Cuisine de Provence

More than Tapas - a Weekend in Madrid

2012-01-27T00:31:00.002+01:00

Back from a weekend in Madrid I just have to share my favorite tapas and a few foodie impressions with you:

Favorite tapa: deep fried little green peppers sprinkled with sea salt. So simple but so good!

Next best - big green olives stuffed with mussels and roasted red peppers. My secret and please don't tell on me: I much prefer Spanish olives to the ones we get here in Provence.

What a beautiful advertisement - a bakery close to the Royal Palace

The hands of the baker

and valet service for their client's best friends....

Ice cold Fino Sherry served out of a kettle by the charming "patronne" of the "El Patio" tapas bar where we also ate

the freshest and very simply grilled fish and

melt in the mouth Jamon Iberico that we had already seen at one of Madrid's best foodie destinations the fabulous

San Miguel market hall

where the ceiling hangs full of this delicacy.

But take note of the price: € 18.50 for just 100 g - it is worth it though...

Tapas bar El Patio: 1 Calle Arlaban, Madrid - not only an excellent and informal place to eat (lunch and dinner) but also the place for bullfight aficionados. The place is like a bullfight museum (even the ceilings are full of bullfight posters) and the owners speak very good English in case your Spanish (like mine) isn't all that great.

Bullfight memorabilia at "El Patio"

Roasted Butternut and Garlic Soup

2012-01-11T18:10:00.001+01:00

Butternut Squash

We are lucky - this winter so far has been sunny and mild but we still leave it to the smokers to take their coffee (or pastis) on the terraces of the cafés on Vaison's Place Montfort. As far as I am concerned it is cold enough to cook hearty warming winter soups and this one has fast become a firm favorite.

All you need to serve 6 generous portions is a nice little butternut squash, a head of garlic, some vegetable stock and a dollop of cream. But first you have to drizzle the main ingredients with a little bit of olive oil and then roast them for about 30 minutes or so in the oven to really bring out the flavor.

Roast for 30 minutes

Once cool enough to handle, just peel the skin off the squash (far easier now than if you try to peel it raw) and squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins, puree all in a cup or so of vegetable stock, season to taste with some chilli flakes and pepper fresh from the mill and stir in a bit of double cream. Because it is roasted, the garlic will not make you smell but give the soup a wonderful earthy flavor.

Roasted Butternut & Garlic Soup

Springtime in Provence?

2012-01-05T15:23:00.000+01:00

Would you believe what I found in my garden this morning? The first daffodil of the season! Although it has been unseasonally warm to have daffodils flowering on January 5th is ridiculous, even in Provence. But kind of nice, too!

2012-01-03T18:56:00.001+01:00

I just saw a posting by my blogger friend Özlem of Ozlem's Turkish Table that I'd like to recommend to all my dear readers. Yes, okay this is the first time I am promoting something and - full disclosure - I do not have any interest in this - but for all of you who enjoyed reading about my Istanbul adventures (see October and November 2011 postings) - here is the perfect opportunity to enjoy some of the same and much more. So have a look at http://www.ozlemsturkishtable.com/2012/01/fascinating-istanbul-and-grand-turkey.html
and if you go send me a link to your blog when posting about your Turkish adventures!

How to beat Cooking Fatigue

2012-01-02T17:10:00.001+01:00

The holidays over I am suffering an acute attack of cooking fatigue. So the first evening of the New Year we had a real lazy dinner.

I just cut a small opening into this wonderful unpasteurized Vacherin cheese, stuffed it with some garlic cloves and moistened the cheese with a few drops of white wine, then wrapped it in aluminum foil and off it went into the oven for about 30 minutes,

slowly melting and giving me just enough time to boil a few potatoes, cut some gherkins and tomatoes, set the table et voilà: cheese fondue for two! All you need is some freshly milled pepper and a good glass of wine, bien sûr!

Countdown to Christmas in Provence

2011-12-19T16:25:00.001+01:00

The festive season is in full swing here in Provence - this weekend we have been celebrating so much that I almost feel I should skip the real holidays and go on a New Year's diet straight away. It all started Friday with a trip to Avignon - not to see the rather lacklustre Christmas Market but the huge Crèche (nativity scene) at the Hôtel de Ville (Lord Mayor's house). More than 600 santons (the traditional Provençal nativity figurines) are set into a valley depicting life in Provence as it used to be. (If you click on the photos to enlarge them you can see all the pretty details).

The big Crèche at the Lord Mayors house in Avignon

The on we went to the Palais du Roure just around the corner, where this delightful lady (below) was guarding another, much smaller but also very pretty crèche and explaining the "Treize desserts de Noël" and why the frist week of December we seed lentils or wheat to have the green sprouts on the table in time for Christmas (this is supposed to guarantee money all year round).

Night fell and on we went to the Hotel La Mirande just below the Pope's Palace to the grand opening of the hotel's Christmas market.

For me the main attraction there was this monsieur, the "Roi des Pois Chiches" (King of the Chickpeas), who, gifted with a fabulous personality and an unparalled gift of the gab sold chickpeas, chickpea flour and pots of poichichade, a delicious chickpea dip.

In the beautiful old kitchen of La Mirande I was more than delighted to meet Nathalie, whose blog Avignon in Photos I have been following for quite a while and who I admire for her creativity, her unique eye and sense of style. Can't wait to see this still life in her blog!

Cooking demonstration in the kitchen of La Mirande

After slaving in my kitchen all day long (more on that later) Saturday night found us at the

Cave la Vigneronne in the beautiful village of Villedieu where the new wines of 2011 where presented in the cellar of the Cave.

Delighted with their find - guests at La Vigneronne

When in France you eat when you drink. On the menu: Oysters from Bretagne and walnuts and cheeses from Provence

Yum!

For dessert: fruit tarts

and cream filled choux

We all left rather happy - thank you Alain for driving us!

Sunday we had our official Christmas picture taken and made our friends take a more or rather less orderly queue towards the kitchen stove where a big pot of Goulash was simmering.

I always serve this Ghoulash at what we call our "Countdown to Christmas" - a happy and informal get together of friends around the Christmas tree with Ghoulash, a cheese board, some desserts and lots of red wine....

Desserts this year: Mince pies made by my friend Nadira, also known as Queen of Confitures

Pecan Tart and

Tiramisu made by moi

Dancing around the Christmas tree!

Cuisine de Provence wishes you all very

Happy Holidays

and a Happy, Healthy and Peaceful

NEW YEAR 2012!

Some more Foie Gras

2011-12-11T15:02:00.000+01:00

A quick snap I took when browsing my favorite supermarket the other day - just to give you an impression of the huge choice of foie gras products on offer now before the holidays. Did you know that foie gras was declared part of the French National Heritage in 2005? A quick answer to the then first banishments of foie gras from the menus of certain New York restaurants and to a new law that will make it illegal to produce, sell or serve foie gras in California from July 2012.

Sinful and delicious - Foie Gras

2011-12-05T18:04:00.001+01:00

It is that time of year again - that time of year when our letterbox is overflowing with publicity leaflets from all the local supermarkets that deal with only one thing: Food! But not food as in everyday specials, oh no - the festive season is looming and festive in France equals with champagne and fine wines, oysters, lobster, foie gras, capons and what to fill them with. So in order to get myself organized and not leave everything to a last minute frenzy I have started to prepare my Foie Gras.

This year I cheated a bit and bought a Foie Gras that was already cleaned, so I only had to

take the lobes apart, season them with pepper, fleur de sel and a pinch of quatre épices (a spice mixture of nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon) and a swig of real good Cognac.

The seasoned lobes then get pressed into the terrine and go in a bain-marie into a very low oven (150°C/302°F) for 35 minutes.

After slow cooking for 40 minutes it comes out looking like this (below):

Off you pour the grease and keep it, because this is the best fat to fry the worlds best tasting fried potatoes in

When cold, the goose fat will solidify.

Now the Foie Gras (and don't call it a terrine or pâté, because this is pure Foie Gras with nothing mixed into it) has to be weighed down and and left in the fridge to develop for at least two days.

Then you can either give in to your greed and serve it with any good bread and - if you like it the French way - with a sweet wine. Or - if you are reasonable, wrap it well and freeze to get it out in time for the holidays. Saying that I guess I better get another one on the way - I think in a couple of days I will just want to make sure and check that this one has turned out as it should....

Glamorous Coffee Break

2011-11-14T14:14:00.000+01:00

Isn't this the best piece of bling ever? I just love and adore my new ring!

And ever since I got it, I am having ....

very stylish coffeebreaks! A little glamour goes a long way....

What does France really eat?

2011-11-10T20:00:00.001+01:00

Now have a look at this: Doesn't the dish on the cover of this magazine look just like a nice, juicy pork roast? I think it does and was more than surprised when I saw the headline "France's best loved dishes". But knowing that France is also the country where McDonalds has the highest turnover outside of the US I thought anything is possible and was intrigued. But no, pork it is not, it is duck breast and "Vie Pratique Gourmand", a very popular cooking mag you buy at supermarket checkouts had asked it's readers to name their top forty favorite dishes. Duck Breast was voted most popular dish, followed by Moules Frites and - Number Three: Couscous!

Classic dishes such as Lapin à la Moutarde - rabbit in mustard sauce (20), Cassoulet (32) or Bouillabaisse (37) were beat by BBQ'd salmon (11), Spaghetti Bolognaise (17) and Pizza (18). Interesting, isn't it?

And what is your favorite dish? Mine seems to be an alltime favorite: Steak Frites, the more saignant, the better! And I am not the only one - Steak Frites made it to number 6 on the "Vie Pratique Gourmand" ranking.

Foodie Walk through Istanbul - III. and last Part

2011-11-02T12:30:00.001+01:00

The one and only day is wasn't raining during our stay in Istanbul fellow blogger Claudia of A Seasonal Cook in Turkey very kindly took us on a foodie tour through Beyoglu, the heart of Istanbul. We had met just a few weeks before when Claudia whose blog features mouthwateringly delicious recipes came to visit Provence with her lovely husband TT. Well I can tell you one thing: this walk was not for the fainthearted, already at the first stop Claudia had some convincing to do:

Robert, my OH was more than sceptical: "What do you want me to eat? Kokoreç - Sheep intestines?"

But since Nazmi, the vendor, was such a delightful man who proudly told us that he put his two daughters through university with the earnings off his stall, we decided to be polite and have a taste. Surprise - it tasted great, politeness evaporated, sheer greed took over - yum!

What a beautiful still life! We generally found that Turkish stallholders have a knack for decoration!

Here no one had any qualms about tasting - freshly pressed pommegranate juice is so delicious.

And warm, melt in the mouth börek, I think I could easily live on this....

Some street art thrown in and then:

The Orient Bar of the famous Pera Palas Hotel, Istanbul's first luxury hotel where Mata Hari, Marlene Dietrich, Alfred Hitchcock, Jackie Kennedy and Agatha Christie used to stay. Our friend Volker invited us to

a fabulos Turkish Coffee, before we then went on to visit

The Master of the Pickles!

Along the way we learned how else to spell "Charcuterie " as that was what we tasted next:

This very friendly, in fact absolutely adorable man who has been running this stall on the exact same street corner for some thirty years he told us (hence his three devoted "regulars"), turns this - cooked sheep heads,

into this (photo below) - an absolute delicay. We not only admired his knife skills - it was quite a spectacle watching him deftly cutting up the heads, getting out the meat, then finely slicing onions and chopping lots of flat leaf parsley. Seasoned with pepper, salt and pulbiber, the Turkish chilli flakes you find on every restaurant table

Kelle, as this is called was seriously good!

But then we went to the famous Spice Bazaar and guess what? Yes, we did find a little space left in our by now well stuffed tummies to taste nut and pistachio filled dates, apricots and figs. And special chocolates and even Iranian caviar that is sold at very competitive prices.

