August 10, 2010
Gomadofu (Sesame "Tofu")
Because summers in Japan are hot and humid, Japanese cooks know a thing or two about the refreshing dishes such sultry days call for.
Gomadofu falls into that category: a concoction of sesame paste cooked with a thickening agent until set, it resembles tofu in color and texture, hence the name (goma = sesame), and is served chilled.
I first came across it when Maxence and I traveled to Japan last spring, and stayed overnight at a temple in Ko...
"Gomadofu (Sesame "Tofu")" continues »
December 28, 2005
Tartelettes de Saint-Jacques à la Mangue
[Scallop Mango Tartlet]
What do you mean, you're still trying to recover from the Christmas celebrations? Come on, New Year's Eve is just around the corner, time to hit the ground running and plan for it!
If you intend to host a little dinner party but are still scratching your head about the menu, stop it: it's bad for your scalp, and my latest piece on NPR's website has a first course suggestion for you, offering a recipe for these delicat...
"Tartelettes de Saint-Jacques à la Mangue" continues »
August 3, 2005
Ricotta Maison
[Homemade Ricotta]
The minute I read Heidi's post about making your own ricotta and her comment that "this ricotta tastes and smells like the milk it is made from so use the best and freshest dairy you can find", I instantly thought what a perfect use it would be for the bottle of raw milk that Christoph and Susanne gave me for my birthday as part of their superb farm-fresh gift basket.
I set to work in late afternoon the next day, slightly i...
June 1, 2005
Mille-feuille Artichaut et Chèvre
And today, I'd like to invite you to hop on over to NPR.org for my new Kitchen Window column! What you will find this time is a recipe for an Artichoke and Goat-Cheese Mille-Feuille -- a tasty, fun-to-make and elegant starter for your next dinner party...
(Previous Kitchen Window pieces:
- Asparagus Confit with Almonds and Rosemary,
- Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets.)...
"Mille-feuille Artichaut et Chèvre" continues »
December 11, 2004
Leek and Apricot Strudel with Pinenuts
Amongst the many riches Chocolate & Zucchini has brought me, I think it is safe to say that new friends are the most precious. In particular, a small group of us here in Paris has started gathering around potluck dinners every month or so. Some of us are bloggers, some of us are readers, all of us are enthusiastic cooks and eaters. The potlucks are hosted in turn by one or the other, and they have gone thematic for the past two editions, which ...
"Leek and Apricot Strudel with Pinenuts" continues »
October 24, 2004
Pounti Auvergnat (IMBB9)
I was particularly enthused, a few weeks ago, to read that Derrick was hosting the 9th edition of Is My Blog Burning? and that the theme he had set was terrines.
Reason number one : Derrick The Talented is one of my absolute favorite food bloggers, I am always in awe of his uncompromising approach and his ambitious endeavours. His was among the first food blogs that ever existed, and An Obsession With Food is one of the two or three blogs wh...
"Pounti Auvergnat (IMBB9)" continues »
September 24, 2004
Petites Tomates au Pecorino
[Plum Tomatoes with Pecorino]
The last tasty plum tomatoes of the season, a piece of pecorino cheese your parents brought back from their Florence getaway (oh how well they know you), five minutes of preparation, and here's a pretty and tasty little appetizer to bring to your neighbor-friends' place when invited for the apéro (pre-dinner drink).
Watch as people wonder how to approach the tomato quarters, venture two tentative fingers, pick on...
"Petites Tomates au Pecorino" continues »
August 10, 2004
Clafoutis au Bacon et au Cantal
[Bacon and Cantal Cheese Clafoutis]
Clafoutis is originally a fruit dessert from the Limousin, a region roughly in the center of France (and yes, I checked, as I am direly geographically challenged).
Let me go ahead and open a parenthesis here. Limousin is renowned in part for its cattle breed, a milk-chocolate cow called la vache limousine, a rather unimaginative but quite sensible name. I'm sure you'll be as fascinated as I was to learn th...
"Clafoutis au Bacon et au Cantal" continues »
August 7, 2004
Terrine de Viande à la Ricotta
[Ricotta Meat Terrine]
I have a file of recipes I've clipped out from the numerous cooking magazines I read. When I'm trying to come up with a menu, this is my number one source of inspiration : I like leafing idly through the colorful pieces of paper in all shapes and sizes, I like the patchwork pattern they form, and how as a whole they reflect my cooking tastes and interests.
And somehow, since I often go through that file, I've gotten to...
"Terrine de Viande à la Ricotta" continues »
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' le...
"Cuisses de Grenouille aux Herbes" continues »
December 30, 2003
Crumble de Courgettes aux Champignons
[Zucchini and Mushroom Crumble]
On Christmas day, Maxence and his mother joined us for lunch at my parents'. My mother and I cooked for this meal too, preparing most of it the day before.
As a first course, we served a Zucchini and Mushroom Crumble, a recipe we had come up with a week before, during our Christmas-menu-brainstorming session. Elaborating menus is one of my favorite activities, and practicing it with my mother was a lot of fun :...
"Crumble de Courgettes aux Champignons" continues »
December 21, 2003
Mousse de Chèvre Frais à la Confiture de Tomate Cerise, Chips de Lard
[Fresh Goat Cheese Mousse with Cherry Tomato Jam and Bacon Chips]
Yesterday, we had two of Maxence's oldest friends, Baptiste and Jérémie, over for dinner. The occasion was to finally open the bottle of St Julien that Baptiste had given us a while ago, a 1996 Sarget du Château Gruaud-Larose. As I have done in the past, I will tell you about the dinner menu over the next few entries.
While I wanted the main dish to be classical to compliment t...
"Mousse de Chèvre Frais à la Confiture de Tomate Cerise, Chips de Lard" continues »
December 7, 2003
Petits Rouleaux d'Aubergine Farcis
[Stuffed Eggplant Mini-Rolls]
Last night, Maxence and I threw a little dinner-party for my two dear friends, Marie-Laure and Laurence, and their respective boyfriends, Ludovic and Jean-Christophe. Over the next few days, I will post the menu for this dinner...
You can see us pictured here in our living-room : from left to right, Marie-Laure, Ludo, myself, Laurence and Jean-Christophe. Interesting detail on this picture : you remember Stéphan...
"Petits Rouleaux d'Aubergine Farcis" continues »
November 13, 2003
Oursins From Outer Space
Or : Maxence the Fearless Eater
Maxence loves sushi. It is hard for him to decide which type is his favorite (I know, I asked), but it could very well be Uni, sea urchin sushi, which is somewhat hard to find in France. So when we spotted sea urchins at the rue Lepic fish market (which we don't like very much apart from the good shellfish selection : bad service and overpriced fish) we bought five....
"Oursins From Outer Space" continues »
November 9, 2003
Petits Gris à la Bourguignonne
Last week, Maxence and I were at the Poissonnerie Bleue, the fish market at the bottom of the rue des Martyrs, a.k.a. fish lover's paradise : they have a very wide and very tempting selection of sea food. It is always pretty crowded, but the service is friendly and fast. As we were standing in line to pay, we noticed they also sold frozen garlic snails, so we promptly bought two dozens.
Petits gris (literally "small gray") are a variety of sna...
"Petits Gris à la Bourguignonne" continues »