"Churchill's Cookbook" - Pommes de Terre Normande (Potatoes w/onions and leeks) - an accidentally early birthday salute to Winston Churchill!

Date I made this recipe:  October 30, 2016 – a very early birthday celebration for Winston Churchill!

Churchill's Cookbook by Georgina Landemare (Churchill family cook); foreword by Lady Churchill

Published by Imperial War Museums (England)

978-1-904897-73-6; © 2015

Recipe:  Pommes de Terre Normande (Potatoes Normande) – p. 101

Okay, this is a fist.  Months ago, I wrote a note to self in my paper day planner (Yes, paper) for Sunday, October 30 to cook from Churchill's Cookbook to celebrate the man's birthday.  What I didn't see though, was my tiny little notation – "(11/30/1874)" which, as it turns out, is the man's birthday, not October 30^th.

So I turned to November 30^th and did I put a follow-up note there?  Of course not.

Well this puzzles. 

As you may have noticed in this blog, I try to keep up with observing food holidays and national holidays and international holidays and current events, but there are so many that I am often behind and sometimes have to pass up the opportunity.  Here though, I was ahead of the game.  That has almost never happened.

Perhaps it was my giddiness at finally finding this book which I saw once at Barnes and Noble downtown and then didn't see again at any other store for eons.  And naturally, I didn't get the title right so my search of Barnes online and in other stores yielded nothing.

I bet you some other collector hid it so I couldn't buy it.  (Only slightly kidding.)

And so today, I took to the internet to double-check the birthday information and...what the heck?  November 30?

Well, whatever.

I suppose we should get this out of the way first thing:  you all know who Winston Churchill is/was, don't you?  I imagine some of you are fuzzy on this detail, especially since his claim to fame was for his role as British Prime Minister during WWII, a war that ended 71 years ago.  (Another historical fact:  On December 7, 2016, we will observe the 75^th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Yowza.)

I think this calls for a walk down history lane, don't you?

Winston Leonard Churchill was born November (not to be confused with October) 30, 1874, in Blenheim Palace, England to the Lord Randolph Churchill (a son of the Duke of Marlborough), and Jeanette ("Jennie"), Lady Randolph Churchill, nee Jerome. (Per Wikipedia, Jennie would have been called "Lady Randolph," and not Lady Randolph Churchill.  Did we not just have a conversation about how funky the Brits are about titles and whatnot? And although I feel pretty comfortable discussing royal titles, I remain supremely confused about what the Brits call "peerage" i.e. [non-royal] titles.  There are hereditary titles that are passed down and then there are what they call "life peers" which are appointed and cannot be inherited.  Dear God....what, what?  Happily, Wikipedia contains more information about this topic so if it is of interest to you, have at it!)

Jennie Churchill was an American, born and raised in Brooklyn but met her future husband at a sailing regatta and was introduced to him by King Edward (who abdicated the throne to Queen Elizabeth's father).  The palace where Winston was born is now a historic home, is billed as a "country" house.  In the U.S., we'd call it a super mansion.  Oh the Brits—always so understated.

Winston became Britain's Prime Minister in 1940, just after the war started, and served until 1945 when it ended, and then again from 1951-1955.  Called "The Last Lion" (the lion is the national animal of the UK and defender of the realm), he rallied the Brits to victory over the Axis countries (Germany, Italy, etc.) and pretty much bloody well saved the day.

When talking to the nation (on radio) about the upcoming Battle of Britain, he uttered one of his most famous lines:  "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty.  And so bear ourselves that if the British empire and its Commonwealth lasts for a thousand year, men will still say "This was their finest hour."

Historical note: as these things go, this last phrase is oft repeated as "This was England's finest hour" and I have to say, I kind of like this incorrect phrase better than the original but it's a minor detail.  It's the delivery and the subdued passion and fervor that I love.  And is it me, or does anyone else think that Winston sounds an awful lot like fellow Brit, Alfred Hitchcock?

What separated Winston from the rest of the prime minister pack (and Alfred H.) though, was his iron resolve ("We shall never surrender") and his outstanding oratory skills. When he died, he was granted a state funeral, usually reserved for royalty.

The above just scratches the surface but suffice it to say, as a student of history (in high school and college where it was my second minor), I was always fascinated by him.  My husband though, has taken things one step further, has read countless books about the man, and is a font of information.  Biographies are one thing, but this cookbook belongs to my cookbook collection and shall never be surrendered!

As far as I can tell, this cookbook was compiled from the food/recipe diary of Georgina Landemare, the Churchill's long-time personal chef.  The foreword to this book was penned by Winston's wife of 56 years, Lady (Clementine) Churchill, who indicated that Georgina was pretty much indispensable to the family, particularly during his time at 10 Downing Street (or just "Number 10"), home of the British Prime Minister.  She also noted that when Landemare retired in 1954, she was at a loss and I imagine she was; Lady Churchill hailed from a aristocratic family and therefore likely had a [personal] cook her entire life.

In the foreword, Lady Churchill heaps praise on Georgina Landemare, saying her food was "distinguished."  Indeed, almost all the recipes in this book show a French influence, particularly today's dish, "Pommes de Terre Normande," "pommes" being the French word for potatoes.  There are 12 "pommes" recipes in this book, from potatoes with butter to potatoes with rashers (bacon) so have at it.

