Upside-down Onion Tart laced with Balsamic Vinegar,
Not surprisingly, I’m more about multitasking than meditation and mindfulness. No one defines me as serene or tranquil. In my next life, maybe. While I’ve dabbled with yoga throughout my adult life, that’s not been successful. Thirty-seven minutes into an hour session, I’d be in Downward Facing Dog mentally making my grocery list. By Warrior Pose I’d remembered two crucial phone calls to be made. Fifty-five minutes into the session when everyone is lying quietly, getting centered for the day, I’m rolling up my mat and creeping out of the room.
This tart is a ‘rather stylish and very tasty’ homage to the classic French tarte tatin. Fun to make.
I can finally announce, however, this was a major breakthrough month for yours truly. Let the trumpets blare. How many of those does one have in a lifetime? Is it time to make one of your own?
After tenderizing and carmelizing the onions/balsamic vinegar on the stovetop, lay the disk on top and pop into the oven for the magic to happen.
Since my return to Aspen, I’ve watched my friend, Judy, who lets nothing stand between her and three weekly yoga sessions. However it was my friend, Kathryn, another yoga groupie and new Lights on Bright follower, who inspired me to dig out my old mat. “You know, Mary,” she said, ”every weekday morning, except Friday, I have yoga to look forward to. Now, on Friday mornings, I have Lights on Bright. It’s perfect.”
Pasta with new potatoes, green beans, and pesto, served steaming hot or room temperature.
Red Cabbage, Parsnip, Orange and Dates Salad has Zing – that’s the perfect word. The orange’s juice provides the dressing.
Readers, you know I’m a sucker for praise. This yoga business was worth another shot. Long story short……3 mornings a week, M-W-Sat, 90-minute sessions, (repeat, 90-minute sessions), all month, without fail. Our teacher, Anne, is a flat-out miracle worker. She begins each class (it’s 7am, after all) with a short story. Last Monday Ann talked about Thoreau and Emerson’s famous conversation about Simplicity. Do you remember it? Thoreau was commenting to Emerson about the need to ‘simplify, simplify.‘ To which Emerson responded, “One “simplify” would have sufficed.”
Cannellini Bean Hummus topped with Olive Oil infused with Smoked Paprika
Cannellini Bean Hummus, a spicy and flavorful alternative to your regular dip or more-caloric sandwich spread.
While being amused by Emerson’s cleverness, it also occurred to me why I am so enamored with “River Cottage Veg, 200 inspired vegetable recipes” cookbook. Every month our virtual Cottage Cooking Club makes several of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s delicious recipes which are the very essence of simplicity. This month I’ve chosen a quickly made and tasty quartet: Red Cabbage, Parsnip, Orange & Dates salad; Upside-down Onion Tart; Pasta with New Potatoes, Green Beans & Pesto; and Cannellini Bean Hummus with my Baked Tostadas leftovers suggestion. Each recipe is delightful, simple and party or family fare.
Lunch – Baked Tostadas: Flour Tortilla, hummus spread, sliced tomatoes, chopped herbs. Ready for a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.
Baked Tostadas: Flour tortilla, hummus spread, roasted red-pepper slices and leftover carmelized onions from my last piece of onion tart. Just pulled from the oven – it’s lunch.
Enjoy this delicious food through photos, each dish special in its own way. I posted the savory/sweet Onion Tart Recipe below. If you’d like other recipes, just ask. It’s a sure bet any of these dishes would make a tasty addition to your table.
UPSIDE-DOWN ONION TART WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
INGREDIENTS:
All-butter, ready-made puff pastry (I prefer the Dufour brand)
3 to 4 medium onions
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon canola or olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 1/8-inch thickness and cut out an 8-inch circle. Wrap the pastry disc and place it in the fridge.
3. Peel the onions and slice each one into 6 or 8 wedges, keeping them attached at the root end.
4. Heat the butter and oil in an 8-inch pan ovenproof frying pan over a medium heat. (I used a 9-inch cast iron skillet)
5. Add the onions, arranging them roughly in a pinwheel pattern.
6. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for about 15–20 minutes, turning once or twice, until they are fairly tender, and starting to caramelize around the edges.
7. Trickle the balsamic vinegar over the onions and cook for a couple of minutes more, so the vinegar reduces a little. Remove from the heat and make sure the onions are fairly evenly spread around the pan.
8. Lay the pastry disc over the onions and put the pan into the oven.
Bake for 20 minutes, until the pastry is fully puffed up and golden.
