Paris 3 Stars Restaurant

This week, and the next two, I am exploring the quintessence of French cuisine: the 3 star restaurant.
First stop: Le Meurice in Paris. Yannick Alléno presides over its Napoléon the Third refurbished golden décor. The cuisine is as beautiful as the space and manages to be both truthful to the ingredients, refined and seasonal. It is both based on tradition and original, making one pause with the pleasure of recognizing the dish and appreciate the twist it was given. The langoustines and lobsters were superbly cooked. The pairing of each, langoustines with the tiniest slice of turnip, avocado oil and preserved grapefruit, lobsters with a subtle marrow and meat gravy and green asparagus, was just right. A sweetbread simply sautéed in a crust of chestnut accompanied a truffle risotto of “fragula” a cereal from Sardinia. In homage to the season, the tiniest ribs of lamb were served with crisp potatoes flavored with lemon and basil. Yannick playfully added a molecular olive to the dish. The dessert, a caramel tart with flambé bananas and passion fruit sauce on the side stuck the exact slightly bitter balance to complement the Riesling Grand cru Rangen de Thann SGN 1998.
But what is in it for the home cook besides making a reservation next time you are in Paris? Yannick was kind enough to let me publish one of his recipes. And I put it to the test of my tiny home kitchen. The first challenge was the veal stock. At the market, I found a veal shank and asked the butcher to cut it in pieces I could use for an osso bucco and to give me the tail end of it for my stock. I sautéed some onion in butter and put it, and the veal piece in my slow cooker along with a cleaned leek, a peeled and grated carrot and salt. I “forgot” it for 6 hours, strained it and refrigerated it until the next day. The stock is by then a translucent jelly with a thin layer of fat easy to remove. The morels are a seasonal mushroom found in the wild: Michael Pollan goes hunting for them in the hills of California for his fourth foraging meal in The Omnivore’s Dilemna. If not washed thoroughly, they can be gritty. As to the yellow wine, it is from the region of Jura in France with a smoky robe and a distinctive rich taste that sets it apart from other white wines.
Although the recipe is time consuming, it takes two hours not counting the veal stock preparation, the sauce is so fragrant and tasty that my guests polished it off with a piece of bread! I can also imagine using it as a swirl in a butternut squash soup.

Morels in yellow wine with a stuffed romaine leave in a brown butter sauce
Adapted from Yannick Alléno

Ingredients
1-Yellow wine sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
2 carrots (200 g) cut in slender sticks about ½ inch (1 cm) long
1 cup (200 g) Paris mushrooms cut the same way
2 cups (500 ml) yellow wine
1½ cups heavy cream

2-Stuffed romaine:
1 romaine salad washed
5 cardoon leaves
3 slices bacon cut in small pieces
1 cup (250 ml) veal stock

3-Butter:
½ cup (100 g) veal stock (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon (15 g) butter

4-Morel:
32 morel mushrooms (200 g) five times immersed in fresh water and dried
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon (10 g) minced shallots
1 carrot peeled and minced
1 celery branch peeled and minced
1 cup (250 ml) yellow wine


Material:
14-quart saucepan
1 frying pan
1 peeler
1 paring knife and board
1 strainer



1-Set the 4-quart pan on the medium range of the gas. Add the butter, the carrots and the Paris mushrooms. After a couple of minutes, add the yellow wine and cook until there is no liquid left. Add the crème and cook for another 15 minutes. Strain. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2-Wash and dry the salad in a salad spinner. Reserve 4 medium leaves and shred the remainder in slender pieces.
Peel the cardoons. Blanch them in boiling water for one minute. Cut them in small pieces. Blanch the romaine leaves in the same manner and lay on a flat surface in preparation for stuffing.
Fry the bacon, add the cardoons and the shredded romaine. When it starts coloring, add the veal stock and cook for 10 minutes. Strain the juice and place the vegetables and bacon in the center of the romaine leaves. Fold over and keep warm in the oven set at 250 F (100 C).
3-Set the frying pan on the slow range of the gas. Add the butter. When it reached a warm brown color and starts smelling like nuts cooking, add the veal stock and reduce. Reserve and keep warm in the oven.
4-Set the frying pan on the low range of the gas. Fry the minced shallots in a little butter. After two minutes add the carrots and the celery and melt slowly until the vegetables are soft, about two minutes. Add the morels. Mushroom water will come out. Let it reduce. Add the yellow wine and simmer slowly for another couple of minutes.
Dispose in each plate a quarter of the morel mixture and a stuffed leave. Pour the brown butter sauce over the stuffed leave. Lay the yellow wine sauce as an arabesque on the empty surface of the plate.
Serves 4 as an appetizer.