Blogger meeting in the Spice Bazaar: Claudia, Barbara and Joy

There we were joined by Joy, a pastry chef whose baking demonstration at Istanbul's Culinary Institute I unfortunately missed by a few days and author of the delightful "My Turkish Joys" blog. Joy took us to her favorite spice shop in this amazing and fragrant labyrinth of spices where I stocked up on black pepper, pulbiber, dried thym (now that the winter starts I want to give my thym plants a rest), red pepper, tea, and lokum of course, also known as Turkish Delight. And that exactly sums up this wonderful day: it was truly a Turkish Delight - thank you Claudia for guiding us!

Istanbul Part II - Street Food

2011-10-29T16:50:00.000+02:00

Istanbul - the Grand Bazaar

Before we left for Istanbul I did a lot of research on the local food scene. Having travelled in Turkey before we had a pretty good idea that you don't necessarily find the tastiest and most interesting food in chic restaurants (and there are more and more of those to be found in Istanbul) So in order to find truly authentic places I looked at foodblogs about Turkey and/or Istanbul. This is one adress I found on Delicious Istanbul , written by Olga Tikhonova who also offers cooking classes that I absolutely intend to book next time I am in Istanbul.

Taking a break shopping at Istanbul's fabulous Grand Bazaar (where you could spend not only fortunes but also days and days) it took us a while to find "Aynen Dürüm", but was it ever worth it! Dürüm are food wraps and the only question we were asked when we got there was "Beef, Chicken or Lamb?" We opted for lamb and after grabbing one of the little stools along a double sided outdoor counter studied what else was on offer:

Flatleaf parsley, dill pickles, grilled peppers

Ismail, King of the BBQ

And as soon as Ismail, the master of the grill had handed over the juicy lamb kebabs stuffed into the wraps we took our cues from our fellow lunchers and went to work adding all the fresh and delicious bits on offer. For the princely sum of 5TL (€ 2; $ 2.86) we had one of our Best.Lunches.Ever. Thank you, Olga!

Best lamb wraps ever: Aynen Dürüm at the Grand Bazaar

Cuisine de Provence - Summer 2011

2011-10-27T15:44:00.001+02:00

The cooking season 2011 has ended, my kitchen in Provence is closed until next spring and I just want to say a big "Thank You" to all the lovely, enthusiastic and fun people (click on the photo to enlarge) who came to explore the cooking of Provence. It was great having you visit and we hope you liked our beautiful corner of Provence so much that you want to come again!

PS: Right now I am nursing the mother of all colds but will be back soon with some more culinary adventures from Istanbul.

Istanbul - a feast for all the senses - Part 1

2011-10-21T17:09:00.000+02:00

If the earth was a single state, Istanbul would be its capital

Napoleon Bonaparte

If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul

Alphonse de Lamartine

Ever since we first went to Istanbul quite some years ago and "did" the sights (Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace, The Cisterns, The Grand Bazaar etc.) we fell in love with this wonderful, amazing, vibrant, lively, energetic, overwhelming town. So back we went, this time concentrating on exploring the street life and culinary wonders of Istanbul. As you can see above, Istanbul greeted us with pouring rain and very low temperatures, so we had to adjust our program somewhat, looking as much as possible for shelter and warmth.

One adress that gave us both was Takanik Balik where we found all the delectable fish dishes I had just seen on Anthony Bourdains "No Reservations". You will find these fun and very watchable episodes on YouTube when you google "Anthony Bourdain Istanbul". But be warned: you will want to pack your bags and fly to Istanbul asap!

I don't think I have ever had mussels as good as these: stuffed with a very moreish mixture of rice and spices - there was some cinnamon in there and they are served at room tempearture.

And then there was Hamsi of course. These tiny Black Sea anchovy, known as the "little princes" of fish, were just coming into season and all along the Bosporus we saw men fishing for them. The way Hamsi are served couldn't be simpler - dusted with some flour and panfried - an absolute delicacy.

Food For Thought

2011-10-10T12:20:00.001+02:00

We had two wonderful evenings at our friend's Olli and Sabine. The first night we were invited Olli had prepared such a delicious and generous seafood spread as a first course that we never managed to eat the main course. So we were reinvited for the next night to have the rabbit stew and dessert and that is when I found this card in their kitchen: "Love yourself and you can eat anything you want."

Food for thought? See for yourself: don't our friends just look as if they live by this?

Sabine and Olli

Easy, fast but so delicious - Chicken Liver Pâté

2011-10-03T18:10:00.001+02:00

Do you also do this? Whenever I stumble upon a recipe I find real interesting, be it at the hairdresser's, in the dentist's waiting room or some café, I can't help but rip it out, coughing somewhat noisily to mask the ripping noise. Those steals and other perfectly legitimate ripouts then find the way into my kitchen drawer where all those recipes I mean to try out go. To tell you the truth: only about 10 % do eventually get tried. This Chicken Liver Pâté is one of them and as far as I am concerned it is a keeper! It couldn't be easier to prepare and is absolutely delicious, do give it a go!

To serve 4 persons you need:
300 g chicken livers
150 g salted butter at room temperature
2 shallotts, 5 cl port wine
a tbsp of cognac
pepper fresh from the mill

Clean the chicken livers, peel and finely mince the shallots. Out of the 130 g of salted butter take a generous spoonful and on moderate heat soften the minced shallots in a pan. Turn up the heat, and cook the chicken livers, taken care not to brown them, stirring all the time. Add the port wine and continue cooking until the port has reduced to a syrupy consistency. Season with a few turns of the pepper mill and let the mixture cool down. In a food processor add the chicken liver, shallot and port mixture to the rest of the butter, add the cognac and process to a smooth consistency. Transfer into a pretty pot, cover with plastic wrap and let the flavors develop in the fridge overnight. Serve with crusty baguette, cornichons and a rustic red wine.

PS:

Claudia, a big thank you to you!!! Claudia of A seasonal cook in Turkey explained to me how to get the watermark on my photos. I was getting really fed up of finding them all over the internet without credit given.

All the Way from Istanbul - to a Blogger Meeting in Provence

2011-09-16T15:57:00.001+02:00

Blogger Meeting in Provence: Claudia and myself

I have been following Claudia's fabulous, informative and delicious blog "A Seasonal Cook in Turkey" almost from the beginning and, knowing she had relatives in the South of France had always hoped that she would find her way to Provence some day so we could meet. Well, that day was today!
It is funny that by following a blog and commenting back and forth you somehow feel you know the person who writes it. But as soon as Claudia and her wonderful husband TT came through our door Robert and I really felt as if we had known them for a long time. A little while and a glas of Rosé later we were chatting away like old friends. I admired photos and the most wonderful video of beautiful little Eva, Claudia and TT's first grandchild, we were talking cooking and garden, Istanbul and Provence and time just flew by. But we promised each other that this would not be a "goodbye", just an "à bientôt". Isn't blogging wonderful?

Bountiful Provence

2011-09-09T20:59:00.000+02:00

Just a little still life I arranged on my patio this afternoon

Fig Tart

2011-09-03T19:16:00.000+02:00

Many years ago when we planted our garden we absolutely wanted a fig tree in front of the house. When you live in Vaison la Romaine you don't have to think twice where to go for your fig tree: we are very lucky to have Baud, one of the best known (as in internationally best known) fig nurseries right on our doorstep.
So we went to see Monsieur Baud and tasted I don't remember how many varieties of figs, chose the tree, planted it and waited. And waited. And waited. And then got real excited about a measly five or six figs. But this year: OMG! We are drowned in figs! Nice dark little juicy wonderful figs! So I have been cooking fig jam, giving figs away, eating fresh figs for breakfast and today, for the first time I have baked a fig tart.

Actually I am a little bit proud of myself because I improvised the recipe: Because I didn't have much time I took a readymade shortcrust pastry and blind baked it for 10 minutes. I then halved the figs and snugly fitted them into the prebaked shell, drizzled honey and sprinkled a handful of chopped pecan nuts on top and dusted everything with a little bit of cinnamon. Almost as an afterthought I cut some tiny flecks of salted butter all over the figs and baked the tart at 180°C/360°F for 20 minutes.
My guinea pigs approved.

Survival of the Fittest??

2011-08-27T14:50:00.002+02:00

A few weeks ago I had a guest at Cuisine de Provence wearing this Tshirt. What do you think he was trying to tell me????

Just in case you are wondering: He survived the class...

How to make Whipped Cream in France

2011-08-17T14:01:00.001+02:00

This morning, Kirsty and Richard came to cook at Cuisine de Provence and we came to talking about her aunt who finds it absolutely impossible to find a cream in France that transforms into whipped cream. I would like to dedicate this post to Kirsty's aunt who lives in Dordogne, although this is a problem not only Kirsty's aunt, but lots of other expats have long been fighting with. France - the land of milk and creams - but did you ever try to make a somewhat decent whipped cream here? I went through years of frustrating results until, by trial and error, I found this:

This, dear reader, is the one and only cream in France that gives you real good, oldfashioned whipped cream! And if Super U ever decides not to sell it anymore I might just contemplate to - no, not to leave France, but probably to never eat whipped cream again....

And just so you know what you have to look for, here is the bottle in all it's glory:

So now dear expats, no more excuse to use the frankly revolting cream from spray cans: go and have yourself a real lovely whipped cream feast! And greetings to Kirsty's aunt in Dordogne!

Limoncello Icecream Wedges - Beautiful Summer Dessert

2011-08-12T15:24:00.000+02:00

Limoncello Gelato

Doesn't it drive you just crazy when you try to prepare a recipe for the first time and halfway through realize that you are a victim of sloppy editing? There is either an ingredient missing, they got the timing wrong or, worst of all - as in this case - something is labelled "Really, really easy - just put it in the freezer and forget about it" and, it turns out is it SO NOT.

This Limoncello Icecream is a recipe from the British Cooking magazine "Olive", ripped out from their "Eat in - Show off" section. Not only do I love Limoncello, but who doesn't love a recipe that claims to be easy and has show off appeal?

Well, it starts easy enough:

Take 3 really ripe, organic lemons. Finely grate their skin off, then juice them. Mix zest and juice with 170 g of icing (confectioner's) sugar and let infuse for about 30 minutes. I added the zest and juice of one lime to make it more interesting and reduced the original amount of sugar (190g) to 170 g.

Hopefully you always store your Limoncello in the freezer, because you then need to whip 450 ml of double cream with 3 tbsp of ice cold Limoncello into a soft chantilly (whipped cream). Stir in the lemon juice and sugar mixture, pour into a tub and freeze. So easy, so good.

But then, the next day or so, you need another 3 big fat and juicy lemons (no mention of those in the recipe). Cut them in halves lengthwise, get rid of their flesh (I found this works best with a metal ice cream scoop), let the frozen ice cream thaw just a bit and fill the lemon halves tightly with ice cream. Wrap individually in cling film (plastic wrap) and refreeze.

Just before serving then comes the real hard part: Where the Olive recipe breezily suggests: "Cut in half again lengthways on serving" there you stand in the kitchen, sweating and swearing under your breath and trying to saw the ~~bloody~~ icecold, slippery halves into halves. Trust me, the only thing that works is a sturdy serrated bread knife that you dip in real hot water every five seconds.

Truth is: It looks great and tastes even better, but easy? Easy it ain't!

Milk fresh from the Station

2011-08-04T12:38:00.000+02:00

In Provence it does not seem strange to us to go and get our daily wine like you would get gas at a gas station. But I had never seen a "milk station" before. Until yesterday that is. We were driving through the Drome, from Hauterives to Valence when, passing through the tiny village of Tersanne, I saw this sign:

So we stopped and explored. For passerby's like us there was even the possibility to buy milk bottles for 0.30 € - the lucky neighbors probably bring their own recipients.

Then you pay another 0.80 € per liter, press a button and get the freshest, non pasteurized, non skimmed non whatever else they do to milk these days fresh from the cow milk.

