Cool Sirop de Menthe Recipe for All That Mint Outside

If but for the squirrels...well, not only the squirrels, there is also the invisible-ish fence I put in place for the dog who chases after the squirrels, over which I continually trip, and the dirt that is all over and has to be replaced and put back nicely and cleaned up after the darling beasts have finished digging up my foxglove, red onions and geraniums yet again. Besides this, gardening is pure joy, especially when I have a day when I can just be out without interruptions. The kids wander out and around, help out when I give them a job...or not, sometimes. 

Today, sirop de menthe is on our minds...it always is in the summer. This is the French equivalent of Kool-Aid;

Simple French Food: Recipes and Hints

As a part of my tribute to simple cooking, I am re-publishing our own recipes from years ago. I realized that the "search" feature on Blogger does not work for posts older than one year. So, here are my favorites again: 

What to eat with your beautifully cooked chicken: (those instructions below)? How about green beans, or maybe zuccini? Here is a simple way to cook up a vegetable

Leek and Potato Soup: The Base of French Cuisine

Leek and Potato Soup, the Base of French Cuisine

This is a recipe that all of my children over five know how to make, easy and delicious.
3 leeks
3 potatoes
1 large or 2 small bouillon cubes or 1T "Better than Bouillon" any flavor
salt, pepper

Fill a 3-4 quart pot with water, add salt, heat to boil
Cut leeks lengthwise and chop into 1/2 inch slices, soak, wash, rinse, repeat until all sand and dirt is gone (2-3 times).
Wash and peel potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
Put both into pot, add bouillon, bring to boil then lower flame to simmer for 30 minutes.

Once soup is finished, you may add pepper, if desired. It can be served as is, or pureed in a blender. Some kids prefer it pureed and served with a straw, it goes down faster when it's new.

Variations: add any other vegetables, a hamhock for non-vegetarians. Pierre's grandmother adds beans (Great Northern), carrots and angel hair pasta (the short variety).

If you are planning to eat a chicken that week, plan the soup for the next day. Chicken soup recipe for tomorrow.

Serve with a loaf of bread. And it would be a shame to forget the red wine.

Millionth Vegetarian Clam Chowder

Once upon a time, I had a fantastic recipe for a soup that the whole family loved. Everywhere this soup was brought, it made taste buds happy. And I could bring it anywhere; it was vegetarian! Then, the cooking website I always found it on no longer had it there; just like that. I searched through every single option offered on every food and recipe network/website and blog available; nowhere. So I had to re-make it up, and it took me this long. Tonight, after months of it turning out "OK," I tasted it; success? I think so...I had my mate and taste-tester with no compunctions about telling me; "eh, so-so," try it too. His verdict: "Success!" So I will share it, below. It's more or less my millionth attempt to get it right.

Do everything exactly as I say and it will turn out to be a treat, I promise. But tell me you substituted skim milk for the cream or celery salt or chili powder for the real things and all bets are off.  Bon appetit!

Millionth Vegetarian Clam Chowder

Oyster mushrooms (10 oz. fresh) (1.5 oz. dried)
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup chopped celery stick
1T Better than Bouillon (vegetable flavor) (or for a non-vegetarian, delicious version: beef)
2-3 red potatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 of a dried chipotle pepper
1 1/2 c whole whipping cream
1/2-1 sheet of dried seaweed, ripped to tiny shreds 

For fresh mushrooms: chop and saute in olive oil with chopped celery and minced garlic until tender; 5 minutes. (For dried, see below.) Continue to simmer for 20 minutes or so to reduce. Boil a quart of water.

Add bouillon to boiling water. Add potatoes and mushroom mix. Cook 10 minutes. Add corn and chipotle pepper. Adjust salt to taste. When corn is hot (5 minutes or so), add the whipping cream and seaweed. Warm through and serve hot. 

For dried mushrooms: soak for 20-30 minutes (you can use the broth you've made with the bouillon.) Remove from water with a slotted spoon and add to the pan with the olive oil. 

Serve with a chilled Chardonnay or a dry Riesling. Homemade bread or a nice, crisp baguette goes well with it too. Now I'm making myself cry. If you find that baguette, drop one off here on your way home, will you? Enjoy!

Rice Salad; A Warm-Weather Simple Meal

Rice Salad

A summer staple in Southern France. Easy to prepare, keeps well, everyone seems to like it.

Rice, we like to use Basmati, but use your favorite. 11/2 cups (uncooked) for 5-6 people;

Simple Bread That Even the French Approve Of

Our daily bread; this is the one I make almost every day. I use a bread machine, but you can knead it by hand, I'll give the directions for that method too. It is simply perfect warm with butter to be eaten with your soup.

Vegan Stuffing Recipe...or What do I do With the Leftovers?

Portabella Stuffing Stuffed Mushrooms

 Happy Post-Thanksgiving Day to the Americans here and abroad. I hope each and every one of you was privileged with a lovely family dinner...and all the holiday entails. Now what to do with the leftovers? Turkey is easy; freeze it and feed it to the kids in sandwiches for the next three weeks, but the dressing won't keep. Here is my recipe for both dressing and a dish to make today special.

Portabella Stuffing Stuffed Mushrooms

How to Cook a Chicken

HOW TO COOK A CHICKEN

Ingredients:
1 chicken
salt
pepper

First: find the chicken. You will not find this bird in your local supermarket. Seek out a farmer, either at the farmer's market, through a co-op or through word of mouth.

Hamburgers and Fries at Our House

As I wait for the fries to be done frying and the boys to finish grilling the hamburgers, I thought about how our favorite (though naughty) meal is also a very simple one to make from real food. It is so simple that I have time to jot this down while it is all cooking. Here is my top secret recipe for hamburgers, and my French husband's recipe for French fries (of course).

