Banana Coconut Scones (Vegan)

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Holly 2 Comments

Don’t ask me why, but buckwheat flour makes me think of earl grey tea. I’m serious. Sometimes I can’t help but marvel at the associations my mind makes. I can’t do crossword puzzles because of the way I associate words and definitions. It never works out right. Maybe I’m too literal. Maybe I’m too fanciful. Maybe both at once. I often wonder if other people make these kinds of odd associations or if there is anyone else out there at least who thinks buckwheat flour = earl grey tea.

I don’t know.

I’ve told you before that I have way too much flour in my house. 7 or 8 different varieties depending on how close I am to my next trip to the organic grocery. I like to play around with them.

On my quest for the perfect breakfast pastry I’ve been playing around with these flours when I bake. Not too sweet, a bit nutty, a bit chewy, a bit crumbly; I want it all.

When I went into the kitchen today, to make these, I took out my “flour box” and all the random ingredients I’ve collect from other blogs’ recipes (chia seeds, raisins, coconut – which I’m not allergic to after all) and placed them all on the table thinking, “Ok, what are we going to try today?”

This is a totally random recipe that combines the sweetness of the banana with the earl-grey-nuttiness of buckwheat flour. There are some success, there are some fails. The first being that I’m still experimenting with vegan baking and not sure how to recreate the texture found in basic, non-vegan scones. The second is the flours: my original recipe has farine fluide in it and that it what is pictured here, but I don’t recommend it as it gave the scone a kind of cake-like quality. Either use a handful of white or just all whole wheat.

But the banana and coconut are yummy, the scones are moist with a nice crust, they are sweet without being too sweet…

Vegan Banana Coconut Scones

makes 12 scones

  • 200 ml Soy cooking cream 
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut (with a little left over for the top)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 flax seed egg (1 tbsp flax seed + 3 tbsp water)
  • 4 tbsp honey
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 banana, chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C. First prepare your “buttermilk” by adding the lemon juice to the soy cream. Whisk together and let sit for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime sift the flours together in a large bowl and add all your dry ingredients up to the salt. Whisk together.

Prepare your flax seed egg in a small bowl and add all the wet ingredients. Whisk together, then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix with a hand mixer on low speed until dough begins to come together. Add your chopped banana and continue to blend on low speed until combined.

On a line cookie sheet, make 12 small, rounded balls and flatten them down a bit. Bake for 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I don’t know about you – but I know things are done by the smell. When you start smelling the honey – it will be after you smell the banana – these are done.

This was my first time with chia seeds. Not sure what I feel about them yet because I’m not sure if I can taste them in the scone. But they have loads of fiber and these scones are filled with good and tasty things so I’m not complaining.

While I was taking photos a little face peaked up over the table:

Dumpling has a sweet tooth.

In the meantime there was another at my leg.

There are people out there who find me by searching for mange on cats. I’m sorry to disappoint them.

In the meantime, if anyone has any tips on how to get the same flaky scone texture without using butter, I’m all ears.. Otherwise I’ll be enjoying my scones with a cup of earl grey tea.

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Le Poivre d’Ane: Audacious Cuisine in Aix-en-Provence

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Holly 2 Comments

Je Mange Toute la France’s 100th Blog Post. Celebrate with something audacious tonight!

Audacious: adj 1. extremely bold or daring, fearless

2. extremely original, without restriction to prior ideas

In the heart of Aix-en-Provence is the Forum des Cardeurs. A large square, far away from the hubbub of Cours Mirabeau and surrounded by tall buildings the restaurants that go all the way down, spill out onto the street. You can find all sorts of people: the tourist, the businessman, romantic couples, and students filling the tables and enjoying coffee, a snack, an aperitif and of course, a meal. You can get anything from Lebanese to Italian to bistro and burgers to gastronomic French.

 

About two-thirds of the way down, when the traffic begins to thin, is where Le Poivre d’Ane is located. Literally translated to Donkey Pepper, this tiny restaurant boasts cuisine that is inventive and audacious. It was jam packed, every table reserved for first and second service Saturday night, and the husband and I were lucky enough to be among the fortunate clients.

 

When we arrived at 9:30 (when second service begins) we were seated in a small table in the corner and presented with a small amuse-bouche: smoked salmon rillette with olive oil and herbs. It helped calm our hunger while we mulled over the wine list and menu.

 

For an entrée I had quail breasts with a salted chocolate sauce. Three small breast filets perfectly cooked with pepper and herbs in their own juice and each drizzled with chocolate sauce. I’m not sure if they were trying to put a French spin on mole sauce. My assessment was that the quail were – as I said – perfectly cooked. Tender, moist, juicy, well-seasoned. The flavor was not hidden by the chocolate sauce and would have worked well as a simple dish on it’s own (if I wasn’t at a restaurant). The chocolate sauce however was a little deceptive. It was not quite salted and in fact, quite sweet. Don’t ask me why, I was expecting a darker, richer chocolate, and instead I got something closer to milk chocolate. It was very good but not what I was expecting. Maybe I’ve had too much Mexican.

