Slices of Pork Roast with Mangoes & Preserved Lemons
We’re talking pigs again. Last week I alerted you to the possibility that Wilbur, Babe and the Three Little Pigs can fly. Now it gets better. Did you know Piglet of Winnie the Pooh-fame sponsors an annual cookbook contest? I mean, how many Piglets do you know? It just may be that Piglet chooses the 16 most notable cookbooks of the year to face off competitively. This week I’m all about that idea and those 16 books.
Piglet, Winnie-the-Pooh’s best friend, is a fictional character from A. A. Milne’s books. Reprinted with permission of The Walt Disney Company
After better comes best. Here it is. This week’s French Friday’s with Dorie recipe choice is a delicious Pork Roast with Mangoes & Lychees. About those lychees. Not to be found in Aspen. I substituted with preserved lemons which may be tastier. This roast is a crowd pleaser, simply made and easily served.
The pork and added ingredients are ready to go into the oven for its final braise.
For my roast I bought a Hormel® Always Tender® Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin. Never fails me. I made this dish with no changes except the preserved lemons, thinly sliced. Use your meat thermometer because 140 degrees is the max for a moist, flavorful result. For dinner I added a baked sweet potato and Red Cabbage, Parsnip, Orange, Date Salad (later post). See the pork recipe below.
This week’s French Frieay’s recipe is ready to be served.
Most of you don’t realize on Friday, May 22, we Doristas (the affectionate name for our gang), will be cooking our last recipe from “Around My French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours.” We began in October 2010 with Gougères. I was late to the party, joining in February 2011.
My “Around My French Table” cookbook.
I won’t belabor our French Fridays journey now. But before we begin discussing 16 new cookbooks I want you to see a veteran. My AMFT cookbook has lived in California, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. If I’m traveling for more than one Friday, it’s joined me. If pages are torn from the book, it’s a good bet I traveled by air. The binding and contents parted company 37 recipes ago. Call it taped, stained, greasy, ripped and all mine.
In February of every year Food52, an online food blog ‘committed to helping people become better, smarter, happier cooks,’ sponsors The Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks. During a three week period the year’s 16 most notable cookbooks (in the opinion of Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet OR the Food52 staff) face off. No categories. No classifications. No groupings. Toss them together and, like cream, see what rises to the top.
The sixteen cookbooks chosen to compete in The 2015 Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks. Food52 Photo.
The competition is bracketed. Each face-off is individually evaluated by a judge, primarily food professionals. To my mind NPR’s host of All Things Considered, Melissa Block, and food writers Kate Christensen and Rosie Schaap were the crème-de-la-crème in this arena. The judges are apparently restricted by no criteria so creativity and sometimes, craziness reigns. Food blogger Adam Roberts’ critique (my personal opinion and, others, incidentally) was in poor taste and not amusing. Belittling someone? Uh, no. Take a look.
Of the 16 chosen 2015 cookbooks, I had recently purchased 4 but was not even aware of the others. That’s why I love this competition.
Of the 16 nominated cookbooks, I already owned four but was clueless about the others. The beauty of this quirky February Madness was meeting 12 other well-regarded cookbooks (an Amazon moment, perhaps). The judge’s evaluations, whether thumbs up or down, are a feast in words.
In the finals, it was David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen versus Brooks Headley’s Fancy Dessert. If you recall, I just cooked David’s cover recipe, Poulet À La Moutarde, and have already bookmarked 15 more recipes. It lost. Hey, David, in the words of Joe Jacobs, We wuz robbed.
Poulet À La Moutarde, a delicious mustard chicken from David Lebovitz’s “My Paris Kitchen” cookbook.
Check out Food52, an indisputable winner in the blogging world. Don’t miss next year’s Piglet Tournament. The competing 2015 cookbooks and Link are: Brooks Headley’s Fancy Desserts; A Kitchen in France; Flavor Flours; Baking Chez Moi (our own Dorie’s latest); Heritage; Prune; Huckleberry; Lunch at the Shop; Buvette: The Pleasure of Good Food; A Boat, A Whale & A Walrus; Smashing Plates; A Change of Appetite; Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes; My Paris Kitchen; Green Kitchen Travels; Olive, Lemons, and Za’atar.
PORK TOAST WITH MANGOES & LYCHEES by Dorie Greenspan
INGREDIENTS:
1 2- to 2½-pound pork loin roast, at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, split, germ removed, and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons honey
½–1 teaspoon piment d’Espelette or chili powder
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin strips
10 lychees, peeled and pitted if fresh, drained if canned ( To substitute preserved lemons, go here.)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Pat the roast dry with paper towels. Place a Dutch oven or other heavy oven-going casserole over medium-high heat and pour in 1 tablespoon of the oil. When it’s hot, put the pork fat side down in the pot and cook for a couple of minutes, until the fat is browned, then turn it over and brown the other side. Transfer the roast to a plate, season with salt and pepper, and discard the oil.
