I love cheesecake , I mean who doesn't? Its right up there with creme brulee !! So when Frederic and I were in the USA in October I took him to The Cheescake Factory in fact it was the first thing we did after picking up the rental car ! He fell in love at first bite with cheesecake...of course. When we came back to France I promised to make him some.Prior to coming to France I rarely made desserts, but I married a man with a wicked sweet tooth so I've been making cakes and cupcakes and custards and creme brulee of course! Much to my surprise there is no such thing as cream cheese in France. I know that is hard to believe considering they have enough different kinds of cheese here that you could eat a different cheese every day for a year and never repeat a selection. So the hunt was on for a replacement for cream cheese. Now I know you can make cheesecake with Ricotta as well, but I wanted to find a useable substitute for cream cheese. We made a little trip to Portsmouth UK early in December and of course stopped into a grocery store. I'm one of those people who has to go to the grocery store no matter where I am, just to see what they have going on in the store. Sure enough there was Philadelphia cream cheese. I immediately bought 5 containers and some molasses sugar. I have no idea what molasses sugar is but I couldnt find molasses in France either and was trying to make gingerbread so I bought some. Anyway about the cream cheese, its made in Belgium, which is next to France and for some reason you can buy it in the UK and not in France.
So I made a cheesecake with speculous ( who came up with that name for a cookie really ? ) as a crust ( no graham crackers or vanilla wafers in France ladies and gentlemen !). Then began the hunt for a suitable replacement for cream cheese. I think I have found the cheese finally and I made a cake this week, but it came out a bit dry, so I need to adjust something before I pass on the recipe.
In the meantime........I'm going a little trip to Malaga, Spain and Gibralter and Tangier, Morocco....maybe I will find some grocery stores. I'm planning on eating fried sardines on a stick in Spain and couscous in Morocco for sure. Im also planning on getting a page of stamps in my passport !!
p.s. Happy Birthday fellow Aquarians !
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
Friday, 15 January 2010
Carte de sejour !!
I'm a bit exhausted from getting up at 5 30 am and driving 2 hours to Renne, but I have my temporary Carte de sejour now!! I am "signed up" for a so far non existent French language class via the internet too. I don't imagine there will be an government provided French language class before I leave France, so it appears I have escaped that requirement!! France has new requirements of people settling here that require you to pass a french test and if you dont you are required to take 400 hours of classes. You also must pass a medical exam and have a job skill assessment done. Since I have no intention of working here and I live in the country and there are no french classes within an hours drive , I was basically exempted from these two requirements. I was happy about that, Im not so happy about the 450 dollars it cost me, but hey, Im legal for a year now. Should have some food up this week hopefully , then we are off to Malaga, Spain for 4 days ( and hopefully a page of stamps on my passport) to explore Malaga ( duh) Gibralter and Tangier, Morocco. Then we are home for a week and then off to New Orleans for my 50th birthday and Mardi Gras Woo HOO.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
Banana bread
Banana Bread !!In the USA we call this bread, but in France if you make a bread with sugar or any sweetening, its referred to as cake. I have no idea why, but it seems like in America we name the food after the pan we cook it in or something. Like cake is made in a cake pan, bread in a bread pan, pie in a pie tin right? Except I think there are exceptions to the rule, take cornbread for example we cook it in a cake or pie tin ( or cast iron skillet) and we call it bread. So to keep it easy, in France if its sweet, it is not called bread, plain and simple. So we can call this banana cake or bread the choice is yours. You can eat it hot or cold, with or without butter, with creme anglaise on top if you want even.
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup All purpose flour ( 225 gms Farine de ble)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder ( 2 1/2 cuilleres a cafe poudre a lever)
1 tsp salt ( 1 cuillere a cafe de sel)
1/3 c. unsalted butter ( 75 gms beurre doux)
1/2 c. honey (113 ml miel)
2 eggs beaten ( 2 oeufs)
2 c. mashed ripe bananas ( 450 ml puree de banane mure)
3/4 c chopped walnuts ( 70gms de noix coupee)
Butter and flour a standard loaf pan and preheat the oven to 325F (160C). Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In another bowl mash the bananas into a puree. In a third bowl whisk or beat the butter with the honey until creamy, add the eggs and banana pulp and blend to smooth with a spoon. Add flour mixture and blend until just blended, dont over mix. Add nuts, mix gently, pour into the prepared bread pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. The bread should come out clean when pierced with a toothpick, if not return to the oven for 5 minute intervals until a toothpick comes out clean when put in the middle of the bread. Cool a few minutes on a rack then remove from the pan and cool completely. Refridgerate after completely cool. The bread can be eaten warm or cold. Its delicious warm with melted butter !!