You probably know that the Brits refer to Dessert as "Puddings" (starting at page 105) and Cookies are "Biscuits" (starting at page 139) and there are plenty of those recipes as well.  Andy loves saying the word "Pudding" (Pink Floyd fans know that it's used in the song "The Wall" – "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!"), and was very interested in having pudding until he looked at some of the recipes for actual pudding and saw the word "suet."

"SUET???????"  Yes, darling, suet.  Once upon a time, suet was melted and used as the base of puddings and from what I've read it made for a deliciously rich and creamy dessert.  "Tempting" as it was to try it, we passed.  (When I grew up, suet was something we put out for the birds!)

In the end, I just wanted something simple and so we made the potato recipe and it was great—after a fashion.  You'll see below how I tweaked it a bit, not that it would not have been delicious on its own merits but just because I could.  My blog, my rules!

Most of the recipes in this book are simple to make but do know that many recipes lack cooking temperatures and cooking times.  What I would do without the internet, I do not know.

I must say that I am rather disappointed that the book did not contain a "recipe" for a martini, purportedly one of Churchill's favorite drinks – mine, too!  Instead, I will share the story I have heard about Churchill which showcases my own philosophy about what constitutes a great dry martini:  According to legend, Churchill poured the gin and then looked across the room at the vermouth.

For those folks who have not read their martini primer, most martinis are made with gin and vermouth, the amount of which (vermouth) is subject of great, heated debates.  The more vermouth that is added to the gin, the "sweeter" the martini.  If you're like me and like a very dry martini – which is to say without vermouth – then you'll know what I mean when I say that gin is "just a concept."

At any rate, although the only narrative in this book is at the front, I liked paging through this cookbook and catching a glimpse into the dining life of Winston and Clementine Churchill. 

So Happy Early Heavenly Birthday, Dear Winston!

Pommes de Terre Normande – the cookbook version – serving size not listed but even a half a recipe served two generously

6 medium-size potatoes

2 onions

1 leek, white part only

2 oz butter

½ pint milk (1 cup)*

(Left out:  breadcrumbs that are browned in butter)

Ann's Additions:

¼ chicken broth/vegetable broth/water

¼ heavy cream

*1-2 cups milk.  A full recipe calls for ½ pint which is equal to 1 cup.  I made a half recipe which means I should have used ¼ pint or ½ cup milk but that wasn't enough so I used a full cup.

Peel and slice 6 medium-sized potatoes, 2 onions and the white part of a leek.  Melt 2 oz of butter and cook all together, season well, add about ½ pint of milk and transfer to a fireproof dish to finish cooking in the oven.  Finally sprinkle over some breadcrumbs which have been browned in butter.

Okay, I've got to tell you that this itty bitty simplistic-looking recipe was frustrating as hell.  First, "finish cooking in the oven"... at what temperature?  For how long?  I had to Google similar recipes but still ended up guessing, and so I'm going to recommend 40-60 minutes at 350F or, as I did, 40 minutes in the oven, 10 minutes in the microwave.

Second, what is the serving size (besides "a lot")?  A half recipe made an awful lot of potatoes; good thing we liked them.

Next, and in my (uninformed) opinion, the liquid called for in this in this dish (1/2 pint for a full recipe or 1 cup) was insufficient to cook the potatoes and so I made these adjustments.

• I added about ¼ cup of chicken broth to the mixture while it was cooking in the skillet to keep everything from sticking and to help the potatoes cook faster.  If you don't want to use chicken broth, use vegetable broth or water.  I'm not sure this made a difference, but given that we don't know how long to finish cooking the potatoes in the oven, I wanted to help them along.

• If you have heavy cream on hand like I did, add about ¼ cup (I loved what this did to the flavor.)
• As to the milk, I added half a cup to the mixture while on the stove and then the other half to the mixture before I popped it in the oven.  I believe it kept the potatoes moist but I could be wrong on that.

I should note that I almost never futz with recipes, making them as written, but this time around, I just envisioned a mess on my hands if I didn't add some more liquid to the recipe.  I'm glad I did because the result was great – moist and flavorful potatoes that were perfectly cooked (if not a teensy, tiny bit overdone).  The leeks added a lot of flavor to the onions and potatoes, especially when I sautéed the mixture for quite some time before putting it in the oven.  And the cream also added a bit of punch but I added it only because I had it on hand.  Same with the chicken broth.

As to the bread crumbs, I bought one roll from the grocery store, ground it into crumbs in my mini food processor and then added a little over a tablespoon of butter to a sauté pan.  I think the amount it made was perfect for the size of this dish.

All in all, this dish was a winner and I'd make it again.  Maybe on Churchill's actual birthday? ;)

"Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen;" "The Culinary Cyclist;" "You Can Do Anything With Crepes" - food for the Tour de France

Date I made these recipes:  July 24, 2016 – the end of the Tour de France          

Paul Bocuse in Your Kitchen – An Introduction to Classic French Cooking by Paul Bocuse; translated, adapted, and with editors' notes by Philip and Mary Hyman

Published by:  Pantheon Books

© 1982

Purchased at Bloomington Crime Prevention Association (BCPA) Sale 2016

Recipe:  Bayaldi – p. 280 (similar to Ratatouille but layered like a casserole)

The Culinary Cyclist – A Cookbook and Companion for the Good Life by Anna Brones (vegetarian/Gluten-free)

Published by:  Taking the Lane / Elly Blue Publishing

©2013

Purchased at Kona Bay Books, Kona, Hawaii

Recipe:  Tapenade – p. 66

You Can Do Anything With Crepes – as Appetizers, Main Courses, Desserts by Virginia Pasley and Jane Green

Published by Simon and Schuster

© 1970

Purchased at Etsy

Recipe:  Cocoa Crepes – p. 34

Well folks, today the three-week-long Tour de France (bicycle competition) ended – "enfin" (French for "finally") - and as is usual and customary, we are celebrating our return to normalcy (plus the return of the remote to me) with French food.  This celebration also let's me sneak in a nod to Bastille Day (July 14^th) which I missed as I was busy with other things...like maybe watching the Tour?