3. Return the pot to the stove, this time over low heat, and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. When it’s warm, toss in the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Turn up the heat and pour in the vinegar — stand back, the scent of hot vinegar is very strong. When the vinegar has almost evaporated, a matter of a minute or two, pour in the wine. Let the wine bubble for 30 seconds or so, then add the soy, lime juice, and honey. Bring to a boil, stir in the piment d’Espelette or chili powder, add the bay leaf, thyme, mango, and lychees, and give the pot another minute at the boil.
4. Add the roast fat side up, baste with the sauce, cover the casserole, and slide it into the oven. Allow the roast to braise gently for 30 minutes, then check its temperature: you’re looking for it to measure 140 degrees F at its center on an instant-read thermometer. The roast is likely to need a total of 40 to 50 minutes in the oven, but it’s important to check early, since pork varies.
5. Pull the pot from the oven, transfer the roast to a cutting board, cover it lightly with a foil tent, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, during which time it will continue to cook (its temperature will probably rise another 5 degrees or so).
6. While the roast is resting, taste the sauce. If you’d like to concentrate the flavors even more, boil it for a couple of minutes. Don’t forget to check for salt and pepper.
7. Slice the roast, which makes 6 to 8 ample servings, and add the sauce.
French Fridays is an international group of bloggers cooking their way throughAround my French Table. Thanks, Cher, The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler…, for introducing me to The Piglet three years ago.
Eight years ago, about this time, our daughter, Melissa, and her family were spending Easter with Michael and me at our home in Nevada. I was in a state of frazzle. The ramifications of Michael’s illness and the resulting responsibilities were overwhelming me. I’d recently had another meeting with our health care consultant who told me things were only going to get worse, never better. And our new phones, among other things in the house, didn’t work. It was a difficult holiday.
Orange-Almond Cream Tart, my French Firday’s with Dorie recipe choice this week
The following week, maybe Wednesday, Melissa called to chat. A few minutes into the call she casually said, “Mom, Stephen and I were just thinking…..”
(Whoa. Click into high alert. Whenever my son-in-law’s name is evoked, it’s not going to be good.)
“maybe it’s time you and Michael consider moving into a condo where everything is easier.”
As I recall the resulting conversation was very short. If my recollection is right, I just might have ended it with “When pigs fly.”
Today, after dispensing with a lifetime of belongings and a houseful of furniture, I just completed my second year of living in a 940-square foot condo where the phones always work and my chores are few. And, every so often I look up to see Wilbur, Babe and the Three Little Pigs passing by overhead. That’s the reason my French Friday’s with Dorie recipe this week is this scrumptious Orange-Almond Cream Tart. Here’s the lowdown on this sweet celebratory dessert and the special crew at The Gant who shared it.
The Front Office staff at The Gant who pronounced the Orange-Almond Cream Tart as fabulous and delicious. I’m going with that.
Americans bake fruit pies. The French prefer fruit tarts. Pate sablée (sweet dough) and almond cream are two of the three essential tart parts. Oranges are an unexpected twist but a flavorful one. Tarts are exquisite desserts often dismissed by us. I urge you to master the dough and the cream, quite easy tasks, then pick a fruit of your choosing. You’ll be pleased by the result. Although I’ve included the recipes below, here are four extra tips:
The Orange-Almond Cream Tart, ready for the oven..
1. Both the Pate Sablée and Almond Cream can be made days ahead.
2. If your tart crust starts to brown too much, cover it with tin foil.
3. Although the oranges need to be peeled and separated into segments, remember that the almond cream, when baked, covers up many sins!
4. Refer to my Post, https://www.lightsonbrightnobrakes.com/french-fridays-tart/, It’s All About the Tart, to see other ways to use sweet dough, almond cream and fruit (apples, pears, cherries, figs, peaches, nectarines, apricots, or plums) to make wonderful desserts.
This Pear-Almond Cream Tart is made with the same crust, filling but different fruit.
I returned home this week after a three month absence. If you recall, I live at The Gant, a 143-condo resort complex in downtown Aspen offering upscale lodging opportunities to tourists. Each condo is individually owned but managed by a staff of 100.
I returned home in time to join my dear friend, Luky, at the Aspen Mountain Club, where she is the Membership Director, for a delicious Easter Brunch.