9. Invert the tart on to a plate, so the sticky caramelized onions are facing up, on top of the crispy pastry. Sprinkle with minced fresh herbs and/or crumble over a favorite cheese, if desired. Serve with a green leafy salad.
River Cottage Veg, 200 inspired vegetable recipes, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
The Cottage Cooking Club is an international online cooking group cooking and learning our way through Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “River Cottage Veg“ cookbook. The Club, led by Andrea,The Kitchen Lioness, is ‘meant to be a project aimed at incorporating more vegetable dishes into our everyday cooking, learning about less known, forgotten or heritage vegetables, trying out new ways to prepare tasty and healthy dishes, and sharing them with family and friends.’
My Work. My Office. My Friends, Marcia (l) and Donna (r). It’s all good.
Relevance, today’s post and my French Friday’s recipe,Chicken B’stilla, is all about that word.
What I knew for sure, after Michael’s death, was I wanted to find myself. In those ten years, I’d lost Me. I also realized that everything about that experience must be treasured and mined. I needed to do better. Be a better person. I needed to make those years count, not only for my sake but to acknowledge a spouse who had gone through hell. That’s exactly, as some of you realize, what these past three years have been about.
Chicken B’Stilla, a sweet/savory Moroccan Classic and my recipe choice for this week’s French Fridays with Dorie.
We all have needs. That’s especially true as we age. Hey, Baby Boomers, do you hear me? I’ve never been important in that important, important manner. Never had much of an ego or yearned for power. My competitive gene got lost about five years ago. I do cling fiercely to my desire for independence and self control. If someone’s going to mind my business, it’s going to be Me. But most importantly, if only for myself, I need to remain Relevant. Be purposeful. If you’re truthful, so do most of you.
Baby Spinach salad with Dates & Almonds by Ottolenghi & Tamimi, Jerusalem cookbook, is the perfect greens side dish for Chicken B’stilla.
This blog and my returning to Aspen to be a volunteer forest ranger again is what’s floating my boat, pushing all my buttons. Lights on Bright allows me to be expressive, tell my story and keeps me cooking. Rangering covers everything else from keeping fit to constantly educating myself to social engagement with the vacationing public. Most importantly, the short-staffed, underfunded USFS is adamant about the value of our boots on the ground. Smokey Bear needs Me.
The delicious cinnamon/sugar topping provides the sweetness for this sweet and savory pie.
If only I had a video of the first time I stopped by The Gant’s front office before leaving on a patrol. For safety’s sake volunteers must tell someone daily where they’ll be working. I was all decked out in my ill-fitting, unfashionable uniform and sporting every badge and medal the USFS will legally allow. I’m wearing my Smokey cap, have binoculars around my neck, my backpack in place and am carrying my hiking poles. It’s a Look. Keep in mind, I also am old enough to be each employees’ grandmother.
My friend, Deb, also a volunteer ranger and I are trying to get in shape for the season!!!
I am not exaggerating. Those 5 kids staffing the front desk were shocked. Amazed. And, after a few seconds, laughing. I handed them an index card filled with information. “Here’s the deal,” I said, while leaning over the desk. “I am going to work and I need to check out and in with someone. You’re it. I’m hiking Midway today. If I’m not back by 6pm, call the USFS. I am serious.”
You can make the chicken and sauce a day ahead. The first step is to marinate the chicken pieces in onion, garlic and spices.
Suddenly, they all regained their be serious-composure. “We got it, Mrs. Hirsch,” Zach promises me and, for the past two seasons, they always have. Usually when I check back in with them, I am totally spent, exhausted. They are enthusiastic cheerleaders and make me feel proud of myself. We all need that.
The first four buttered filo sheets make the shell of the pie.
This week’s recipe, Chicken B’stilla, puts Relevance in a different spotlight. More than 35 years ago I took a cooking class with the renown food writer and Mediterranean food expert Paula Wolfert. On that extraordinary day, one of the dishes she made was the classic Moroccan delicacy, B’steeya. It is a sweet/savory chicken pie made with phyllo dough and eaten with two fingers. Although I easily mastered the two-finger approach, the recipe itself is involved and complicated. I never made it.
Crunchy, spicy pita croutons are a tasty addition to this salad. These are also delicious as a topping for soups or as munchies.