Since I couldn't work out how to get hold of the bottle I had to ring the bell and got to meet Véronique who told me that it wouldn't have hurt to read the instructions (sorry!) and that her husband, the farmer has been drinking this milk for more than 40 years. I tried it this morning and reader: it is delicious! And there was even a little deposit of real cream on top! Too bad that we would have to drive more than an hour to get milk this delicious on a regular basis!

Véronique, the farmer's wife

Pepperonata Provençale de Marie-Jo

2011-08-02T14:31:00.001+02:00

Time flies! Almost two weeks ago I promised to post about a delicious dish I had the good fortune to first taste at my neighbor's house and which I have since served a couple of times. The ingredients - red peppers and juicy, really ripe tomatoes are ripening in my kitchen garden faster than I can think of what to do with them and since Marie-Jo's "Pepperonata Provençale" is as easy to prepare as it is delicious, here we go:

Take three real ripe red peppers, clean them and slice very finely.

Peel and core four or five tomatoes and chop them

In a large pan, heat a generous splash of olive oil, add the peppers and tomatoes and let simmer on moderate heat, stirring every once in a while. At first, keep the lid on, after about 15 minutes or so when the peppers are tender, take off the lid, add a pinch or two of sugar and let all moisture evaporate. Season to taste with salt (I use Fleur de Sel) and pepper fresh from the mill. Can be eaten warm or cold - at room temperature that is - as a side dish or as meze with crusty bread.

Delicious warm or cold: Pepperonata Provençale

Belle Epoche in Sablet

2011-07-24T17:28:00.001+02:00

I know that some of you might be waiting for the recipes I promised to blog about, but they will have to wait a little because this morning we went to a village fête in Sablet, the village my fellow blogger Michel of "Our House in Provence" often writes about. And because he and his wife Shirley unfortunately had to fly back to California yesterday and so had to miss this unique and very Provençal event, Michel and Shirley - these photos are for you!
The theme was "Sablet à la Belle Epoche" and started with a mass in Provençal at the village church, followed by the blessing of a winestock by Father Pierre Granier and Provençal dancing. All through the village there were demonstrations of old arts and crafts and the villagers strolled about in their traditional Sunday finery.

PS: I am truly sorry some real nice comments to my last post got lost when I tried to edit same post. Somehow this seems no longer possible ever since the "new" Blogger was introduced. Because of some bad misspelling I had to delete and rewrite this post.

PS. PS: Through trial and error I finally managed to get back to the "old" version of blogger so all is well now.

Another Blogger Meeting in Provence

2011-07-20T22:01:00.002+02:00

Shirley, Robert, myself and Michel

After having met Susan and Dale of "Schnitzel and the Trout" in June, we now had another blogger meeting in Provence! After having met for the first time around New Year's (when nobody thought of taking a picture) and bumping into each at Vaison's famous Tuesday market, Michel and Shirley of "Our House in Provence" very kindly invited Robert and me to their beautiful house in the village of Sablet.

Michel who owns a French Bistro in California and loves to go and eat at (and blog about) all the best restaurants in Provence had prepared a delicious "Caviar d'Aubergines" (recipe to be found on his blog) and very tasty Bruscette. As they had just been to the seaside town of Cassis we were also treated to a superb Blanc de Cassis. Guess what we talked about? Recipes and Restaurants! I promised Shirley to blog about two recipes that I have just discovered at my Provençal neighbor's - so now into the kitchen I go to prepare them and take photos!

Congratulations to Andrew and Grace

2011-07-14T15:11:00.002+02:00

Forgive me for taking a break from my usual Provence and cooking posts but I just have to share a photo from the lovely wedding we were invited to and went to London for. Andrew, the eldest son of our dear friends and former neighbors Ken and Ramona married his lovely fiancé Grace last Sunday at Hampton Court Palace - don't they make a beautiful couple? Wishing them all the happiness in the world!

But what is London without a little retail therapy? The sales were on and so I hit the shops and came home with a lot of books, one little cashmere sweater and another photo I just have to show you:

This sandal with a simple espandrille sole and a bit of leather at £ 335? Just in case you are wondering, this translates into $ 535 or € 379 and even the sales price of £ 201 is still a whopping $ 321 or € 227. If ever I have seen consumerism gone mad, this is it! What do you think?

Two in One

2011-07-06T10:16:00.000+02:00

What could be better than to prepare one recipe that then actually gives you two dishes? When I spotted a recipe for "Flan de Pointes d'Asperges au Pesto" in a summer special of "Côté Sud" that had pesto as a main ingredient I knew I had a winner. The recipe didn't even ask for homemade pesto but since basil is growing in abundance right now what could be easier?
So for the pesto you need: a real generous bunch of basil leaves, a good handful of pine nuts, 50 g (1/2 cup) of freshly grated parmesan, one clove of finely minced garlic and olive oil. Mix all ingredients into a fine paste, just adding enough olive oil to moisten the mixture. This recipe gives you the amount of pesto you need for the flan (about 130 g or 1/2 cup of pesto), but if you just double the quantities you will have the best ever pesto to stir into freshly cooked fettucine - a real feast that couldn't be simpler to prepare!

Back to the flan: Once you have prepared the pesto, preheat the oven to 140°C / 208° F
Mix the pistou with 4 large eggs, 50 g (½ cup) grated parmesan, 20 cl (¾ cup) cream (preferably thick crème fraîche) and a few turns of the pepper mill. Pour this batter into a buttered gratin dish, decorate with a bunch of asparagus tips (since asparagus season is over I cheated and used frozen that I defrosted before use) and bake for 35 minutes. Serve hot or lukewarm. Served with a big green salad on the side this flan makes an elegant and unbelievably fragrant summer lunch.

Big, Bold and Beautiful - Art on a Roundabout

2011-06-19T12:36:00.000+02:00

It is usually my fellow blogger Michel Augsburger of Our House in Provence who chronicles roundabouts but I suppose I might be forgiven if I borrow the idea this one time. We recently went on a short trip to the north western part of France where I saw this roundabout which I absolutely adored. Whoever the creator was he or she had the guts to to go Big, Bold and Beautiful - qualities you do not find very often on roundabout decorations. A true work of art to be found on a roundabout between Rochefort and Marennes.

Blogger Meeting in Provence

2011-06-11T18:09:00.002+02:00

Robert my OH, Susan, myself and Dale

What a fun evening that was! Fellow blogger Susan of "Schnitzel and the Trout" and her husband Dale are travelling Provence and came to visit us. And look what a beautiful gift Susan gave me - I found out that she is not only a wonderful chef but a great embroiderer, too! Almost too beautiful to use, I am still contemplating to have this lovely linen kitchen towel framed to be hung in my kitchen. Thank you, dear Schnitzel, it was really really nice to meet you and the Trout!

Mediterranean Lentil Salad

2011-06-01T14:48:00.001+02:00

We haven't really had spring this year in Provence - a very mild winter and then all of a sudden it was summer, glorious summer! So once again we live on the patio and eat lots of fruits and salads. This recipe was very generously given to me by our friends Olli and Sabine who sadly live in Vaison only part time - sadly, because they are great cooks and I love to share recipes with them!

For 4 persons you need:

250 g Puy lentils

100 g sundried tomatoes

1 small zucchini

2 spring onions

2 cloves fresh garlic

a piece of chorizo sausage - about 5 cm long

3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

7 tbsp olive oil

Pepper fresh from the mill, salt to taste

Cook the lentils in fresh water (no salt added!) until al dente, drain and let cool.

Now starts the boring part: cut up all ingredients (except for the lentils, of course) into really small, even cubes, the smaller the better.

Very quickly sautée the zucchini cubes in some oilive oil, drain and let cool. In a hot but dry pan, quickly fry the chorizo cubes to release some of the fat - drain the cubes, discard the fat.

Toss together all ingredients, add the balsamic vinegar and the best olive oil you can find. Pepper and salt to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for at least a few hours for the flavors to mingle and develop. Garnish with a few basil leaves and serve with crusty bread. Don't forget a nice glass of red (or two....)!

Meeting my Culinary Hero

2011-05-26T14:47:00.000+02:00

Went to the beautiful "La Mirande" hotel in Avignon the other day to follow a cooking demonstration held by chef Bruno D'Angelis. Came back with some fun recipes - "Cream of Broccoli with Oysters", a simple but very tasty "Tartine of Crispy Vegetables" and a "Chocolat Soup" that I cannot wait to try out. But best of all: I got to meet my culinary hero Christian Etienne who popped in to watch his young colleague. Etienne is a very well know chef with a beautiful restaurant right next to the Pope's Palace in Avignon and very popular because he has a show every morning on Radio Bleu Vaucluse where listeners phone in to ask him all kinds of culinary questions. If you happen to be in the region tune in on 100.4 at 10.00 am Monday to Friday to listen to Christian Etienne.

With Bruno D'Angelis (left) and Christian Etienne

Cream of Broccoli with Oyster

Crispy Vegetable Tartine

"La Transhumance" - Fête Provençale in Jonquières

2011-05-15T17:38:00.000+02:00

What a fantastic Sunday in Provence - we had for some time heard tales of "La Transhumance" when shepherds bring their livestock to higher pastures in the summer or to lower valleys in winter. So when we saw a little sign at a roundabout last week that this weekend the sheep would be traversing the village of Jonquières we made sure to be there on time! And what a village fête it turned out to be! Marching bands, Provençal dancers wearing their historic costumes, food stalls selling everything from freshly picked cherries, sausages, honey, tapenades or homemade pies and tarts, craftsmen making brooms or roasting coffee like their grandparents used to. Not even the Mistral, the dreaded wind from the north spoiled the fun although the stallholders had to hold onto their stalls to protect them against the fierce gusts.

"La Transhumance" - there were easily more than a thousand sheep and my OH

was very pleased that they all wore his initials!

An especially proud specimen

Little Provençal beauties

Proudly wearing local costumes

Sun Protection à la Provençale

La Transhumance as Santons for the Christmas Crèche

No Village Fête without a Dance Group

What a clever idea: this lady used her car....

...to display her handmade Fridge Magnets

Cheeses from Banon

A Veggie's Dream: Tarte Paysanne

A Broom Maker shows his Craft

Roasting Coffee like our grandparents used to

The Caviar of Provence

2011-05-14T19:17:00.000+02:00

Two eggplants - they were supposed to go into a ratatouille, this wonderful Provençal concoction of red peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and eggplants (or aubergines as we call them in Provence) but somehow ended up all alone in the fridge and needed to be saved - fast.

Nicely soft and squishy - roasted eggplants

So I tried out a new recipe for "Caviar d'Aubergines", one of these quintessential Provençal recipes where rather humble ingredients are used to create something truly good. Every Provençal household has at least one recipe for "Caviar d'aubergines" so this one is not the one and only authentic recipe, but one of many, albeit a rather delicious one.

I roasted the eggplats for about 40 minutes in a hot oven, let them cool down, cut them in halves and scraped out the soft flesh. One pressed garlic clove and a few turns of freshly milled pepper later I mixed it all with a handheld mixer, adding just a few drops of olive oil. In there went 10 finely chopped sundried tomatoes (take those that come in an olive oil marinade), and about two tbsp finely chopped capers - stirred in, not mixed. Finally I quickly melted 3 small anchovy fillets in a hot pan and stirred them into the mix - that way you don't need to add salt.

And voilà - Caviar d'Aubergines! To be served on crusty baguette slices with predinner drinks.

Not really pretty but so good: Caviar d'Aubergines

Poppy time - almost Summer in Provence!

2011-05-02T16:30:00.001+02:00

My favorite season in Provence has begun: the poppies are popping up (yes I know, couldn't resist...) all over the fields and as I was driving by I just had to take out my camera for a quick snap. Continued driving and suddenly realized I had a big smile on my face - because these little red dots make everything look so beautiful, because the sun was shining, because it is almost summer in Provence!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-23T17:02:00.002+02:00

Kids at the Plant Show

2011-04-20T16:59:00.001+02:00

Just one more post on children's activities: At a gardening and rare plant show in Sérignan du Comtat last weekend we admired these clever youngsters who provided a much needed service. They offered their beautifully decorated wheel barrows to transport visitor's purchases to the parking lot. What a brilliant idea to earn some pocket money!