A Soup to Astonish

A Soup to Astonish

This will taste like the best, creamiest tomato soup you have ever served, but it really contains an extra ingredient that makes it that way, just don't tell anyone until after they've tasted it.

Quiche, a Recipe

Quiche may be for you the only word you know in French or a favorite dish you remember from the eighties. In France, it is a perennial favorite and considered "quick cuisine". Let me share with you my composite recipe, based on collected recipes from expert quiche makers over the years.

Martinmas Celebration

It was a perfect evening for our annual Martinmas pilgrimage around the dark neighborhood. It was cool, but not cold and it was neither windy nor raining, for the first time in our history of celebrating the feast day of St.Martin. Dinner was improve upon pasta and veggies (see below).

Cleansing Recipies: New and Improved

 Last week, I gave some ideas for cleanses, based on what I've used over the years. Here are a few more details on how to prepare each one and hints for success, by which I mean creating something that tastes good so that you will be happy to come back to it over and over.

French-style: bouillon de legumes

This is as it sounds, as least in French: boil vegetables and drink the broth, or eat the vegetables as well for a little additional fiber.

Basic bouillon: 3-4 boiled leeks. What is a leek? Look for it in the cold section of the produce aisle; near the radishes, collard greens and spinach. It looks and smells like a giant green onion.

Optional: carrots, broccoli and any other veggies you may have in the fridge; no potatoes this time.

Optional: bouillon packet (most cubes have msg). In France, we put bouillon in everything. My favorite way to go is Better than Bouillon, a jar you can find in the same spot as the cubes or packets, it really is good stuff.

-Wash and slice leeks in half. Keep the white part and some of the green: soak and scrub to remove the sand from under the layers.

-Rinse, soak, rinse again, there is a lot of sand in normally grown leeks.

-Wash and peel or scrub additional vegetables.

-Slice, chop or otherwise make into smallish pieces.

-Add them to a boiling pot of salted water and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Serve hot or cold, with or without pieces. You can drain the broth, mix it all in a blender/food processor, or eat it as is. Some kids will eat it blended but not "with pieces." Once they get used to the taste, they may want to try it unmixed.

Cold smoothies:

Basic detox cleanse: (makes 10 7oz servings)

Spinach, kale, other greens: Note about greens and your typical mixer: even my great Ninja Kitchen System 1100, which makes any soup into a velvety smooth beverage, cannot handle lettuce or kale. The only thing that can make those into something palatable for me is a juicer. However, spinach is soft. Spinach has saved my green smoothies. You can put in as much as you like, with a little water and a little stuffing down of the leaves with a spatula as you go along, and it will mix up like a dream. I now look forward to my healthy morning and noon drinks.
I used 2 big bunches of spinach
1c frozen blueberries
2 cucumbers
Water (add little by little as the ingredients blend)
Cinnamon

Wash and blend all but the cinnamon in a blender until completely smooth. Tip: I start with the spinach, as described above, add the berries, and finally the cucumbers and water.  Divide into 10 portions and freeze 9, drink the other. I use plastic cups and plastic wrap to freeze a batch for the week. I do not microwave them, but set a cup out 30 minutes before a meal in warm water and eat it with a spoon. Cinnamon is optional for flavor; it is also known to kick-start your metabolism and help with weight loss.


Week 2: more substance: (makes 10, 7oz servings)

Spinach
Frozen strawberries
Frozen orange juice
Greek yogurt
Water/almond milk

Wash spinach and/or other greens, place in blender with a little water, blend. Add other ingredients and blend, adding water and or almond milk as needed. See above for divvying up into portions and freezing.

Bon appetit!

Leeks, Sardines and Other Odd Foods

We love to eat, we plan our days around cooking for each meal, food means serious business in our house. I imagine if you have tuned in to any of my posts in the past year or so you perhaps might have gleaned this info along the way.

I also think about food. I mean I think about food a lot; things like; "Is baking the best way to cook this? How about making that over the flames in the fireplace? What if I added raw honey instead of white or even brown sugar? How about Stevia or maple syrup?" I also have to wonder, with the number of allergies and food sensitivities that we have; "what will make granola crunchy if I omit the nuts and the corn syrup? How can I make a gluten-free taco pie? Will rice milk work in chocolate chip cookies?" and last, but not least; "how can I include more healthy ingredients in what we eat? Would they notice the flax seed in the smoothie or the spinach in the quiche? Will they eat organic, baked chips?"

I will be talking about ingredients that don't always make the top ten list in American kitchens. I will start out with very simple recipes and move on from there. I will have vegetarian and meat dishes both, as we respectfully consume poultry and meat that comes from animals that have lived good lives in our house. I am having fun already.

So, I am happy to see so many of you have joined me on this food adventure. Get ready for a great journey. We'll share recipes and secrets and enjoy happier, healthier lives while we're at it. Here's to you! (Toasted with a fine glass of Bordeaux, 1988.)

Chevre Aubergine (Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free)

Boy does it smell good in my kitchen...I have a little glass of a moonshine, Port-type wine and dinner in the oven. I made up a variation on Parmesean Aubergine, one that I can eat.

Ingredients: 1 egg plant, 1/2 a good tomato, 1-2 cloves of garlic, chevre; 2 sorts; one fresh, one aged, salt and pepper, olive oil 

I sliced an egg plant in half, dug out a little of the center, and filled it with a mix of fresh tomatoes and garlic I had reduced over a low flame for a little while, in a little olive oil. Salt, pepper to taste and slices of fresh and medium aged goat cheese topped it off. It will cook for a little over an hour at about 300, and be served with our evening's grilled selection. No, I do not expect or hope that the children will have anything to do with it, this is an adult dish, it can just stay that way!