Just what the doctor ordered

Guests at Cuisine de Provence often ask me "so what kind of food do you cook for just everyday?" They would probably be somewhat disappointed, as I am so not an organized daily cook - I don't really plan our meals but sort of look around the kitchen, the pantry - or, if I am really good - into the freezer early enough to allow for defrosting time.
Which didn't happen today. I woke up with a real bad toothache and what was really disheartening about this was that our wonderful dentist had recently retired. Don't you find it is one of the hardest things ever to find a dentist you really trust? I had no choice but to bite the bullet so to speak, went to his successor, begged the receptionist to be allowed to see the doctor and got away with antibiotics and painkillers and six (yes, six) bottles of mouthwash - French doctors don't do small prescriptions. But I really think I found a new dentist we will be happy with. Phew!
By then it was lunchtime with nothing planned for so another improvision needed. I had cherry tomatoes, miniature red and yellow peppers, a big bunch of flat leaf parsley and garlic. A big splash of olive oil went into a pan, the cherry tomatoes and chopped up peppers followed and I let everything wilt over medium heat. A clove of garlic, finely minced, a glass of tomato sauce and a few capers and pasta from the pantry - lunch was ready. Perfect food for a still somewhat fragile tooth - just what the doctor ordered.

Summer Time - Salad Time

"Gourmande in the Kitchen" is a deliciously inspiring blog I follow and this morning it just so happened that I could just taste the featured "Zucchini Noodles" and, better still, had all ingredients at my fingertips. Now to me this is more a salad than noodles (being a bit of a traditionalist, as far as I am concerned noodles have to be warm) but since summer has finally reached Provence and today's temperature is 33 C/ 91 F - salad is what we crave now. And this one is as fast as it is delicous! All you need are a few zucchini, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a few capers,  half a lemon and olive oil, a julienne cutter and voilà - a delicious and very pretty summer salad is about five minutes away! Merci Gourmande!

Early Morning Market Visit

Early this morning at Vaison's famous Provençal market: stallholders were still piling their produce and this gentleman sold me some zucchini plants for my kitchen garden before resuming to decorate his stall. You should have heard the (rather off color) jokes he took from his colleagues when he unearthed this impressive squash.  I pretended not to understand....

You call them eggplants, I call them aubergines...

I very rarely buy aubergines or eggplants as they are called in the US. I don't really like them, their texture, the way they soak up enormous amounts of oil - I don't even use them when preparing Ratatouille - the mother of all Provençal dishes - and my version tastes just fine without them.
But Istanbul Cooking School where I recently took part in a cooking class sort of converted me. Or, closer to the point, I got totally seduced by this recipe our charming host Oguz taught us. It is called Közde Patlican and is served as one of the wonderful mezze Turkish cuisine excels in. Another plus - it is practically child's play to prepare as long as you have a gas stove or a BBQ.
Just take two or three aubergines and roast them, turning them every so often, until they are really soft and nicely charred on the outside.

 Roast eggplant on a gas fire or BBQ

 

 until nicely soft and lightly charred

 cut open and scoop out the flesh

drizzle with lemon juice so the flesh doesn't turn dark

Then you just chop the flesh with a sharp knife, mix it with one or two very finely minced garlic cloves and a real good dash of olive oil et voilà the Turkish version of what we in Provence call "Caviar d'aubergines"  - the poor man's caviar. Serve with crunchy baguette and a cool glass of Rosé.

Credit for this lovely dish goes to Oguz of Istanbul Cooking School

Zucchini Bits and Bites

Here they are not even in season yet but somehow I am very taken with zucchini these last weeks. First I found a wonderful recipe for a zucchini soup in Patricia Wells' new "French Kitchen Cookbook"  then the recipe for these Zucchini bites at G2Food, an inspirational, beautifully photographed English/Turkish foodblog. Somehow my bites look totally different and not half as elegant as the original ones, I guess I grated the zucchini far more coarsely - but boy, did they taste good!

 

 Rustic Zucchini Bites

PS: Now I know why my zucchini bites look so different - the original used just the white flesh leftover from a  stuffed zucchini recipe - if you want the whole story and to know the exact recipe have a look at the comments at G2Food.

HAPPY EASTER!

This is a contemporary Easter egg as seen at Peyrerol, our wonderful and far too tempting Patissier in Vaison la Romaine. I am not so sure where dolphins fit in at Easter but I guess the little bunny might just be too traditional for some....

Another Berlin Foodie Hotspot: Markthalle IX

Every time I go to Berlin to visit my sister she shows me the newest gastronomic hotspot - last time it was the very best Chinese hotpot restaurant, this time Markthalle IX. Situated in Kreuzberg, the formerly poorest Berlin district that is fast evolving into hipster paradise, Markthalle IX is one of 13 market halls that were built in 1886 of which  four halls miraculously survived two world wars and efforts to gentrify Berlins most colorful and multi cultural district. And right now Markthalle IX (market hall number nine) is "the place to be on Thursday evenings". That is when "Street Food Thursday" takes place and the hall, on other days a regular market hall, is heaving with food stalls and visitors.

Here you can have a taste of street food from all over the world. The evening we were there American style BBQ was on offer (great brisket - yum!) and New York Reuben Sandwiches, British Pies, Spanish Empanadas, Russian Borscht and Swabian "Spätzle" noodles.

 These guys sold Fish 'n Chips

 People share tables and sometimes even their food

 Traditional Berlin Meatballs came not all that traditional

 in 4 different styles and with exotic ingredients

cooked and served by this cute young man

 Bernadette had wonderful Styrian pumkin seed oil and pesto on offer

 Great marketing and a fun location

 for the "washrooms"

 Wines from all over the world

 were sold for "beautiful drinking" by a wine shop called "Boozing"

and they also had one of those old fashioned photo booths in Markthalle IX - the very best souvenir of all!