Cherries – Under the Wire
I know I’m just under the wire with this cherry recipe, but I rushed to get it perfected so that I could share it with you. So please run to your market, get the cherries even if they’re the season’s last, and find an avocado. You’ve got a treat in store. I’m proud of this […]
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 […]
Springtime Grilling
Welcome spring! Yesterday was its official debut (at 10:53 local French time, according to radio France Inter) even though I always thought it was the 21st. The date doesn’t matter because the sun knows what’s up, and so does the market. Everyone is running around in shirtsleeves (manches courtes) with their cool French sunglasses, […]
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 […]
Confit of Peppers
Every year I make a batch of pepper confit (confit means to cook very slowly usually in oil or fat) with Doux des Landes (capsicum annum) grown in the fields of Criqueboeuf sur Seine, hardly considered pepper country. Criqueboeuf-sur-Seine is just a few kilometers from my house in Normandy, the land of lettuce and leeks, […]
Late Season Makes for Happy Meals
Everyone here – everyone being most of the growers I buy from – says we’re three weeks behind the normal season. This means that instead of jumping feet-first into the strawberries, those gorgeous harbingers of spring are trickling in. And in Normandy, where the soil is still cold, they are a pleasure yet to come. […]
Aioli – Garlic Mayonnaise
Aioli is a staple for me. I fell in love with it when I was researching FRENCH FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK and I was in Provence, aioli’s natural home. It’s a signature “sauce” or dish – the sauce is the garlicky mayonnaise; the dish is the season’s best vegetables to enjoy with the sauce. For a special […]
Gorgeous Ginger and Lime Chicken with Cilantro Oil
I remember interviewing Pascal Barbot of the pocket-sized restaurant l’Astrance, asking him questions as we sat over a coffee. We talked about his past, his influences, and how he would characterize his food. “It’s all based on dairy, really,” he said. Stop to think of it, and I realized so much of it was, from […]
Salt Cod Goes Uptown
Salt cod. It’s not your every day ingredient, I know. But you can find it in most fish markets, often in neat little wood boxes labeled “Salt Cod – Skinless and Boneless fillets”.* The History of Salt Cod Cod has a fascinating, lucrative history. Much of it has to do with its salted version. Cod […]
A Thanksgiving Cadeau
Each year as Thanksgiving approaches, I’m thinking about what exciting little dish I can insert into the holiday weekend, un “petit cadeau” to get people’s attention. I entertain a mixture of French and American guests, and I love planning menus and activities (which often revolve around the menus). As I cooked my way through an […]
