August 31, 2004
Crumble Abricot et Melon aux Pignons de Pin
[Apricot and Melon Crumble with Pinenuts]
Maxence and I were recently invited over to our friends Peggy and Julien's appartment for dinner. They used to live just three blocks down the street from us, but they have just moved and now live, oh, a good six blocks further, so visiting them still has that special neighborly feel to it. Although Peggy is a talented cook, she wasn't the chef on that particular night : Manu, another food enthusiast a...
"Crumble Abricot et Melon aux Pignons de Pin" continues »
August 30, 2004
Basket of Treats from Italy
The really cool thing when you have an obvious and widely known passion such as mine (and that would be food, I wish you'd pay attention) is that your friends and family know precisely what gifts will send you through the roof in fits of bubbling joy.
Latest example? Laurence and Marie-Laure, two of my closest friends, whom I've known respectively for eleven and seventeen years, took a trip to Rome for a few days in late July. Late July? You m...
"Basket of Treats from Italy" continues »
August 28, 2004
Oeufs de Caille
Quail eggs : one of nature's smallest wonders!
The beautiful thing with these teeny tiny eggs, is that they all look different, each of them with a unique half-inch of personality, random patterns of little smudges and freckles, some brown, some black, some blue.
You half expect them to crack open any minute, letting out a very small gawky dinosaur, or some other thumb-sized critter out of a fantasy.
Maxence bought a tray of them at our fa...
August 26, 2004
Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord (Part II)
[Continued from Part I]
The menu we had chosen offered a choice of two main courses among which I chose, quite uncharacteristically, the "chicken dish" : I usually stay away from chicken in restaurants as it is, more often than not, a bland and disappointing experience, but I thought, if there's one good place to eat chicken, it's at a gastronomic restaurant. Besides, how could I have resisted what was thus announced on the menu :
"La Poulard...
"Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord (Part II)" continues »
August 24, 2004
Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord
My work recently took me and a coworker of mine (whom we'll call H. to protect her privacy) on a day trip to Dijon, the capital of Bourgogne. As it happens, many of us at my company are very much into good food and wine -- although it doesn't quite get to such proportions for them -- and H. is luckily no exception. When she told me about that meeting, the twinkle in her eye could not fool me, and I suggested we arrange to have lunch somewhere n...
"Lunch in Dijon : Restaurant Stéphane Derbord" continues »
August 23, 2004
Basket of Treats from Germany
I am sure you remember about Christoph and Susanne, our German friends, who are both research scientists in Paris and serious food enthusiasts. In fact, I think of Christoph as the German twin of Alton Brown (for the scientific approach) and Jeffrey Steingarten (for the thorough, border-line obsessive experimentations), which is bound to make him a valuable friend.
Christoph and Susanne came to my birthday party, and as luck would have it, the...
"Basket of Treats from Germany" continues »
August 22, 2004
Gnocchi de Speculoos (IMBB7)
[Sweet Speculoos Gnocchi]
Today is the 7th edition of Is My Blog Burning?, the collective food blogging event, brainchild of my favorite Italian baker, Alberto. This time around, the theme is You're just the cutest little dumpling!, and is hosted by Jarrett, to whom the food enthusiast community owes a lifetime of gratitude for coming up with the Food Porn Watch.
I love dumplings of all shapes and tastes and origins, but I have little experie...
"Gnocchi de Speculoos (IMBB7)" continues »
August 19, 2004
Mamy's Marble Mortar
I love it when unexpected things -- be they gifts, ideas or opportunities -- fall onto my lap. Luckily, in this instance, the thing didn't literally fall onto my lap or I'd be limping as we speak, but you get my drift.
Last Saturday, my sister Céline and I went to visit our dear grandmother, whom we call Mamy (although my sister insists on spelling it Mamie), who lives not far from us, in the 17th arrondissement. My grandmother would hate for ...
"Mamy's Marble Mortar" continues »
August 18, 2004
Ail Rose de Lautrec
[Pink Garlic from Lautrec]
Those of you who have been around for a little while have probably noticed a personal penchant for all things pink, and this is only confirmed by my two most recent shoe acquisitions. I certainly don't shy away from hefty doses of garlic either, so you can certainly imagine my glee at welcoming this beautiful bunch of pink garlic into my kitchen.
"Pink garlic?", you ask, your right eyebrow arched in curiosity. Well ...
"Ail Rose de Lautrec" continues »
August 17, 2004
A C&Z Newsletter and Two Articles
After receiving many requests and suggestions to do so, I have finally gotten around to creating a newsletter for Chocolate & Zucchini! Sign up to receive an update twice a month, with news, announcements and a digest of recent entries. (And since I have just set this up, please let me know if you experience any problem at all.)
I am also proud to announce the publication of my very first newspaper article, in the travel section of the Los Ang...