Today, Ms. Wolfert, 77 years old and living in Sonoma, suffers from Benson’s syndrome, a variant of Alzheimer’s. She doesn’t cook and fights her personal memory battle everyday. However, Paula Wolfert, an icon in the culinary arena, will always be relevant. Her nine pioneering cookbooks on Mediterranean cuisine and the learning experiences she’s provided for others are a lasting legacy.
Toasted almonds are layered on the bottom.
There is a Chicken B’stilla recipe in Around my French Table. My colleagues made it in January 2011 before I joined French Fridays. To honor Paula and knowing Dorie would carefully walk me through this recipe, I decided to conquer this classic. Surprisingly, 35 years later, it was not involved nor complicated. However, it was delicious and definitely party fare. For greens, I made Ottolenghi’s Baby Spinach Salad with Dates & Almonds from his Jerusalem cookbook. Perfect.
After the chicken and sauce is poured into the shell, I added another layer of almonds and then 4 sheets of filo for the top.
I linked to the salad recipe. The Chicken B’stilla information is below. Much of this dish can be made ahead. This is too unique and delicious to be put aside another 35 years. Try it.
CHICKEN B’STILLA by Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table
Six Main Course Servings
INGREDIENTS:
8 chicken thighs, skinned
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Big pinch of saffron threads
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
salt
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
2 Tablespoons honey
freshly ground pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
8 sheets filo (each 9 x 14″)
About 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 ounces sliced almonds, toasted and chopped
Cinnamon sugar, for dusting
DIRECTIONS:
1.Put the chicken pieces, onions, garlic and spices into a Dutch oven or other large casserole and give everything a good stir. Cover and let the chicken marinate for 1 hour at room temperature. (The chicken can be marinated in the refrigerator for as long as 1 day.)
2. Add the chicken broth and 1 teaspoon salt to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so that the liquid simmers, cover the pot, and cook for 1 hour, at which point the chicken should be falling-off-the-bone tender.
3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a bowl. strain the broth, saving both the liquid and the onions. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones and cut it into small cubes or shred it.
Clean the Dutch oven and pour the broth back into it, or pour the broth into a medium saucepan. Whisk in the lemon juice, bring to a boil and cook until you have about 1 cup liquid. Reduce the heat to low.
4. Beat the eggs with the honey and whisking all the while, pour into the broth. Heat, whisking constantly until the sauce thickens enough that your whisk leaves tracks in it, about 5 minutes. Pull the pan from the heat and season the sauce with salt and pepper.
5. Stir the chicken and reserved onions into the sauce, along with the cilantro and parley. (You can make the chicken and sauce up to 1 day ahead and keep it covered and refrigerated.)
6.Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
7. Place the filo sheets between sheets of wax paper and cover with a kitchen towel. Brush a 9″ round cake pan, one that’s 2 ” tall, with melted butter. Brush 1 sheet filo with butter and center it in the pan, so that the excess hangs over the edges. Brush another sheet and press it into the pan so that it’s perpendicular to the first sheet and forms a plus sign. Place a third and then a fourth buttered sheet into the pan so that they form and X; the overhang from all of the sheets should cover the edges of the pan.
Sprinkle half of the almonds over the filo. spoon in the saucy chicken, spreading it evenly across the pan, and top with the rest of the almonds. Fold the overhanging filo over the chicken.
8. Butter the remaining 4 sheets of filo, stacking them one on top of the other on the work surface. Using a pot lid or the bottom of a tart pan as a guide, cut our a 10 to 11″ circle. Center the circle over the cake pan and gently tuck the edges of the dough into the pan, working your way around it as though you were making a bed. Brush the top of the b’stilla with a little butter and sprinkle with some cinnamon sugar. Place the pan on the baking sheet.
Bake the b’stilla for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes more. If the top seems to be getting too brown at any point, cover it loosely with foil. Transfer the b’stilla to a cooling rack and let rest for about 5 minutes.
9. Lay a piece of parchment over a cutting board, and have a serving platter at hand. Turn the b’stilla out onto the parchment lined board and then invert it onto the serving platter, so that it is right side up. Serve the b’stilla now, cutting it into wedges, or serve it warm or at room temperature.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international online cooking group making its way through Around My French Tablecookbook. To link to our site, go here. Thanks to Teresa who blogs at One Wet Foot for reminding me of this recipe. Please note the various spellings of B’stilla and B’steeya. Filo or phyllo? Fe Fi Fo Fum.