Veal stock (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cooking time: 6 hours largely unattended, cheap)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion peeled and minced
1 carrot grated and roughly sliced
1 leek green parts removed partially and washed
½ teaspoon salt
The end of a veal shank bone and all

Material:
Frying pan
Slow cooker
Strainer
Storage containers

Place the frying pan on the low settings of the gas. Melt the butter. Add the onions and cook for about 3 minutes without letting them color.
Place the cooked onions, the carrot, leek, veal shank and salt in the inset of the slow cooker. Recover with just enough water to submerge everything. Set the dial on high for 6 hours.
Strain into a container and store in the refrigerator for up to three days, or freeze for three months after having removed the top layer of fat.
About 3 cups.

Paris markets

There is a popular song by Gilbert Bécaud about the markets of Provence and no mention of the Parisian ones although there are about ninety today and are a terrific source for any cook*. They have been around since the fifth century AD: the oldest one was in the Île de la Cité and has since given room to the permanent flower market. It is well worth seeing on the way to the Sainte Chapelle, a glass window jewel tucked inside the Palais de Justice.
For more substantial nourishment, you can shop for an entire meal and sometimes even consume one without leaving the street where they take place. Some of them are so large you may even compare prices and quality. It is the occasion to pick what looks best on a given day and let your imagination do the rest. To go back in time even further you can rent a bike from the city of Paris. It comes equipped with a front basket, which begs for a fresh baguette and any other purchases.
I fell in arrest in front of a fishmonger’s stall. Atlantic whole fish have the run of the place because of the proximity of the ocean: the small soles good for one person and the bars for 3 caught my attention. I selected the biggest bar at 750 g (1 lbs and ½ ) and asked it to be cleaned but not scaled. Because of the reduced format of its head it can serve three. In the States where Atlantic bars may not be available, a large red snapper (over 2 lbs) or two smaller one may be needed to serve the same amount, as snapper heads are larger. Because in Paris, my apartment is tiny and I need to keep cooking odors to a minimum, I opted for the Portuguese salt crust method. The salt forms a crust in cooking and sticks to the skin of the fish. It contains and enhances all perfume inside, hence the dill branches in the cavity.
At the vegetable counter white asparagus, fresh peas, bean pods, and gariguettes, the oblong fruit of Provence, with the taste of wild strawberries in a large size formed an irresistible complement. My dinner requires 20 minutes cooking, 10 minutes preparation time, is reasonably expensive and comes smell free.

Baked whole fish in salt crust

Ingredients:
2 lbs (1 kg) coarse salt
1 lbs ½ Atlantic bar or 2 lbs red snapper
2 stems dill

Material:
1 baking sheet
1 sharp knife
1 spatula

Preheat the oven at 420 F (250 C).
Insert the dill branches into the fish cavity.
Place 1/3 of the salt in a diagonal on the baking sheet in a width sufficient to accommodate the fish. Add a little water before laying the fish over the salt. Cover the fish with the remaining salt. Add a little water, as if you were molding a sand fish on a beach.
Bake in the oven for twenty minutes if using a bar, for 30 minutes if cooking a red snapper. The crust will turn gold.
Remove from the oven. Prepare the three serving plates close by. With the handle of the knife, break the crust. Using the knife and spatula remove the salt crust along with the skin of the fish and discard. Cut the fish in filets and place on each plate. Propose olive oil and lemon quarters on the side.

Spring vegetables (Simultaneous preparation)

Ingredients:
1 lbs (500 g) asparagus
2 lbs (1 kg) peas
1 lb (500 g) fava beans
½ lb (250 g) cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Bouquet of chives

Material:
1 4-quart pan
1 slotted spoon
1 peeler
1 colander
Scissors

As you preheat the oven, fill the pan with water and bring to a boil.
Remove the peas and fava beans from the pods and discard the pods. Peel the asparagus and cut off the hardest part of the stem.
Place the fava beans and tomatoes into the boiling water. When the boiling resumes, remove fava beans and tomatoes from the pan with the slotted spoon, and replace with the asparagus. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until tender. Strain.
Peel the skin of the tomatoes and the fava beans.
Reheat all the vegetables together with a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of salt in the same pan.
Snip the chives with the scissors and serve directly on the plate along with the fish.