Kids in the Kitchen

2011-04-17T19:10:00.001+02:00

Picking basil leaves

Cuisine de Provence's youngest guest ever did a great job yesterday helping her parents in the kitchen: This young lady is just six years old but worked like a pro: picking basil leaves for a fresh green tapenade, chopping the vegetables for a mousseline de courgettes, filling filo parcels with chèvre and sun dried tomatoes and - while nobody was looking, composing a beautiful table decoration from flowers she found in the garden. It doesn't happen very often that parents bring their children to cooking class, but so far I found that the younger they are the more enthusiastic. It was a joy to see!

Preparing what we called....

.....Bonbons de Provence

It's almost Summer - Pistou de Roquette

2011-04-08T13:34:00.001+02:00

Finger licking good: Pistou de Roquette

I wanted some rocket salad to spice up my usual mix of leaves and without thinking bought a real big bag of these pungent leaves. After eating the salad, then mixing the rocket leaves with Turkish yoghurt, a finely minced clove of garlic and some salt and pepper (an absolutely delicious recipe a Turkish lady once taught me and which we love as a side dish at BBQs) there was still a lot of rocket left. And I didn't have much time to fix dinner and was fishing around for a quick recipe when inspiration hit - Pistou de Roquette! The usual Pistou in Provence is prepared with lots of basil and a close sister to the Italian Pesto, except that it lacks the parmesan. But I just love the creaminess of the freshly grated cheese so here I took 150g (3 generous cups) of rocket, 50g (1/3 of a cup) of freshly grated parmesan, 50 g (1/3 of a cup) of powdered almonds, 2 cloves of minced garlic, pepper fresh from the mill and about four tbsp of our precious "Gold of Provence" - olive oil that is. All went into the mixer and out came this luscious, beautifully green concoction. Stirred into hot pasta - simple but oh so good! And I used the leftover pistou (the little there was) as a dressing with my lunch tomato salad. It tasted like summer. And out of my kitchen window right now it looks like summer, too....

Cuisine de Provence's Kitchen View

If in Nîmes - go to the Market Halls

2011-03-28T15:08:00.003+02:00

Provence Olives

It had been some years that we had been to Nîmes and at the time we had not been very impressed. So we decided to visit again, also to check out its museum of contemporary art "Carré d'Art" built by the British architect Sir Norman Foster.

To put it in a nutshell: If you never get to go to Nîmes don't cry, you won't miss all that much. If you are serious about contemporary art, the museum, a glass building that mirrors the shape of the Roman Temple "Maison Carré" next to it, is really not that exciting. If you want contemporary art in Provence pay a visit to the wonderful Collection Lambert in Avignon.

Wandering around the city center we finally found something really worth looking at: the market halls of Nîmes. Its been a long time that I have seen such an abundance of olives, olive oils, tapenades, fish and meat stalls, wine merchants, charcuteries or bakers - a foodie's delight! And they really urge you to taste:

Sun dried tomatoes: Tasting obligatory

We tasted lemon, chili and cilantro tapenades, the best ever sun dried tomatoes, looked longingly at the fish stalls (why do I never learn to always, just always keep an icebox in my car?) and bought a local speciality "Le Petit Nimois", cute little pastries with a meat or fish stuffing which I reheated in the oven and served with a salad on the side. Those with fish were best.

Le Petit Nimois - savoury little pastries

A Dessert straight from the Heart

2011-03-24T14:42:00.001+01:00

Confession: I love to browse through kitchen gadget catalogues. There is something to all those pots and pans, cupcake and shortbread moulds, handmixers and stick blenders, mini choppers, chicken roasters, herb mills, garlic presses, pasta machines and potato ricers that I find deeply interesting, regretting only that I really, really don't need to buy anything anymore because my kitchen is far too well equipped already. But then, once in while there is something I just need to have:

Coeur à la Crème Mould

I probably wouldn't even have known what to use these for, had the very clever people at Lakeland not put the recipe right next to the pics of these delightful little heart moulds. This was years ago but Coeurs à la Crème are still one of my favorite desserts - light and elegant and, best of all, to be prepared one day in advance so there is no last minute stress involved.

For 8 Cream Hearts you will need:

8 heart moulds, 8 muslin squares

300 ml yoghurt

150 castor sugar

300 ml cream

2 eggs

Separate the eggs. Mix the yoghurt, the egg yolks and all but 2 tbsp sugar together. In another bowl whip the cream until stiff, then combine with the yoghurt mixture. In yet another bowl (yes, there is a bit of washing up involved...) whip the egg whites until stiff, add the 2 tbsp sugar and whip some more. Carefully fold the egg whites into the yoghurt/cream mixture.

Dampen the muslin squares and line the coeur à la crème moulds, then divide mixture between the moulds, filling them generously (they will loose moisture and set overnight). Put all moulds in a deep enough dish that will hold the liquid that will drain from the coeurs. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Hearts set for draining

To serve, turn out the hearts and decorate with a fruit coulis of your choice - here I choose papaya.

Monday evening my friend Thérèse invited us for dinner and I offered to bring dessert. So these real pretty plates are hers (...jealous sigh....)

A Painter's Philosophy

2011-03-19T17:48:00.000+01:00

"I would drink milk if cows would eat grapes" (Henri de Toulousse Lautrec) - found yesterday in Uzès at the entrance of a wine merchant's shop. Wonder if he knows that the brillant painter died of alcoholism....

'Tis the Season to start Cooking....

2011-03-13T16:48:00.001+01:00

The season at Cuisine de Provence starts this coming Wesdnesday and I am really looking forward to meeting my first guests who flew in from Australia! The new aprons have arrived just in time, I have busily been testing recipes on my favorite and ever patient OH guinea pig and today I started spring cleaning the kitchen. First step: putting my overflowing bookcase that holds most of my cookbooks into some kind of order. Not an easy task! Not only because I own more cookbooks than I care to admit (and still regularly break my self imposed ban on buying new ones) but because I got stuck reading - and these are just a few of the books that kept me from getting my task done today....

In here I found the inspiration for a lovely raspberry clafoutis that has become one of our favorite desserts - thinking of it, I can't wait for new raspberries to be found at Vaison's Tuesday market....

Not only am I really, really jealous that I didn't think of this title first but also, given my love for tarts, quiches and the like that I didn't write it! This fabulous book is a great source of ideas whenever a fast lunch is needed.

Found a real good recipe for "Ketchup à la Provençale" in Gui Gedda's sumptous Provence cookbook today that I will try out as soon as there are decent tomatoes to be found. Too early yet. Anybody who is interested in Provençal cooking and looking for a cookbook - this is the one!

And now - back to the kitchen.....

Last Dish of the Winter Season

2011-03-05T15:26:00.000+01:00

It's springtime in Provence! Today we had lunch outside and tomorrow we will get the lemon trees out of their winter quarter, back onto the terrace and into the Provence sunshine. So I kind of had to hurry to prepare one of the last winter dishes - and what a feast it proved to be! I had already told you about the oilve oil marinated lamb I bought at Gilles', our local butcher's:

Gilles' olive oil marinated leg of lamb

It comes as a vacuum packed deboned leg of lamb, marinated in olive oil, herbes de Provence and fleur de sel (kosher salt) which I prepared as the famous "Seven Hour Leg of Lamb" (Gigot de sept heures).

First I peeled and very finely sliced potatoes:

Onto which I liberally sprinkled semi-dried tomatoes, seasoned with pepper and salt,

then put the meat and most of the oil marinade on top plus added one whole head of garlic "en chemise". That is one expression I just love. Doesn't "garlic in a shirt" sound so much more poetic than "unpeeled garlic"? All that was then left to do was to firmly close the lid and put the pan into the oven, heated at 100°C/210°F.

After seven hours it looked this this, smelled heavenly and tasted even better:

Delicious One Pot Dish: Seven Hour Leg of Lamb

Cochonnerie - What a Cheeky little Pig!

2011-02-25T14:48:00.001+01:00

Whenever I go shopping at "Gargantua" I am in for a long wait. Our local butcher Gilles Diglé who runs this shop is extremely popular, not only because of his excellent meat and sausages but also because he gives great advice on how to prepare different cuts of meat and always has a nice word for everybody.

Today while I was waiting to buy one of Gilles' specialities, olive oil marinated lamb (more on that in a post to come) I saw a little "cochonnerie" I couldn't resist showing you - what a cheeky little pig!

Much as I tried, I couldn't find an English translation for the delightful French word "cochonnerie". My dictionary lists it as "mess" but that doesn't at all cover the double sense of the word that plays with cochon (pig) and the dirty little tricks little piggies sometimes are up to.....

L'Estaque - Sea, Art and Sun...

2011-02-20T19:21:00.001+01:00

The plan was to hold up our yearly tradition and visit the "Oursinade", the Sea Urchin Festival in Carry le Rouet. Except now that sea urchins have become an almost endangered species Carry has renamed its popular feast "Festival des Fruits de Mer" (Seafood Festival) and, when we were just starting to drive there it started pouring. So no open air seafood extravaganza! But then we remembered having ripped out an article about a museum close by, so off we went to L'Estaque.
L'Estaque is a small and not exactly beautiful fishing-port north east of Marseille's City center and its claim to fame is that Cézanne discovered l'Estaque in 1864 and came back again and again to paint the view across the Gulf of Marseille. Later Renoir, Derain, Braque and Dufy came to L'Estaque and a now almost forgotten Marseille artist: Adolphe Monticelli, whose work was greatly admired by van Gogh and Cézanne.

The Monticelli Foundation is not all that easy to find, it is almost hidden outside of L'Estaque, but once there it is easy to see what attracted the artists all that time ago - even now that L'Estaque has become Marseille's 16th arrondissement the views are still spectacular and some of the best views across the sea -"La grande Bleue" - are from inside the museum.

Inside the Museum

Adolphe Monticelli

View from the museum across the "la grande Bleue"

And guess what? Just as we were leaving the museum the sun came out! So we hotfooted it to Carry le Rouet and got to eat some real good seafood after all! We shared an excellent "Daube aux Poulpes" (octopuss) and some stuffed mussels and left the sea urchins to those who absolutely had to eat them...

Delicious Octopuss Stew

And just to show you how nice the day turned out here are some more photos

Picknick by the Sea

Oysters on the Beach

Urchins, Frites and Wine of course

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T15:08:00.001+01:00

It is Loto season in Provence - what is generally known as Bingo is called Loto here and is very poular during the winter months. The local Lion's Club usually kicks off the season on the first weekend in January and then it is - in no particular order - the Cat's Lovers Loto, the Firefighter's Loto, the Loto of the staff of the local Hospital, the Bridge Club's Loto etc., etc.

Yesterday it was the turn of the Rotary Club of Vaison la Romaine whose Valentine's Day Loto is always extremely popular. "Love means winning together" is their slogan and their prizes are not to be sniffed at: a romantic trip worth 1000 Euros, a laptop, a big flat-screen TV, a wheel barrow full of wine bottles (after all we are in Côte du Rhône country here) and, to top it all, yesterday they even had two scooters to be won!

Most of these prizes are donated by local businesses and the money made through these Lotos are invested in local causes - student scholarships, soup kitchens etc.

There is much work involved - starting from going around town asking for prizes, printing and distributing flyers and posters, putting up chairs and tables in the townhall, providing refreshments and last but not least, cleaning up afterwards. All the members and their partners are busily working to make the annual Loto a success.