Next: Duck confit in an orange citrus sauce and served in a crust of pain d’épices. A powerful blend of some of my favorite flavors.

Pain d’épices is like gingerbread but instead of the cookie we all know and love in the USA, it’s an actual bread often served during the Christmas season with foie gras or as a dessert with fruit. I find it much more flavorful and spicy than the cookie.

Again, there was a tiny bit of deception, but this time it was the presentation. The plate arrived with the salad on top of the duck. This isn’t a BAD thing except that it hid the actual thing that I ordered. I know it creates a simple, colorful presentation, but I don’t like having what I ordered hidden behind salad. It makes me wonder what they are hiding.

 But they weren’t hiding anything. While I’ve never seen this flavor combination altogether before as a duck dish, I could see when reading over the menu, that it would definitely work.

 Duck confit has a melty, buttery, dark meat, intense flavor that was given an extra depth but the orange sauce. The pain d’épices was sweet and well spiced. As it was served as a crust it was slightly crunchy without losing the cake texture. The flavors are complex but they all work well together and nothing was hidden or lost by anything else. I absolutely loved this dish and could eat it again and again.

 As for the salad and carrots that were served on the side, they were light and fresh drizzled with a good olive oil and a perfect complement to the dish. Despite being served on top.

Our wine was local; closer to our house than Aix, in fact. From Baumes les Mimosas, Château de Brégançon, 2009, cru classé. It had an excellent deep nose, but the flavor was light, fruity and fresh with a smooth after taste.

Apple Tart soaked in Hypocras and served with a red wine chantilly followed. Again, a dish of powerful flavors and spices. I can’t say anything bad about the chef’s technique. The apples were perfect, soft, but still with a little crunch. Not at all over or undercooked. Hypocras, being a sweet, but spiced wine was over shadowed a bit by the apple, but that was alright. I could still taste the spices of the hypocras which gave the apple tart a nice, new twist. And the color was really great.

The red wine chantilly – or whipped cream – was amazing. I loved this. Sweet and creamy, because it’s whipped cream, with a flavor of an intense, deep red wine. It was a great side to the spicy apples and something I’d love to do at home if I ever get a whipped cream canister. This was a simple dish – we all know apple tarts – but with a great twist and extremely well done.

At 29 Euros the menu plus wine, le Poivre d’Ane is a great find if you want cuisine that is excellently executed. There is another menu at 35 Euros that offers more choice, and you can order à la carte to mix and match. Book in advance to be sure you have a table. The service is quick, friendly, and attentive despite the restaurant being busy all night. The dishes themselves are small, there is no denying that, but they are still filling – without stuffing you and meant to be savored, not scarfed down in a rush. All in a satisfying, very well cooked with blended flavors that are both inventive and still identifiable. I’ll definitely be going back on my next trip to Aix.

 Remember to be audacious in honor of the 100th blog post!

 

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Aix-en-Provence: The once capital of Provence

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Holly 4 Comments

If you’ve read A Year in Provence, you might remember the part where Peter Mayle and his wife visit Aix-en-Provence. They duck into a quiet restaurant on a side street for lunch, sit in a café on Cours Mirabeau and watch the students perform their strict social routines. I remember reading this passage and falling in love with the city that was, according to Mayle,  a marvel of perfect architecture, full of green and stone and student life. This was far before I ever thought to move to France, about four years before I met my husband. But I was enchanted. So you can imagine my happiness when years ago, on my first trip to Provence to visit the husband he took me through Aix on the way home from Avignon for lunch and I got to fall in love for real.

I’m a mountain girl. A hills girl. The sea is very nice and gives a good breeze on hot summer days, but I’ll take the mountains – snow included – over beachfront property any day. I think this is why Aix-en-Provence enchants me so. It’s a city, one of the few old, old cities that is not built on a water way. No river, no oceans, no lakes, no streams. Aix-en-Provence is caught in the hills of north-western Provence, between Saint Victoire Mountain and the beginnings of the Luberon.

Aix-en-Provence is an old city. Far older than you might expect. It was founded in 122 BC by the Romains and when you enter the city from the north-bound highway, you can still see the aqueduct that fed the city. It was occupied by the Visigoths in 477, then the Franks, the Lombards and later on the Saracens. In fact at one point, most of Provence was under Saracen rule – hence the name Côte d’Azur – azur is the Saracen word for blue.