Slices of Pork Roast with Mangoes & Preserved Lemons
We’re talking pigs again. Last week I alerted you to the possibility that Wilbur, Babe and the Three Little Pigs can fly. Now it gets better. Did you know Piglet of Winnie the Pooh-fame sponsors an annual cookbook contest? I mean, how many Piglets do you know? It just may be that Piglet chooses the 16 most notable cookbooks of the year to face off competitively. This week I’m all about that idea and those 16 books.
Piglet, Winnie-the-Pooh’s best friend, is a fictional character from A. A. Milne’s books. Reprinted with permission of The Walt Disney Company
After better comes best. Here it is. This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe choice is a delicious Pork Roast with Mangoes & Lychees. About those lychees. Not to be found in Aspen. I substituted with preserved lemons which may be tastier. This roast is a crowd pleaser, simply made and easily served.
The pork and added ingredients are ready to go into the oven for its final braise.
For my roast I bought a Hormel® Always Tender® Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin. Never fails me. I made this dish with no changes except the preserved lemons, thinly sliced. Use your meat thermometer because 140 degrees is the max for a moist, flavorful result. For dinner I added a baked sweet potato and Red Cabbage, Parsnip, Orange, Date Salad (later post). See the pork recipe below.
This week’s French Frieay’s recipe is ready to be served.
Most of you don’t realize on Friday, May 22, we Doristas (the affectionate name for our gang), will be cooking our last recipe from “Around My French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.” We began in October 2010 with Gougères. I was late to the party, joining in February 2011.
My “Around My French Table” cookbook.
I won’t belabor our French Fridays journey now. But before we begin discussing 16 new cookbooks I want you to see a veteran. My AMFT cookbook has lived in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. If I’m traveling for more than one Friday, it’s joined me. If pages are torn from the book, it’s a good bet I traveled by air. The binding and contents parted company 37 recipes ago. Call it taped, stained, greasy, ripped and all mine.
In February of every year Food52, an online food blog ‘committed to helping people become better, smarter, happier cooks,’ sponsors The Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks. During a three week period the year’s 16 most notable cookbooks (in the opinion of Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet OR the Food52 staff) face off. No categories. No classifications. No groupings. Toss them together and, like cream, see what rises to the top.
The sixteen cookbooks chosen to compete in The 2015 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks. Food52 Photo.
The competition is bracketed. Each face-off is individually evaluated by a judge, primarily food professionals. To my mind NPR’s host of All Things Considered, Melissa Block, and food writers Kate Christensen and Rosie Schaap were the crème-de-la-crème in this arena. The judges are apparently restricted by no criteria so creativity and sometimes, craziness reigns. Food blogger Adam Roberts’ critique (my personal opinion and, others, incidentally) was in poor taste and not amusing. Belittling someone? Uh, no. Take a look.
Of the 16 chosen 2015 cookbooks, I had recently purchased 4 but was not even aware of the others. That’s why I love this competition.
Of the 16 nominated cookbooks, I already owned four but was clueless about the others. The beauty of this quirky February Madness was meeting 12 other well-regarded cookbooks (an Amazon moment, perhaps). The judge’s evaluations, whether thumbs up or down, are a feast in words.
In the finals, it was David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen versus Brooks Headley’s Fancy Dessert. If you recall, I just cooked David’s cover recipe, Poulet À La Moutarde, and have already bookmarked 15 more recipes. It lost. Hey, David, in the words of Joe Jacobs, We wuz robbed.
Poulet À La Moutarde, a delicious mustard chicken from David Lebovitz’s “My Paris Kitchen” cookbook.
Check out Food52, an indisputable winner in the blogging world. Don’t miss next year’s Piglet Tournament. The competing 2015 cookbooks and Link are: Brooks Headley’s Fancy Desserts; A Kitchen in France; Flavor Flours; Baking Chez Moi (our own Dorie’s latest); Heritage; Prune; Huckleberry; Lunch at the Shop; Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food; A Boat, A Whale & A Walrus; Smashing Plates; A Change of Appetite; Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes; My Paris Kitchen; Green Kitchen Travels; Olive, Lemons, and Za’atar.
PORK TOAST WITH MANGOES & LYCHEES by Dorie Greenspan
INGREDIENTS:
1 2- to 2½-pound pork loin roast, at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons honey
½–1 teaspoon piment d’Espelette or chili powder
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin strips
10 lychees, peeled and pitted if fresh, drained if canned ( To substitute preserved lemons, go here.)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Place a Dutch oven or other heavy oven-going casserole over medium-high heat and pour in 1 tablespoon of the oil. When it’s hot, put the pork fat side down in the pot and cook for a couple of minutes, until the fat is browned, then turn it over and brown the other side. Transfer the roast to a plate, season with salt and pepper, and discard the oil.