Never did I believe this living situation would be such a fortunate stroke of serendipity. I arrived with more memories than baggage to live in the smallest spaces of my life. I can usually grow where I’m planted but even to me, this was a stretch. However, I soon discovered if I had visions of self-pity, licking my wounds or grieving, I’d picked the wrong address.
Tuesday morning I joined the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies Birdwalk. At our North Star Preserve we observed a Heron Rookery with 5 active nests. This Rookery , located in conifers, is the highest in Colorado.
The Gant staff is all about great service and providing comfort. “Are you having a good day, Mrs. Hirsch?” I’d be asked. “Do you need anything?”“Mrs. Hirsch, How’s your day going?” Honestly, I almost felt obligated to just get out there and, doggone it, not return until I’d had a good day.
Our nature group is beginning a study of Colorado water issues this month. My colleague, Donna, and her husband, Bernie, invited me and well-respected Colorado journalist Brent Gardner- Smith and his wife, Ann to dinner. Brent is a recognized authority on local water issues. We had questions. Perhaps, too many.
As you might suspect, I am very independent, closely guarding my privacy, and, of course, they all have jobs to perform. During the past two years we’ve settled into an easy and compatible relationship in which I’ve thrived. The goodwill of 100 who always have your back is something to treasure. I know that for sure.
Since the road to the Pass is closed, my friend and neighbor, Ann, and I hiked up towards Independence Pass this morning.
As these photos show, my returning to Aspen has been wonderful. But, sadly, I also returned home to grieve with my special friend, Karen, who unexpectedly lost her husband in February. Jim, newly retired from an unblemished career flying jumbo birds internationally, was my friend and one of this blog’s staunchest supporters. From the day I wrote my first French Fridays with Dorie Post, he called me Dorie. I knew he never understood the concept of FFWD nor had heard of Dorie Greenspan but to one and all, I was Dorie. If it was my project, he’d be a booster. “How ‘bout dinner tonight, Dorie?” or “Dorie,” he’d ask, “What’s your recipe this week?”
Before I left for my Cambria winter the three of us drove to Denver to see the Broadway production of “Kinky Boots.” For dinner, after meticulous online research, he promised he had found ‘the perfect tiny French bistro for Karen and Dorie.’ The bistro was indeed très magnifique and the evening, magical. No one dreamed it would be our last. Too young. So missed. Fly High, my friend.
This White-breasted Nuthatch lives in the cottonwood near my balconey.
Orange-Almond Tart by Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table
INGREDIENTS:
1 recipe Pate Sablée by Dorie Greenspan (Sweet Tart Dough), partially baked and cooked
4 navel or other meaty oranges
Almond Cream
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) sweet butter at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar 3/4 cup almond flour
2 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 large egg
2 tsp. dark rum or 1 tsp. top-quality vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
To prepare the oranges: Using a sharp knife (I use a chef’s knife), cut a thin slice off the top and bottom of each orange so it can stand upright. Working from top to bottom and following the curve of the fruit, use the knife to remove the peel in wide bands, cutting down to the fruit. You want to expose the juicy fruit, so take the thinnest little bit of fruit away with each strip of peel. Carefully run the knife down the connective membranes to release the orange segments one by one. Place the segments between a triple layer of paper towels and let them dry for at least 1 hour, or for several hours, or even overnight. If you have the chance and the towels seem saturated, change them.
To make the Almond Cream: Put the butter and sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture is smooth and satiny. Add the almond flour and process until well blended. Add the all-purpose flour and cornstarch, and process, then add the egg. Process for about 15 seconds more, or until the almond cream is homogenous. Add the rum or vanilla and process just to blend. (If you prefer, you can make the cream in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a bowl with a rubber spatula. In either case, add the ingredients in the same order.) You can use the almond cream immediately or scrape it into a container and refrigerate it until firm, about 2 hours. It’s better if you can allow the cream to chill, but it’s not imperative. (The cream can be refrigerated, tightly covered, for up to 3 days.)
To bake: When you’re ready to bake, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the tart shell on it. Stir the almond cream, then turn it into the crust, smoothing the top. Arrange the orange slices in a decorative pattern over the top. Don’t cover every bit of cream — it will bubble and rise as it bakes, and it’s nice to leave space for it to come up around the fruit.
Bake the tart for 50 or 60 minutes, or until the cream has risen and turned golden brown. If you slip a knife into the cream, it should come out clean. Transfer the tart to a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. Right before serving, dust the tart with confectioners’ sugar and enjoy!
French Fridays with Dorie is an international group of food bloggers cooking the book, Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan.