This year my girlsfriends Thérèse, Elizabeth, Annie-France and Babeth and I were in charge of providing 150 sandwiches:

Thérèse and Elizabeth cutting the Baguettes

Annie-France and Babeth: filling the Sandwiches

French Classic: Jambon-Fromage

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

We had real fun working together, and even more fun at the Loto, although none of us won a prize. But as the saying goes: Lucky at cards, unlucky in Love, and I know which I prefer....

No Luck playing....

Happy Valentine's to all of you!

Full Disclosure: My guilty little Kitchen Secrets

2011-01-29T15:16:00.065+01:00

I think every cook has a little guilty secret stashed away somewhere in the kitchen. Well, here are mine: I don't think I could manage without Vegeta. I first came upon this wonderful vegetable seasoning on a trip to Croatia where it is widely used and then again found it in Turkey. Not having managed to find it anywhere in France so far I always ask German friends to bring it since all the Turkish shops in Germany sell it. I use it instead of stock cubes that I often find too salty and it also is suitable for vegetarians, which my other guilty secret most certainly is not:

There is no beef stew that I wouldn't add a tablespoon or two of this dense and wickedly delicous extract to - I also have been know to just dip a little spoon in (not a finger, noooo, never....) just for the guilty pleasure of tasting this strangely addictive concoction. Sadly also Bovril I have yet to find in France but I am lucky to have a brother who lives in Edinburgh and keeps me in Bovril and - no, let's not get into that one....

But I am curious to know - what are your little kitchen secrets, guilty or otherwise?

Morroccan Soup to fight the Mistral

2011-01-22T15:12:00.000+01:00

When it is as cold outside as it has been here the last few days my mind automatically turns to soup - hearty, warming thick winter soup. So for inspiration I went into the kitchen drawer that holds my recipe scrapbook and found a recipe that I'd ripped out of some magazine and never before prepared: "Soupe Marocaine". I almost gave up when I saw the (very) long list of ingredients but now am very glad I didn't because it most certainly was not the last time this "Morrocan Soup" made it to our table - it is delicous and the smell of cinnamon, cumin and cilantro evoked memories of a trip to the beautiful city of Marrakesh far too long ago.
Ingredients - serves 4
500 g lean lamb - cubed, 150 g squash - peeled and cubed, 150 g canned chickpeas - well rinsed, 100 g red lentils, 2 zucchini - chopped, 2 mild white onions - peeled and chopped, 1 red pepper - chopped, olive oil, 1 can (450g) peeled tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomatoe puree, tsp powdered cumin, 1 tsp paprika powder, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, a cube of vegetable stock, salt and pepper fresh from the mill.

Heat a generous splash of olive oil and brown the lamb cubes on all sides. Add the chopped onion, season with a few rounds of pepper from the mill, the cumin and paprika powder. Stir and let cook for a few minutes. Add the chickpeas, dissolve a cube of vegetable stock in 1.5 liter of water, add and let simmer on medium heat for about one hour. Add the rest of the ingredients and the cinnamon and let simmer for another 20 or so minutes.
Check seasoning and sprinkle plenty of fresh cilantro leaves on top before serving with a crunchy baguette and a nice red wine, of course. Then let the Mistral (the icy Provençal wind from the north) blow all he wants - this soup keeps you warm!

Brouillade aux Truffes - the photos!

2011-01-14T14:44:00.000+01:00

Step 1: Crack eggs, shave truffles on the mandoline

Step 2: Season with kosher salt and pepper from the mill, then mix with a fork

Step 3: Over a bain-marie stir with wooden spoon until just set

Step 4: Add crème fraîche, some more truffle shavings and a pinch of fleur de sel (kosher salt).

Breathe deeply. Eat. Sigh happily.

Brouillade aux Truffes - sans photos!

2011-01-12T15:12:00.002+01:00

I know, I know - I should be ashamed of myself! I did prepare the Brouillade aux Truffes and here comes the recipe - but: I did not take photos. Thing is, we had guests and my OH who could have taken the photos was busily entertaining them . And if you don't get a brouillade on the table nice and hot- straight away that is, you might just as well not prepare one at all.
But: two little truffles were left and right now there are another four eggs sitting on top of them and doing their very best to absorb the heavenly flavor. And as soon as they are done with the truffle brooding I will deliver the photos, promised!
For a Brouillade to serve four people you need: 6 large "truffled" eggs (eggs that have been absorbing the truffle aroma for a day or two), butter, salt and pepper, crème fraîche and one nice truffle.
Break the eggs into a bowl, add salt and pepper and a few truffle shavings and whisk together, but don't overmix.

The famous "Mandoline"

In order to get as much mileage as you can out of your truffles you need a "mandoline" that shaves the truffles paperthin.

Prepare a bain-marie. Melt some real good butter (don't even think about margerine or other half fat stuff) in the pan that sits above the gently boiling water and pour the eggmixture into this pan. Start stirring with a wooden spoon until mixture starts to thicken. Add a tablespoon of crème fraîche, stir some more and add a few more truffle shavings.

Serve straight away on warm plates with slices of crunchy baguette on the side. The brouillade should look like very wet scrambled eggs. At the table in front of your delighted guests shave the rest of the truffle over the brouillade. Bon appetit!

Chasing away the Winter Blues

2011-01-07T18:33:00.001+01:00

We cannot really complain about the temperature: 15°C/59°F is not too bad, even for a confirmed winterphobe like myself. But where has the sunshine of Provence gone to? One more grey and rainy day and I'll seriously think about moving to sunnier places - not!

So instead of dreaming I prepared the first steps to at least have some sunshine on a plate this weekend. Christmas and New Year's Eve done and over with the price of truffles has come down. And so I found a few real pretty ones and some farmfresh eggs and put them in a preserving jar where they will now stay until sunday. By then the eggs will have absorbed the aroma of the truffles and I will prepare a "Brouillade aux Truffes" - can't wait to share the pics and the recipe with you!

Waiting for St. Sylvestre

2010-12-29T17:13:00.001+01:00

Pile them high and ...

When I went to my favorite supermarket today I could hardly find my way - there were walls and walls of oyster cases stacked all over the place - a sure sign that "Le Reveillon de St. Sylvestre" - New Year's Eve - is coming closer.

...sell them not all that cheap...

After all the capons, turkeys and poulardes, the goose liver and Bûches de Noël (the traditional creamfilled Christmas dessert) for New Year's Eve and the next round of gluttony it is mostly seafood - lobsters, crawfish, scampi, oysters and scallops that are being served. The choice and quality is most impressive and so I had a real hard time to decide what to choose when I went to scout out what is on offer today.

Up for inspection - fresh oysters

... or rather some crayfish from Cuba?

... and what about scallops and some clams?

After much looking, sniffing and discussion I have made up my mind - we'll have some crawfish with a homemade mayonnaise and a scoop of fresh salmon tartare for starters. Since that is all I am in charge of this year I can happily lean back now until the 31st when I have to get up real early and do the shopping, because all the good stuff sells out real fast - The Provençal are dyed in the wool gourmets.

And because that is so I just know we'll have a real feast coming up - I have heard rumors of a whiskey-poularde and I know that the cheese board comes from our wonderful local cheese shop. And then of course, just like last year, we'll have "Les treize desserts" to see in 2011 in style. Can't wait!

Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year 2011!

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-12-22T18:03:00.003+01:00

I feel hugely honoured to have been nominated for the "Beautiful Blogger Award" by Claudia of "A Seasonal Cook in Turkey" - a wonderful Istanbul cum cooking blog I very much recommend reading. In order to receive this award Claudia tells me that I have to tell you five things you so far didn't know about me. Since Cuisine de Provence is first and foremost a culinary blog, I thought it best to keep my confessions along those lines. So here we go:

Biggest culinary failure - I cannot cook rice. I tried it the traditional way, I tried cooking rice in a microwave, I tried it with a rice-cooker, no matter what I tried - somehow rice and I don't agree. So whenever a dish calls for rice it is my beloved OH who does that bit of cooking and he does it fabulously well!
Food hate - in order to appreciate Jellied Eels I guess you have to be born and bred in the East End of London (at least that is what my London fishmonger told me after making me taste them and seeing me trying not to gag) and I think the same is true for Andouilettes. As I was not raised eating these pungent sausages I am sorry but there is simply no way I can stomach them. For those of you who have never seen them, they are made out of pigs intestines and that is what they smell like, too. And I have yet to be invited to a BBQ in Provence where they are not served...
Best loved food - almost anything Chinese. As much as I like French, especially Provençal or Mediterranean cuisine I just love Chinese cuisine - as far as I am concerned one of the best cuisines of the world.
Coffee or Tea? Having lived in London for quite some years I can't function without a big pot of tea first thing in the morning. But ever since George Clooney seduced me into buying our wonderful Nespresso machine more and more of those fragrant little black cups keep sneaking into our daily routine.
Favourite larder standby - chopped vegetables - carrots, red and green peppers, leek, beans etc. Okay so it is not strictly a larder but a freezer standby but whenever I buy or harvest vegetables I chop some up and freeze them. Take a handfull here and there, add some vegetable stock and when al dente stir in some pistou that has also been fabricated in summer when the basil was plenty and frozen in ice cube trays. Inhale deeply and wherever you are: this is instant Provence on a plate.

Also in order to receive my award I was asked to nominate five blogs for the Beautiful Blogger Award myself. So here we go - and for good measure here are six blogs I either have been following for some time or have justy recently discovered:
Avignon in Photos - I adore this photo blog that lets you discover (not only) the city of Avignon because Nathalie is a wonderful chronicler with a fantastic and artistic eye for details.
Aglio, Olio & Peperoncino - because Italian Cuisine is the next best thing to French-Provençal cooking and not only do Eleonora's photos leave me salivating, her blog is amusing and instructive to read, too.
Tumeric n Spice - two sister in laws write this blog that deals mostly with Indian Cuisine and is just too beautiful for words. Do go and see for yourself!
Our house in Provence - because Michel from California with a house in our neighboring village of Sablet has a knack for discovering the hidden beauties of Provence, plus he is a fabulous restaurant tester - one look at his blog and you'll know where to go.
A Feast for the Eyes - because it is just what it says and Debbie who calls herself a "foodiewife" is a joy to read.
Schnitzel and the Trout - because Susan (the Schnitzel) writes one of the nicest, interesting and yummy foodblogs, often commented upon by her flyfishing husband (the Trout) - lovely!

So I guess I have now earned my Beautiful Blogger Award - thank you so very much Claudia - I wish I could nominate you right back because I really do enjoy your blog a lot!

Vacqueras' Christmas Market or "La grande Bouffe"

2010-12-12T15:04:00.002+01:00

Mulled Wine helps fight the freezing Mistral

So there was mulled wine (generously offered by the local winegrowers and much needed to fight the freezing gusts of Mistral) plus a few art and craft stalls but what this mornings Christmas Market in Vacqueras really showed was that come Christmas time what interests the true Provençal is "la grande bouffe" (politely translated: big dinners).

Shopping for oysters: Father Christmas

And this is what he bought

We met Father Christmas at the oyster stall, discussed the price of truffles - 980 Euros a kilo at a stall that advertised them as "washed and brushed" and 320 Euros at another stall where they didn't look all that dirty either. Selling truffles unwashed, i.e. adding expensive grams of caked dirt to the precious tuber is a well tried trick of Provençal truffle merchants.

Somewhat expensive but clean truffles

Christmas dinner suggestion: Stuffed duck legs

Santons

So instead of stocking up on truffles - that will have to wait until after the holidays when the price goes down - we admired Santons, the typical Provençal figurines that populate the "crèche" - the nativity scene. I especially liked this truffle hunter:

Truffle Hunter

Guarding the Wine

Driving home we met yet another Father Christmas. This one was guarding the entrance to the Vacqueras winery, probably in preparation to a night shift of stuffing stockings. I sure wouldn't mind receiving one of those!

