apple dessert

I was back from Ireland, at the end of one of my linguistic summers, at the tender age of 17, where I learned to make apple pie......
In France, we ate tarts. savory ( quiches) and sweet with all the seasonal fruits. Basic crust of flour, butter, and water. The kitchen smelt so good.Anyway, upon my return, I proposed to make my newly accomplished recipe of the apple pie.similar in most ways,but for a top crust. The big difference was in the introduction of vegetable shortening in the dough.Miraculous, crumbly like a sable,melt in your mouth sweetness.I didn't know then, how bad it is for you but I remember how impressed my parents were.
I have to admit that in the end, I prefer tarts.better ratio of fruit to dough,a thickening of juices, and sometimes a slight caramelization of the fruit, you can add almondy custards and it is so pretty... .forward many years to today and I find myself making a tart without dough for gluten sensitive husband.You call it a crisp or crumble. without the bready or cookie crumbs

gluten free apple crisp


5 apples peeled and sliced thinly
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

mix those three ingredients
prepare topping:
mix
1 cup almond meal
3 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoon of raw almonds chopped up

cover topping over apples, bake in a 425o oven for about 35 minutes.

is it cocktail time yet ?

In France, you hardly drink the "mixed type" cocktails. a champagne flute, an extra glass of wine, may be a sherry or a sweet French version like Pineau des Charentes. but the mixed drink remains the privilege of hotel bars and clubs. At least when I lived there, which as you know was quite some time back, so, maybe things have changed. My friend G.indulges in a Campari, due to her repeated Italian vacations that she feels like prolonging, the time of an evening drink at home. and my mother's neighbor admits to liking a classic whisky and coke ( oops, mixed cocktail after all )...
For significant and I, it was only wine for many years. Partly it was cheaper and I had no idea or taste for hard alcohol, (beside the bottle of kirsch to finish off a cheese fondue: that was the extent of our liquor cabinet). Then, one fateful night, we went for dinner at some good friend's house , and while both our toddlers were banging on the piano, they offered us a gin and tonic. Whaoo ! revelation of the decade !It was refreshing,tasty ( they claim lots of lime juice is what makes the difference.. so I use one lime per drink now) I looved it. It was the beginning of a new phase in our life: parenting and cocktail hour.... since then, I have tried to play a little, adding syrups from my friend Juneor some more obscure bottles like Aperol,which resembles Campari with its citrusy notes and red color. So, from the house mixologist, here is my absolute favorite new mixed cocktail:
2 oz tequila
1 oz Aperol
juice of one lime
1/2 oz of agave nectar

rosemary branch for swizzling


put liquids in shaker with ice, shake and serve in glass with ice, add rosemary if you like for garnish and extra swizzling...

gratin de cotes de blettes-Swiss chard stems gratin

First let me give you a little bit of personal history before I move to the recipe itself. A lot of you know of my childhood summers spent in Switzerland, a place of deep nostalgia for a time of bliss, freedom, close to nature,with time for never ending pleasures. Close to the "heidi house" where we lived for 3 months every year , was a small dairy farm where the farmer's wife would have a bountiful vegetable garden. Periodically, my grand mother would put an order for, guess what :SWISS chard. The leaves were elephantines, and the stems gargantuans. The interesting bit is that growing up, I never ate green leaf vegetables. The beets were sold already boiled and without their leaves, spinach was seldom seen on the market stalls,and it was not the tender baby kind we know now ,  but actually, now, I remember that my mother would cook some escarole in the winter and drop it in a soup, but that was all. When we would get the famous order of chard, it would be stripped of leaves. I guess that was the way it was expected to be sold, may be they knew we were making a gratin, may be they knew better and cooked the leaves for themselves.....

which brings me to the recipe, one of my total favorites of all times.

Of course, the day before, use the leaves for a nice italian style saute with garlic and pepper flakes and olive oil. But the next day, instead of composting the stems, use them to make this delicious  dish that would go well with a grain, or whole grain pasta.

I only knew the white stem chard, but now, look at this beautiful display of vibrant colors !

-cut the stems in 2 " pieces

-blanch them in salted water. They lose their vibrancy but gain a soft pastel

-make a simple bechamel.I love that word. As you say it, the tongue seems to wrap around the word in a gentle caress.

1oz butter, melted,add 1 tbsp flour all at once, and wisk to get a nice golden ribbon.out of the heat, add all at once 1/3 cup of cold milk, keep wisking  and put back under low heat until desired consistency. be liberal with good pepper and salt.

-put bechamel on top of cooled chard

-sprinkle grated cave aged Gruyere cheeese

-cook at 400 degrees for 15 mn with foil, remove foil, and broil for 5 minutes for a golden crust.

Voila, no waste, only more pleasure !

on my way

I am on my way to the kitchen. This will be a recipe site . Old, new, bold, seasonal,borrowed, or just invented, the recipes will be  another area for creation with a weekly update.