As you’re reading today’s post, I am winding my way home – leaving California and driving through Nevada, Arizona and Utah before reaching the Centennial State. It’s a gorgeous drive albeit 1,000 miles, giving me time to consider this memorable winter (and listen to several books-on-tape). Wednesday evening I walked over to Moonstone Beach to watch my last sunset, made even more intoxicating by a bottle of wine and this week’s FFWD recipe choice, Sweet & Spicy Cocktail Nuts.
Sweet & Spicy Nuts
Am I the only person on the planet who does not do appetizers? When having guests for dinner, an entrée, salad, sides and dessert is manageable. Adding apps to the mix puts me over the edge. Let’s talk rationale. When I throw my heart and soul into preparing a meal, why encourage guests to fill their bellies before sitting at the table? Any votes for my logic?
What I do really, really well are Nibbles. Those also-rans who hang out in small bowls on your tables: Herbed Olives or Cheez-it-ish Crackers or Mustard Bâtons and these addictive Sweet & Spicy Cocktail Nuts. I’ve linked to those recipes and include the nuts recipe below.
As I leave the Central Coast, here are my last takes on this gorgeous place.
1.BEST SUNSET – EIGHTY-ONE Winners. If it’s spectacular, gasp-worthy…and, free, I’m in. I caught 81 Pacific sunsets, compliments of Mother Nature, every one a stunner and breathtaking.
2.BEST WORST – This is what DROUGHT looks like. I savored each glorious, sunny day at the expense of California’s well-being. According to the World Bank, the Golden State ranks as the eighth largest economy in the world but the economic ramifications of having no water are huge.
3.BEST PARENTING – Let’s hear it for MAMA OTTERS. There are about 2,800 to 2,900 southern sea otters living in Cali’s coastal waters. Over the winter in Morro Bay I saw numerous mothers with pups. Female sea otters expend enormous amounts of energy on pup-rearing. What does Dad do? Hmmm
4. BEST FIELD TRIP – Spending a day at The MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM is a gift and an educational thrill. Located on the site of a former sardine cannery on Monterey’s famed Cannery Row, it’s marine life presented well and honorably. For years I have referred to their Seafood Watch® program for recommendations in choosing seafood caught or farmed in environmental-friendly ways.
5. BEST SUGAR SHAME – Driving on the Pacific Coast Highway en route to the aquarium, I erred and programmed my GPS destination to 47540 CA-1, the address of BIG SUR BAKERY. How did that happen?
Clara, waiting patiently for the crowd to quiet down before beginning her presentation.
6.BEST “MOONSTONE” MOMENT – Although living across from Cambria’s Moonstone Beach, I was clueless about moonstones. Knowing they were pearly white semiprecious stones consisting of alkali feldspar did not help me find any on their namesake beach. Clara, my granddaughter, is a rock hound and card-carrying member of the Inyo County Gem & Mineral Society. During a winter visit, her mother had asked her to give us a presentation on moonstones. She did. We hit the beaches the next afternoon. And, cheers to Ms. Clara, found some of those tiny beauties.
My first Moonstones
7. BEST (and, my favorites) WINERIES – The caveat here is I am not a wine connoisseur. If you visit the Paso Robles area, these are wineries worth visiting, good beginnings. So many others, so little time. In no particular order: Halter Ranch Vineyard, Grey Wolf Cellars, Tablas Creek Vineyard, Guyomar Wine Cellars, Adelaida Cellars and Opolo Vineyards.
8. BEST “TAKE ME HOME” – Linn’s of Cambria, a fine restaurant, cafe and gift store, is Olallieberry (pronounced oh-la-leh) heaven. A hybrid of a raspberry and a blackberry, “Olallie” is the Chinook Native American word for berry. Preserves. Jams. Vinaigrettes, Pies. Cookies. Vinegars. Sauces. Unique to Linn’s.
9. BEST “WHERE WERE U IN 1955” MEMORIAL
10.BEST “AHA” MOMENT – This blog began as an effort to help rebuild my Life again after too many years of sadness and grief. Writing, what I do best, became the tool to tell my story. Food, its anchor. Now, 4 years, 200 Posts and more readers than I ever imagined later, let’s call that job DONE. Channeling Eliza Doolittle, ‘I think I’ve got it.’ (Big Sigh. Deep breath. AHA.) After seriously considering dimming these Lights, I decided the future, depending upon good health, good luck and my making wise but adventurous choices, may still be worth sharing. Hopefully you’ll continue to support my ridiculous efforts to entertain, inspire and virtually feed you. A cautionary note, if I lose you, my loyal readers, I might go into relapse. Think about that.
Mama Otter, loving her Pup.