Anyway, when Provence was again reintegrated into France, Aix-en-Provence became the capital of the region. Here is the city where Napoléon Boneparte created the Legion of Honor. This is the city of Paul Cézanne (painter) and Emile Zola (writer). It’s still a student center, a cultural center of Provence and is well known for its Festival of Lyric Arts which takes place every summer.

Cours Mirabeau is the center street of Aix, known for its perfect proportion, array of cafés and ice cream stands on one side (to the right) and it’s banks and high end shops (to the left.) But the greenery hides it all so splendidly.

At the end of Cours Mirabeau is the fountain known as La Rotunde. It’s been there since the late 1800′s and the round-about has grown up around it. Traffic is always circling, and circling, and circling…

The square by the town hall has always been a stop for tourists who love to photograph the clock tower. I don’t know how many photos of this exact spot I have, but here are a few more.

Today, Aix is known for its university and shopping. This truly is a student city. They are everywhere lining the pubs, the cafés, the streets. On a sunny day, such as the one last Saturday when we were there, there was no shortage of people enjoying their afternoon.

Meanwhile, the husband and I were playing tourist. I had the good fortune last month to have an ESL student who was a tour guide wanting to perfect her English for the coming tourist season. She inspired me to take another look at Aix-en-Provence, this time visiting the small, but interesting museums, the Atelier de Cézanne (his workshop), and the Cathedral. Despite all my previous visits to Aix, I was always too enchanted by the streets themselves to realize how much there is to see in this city. Every time I look up, there’s something unexpected:

We made a day of it – in honor of Je Mange Toute la France’s 100th blog post – visiting three museums and ending in a wonderful dinner.

The Atelier de Cézanne was first on the list:

The Museum of Natural History which featured prehistoric finds from archeological digs in the region – including a full dinosaur. The dinosaur is still being put together and they are adding pieces to the exhibition as they go.

This one reminded us of Dumpling.

And last was the Tapestry Museum, which was housed in the building where Napoleon awarded the first Legion of Honor.

The Cathedral Saint Sauveur is unique among cathedrals. The first part of the chapel was built in the 5th century, and instead of being torn down and rebuilt, they merely continued to add. As you walk through, it’s like touring the centuries of medieval architecture.

This is the original chapel.

Added around the 10th century.

The actual “cathedrally” part.

Of course, as I said, Aix is a perfect city for a stroll. It’s easy to get lost in the winding streets that dump you onto a busy square.

After a full day of wandering, head to Le Novo for an aperitif and maybe some tapas if you’re feeling a bit peckish. The cocktails are excellent, the ambiance friendly and the food – though simple tapas fare – is quite tasty.

I could never say enough good things about Aix-en-Provence, and in fact, I’m not really sure what it is about the city that I love so much. Maybe it’s the atmosphere: both tranquil and bustling at the same time. A place where you’re encouraged to keep an active social life but take time out for a drink or two with friends. A city that mixes modern pleasures (shopping and food) with history and old, messy architecture so common of any medieval city.

Whatever it is, Mayle did not steer me wrong, when he wrote about this lovely land-locked Provençale city.

 

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Holly Goes British with Scones and Anne Perry

Posted on May 13, 2012 by Holly 4 Comments

A few days ago I mentioned that I had been recruited to bake scones for a book signing at the local book store. I’m not sure why I agreed to do this in the midst of all my other projects, because when it comes to strangers tasting my cooking I tend to get very nervous. Except for cookies. Those I can do.

This was made even more stressful because I was recruited by one of my British colleagues and would be baking scones for a well-known British author. What do I, an American woman enamored of French cheese and Mexican spices know of British scones?

The secret is in the butter.

OK, it’s not IN the butter, but it’s about how you add the butter. It must be cut very fine and then mixed into the flour to give the proper flaky, buttery texture that is characteristic of the basic cream scone.

This is a testament to how important ingredient order is in pastry baking. When reading up on scones – and I read a lot of recipes for scones this week – I read a few people saying that you could only make these with a pastry blender or food processor because it was too difficult by hand. Not so.

Cut your butter into small, thin flakes, then use your whisk to cut it into the flour, and then use your hands to give the flour-butter mixture its crumbly texture.

British scones are traditionally round, but the only cookie cutter I have is too big. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s a cookie cutter because I use it to shape rice. So I cut mine in triangles. Use a wet knife to ensure that the dough cuts clean. I kept a little cup of water nearby to dip the knife in periodically.

All told, I baked 46 scones. 11 were a test run the night before. I was up at 7am on a Saturday baking scones, worrying all the while that I was going to mess up the recipe, get the texture wrong, that I was adding too much baking powder…

In the afternoon, it was time to take the requested British pastries to Charlemagne for tea.