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Life without Chili powder
I asked on Facebook and in a couple of emails to friends for some imput on what every one's favorite american foods were. This is what I have so far:
Philly cheesesteak
hamburgers
hot dogs
chili dogs
corn dogs
green bean casserole
BLT
Pie
bbq
mac and cheese
clam bake
crab cakes
stone crabs
sub sandwiches
sloppy joes
fried chicken
gumbo
jambalaya
pizza
french fries
tuna melt
meat loaf
pancakes
chili
huevos rancheros
I loved how the answers varied depending on where you grew up. Everyone from New Orleans had a full on cajun/creole list and the people from the NE never mentioned anything like the people from the south did.
Of course hamburger restaurants are the top producing restaurants as far as fast food, and really you can get a hamburger just about anywhere ( even the polo lounge for christs sake). Right behind hamburgers is mexican food though. Mexican and Chinese food have been eaten in USA since the 1800's so the cuisine is part of the American palate now.
So here in comes the challenge this week. I was trying to make chili and cajun food without chili powder. You can't get chili powder here at all. Somewhere back in the day, probably like 2 generations back we didn't have the incredible variety of dried spices and spice blends we have now. The first commercially produced chili con carne came out in the early 1900's and cajun and mexican food had been eaten in homes before that, so surely there was a way to make it without chili powder right? I started with chili, here is what I did. Now I like my chili with beans. I know if your from Texas this is a big no no, but I'm not from Texas so pfft.
try it out if you want and see what you think:
Chili con carne
250 gms ( that is about 1 cup) of red beans, kidney beans ( really any beans you like, it will just change the color if you use black or white beans but you can use black, white, pinto , red, kidney)
soak the beans in water over night with 1 tsp each of onion powder, garlic powder, coriander and cumin, they will need about 3-4 times the amount of water you used for beans so 4 cups of water if you use 1 cup of beans)
350 gms (3/4 lb) hamburger meat, ground chuck is fine
500 g tomato puree ( I know some chili purists say no tomato either , but I like it, so its in there. this is like 2 cups )
2 Anaheim chili's chopped( the 8 inches long or so sort of thin green ones)
1/2 habenaro chopped( or more if your daring and wear gloves please !)
3 cups beef broth
1 bell pepper chopped
2 onions chopped
6 cloves garlic sliced
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp oregano
Olive oil
In a very large thick bottomed pot or dutch oven, pour in the beans and soaking water , throw in a bay leaf and bring to a boil. skim the scum of for the first 10 minutes of boiling , then lower the heat to a low boil and cover and cook for an hour or so.Remove the bay leaf, most of the water should be absorbed or boiled off at this point. If at anytime during cooking the beans become dry, add some beef stock. In a frying pan put a tbsp or so of oil and add the onions and garlic, cook for 5-8 minutes on medium heat until translucent. Add the chili's and peppers. I recommend wearing gloves when chopping chili's or your hands will burn for hours afterwards. Salt to taste and cook for about 10 minutes or so, then add the hamburger and oregano and sweet paprika( you can sub turkey burger, chicken burger tofu even for beef if you don't want to use beef)cook until meat is done, but don't let anything brown. Add all this to the beans along with the tomato sauce and remaining beef broth. bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover the pan and let simmer for 2-3 hours, checking occasionally to be sure nothing is sticking to the pan, stir when you check it and taste for salt and heat. At this point the beans should be cooked through and you should have a good idea what the heat index is . If it is not hot enough , add some cayenne. If its too hot you will need to serve with a spoonful or more of sour cream on the top to bring it down a few notches. You can serve with cheese too to reduce the heat. Let the pot cool and refrigerate over night, this incorporates the flavors. Reheat an hour or so before you want to eat and correct the seasoning. I like cornbread with chili, but you can serve with chips, over a hot dog, over french fries, with or without cheese, on eggs , or all alone !
let me know if this is clear or if the directions are hard to follow ok !! I made mine with a full habanero, but I think its far too hot for anyone in France to eat so I backed off on the chili in the recipe, a full habanero is pleasantly spicy to me, but very hot to others, so experiment away and remember to wear gloves !!!