Gariguettes or any local strawberries (No preparation)

Ingredients:
1 lbs (500 g) strawberries
1 cup (250 g) crème fraîche
¼ cup (60 g) sugar

Wash the strawberries and serve in a salad bowl.
Pass the crème fraîche and the sugar around for dipping each strawberry first in cream and then in sugar before eating.

*To obtain a schedule of all Parisian markets open air or covered by postal zips type marchés Paris in the Google bar.

Moroccan Pies

A trip to Morocco in April is a jump into summer and a feast for all senses. The gardens are full of peas and beans. Apple blossoms follow almond flowers. All the perfumes of Arabia surround our senses and the gardens. Verbena, rosemary, lavender, orange blossoms, roses, cinnamon, cumin, saffron and curcuma are everywhere. They suffuse the Argane oil used for massage after the steam bath and awaken our meals. Spices decorate the markets and color clothes and food. A stop at an apothecary allows your nose to identify the essence of the country. It is its delicacy and sweetness, which seduces the palate.
From Marrakech the magnificent and winded road to Skoura goes 2600 meters high over the Atlas, and passes contrasting vistas of mossy quiet plateaus, high snowy mountains, arid precipices and torrents. Nested in an oasis of palm trees, Dar Alham, the house of dreams is where under the guidance of its chef, Mohamed El Mantouh, I finally learned to prepare pastillas, the thin ubiquitous crust used for savory and sweet rolls as well as for the sweet and sour pigeon pie which is the obligatory start to a repast fit for a sultan or a marriage. Although Moroccan cuisine is as diverse as its regions, pastilla is a microcosm: with each bite, a little piece of the country full of orange blossom, cinnamon, sugar, almond and herbs becomes a part of you. Today, instead of preparing the crust from scratch, one uses supermarket bricks or Greek phyllo sheets. The recipe provided serves 6. Along with a simple green salad it is sweet enough to be both main course and dessert. Replacing the pigeons by a chicken will ease the shopping. It is indispensable to serve mint tea along.

Pigeon pastilla (Medium difficulty, Preparation time: 2 hours, Can be prepared ahead, May use leftovers, Relatively expensive)

Ingredients:

For the crust
3 bricks about 9 inches in diameter (24 cm)
1 egg beaten for basting

For the meat garnish:
8 young pigeons emptied and cleaned, or alternately 1 large chicken
3 tablespoons fresh olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1cup (250 ml) chicken stock
1 large red onion minced

For the scrambled eggs:
4 eggs beaten
Pinch of salt

For the almond:
½ cup (80g) almond
¼ cup (40g) crystallized sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon plus extra for dusting

For the onion:
1 red onion
1tablespoon olive oil
1tablespoon sugar

For the herbs:
3 tablespoons minced parsley
3 tablespoons minced coriander

Material:
Food processor
Pressure cooker
Strainer
Basting brush
Pastry sheet covered with parchment paper

Set the pressure cooker on the high setting of the gas. Add the oil, the onion and sauté the pigeons. After 10 minutes, add pepper, garlic, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Finally pour the chicken broth. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 30 minutes. Check that the meat tears away easily from the bones. Strain the pigeons and pour the broth back into the bottom of the pressure cooker. Bring the pigeons to room temperature.
Scramble the beaten eggs in the pigeon perfumed chicken broth over low gas.
Toast the almond, grind them coarsely and mix with the cinnamon and sugar.
Stir-fry the onion in the oil with the sugar and cinnamon.
Detach the meat from the pigeon bones.
Preheat the oven to 180 C (360 F).
To assemble the pastilla, place two layers of brick on a piece of parchment paper. Center the chicken or pigeon meat on the brick surface, leaving a margin of 3 inches (10 cm) all around. Layer on top successively the onions paste, a few drops of orange blossom water, the almond mixture, the scrambled eggs and finally the herbs. Apply a thin layer of raw mixed egg with a brush on the margin of the brick. Cover with the remaining brick and wrap the borders over, forming a tight package. Turn over on the pastry sheet and paint the whole top of the pastilla with the remaining egg. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes until the crust is golden.
Set on a serving plate and sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar.