Even though I am not the bicyclist my husband is (well, true confession:  I don't bicycle at all), I enjoy watching the Tour as they often ride through parts of France and Spain that we have visited.  This year, the guys were all back on Mount Ventoux and I have the most hilarious memories of a car trip up that mountain with my friend and travel companion on that trip, Susan, and my French friend's grandparents who drove us around France for the day.  

Quick backstory:  In the summer of 1988, my French friend, Edith (pronounced Ay-Deet) and her French step-grandmother, Marcelle, stopped to visit me while on a cross-country trip through the United States.  My friend, Susan, who spoke fluent French, spent a lot of time with us, and at the end of their trip, they invited me and Susan to visit in the fall.  Well, bien sur (of course) right? You should know that although I minored in Spanish in college, I also learned some French and spoke it pretty well.  That said, it pays to have someone fluent along for the ride and so – Susan!   This is especially true in Provence where Edith lives as the Provencal accent takes some getting used to.

And so, the ride.  Edit charged her grandparents with keeping me and Susan occupied one day when she had to work and so that is how we ended up sightseeing on Mount Ventoux, the same mountain that the Tour riders go up and down during their three weeks on the road.  Mount Ventoux can be a little challenging in a car with a lot of switchbacks (and a lot more challenging on a bike) but still folks.  Still.  Cars make it up and down this thing without incident every years except for ours.

Now since I believe I repeat this story every Tour, I'll spare you the details (especially since we still have no idea how this happened) except to say that when grand-pere rounded a wicked corner, Susan somehow, inexplicably ended up practically on top of me with her feet stuck under the front passenger seat. (And no, she was not wearing her seatbelt thus, the problem.)  Grand-pere had to pull over he (and we) was laughing so hard.  I have often said that the entire trip to Paris and then Provence could have been dubbed "Lucy and Ethel go to France."  That should tell you something.  (PS—after that hilarious ride, we went back to the grandparents' house for a midday meal with wine.  Lots and lots of wine.  I don't know what it says about me that I went glass for glass with grand-pere, who kept filling up my glass with quite the challenging twinkle in his eye, but there it is.)

And so every year like clockwork, I evaluate my French cookbooks, pull a few off the shelf, select the recipes and get to work.  Those books not selected go back on the shelf until next year's Tour is upon us.  So let's talk about the books I used this year.

Book number one – Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen – is the second Paul Bocuse book I've used.  I made "Soup au Pistou" (similar to Minestrone) for last year's Tour from  Bocuse's Regional French Cooking and it was delicious.  This year, I had another hankering for vegetables and so made Bayaldi, a Turkish dish that is similar to  the famous Provencal dish, Ratatouille in that it uses some of the same vegetables; this dish is layered with zucchini, eggplant, onions and tomatoes.  Although Swiss cheese can be added on top, I went with Bocuse's alternative, olive oil, as a topping.  My only issue with this dish and it is minor, is that I ended up making 3x the spice mixture called for in this recipe as his amounts did not make enough.  Well, at least not in my humble and decidedly non-French opinion.

I liked this cookbook because it offered a wide range of fun French dishes, some of which were better suited to fall or winter, but others perfect for spring and summer.  The instructions, which were translated from French, were not too bad although I had a few "moments" with these instructions just because they were kind of clunky—very similar to how I speak French! 

While the French cookbook had a great range of recipes, I was somewhat challenged to find something I liked in the tiny tome, The Culinary Cyclist.  The book focuses mainly on vegetarian and gluten-free dishes and while there is nothing wrong with that, I was just not into buying a few ingredients that I would never use again just to make a few dishes.  As an example, the recipe for "Dutch Apple Pie with Cardamom" requires sorghum flour, rice flour, almond meal and xanthan gum so I ruled that out.  Some recipes were more doable but didn't float my boat, such as "The Perfect quinoa Picnic Salad with Mustard Citrus Vinaigrette."  And for the longest time, "Gluten Free Olive Oil and Polenta Cake" was in the running until I just decided it was too boring and went instead with the Tapenade recipe two pages over.

This recipe would have been a hit with me had it not tasted so salty but Andy thought it was fine.  In terms of degree of difficulty in making it, it was a piece of cake so that was good.  And tapenade (a popular dish in the French region, Provence) paired well with the Bayaldi so that was also tres bon (good). 

As to the salt, the only salt added was just a teaspoon of sea salt, making me wonder if I should have rinsed the black olives before using them?  The instructions don't say so but as we all know, instructions can be sneaky.  Plus, my palate may also be more salt sensitive than yours or than Andy's. 