Anne Perry is a British writer who has published 27 novels, most of which are mysteries set in the Victorian period of England. But she also wrote one historical novel set in 1273 Byzantium that I read last January, so I was excited. Not only to meet another writer, but a successful writer, and one whose work I’d read.

The Sheen on the Silk takes place at a time in Byzantium history that I knew almost nothing about. We learn about the Crusades, the Catholic Church, the Western European history, but almost nothing about our Greek Orthodox cousins lost to the Ottoman Empire years ago. Perry is known for the vast amounts of research and travel she does for her books and this one was no exception. It encouraged me to dig a bit deeper into the history of Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire.

As I’m in the midst of editing my own novel, it was great to hear another writer speak.

She happened to mention that it took her many years to get her first novel published and that gave me hope. I know I’m young, but sometimes I feel too old to expect a future in writing.

Perry is on the left. The woman on the right, acting as translator for the afternoon, is my former boss who left the school in October. I and all my colleagues were ecstatic to see her again – especially as she looked much better rested than I’ve ever seen her before.

I got my book signed. Though you can never know someone who is being put in the spotlight for an event such as this Perry seemed to be a genuine woman who was encouraging about my writing – giving me advice to plan each scene – without showing false enthusiasm or condescension. I appreciated that. I’m always hesitant to tell people what I do in my spare time.

And she’s right. For my re-write, I need to do some serious planning…

As for the scones, they were a big success. Much to my relief. The French and the British were both pleased, having a real tea time with traditional cream scones and jam along side Darjeeling tea. I even saw the Charlemagne staff coming by a few times to sneak a few tastes themselves.

One of my colleagues said she was disappointed we didn’t have any Cornish clotted cream to serve. The husband had no idea what it was and after failed attempts at explaining it to him, I took him to the Irish Import Store on the way home, where we purchased a small pot to have with the “test” scones we have in our bread box. He is a convert to British food and I’ve managed a successful pastry for my first taste of baking for a public event.

 

Basic Cream Scones

From Joy of Baking

Makes 10-12 scones

  • 260 g all-purpose flour
  • 50 g granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 75 g butter
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice*
  • 120 ml whole milk
  • 1 egg

*buttermilk is impossible to find in France. It can be substituted by 2 tbsp of lemon combined with the milk and left to sit for about 5 minutes or so.

Preheat over 190°C.

In a large bowl whisk together the first four ingredients until well mixed. Cut the butter into the flour and combine until nice and crumbly. A few lumps are ok, but you want the butter to be in small pieces.

Whisk together the egg and milk. Create a well in the center of the flour and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined and dough is still a little shaggy. I recommend NOT using a food processor here. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead four or five times until dough is smooth, but take care to not over mix. Pat the dough out into 7 inch circle and cut into desired shape. Brush the tops of scones lightly with milk and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool. Serve with clotted cream or jam. And tea. I prefer Earl Grey.

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Market à la Provençal

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Holly 5 Comments

à l’aise = at ease

It’s that time of year again. May 1st brings the first of the tourists, the beginnings of summer foods and summer attitudes. By which I mean everyone is either on vacation or starting to think about it. Not only is May 1st a holiday – celebrating the ancient pagan new year – and most people have the day off from work, there are three other days this May that are also jours fériés: the 8th (celebrating the end of WWII), the 17th and the 27th. Why? Because c’est la France!

And who wants to work at the height of spring, anyway?

Already this month has brought all sorts of pleasures. I have plenty of teaching – something that spring doesn’t always guarantee. Soon, Je Mange Toute la France will be celebrating its 100th post. Stay tuned for two big celebration entries. The husband and I are planning our summer vacation. Laura at Sprint 2 the Table has asked me to do a guest post for her blog – which was so flattering and I’m super excited about it. I was enlisted by the local bookstore to bake scones for an author signing this week with the promise of making some literary contacts here in France and of course it’s good blog promotion, and the best news of the week:

A story of mine is being published in a printed anthology. (See my writing page for info.) If you’re a writer, you’ll know what a big deal this is. There are so many great online literary journals out there, but there is something so satisfying of seeing your words in tangible, grainy white and black. I’m thrilled.

And as I mentioned, it’s May. That means long days, balmy mornings, green canopied trees, and colorful markets.

Farmer’s Markets are all the rage in the US – or so I hear – right now. But common? My students are often surprised when I tell them that open air markets in the States can still be something of a luxury.

Even though I’ve been here for almost three years, and I walk through the market on the way to work every morning, those days when I have time to spend shopping à l’aise are moments I still treasure. The market in la Seyne is small, traditional, and many of the vendors know me by sight, if not by name.

Not only do I walk through the market, I run through it – usually two hours before at dawn when the vendors are setting up their tables.  I knew I was a local, accepted when they stopped asking me about my accent and started calling me la sportive de la Seyne.

