Home » Archive for January, 2007

As I started to prepare the meal for our friends who were to come over for dinner, I paused for a second and wondered what day it was. Saturday, that far I knew well. But the date, what date was it?
“What date is it?” I asked P.
“Le 30,” he replied.
“Quoi ? [...]

Vegetable Medley, Prosciutto and Poached Egg on Baked Crust
Brunch Culture
“Brunch? At what time do you say? 11 am?”
“How am I going to manage to be hungry at 11 am”, I wondered. I was still very content with the breakfast I had had that very morning.
I never skip breakfast. And better not for the [...]

I would never have imagined….
What a nice surprise that is! I just found out tonight that I have been nominated in the Best Food Blog Awards 2006 hosted by Well Fed in two different categories, along with very talented food bloggers.
The names of the Top 5 Food Blog Nominations have just been announced for [...]

Fall Medley Vegetable Soup
I have some more news to share. Yes I know, again!
Number 1: Another good moment, I know, I must be under a very good start for the beginning of 2007. Please make it last! It is too nice to be true, so I think something really bad must be awaiting me somewhere!
The [...]

Terrible Chocolate Cake — Gâteau au chocolat terrible
When do you know that you are a chocoholic? Not simply a shy one, someone whose answer to the question “Do you like to eat chocolate?” is “Yes, I do not mind a piece occasionally”, but a real ferocious one! If one day goes by and you feel [...]

Scented Milk Rice Pudding
I used to get lost when driving to Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood of Boston. It is not even far from downtown. Yet the winding roads crossing each other at Fenway always look like a maze to me. I found a way to remember however, telling myself secretly as I drive in the [...]

Credit Photo: Irish Cousin Gary
I feel honored and came here to share the news. In fact, none of this would have happened without you, dear readers, everyone of you who generously cast your votes for my food blog in the latest Food Blog Awards 2006 Contest held on Well Fed. First I was honored to [...]

Fennel, Green Pea and Lobster Penne
I have cooked pasta like a risotto frequently by now, though every time is the same intense discovery and pleasure. Why did we not think about doing this long ago, I ask? Or maybe we did, in a place I did not live in or know about!
My first time trying [...]

I am very bad at making quick decisions. No, let me say this again. If given to choose Ten Favorites, I am like a lost soul in the desert. I do not know where to go, left, right, middle, maybe under? It is worth mentioning that I once got lost in the American Grand Canyon, [...]

Potato, Fennel, Pear and Fourme d’Ambert Timbale
There are expressions that stay with you for a long time whereas some others do not actually even live within you for a second. I am always puzzled by the way memory works in this way. Selective. You remember what “clicks” and makes sense to you, and easily forget [...]

Gratin aux fruits rouges

La gourmandise est un vilain défaut.
What a joke! Who really believes this? Gourmandise? A bad habit? Why would we be punished if we fall for sweet delicacies, delicious desserts that make you travel back to your mum’s table, when she would treat you with tasty simple fruit gratins, the very ones that [...]

Cardamom, Coriander Carrot Soup and Pistachios
Tel père, telle fille !
Like father, like daughter.
My dad and I share a love for a vegetable.
Les carottes
And it is not because we say in French that “Les carottes ça rend aimable” (Eating carrots makes people agreeable).

White Chocolate and Matcha Tea Marbled Cake
Every Saturday, besides washing the house floors, doing laundry or simply faire le ménage (doing housework), my mum used to bake a cake. It was a habit of hers. She did not necessarily vary what cake to bake too much, but did we really care? Not really. We were [...]

Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Cake, with its Chocolate-Ginger Mousse
I do not often make cakes like this one. Perhaps I should add that it is rather silly because as my grand-mother Marie used to often tell us — when asked about whether she enjoyed her meal — I can say, just like she did, that [...]

Butternut Squash, Potato and Arugula Tart
I had in mind to make a tart like this one since I ate a potato pizza at Cambridge 1 in Harvard Square. I love potato pizza, even more than the more traditional pizza with tomatoes. Whenever we have a meal at this small Harvard pizza place, I always get [...]

Inside the Calendar — Le contenu du calendrier
It all started with some comments which I received a while ago, when I published my Favorites 2006 Recipes. The idea was given by readers that I made a calendar. “Hmmm,”I thought, “this could be fun”. I mean, hanging some of my pictures on the wall, or even [...]

Meyer Lemon Tartlet
I am lucky. I managed to buy Meyer lemons right before the price was going to hit the ceiling! In fact I think that it already happened in view of what I witnessed last Friday at the grocery store. Combien ? (How much?) “Did I read the price tag right?”, I thought [...]

Lasagna, Ricotta and Spinach Filling, Walnuts and Arugula
“You are a spoiled brat!” P. told me as he walked into the kitchen.

“Moi ? Et pourquoi ça ?”, I responded as I swiftly turned to look at him, piquée au vif ! (annoyed by his comment)

“Look at all the kitchen gadgets that you have!” he added, with [...]

Vanilla Soufflé
You do not even need to do anything. It happens on its own. They fall indeed, whether you blow or not. What a short life soufflés have! They are only reaching a high point proudly for a few ephemeral seconds, not even taking the time to enjoy the climb before they go down again, [...]

Friends, P. and I
We have to rush to be able to get on the ferry on time. The 90 minute drive that separates Boston from Woods Hole seems much longer as we get stuck in traffic leaving the city. But then, as soon as we are on route 3, things move faster. We feel relieved [...]

Chocolate, Ginger and Cardamom Cannelés
There are foods that remind us of places and people. This is at least how it works for me. Whenever I think about cannelés, I cannot help but have my head filled with images of my times spent in New Zealand, when I lived there. Amongst the few houses where I [...]