As to the last dish, Cocoa Crepes, nothing but nothing says "French" like crepes.  But like anything, these things are best when made well.  And it's not like I botched them per se but they were not the best looking things I ever made, unlike the crepes I made back in 1988 when Edith and Marcelle came to visit.  It was the summer of the drought and the poor ladies just about in my un-air-conditioned kitchen but they were determined that I should learn how to make crepes and so I learned.  At that time, I had the right size pan – 5" is ideal – so that helped.  Their crepes, of course, were perfect, but I did my part and got a few that weren't too bad looking.  And this was tres bon. (Good)

This time around though, the only skillet/ crepe pan I had was about 7 inches.  A 7" pan is just fine for making my own manicotti shells (so easy) but manicotti shells are generally bigger and thicker and so this size skillet works for me. Crepes though, are best really thin and benefit from a smaller pan (unless you have a large just-for-crepes-pan in your kitchen battery which I don't) and though I tried my best to pour just enough batter to coat the bottom, they were a little large in the middle so the first one I made didn't quite set right.  The second one I made (the one Andy ate) though, was much better.

And wouldn't you know, we just happened to have a can of Redi Whip in the fridge so we used that as a topping.  If I had chocolate syrup, I might have really gone to town.  Next time.

By the way, some of you might remember this restaurant, The Magic Pan, where you could get crepes of all shapes, sizes and fillings, from sweet to savory.  I first went to one in 1976 in New York City and thought it was an awesome idea.  And when I moved to Minneapolis and found out there was one downtown I was practically giddy.  It's the littlest things...

Please note though, that I made half the recipe and ended up with just enough batter for two large crepes.  The entire recipe is supposed to make 18-24 which I think is just a tiny exaggeration but oh well.

So this concludes my "Vive la France, Vive la Tour" post.  Bon Appétit!

Bayaldi – Serves 4-6 – from Paul Bocuse In Your Kitchen

4 medium zucchini weighing about 1 ½ pounds total

2 small eggplants, weighing about 1 ¼ pounds total

1 ½ pounds tomatoes

½ pound onions

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

½ bay leaf, crushed

Salt, pepper

Butter (for the dish)

1 ½ cup grated Swiss cheese (see author Note)

5 tablespoons butter (total) broken into pieces (or olive oil – see author Note)

Note:  If preferred, the cheese can be omitted and ½ cup of olive oil used instead of butter.  In this case, pour all of the oil over the surface of the vegetables before putting them in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Wash the vegetables and wipe them dry, then cut them into slices about ½ inch thick (if using a large eggplant rather than 2 smaller ones, cut it in half lengthwise before slicing).  Keep all the vegetables separate from each other.

Butter a large baking dish (preferably earthenware or enameled cast iron).  Cover the bottom of the dish with the onions, then make a layer of zucchini and sprinkle with a little of the garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Next, make a layer of eggplant, and lastly, a layer of tomato, seasoning each layer as you did the zucchini. (Ann's Note:  You should probably double, if not triple, the seasoning mixture as it makes very little in the first place and you will run out.)

Dot the surface with half the butter (Ann's Note: or, as the author said, 1/3 cup of olive oil), then place in the oven for 30 minutes.  At the end of this time, sprinkle with the cheese (Ann's Note:  I omitted the cheese), dot with the remaining butter, and bake 20 to 30 minutes more or until golden brown on top.  (If the vegetables dry out during the first 30 minutes' baking, cover them with aluminum foil; remove the foil for only the last 10 minutes of the baking time.)

Serving suggestions:  Serve with roast or boiled meat.  Ann's Note:  I cooked some rice and used the vegetables as a topping.

Author's Note:  Instead of making layers as described here, you can simply make parallel lines of overlapping vegetables and bake them in individual baking dishes rather than in one large one.

Ann's Final Note:  The only butter I used was to butter the baking dish.  Once I layered all the vegetables, I poured the 1/3 cup olive oil over the surface and baked it and it was fine.  I also covered the baking dish with foil as directed.  Finally, as I said above, you'll need to triple the spice mixture or you won't have enough for all the layers (three in all).

Tapenade – Serving size not given (about 2 cups?) – from The Culinary Cyclist

1 6-ounce can of organic black olives  

½ of a roasted pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup almonds

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon rosemary or Herbes de Provence

½ teaspoon black pepper

Mix all the ingredients in food process until well blended.  Store in an airtight container in refrigerator until serving.

Ann's Note:  Although it does not say to do this, I recommend rinsing the black olives just in case they are in a salt brine.  (I must confess I didn't even look but I found the dish a tad salty.)  You might also want to start with a quarter teaspoon of sea salt, adding more as needed.

Cocoa Crepes – makes 18-24 crepes – from You Can Do Anything with Crepes

2 eggs

½ cup flour

2 tablespoons cocoa

¼ cup sugar

1 cup milk with a little cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend for about 30 seconds at half speed.  Or mix eggs and flour by hand or in a mixer adding cocoa and sugar and then milk gradually, beating all the time.  Add vanilla and the cooled, melted butter and beat once more.  Led stand covered and hour or two.

Heat a small skillet or crepe pan – about 5 inches in diameter, brush with butter and when butter bubbles up, pour about a tablespoon and a half of crepe batter into pan, swirling so batter covers the pan.  Cook for about 1 minute, check for browning and watch carefully – both the cocoa and the sugar cause crepes to burn easily.  Turn crepe over and cook for about a half minute on the other side.  Turn out on paper towels.