Another Day - Another Queen

2010-11-30T15:56:00.000+01:00

Magali Queen of Eggs

After just having brought Nadira, Queen of Confitures to your attention, just this morning I met yet another Queen at Vaison's famous Provençal market. Magali where I always buy my eggs is now the self proclaimed "Reine des Oeufs Coques" (boiled eggs). That's what her apron says and right she is: her eggs are not only big and organic, they are delicious, too.

The Queen of Confitures

2010-11-27T17:54:00.003+01:00

I used to make my own confitures, as they are so prettily called in French - much nicer than jam, don't you think? But not anymore! Now, whenever my OH who's the one who eats all the confiture in this house is running low we go and pay a call to Nadira, the "Queen of Confiture". Although I keep pestering her, Nadira does not yet have a website to order from. So if you want to taste her divine creations keep an open eye when visiting markets in and around Montpellier. Tomorrow she is still to be found at the Christmas Market in Palavas les Flots, next weekend at the Christmas Market in Lattes (11th and 12th of December) and from December 17th to December 19th in La Grande Motte. Believe me - once you've tasted Nadira's pure fig, red fruits, kumquats and ginger or melon and star anise confiture - nothing else will do!

Nadira - La Reine des Confitures

Our Daily Bread

2010-11-25T09:39:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was leaving my friend Thérèse's shop through the back door into one of the small side streets of Vaison where I'd never paid much attention to the baker who has his shop there. But this time he made me take notice: What a beautiful display of the different varieties of bread he has on offer!

A Magic Moment

2010-11-21T15:14:00.000+01:00

On our way back from the oil mill in Mirabel-aux-Baronnies where we delivered the first big batch of our just harvested olives to be pressed into "the gold of Provence" as our wonderful olive oil is called we stopped for a quick coffee at our much beloved village square in Villedieu. The huge old plane trees had just been pruned and so you can see just how beautiful a day in Provence can be - at the end of November...

Friends go - Recipes stay

2010-11-16T17:01:00.001+01:00

It's funny, but some of my very best recipes originate from former friends that for various reasons I am not in touch with anymore. Yesterday when I prepared a spinach potato gratin it made me think about the friend from London that I lost because another (very much ex-) friend told her some bad lies. But then again this very much ex-friend gave me the recipe for the best ever beef stew which no matter what I think of her I will never give up making (the fact that the preparation of this stew involves at least half a bottle of brandy does help -there is always a little swig left for the cook).
And yet another long lost friend is the author of a chicken recipe that everybody, but truly everybody loves. And even if sometimes it is sad: friends may go - but real good recipes are here to stay!

Finely sliced potaoes covered by just wilted spinach

....and covered by another layer of very finely sliced potatoes

Fresh from the oven: spinach and Potato Gratin

"le beau reste" as the French say

To feed 4 to 6 people you need:

750 g (1 1/2 lbs) potatoes, peeled and very finely sliced. A big bag (500g/ 1lb) of baby spinach leaves, 1 clove of garlic, 300ml (1 1/2 cups) of crème fraîche (or sour cream or double cream), pepper and nutmeg fresh from the mill and kosher salt. A handful of grated cheese (Gruyère is best).

Butter a gratin dish and cover in one even layer of very finely sliced potatoes. Generously sprinkle with freshly milled pepper and nutmeg and kosher salt.

In a big pan heat a few drops of olive oil add the spinach and let wilt. Discard spinach into a sieve, let cool and press out most of the moisture. Distribute the spinach over the first layer of potaoes, then cover with another layer of sliced potatoes. Season as before - generously please as potatoes "eat" spices - i.e. need rather a lot of them. Very finely mince (or press) one clove of garlic and stir into the crème fraîche, sour cream or double cream, dilute with a little bit of milk if necessary to give the cream pouring consistency. Pour over the spinach-potato gratin, sprinkle with a generous handful of grated cheese and let bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 40 to 45 minutes. I like to serve this alongside smoked or poached salmon.

Indian Summer in Provence

2010-11-13T16:32:00.001+01:00

It has already been snowing on Mont Ventoux and it won't be long before the skiing season will be under way but for the moment we are basking in glorious sunshine (20°C/68°F this afternoon) and admire the beautiful autumn colors of the vineyards - Indian Summer in Provence!

Mont Ventoux this afternoon

Delicious Days - Vaison's "Rencontres Gourmandes"

2010-10-31T12:35:00.000+01:00

They really would have deserved better: just as Vaison's Gourmet Weekend "Rencontres Gourmandes" opened yesterday so did the sky and sent torrents of rain - and it is still pouring today. A real nightmare for the owners of all those beautiful and very lovingly decorated stalls of organic "Produits du Terroir" - local delicacies. They had hoped to promote (and sell) their produce in front of Vaison's town hall and put together tasting platters meant to be eaten inside the hall where long rows of tables were set up. Why the organizers hadn't thought of providing a marquee from their tents to the hall is anyone's guess. After all it does rain in Provence and if ever there is a rainy season here this is it...

Waiting for customers - the Wine Bar

For decoration only - this one is made of salt dough

Handmade delicious organic baguettes and fougasses

Mme Diglé promotes her husbands famous olive sausage

Eggs fresh from the farm

Sunday lunch anyone?

The prettiest stall of all

Olive Oil - the Gold of Provence

2010-10-24T13:09:00.000+02:00

There is nothing much to harvest in our kitchen garden anymore these days - some tomatoes, a few lost raspberries and leftover grapes but our olive trees are dripping with fruit. It looks like we'll have an extremely good harvest this year and I can't wait to pick them, bring them to the olive mill and then get my very own "Gold of Provence". For that is what our precious olive oil looks like - liquid gold!

What a Lovely Summer - Cooking in Provence

2010-10-21T19:29:00.002+02:00

Just a small collage (click on the photo to enlarge) to show what fun we had at Cuisine de Provence this summer. A big "Merci" to all the lovely people who came to visit us in Vaison la Romaine and cooked up a storm.

Gilles' Golden Rooster

2010-09-20T16:15:00.002+02:00

Gilles Diglé, Vaison la Romaine's butcher and very popular caterer was awarded the "Coq d'Or" (Golden Rooster) by the French Guide Gourmand. Gilles received this honour, which in France is taken very seriously for his delicious olive sausage called Pontias. If ever you come to Vaison go and taste it, it is worth it!
And if you want to celebrate a big party you can't do better than to ask Gilles to prepare his famous Paëlla.

Gilles prepares his famous Paëlla

A feast not only for the eyes - Gilles' Paëlla

Wine Harvest in Villedieu

2010-09-16T20:51:00.000+02:00

Arriving at the Wine Cooperative "Caveau des Templiers" in Villedieu today the first thing I noticed was the smell - sweet and almost intoxicating. The wine harvest has begun! A steady queue of agricultural pickups were waiting to unload the Côte du Rhone grapes that had been picked this afternoon and there were lots of happy faces. After a hot summer and just the right amount of rain the 2010 wine promises to be a real good vintage! I will keep you posted on the results!

Unloading the grapes

The grapes are weighed....

.... then crushed

Lost in St. Maxime

2010-09-14T12:52:00.000+02:00

Look what I found in St. Maxime yesterday - Santa got lost on the Côte d'Azur! Or how else would you explain this "petit bonhomme" guarding the beautiful fruit display? I have seen a lot of early Christmas decorations but this is sort of ridiculous don't you think so, too?

Three Barbaras in one Kitchen

2010-09-09T17:40:00.002+02:00

Today we were three Barbaras in my kitchen! These two lovely ladies from California are spending their vacation exploring Provence. Of course this also includes exploring the food and wines of Provence and this is how they came to visit Cuisine de Provence. It seems all Barbaras share some characteristics - we all like to talk and laugh a lot and we love to eat! We had a great time preparing all those Provençal recipes - thank you Barbara and Barbara (also for the Californian dates you brought - they are delicious)!

If you're going to Avignon...

2010-09-03T11:42:00.000+02:00

...anytime soon, whatever you do, don't miss the wonderful exhibition of the Spanish (or, to be precise, Catalan) artist Miquel Barcelo at the Collection Lambert, the only museum of contemporary art in Provence worth a visit. Although one could image that this fantastic and much photographed sculpture right in front of the Pope's Palace would lead the crowds into the exhibition, yesterday and from what I hear most days Barcelo's paintings and sculptures can be enjoyed without any queuing at all.

Having fun in front of the Pope's Palace

Barcelo's Elephant

The show is still on until november 7th and right now there are big discussions going on in Avignon whether to keep the elephant or not. Just in case anyone is interested: my vote goes towards keeping him - seems he makes everyone smile and that can only be a good thing, right?

Collection Lambert, 5 Rue Violette, 84000 Avignon, Tuesday to Sunday 11am to 6 pm

Garlic Festival in Piolenc

2010-08-29T15:27:00.002+02:00

The Garlic Festival in Piolenc is one of the nicest food festivals in Provence. A true village affair it centers around a beautiful market and starts with a mass that is held in the Provençal dialect. Then the Confrerie de l'Ail (loosely translated: the Club of the Garlic Brothers) leads a procession of carnival floats through the village. Today even Christian Etienne a very well known French chef came to Piolenc and held a cooking demonstration. If you are in Avignon and feel really flush go to his restaurant right next to the Pope's Palace. But do have a look at the prices first! And since pictures talk more than a thousand words, have a look at the ones I took this morning.

One of the carnival floats

Obélix was there, too

Marinated Garlic

Garlic made pretty

Nice Price - 3 Euros per Kilo

Flavors of Provence

Cooks with Garlic: Chef Christian Etienne

Cheery little Cherry Crunchies

2010-08-26T14:28:00.002+02:00

Aren't they pretty? Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes

I classify my culinary friends into "sharers" and "keepers" - of recipes that is. While I (and most of my friends) think it to be the ultimate compliment to be asked for a recipe there are those (like the lady whose Coronation Chicken I admired some time ago) that just say "no", even when asked nicely. Well, my friend Myriam is a sharer and so I'll happily share her Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes with you, too.

You'll need soft brown sugar which in France is called "Cassonade" that you
melt on very low heat in a small saucepan until it turns into a light brown caramel.
Put small cherry tomatoes on toothpicks and dip them into the caramel. Then quickly dip just the bottom of the caramelized cherry tomatoes into some poppy seeds - place well spaced apart onto a dish and let cool. (If you don't leave room between the cherries they glue together into one delicious, but rather unlovely mess!)

These Caramelized Cherry Tomatoes are lovely served as nibbles with drinks, they are not only deliciously crunchy, but oh so pretty!

Cassonade

Melt the brown sugar

into caramel

dip tomatoes on toothpicks first into the caramel

then into the poppy seeds

eh voilà - beautiful and crunchy!

Cavaillon Melons or The Taste of summer

2010-08-16T16:39:00.002+02:00

The first ones appear in late May on the Provençal markets: the irresistibly delicious melons from Cavaillon. After finally having mastered the art of choosing the best and ripe ones (they should have 10 sections, clearly marked by their green stripes, the stalk should come off easily and they should give off a delicious smell) we try to eat as many of them as we can before they disappear again in September. Gilles Diglé, our local butcher who is also a very sought after caterer, prepared this refreshing melon soup for the summer party of Vaison's Rotary Club and very generously shared his simple but delicious recipe with me.

A perfect melon from Cavaillon

You need 2 really ripe Cavaillon (Cantaloupe) melons, white pepper fresh from the mill, a good slug of Beaume de Venise – a sweet dessert wine (alternatively use sweet white sherry) and a handful of fresh mint leaves.
Quarter and peel the melons, discard the pips. In a blender mix the melon flesh with the mint leaves and a generous splash of the sweet wine. Season with a few rounds of white pepper. Cover and chill thoroughly before serving.

The taste of summer: chilled melon soup

Take away Tuesday

2010-08-03T14:05:00.000+02:00

"Salade fraîcheur" - fish and pasta salad

Walking around Vaison's beautiful Provençal market I realized that now that we are at the height of the tourist season all of a sudden there are numerous food stalls that you do not normally see the rest of the year. Pizza and paella can be found all year round but right now it looks like the horn of plenty! And don't think it is only the tourists who buy all these delicacies - I have seen more than one French lady happily stocking up. Looks almost like Tuesday is becoming take away day in Vaison!

