It's the time of year when we find heaps of red fruit on the marketplace. Sigh. My favorite time of the year.
Don't miss it. It doesn't last long. You'll have plenty of time to use frozen ones in muffins and pies but right now, eat them fresh and why not use them in a salad?
Salad she says, uh? Who eats salad, anyway?
Well, I do. Not the boring type though. No, Ma'am! But if you add fruit to it, I'm all for it.
Balckberries add taste and color and go really well with cheese.
Something different. Something that is neither American nor French. Ah! For once, I'm taking you to Italy.
I went to the local store the other day while on vacation in Southern France and found a box of very enticing cookies. They were imported and bore the name of a cookie bite we do have in France but comes from Corsica and in a very different shape. Those were shaped in a flower pattern and had very simple ingredients - flour, butter, sugar, egg yolk and lemon. You can't make it simpler. And yet, they looked so delicate, they could have been served in a tea party at Downton Abbey.
Ligurie Canestrelli
I tasted them. Loved them. Decided I needed the recipe. Like, really needed it! You know the feeling, I'm sure ;)
So I browsed the internet. Found a few recipes in Italian. Had a splitting headache by the time I was done with them (took Spanish in class and that was a LONG time ago!). I finally found a recipe on a French blog. Here it is in English!
If you don't have a flower-shaped mold like I was lucky to find after a few hours in my local stores, just use another shape. It will taste as lovely and is so worth the try.
Oh and because I love stories and read recipes like they were novels, the name comes from canestro, which means basket. Ligurie is the region where they originate. I know - I'm a nerd!
For once, not a sugary treat but a solution for a very busy night. Or for when you have a teenager at home who never has enough and needs a snack asap. (Yes, it happens a lot in my house these days!)
A walk to Pier 39 in San Francisco last summer took me to a nice little joint that served crab cakes and clam chowder round the clock. Crab cakes are homey food you can make on a busy week night in 20 mn, aioli included.
I browsed lots of recipes and this is kind of a hodgepodge of what I found, plus what I remember from my foray into a few restaurants round the Bay (yes, I'm obsessed with crab cakes and seafood. Guilty of all charges).
My grandmother used to tell me how bakeries would use leftover bread, croissants and fruit cakes to make pudding. I really don't see what's wrong with that! I love pudding and I love it when I have leftover bread or cake to make it. What triggered my craving this time was a cinnamon swirl and raisin bread that wasn't up to my expectations. I don't throw food away easily. I usually reuse it differently. The result was stunning for both versions.
I made this because I saw a recipe for black forest cake and wanted something that took to long to make. What can I say? It was past noon. I was hungry... I'm sure it happened to you too ;) I love trifle. They're like mugcakes. Totally apt at satisfying your immediate craving and so small you won't even feel guilty.
Bonne Maman is one of the best cookie brands in France. They first specialized in jam and then yoghurt and have recently started making cookies. They're good quality and offer interesting options to the more conventional – and let's be frank – boring pastry bites you can find in French supermarkets. My favorite cookie is a sablé – a sort of shortbread with poppy and sesame seeds. Here's its recipe. You can use it for snacks with coffee or tea. They're easy to carry in a lunch box and can be used to make a blueberry trifle (see recipe on my blog).
I first made this because I had leftover spinach leaves and hate to waste. Boy! That was a great idea. It's easy to make and can be served for dinner or for appetizers. Add pretzel sticks and you're in heaven! The recipe is very simple and needs no measuring.
Bridging the gap between California and France, welcome to my French-American cookbook and the best of both food cultures.
Un pied en Californie, un autre en France, voici le blog d'une accro à la culture culinaire américaine et française.