3. Return the pot to the stove, this time over low heat, and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. When it’s warm, toss in the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Turn up the heat and pour in the vinegar — stand back, the scent of hot vinegar is very strong. When the vinegar has almost evaporated, a matter of a minute or two, pour in the wine. Let the wine bubble for 30 seconds or so, then add the soy, lime juice, and honey. Bring to a boil, stir in the piment d’Espelette or chili powder, add the bay leaf, thyme, mango, and lychees, and give the pot another minute at the boil.
4. Add the roast fat side up, baste with the sauce, cover the casserole, and slide it into the oven. Allow the roast to braise gently for 30 minutes, then check its temperature: you’re looking for it to measure 140 degrees F at its center on an instant-read thermometer. The roast is likely to need a total of 40 to 50 minutes in the oven, but it’s important to check early, since pork varies.
5. Pull the pot from the oven, transfer the roast to a cutting board, cover it lightly with a foil tent, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, during which time it will continue to cook (its temperature will probably rise another 5 degrees or so).
6. While the roast is resting, taste the sauce. If you’d like to concentrate the flavors even more, boil it for a couple of minutes. Don’t forget to check for salt and pepper.
7. Slice the roast, which makes 6 to 8 ample servings, and add the sauce.
French Fridays is an international group of bloggers cooking their way throughAround my French Table. Thanks, Cher, The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler…, for introducing me to The Piglet three years ago.
Green Onion Galette, a quick supper of puff pastry, onions and Parmesan cheese.
It’s time for my Cottage Cooking Club wrap-up of five tasty vegetarian dishes. Every month I join other bloggers to feature recipes from award-winning food writer Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage Veg cookbook. Realizing there isn’t much about beef, pork, poultry and seafood that I don’t relish, you may wonder Why Vegetarian? Why now?
EMMA
As I’ve admitted, I was tossed into this vegetarian mumbo-jumbo by shame. Years ago, my dear vegetarian friend, Susan, brought her own meals to Hirsch dinner parties. I couldn’t be bothered. (Yes, I have groveled and apologized about that for 25 years.) Eventually I offered an elegant green salad and crusty bread to my veggie guests. Gradually I began to realize that this dietary option is not mumbo nor jumbo. It’s a legitimate choice.
For your left over puff pastry, Cheesy Peesy Puff Turnover, filled with peas (fresh or frozen) and grated cheese.
Cheesy Peasy Puff Turnover is folded to a triangular pocket. I served it with homemade Broccoli-Leek Soup.
Four years ago, my 9-year-old granddaughter announced she was a Vegetarian. Although I suggested to her Mother it was just a phase, how the hell was my darling sweet Emma going to get enough iron, zinc, Vitamin B-12 and calcium to grow and flourish. Where’s the protein? Would her friends think this strange? Would Melissa, her mother, have to make two different menus for their dinners now? Couldn’t her Mom and Dad just say, “No?” ( I don’t say these concerns were legitimate, I am just admitting having them.)
Emma (9) in 2011, the year she announced she was a Vegetarian. Clara (7) is on the right. Death Valley National Park
Fast forward four years. Emma is still a healthy young woman, about to enter high school, and, yes, a Vegetarian. (Grandmothers can be wrong.) Before her family’s recent visit, I called Emma and asked to interview her about her vegetarian lifestyle. I’d never had a serious discussion with anyone about this rather important lifestyle choice. She agreed. We set a date, stipulating no Mom, no Sister, listening in. (They’d already asked.) Briefly, this is the very enlightening result.
Honey-roasted Cherry Tomatoes, an easy topping to make and delicious on risotto and grilled or roasted vegetables.
Grandma: Emma, I’ve heard various rumors but will you tell me why you chose to be a vegetarian?
Emma: You remember we went to Hawaii when I was 9, right?” she asked. (I nodded affirmatively.) “Our family went spearfishing. Dad caught a fish. When the boat people pulled it in, it wasn’t dead. They just whacked and whacked it on the head to kill it.” (Emma demonstrates the whacking technique.)
Grandma: What did you do?
Emma: Clara (7) and I started screaming and crying. Mom took us down into the cabin until the trip was over. Then, later that night we went to a Luau where they were roasting a pig. It just went round and round on the spit all night. I got sick.
That’s the night Emma made her announcement.