Mint tea (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 15 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon green tea leaves per person
2 mint stems per person
1 coffee spoon crystallized sugar per person

Material:
1 fireproof teapot

Place the tea in the teapot. Add 1 tablespoon of hot water per spoonful of tea. Stir the pot energetically. Throw the water out, but not the tea. Repeat twice. Add the mint. Fill up the teapot with warm water. Add the sugar. Bring to a boil. Serve from high up in a glass. Pour the content of the glass back into the teapot. Repeat twice, before serving everybody.

Strange and beautiful veggies

Photo courtesy of Steve Miller*

Curiosity may well have killed the cat but it certainly enriched our meals and scientific knowledge. Without adventurous bodies to explore far away continents and bring back strange fruit and plants to acclimate to our latitudes, our plates would be so much duller. Some countries would have an identity crisis: imagine Italy without the tomato or France without potato, both imported from America. All the adventurers who first tasted an unknown vegetable or fruit and then brought it to botanical gardens deserve all our gratitude. Thanks to them Europeans eat Arabic artichokes (Cynara cardunculus) and Canadian sunchokes, also called Jerusalem artichokes (Helianthus tuberus) and Americans and Chinese consume French crosnes (Stachys affinis). Although these plants belong to widely different genii, their edible parts, the flower in the case of the artichoke, the roots for the crosne and the sunchoke, share a somewhat similar flavor. The latter two look like homunculus and may intimidate the novice cook at first. Their delicate nutty taste and the variety of their textures -from very crunchy for the crosne to tender for the sunchoke- should recommend them. They are very easy to prepare: the crosnes need only be sprinkled with coarse salt and rubbed in a paper towel before a quick rinse in cold water. The sunchokes are to be boiled until tender before their skin can easily be removed. Until I became familiar with the Rialto market in Venice, I either ate artichokes raw when they were small, or at room temperature after they had been boiled for twenty minutes. The sight of merchants peeling away their petals and uncovering their heart taught me what the small flying saucers reposing in water basins between the radicchio and the bunches of aragula were. One subsequent favorite dish was open lasagna garnished with thin slices of sautéed artichokes, Parmesan and olive oil. Because the lasagna for sale at the supermarket is too thick and that making it from scratch is time consuming I substitute crêpe. All recipes serve 4.

Sunchoke purée and sautéed scallops (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
1 lbs (500 g) sunchokes
2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
¼ cup (60 ml) crème fraîche or heavy cream
½ lbs (250 g) scallops
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
1 saucepan
Calendar
Food processor
1 frying pan

Set a pot of water on the high range of the gas. When the water is boiling add the sunchokes. After 20 minutes, or when a knife pierce easily the soften sunchoke, drain the water. Peel the sunchokes. Set them back in the pot and add the cream. When it boils again, put everything in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the sharp blade and pulse until thoroughly blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Set the frying pan on the medium range of the gas. Add the butter, and, when it is melted stir-fry the scallops for two minutes on each side. The scallops should be golden on the outside.
Serve the scallops on top of the purée as an appetizer.

Sautéed Crosnes with aragula and cremini mushrooms (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
½ lbs (250 g) crosnes
½ lbs (250 g) cremini mushrooms
1 bunch aragula
¼ cup (60 ml) goose or duck fat
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
Paper towel
1teaspoon coarse salt
1 colander
1 wok or frying pan

Sprinkle the salt on top of the paper towel. Place the crosnes inside and rub gently through the towel. Place the crosnes in the colander and discard the towel. Rinse the crosne in cold water. Cut off the tiny roots. Clean the mushroom in cold water. Slice off the bottom and cut in small pieces
Place the fat in the wok on top of the medium range of the gas stove. When the fat is melted and start smoking add the mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes. Add the crosnes and cook for another five minutes. Add the aragula for another two minutes. Correct the seasoning and serve as a side dish to the crêpes.

Artichokes Crêpe (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
4 artichoke hearts
1cup (250ml) béchamel (recipe follows)
¼ cup (60 g) Parmesan cheese sliced or grated
1cup savory crêpe (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon (14 g) butter

Material:
1 saucepan
1 non-stick pan
1 spatula

Set a large saucepan of water on the high range of the gas. When the water boils, add the artichokes and cook for twenty minutes, or until the leaves can easily be detached. Refresh the artichokes in cold water until they can easily be handled. Peel all the petals and nibble on them if you so desire. Remove the straw from the heart with a spoon.
Warm up the béchamel and add the cheese.
Set the non-stick pan on the high range of the gas. Melt a small piece of the butter and pour enough of the batter to cover the pan. Detach the side of the crêpe and, using the spatula turn it over after two minutes. Place the artichoke heart in the middle of the crêpe, pour ¼ of the béchamel on top. Fold the crêpe side to obtain an envelope. Repeat four times.