This recipe will make from 18-24 crepes depending on the size of the pan and amount of batter used for each crepe.  These freeze well.  Ann's Note:  I used a larger pan but given that I halved the recipe, I only got 2 large crepes out of the deal.  Turns out that was perfect for our two-person household but if you want more, make the full recipe.

"Bocuse's Regional French Cooking" - Vegetable, Basil and Garlic Soup (Soupe au pistou) for Le Tour de France

Date I made this recipe:  July 26, 2014, the final day of the Tour de France

Bocuse's Regional French Cooking by Paul Bocuse

Published by:  Flammarion

©1997

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores

Recipe:  Soupe au Pistou (Vegetable, Basil and Garlic Soup) – p. 68

Well o-la-la- folks, yesterday the Le Tour de France wrapped up three weeks of heavy-duty racing and hill climbing and now what are we supposed to do?

My answer:  celebrate regaining control of the remote.  My husband's answer:  go out on more bike rides (although not in France).

And there you have it!  And congratulations to this year's winner, Chris Froome for his impressive victory. 

As is usual and customary though, we observe the end of this race down the Champs Elysees by making a French meal and this year's selection was a good one – the famous Soupe au pistou – a dish that slow simmers on the stove (thankfully, no oven involved) and is rich with beans and vegetables and all kinds of other goodness.

This dish hails from Provence, in the south of France, and although I've been to that region twice, I never had it before so it was kind of nice to close that circle.  I love how it makes use of so many summer vegetables and just flat out looks healthy to eat! 
And actually, my version of this was totally vegetarian since I left out the [raw] pork rind in the recipe, mostly because I couldn't find it but also because the cheese used for the toppings wiped out my budget and I wasn't in the mood to find a substitute so we went without and it was fine.

So.  Paul Bocuse, our chef/author, is considered by many to be one of the greatest French chefs ever and one of the first chefs to unveil a French "nouvelle cuisine" menu. Traditionally, French menus are heavy on the sauces, heavy on the wines and just plain heavy.  Nouvelle cuisine focuses on light sauces or broths and fresh ingredients, particularly fresh vegetables. The soup recipe definitely falls into the nouvelle cuisine category.

Hailing from Lyon, Chef Boucuse is now 89 years old and – interesting factoid - in 1969, was one of the chefs preparing the menus for the maiden flight of the Concorde, an airplane that made the journey from France to the US in three hours.  C'est tres "cool."  Unfortunately, I never got to travel on it and taste his cuisine because the cost of the flight was tres cher (very expensive) but I flew on Air France once and was amazed to be handed a beautiful menu of all the food served on the flight, including perfectly poached salmon (and I hate salmon), bread and lots of it and wine!  For free!  Classy outfit, that Air France.

This book is divided into recipes by region:  Lyonnais; Provence; Bordelais; Perigord; Brittany-Normand and Alsace.  And each region's section features foods found in that region, as follows:

Lyonnais – Cabbage soup; pumpkin soup; cheese, eggs and sometimes sausage entrees and the famous Boeuf Bourguignon.  I thought about making a macaroni and cheese dish (gratin de macaroni) but that was too heavy for summertime and required the oven.  Mais non.  (But no.)  

Provence – I love Provence.  Love it, love the food, love the little towns, love.  Today's featured recipe, Soupe au pistou is Provencal and it was very good.  Besides, I loved walking around the house pronouncing it because it just sounds so French!  Go figure, right! (Word of warning:  speaking French will give you lockjaw.  I had to "rehabilitate" my jaw and mouth after both of my trips.)  Other recipes that sounded fun were olive and caper spread a/k/a tapenade; Nice-style salad a/k/a Salade nicoise and several fish recipes including Bouillabaisse (Provencal Fish Stew). 

Bordelais – This area if French wine country, home to the famous Bordeaux wines.  It also borders the Spanish Basque country, a region of northern Spain that is a mix of French and Spanish cultures.  Because of that, you'll find Basque-influenced dishes like Basque-style cod and Basque-style chicken along with the famous French cassoulet, a dish that combines many meats and sausages with beans that is baked in a casserole.  Since I'm not big on duck or lamb which are two of the main ingredients, I passed on that dish and besides, it requires slow-cooking and that was not going to happen on a day it was 90 degrees outside.  Non.

Perigord – is in the south-west region of France, an hour's drive from Bordelais and here, the recipes feature preserved meats like duck and pork as well as the world-famous and often controversial Foie Gras (basically fatted duck liver). There's also a recipe for Garlic Soup, a dish I've heard about but have never eaten or made – yet.

Brittany-Normandy– This region, made famous during WWII when the Allies stormed the beaches of Normandy, is heavy on seafood seeing as how it sits on the opposite side of England on the British Channel/Atlantic Ocean.  Dishes like Mussels in White Wine; Coquilles Saint-Jacques (Brittany-style Scallops); Stuffed Clams and [Holy] Mackerel take up the front half of this section while veal recipes finish it off.

En fin (Finally), we have the Alsace region, sometimes referred to as Alsace-Lorraine, famous for various savory and sweet tarts.  This region borders Germany and so there are also dishes for sausages and sauerkraut for you to try.

And so that concludes our culinary tour to complement the bicycle tour that just took place in France (and Belgium and Spain) this week.

I liked the Soupe au Pistou a lot as it was easy, used next to no heat (you simmer it for two hours), and it was easily halved.  Since we are only two, I often cut a dish in half to ensure we don't have endless leftovers.