Philly cheesesteak
hamburgers
hot dogs
chili dogs
corn dogs
green bean casserole
BLT
Pie
bbq
mac and cheese
clam bake
crab cakes
stone crabs
sub sandwiches
sloppy joes
fried chicken
gumbo
jambalaya
pizza
french fries
tuna melt
meat loaf
pancakes
chili
huevos rancheros
I loved how the answers varied depending on where you grew up. Everyone from New Orleans had a full on cajun/creole list and the people from the NE never mentioned anything like the people from the south did.
Of course hamburger restaurants are the top producing restaurants as far as fast food, and really you can get a hamburger just about anywhere ( even the polo lounge for christs sake). Right behind hamburgers is mexican food though. Mexican and Chinese food have been eaten in USA since the 1800's so the cuisine is part of the American palate now.
So here in comes the challenge this week. I was trying to make chili and cajun food without chili powder. You can't get chili powder here at all. Somewhere back in the day, probably like 2 generations back we didn't have the incredible variety of dried spices and spice blends we have now. The first commercially produced chili con carne came out in the early 1900's and cajun and mexican food had been eaten in homes before that, so surely there was a way to make it without chili powder right? I started with chili, here is what I did. Now I like my chili with beans. I know if your from Texas this is a big no no, but I'm not from Texas so pfft.
try it out if you want and see what you think:
Chili con carne
250 gms ( that is about 1 cup) of red beans, kidney beans ( really any beans you like, it will just change the color if you use black or white beans but you can use black, white, pinto , red, kidney)
soak the beans in water over night with 1 tsp each of onion powder, garlic powder, coriander and cumin, they will need about 3-4 times the amount of water you used for beans so 4 cups of water if you use 1 cup of beans)
350 gms (3/4 lb) hamburger meat, ground chuck is fine
500 g tomato puree ( I know some chili purists say no tomato either , but I like it, so its in there. this is like 2 cups )
2 Anaheim chili's chopped( the 8 inches long or so sort of thin green ones)
1/2 habenaro chopped( or more if your daring and wear gloves please !)
3 cups beef broth
1 bell pepper chopped
2 onions chopped
6 cloves garlic sliced
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp oregano
Olive oil
In a very large thick bottomed pot or dutch oven, pour in the beans and soaking water , throw in a bay leaf and bring to a boil. skim the scum of for the first 10 minutes of boiling , then lower the heat to a low boil and cover and cook for an hour or so.Remove the bay leaf, most of the water should be absorbed or boiled off at this point. If at anytime during cooking the beans become dry, add some beef stock. In a frying pan put a tbsp or so of oil and add the onions and garlic, cook for 5-8 minutes on medium heat until translucent. Add the chili's and peppers. I recommend wearing gloves when chopping chili's or your hands will burn for hours afterwards. Salt to taste and cook for about 10 minutes or so, then add the hamburger and oregano and sweet paprika( you can sub turkey burger, chicken burger tofu even for beef if you don't want to use beef)cook until meat is done, but don't let anything brown. Add all this to the beans along with the tomato sauce and remaining beef broth. bring to a boil then reduce heat, cover the pan and let simmer for 2-3 hours, checking occasionally to be sure nothing is sticking to the pan, stir when you check it and taste for salt and heat. At this point the beans should be cooked through and you should have a good idea what the heat index is . If it is not hot enough , add some cayenne. If its too hot you will need to serve with a spoonful or more of sour cream on the top to bring it down a few notches. You can serve with cheese too to reduce the heat. Let the pot cool and refrigerate over night, this incorporates the flavors. Reheat an hour or so before you want to eat and correct the seasoning. I like cornbread with chili, but you can serve with chips, over a hot dog, over french fries, with or without cheese, on eggs , or all alone !
let me know if this is clear or if the directions are hard to follow ok !! I made mine with a full habanero, but I think its far too hot for anyone in France to eat so I backed off on the chili in the recipe, a full habanero is pleasantly spicy to me, but very hot to others, so experiment away and remember to wear gloves !!!
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
and so we begin.........
2010
Wow, the same year as the poorly executed 2001 sequel. 10 years after Y2K. I've covered many miles in the last 10 years, this is for sure, but that is a story for another time and place. This is a food blog ,which could be a life blog, however, it is a blog about a food project I have embarked on as of the beginning of 2010 nearly a week ago. First just a little history:
I moved to France over the summer of 2009 to be with Frederic, whom I married in October in Florida. I left a city I never thought I would ever leave, New Orleans, and moved to the country in a part of France called Brittany. Prior to moving I had spent the last 25 years of my life in the southern part of the USA in Arizona, California, Florida and finally Louisiana. I packed up my suitcases, shipped a few things to family members and sold nearly everything else I owned including my massive cookbook collection and headed across the Atlantic. I brought a small part of my kitchen with me, like my knives, my cast iron pans, some tools and a hand full of cookbooks that I couldn't bear to part with . I discovered after being here a few weeks that other than the fact that much of the New Orleans cuisine is either French or French influenced, France is surely a foreign country, and I felt a bit out of place.