I have my favorite vendors where I’ve found the produce to be the most flavorful and at their ripest. Black tomatoes are so good in salad, by the way.

Black chalk signs always list price per kilo, name and origin. Buying local – or close to local as you can get is taken seriously here. Unless you have a heavy craving for – oh mangoes – or something else that can’t grow in France.

There’s something so inviting about vegetables piled high. I look at every table even though it’s almost always the same produce.

My very patient butcher is on the market street, always ready with advice and something new.

This time, I bought smoked salmon from him. Two thick slices, hand-smoked for 3 Euro. Possibly extravagant, maybe not. But they were sliced off the fish right before my eyes.

The husband can never get enough of sausages and these are handmade and fresh. If you like pork, France knows how to use every piece of the pig to make some sort of linked delicacy.

People are always lined up to buy the Provençal specialty of cade. Though I’m ashamed to admit it, I have yet to try their cade, always too enthralled instead by the bakery right next door.

Go early. That’s the advice the books give you and it’s true. If you want the best, ripest, and plenty of it you want to go as soon as the market opens. Here in la Seyne that means leaving the house at 8:30 on a Sunday morning. On the upside the crowds haven’t yet massed and I can safely move about with bags of shopping hanging from both arms and my purse hanging open spilling pens, lipstick, and my iPod all over the cobbled street.

It’s difficult to wait until lunch time. I used my smoked salmon to make a huge salad.

  • smoked salmon, sliced
  • spinach
  • radish
  • red cabbage
  • shallots
  • avocado
  • fresh baguette
  • sage
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

Rinse, slice, combine, toss. Serve.

And throw in a little tomato and cheese on the side, because I can’t resist. Simple, colorful, filling and full of good stuff. The way a market and its following lunch should be.

I recently about people in inner-city neighborhoods who don’t have access to fresh produce. So fill me in: Where do you shop? Are open-air or farmer’s markets popular where you live?

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Pissaladière or Onion Pizza: Classic Provençale Part 2

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Holly 4 Comments

Do you like onions? Are you one of those people who always has onion (or garlic breath) despite having to be in an enclosed room with a couple of smell-sensitive people? If so, this is for you.

Pissaladière is quite simple. Pizza with onions, olives, and pissalat. Nice once again claims to own the origins and rights to this recipe, but it can be found all over the coast of Provence.

Pissalat is a paste made from anchovies and sardines as well as a combination of spices. It is essential for the original recipe, but as I absolutely hate both of these fish, I have replaced this paste with an olivade.

Olivade is tapenade sans anchovies. I purchased mine because capers were seemingly absent from the supermarket Monday night. But it’s easy to make. Use your favorite tapenade recipe and omit the anchovies. Add some garlic or herbs if you so desire. Voilà!

A few tidbits about the Pissaladière: The true origins of this dish come from northern Italy, but there it used tomatoes and a finer, more flimsy crust. A true Provençale would never use tomatoes. Though I varied the recipe by omitting the anchovies and using olives, purists would tell me, and rightly so, that it’s not un vrai pissaladière, because I’m missing the anchovies and pissalat. The pissalat itself is cooked with the onions, the whole anchovies are added later. Visit this Wikipedia link if you’d like to see the traditional version (I’m very against stealing photos.)

In researching this post, I discovered that some people recommend cooking the onions for a minimum of 90 minutes to obtain a true compote; something I plan on trying next time.

Around Provence, this little pizza can be found in any bakery or patisserie and is served by the slice alongside the more traditional pizzas with tomatoes and cheese.

A good Provençale would wash this down with a glass of rosé, but a fruity white will do in a pinch.

Don’t be afraid of the strength of the onions. By cooking them down for as long as you are, along with adding a pinch of sugar, they become soft and sweet and very flavorful without the acidic onion taste that raw onions have. Onions doux: literally soft onions are used in this recipe, but I bet Vidalia onions would work great. If I knew what they were in French, that is.

By the way: preparing this recipe is great if you need a good cry. I cried. 

Pissaladière with Olivade

Makes 4-6 servings depending on the slices

  • Pizza dough (see recipe below)
  • 500 grams mild or Vidalia onions – around 4 large onions
  • 2 1/2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • herbs de Provence to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • 10-12 green olives
  • 2 tbsp olivade

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Chop your onions into quarters then into strips. There’s no set thickness but you do want them fairly thin, about 1/8 inch. In a large casserole heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot pour in your onions and add your herbs and sugar. The sugar is absolutely essential to counter against the acidity of the onion. If you don’t want to use sugar you can use 1 tsp of stevia. Stir until onions are evenly coated with olive oil and herbs. Add the green olives. Lower heat to low. Cook onions for about 30 minutes until very soft stirring often. You want almost a compote like consistency.