SWEET AND SPICY COCKTAIL NUTS BY Dorie Greenspan
Ample Nibbles for Six
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch cayenne
1 large egg white
2 cups nuts, whole or halves, but not small pieces, such as almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, or a mix
DIRECTIONS
1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Spray a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray/line it with a silicone baking mat/or use parchment paper.
2. Mix the sugar and spices together in a small bowl. Beat the egg white lightly with a fork in a larger bowl – you’re not making a meringue, just breaking up the white so that it’s liquid. Toss in the nuts. With a rubber spatula or your hands, stir to coat them with egg white. Then add the sugar-and-spice mixture and continue to stir so that the nuts are evenly covered.
3. Lift the nuts from the bowl, a small handful at a time, letting the excess egg white drip back into the bowl. Lay them on the baking sheet, separating them to lay flat. (You can run the dipped nuts against the side of the bowl to de-excess them also.) Discard whatever sugar-egg mix is left in the bowl.
4. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the nuts are browned and the coating is dry. Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the nuts to another baking sheet, a cutting board or a piece of parchment paper, break them apart, and let them cool completely. The nuts crisp as they cool.
Serving: These are good with everything from cider and beer to Champagne.
Storing: Kept covered in a dry place, the nuts will hold for about 5 days at room temperature.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international group of bloggers who are cooking their way through Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan
If weeks had titles, the past one would be called Best Day Ever Week. Do you experience those? Each day gets better and better. Not so often? I get that. Me, too. I have droughts. So when seven great days in a row land in your lap, it’s okay to whoop and holler and buy a new shade of lipstick. I’m all over coral-poppy tones this Spring/Summer.
We’re up and out to Vintage Paso: a celebration of the ‘Zins and Wild Wines of Paso Robles.’
The highlight of a week filled with a pontoon boat harbor cruise on Morro Bay, daily hikes and birding, exploring Cal Poly, the public university in nearby San Luis Obispo, and walking to San Simeon, was Vintage Paso. It’s a weekend when 140 local wineries open their gates to celebrate ‘Zinfandel and the other Wild Wines of Paso Robles.‘ Like last year, my friends from southern California, John and Susan Lester, who blog at Create Amazing Meals, were joining me. If you recall, the Lesters and I connected three years ago through French Fridays with Dorie.
Everyone has their station and duties. I admit it. John did the heavy lifting for this meal.
Carottes Râpées, a recipe of Dorie Greenspan’s, is finished and table-ready.
I visited them in February when we not only went to the Channel Islands but also made Saturday night’s meal together. Admittedly, I plead guilty to couple envy as I watched them navigate through their kitchen chores. More fun than cooking alone, I assure you. Hey, let’s do that again. Saturday night dinner at chez Hirsch. Susan and John were game. This time it was my turn to plan the menu, get the ingredients on board, set the table and organize the evening.
Step Aside, David Lebovitz.
We forced ourselves to drink more wine. This is a Mourvedre-based dry rosé called Dianthus 2014 by Tablas Creek Vineyard.
Although this is a weekend told more beautifully through pictures, you first need the menu. Last April I received my preordered copy of David Lebovitz’s “My Paris Kitchen.” Like so many others, it occupied my kitchen cookbook shelf of neglect. So I packed it for my winter in Cambria. When I recently read that author Kate Christensen called Lebovitz’s 100 recipes ‘swoon-and-drool-worthy.’ I decided it was time to give that book some food love.
Dinnertime.
Dessert: Mrs. Lester’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. She shared the recipe with me. I’ll share it with you.
That’s why we cooked-the-cover, Poulet à la Moutarde, chicken with mustard. To accompany this magnificent one-pan entrée, we made Dorie’s classic Carottes Râpées, a grated carrot salad tossed with raisins and walnuts. (Both recipes are printed below.) We’ll credit the tasty pommes frites and warm French baguettes to Monsieur Trader Joe. During our day’s wineries journey we chose a Tablas Creek French-style Rosé. John, the expert on such matters, ‘thought its flavor would hold up against the mustard background flavor of the sauce as well as the smoked bacon.’ (He was right.) For the perfect dessert Susan surprised this cookie monster with her famous chocolate chip cookies.
The verdict? We swooned. We drooled. We relished each unbelievably tender and flavorful morsel. The Carottes Râpées, a perfect choice. The pommes frites, of course. Warm baguette slices soaked with sauce, messy. The chocolate chip cookies, as delicious as they look. We were very pleased with ourselves, having pulled off this ambitious evening meal. (Remembering we’d been tasting wine all day.) A merci mille fois to the talented Dorie Greenspan and David Lebovitz who helped make it happen.
On our Sunday morning antiquing junket, I scored a food styling and entertaining prop, an old copper escargot/egg poaching pan. Susan and John found antique glassware.