Tellines - tiny mussels in a fragrant garlic sauce

Fresh fruit juices

Roasted Chicken and frîtes (French fries)

Eggplant and Zucchini fritters

Almost sold out: Asian specialities

And pizza of course!

Villedieu - A City of God and Culinary Pleasures

2010-07-26T15:01:00.003+02:00

Villedieu's Village Square

Before we found, bought, ripped apart and renovated our house in Vaison la Romaine we rented a house in Villedieu. Ever since we have been firm friends of this little "City of God", participating in their village fêtes that somehow always tend to circle around wine or culinary themes. There is the big fête of the "Soupe au Pistou" (a vegetable soup made fragrant and delicious by adding a basil, garlic and olive oil pesto), the annual Church fête around a huge Paëlla, on Bastille Day the "Méchoui" a spit roasted lamb and of course "La Fête des Vignerons" right after the wine harvest when you get to taste the new wines. In Villedieu they know how to live!
The most popular food festival in Villedieu however takes place every Sunday night between March and October in the shade under the plane trees of Villedieu's beautiful village square around a simple pizza van.

Mumu's Pizza Van

In order to take part you have to come well prepared. First step: get hold of Mumu's phone number. Second step: Phone him well in advance (best: already on Saturday) to place your order. Third: take a roll of kitchen paper and make your way to Villedieu by 6.30 pm latest if you want to find a place to park. If you want to come later, take your bike. Take a seat on one of the long benches opposite the "Café du Centre", order a bottle of wine, talk to the people around you and when Mumu is ready (he will have given you a time to collect your order) go and get the best pizza ever. This being a no frills extravaganza, everybody eats their pizza right out of the box, washes it down with the local red or rosé wine, wipes their hands on kitchen roll and a great time is had by all.

Pizza and wine - all you need to be happy

Funnily enough, there is another pizzeria on the other side of the square, but Mumu is where people go - even when, like last night, the Mistral blows full force we all prefer to sit outside to share Mumu's pizza. Mumu is where the action is, Mumu is summer in Provence.

Mumu's youngest fan (18 months)

A recipe for you, Benoît!

2010-07-20T16:45:00.001+02:00

What a nice surprise - I just found out that even some of my friends read this blog! How did I find out? I got a complaint! The complaint being that when I posted a summer menu (July 1st) I didn't give the recipe of the gazpacho. Okay Benoît, here it is!

GAZPACHO
1 cucumber, peeled, deseeded and chopped
2 red peppers, cleaned and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 white or red onion, peeled and chopped
3 to 4 real ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped
a good slug of finest olive oil
a good slug of real nice vinegar (I use white balsamic vinegar, but pretty much any good quality vinegar will do).

Put all ingredients into a mixer and mix into a soup, add salt and pepper fresh from the mill to taste. Store in the fridge until thoroughly chilled.

Eat Art

2010-07-12T18:40:00.000+02:00

Just a quick one – I went to the vernissage of an open air exhibition. Unfortunately the art shown was not all that great, but then I found this - the (very edible) centerpiece of the drinks buffet. There used to be a movement called Eat Art - but those artists never managed to get things this pretty.

I however like pretty and will definitely copy this for my next garden party – the cherry tomatoes are already busily ripening in my kitchen garden.

Easy, fast and so delicious - Cherry Clafoutis

2010-07-07T11:38:00.002+02:00

These were probably the last cherries of the season. I found them at Vaison's wonderful Provençal market yesterday morning - dark and juicy and full of flavor. And, having the perfect excuse of friends dropping by I fixed yet another Cherry Clafoutis.
Clafoutis is a very traditional French dessert that can be prepared with different fruits - blueberries, apricots or pears come to mind, but Cherry Clafoutis is the most traditional version.
Except that I don't take tradition quite as far as the French do. I pit my cherries whereas a French housewife will always tell you that unpitted cherries give a much more refined taste to the Clafoutis. I value my teeth too much and as for the taste - just judge for yourself.

You need 1 pound of cherries, 2 large eggs, 5 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar, 3/4 cup cream, the finley grated zest of one - preferably organic - lemon and the juice of half a lemon.

Start by generously buttering a baking dish which you then sprinkle with coarse sugar so that all buttered surfaces are covered in sugar. Distribute the pitted cherries in one even layer on the bottom of the dish. Mix all other ingredients together, then carefully pour the (rather runny) batter over the cherries and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 180° C/400° F. Best served lukewarm.

Non traditional Cherry Clafoutis - the pits are missing!

Too Hot to Cook? Summer in Provence

2010-07-01T17:07:00.002+02:00

Summer has finally arrived and baby, is it ever hot outside! 31°C in the shade today (88°F) and the Cigales (cicadas) are singing their hearts out! And instead of working on my tan I have guests coming and need to cook something nice, light and heat compatible.
So here is my summer menu for tonight:
Starter - Gazpacho
Hardly any work, delicious and healthy and cold!

Gazpacho

Main course - Chicken with semi dried Tomatoes, Basil and Pine Nuts
You need 4 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces (about 3 cups)
1 cup semi dried tomatoes
½ cup toasted pine nuts
a handful of fresh basil leaves
balsamic vinegar, olive oil, butter
pepper and kosher salt

Fry the chicken pieces over very gentle heat in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Stir every so often – the chicken pieces are not supposed to turn brown and crisp but stay nicely pale, tender and juicy.
Once the chicken is done, lift out of the pan and into a big bowl. Cut the semi dried tomatoes into strips and mix with the chicken pieces. Season with pepper fresh from the mill, kosher salt, a generous slug of balsamic vinegar and some good olive oil.
Roast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan (don't add fat!) stir-frying them all the time. Careful – they burn very easily, so don't leave the stove! Once roasted, sprinkle the nuts over the chicken.
Roll the basil leaves into a fat cigar which you then cut into very fine strips which you sprinkle over the dish.
Can be eaten warm or lukewarm - but not straight out of the fridge, cold kills taste.
I'll serve this tonight with baguette - and a glass (or two) of very cold Provence rosé wine.

Chicken with semi dried Tomatoes, Basil and Pine Nuts

And for Dessert? Cherry Clafoutis
Cherries won't be around much longer and right now they are lovely, juicy, sweet and delicious, so I cook as much of this easy to do French classic as I can. (Photo and recipe to follow)
I guess I'll have time to work on my tan after all....

Bacchus' Night in Vaison la Romaine

2010-06-19T18:01:00.000+02:00

Wine God and Goddess

Don't they just look the part? Last night the young wine growers of the Côte du Rhône region in Provence dressed in Roman style when they invited for "The Night of Bacchus" (the God of wine). This annual event took part right in the middle of Vaison la Romaine's famous Roman excavations - a magical setting on a balmy summer evening (luckily they held it last night as today the dreaded Mistral wind would have blown the canopies away...).

Wine Tasting in an Ancient Roman Setting

Not only was it fun to see all those gorgeous young wine gods but also to taste their wines, find new vintages, meet friends and just enjoy an early summer evening. I'll be back next year!

More Wine Gods

Lunch "Chez Rose"

2010-06-12T14:52:00.002+02:00

A hidden Gem - Lunch at the Calanque de Sormiou

Some people are doing their very best to do what the French call “cacher son jeu” (hide what you are really up to). When we first arrived at the small bay at the Calanque de Sormiou I cynically thought “yeah, sure” and was convinced I'd been ripped off. Because in order to have access to this Calanque on the outskirts of Marseille not only do you have to brave a hair raising ten minute drive along hairpin bends, but you also have to make a reservation at their restaurant “Lunch” or the guards won't let you pass the entrance barrier to the Calanque by car.

"Lunch" Chez Rose

Quite frankly, from the outside this restaurant looks like a hut in dire need of restoration. But once inside I very rapidly fell in love! Not only with their quirky decoration – but their food! I ate the best, fattest, freshest and juiciest king prawns I've ever had. Fresh from the grill, herb scented and with just some mashed up potatoes and carrots on the side. Simple and fantastic. As was the sole my OH had or the squid salad we shared for starters. What a hidden gem! Too bad they now call the it “Lunch” . It seems before it was called “Chez Rose” - much nicer name. Cheap it ain't, but worth every centime. And the service is lovely, too. Go there if you can.

Maritime Murals

Calanque de Sormiou

Cherry Time is here!

2010-06-04T12:31:00.001+02:00

Cherries fresh from the market

With the exception of raspberries cherries are my favorite fruits – big, fat, luscious, dark, ripe cherries! This Tuesday they appeared at our local market and pretty soon there will be signs along the roads “Cerises à vendre”. But of course, I could not wait. So I bought three kilos, then dove deep into my basement where I keep empty glass jars that I collect all year long. The jars and their lids were sterilized in the hottest cycle of my dishwasher and the cherries pitted. Dirty work, only made sweeter by rewarding myself after every twentieth pitted cherry or so by popping one into my mouth - yum!

And then things progress rather fast: Mix the cherries with jam sugar, bring to the boil, boil vigorously for three minutes, fill jars, close and stand upside down for five minutes. Put upright, let cool, label and be proud.

Two hours later: Cherry Jam

Couldn't wait to taste - breakfast this morning

Banon: Rotten Cheese but Sausage Heaven for Bookworms

2010-05-26T19:07:00.001+02:00

Banon is a small village situated on the “Route de la Lavande”, the Lavender trail in the mountains of the Haute Provence. Banon is famous for its goat cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with a raffia ribbon that was awarded AOC (Appelation Origine Controllé) status in 2003. And it is famous for “Le Bleuet”, a bookshop you'd be happy to find in a town like Aix-en-Provence or Avignon. “Le Bleuet” is a bookshop with personality, any serious book lover's dream – extremely well stocked (also with books in English and German), the salespeople are knowledgeable and charming and there are little corners that invite you to sit down and properly look at a book before buying it. Bookworm heaven!

The wonderful Le Bleuet bookshop

So when I heard that Banon was about to hold its annual cheese festival and “Le Bleuet” would have some authors lined up for a book signing that same day and that my favorite Provence author Pierre Magnan who writes detective stories that play in the villages around Banon would be there - well I made sure to get up early that Sunday morning!

When the French do a village fête, they do it properly – we were greeted by marching bands, made to try I don't know how many variations of goat cheese and wines, ate deliciously roasted sucking pig and I even got to meet Pierre Magnan who signed his new book for me! What a lovely gentleman!

Pierre Magnan

One thing though dear Banon cheese producers you really should not do: use the festive spirit of this lovely festival to flog off your old cheeses. We were well and truly ripped off – the famous Banon AOC's we were sold (and we bought six to bring home to friends and family) were all old and inedible. So much for fancy wrapping, from now on I'll only buy cheese I can see first.

What you see is what you get: Brindille sausages

Seeing what you bought was no problem at Maurice Melchio's Charcuterie: he makes handmade “brindille” sausages that are very thin and very long and utterly delicious. Don't you just love his shop? And the delighted faces of his customers?

Happy customers in sausage heaven

Blown away by the Mistral - Fête du Vin in Provence

2010-05-15T22:08:00.002+02:00

Today the wine growers of the Côte du Rhône region in Provence celebrated their “Fête du Vin”. Besides tasting a lot of wine you can go on guided tours through the vineyards, listen to concerts being held in the wine cellars, profit from special offers when buying wine or share lovingly prepared rustic meals. We gave that a miss this year because the dreaded Mistral wind was blowing full force and these lunches are traditionally held outdoors.

Our hosts at the Roaix/Séguret Winery

Here buying wine does not necessarily mean buying bottles. In Provence wine is often sold in special “filling stations” - your bring your plastic container and get your five or ten liters (approx. one or two gallons) of the local red, white or rosé wine for “every day”.