In the meantime roll out your pizza dough and spread with the olivade as you would tomato sauce on a pizza. You don’t need more than two tablespoons, just enough to give some flavor, but you can add more if you like.

When the onions are done, spread them over the pizza dough and bake for 25 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Pizza Dough: recipe below if you don’t have your own. You can also buy your own pizza dough, but why? Homemade is so much better. Continue reading →

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Fresh Lemon Tagliatelle with Spinach and Pepper: a Labor of Love

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Holly 8 Comments

Like many things Italian, making fresh pasta is a labor of love. The recipe isn’t all that difficult, there aren’t strange techniques, weird ingredients, or candy thermometers involved. But it’s detail oriented like the twists and turns of a Donizetti aria.

Or like Michelangelo’s Last Judgement. You don’t have that attention to detail by slapping some paint on the walls.

Or like Rome. They say it wasn’t built in a day.

Ha ha.

Anyway. I was perusing through Juls’ Kitchen and her simple Fresh Lemon Tagliolini got me craving homemade pasta. So simple, so perfect.

Making fresh pasta really makes you appreciate cooking. Where a little ball of dough like this:

Can be rolled out to this:

And finally become this:

Rolling out the dough, first with the rolling pin, then through the machine; there’s so much care, so much attention that goes into it. I’ve made fresh pasta several times since buying my pasta roller, but until today, I never realized just how much care and love needs to be added to the process. 

Otherwise you’ll end up with something thick and sticky that takes forever to cook and makes you feel weighed down by the starch.

Fresh pasta should make you feel light as a feather, and it too should be as light. Paper thin, delicate, pale and soft, like the way a woman’s skin is described in a Victorian era novel.

This requires just the right amount of tension and guidance through the roller that can’t be described in words. It’s all about the feel and the touch. Something you have to learn only through experience. And then you’ll love it all the more.

Pasta is the ultimate comfort food no matter how you like it. When you make your own you can take added comfort and pleasure when you sit down to enjoy the fruits of your labors, smelling the garlic, the lemon, the vegetables. Watching the steam rising from your plate and winding the cheese and long, thin strands round your fork (or chopstick). When you finish, you wrap your hands around your stomach, sit back, and all is right with the world again.

Lemon Tagliatelle with Spinach and Pepper

Serves two

adapted from Juls’ Kitchen

For the pasta:

  • 175 g white flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 3 – 4 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

For the rest:

  • 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 cups spinach, rinsed and chopped
  • 1 Roma tomato, chopped
  • 1/2 white onion, minced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt to taste
  • Parmesan cheese to taste

To make the pasta sift the flour onto a clean work surface. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and pepper. Make a well in the center of the flour and add your eggs. Slowly work the flour into the eggs and knead together to for a rough ball. Add the olive oil and knead until absorbed. Add the lemon juice and knead for about 5 minutes.

When the dough is a tight ball, wrap in plastic wrap and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature or 60 in the fridge.

(Or you can follow Juls’ directions, which I guarantee are easier than mine.)

Take the pasta out of the plastic wrap and on a lightly floured surface roll out your pasta dough. Make sure you’re flipping, rolling, flipping, rolling until you break your back trying to get the dough with the same thinness all the way through (and as thin as possible).

Here I like to roll the dough once through the lasagna roller of my machine and then the final time through the tagliatelle roller. This way I get a really nice thin pasta that is the same all the way through.

Boil your water. Cook the pasta until floating and al dente or to taste. If it’s the right paper-thinness it shouldn’t need more than 4-5 minutes.

Top with more lemon juice, vegetables, cheese, and serve.

Is there anything more pleasing? It’s the perfect Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday, or any day-off way to treat yourself to a job well done. Whatever that job may be.

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Socca’s Story: Classic Provençal

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Holly 6 Comments

France is king of gastronomy. I don’t need to tell you that. No other country or culture except maybe Japan has come close in turning cuisine into an art. The presentation, the wine pairings, the cloches that cover the plates that are lifted only once they dish has reached your table to present you with sight, smell, and mouth-watering anticipation all in one blow…

Forget all of that. I’ve decided to re-introduce myself and everyone else to classic cuisine provençal, and today we’re beginning with the simplest of them all.

Socca.

No one knows exactly where socca originated. It goes by several names. Socca is its traditional niçoise name, but if you’re in Var don’t call it anything but cade. In Italy, depending on your region it might go by farinata or panelle. There are even more names – ones where this particular food has been carried to Algeria, Sicily, and South America. But because the niçoise hold hard and fast to the notion that they and they alone invented socca, that is the name we’ll call it.

