, he offers a simple recipe for Moelleux aux Amandes. These are bite-size almond cakes, on which he encourages you to plop anything you fancy, a pinenut or a piece of pineapple for instance, and he instructs you to bake them in caissettes en papier. "Mini paper cups?", thought I, "But I don't have mini paper cups! I can't go on living like this!"
"Mini Paper Cups" continues »
May 27, 2004
The Pasta Salad That Rhymed With O
[a.k.a. Tomato Chorizo Pistachio Pasta Salad]
Pasta salads are one of these things I start to crave all of a sudden, when the weather gets warmer. As I've mentioned before, I usually bring my own food to work, and pasta salads are great portable lunches : they're quick to make, they get better as they sit, and they are an easy way to fill up on starch, protein and veggies in one tasty dish.
They're also an excellent companion for lunch on a bench with a book, in the nearby Parc Montsouris : you hold the book in your left hand, prop the tupperware container up against you with your left wrist, hold the fork in your right hand, and dig in voraciously. Maybe not the classiest of postures, but it works, and it also efficiently discourages anyone from interrupting your reating (reading + eating) activities.
I made this particular pasta salad with multicolored quinoa fusilli from the organic store, and combined them with my homemade tomates confites and the rest of the chorizo we had bought in Madrid. I also wanted to throw in some kind of nut, so I rummaged through my stash, and opted for pistachios, which I consider to be grossly underused.
This mix of flavors turned out to work delightfully well, from the spicy-salty chorizo to the crunchy-sweet pistachios, from the tangy-moist roasted tomatoes to the satisfyingly chompy pasta. My only regret? To have made just two servings.
"The Pasta Salad That Rhymed With O" continues »
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May 26, 2004
Tomates Confites
[Slow-Roasted Tomatoes]
I've been wanting to make my own Tomates Confites for a little while, especially after eating and tremendously enjoying the Semi-Dried Tomatoes I posted about recently.
And then in the tranquillity of Sunday afternoon, I spotted a few roma tomatoes lying lazily on our kitchen counter, getting contentedly riper and riper, quite unaware of what was coming to them. I took them by surprise, and condemned them, I'm afraid, to a rather slow death in the oven. But at least they were all together. And well seasoned.
I chose to season them with salt, pepper and sugar, but no dried herbs : I wanted to make "plain" tomates confites, and add my choice of herb when using them in a dish. Contrary to what some recipes have you do, I didn't peel the tomatoes before roasting (wasn't the oven enough of an ordeal to go through?) because I enjoy the taste and texture of their skin.
They turned out delicious : slow-roasting concentrates the tomato taste in a subtle and mighty pleasant way, while the sugar and oil accentuate their summery sweetness. My oven does not run very hot, so it took 3 hours to get them to the consistency I was looking for, where their edges wilt and curl, but there it still the memory of plump flesh.
"Tomates Confites" continues »
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May 25, 2004
Pain Chocolat Orange
[Chocolate Orange Bread]
I bought this loaf of bread at the BoulangEpicier the other day. I've mentioned that store before, and it continues to be a favorite of mine : whenever I'm in the area I make sure to stop there, to buy some bread or grab one of their pricy but mind-blowing sandwiches.
I have also adroitly albeit heavily hinted at my neighbor Patricia, who works close by, that it was really perfectly okay to surprise me with a little something from Be every now and then. This has already won me a loaf of fig bread, one of a life-altering walnut bread, a little visitandine (a financier-like almond cake, named after the nuns who belong to the order of Visitation Ste-Marie), and a chocolate chip cookie. Good yield, no? Fine neighbor, too!
"Pain Chocolat Orange" continues »
May 24, 2004
Soupe de Châtaigne au Chorizo
[Chestnut and Chorizo Soup]
This recipe comes from the book "Mes Petits Plats Préférés", by Trish Deseine. She is definitely one of my favorite cookbook authors : her recipes are simple but inventive, and I love her personal and friendly voice. She is also the author of my all-time fave cookbook "Je veux du chocolat!", which I've mentioned in the past. I recently met her at the signing of her latest book, titled "J'en veux encore", and was delighted to see that she is as open and friendly in real life as her books lead you to believe.
I was leafing through that book looking for something else when this recipe jumped at me. It sounded like the perfect way to use the chorizo we bought in Spain, as well as the chestnuts that had been sitting in my freezer for a while.
Maxence and I have embarked on an ambitious Empty-The-Freezer Project, as it is in dire need of defrosting. Surprisingly, it turns out to be a lot of fun, as we work our way through its contents (you wouldn't believe the amount of things we had in there), trying to find the most efficient ways to use things up. We regularly update each other on our progress : "ETF Project status report. I killed the asparagus and the steamed dumplings". "Copy that", replies the other. We may be watching 24 a little too intensively lately.
Warm and fuzzy feeling #1 : I had everything on hand to make this soup, a personal satisfaction beyond words. The original recipe for this soup calls for carrots, but I used turnips instead as I had some cute young ones on hand. I also decided to add some parsley for color and flavor.
Warm and fuzzy feeling #2 : The soup turned out fantastic. Not very spring-like, but in Paris the summer reaches us in progressive waves, with promising sunny days followed by chilly setbacks, and this is the perfect soup for a low tide evening. The soft sweetness of the chestnuts and turnips is a great match for the salty and spicy chorizo. The soup is a beautiful orange color (the use of carrots in place of turnips would accentuate that even more) with flecks of green. And I left it chunky, because nothing can quite compare to the pleasure of biting into a nice big piece of chestnut. Except maybe biting into a nice big piece of chorizo.
"Soupe de Châtaigne au Chorizo" continues »
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Previously on Chocolate & Zucchini
The Biggest Speculoos in the World 21 May 2004 [10 comments]
Semoule de Chou-Fleur aux Fruits Secs 20 May 2004 [8 comments]
Eating Out in Madrid 19 May 2004 [6 comments]
Food Shopping in Madrid 18 May 2004 [18 comments]
Gâteau au Yaourt à la Framboise 17 May 2004 [21 comments]
The Potato Brush's Grand Debut 14 May 2004 [17 comments]
The Rolls Royce of Potatoes 13 May 2004 [11 comments]
Le Ventre de Paris 12 May 2004 [18 comments]
Rhubarb Jam : What it Says about You 11 May 2004 [15 comments]
Salon Saveurs : my Loot 10 May 2004 [13 comments]
IMBB4 : Around the World in a Bowl of Rice 9 May 2004 [0 comments]
Chocolate Dipping Fork 7 May 2004 [9 comments]
Les Petits Suisses 6 May 2004 [12 comments]
Confiture de Fraises au Poivre Noir et à la Menthe Fraîche 5 May 2004 [13 comments]
