March 30, 2007
Le Kumquat Corse
[Kumquat from Corsica]
I wrote a little ode to the Corsican clementine last winter, but it turns out one shouldn't flatter a citrus too much, lest it rest on its laurels and the following year's crop be a disappointment.
All was not lost, however, on the citrus front: the maltaise orange from Tunisia was honey sweet and remarkably juicy, and a recent visit to the organic market turned up this novelty, at least to me: kumquats from Corsica, br...
"Le Kumquat Corse" continues »
March 27, 2007
Cured Pork Shoulder with Green Lentils
[Petit Salé aux Lentilles]
If you had told twelve-year-old me that a Sunday morning, fifteen years later, would find me cooking this dish, I would have laughed so hard I might have choked on my petit suisse.
Petit salé aux lentilles is a splendid specialty from Auvergne in which cured pork is slowly cooked and served with lentils. The "splendid" part was hard for us kids to grasp when presented with the school cafeteria's take on it: sickly p...
"Cured Pork Shoulder with Green Lentils" continues »
March 20, 2007
Cha Soba, Concombre et Tofu
[Green Tea Buckwheat Noodles with Cucumber and Tofu]
So verdant is this dish that it could have been my contribution to Saint Patrick's Day. But because the French don't really celebrate it (unless they happen to find themselves at one of the Irish pubs on boulevard de Clichy) and because my father's name is Patrick, March 17th is simply that: my father's fête. He usually receives a gift of pâtes de fruits, we get to help him gobble them up be...
"Cha Soba, Concombre et Tofu" continues »
March 15, 2007
Honeycomb: Now What?
When I was in New York City a few weeks ago, my flight landed in early afternoon on a Saturday. By the time the cab dropped me off on the sidewalk of my hotel it was mid-afternoon, and clean sheets and a plump pillow were a tempting proposition, but I resisted. The only anti-jetlag strategy that has ever worked for me is to fight sleepiness and stay active until the local clocks give me permission to pass out.
In this case I had quite a few ho...
"Honeycomb: Now What?" continues »
March 12, 2007
Mâche Salad with Endives and Beets
As the weather in Paris becomes increasingly springlike -- hello daffodils! come sit by me on the kitchen counter! -- I thought it was high time I illustrate the point I recently made about salads and the ones that carry us through to the end of winter (however mild ours has been).
The original motive for this one was to try and vanquish my dislike of endives, one of the very last bastions of my childhood aversions. It is going to require more...
"Mâche Salad with Endives and Beets" continues »
March 7, 2007
Brioche Façon Pain Perdu
[French-Toasted Brioche]
After a main course of cider-stewed pork served with pasta gratin, this is the sweet note on which my last dinner party ended. Inspiration sprung, again, from my recent meal at Le Caméléon, where the Amaretto cherry pain perdu was enchanting.
In its most basic incarnation, pain perdu -- literally "lost bread" -- is stale bread that one recycles into a simple treat by soaking it in a sweet egg batter and browning it in...
"Brioche Façon Pain Perdu" continues »
March 2, 2007
Gratin de Pâtes, Noisettes et Lardons
[Pasta Gratin with Hazelnuts and Lardons]
Inspiration came from a recent meal at Le Caméléon, during which one of my dining companions ordered a jumbo foie de veau (veal liver). It appeared, a stately Pasha in a mantle of reduced vinegar, with a side of gratin de macaroni au Parmesan served in one of those miniature cast-iron cocottes that are all the rage these days and that you just might be able to afford with a ten-year payment plan.
The ...
"Gratin de Pâtes, Noisettes et Lardons" continues »