In the "If I were to make this again" department I have just two minor things:  1) I think I would have cooked the beans all by themselves for a while to avoid having mushy vegetables and 2) I might have added pancetta to the recipe to add a bit of fat and flavor but like I said, I just didn't want to spend more money on the recipe than I did and felt it was essential to have the cheese for topping rather than the meat.  And perhaps if I went to an actual butcher I might have found the required [raw] pork rind but that was just too much effort for a hot day.  I love summer – bring on the heat – but it is wilting to go from store to store.

And so there you go: Viva la France, Viva le Tour, Viva la Soupe au Pistou!

Vegetable, Basil and Garlic Soup (Soupe au Pistou) – 6 servings

Ann's Notes:  1) Pistou is a mixture of garlic, basil, olive oil and tomatoes that is added just before serving.) Pistou is made by grinding the garlic and basil with a mortar and pestle.  I don't have one and tried to improvise and that was fraught with peril.  In the end, I decided to use my mini food processor and that was okay but not the best.  Search the internet for other solutions. 2) You will need to soak the beans overnight; cooking time is 2.5 hours. 3) As mentioned above, good luck finding raw pork rind.  I couldn't even find a substitute on the internet.  Were I do to this again though, I might use pancetta as it is pretty fatty and should yield the flavor Chef Bocuse was looking for. 

½ pound fresh or dried pinto beans

½ pound fresh or dried white beans (like navy beans)

½ pound green beans

6 carrots

2 medium potatoes

1 white onion

1 leek

2 zucchini

3 quarts water

½ pound pork rind

Salt

Pepper

3 ½ ounces shell-shaped pasta

For the pistou:

1 pound ripe tomatoes

6 cloves garlic

10 stems basil

Salt

Pepper

¾ cup olive oil

For serving:

1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup grated Gruyere cheese

If using dried pinto and white beans, begin soaking them a day in advance.  Place them in a large mixing bowl, add enough cold water to cover and let soak overnight.  The next day, drain thoroughly.

If using fresh pinto and white beans, they need only be shelled.

Trim and string the green beans and cut into ½-inch lengths.

Peel and dice the carrots, potatoes, and onion.  Trim of all but the white park of the leek, rinse thoroughly under cold water, and dice.  Rinse the zucchini (but do not peel) and dice.

Place the water in a large stock pot, add the pork rind and bring to a boil, skimming off the foam that rises to the top.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add the beans and diced vegetables and simmer over low heat for 2 hours.  Ann's Note:  Since I didn't use pork rind, I added the vegetables and let that mixture come to a boil before turning the heat to low.  If I had to do it over again though, I would have added just the beans, brought them to a boil and then simmered them for a bit before adding the vegetables.  The beans were fine but some were a bit chewy.

As the soup cooks, prepare the pistou:  Peel, seed and chop the tomatoes and place them in a colander to drain.  Peel the garlic, place in a mortar and crush with a pestle.  (See Ann's Note above.)  Remove the leaves from the basil, chop and add them to the mortar.  Remove a few pieces of the cooked potato from the simmering soup with a slotted spoon, drain and add to the mortar.  Work all the ingredients in the mortar together, grinding them with the pestle to obtain a smooth paste.  Season with salt and pepper.

Add the olive oil a little at a time, starting with a very thin stream and whisking after each addition until thoroughly incorporated, as for a mayonnaise. (Ann's Note:  even when I cut the recipe in half, I felt like that was too much olive oil so yes, I added it a little at a time and very carefully as well!)

When the mixture is blended, add the drained tomatoes. 

About 15 minutes before the soup has finished cooking, add the pasta and cook until tender.  Remove the pork rind.  Add the pistou mixture and mix well.  Cover a tureen (if you are using one) and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.  Place the Parmesan and Gruyere in separate bowls and pass to sprinkle over the soup.

Ann's Note:  The price of Parmesan cheese has gone up considerably such that I have taken to going to a few stores that I know sell it by weight and search until I find the cheapest block.  You do not need all the cheese called for in this recipe, not even if making a half recipe.  And Gruyere cheese has always been pricey so again, I looked until I found an inexpensive block and used that. 

The search for the cheapest cheese reminds me of "Mousier" Keith, a friend of my friend, Susan, who was living in Paris when Susan and I went to France in 1988 (Oh my God, what a hilarious trip that was).  At any rate, Mousier Keith was a starving artist and told me and Susan about how he always scrounged around the French markets, pricing potatoes (in the same way I did my cheese).  When Susan later left Paris to go to England to visit her mother's family, Keith and I went out for dinner which I bought because the poor man was starving.  But to this day, I regret swapping out my very lovely vegetable salad for his seafood salad (in oil as is customary) because I took pity on him.  And by the way, Susan and I always referred to him as "Mousier Keith" because he kept trying to call us to set up a meeting time and when the hotel gave us the messages, they always said "Mousier Keith t'a téléphone hier soir!  (Mr. Keith called while you were out!)