I have been a lover of food and cooking for as long as I can remember. I have structured most vacations and trips in my adult life around where I plan on eating a meal. I even drove 150 miles out of my way once in the hills of Tennessee to eat bar-b-que ! Call it an obsession, that's okay with me. This love of food is what spawned this blog and the project. Of course as soon as I arrived in France we went grocery shopping and the adventure began! My husband is French and of course we all know that French food is the best in the world ( ask any French person , they will tell you !) but thankfully he is curious about other foods. Myself, since I lived in cities most of my life and multicultural ones at that, I am a big fan of all sorts of ethnic food and have learned to cook many types of food over the years. Trying to duplicate the flavors here in France has been a challenge. I also found myself missing many things I used to eat in America. These three things in addition to the fact that we are leaving France in 9 months to starting some continent hopping has necessitated the creation of a book. I can't carry everything with me everywhere I go, thanks to the restrictions on luggage when you fly now, so I have to consolidate.
The first idea was to create a book for me so I wouldn't have to carry my cookbooks around with me. I would write the recipes using the ingredients I could get wherever I lived and using the measurement system in the country I was in. Then Frederic had a dream that I wrote a book that was about American food, but written for French people so they could cook and enjoy it. This dream wasn't so different than what I was already doing so I embraced that and off we go!
I spent the first week researching with google. I Love google , end of sentence. So I know what Americans like to eat, and I'm polling my friends to find out what their favorite foods are and then I will try and recreate the dishes here! Sounds fun right? So for now if anyone cares to tell me what their favorite food dishes are , I'd be happy to know that information !
Happy eating !!
Wow, the same year as the poorly executed 2001 sequel. 10 years after Y2K. I've covered many miles in the last 10 years, this is for sure, but that is a story for another time and place. This is a food blog ,which could be a life blog, however, it is a blog about a food project I have embarked on as of the beginning of 2010 nearly a week ago. First just a little history:
I moved to France over the summer of 2009 to be with Frederic, whom I married in October in Florida. I left a city I never thought I would ever leave, New Orleans, and moved to the country in a part of France called Brittany. Prior to moving I had spent the last 25 years of my life in the southern part of the USA in Arizona, California, Florida and finally Louisiana. I packed up my suitcases, shipped a few things to family members and sold nearly everything else I owned including my massive cookbook collection and headed across the Atlantic. I brought a small part of my kitchen with me, like my knives, my cast iron pans, some tools and a hand full of cookbooks that I couldn't bear to part with . I discovered after being here a few weeks that other than the fact that much of the New Orleans cuisine is either French or French influenced, France is surely a foreign country, and I felt a bit out of place.
I have been a lover of food and cooking for as long as I can remember. I have structured most vacations and trips in my adult life around where I plan on eating a meal. I even drove 150 miles out of my way once in the hills of Tennessee to eat bar-b-que ! Call it an obsession, that's okay with me. This love of food is what spawned this blog and the project. Of course as soon as I arrived in France we went grocery shopping and the adventure began! My husband is French and of course we all know that French food is the best in the world ( ask any French person , they will tell you !) but thankfully he is curious about other foods. Myself, since I lived in cities most of my life and multicultural ones at that, I am a big fan of all sorts of ethnic food and have learned to cook many types of food over the years. Trying to duplicate the flavors here in France has been a challenge. I also found myself missing many things I used to eat in America. These three things in addition to the fact that we are leaving France in 9 months to starting some continent hopping has necessitated the creation of a book. I can't carry everything with me everywhere I go, thanks to the restrictions on luggage when you fly now, so I have to consolidate.
The first idea was to create a book for me so I wouldn't have to carry my cookbooks around with me. I would write the recipes using the ingredients I could get wherever I lived and using the measurement system in the country I was in. Then Frederic had a dream that I wrote a book that was about American food, but written for French people so they could cook and enjoy it. This dream wasn't so different than what I was already doing so I embraced that and off we go!
I spent the first week researching with google. I Love google , end of sentence. So I know what Americans like to eat, and I'm polling my friends to find out what their favorite foods are and then I will try and recreate the dishes here! Sounds fun right? So for now if anyone cares to tell me what their favorite food dishes are , I'd be happy to know that information !
Happy eating !!
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