Saying our goodbyes until next Winter.
POULET à la MOUTARDE by David Lebovitz, My Paris Kitchen
4-8 Servings
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
8 pieces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and legs
1 cup diced smoked thick-cut bacon
1 small onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (may substitute 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme)
Olive oil (optional)
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon mustard seeds or grainy mustard
2 to 3 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream
Warm water (optional)
Finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix 1/2 cup of the Dijon mustard in a bowl with the paprika, a few generous grinds of pepper and the salt. Toss the chicken pieces in the mustard mixture, lifting the skin and rubbing some of the mixture underneath.
2. Heat a large, wide skillet with a cover, or a Dutch oven, over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until it is cooked through and just starting to brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon pieces from the pan and drain on paper towels. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.
3. Add the onion and stir to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, until the onion is softened and mostly translucent. Stir in the thyme; cook for a few minutes, until fragrant, then scrape the cooked onion into a large bowl.
4. Add a little olive oil to the pan, if necessary. Place the chicken pieces in the pan in a single layer. If they don’t fit, work in two batches. Cook over medium-high heat, ,browning them well on one side. Flip them over and brown them on the other side. Cook until nicely browned, could be 20 minutes or so.
5. Transfer the chicken to the bowl with the onion. Add the wine to the hot pan. Use a sturdy, flat utensil to dislodge any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Return ALL the chicken pieces to the pan along with the onion mixture and bacon. Cover and cook over low to medium heat turning the chicken pieces over a few times during cooking, about 15 minutes. To check for doneness, insert the sharp tip of a knife into the meat next to the thigh bone; if the meat is still pink, cook for a few more minutes.
6. When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, the mustard seeds and the crème fraîche or heavy cream to form a sauce. If it seems too thick, you can thin it with a little warm water. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the top. Serve.
CAROTTES RÂPÉES by Dorie Greenspan, Around My French Table
6 Servings
1 pound carrots, peeled and trimmed
2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 Tablespoon honey 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup of mild oil, canola or grapeseed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Moist, plump currants or raisins Coarsely chopped walnuts Chopped fresh parsley,
1. Grate the carrots, using a box grater or food processor. Drain any excess moisture from the grated carrots.
2. In a small jar or processor or bowl and whisk, mix the mustard, honey, cider vinegar and oil together. Season with salt and pepper. Whir or shake until blended into a thick, smooth vinaigrette.
3. Toss the carrots with currants or raisins and nuts.
4. Just before serving, pour on the dressing and toss well. Adjust the salt and pepper, if needed. Add the parsley.
In the spirit of full disclosure I’m admitting to List Addiction. My favorites are Self-improvement Lists like How To Strengthen Your Core: 8 Steps; Ten Tricks to Look 7 Years Younger or 9 Ways to Improve Your Chances of Retiring by 55. There are even audiobooks of Lists, 100 Ways to Simplify Your Life. I usually keep all that great advice to myself but this week I discovered a List that must be shared: Six Mini-habits That Can Drastically Change Your Life by blogger Rizwan Aseem.
I used beef instead of veal for this week’s French Friday’s recipe, Beef Marengo.
Before I drastically change lives, however, I am going to feed you. This week’s French Fridays recipe is Veal Marengo, a dish created in 1800 by Napoleon Bonaparte’s chef to honor his boss’ success at the Battle of Marengo. For those of you unfamiliar with that battle, the French beat the Austrians on Italian soil. That was a very big deal, deserving of a celebratory entrée and commemorated by Puccini’s three-act opera, Tosca
Unlike Napoleon, I don’t like veal. I substituted beef. If you prefer chicken, that works wonderfully also. Supposedly, Marengo, an upscaled version of stew, was created with food supplies available on the battlefield… meat, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms and white wine. Someone found a few potatoes and a French classic which has endured for over 200 years was born.
The top-of-the-stove duties are completed and the stew is ready for the oven.
Veal (Beef, Chicken) Marengo, with a salad and crusty bread, is an ample and adaptable meal. I had freshly harvested leeks in my fridge so substituted them for onions. After refreshing a package of exotic mushrooms, I used them instead of ordinary ones. What makes this recipe so useful is its adaptability. Any vegetable you have in the fridge will work with your choice of meat, onions, tomatoes and wine. You will find the recipe, have fun with it, here.
Dorie suggests putting parchment paper between the pan and the lid to keep the liquids from evaporating. A new technique that worked.
Now back to drastically changing your life. The best thing about this List is you’re probably doing half of them already. To my thinking, that’s instant success. Your self-esteem is rising rapidly. You’re halfway home.
Habit #1:Make your bed shortly after you wake up in the morning.