Béchamel for 1 cup (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup (80 g) flour
2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
1cup (250 ml) milk
Nutmeg freshly grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Material:
Saucepan
Wooden spoon
Strainer
Blender
Rubber spoon

Put the butter to melt in the saucepan on the low settings of the gas. Strain the flour over the saucepan, stirring butter and flour together. Add the milk and bring to a boil. Do not worry about the lumps. Pour the lumpy mixture in the blender and run progressively to high. You will obtain a smooth béchamel in minutes. Remove from the blender with the rubber spoon.

Sweet and savory crêpe batter (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:

Savory for 1 cup:
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup whole wheat flour
1 large egg
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons butter

Sweet for 1 cup:
½ cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Material:
Blender or Food processor.

Place all ingredients for each type of batter into the blender and mix until perfectly homogeneous.
Each recipe will serve 4.

Orange sugar crêpe (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 5 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
1 cup (250 ml) batter
2 tablespoons (28 g) butter
2 tablespoons (28 g) of sugar
2 juicy oranges

Material:
1 non-stick frying pan
1 juicer

Juice the oranges. You should get 1 cup juice.
Set the non-stick pan on the high range of the gas. Melt a small piece of the butter and pour enough of the batter to cover the pan. Detach the side of the crêpe and, using the spatula turn it over after two minutes. Place on a plate. Sprinkle with sugar. Wet the sugar with just enough orange juice and form a roll with the crêpe. Repeat three more times

*http://www.healthoftheplanet.com
http://newarttv.com/index.php?id=317

Easter Lamb

Easter’s Jewish and Christian celebrations often include lamb for reasons more historical than gustative. When Moïse sought to liberate its people from the Pharaoh, God inflicted the ten plagues upon Egypt. The last and decisive one struck the first born of men and beasts. During the first Passover, Jewish families kept captive sacrificed a new born lamb to mark with its blood their front door: the Angel of Death would then pass it by. Christianity borrowing from Judaic tradition designated Christ in the Liturgy as the sacrificial lamb. Traditionally of course spring is also the time when fresh new lamb comes to the market, although nowadays globalization has made season irrelevant. It is one of the few remaining grass-fed meat in the United States and therefore a good source of omega-3. It makes for a festive dish to feed a crowd with almost no pain. And the next day the leftover can be dressed with the same mint sauce and a green salad for an easy lunch. To conclude the meal and celebrate the anticipated riches of the season, a moist and flourless chocolate cake is called for. For a starter, I suggest to pass around blinis, the Russian version of a savory pancake, garnished with cream, salmon roe and smoked salmon.
Ideally the leg of lamb should cater to every guest’s taste in doneness, from rare to well done, with all the nuances in between, not to forget an enticingly crisp skin all around. To achieve this goal you need to start the roast in a hot oven for a quarter of an hour and count about 12 to 15 minutes cooking time per pound of meat. The lamb is perfumed by inserting salted anchovies in slits inside the meat and rubbing olive oil, thyme, rosemary and coarse black pepper on top. To save time, it cooks on top of sliced potatoes, which will be perfectly crisp by the time the roast is ready. The sauce is inspired by the mint British love to serve with lamb.

Blinis (Easy, Preparation time: two hours largely unattended, Cheap)

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
½ cup warm water
1cup milk
11/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs separated
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
¾ stick melted unsalted butter
Additional butter for cooking

Material:
1 blender
1 eggbeater
1 rubber spatula
¼ cup
1 frying pan
1 spatula

Proof the yeast in warm water according to the package instructions.
Mix all the ingredients in the blender except for the whites.
Pour the batter into a bowl large enough to accommodate the rising. Reserve under a cloth on a warm place for 1 hour and a half.
At cooking time, beat the egg whites and fold them into the batter.
Set the frying pan on a medium flame and add a little butter. Form little mounds about 3 inches in diameter on the pan, using the ¼ cup. When the batter starts bubbling, turn them over.