"Normandy Gastronomique" & "Step-by-Step Tapas & Spanish Cookery" - for Le Tour De France (bike ride) - Warm Scallop Salad and Gazpacho

Date I made these recipes:  July 27, 2014 (The last day of Le Tour de France)

Normandy Gastronomique by Jane Sigal; Foreword by Anne Willan; Photography by Debbie Patterson

Published by:  Abbeville Press (Out of Print book)

ISBN:  1-55859-496-5

Purchased at Strand [bookstore] NYC

Recipe:  Warm Scallop Salad with Cress and Vegetables (Salade de Coquilles Saint-Jacques) – p. 36-37

Step-By-Step Tapas & Spanish Cookery

Published by:  Greenwich  Editions

ISBN:  0-86288-021-1

Purchased at Arc's Value Village Thrift Stores, Richfield, MN

Recipe:  Gazpacho – p. 33

Bienvenue (Welcome) to my annual Le Tour de France recipe post!  As is usual and customary, I celebrated the end of the greatest bike race in the world by finding something French to make.  And then this year, because I have a tie-in to Spain, I threw in something Spanish as well.  "De nada." (Spanish for "You're welcome.)

Still, despite the vast collection of cookbooks of all topics and all cuisines, I was getting a little nervous about a French recipe until I happened upon the Normandy cookbook on a recent trip to the Strand (bookstore) in NYC.  I took it as a sign that I found this book during the first week of this year's tour.  Plus, the foreword was written by Anne Willan, a celebrated cookbook author whom I've met and talked to when she came to Minneapolis years ago to promote a book.

The route of the Le Tour de France changes every year and this year, it just skirted around the Normandy region of France but it was close enough to merit an inclusion.  Still, the cooking of Normandy is pretty hearty fare and I was almost in despair of finding a recipe that worked well in the summer when voila!, the very light Coquilles Saint-Jacques just leapt of the page.  Again, signs pointed to "yes."

Elsewhere in this cookbook, you'll find a lot of recipes for seafood and chicken, sometimes in cream sauce, sometimes not, duck, fresh vegetables, apples and a wonderful apple byproduct, Calvados, a most yummy apple brandy.  As tempting as all those were, I was feeling in the mood for something light and something seafood.  This recipe fits the bill and then some.

Turning our attention to Spain, here's how gazpacho fits into this picture:  in 1994, my husband and I went to Spain and stopped outside the city of Granada for the night having driven and toured the region all day long.  While eating in a small restaurant, we observed a group of Americans – about 6 or 8 in all – "practicing" their Spanish.  When one of them absolutely butchered "I want to go to the disco," I laughed and said "Where are you guys from?"  Turns out they were a group of bicyclists from Alabama, who were taking a bike tour through the Sierra Nevadas.  One of the guys in the group was a former navy guy, previously stationed in Spain, whose wife was Spanish and he led the group of bikers.  He also owned a bike shop in Alabama.  We became fast friends with the 'Bama Boys and agreed to meet the next day in the city of Granada for a group dinner. By the way, you should know that they weren't sure we were Americans because we were so quiet.  We get that a lot and consider it a compliment. 

So the next day, we had dinner and we all decided to start with gazpacho, which is pretty much the national soup of Spain.  Made up of fresh tomatoes, peppers, onions and garlic plus a few other key ingredients, it is served cold (or room temperature) and is delicious. I could eat that all day, every day in the summer.

Well, one of the guys in the 'Bama Boys was not familiar with gazpacho and when his soup was served, he took a bite and then exclaimed in his best southern accent "This soup is cold!"

I want you to know that we could have absolutely split our sides open laughing but we did not and just explained that it was meant to be served that way.  He remained skeptical whereas the rest of us polished off our portions, craving more.

And so, dear reader, that is how serving scallops and gazpacho made prefect sense to honor the tour!  Had I been thinking though, I should have made something Italian or Sicilian as the 2014 winner, Vincenzo Nibali, hails from those countries (born in Sicily, went to Italy to train).  Maybe next year.

And as per usual and customary, Andy is sad the tour is over although I don't think this year's withdrawal will be that bad, considering how we were on vacation for part of it (and on news blackout at our hotel.  I must write to them and tell them that they need a sports channel for these key events.)  This summer's weather has not been the greatest for biking around these parts but he's managed to get in some long rides and has a very long ride scheduled this coming weekend.  The landscape in southern Minnesota (outside Rochester, MN) is not exactly France or Spain (or England, where part of this year's tour took place) but it will have to do. 

A la prochain!  (Until next time)

Salade De Coquilles Saint-Jacques – serves 4 as a first course

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced

Pinch of cayenne pepper

¼ tsp sugar

1 bay leaf

¼ tsp crushed coriander seeds

½ cup dry white wine

½ cup chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 small turnip, peeled and cut into ¼-in dice

½ red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ¼-in dice

½ small zucchini, skin and outside flesh only, cut into ¼-in dice

2 tsp hazelnut oil

12 scallops

Salt

Garden cress, to garnish

Ann's Note:  I couldn't find hazelnut oil without driving all over town but I did have some walnut oil on hand so I used that. 

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan.  Add the onion and sauté it until translucent, 2-3 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook it until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Stir in the cayenne, sugar, bay leaf, coriander, white wine, and stock.  Bring just to a boil then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer this court bouillon gently for 10 minutes.

Strain the court-bouillon and return it to the pan.  Add the diced turnip and a little salt and cook gently, covered, for 10-12 minutes.  Add the diced bell pepper and zucchini and continue cooking until the court-bouillon reduces to a light glaze, 5-7 minutes longer.  The vegetables should still be slightly crunchy.