I piled my Honey-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes on toasted Artisan bread with Maldon Sea Salt flakes sprinkled on top.
Grandma: What did your Mom say?
Emma: She said okay. But right from the beginning she made three rules: [Readers, I know. I know. Pot. Kettle. Black.)
1) We went to the library, checked out books about food, proteins, vegetarian stuff. I had to read them and any books she gave me on the subject.
2) I was responsible for taking vitamins every morning, especially B vitamins;
3) When I am around other kids who are eating hamburgers, stuff like that, I can’t say, “Gross!” or “Ooh.” I must be polite.
My health concerns were proven unnecessary. The Places lead an outdoor lifestyle. This Summer Emma and her Dad took a 4-day Hiking trip over Paiute Pass ((11,423-ft). Emma carried a 24-pound pack.
Grandma: Do you ever do that?
Emma: Of course not, Grandma, 90% of the kids at my school are vegetarian. (eye roll and sigh)
Stir-fried Sesame Cauliflower, a strongly seasoned side dish with chile, garlic and ginger.
The kicker here is this. Our girls go to a Seven Day Adventist private school. One of the Adventist beliefs and practices is a vegetarian lifestyle. Since they have attended this school since preschool, this was a comfortable choice for Emma.
In California they also live near Loma Linda populated by a high concentration of Seventh-day Adventist. It is one of five places in the world identified as Blue Zone Areas. These are the 5 sites where people are particularly healthy and live the longest. The other four Blue Zones Areas are Karia, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Okinawa, Japan; and Sardinia, Italy.
I wish this Sesame Cauliflower photographed better because it is tasty. I served it as a side straight from the pan but, with rice or noodles, it’s supper.
Grandma: I know you make your school lunch. What’s in it?
Emma:Vegetables and Fruit, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Nuts, Tofu, Salads, Protein Bars, Leftovers, Salads and Yogurt for dessert. I love yogurt.
Emma, this Winter at Hearst Castle, just before our interview. She looks pretty healthy, huh?
Grandma: Do you ever get hungry?
Emma:No, Grandma. (another eye roll and sign)
Roasted Parsnip Chips with shallots.
Grandma:Tell me your favorite foods.
Emma:Pad Thai, Veggie Burgers, Tofu with various seasonings, Apples, Raspberries, Mushrooms and Caesar Salad.
These are ‘crisp and carmelized at the thin ends, chewy in the middle, tender and creamy at the fat ends,’ Best served hot, just out of the oven.
Grandma:Do you think you’ll always lead a Vegetarian lifestyle?
Emma:Yep, Grandma, I do.
There are many things I always want to do with my granddaughters but never in a million years did I think I would be exchanging vegetarian recipes and ideas with one of them. Every day of Life, a learning experience!
We are not allowed to print any of Hugh’s recipes but if you would like to learn how to make any of these delicious recipes, e-mail me. I’ll send them.
If weeks had titles, the past one would be called Best Day Ever Week. Do you experience those? Each day gets better and better. Not so often? I get that. Me, too. I have droughts. So when seven great days in a row land in your lap, it’s okay to whoop and holler and buy a new shade of lipstick. I’m all over coral-poppy tones this Spring/Summer.
We’re up and out to Vintage Paso: a celebration of the ‘Zins and Wild Wines of Paso Robles.’
The highlight of a week filled with a pontoon boat harbor cruise on Morro Bay, daily hikes and birding, exploring Cal Poly, the public university in nearby San Luis Obispo, and walking to San Simeon, was Vintage Paso. It’s a weekend when 140 local wineries open their gates to celebrate ‘Zinfandel and the other Wild Wines of Paso Robles.‘ Like last year, my friends from southern California, John and Susan Lester, who blog at Create Amazing Meals, were joining me. If you recall, the Lesters and I connected three years ago through French Fridays with Dorie.
Everyone has their station and duties. I admit it. John did the heavy lifting for this meal.
Carottes Râpées, a recipe of Dorie Greenspan’s, is finished and table-ready.
I visited them in February when we not only went to the Channel Islands but also made Saturday night’s meal together. Admittedly, I plead guilty to couple envy as I watched them navigate through their kitchen chores. More fun than cooking alone, I assure you. Hey, let’s do that again. Saturday night dinner at chez Hirsch. Susan and John were game. This time it was my turn to plan the menu, get the ingredients on board, set the table and organize the evening.
Step Aside, David Lebovitz.
We forced ourselves to drink more wine. This is a Mourvedre-based dry rosé called Dianthus 2014 by Tablas Creek Vineyard.