Oven-baked leg of lamb on a potato bed (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 2 hours, Expensive)

Ingredients:
8 lbs (3.5 to 4 kg) leg of lamb, bone-in
Can of anchovies
2 Sprigs of Rosemary
1 teaspoon coarse pepper
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1tablespoon olive oil
8 large baking potatoes
2 heads of garlic

Sauce:
2 cups tightly packed mint leaves
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
½ cup olive oil
1 garlic clove minced
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Material:
Food processor
Roasting pan
Paring knife and board
Colander
Kitchen towel
Aluminum foil

Preheat the oven to 425F (318C) with the roasting rack on.
Pierce the leg of lamb with a sharp knife and insert in the opening a half anchovy and a rosemary leave. Repeat the operation in 19 other spots all over the leg. Strain them in a colander and dry them in the kitchen towel. Spread them out in the roasting pan. Sprinkle with coarse salt and the remaining rosemary leaves.
Reduce the remaining anchovies to a paste in the food processor with the tablespoon of oil. Add the coarse pepper to the paste and cover the roast with this paste. Place it on top of the potatoes. Bake for 15 minutes at 425F before reducing to 375F (190C). Turn the roast over and toss the potatoes around before returning to the oven for another hour and thirty minutes.
Remove the roast from the oven. Place on a cutting board and cover loosely with aluminum foil for 15 minutes before carving. Toss the potatoes and leave them in the oven.
Place the ingredients of the sauce in the food processor and blend. Reserve in a sauce dish.

Serves 8. Accompany with a side dish of green beans.

Green Beans (Easy, Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
2 lbs (1 kg) French string beans, both end of the beans removed
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh butter or olive oil

Material:
1 6-quart pan
Colander

Fill up the pan with water. Add the salt and bring to a boil over the high range of the stove. When the water is seriously boiling, add the string beans. Cook for 20 minutes, without covering to preserve the bright green coloring of the beans. Strain and place in a serving bowl. Toss with butter or oil and serve immediately.

Grannie’s chocolate cake (Easy, Preparation and cooking time:45 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
7 oz (250g) dark chocolate with at least 55% cacao content
1 stick sweet butter (113g)
1tablespoon (14g) all-purpose flour
7 oz (250g) crystallized sugar
6 eggs separated

Material:
1 saucepan
2 salad bowls
1 wooden spoon
1 eggbeater
1 silicone spoon
1 9-inch silicone mold

Turn the oven on to 360F (182C)

Unwrap the butter and place it in the saucepan. Set the saucepan on the lower setting of the gas and bake until the butter is just melted. Turn off the gas. Add the chocolate broken in small pieces to the butter, stirring occasionally with the wooden spoon until melted.
Separate the whites from the yolks. In the salad bowl containing the yolks, add the sugar and beat until creamy pale yellow. Mix in the sifted flour. Add the melted butter and chocolate, stirring the content until well mixed.
Beat the whites until peaks form. With the silicone spoon add carefully the whites to the batter, until the mixture is homogeneous.
Pour the content in the silicone mold and bake in the oven until the chocolate smell suffuses all the kitchen or 20 minutes have passed.
Let the cake cool before inverting on a plate. A nice touch is to sift a tablespoon of powdered (confectioner) sugar over the top. A caramel or chocolate frosting is nice too.
Serves 8 to 10.

A Simple Picnic

The first picnic of the year should be (almost) spontaneous. A few raw vegetables, some dips, pâté, fresh bread and a dry swatch of grass are all it takes to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the caress of the sun. And if the weather remains uncooperative, just invite memories of summers past.
One such remembrance brings visions of large baskets brimming with tiny artichokes, red and white radishes, spicy green onions, tomatoes, carrots and celery, to be dipped in tapenade. The real thing calls for pounding anchovies, capers, pitted black olives and olive oil in a mortar until reduced to a smooth paste. Although it will do wonder for the upper part of one of your arms, and will appeal to purists, I much prefer using a food processor, and good quality pitted olives. My recipe does away with the anchovies, guilty of imparting too much salt to the mix, and replaces capers with garlic cloves and herbs, much better for the heart’s health.
Along the crudités, came bread and pâtés. My favorite is rillettes. The pork is cooked until it falls right off the bone and shreds itself to pieces without human intervention. A lot of fat and a few secret spices are then added. Duck leg confit perfumed with thyme flowers on one hand and leftover baked salmon enriched with kefir, smoked salmon and dill on the other are two perfect alternatives to the traditional pork rillettes.

