Full Disclosure: My guilty little Kitchen Secrets

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!