You’ve finished a daily task immediately, leaving a neat, tidy bed to return to at night. When you return home in the evening, you’re weary. Maybe some efforts haven’t gone your way. The end of the day not only brings relief but also an inviting, comfortable bed.
Habit #2:Put things back where you’ve found them.
When you return things to their proper places you drastically clear clutter in your life. What is more important, when you need them again, they will be there.
Habit #3:Pick up clutter before you go to sleep at night.
Practice #2 so this habit will not swallow up your time. If you wake up to messy and cluttered, you wake up grumpy. You just do.
Last week-end was cold and blustery. It was perfect for my Beef Marengo menu but not so nice for the Great Egret.
Habit #4:Dress slightly better than the occasion calls for.
My daughter, Melissa, was once asked for the best advice her mother ever gave her. She had two answers. “The advice I now most appreciate from my mother,” Melissa said, “I hated while growing up. My mother insisted upon handwritten, timely thank-you notes. Her philosophy was: if someone did something nice for you, they needed to be thanked in writing, appreciating not only the gift, but the giver, and helping me realize how lucky I was to have both.”
The second piece of advice I gave her was when she left the house, wherever she was going, to look nice, to be presentable, showing respect. “My mother’s reasoning,” she said, “was if you’re dressed for the part, whatever it may be, you walk out the front door, confident, not having to think or worry about it.”
Habit #5: Be consistently enthusiastic and optimistic.
“You won’t even notice this,” Aseem writes, “but you’ll wake up happier, and with more energy and a skip in your step.”
Habit #6:Plan your day on a post-it note.
This is my favorite, unchartered territory for me. I’m giving it a month
Here’s how the post-it technique works. Whatever projects you have to do tomorrow, choose only the five that will make the most impact on your professional and personal life. Everything else goes on the back burner, in the drawer, forgotten for another day. Write them on a post-it. Then, post it. Check them off as you knock them off. At the end of the day, mission accomplished. Your mind, on most days, will no longer need to focus on the things you didn’t get done.
These shorebirds are hunkering down on a dark and gloomy Sunday.
My report card is #1, #4, #5, A-Plus. #2 and #3, C to C-. I’m not a slob but I plead guilty to messy. If I followed #2, I would not need 10 pair of glasses scattered around my house. If I followed #3, I would not need to devote three hours tomorrow morning to picking up my house. Right now, as I’m heating up Beef Marengo for tonight’s dinner, I’m thinking about tomorrow’s first post-it. And also wanting to remind you that French Fridays with Dorie is an international group of food bloggers who are cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table cookbook. You can visit the FFWD site here.
Pissaladière, my French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice this week.
Last Tuesday evening my Aspen friend, Luky, telephoned to check in and check up on me. As usual, we chitter-chattered, catching up on her news and mine. It was all good until she asked, “So, what did you do today?”
“I spent the afternoon at the cemetery,” I replied. “Birding.”
Silence. Thirty seconds of dead silence.
“You spent all afternoon alone at the cemetery?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Birding,” she stated emphatically.
I knew where she was headed with this, Readers, so I started to laugh. Luky did not.
“Mary,” she said, gravely.”This is not good. Not good at all. I’m serious. You are alone way too much.”
“I had fun, Luky,” I insisted. “Really I did.”
That remark just added fuel to the fire although she was somewhat amused. “You pack your bags right now,” she ordered, “and come home. You need to come home.”
The Community of Cambria, California’s cemetery, established in 1870.
Realizing she was on a mission – I’ve know this woman for almost thirty years – we worked out a compromise. Since I’d be leaving Cambria in 3 weeks anyway, I would stay only if we talked frequently. I suggested sending daily e-mails but that was a No Go. Luky and I cut a deal. Telephone calls and no more cemeteries.
This cemetery resident, a Northern Flicker, is hiding from me.
We’ll return to the subject of cemeteries later but that conversation put a big smile on my face yesterday when I was making Pissaladière, my French Fridays recipe choice this week. Pissaladière, with its filling of caramelized onions, anchovies, garlic and black niçoise olives, is the Côte d’Azur’s version of pizza. The difference is in its rectangular shape, salty, intense flavor, and thinness of crust. Pissaladière is a French classic and the quintessential street food in Nice.
Six onions, quite easily thinly sliced with an Oxo hand-held Mandoline.
I’m not unfamiliar with Pissaladière and have enjoyed it both here and in France. However, I’ve never made it myself. To my mind, it seemed complicated. I’m delighted, after following Dorie’s recipe in “Around My French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours,” to realize it is not. My first effort worked.
The caramelized onions look just about right.