Tapenade (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes. Cheap)

Ingredients:
6 oz (186g) pitted Kalamata olives, from a jar
¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
3 cloves garlic peeled

Material:
Colander
Food processor with the blade attachment on
Silicone spoon
Dip bowl

Drain the olives in the colander. Pour them in the bowl of the food processor. Add the olive oil, basil and garlic. Pulse, until the mixture is homogeneous.
Scrape into the dip bowl. Serve with vegetables and pieces of bread.
Comes summer, Tapenade is a staple in my refrigerator. A spoonful added to the Foolproof Dijon Vinaigrette of last week or the Fruity Sauce of Microwave Magic makes both suitable for a tomato, tuna or lobster salad. I replace mustard with tapenade to season barbecued beef. Using green olives instead of black, I mix it with potatoes for a purée to garnish any baked fowl.
Salmon Rillettes (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
6 oz (174g) baked salmon*
2 oz (60 g) smoked salmon
¾ oz (20 g) dill
½ cup (110 ml) Kefir or liquid yogurt
Drops of Tabasco

Material:
Food processor with the blade attachment on
Silicone spoon
Dip bowl

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse until shredded.
Scrape into the dip bowl.
*If you do not have leftover salmon (I tend to always purchase more than we will eat, because I love to eat it on toasts as rillettes, or cold with a cucumber yogurt and herb dressing the next day) sauté minced shallots in a little oil or butter, add water and bring to a boil. Place your salmon in the water, turn off the gas and cover the pan. Remove the salmon from the water after 10 minutes and proceed with the recipe.
Duck Leg Rillettes (Easy, Preparation time: 15 minutes, cooking time: 6 hours largely unattended, Cheap)

Ingredients
For the confit:
4 fresh duck legs
¼ cup (60 g) coarse or Kosher salt
2½ cups (750 ml) duck fat

For the rillettes:
The meat and skin of the confit
1 small shallot peeled and cut
10 stems of fresh thyme in bloom

Material:
Closable plastic bag
Slow cooker
Set of tongues
Food processor with the sharp blade attachment on

The day before, unwrap the duck legs and place them in a bag along with the salt. Close the bag, shake and place in the refrigerator overnight.
The following day, rinse and dry the legs of duck and place them in the slow cooker inset. Pour the duck fat on top. Cook on the low setting for 5 to 6 hours. Retrieve the duck legs with the set of tongues. Strain the duck fat in a closed container and store in the refrigerator for another batch of duck legs.
Remove the bones from the duck legs and place the meat and skin in the bowl of the food processor. Add the shallot and the leaves and flowers of 6 of the 4 stems. Pulse until the meat and skins are just shredded. Divide into four small containers. Pour a tablespoon of duck fat on top and decorate with a sprig of thyme.
It will keep for several weeks: “confit” is a French word for preserve.
Serve for a picnic, as an appetizer or offer as a housewarming present.

Eggcellent

Spring finally chases away snow and the first plants make their apparition in the vegetable garden: green mounds announce the gracious arabesques of garlic and when summer comes, a bounty of heads. No other object symbolizes these miracles more than the simple egg favored at Easter, and its astonishing properties. Because the egg’ s shell is permeable, it absorbs the salt in the boiling water. For the same reason, to impart the perfume of truffle to an omelet, it is advised to store the raw egg in its shell with a truffle in a closed box. As acid attacks the shell, to facilitate its removal once the egg is boiled, use a bath of cold vinegar water. As to prevent breakage while cooking, you can try piercing the egg with a pin on the round bottom side prior to plunging it in the water: as the water boils, you will see bubbles of air exit through the hole. I have to say that the averages do not work for this so called scientific method recommended by a PHD. One out of two eggs broke while boiling whether pierced or not. However it did not affect the outcome, as the egg once shelled looked as good. Rather than a strong boil, favor a slower one: the texture of the cooked egg white will be just tender. Finally to center the yolk, roll gently the egg during the 10 to 12 minutes it takes to cook.
To go along with the eggs, simply add raw or barely cooked vegetables and the occasional shrimp and scallop. The earth deity, Demeter, rejoices in the presence of her daughter Proserpine on a six months release from her husband Pluto’s somber realms. Thanks to her good mood the seeds we nurture in our window boxes will be ready in eight weeks for transplanting outside. Even sooner, as the earth crumbles in our finger we shall plant directly in the ground peas, beets and radishes and collect asparagus and rhubarb. But for now we still have to make do with winter vegetables even if we dress them in bright colors.
Each recipe serves 4.