"A C&Z Newsletter and Two Articles" continues »
August 16, 2004
Tarte au Fromage Frais, Miel et Ecorces d'Orange Confites
[Honey Cheese Tart with Candied Orange Peel]
This golden tart rounds out the selection of desserts I served at my birthday party. The birthday cake itself had to be chocolate of course, and I wanted to bake a second dessert that would complement it in terms of taste, shape, color and texture.
I felt that a cheesecake of sorts would be just the thing, and I was inspired by a recipe I found in one of my grandmother's magazines : the recipe was...
"Tarte au Fromage Frais, Miel et Ecorces d'Orange Confites" continues »
August 13, 2004
Compote de Rhubarbe aux Biscuits Roses de Reims
[Rhubarb Compote with Pink Champagne Cookies]
This was a last-minute addition to the dessert buffet for my birthday party. I was at the grocery store minding my own business, when a beautiful bunch of rhubarb, all slender stalks and pink cheeks, called out mischievously : "Rhubarb season doesn't last forever, you know!" I turned around in surprise, looked at the other shoppers, but they were just filling their carts as usual, absorbedly studyi...
"Compote de Rhubarbe aux Biscuits Roses de Reims" continues »
August 12, 2004
So um, you like soba noodles too?
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind cooking for a crowd, but I'd sure have appreciated if a certain family of winged little guys had asked my permission before they went and gnawed at my half-open package of soba noodles. Common courtesy, really.
Bugs in my noodles? Just when I'm craving sesame soba noodles with spring onions? Not the prettiest sight. Yuck and triple yuck.
Thankfully, the other packages in that pasta/grains kitchen cabinet were ...
"So um, you like soba noodles too?" continues »
August 11, 2004
Citronnade à la Menthe
[Mint Lemonade]
It has been quite hot around here lately. I am certainly not complaining, as I tend to like the peculiar atmosphere heatwaves create -- blazing sun, closed shutters, quiet afternoons and glistening faces -- and it happens seldom enough in Paris for me to welcome the meteorological oddity. Not to mention the opportunity to wear tank tops and strappy sandals.
To ward off the thirst and dehydration, I have been making batch after...
"Citronnade à la Menthe" 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 9, 2004
My Sharp Little Friend
I am proud to introduce you to my latest acquisition, The Mighty Mandoline! It had been on my I-want-this-so-much list for quite a while, and my parents offered that it be their birthday gift to me. My sister and I paid a little Saturday morning visit to Dehillerin and picked it up, in addition to, I'll admit, a few other thingies that we really needed too.
I came home and immediately put it to good use (after reluctantly making myself peruse...
"My Sharp Little Friend" 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 »
August 6, 2004
Sundried-Tomato-Sitting
Patricia and Stéphan, the neighbor-friends with whom we share a window sill, a herb garden and many an impromptu dinner, have just left for a couple of weeks' vacation.
They left us a veggie-drawer-full of fresh produce, a couple of yogurts and some bread. They also trusted us with the task of watering their plants, and instructed us to help them make a dent in this huge jar of sundried tomatoes, which they brought back from their recent trip...
"Sundried-Tomato-Sitting" continues »
August 5, 2004
Velouté Froid de Courgette au Parmesan
[Parmesan & Zucchini Chilled Soup]
Well, my birthday buffet just had to have something zucchini, no?
This soup was an attempt to reproduce a soup I recently had at R'Aliment, which has become my first choice of restaurant for a weeknight girls' dinner out with my best friends : excellent food, always different (the menu changes weekly), fresh, light, clean tastes, it never disappoints.
The soup I had in mind was a Délice Froid de Fenouil et ...
"Velouté Froid de Courgette au Parmesan" continues »
August 3, 2004
Mini-Tartelettes : Oignon Rouge et Rhubarbe / Brousse et Membrillo
[Red Onion and Rhubarb Mini-Tartlets / Fresh Cheese and Quince Mini-Tartlets]
When I throw a party, even if I'm going to serve food buffet-style, I always try to have a few small nibbles to offer first, at the bar that separates our kitchen from the living-room, which is where everyone tends to linger at first. This allows all of the guests to arrive, get a drink and settle in, before the buffet is declared open and people can start picking up...
"Mini-Tartelettes : Oignon Rouge et Rhubarbe / Brousse et Membrillo" continues »
August 2, 2004
Birthday Party
What in the world have I possibly done to deserve such fabulous friends, I wonder?
I am still basking in the heartwarming glow of my birthday party, which Maxence and I held in our apartment on Saturday night. Old friends and new friends, all smiles and kind words, whom it was my particular pleasure to see making each other's acquaintance, mingling and engaging in happy conversation : I could not have hoped for a better alchemy.
Food and drin...