Remove from the heat and let cool to lukewarm, then stir in the hazelnut oil.  Taste for seasoning, adding more salt, cayenne, or hazelnut oil until the sauce is as pungent as you like.  (The mixture should be slightly less seasoned than for traditional vegetables a la grecque.)  Keep warm.

Set a nonstick frying pan over moderate heat.  When the pan is hot, add the scallops and cook then, turning once, until they are nearly opaque throughout, 2-3 minutes.

To serve, arrange 3 scallops on each plate.  Spoon some of the tepid vegetable mixture around the scallops.  Scatter cress sparingly over the vegetables and serve immediately.

Ann's Note:  I substituted butter lettuce for the cress.  My grocery store changed ownership recently and man, they about eliminated anything interesting in the produce department so cress was off the table.  As it was, the new cashier was sadly lacking in vegetable knowledge.  She asked "What's this?" while ringing up my turnip, zucchini and butter lettuce.  Had she inquired about my tomatoes, I would have caused an incident and there would have been cleanup at register 12!

Gazpacho – Serves 4

1 ½ pound beefsteak tomatoes

½ Spanish onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 slices firm white bread, crusts removed, broken into pieces

10 fl oz (1 ¼ cups) tomato juice

3 tablespoons virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

About 8 ice cubes, to serve

Accompaniments

1 diced small red pepper, 1 diced small green pepper, 1 diced small onion, 1 chopped hard-boiled egg and croutons.

Peel, seed and chop the tomatoes.  Put in a food processor or blender with remaining soup ingredients, except ice cubes.  Mix until smooth.  Pour soup through a nylon sieve, pressing down well on contents of sieve.  If necessary, thin soup with cold water then chill well.  If you want more texture to your soup, omit the nylon sieve process.

To serve, pour soup into cold soup bowls, add ice cubs and then serve with accompaniments if desired.

"The Too Hot To Cook Book" by Miriam Ungerer - Garden Soup with Pistou (French "pesto")

Date I made this recipe:  August 25, 2013

The Too Hot to Cook Book by Miriam Ungerer

Published by:  Walker and Company

© 1966

Recipe:  Garden Soup with Pistou (a French variation of pesto) – p. 42-43

I just purchased this cookbook from Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in NYC and not a moment too soon as Minnesota is experiencing scorching temperatures.  But here’s what is so typical and annoying:  the minute Labor Day rolls around, we are projected, once again, to go from high 90’s to 72 degrees overnight.  This is just so damned unfair, especially this year when summer arrived late and warmer temperatures took a while to roll around.  I know I stand alone when I say that this heat can last well…indefinitely!  I hate winter, I hate being cold, and am not too fond of 72 degrees, no matter how refreshing that “cold” temperature appears to the rest of you.

But hey, although I may enjoy hotter temperatures, I am not crazy enough to turn on my oven during this hot spell and thanks to our author, Miriam Ungerer, I don’t have to!  And yet don’t ask me why, but out of all the recipes that appealed (and that would be most of this book), the hot soup recipe caught my eye.  I’ve been on sort of a veggie kick since last week’s vegetable fried rice recipe and since I had some leftover veggies, why not?

This recipe, which serves 10 which of course is way too much for our little household, is adaptable to whatever vegetables you have on hand and so I threw in some diced baby corn from last week and some celery from last week and some leftover mushrooms from last week (and even some leftover rice from last week – how convenient) and then left out a few vegetables that I don’t like as well, namely lima beans and okra.  The most time-consuming task is chopping said vegetables but once you get past that, you are golden.  Cooking time for most of the vegetables is 30 minutes, after which you throw in your faster-cooking vegetables for another 15 minutes, add in a few more minutes to make the pistou and in about an hour total, you have dinner. 

You should know that all the flavor of this dish comes from the pistou as no other “spices” are added to the soup itself other than salt.  I think if I made this again I’d play around with adding some spices to ramp up the flavor just a bit.  And you should also know that while I made only half the soup recipe, I made the full pistou recipe and well, let’s just hope you like garlic because it contains 4 cloves. 

I am pleased to announce that despite the high heat this weekend (96 or 97 I think), I stayed cool in my kitchen and even cool eating this dish.  And that’s what you need when it’s “Too Hot to Cook”!

 

Garden Soup – Serves 10

From the author:  Unlike a rich, slow simmered winter soup, hearty and filling with turnips and cabbage, a summer blend should be lightly cooked and each vegetable retain its freshness, flavor and texture.  Prescribing exactly what to put in a vegetable soup would be a bit like a numbered canvas that the artist could never claim as his own.  This is a rough outline to fill in with your own design.  This serves 10 to 12 as a main course.

2 quarts water

Salt

2 cups baby carrots, sliced

2 cups new potatoes, diced

2 cups peeled ripe tomatoes, diced

2 cups scallions, sliced

1 cup fresh green lima beans

1 cup fresh tiny green beans, cut in 1-inch lengths

1 cup fresh okra, sliced

1 cup fresh corn, scraped off the cob

1 ½ cups cooked rice

Pistou

4 cloves garlic

¼ cup fresh basil, chopped

2 Tb fresh parsley, chopped

3 Tb tomato paste

½ cup grated Romano cheese

½ cup olive oil

In a mortar, pound the garlic to a paste with the basil and parsley; add the tomato paste and cheese.  Beat in the oil by droplets, then beat in 1 cup of hot soup.  Pour the sauce into a small bowl and pass it around with the soup.