First, the recipe:

Socca for Two

by David Lebovitz

  • 150 g chickpea flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp ground pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 280 ml water

First it’s a good idea to put the tin you’re going to use to bake your socca in the oven. I always do this first otherwise I forget. I’ve seen some recipes out there that use a cast iron skillet. NO. Do not use a cast iron skillet. It’s just not going to give you the consistency and thinness and crisp-ness that is classic of a real street socca. Instead, you’ll have some sort of thick chickpea crêpe which is all very well and good, but not socca. And I’m a purist when it comes to these things. Use a pie tin or some sort of thin baking sheet with sides: a large one.

Now, that being said, whisk together all of your dry ingredients then add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and water. Whisk batter together until completely smooth and shiny. Set aside for two hours.

Heat oven to 250°C (500°F) or as hot as it will go. I often use the fan setting on my oven, though I’m not sure if it does anything. Lebovitz suggests the broiler. When the oven is ready, remove your pin tie, quickly add the last tablespoon of oil, then the batter. Swirl to get the batter evenly coated on the tin (it will be thin), and put back in the oven. Bake 15 minutes or until the socca is lightly browned and bubbling. The time will depend on your oven. It changes for my oven depending on how long I’ve had it on before hand -honestly.

Remove from oven, slice, eat hot.

I love eating my socca with soup and cheese, but this time I was inspired by a friend a made a little socca pizza.

There’s nothing better than vegetables with a little salt, a bit of herbs, a bit of olive oil. Oh my. Is it lunch yet?

So what’s the story behind socca? Despite what a few websites may tell you, socca goes much further back than the 1800′s. If you talk to the people at Chez Pipo in Nice, they’ll tell you that this chickpea bread may date back to the 16th century when Nice (at that point neither under Italian control, nor French) was being assailed by their enemies. Those enemies, it seems, changed weekly. The story tells that they may have eaten a version of socca while under siege to prevent them, obviously, from going hungry.

But according to Wikipedia version français (everyone’s best friend) socca may have origins dating back to ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and was only introduced to Italy during the middle ages – when Nice was part of Italy – after the Sarrasins came, saw, conquered, and brought chickpeas.

Socca is street food. It’s origins are going to be messy, convoluted, and fought over. The toulonnais is convinced that cade originated in Toulon and refuse to hear otherwise. Although I have yet to hear any compelling stories as to where it came from.

Where ever it came from, it’s an intensely satisfying meal, eaten anywhere, any which way. Standing up on a market street, sitting down on a rough bench in the middle of Vieux Nice with a cup of rosé in hand, or at home served with veggies and cheese.

Chez Pipo would like to remind you however that socca should always be served fresh and hot because once it cools it loses much of its flavor and quality. I don’t agree with the first half, but I do agree that cold socca loses a certain quality in the texture. It hardens, becomes a bit too stiff and isn’t as pleasing as the just-from-the-oven stuff.

Gluten-free, vegan, and so simple. This bread with its mysterious origins is one of my favorites out of all the gastronomic wonders of Provence.

 

References:

 

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Novel Re-Writes and Vegan Apple Spice Muffins

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Holly 8 Comments

Have you been following my blog for a while? Since November? I participated in National Novel Writing Month last November. My goal was 100,000 words. I hit that word count but then kept going, not finishing the novel until mid-March and another 85,000 words later.

Re-writing a short story is daunting. For the second draft, I tend to start all over and do a complete re-write from zero, leaving things out, adding scenes in. Then in later drafts I tweak and edit and rephrase sentences, move scenes around, debate what is necessary, what isn’t. It’s a process.

So re-writing this novel is just terrifying, and I’m only now – 6 weeks after I wrote the final words – to begin.

To get me through I need muffins. Something to keep me happy and satisfied while I sit in front of my computer screen with music going and the novel’s 293 pages (single spaced) spread out before me in all their scary glory.

 Before we begin: a few of these muffins to have chocolate but it was for the husband and not involved in the actual recipe.

Still experimenting with vegan baking, these muffins use flax seed instead of egg and oil in place of butter. It’s my first attempt with flax seed and I have to say it’s a really fantastic baking replacement for egg.

This is totally my own recipe. I think I’m getting the hang of this flour-sugar-liquids ratio.

Vegan Apple Spice Muffins

Dry ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups organic multi-grain flour
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp wheat germ
  • 150 g chopped, peeled, cored apple

Wet ingredients

  • 1 flax seed egg*
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • ¼ unsweetened almond milk

*A flax seed egg is 1 tablespoon of flax seeds ground in a coffee grinder then whisked with 3 tablespoons of water until foamy with an “egg-like” consistency. It’s not quite as thick as an egg, but it’s close.

