I finally got some carrots from the garden this season. I have been making do with inferior store carrots. My first planting did not like the hot weather in the fall, but the second planting was finally ready to pull. It’s always a challenge to actually get carrots into the kitchen: they are very popular…
Tag: Local Food
OMELETTE AUX FINES HERBES
I often make omelets for breakfast, and I thought I knew quite well how to cook them. Following this recipe, however, the omelet turned out extra good. I was also glad to find a recipe that called for chervil, as it is still thriving well in my garden. This recipe is also in two parts…
RESTES DE POULET: A LA VIENNOISE
Leftover chicken is never as good as the first day it was cooked. The white meat dries out, and the skin is no longer crispy. I have a usual repertoire of chicken salad, chicken omelets, chicken and rice, and chicken soup in which I make use of the leftovers. But this recipe blew all of…
POT-AU-FEU (French Beef Stew)
What do you think of when you think of French cuisine? Most people will imagine rich cheeses, baguettes and wine. Steak Tartare or French onion soup. Or maybe teeny, tiny blobs of food on a huge plate, like French Laundry. This week’s recipe is THE classic French supper. This is the dish that Gervaise Macquart,…
COEUR DE BOEUF – Beef Heart Stew
Now that we have lots of beef, it will be easy to find recipes in La Cuisine to try. As R. Blondeau says, “Beef is the base of our cuisine; if the flavor and quality changes with the cuts of meat used, it remains nutritious and enjoyable.” Most of the beef from last week is…
Eating From The Earth
My garden is finally starting to look like something. I was so behind this year, and the cold weather was a long time coming. A lot of the brassicas really didn’t like the heat. They are finally looking happy. It’s a small garden this year, compared to other years, but we are getting so much…
OEUFS DUR AUX CREVETTES – Hard-Cooked Eggs With Shrimp
With Valentine’s day just behind us, all the stores seem to have seafood on sale. Ethan found some good shrimp for me. Shrimp was my favorite childhood food. Ethan was always crazy about salmon, but he feels funny if he eats shrimp. On the rare occasions we get seafood, it’s invariably salmon, not shrimp. So…
POTAGE AU POTIRON (Pumpkin Soup)
Here is the next French recipe from “La Cuisine,” featuring two things we’ve got from the farm: Pumpkins from last year’s summer garden (I still have six! The Seminoles keep so long!) and milk. According to Chef R. Blondeau (the author), soup must be served at the beginning of dinner if it is not part…
Soaking and Fermenting Cassava
I started growing cassava three years ago. My friends and fellow gardeners Paul and Ginny Campbell gave me the first stalk. Cassava is propagated that way – by saving the stalks to plant the next season. The trick is to store them until the spring without them drying out or molding. Some people wax the…
POULE AUX OIGNONS
I have an ambitious idea for this year – and I hope that you will also be excited about it. My grandmother was French – she was born in Nice, France, but immigrated to the US after meeting my grandfather while he was there as a US soldier in WW II. She passed away when…
First Attempt At Bacon
Inspired by the River Cottage Curing and Smoking Handbook, Ethan cured some bacon last week. It’s good, but not quite what we expected – it’s a little heavy on the juniper berries and bay leaf. Not bad at all, but I guess we’re used to Southern-style bacon. We’re going to try it again with…
Handmade Mayonnaise
As soon as Christmas was over, the chickens decided it was spring and started laying. We don’t usually get that many eggs so early in the year. They were such beautiful shades of pink and brown I had to get a picture. My little lettuce plants are finally just big enough to start getting salads. …
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 