Ready made!

Woot, woot! It’s Thanksgiving, MY holiday. I LOVE this feast because it includes everyone; Muslims, Jews, Hindi, and my personal favorite None of the Aboves, this is a festival for anyone who is thankful for all that they have in their lives, a great habit to start, because when faced with the most dire situations, gratitude can save us. And yes, I admit, I love this celebration because I’m a glutton.

I’ve lived out of the US for most of my adult life, and no matter where my wanderings take me, I always set aside this day to give a feast for family and friends, sharing the idea of thankfulness with the world. For the last ten years, I’ve been sharing from Paris.

This year was nearly a disaster. I was convinced that Thanksgiving was the last Thursday of the month, which is the 29th. Friends from Montréal will be in town and I was trying to get them all worked up for the big day when I got an email.

“We were just in Champlain, NY this weekend and all the posters mention Thanksgiving on the 22nd. Sorry, but it looks like your kitchen slaves will still be in Canada, ay?”

I went into utter panic. Not only would I be less two slaves, but I had to notify our guests that the date had changed and order the bird!!!!

The bird. The thing about Thanksgiving, is that it requires a turkey. Paris kitchens tend to be tiny, with tiny ovens. Not exactly the ideal conditions for cooking a big bird. My first year here I was desperate for a solution when I passed the Rotisserie stall at the Richard Lenoir Thursday market. A few dozen light bulbs went off in my head, making me dizzy, but also giving me an idea. Perhaps Mr Roti could roast my bird. A quick conversation later and I learned that not only would he be happy to do it, but he was already doing it for several other yankees. I ordered the bird, put down my deposit and I was set. He didn’t even ask for a birth certificate or a proof of domicile. It was so easy, it was almost like not being in Paris. I was thankful already!!!

This year M Fontaine, my butcher on the rue de Sevres had agreed to spin my bird on his rotisserie, throwing in a delicious wild mushroom stuffing and roasted chestnuts to the bargain. I called in a desperate panic. His wife answered and assured me it was not too late to change the date. “What is your name again, Madame?” “Madame French,” I could hear him yelling at her in the background. I am not the only American who gets her bird from M Fontaine, but apparently I am the only one who would mis-order and call hysterically on a Sunday afternoon.

What else will be eating tonight? Mashed potatoes with about a litre of cream, Bordier butter and wild mushroom gravy, Green Giant canned corn, corn bread, my special cranberry sauce, green beans with pine nuts, and pumpkin pie with home made whipped cream. Bon Ap’ everyone. And remember to be thankful!!!

Friday@Flore

Well folks, I am afraid that Friday@Flore has called in sick today. After a week of running around like chicken with my head cut off, standing out in the rain for Paris Fashion Week shots, juggling Back to School night and spending sleepless nights coughing up my left lung, I simply can not sit out at a café terrasse under a threatening grey sky.

BUT, hey, we’ve got a chicken with its head cut off, so lets use it and make some chicken soup! I made some earlier this week and frankly, it was the best I’ve ever made, which is actually saying something because with my Jewish roots, good chicken soup runs through my veins.

At the market I got 2 leeks, 2 small onions and 8 carrots. Grandmère French had just sent up a batch of fresh thyme from her garden, I’ve already got dried bay leaves and the butcher prepared a Baugrain chicken for me by taking out the innards (Did I want to take them home? Non, merci, you can keep them, but do want the neck) and cutting it into 8 pieces, minus the head and feet.

At home I cut the greens and roots off the leeks, then chopped each large white stalk in half. No matter how long I’ve lived in Paris, I am still lazy Californian so I don’t peel the carrots, I just chop them in thirds. Coins would be more elegant, but then they’d be over cooked. I skin the onions and cut them in 1/4s.

 

The prep work done, I throw the bird, veggies, 2 bay leaves a small hand full of grey sea salt from our trip to the Ile de Ré, the fresh thyme and about ten whole pepper corns into the stock pot, which I then fill with water. I put it all on the stove top at medium-high and go back to bed for forty minutes.

 

When I return to check on the soup it is with a large spoon so that I skim off all the grey scum that comes up from the chicken and the fat that is now floating on top. I adjust the heat, get everything down to a low simmer and go about my day.

Before serving I usually take a pair of kitchen tongs and remove the thyme, as well as the skin from all the chicken bits. Put into a bowl an serve steaming hot.

PLEASE NOTE / Next week I’ll be posting photos from Paris Fashion Week EVERYDAY / This is NOT turning into a fashion site, being sick for 12 days (and counting) has created quite a back log with my workload, and I need a mini-break. Stay tuned!!!

French Food for real folk

Picard roast veggies - still frozen!

My family teases me that I never cook, I only prepare. Ok, it’s not really teasing, more of a relentless nag, but they have a point. While I love a great meal and refuse to eat junk, there are simply other things I’d rather be doing than spending hours in the kitchen making dinner. Anything really, even cleaning bathroom grout with my toothbrush. I manage by preparing very simple meals with the best, most convenient ingredients I can find. In Paris, that means I shop at Picard a bit too much and I get most of my fruits and vegetables at the local primeur, or a market when I have the time, because I don’t mind spending hours shopping (ahem… for a meal).

Recently I prepared a fast, easy meal that my family never gets tired of (they get tired of a lot of my dishes). Here is the recipe which is a really big word to say, here’s what goes in the pot/casserole;

At Picard pick up 2 packages of their frozen grilled vegetables (ok, I know, not from the vegetable guy, but they are 100% vegetables, nothing else added).

crottin de chèvre

At a cheese shop, or a local grocery store I select a large chunk of fairly mild tasting cheese (about 250 grams, or 8 oz) and a bunch of herbs that goes well with the chosen cheese du jour. For example, if I get a ball of mozarella, I’ll probably grab a bunch of basil, herbes de provence are fantastic with some goat cheese and piment d’espelette spices up a mellow comté or Petit Basque. The more cheese you use, the tastier the dish, but less cheese looks nicer on your waist, so I try to strike a healthy balance, usually buying too much cheese because I know the rats at home will eat away at it eventually.

Pick up a baguette on the way home.

et voilà...

Preheat the oven to about 170°c (350°f). Open the Picard bags and slice up the frozen veggies into wide strips. Throw them into a casserole and season with the herbs and some salt and pepper. If the cheese is soft, like a chevre, cut it into rough slices. If it is hard, like a swiss cheese, shred it or shave it off with a vegetable peeler.

Tuck the cheese bits into the veggies, drizzle olive oil over the top and throw it all into the oven to bake for 40 minutes, to an hour.

I serve it in bowls with the fresh baguette I picked up one the way home and a cool glass of white.

NOTE – this dish is fantastic when served as a side with grilled cod or a little lamb’s rib.

For dessert, a bowl of fresh fruit. There were cherries at the market when I photographed this meal. And because this meal is ultra light, there is always a chocolate bar (or 6) waiting in the cupboard for a second dessert. Exactly like a 3 star restaurant. Really, how dare my family complain?

 

Feeds four and makes great left overs!

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