Although this is a weekend told more beautifully through pictures, you first need the menu. Last April I received my preordered copy of David Lebovitz’s “My Paris Kitchen.” Like so many others, it occupied my kitchen cookbook shelf of neglect. So I packed it for my winter in Cambria. When I recently read that author Kate Christensen called Lebovitz’s 100 recipes ‘swoon-and-drool-worthy.’ I decided it was time to give that book some food love.
Dinnertime.
Dessert: Mrs. Lester’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. She shared the recipe with me. I’ll share it with you.
That’s why we cooked-the-cover, Poulet à la Moutarde, chicken with mustard. To accompany this magnificent one-pan entrée, we made Dorie’s classic Carottes Râpées, a grated carrot salad tossed with raisins and walnuts. (Both recipes are printed below.) We’ll credit the tasty pommes frites and warm French baguettes to Monsieur Trader Joe. During our day’s wineries journey we chose a Tablas Creek French-style Rosé. John, the expert on such matters, ‘thought its flavor would hold up against the mustard background flavor of the sauce as well as the smoked bacon.’ (He was right.) For the perfect dessert Susan surprised this cookie monster with her famous chocolate chip cookies.
The verdict? We swooned. We drooled. We relished each unbelievably tender and flavorful morsel. The Carottes Râpées, a perfect choice. The pommes frites, of course. Warm baguette slices soaked with sauce, messy. The chocolate chip cookies, as delicious as they look. We were very pleased with ourselves, having pulled off this ambitious evening meal. (Remembering we’d been tasting wine all day.) A merci mille fois to the talented Dorie Greenspan and David Lebovitz who helped make it happen.
On our Sunday morning antiquing junket, I scored a food styling and entertaining prop, an old copper escargot/egg poaching pan. Susan and John found antique glassware.
Saying our goodbyes until next Winter.
POULET à la MOUTARDE by David Lebovitz, My Paris Kitchen
4-8 Servings
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
8 pieces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and legs
1 cup diced smoked thick-cut bacon
1 small onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
Olive oil (optional)
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon mustard seeds or grainy mustard
2 to 3 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream
Warm water (optional)
Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix 1/2 cup of the Dijon mustard in a bowl with the paprika, a few generous grinds of pepper and the salt. Toss the chicken pieces in the mustard mixture, lifting the skin and rubbing some of the mixture underneath.
2. Heat a large, wide skillet with a cover, or a Dutch oven, over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until it is cooked through and just starting to brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon pieces from the pan and drain on paper towels. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.
3. Add the onion and stir to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, until the onion is softened and mostly translucent. Stir in the thyme; cook for a few minutes, until fragrant, then scrape the cooked onion into a large bowl.
4. Add a little olive oil to the pan, if necessary. Place the chicken pieces in the pan in a single layer. If they don’t fit, work in two batches. Cook over medium-high heat, ,browning them well on one side. Flip them over and brown them on the other side. Cook until nicely browned, could be 20 minutes or so.
5. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the onion. Add the wine to the hot pan. Use a sturdy, flat utensil to dislodge any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Return ALL the chicken pieces to the pan along with the onion mixture and bacon. Cover and cook over low to medium heat turning the chicken pieces over a few times during cooking, about 15 minutes. To check for doneness, insert the sharp tip of a knife into the meat next to the thigh bone; if the meat is still pink, cook for a few more minutes.
6. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, the mustard seeds and the crème fraîche or heavy cream to form a sauce. If it seems too thick, you can thin it with a little warm water. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top. Serve.
CAROTTES RÂPÉES by Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table
6 Servings
1 pound carrots, peeled and trimmed
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 Tablespoon honey 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup of mild oil, canola or grapeseed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Moist, plump currants or raisins Coarsely chopped walnuts Chopped fresh parsley,
1. Grate the carrots, using a box grater or food processor. Drain any excess moisture from the grated carrots.
2. In a small jar or processor or bowl and whisk, mix the mustard, honey, cider vinegar and oil together. Season with salt and pepper. Whir or shake until blended into a thick, smooth vinaigrette.
3. Toss the carrots with currants or raisins and nuts.
4. Just before serving, pour on the dressing and toss well. Adjust the salt and pepper, if needed. Add the parsley.
In the spirit of full disclosure I’m admitting to List Addiction. My favorites are Self-improvement Lists like How To Strengthen Your Core: 8 Steps; Ten Tricks to Look 7 Years Younger or 9 Ways to Improve Your Chances of Retiring by 55. There are even audiobooks of Lists, 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life. I usually keep all that great advice to myself but this week I discovered a List that must be shared: Six Mini-habits That Can Drastically Change Your Life by blogger Rizwan Aseem.
