SALT COD – BRANDADE DE MORUE
Salt cod becomes silken in this tempting dish from the Mediterranean coast of France.
Salade Niçoise Authentique

Salade Niçoise, how we all love this blend of potatoes, green beans, lettuce, tomatoes, anchovies, tuna and…WAIT !!! STOP!!! Do not EVER tell any self-respecting Niçoise that you like your Salade Niçoise with potatoes, green beans, lettuce, or tuna and anchovies at the same time. This will make you an outcast and possibly consider you a […]
Techniques and Vikings – Just another Week at On Rue Tatin

Bonjour from the warmest French October since 1878, so say the meteorologists. it’s lovely waking up to blue skies every day, watching as the leaves turn slowly from green to all colors, to ride a bicycle wearing shirt sleeves. It’s also ominous, like Ground Hog Day, simply because it’s abnormal. At the market a grower lamented […]
Grilled Eggplant Salad

This recipe for Eggplant Salad (which I serve as an appetizer) comes from one of my favorite books, HONEY FROM A WEED, by Patience Gray (Harper and Row, 1986). The book is a love story on every level, not least about the simplicity of growing and foraging ingredients in various parts of Italy, Catalonia, The […]
Grilling Their Way Through FRENCH GRILL

The other day I received an email from Betsy Regnell, whom I met when she and her friend Eileen Doherty came to a class at On Rue Tatin, some many years ago. Here is what it said: “Susan, Eileen and I are working through FRENCH GRILL. We did the grilled bread with smashed tomatoes, the […]
Gazpacho, French (Grill) Style

Summer is always a strange and wonderful season in France. As the French populace goes on vacation, so too does the content on most radio stations, the issues that preoccupy the airwaves (see Benalla and its repercussions), and magazines that focus on children’s games and summer romance. The French know how to relax, turn off […]
Cap Ferret and the Grill

I just had my spring sojourn at Cap Ferret, a narrow, sandy peninsula across the bay from Arcachon, on the southwest coast of France. Cap Ferret is the height of relaxed chic, the Cote d’Azur in blue jeans. I discovered it by accident, because a friend of mine has a family home there, […]
Pesto in the Mortar and Pestle
NOTE: To pit the olives, place them on a work surface, cover them with parchment or waxed paper and whack them firmly yet gently with a rolling pin. This splits them open, making the pit easy to remove. In general, olives are salty so the additional salt isn’t necessary. When looking for olives, if you […]
Aioli – Garlic Mayonnaise
AIOLI – GARLIC MAYONNAISE – This sauce evokes Provence at its productive best, in spring and summer, when farms and family gardens are at their peak production, yielding vegetables with an incomparable depth of flavor. ASTUCE – When making aioli – or any mayonnaise-like sauce – think slow, slow, slow. There is a simple remedy […]
BRAISED ASPARAGUS

BRAISED ASPARAGUS – – extra-virgin olive oil (30ml), ½ water (125ml), fresh bay leaves, Several sprigs fresh thyme, white or green asparagus (trimmed and peeled (if using white), 1kg), Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper, Chive blossoms – optional garnish, Place the olive oil, the water, and the herbs in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet […]