February 28, 2005
Chez Panisse Gingersnaps
Gin·ger·snap (noun) :
1. a thin brittle cookie, round or rectangular, sweetened with molasses and flavored with ginger (and optionally other spices). Close cousin: the speculoos from Flanders.
2. one of these viral recipes that occasionally spread like magic through our little world of food blogs!
And we have Renee [2010 update: she was the author of the now defunct blog "Feeding Dexygus Seconds"] to thank for this one. Renee had applied for ...
"Chez Panisse Gingersnaps" continues »
February 25, 2005
Le Chou-Rave
Le chou-rave -- in English kohlrabi or cabbage turnip -- is my greatest vegetable discovery for this winter. Although its name would indicate that it is a root vegetable ("rave" means "root", as in betterave [beetroot] or celeri-rave [celeryroot]) it is in fact a surface vegetable that belongs to the cabbage family. It is also exceptionally rich in vitamins and nutrients.
I first spotted it in the display of my favorite produce stall at the ma...
February 23, 2005
Press: The National Post
There is an article about C&Z in the National Post (a national Canadian newspaper) today: Fromage homage...
In other news, Paris is all snowed in today! By "snowed in" I mean oh, a good two inches of soft snow, but this is enough to wreak havoc in the city, all skidding cars and glissading pedestrians. It is quickly turning to milk chocolate slush, but in the Butte-aux-Cailles area where I work there is comparatively little traffic, so we stil...
"Press: The National Post" continues »
February 22, 2005
2005 Independant Food Festival: Baking Sugar with the Most Personality
Today is the 1st annual edition of the Independant Food Festival and Awards and I am honored to be a member of the jury. The truly original and exciting idea of these awards, brought to us by TasteEverything.org, is that each of the 30 jury members created one award (as focused and specific as s/he wished) and determined who should receive it. This results in a delightfully eclectic collection of awards, each of them a reflection of one food en...
"2005 Independant Food Festival: Baking Sugar with the Most Personality" continues »
February 21, 2005
Muffins Banane Pécan
[Banana Pecan Muffins]
Brunch. What a fabulously promising word, evocative of lazy Sunday mornings, meeting with your friends at a sunny terrace, all of you a little sleepy and deliciously carefree, to share the kind of simple and comforting food that makes you feel like a kid again. Runny eggs on toast. Bacon and potatoes. Blueberry pancakes. Puffy French toast.
I adored our brunches in the US -- each occasion was cause for elation and exci...
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February 17, 2005
Gomasio à la Spiruline
[Spirulina Gomasio]
I'm always happy to try new and intriguing food. It's a hit-or-miss kind of habit and I have on occasion bought things that turned out to be nasty (in that ugh-nasty-nasty-bleh-spit-spit kind of way), but it's all in the name of science and research, yes?
My organic grocery store in particular seems very much aware of that penchant of mine, and regularly puts out displays to subtly direct my attention towards this or that...
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February 15, 2005
Mary Frances! I've heard so much about you!
I had been told wonderful things about MFK Fisher (1908-1992, full name Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher), but had never had a chance to read the work of the brightest shining light in American food writing. I had been looking for her books in the English-language bookstores I frequent, but they never seemed to have them in stock and since I wasn't sure which one I wanted, I didn't wish to have them ordered for me.
Just last week though, I stopped ...
"Mary Frances! I've heard so much about you!" continues »
February 14, 2005
Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets
Joyeuse St-Valentin!
Head over to NPR's website for a special Valentine's Day commentary and the Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlet recipe I created for the occasion!
NPR (National Public Radio) is a nonprofit producer and distributor of radio shows that serves over 750 independant radio stations in the US. In particular, their shows are broadcast on KQED, which was my radio of choice while cruising the Silicon Valley freeways -- ah, "Fresh...
"Chocolate and Candied Ginger Tartlets" continues »
February 10, 2005
The Music I Cook By
All right, all right! Obviously, resistance is futile: I have been tapped -- twice! -- in the Music in My Kitchen game that's been going around our little world of food blogs. I usually try to keep things more or less focused on the edible around here, but since my kitchen is a "cuisine à l'américaine" that opens onto the living-room where the hi-fi gear is, musical ambiance is an important aspect of my cooking life. So here goes.
What is the ...
"The Music I Cook By" continues »
February 9, 2005
Tomme Affinée au Marc de Raisin
However uncanny the resemblance is, this is not a slice of blueberry streusel cheesecake. This is a Tomme Affinée au Marc de Raisin, sometimes referred to as "Who-the-hell-put-grime-on-my Cheese".
Tomme de Savoie is a cow's milk cheese à pâte pressée non cuite (pressed, unheated cheese *), and this one has been aged under a thick blanket of grape marc, the residue that's left after pressing the fruit to make wine.
Tomme is not normally a very...
"Tomme Affinée au Marc de Raisin" continues »
February 7, 2005
Crêpes
February 2 is La Chandeleur (Candlemas), a holiday that welcomes the first signs of spring. In France, it is traditionally celebrated by making crêpes, with a variety of superstitious little tricks to bring happiness and prosperity upon your household.
One of those tricks involves holding a coin in your left hand while you flip the crêpe pan with your right hand: if all goes smoothly and you haven't dropped the crêpe or the coin or killed any...
February 4, 2005
La Pomme et le Clochard
[Lady Apple and the Tramp]
This apple you see here is one of my very favorite varieties. Oh sure, it doesn't look like much from the outside: round with slightly flattened top and bottom, its yellow uneven skin is matte with brownish freckles. Quite far from the glossy prom queens of the apple family -- Gala, Granny Smith or Golden.
But slice it (I have personally been using the exact same technique since time immemorial -- cutting the apple ...
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February 2, 2005
Mini Summer Rolls with Thai Dipping Sauce (A Menu For Hope)
When Pim suggested we food bloggers try and raise some funds for the tsunami relief effort, her idea was that we would jointly create a twelve course menu of Southeast Asian inspiration, complete with recipes, drink pairings and translations. It is not my habit to let the big bad thnigs of the world take up too much space on C&Z (I think of it as a sheltered little place and I don't think anyone comes here to know about my political opinions), ...
"Mini Summer Rolls with Thai Dipping Sauce (A Menu For Hope)" continues »
February 1, 2005
February Newsletter
The C&Z monthly newsletter went out today, as it does on the first day of every month. If you haven't subscribed yet, you are more than welcome to do so here and be the first in line for the March edition!...
"February Newsletter" continues »