Roselle is one of those garden plants that hardly anyone knows about. I first saw it growing at Karen Sherwood’s farm about ten years ago, and was impressed as much by its striking appearance as I was with the flavor of some homemade soda Karen had made with it. It is common and well-known in…
Tag: Real Food
SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE: Cheese Souffle
SOUFFLE AU FROMAGE (Direct translation) Melt a pat of fresh butter the size of an egg over a low fire; add a spoonful of flour, mix well, add half a cup of boiling milk, and stir until you get a smooth sauce. Continue stirring until the sauce sticks to the spoon. Remove from the…
SAUCE TOMATE
SAUCE TOMATE (direct translation) Wash six large tomatoes, cut them in pieces, put them into a pot with a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a head of garlic, and an onion cut into rounds. Cook over a low fire, without water. Watch over the pot, and stir the tomatoes minute by minute,…
GATEAU AU FROMAGE: Cheese Pie
There are so many eggs this time of the year, that any egg recipe is most welcome. I have my own version of cheese pie, or quiche – which usually includes whatever vegetables is particularly abundant at the time, and lots of home made goat cheese. Sometimes it has a crust and some times not…
HARICOTS VERTS A LA LYONNAISE: Lyon-style Green Beans
R. Blondeau details three ways that beans are prepared: as green beans before the seeds develop (haricots verts), or after the seeds develop as shelly beans (haricots ecosses, or husked beans), or as dry beans. Snap beans (called le mange-tout) are tender enough to be eaten whole, seeds and husks. I had two kinds of…
POMMES DE TERRE AU FROMAGE: Potatoes With Cheese
This is the last recipe featuring potatoes for the year – for our garden, at least, the season is over, and all the potatoes dug and eaten. The provisions have shifted to fresher, lighter, greener offerings – green beans, tomatoes, summer squash – and so the recipe testing here must vary accordingly. While we have…
POTAGE AUX QUENELLES: Soup With Dumplings
This recipe caught my eye as I was translating the soups section, because it sounded so unusual. Last week I made a large pot of rich beef broth, and had broth and marrow from the bones on hand – a perfect opportunity to try it out. Of course I wasn’t sure at all what it…
POMMES DE TERRE AU LAIT OU A LA CREME: Potatoes With Milk Or Cream
This recipe is very simple and made a good accompaniment to a more complex, saucy main dish I had made that same evening. The mild seasonings bring out the earthy flavor of the potatoes rather than cover it up. The potatoes are first boiled with their skins on – or as R. Blondeau puts it…
POTAGE AUX ORTIES: Nettle Soup
This IS a recipe, but I have a story to tell first: The summers between 5th grade and 7th grade I stayed with my great-aunt and great uncle in France. They lived in Nice, in the same tiny apartment that my grandmother grew up in. On the weekends we went and stayed at their chalet…
POMMES DE TERRE AU LARD: Potatoes With Bacon
Lard actually means bacon in French, rather than the rendered pig fat that the word means in English. This can be confusing sometimes. The word for lard in French is saindoux. With all the potatoes in the garden, and the bacon curing process finally finished, I decided to give this recipe a try. When…
Bacon
The bacon is finally finished curing and air-drying. It turned out quite good this time, and we got almost 20lbs of bacon from one pig, after curing. This means it was probably originally 25 or so pounds fresh. When bacon is cured traditionally, salt and a small amount of sugar, spices and seasonings are rubbed…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 