I used beef instead of veal for this week’s French Friday’s recipe, Beef Marengo.
Before I drastically change lives, however, I am going to feed you. This week’s French Fridays recipe is Veal Marengo, a dish created in 1800 by Napoleon Bonaparte’s chef to honor his boss’ success at the Battle of Marengo. For those of you unfamiliar with that battle, the French beat the Austrians on Italian soil. That was a very big deal, deserving of a celebratory entrée and commemorated by Puccini’s three-act opera, Tosca
Unlike Napoleon, I don’t like veal. I substituted beef. If you prefer chicken, that works wonderfully also. Supposedly, Marengo, an upscaled version of stew, was created with food supplies available on the battlefield… meat, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and white wine. Someone found a few potatoes and a French classic which has endured for over 200 years was born.
The top-of-the-stove duties are completed and the stew is ready for the oven.
Veal (Beef, Chicken) Marengo, with a salad and crusty bread, is an ample and adaptable meal. I had freshly harvested leeks in my fridge so substituted them for onions. After refreshing a package of exotic mushrooms, I used them instead of ordinary ones. What makes this recipe so useful is its adaptability. Any vegetable you have in the fridge will work with your choice of meat, onions, tomatoes and wine. You will find the recipe, have fun with it, here.
Dorie suggests putting parchment paper between the pan and the lid to keep the liquids from evaporating. A new technique that worked.
Now back to drastically changing your life. The best thing about this List is you’re probably doing half of them already. To my thinking, that’s instant success. Your self-esteem is rising rapidly. You’re halfway home.
Habit #1:Make your bed shortly after you wake up in the morning.
You’ve finished a daily task immediately, leaving a neat, tidy bed to return to at night. When you return home in the evening, you’re weary. Maybe some efforts haven’t gone your way. The end of the day not only brings relief but also an inviting, comfortable bed.
Habit #2:Put things back where you’ve found them.
When you return things to their proper places you drastically clear clutter in your life. What is more important, when you need them again, they will be there.
Habit #3:Pick up clutter before you go to sleep at night.
Practice #2 so this habit will not swallow up your time. If you wake up to messy and cluttered, you wake up grumpy. You just do.
Last week-end was cold and blustery. It was perfect for my Beef Marengo menu but not so nice for the Great Egret.
Habit #4:Dress slightly better than the occasion calls for.
My daughter, Melissa, was once asked for the best advice her mother ever gave her. She had two answers. “The advice I now most appreciate from my mother,” Melissa said, “I hated while growing up. My mother insisted upon handwritten, timely thank-you notes. Her philosophy was: if someone did something nice for you, they needed to be thanked in writing, appreciating not only the gift, but the giver, and helping me realize how lucky I was to have both.”
The second piece of advice I gave her was when she left the house, wherever she was going, to look nice, to be presentable, showing respect. “My mother’s reasoning,” she said, “was if you’re dressed for the part, whatever it may be, you walk out the front door, confident, not having to think or worry about it.”
Habit #5: Be consistently enthusiastic and optimistic.
“You won’t even notice this,” Aseem writes, “but you’ll wake up happier, and with more energy and a skip in your step.”
Habit #6:Plan your day on a post-it note.
This is my favorite, unchartered territory for me. I’m giving it a month
Here’s how the post-it technique works. Whatever projects you have to do tomorrow, choose only the five that will make the most impact on your professional and personal life. Everything else goes on the back burner, in the drawer, forgotten for another day. Write them on a post-it. Then, post it. Check them off as you knock them off. At the end of the day, mission accomplished. Your mind, on most days, will no longer need to focus on the things you didn’t get done.
These shorebirds are hunkering down on a dark and gloomy Sunday.
My report card is #1, #4, #5, A-Plus. #2 and #3, C to C-. I’m not a slob but I plead guilty to messy. If I followed #2, I would not need 10 pair of glasses scattered around my house. If I followed #3, I would not need to devote three hours tomorrow morning to picking up my house. Right now, as I’m heating up Beef Marengo for tonight’s dinner, I’m thinking about tomorrow’s first post-it. And also wanting to remind you that French Fridays with Dorie is an international group of food bloggers who are cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table cookbook. You can visit the FFWD site here.