Serve it hot, warm or at room temperature. For breakfast this morning, I tried the cold version. Still tasty. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner, with salad. A meal. My preference is to feature it as a stand-alone appetizer. Small squares. Hand food. Truthfully, I’ve always thought Pissaladière to be very la de da.
Oven-ready
The onion mixture can be caramelized a day ahead and refrigerated. For the crust, make the same favorite dough recipe you use for savory tarts or pizzas. Frazzled and short on time? Grab your sunglasses and slink into your favorite grocery store to buy ready-made fresh pizza dough. The secret is to stretch or roll the dough until it’s about 10 x 14 inches and very, very thin. You will find Dorie’s recipe for her delicious filling below.
Add the anchovies and olives for the last 5 minutes of cooking time.
Now let’s return to Luky and our cemetery discussion. Who even thinks about cemeteries until you’re forced into a situation where you must? But Tuesday night, before I fell asleep, I found myself making a mental list of some cemeteries I’ve visited. My List gave me pause.
Molière’s tomb at the Père Lachaise Cemetery
First and foremost, I’ve visited Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia where Presidents John F. Kennedy and President William Howard Taft are buried. More than 400,000 others, so many recognizable notables, are buried there. We’ve been to Pearl Harbor where the USS Arizona is an active U.S. military cemetery. After going to Normandy one never forgets Cimetière américain de Normandie in Colleville-sur-Mer, France.
Singer Edith Piaf’s gravesite in the Pere Lachaise cemetery
Then, there’s the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, site of three WWI memorials and resting place of many French cultural icons. If you’ve visited New Orleans, you’ve undoubtedly seen the elaborate stone crypts and mausoleums that are built above ground. I’ve just recently visited the presidential libraries where Presidents Reagan, Nixon, Eisenhower and Truman are buried.
Kit Carson’s Tombstone in Taos
Closer to home, Michael and I once spent the day in Leadville, Colorado, celebrating the restoration of the Hebrew Cemetery established there in 1880. Last year, in Taos, I found the frontiersman Kit Carson’s tombstone. North of Taos are the deteriorating grave sites of the Pueblo de Taos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Doc Holiday, gambler, rogue and Wyatt Earp’s pal is buried at Pioneer Cemetery in nearby Glenwood Springs. Donna Chase and I both noticed his tombstone while, uh, on an Audubon birding field trip.
The Pueblo de Taos graveyard
I am fortunate to live one block from Ute Cemetery, Aspen’s oldest graveyard established around 1880. On the National List of Historic Places, it’s been completely restored in a remarkably wild and abandoned-looking manner. There are paths winding through the 5-acres that hold 200 marked and unmarked graves. Every so often, I grab my coffee cup and walk through the cemetery, enjoying its silence, wildflowers and imagining the lives these early settlers and Civil War veterans lived.
Doc Holiday’s tombstone in Glenwood Springs, Colorado
You have your own thoughts and experiences dealing with a subject not often discussed. Thank you for allowing me to share mine. Now let me share Dorie’s recipe for Pissaladière which, hopefully, you will want to share with your friends.
Remembering Civil War veterans at Ute Cemetery in Aspen
PISSALADIÈRE by Dorie Greenspan
Makes 6 servings
INGREDIENTS for ONION TOPPING
2 Tbs. olive oil
6 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (I used a mandoline.)
1 thyme sprig
1 bay leaf
About 12 good-quality anchovies packed in oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
About 12 Niçoise olives, pitted or not
DIRECTIONS
1. Pour the olive oil into a large skillet and warm it over low heat. Toss in the onions, thyme, and bay leaf, stirring to coat everything with oil, then cook, stirring often, until the onions are translucent, soft, and golden, about 45 minutes to an hour, maybe more—this isn’t a job you should rush.
2. While the onions are cooking, chop 6 of the anchovies. When the onions are cooked, pull the pan from the heat, stir in the anchovies, which will dissolve into the onions. Season lightly with sea salt and generously with pepper.
3. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450°F.
4. Line a large baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
5. Roll the dough out on a floured surface until it is about 10 x 14 inches. The exact size of the rectangle isn’t really important—what you’re going for is thinness. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet and top it with the onion mixture, leaving a scant inch of dough around the edges bare.
6. Bake the Pissaladière for about 20 minutes, or until the dough is golden. Pull the pan from the oven, decorate the top with the olives and remaining anchovies, and bake the Pissaladière for 5 minutes more, just to warm the new additions. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Make Ahead Tips
The onions can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Once made, the Pissaladière can be kept at room temperature for a few hours.
French Fridays with Dorie is an international group of food bloggers who are cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around My French Table cookbook. You can visit the FFWD site here.