Leeks vinaigrette (Easy, Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
4 leeks
2 eggs
1teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of vinegar
4 tablespoons Dijon vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Material:
Board and paring knife
Wooden spoon
Steamer, 4-quart pan and its cover

Pour water and salt in the 4-quart pan and bring to a boil over the high setting of the gas range. Lower the gas. Place each egg delicately with a spoon in the softly boiling water. Cook them for 12 minutes, turning them occasionally with the same spoon to insure that the yolk will remain perfectly centered. Retrieve them from the boiling water and place them in cold water perfumed with the spoon of vinegar while you attend to the leeks.
Cut away the green part of the leek, about 2 inches or 6 centimeters and slice away the bottom root. With the knife, form a cross on the top, and immerge the whole leek in cold water. Any sand or earth trapped between the leaves will sink to the bottom. Prepare the vinaigrette.
Cut the leeks longitudinally and then slice them. Steam them for about 5 minutes or until soft. Place in the salad bowl. Add the vinaigrette.
Shell the eggs. Slice, and cut the eggs into smaller pieces. Place on top of the salad.

Foolproof Dijon vinaigrette (Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
¾ cup (125 ml) olive oil
¼ cup (60 ml) red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon (14 ml) Balsamic vinegar
1tablespoon (14 g) Dijon mustard
1 shallot peeled and thinly sliced

Material:
Glass preserve jar and its cover

Pour all the ingredients in the jar and close the lid tightly. Shake well. All the ingredients will mix and turn into a thickened yellow emulsion. Use what you need and store the rest in the fridge until the next usage. Shake before pouring.

Mushroom Salad
(Easy, Preparation time: 5 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
10 oz (280 g) white whole mushrooms
1tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 oz (28 g) Parmesan cheese
Chives washed and cut thinly.
3 tablespoons Dijon vinaigrette

Material:
Vegetable peeler
Paring knife and board
Salad bowl

Wash the mushrooms in cold water. Slice off the bottom. Turn the mushroom on its side and slice thinly. Place the slices in the salad bowl as you work and pour the lemon juice on top to prevent them from blackening. Pour the vinaigrette over the mushrooms and mix. Using the vegetable peeler, garnish with thin slices of Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the chives on top

Egg surprise (Easy, Preparation time: 15 minutes 1 hour before cooking time: 20 minutes, Reasonable)

Ingredients:
4 artichokes raw or canned artichoke hearts
½ oz (14 g) dried chanterelle mushrooms
4 raw shrimps
8 bay scallops
4 eggs
4 tablespoons crème fraîche

Material
1 8-quart pan
1 salad bowl
4 individual soufflé molds

Put the dry chanterelles in a salad bowl. Cover with warm water and soak for an hour.
Set a pot of water over the high setting of the gas range and bring to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt. Drop the artichokes in the water. When the boil resumes, turn the artichokes over and cook for another twenty minutes, or until a leaves break off easily from the body. Bring to room temperature. Remove all the leaves and keep for eating on their own with vinaigrette. If you are using canned artichokes heart, drain the water and rinse the artichokes.
Preheat the oven at 360 F (180 C)
Slice the hearts and place in each soufflé mold. Peel the shrimps, remove the tiny black intestines by pulling on them, cut in three and place in each mold. Add two bay scallops each. Divide the mushrooms in 4. Crack carefully one egg in each dish without breaking the yolk and add a tablespoon of cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Bake for 20 minutes. The white should be firm but the yolk still runny. Serve with sweet potato fries, to dip in the yolk (recipe follows).

Sweet potato fries (Easy, Preparation time: 20 minutes, Cheap)

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes or yam
4 tablespoons duck or goose fat (see December 16th, 2008)
1 garlic clove, unpeeled
1tablespoon (30 g) butter
1teaspoon crystal salt
1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley

Material:
1 peeling knife
1 paring knife and board
1 4-quart saucepan

Peel the sweet potatoes with the peeler. Cut each potato in two lengthwise. Quarter each half to obtain thick fries. You should have about 24 fries when you are done dividing.
Place the fat into the saucepan, and heat it up over the high setting of the gas. When it smokes, throw in the potatoes and the unpeeled garlic clove. Lower the gas setting, and turn occasionally the fries over to insure an allover golden tone, for 15 minutes. Remove the fries from the grease on a paper towel. Save and refrigerate the remaining fat. Wipe off the grease from the saucepan and set back the potatoes in it, on the low flame of the gas stove. Add the butter in dots. When the fries have absorbed the butter, sprinkle the salt and then the parsley.
Dispose 8 fries around each soufflé dish.