Wine Filling Station

Red, White or Rosé: Price per Liter

How to grow your Herbs in Style

2010-05-12T12:15:00.003+02:00

Just one more post from the Loire Valley before I will return to Provence: until now I thought I was doing pretty well with my "potager" (kitchen garden), but that was before I went to Villandry. The formal garden of this lovely Castle is designed with salads (photo above), herbs, and fruit bushes.

And this is how it looks when you grow your parsley in style!

Broken Promises

2010-05-11T11:02:00.001+02:00

Last week I broke a promise I made to myself – to never take photos in restaurants. I simply can't stand it when people start snapping away as soon as their plates are being served – can't you just eat your food and drink your wine and be happy and civilized?
I have one excuse though – it was early and we were the only customers and I didn't take photos of the food (which was delicious) but of the beautifully painted walls of this 16th century house.

And just in case you want to know where this was: no it is not in Provence! We went on a little vacation to see the castles (well, some of them) of the Loire Valley and this is the restaurant “Au Rendez-Vous des Pêcheurs” in Blois. Lovely place, lovely food, charming service – if in Blois do go there!

Garlic - the Perfume of Provence

2010-05-03T14:41:00.000+02:00

The new garlic has arrived! I tried growing it myself some years ago and although garlic is even growing wild around here it wouldn't in my garden. So I always get all excited when it starts to appear at the farmer's market and throw out whatever old garlic I have left because the new one is so much more delicious and very mild. And what is Provençal cuisine without garlic? A little clove minced up to go into “Caviar d'aubergine” (a heavenly eggplant spread), a whole head of garlic thrown into the roasting bag with a chicken, some crushed garlic stirred into a lamb marinade – I wouldn't know how to cook without it!

Tapenade - the taste of Provence

2010-04-24T18:12:00.000+02:00

About a week ago my fellow blogger of the very beautiful « Figtree Appetizers » posted a recipe using Belgian endives filled with smoked salmon. I commented that here in Provence we also often use endive leaves as a “carrier” for various appetizers and that I like to serve them with a tomato tapenade. Tapenade is a very popular Provençal spread, normally made from either black or green olives – but I really like this version best.

You need very good quality semi dried tomatoes (tomates confites) – if you use the ones from a jar don't use the oil they come with but fresh cold pressed olive oil. As always the quality of the ingredients makes or breaks the end result.

Semi dried tomatoes (tomates confites)

In a food processor mix 100 g tomates confites, 100 g green olives (pitted!), 80 g toasted pine nuts, 50 g capers, one clove of garlic, peeled and minced, pepper fresh from the mill and about 2 tbsp olive oil.

Serve on endive leaves, crusty little slices of baguette, on hard boiled quail's eggs, or with vegetable sticks. Here in Provence we like to pair this tapenade with a bottle of ice cold rosé wine - the temperatures are just getting warm enough now to indulge in summery delicacies like these.

Very Provençal: Tomato Tapenade

Small is Beautiful

2010-04-12T13:36:00.002+02:00

Local produce at it's best

It is not always the big weekly markets in Provence that are the most authentic. As much as I love our big Provençal Tuesday morning market in Vaison (an American travel guide calls it “one of France's best”), I try to never miss the farmer's market on Saturday mornings on the parking by the post office. There are not more than about 12 or so stalls there, but starting from farm fresh eggs and poultry, fruits and vegetables, hand picked herbal teas, olives and olive oil to seedlings for my kitchen garden and goat's cheese, this is where I get all the essentials and a lot of inspiration on what to cook that weekend. Guess what we had last Saturday? The first local asparagus and strawberries for dessert - heaven!

Asparagus season has started!

I especially love the old Provençal farmer who sells just a few pots of herbs (in the autumn he had lovely squash). Most everybody I know shops at this market to support the local farmers. Which means you also get to meet a lot of your friends there and after buying all the goodies you need (and some just because they are so tempting) we always go and have coffee “chez Brigitte” and brush up on the local gossip.

Last week's crop: persil

Vacqueras Wine - full of Character

2010-03-29T16:06:00.001+02:00

Lucky me! My friend Jean-François Bertin, who runs the beautiful B&B “Bastide Saint Claude” invited me to accompany him to a wine tasting course to the aptly named wine cellar “Vignerons de Caractère” in Vacqueras.
I do not know who was the creative genius behind this reinvention of just another dusty old wine cellar into a gleaming high tech place, but since it was revamped about two years ago this must be one of the most interesting, stylish and creative wine cooperatives of the Côtes du Rhône wine growing area.
So there we were, listening to the explanations of our delightful, knowledgable and enthusiastic guide Valérie, learning to use our eyes, nose and palate to evaluate different wines: checking the color, sniffing perfumes, tasting aromas and guessing the vintage. Did you know that wine can have an aroma of fruits and berries, flowers, animals, truffels, tobacco, fresh butter, even beer? One thing is certain - as far as wines are concerned I still have a lot to learn! I am already booked for the next course which “Vignerons de Caractère” will be doing every Friday from June until the end of September: a two hour walking tour at sunset through the vineyards when a wine grower will explain the secrets of his craft.

An Alien in Provence

2010-03-27T12:37:00.004+01:00

At first glance I thought I'd seen an UFO! On my way to do some shopping in Le Pontet (Avignon-Nord) I had a hard time to trust my eyes when I drove by this shimmering, glittering alien (click on photo to enlarge) yesterday. A real American diner has landed in Provence! So I did a U-turn and went for closer inspection. The place was packed! Not by American tourists – not one word of English was spoken, everybody was happily chattering in French. The ultimate give away that these were French customers: they were eating their hamburgers with knives and forks!
And yes, dear readers – I did inhale! A melt patty and a diet coke, for research purposes only, of course. And did it taste good? You bet!

Cooking straight from the Heart

2010-03-25T16:36:00.003+01:00

The season started early this year: Debbie and Fred came all the way from Middleton, Wisconsin to « Cuisine de Provence ». And so they were the first ones to get the new aprons I'm rather proud of. When I was still undecided about the colors my Dutch neighbor Janneke who is a healer and does energy and healing seminars at “Le Grand Barsan” steered me towards doing the lettering in green “because the heart chakra is green”. And since all we cook up here in my Provençal kitchen comes from the heart I thought that was a real good choice.

A heavenly Stinker

2010-03-21T13:12:00.007+01:00

The truffle season officially over I still had one of Provence's “black diamonds” (an especially generous gift) squirreled away in my freezer. And we had especially nice friends for dinner. And I had always wanted to try out this “truffeled Bried” I'd so often heard about. Also we have this famous cheese shop in our town that, rumor has it, even delivers cheeses to such far away places as Rajastan when some Maharajah's daughter gets married.

So there I went and good thing I did. Turns out you can't do this with just a quarter of a Brie as I had in mind. And a Brie is just too big if you don't want to feed say twenty five people.

So Josiane, the cheese lady, recommended a Coulommiers instead, which I bought on Tuesday. At home I cut in in half horizontally, grated my well brushed truffle, mixed it up with some mascarpone and carefully spread this on the bottom part of the cheese. You then carefully set the other half of the cheese on top and wrap the whole thing tightly in cling film. I left it in the fridge until Thursday night, left it at room temperature until Friday late afternoon, then discarded the cling film and let the cheese breathe. You should have smelled my kitchen – the truffle had permeated the cheese which had started to run a bit....

I served it with a rustic, crunchy Baguette de Campagne (and a real good red wine of course) and see what was left after eight people were served seconds. Somehow I think they liked it....

Found in Marseille

2010-03-11T10:59:00.003+01:00

Strolling around the fishermen's market at the Vieux Port (the old habor) in Marseille and cursing myself for not bringing an icebox to take the beautifully fresh sardines, turbots or merlans home, I made a rather gruesome discovery in a box under one of the stalls:

Do you know what this is? Must be one of the best kept secrets of the trade. It is the head of the fish they here call "lotte" (monkfish) and I although I never thought about it before, I now know why never, and I mean never as in "never ever" the whole fish is displayed. All you ever get to buy is "queue de lotte" (the tailpiece). And now I know why!

Third time lucky - Snow in Provence!

2010-03-08T16:50:00.000+01:00

Here we go again! Not only did the snow come two days earlier than the weather forecasters thought it would (when do those guys ever get anything right?) but it also came fast and heavy! For the third time this winter Provence was under about 20 cm of snow - unheard of in this part of the country! My 78 year old Provençal neighbour told me that they didn't have this much snow "since the war" - 1940 that is.

Snow in our back yard this morning

Lemon Tart - Sunshine on a Plate

2010-03-06T17:59:00.003+01:00

I cannot believe it! So we had a week of sunshine (and a lot of fierce Mistral wind that normally blows all bad weather away) and of course everybody thought “this is it” - winter over, spring starts! Well, no such luck it seems, the weather forecast has it that snow will come back to Provence Tuesday latest. So the roses we planted yesterday just have to show what they are made of – survive or die!

But before another round of winter blues sets in I decided to bring a little sunshine onto tonights dinner party table. We'll have “Tarte au Citron” (Lemon Tart) for dessert. Our wonderful greengrocer sells those big, fat, juicy organic lemons from Menton on the Côte d'Azur that taste almost sweet. But the magic ingredient are the eggs. I am lucky enough to get them from my friend Berthe who gets them from her former cleaning lady who keeps chicken in her garden. They must be very happy chicken because I have never before had eggs like these: when you use them to bake a cake the cake turns a beautiful golden color.

So take a roll of short crust pastry (you could of course make your own pastry if you prefer, but with the quality of the ready made ones here in France my life is too short to make my own). Blind bake the pastry for 15 min at 180° C, get the shell out of the oven and leave to cool.

You'll also need:
8 eggs
250g sugar
4 lemons plus one for decoration

Juice four lemons, very finely grate zest off two of the lemons , then mix the juice and zest with 250 g sugar and gently heat this mixture in a saucepan, stirring all the time, until the sugar has dissolved. Beat four whole eggs and four egg yolks together, add the egg mixture to the sugar/lemon mixture and heat over gentle heat, again stirring all the time until the mixture thickens. Pour the thick lemon curd into the pastry shell, very thinly cut 6 slices of the 5th lemon to decorate the tart with. Let set in fridge for about 2 hours and voilà: sunshine on a plate!

Tarte au Citron - sunshine on a plate

If you want to prepare an extra fancy version, beat the remaining four egg whites with 100 g sugar until very stiff, omit the lemon slices and distribute the stiff egg whites on top of the lemon curd before baking at 180°c for 20 minutes. That will give you a “Tarte au Citron meringué”.

One I made earlier: Tarte au Citron Meringue

The most beautiful Stall at Vaison's Market

2010-03-02T13:39:00.000+01:00

Not only are their homemade tapenades the best, this young couples' stall was the most beautiful at todays Provençal market in Vaison la Romaine - they had taken the trouble to decorate it with fresh mimosas - so pretty! You can go and taste (and buy) their delicious spreads every Tuesday in Cours Taulignan.

Fennel Salad with Goat droppings

2010-02-28T17:17:00.000+01:00

Bought some beautiful fennel bulbs at our local farmer's market yesterday without any definite plans of what to do with them. Today's sunshine inspired me and I used them in a recipe that I usually do in summer. All you need is an organic lemon, some good olive oil, pepper fresh from the mill, some flatleaf parsley and "crottin de chèvre" which literally translates as "goat droppings".

Fennel bulbs from our Farmer's Market

Crottins de Chèvre

These are small round and semi hard goat cheeses and I wonder why they are called by this not really appetizing name because they taste great! Anyhow, fennel and "droppings" make a delicious summery salad. Just quarter the fennel bulbs, cut out the hard core at the bottom and discard, then very finely slice the fennel. Squeeze the lemon juice over the fennel, season with a few rounds of black pepper and a generous splash of olive oil. Grate the goat cheese and mix into the fennel. Finely chop the flat leaf parsley and mix into the salad.

Fennel and Goat Cheese Salad