Holiday Menu
I know, you’ve had it planned for weeks. But what if you haven’t? Holidays include many serendipitous moments, when friends call unexpectedly, family plans change to include or lose one or two, a few kilos of scallops arrive on the doorstep and an unexpected celebration ensues. Or maybe you’ve simply been too busy to sit […]
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 […]
Winter and the Living is Easy in Louviers
Everyone complains about winter, particularly this year when leaden skies get lower each day. Rivers are flooding, fields look like swimming pools and soon, I fear, my beloved bike path along the Eure River will be a stream for canoes only. Despite the lack of sunlight, though, this season is wonderful. Why? Because its cozy. […]
Scallops and Vanilla?
Yes. It’s a combination made somewhere near heaven. It came about through serendipity. A friend stopped to visit, and brought with him a large, heavy bag of scallops in the shell. (He’s a fishmonger). I had lightly salted butter in my fridge along with (unusually I admit), the seeds from half a vanilla bean that I […]
Scallops are Here
Scallops are here! Scallops are here! They’re early this year and the prediction is there will be few on the market because the price of oil is keeping boats in the dock. I hope this is not true. There was plenty for all at the Le Neubourg market this morning, and I hope it stays […]
Market Surf N’ Turf
For our market lunch last Saturday, always a special occasion because we eat whatever is best from the market that morning, I sautéed freshly shucked scallops with air-cured ham and shitakes, liberally seasoned with garlic. It is not a combination I might have thought of had the scallops, mushrooms, and ham not jumped at me […]