 

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a muffin tin and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl stir together all of the dry ingredients EXCEPT the apple.

In a smaller bowl make your flax seed egg, then add the rest of the wet ingredients and whisk together. First add your apple to the dry ingredients. Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix everything together until just combined.

Scoop batter into muffin tin about 2/3 full. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Makes 7 muffins.

 I know that’s an odd amount. I made 6 big muffins and then three little muffin “bites” dividing the last of the batter into thirds and baking it for a shorter time.

These are moist, bouncy, soft muffins. Perfect crumbly texture and not too sweet. MyPlate says they are 203 calories each. Top with a bit of almond butter and you have an awesome breakfast.

Brain food for writing. I’m proud of myself.

But my writing projects don’t stop there. Right after I finished one novel, I found myself in the midst of a new story – one that has taken on a life of its own. So here I am, with one novel waiting to be re-written and another begging my attention. It’s going to be a few months of skilled multi-tasking while I wrap my mind around two stories at once.

Usually I make it a rule to only work on one story at a time, until it’s finished and then I move to the next. I used to do the same with reading books, but this year I’ve been reading two or three novels at once. Can I do the same with writing?

We’re all bloggers out here in the WWW, and we all have our regular private lives. How do you handle multiple your projects?

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An Ice Cream Summer: Banana with Peanut Butter, Strawberry and Chocolate

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Holly 4 Comments

Remember when the husband bought me an ice cream machine? I said it was the best gift I’ve ever received. I wasn’t lying.

As ice cream season is soon upon us – and in some places already arrived – I have been preparing by putting my machine through its paces. One flavor after another being churned out, ingredients experimented with, recipes imagined and tasted.

Today, I have two recipes to offer to whet your appetite and prepare you for summer.

Banana Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Swirl

I waxed poetic about the wonders of frozen bananas a few weeks ago. I’m still won over by how fabulous they are. But sometimes, ice cream can’t be replaced by anything but ice cream.

Whether you love it or hate it, bananas and peanut butter are a classic combination, and using chunky peanut butter in this recipe add a great crunch.

ingredients for the ice cream

  • 2 eggs
  • 100 g sugar
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 200 ml milk
  • 2 small to medium bananas, very ripe
  • 250 ml heavy whipping cream

ingredients for peanut butter swirl

  • 3 tbsp all natural chunky peanut butter – use a peanut butter that is low on sugar, otherwise this is going to be SUPER sweet
  • 3 tbsp milk

Whisk together eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan heat up your milk and bananas until just boiling. Lower heat and stir constantly until bananas have been cooked down and are almost completely incorporated into the milk. Add your heavy cream, then add your egg-sugar mixture, stirring all the while. Once everything is incorporated raise heat again and bring to just under a boiling point. Lower heat again and keep stirring until the mixture has thickened and all the banana has “melted” away. This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Set aside until cooled (either in the fridge or at room temperature). About 8-12 hours.

Pour ingredients into an ice cream machine and let it churn for 25 minutes.

At the 25 minute point, in a small bowl combine the peanut butter and milk until smooth. More milk maybe added if you want.

Right when the ice cream is just about finished churning – about 30 minutes – pour the peanut butter into the machine and let it churn for another 3-5 minutes until the peanut butter has been swirled into the ice cream but not completely mixed in.

Pour into a plastic container and put in the freezer. Or serve. Makes about half a liter.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Strawberries and chocolate AND ice cream? I think so.

The key to a good strawberry ice cream is blending the heck out of your strawberries and if you don’t like seeds, straining the liquid after so that they separate.

ingredients

  • 200 g strawberries
  • 60 g Sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 150 ml Milk
  • 150 ml heavy cream
  • 75 g chocolate of your choice, chopped (I used a praline chocolate, but anything works.)

In a food processor, blend the strawberries on high until COMPLETELY smooth. You’ll have to scrape the sides one or two times. If you don’t want the seeds (I kept mine in) use a cheese cloth or strainer with tiny holes to separate the left over seeds from the strawberry juice. Set aside.

Whisk together the sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a saucepan heat your milk until just boiling, add your strawberry juice and start stirring. Once it’s just to boiling again, lower heat, add your heavy cream then your egg-sugar mixture, stirring constantly all the while.

Bring back just to boiling, then lower heat to low and stir until a custard has formed coating the back of a spoon. This will take about 10 minutes. Do not stop stirring.

Set aside to cool about 8-12 hours.

Pour custard into your ice cream machine and start churning for 30 minutes.

At about the 25 minute mark, chop your chocolate into small pieces, then when there are about 2-3 minutes left add the chocolate to your ice cream and let it churn until the rest of the 30 minutes is up.

Serve or place into a plastic container for freezing.

Enjoy the longer days and coming summer, wherever you are!

 

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