Daytrips to Ambronay, Meximieux and Pérouges

This week really flew by for me. Did it for you? I've been busy lately—for times like these I stick to simple dishes that take less than 30 minutes to make but deliver on taste. Lately I've been making simple couscous or pasta dishes. Try this and let me know what you think. Take simple spaghetti and toss it with caramelized shallots, shiitake mushrooms, petit pois, and soy sauce. For a bit of heat, I add hot pepper flakes. Why is this dish so good? It must be all that umami flavor from the shiitakes and soy sauce.

So what have I been up to this week? Travels, baking, and more. On Thursday R and I celebrated a friend's birthday in Geneva at her photo studio. For that I baked chocolate chip cookies and a bacon mushroom leek quiche. Why chocolate chip cookies? Because my friend is American, and if there's one comfort food I missed when I first moved here, it was an honest to goodness American cookie, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Over the past year I've experimented with different recipes and ingredients. After many tests, I finally have a few cookie recipes made using local ingredients. The results? A crispy crust leading to a chewy interior. And the French like it because it's something new and "foreign".

A-gardening

As the weather gets warmer, I've been spending more and more time outdoors, working the garden. You know, preparing the ground for planting, turning the compost, and nurturing seedlings in the new serre that R built last Tuesday. This is the first year I'm germinating most of my plants from seed—so far, I have two kind of tomatoes, two kinds of basil, coriander, mesclun salad mix, two kinds of kale, kohlrabi, and scallions. The kohlrabi and kales are about an inch tall and the rest are just starting to emerge. The broccoli, chives, and mint I potted last year have survived the winter, mostly outside. I've been on broccoli watch the past two weeks—a tiny baby broccoli head sprouted and is getting bigger by the day. Just the other day the plant grew another teeny head below the main head. Exciting!

Au Jardin Botanique

While R attended to some business in Geneva, I spent the afternoon strolling through the Jardin Botanique, situated near the United Nations and Lake Geneva. In the sun, it felt like 70 and my sweater and spring down jacket quickly got tossed in my backpack.

By the time winter rolls into spring, I'm not as excited anymore about fall and winter fashion, and I long to forsake winter's heavy layers and accessories for t-shirts, shorts, skirts, and sandals. Yesterday was definitely a t-shirt and jeans kind of day. I hope that before long, I'll be wearing sandals again.

If it's been a particularly bleak winter (as it's been for my friends and family in Boston), there is no better cure for the winter blahs than a burst of spring color. 

On dining and restaurants

This past weekend R and I were invited by our kind friends to a very nice restaurant. Ce resto n'est pas étoilée, mais c'est pas mal. Though Reygrobellet is not Michelin starred, it is quite good and featured in the 2011 Michelin Guide Rouge. Pas mal is a faux ami and actually means very good (though literally translated it is "not bad").

Far from being a country bumpkin (ironic because that's where I'm living now), I grew up in Boston and worked in NYC for a while. I've traveled the world, and seen many things, and so I thought I'd know what to do when sitting down to a meal in France, right? Sort of.

I know the general rule of working from the outside in when using utensils, but what about where to place your bread? Why isn't there butter on the table for bread?

Tarte aux coings, pommes et poires

I love this simple apple tart...it's the American pie's lighter French cousin. The crust is a layer of thin puff pastry, pâte brisée, then a thin layer of quince jam, followed by a layer of very thin slices of apples and a pear. I used about half a stick of butter or 4.5 tablespoons to make the tart.

It's a delicious treat, very light and not too sweet. I often have this with tea, or just straight out of the oven. Usually I make this tart with different varieties of apples, but today I had some Williams pears, so I added one for a hint of pear deliciousness. A tart worth making from scratch.

Dinner at Reygrobellet

Tonight R and I dined with our friends M and C, at a restaurant they recommended in Saint-Germain-de-Joux. A quick fifteen minutes drive from our village, R and I knew the restaurant Reygrobellet by location because we've driven past it countless times. What we didn't know was that Chef Muriel has a reputation in the area for her fresh local cuisine, using ingredients such as juicy poultry from Bresse, vegetables from farms in the Savoie and l'Ain, and French specialties such as frog.

A field of snowflakes

If the blooming forsythia in our garden is any indication, c'est déjà printemps. But on our walk today, R and I found fields upon fields on snowflakes. Confused? Enjoy a pictorial story of my day with R and learn more.

Vivid yellow forsythia blooms on the tree outside my kitchen. When I'm cooking, this is my view.

Legacy of the Brothers Michelin

R and I are preparing for a trip to Paris soon, and I'm researching sights to visit and places to eat. This has started me thinking about France and its food heritage.

Food and artisans are taken seriously in France and the French are justifiably proud of it. President Nicholas Sarkozy even put a bid to declare French cuisine a "world intangible heritage"—and last November 2010, it was awarded thus by UNESCO. Paris and Lyon have large international food and agricultural salons  twice a year, with many smaller fairs spread through the year in different régions and départements. In 1992, France started a new autumn tradition, La Semaine du Goût, which has spread abroad to other countries in Europe and beyond. Basically it's a national week devoted to taste and gastronomy—a chance for people to appreciate and learn about local foods and their cultural heritage, as it applies to cuisine. The French even take the art of table setting to a higher level in Le Grand Prix Des Arts de la Table. Viva la France!

Recently I learned about Le Meilleur Ouvrier de France awards—a future post will cover MOF, but today I wanted to know what's all the fuss about les etoiles? Back in February, I noticed that our local bookstore featured a stack of Michelin Guides Rouges in its main display window. Now that I'm living in France—the birthplace of the Michelin Guide—I wanted to know, "What is the Michelin guide, is it related to tires, and what do the stars mean anyway?"

Light and fluffy cornbread with homemade jam

Today we found ourselves sans pain again! Oh Mon Dieu...my R loves his bread and it's a constant joke every day as we both monitor the level of bread we have in the kitchen and the freezer. We always keep at least one or two loaves in the freezer for emergencies. Yes, we have bread emergencies, like today and yesterday in fact. R's favorite bread isn't made on Sundays and it sold out early on Saturday. Why??? I don't know...but there is probably some law against bakers toiling on a Sunday.

Given our dire circumstances, I decided to make cornbread. Light and fluffy ones. To serve with the three homemade confitures our neighbors P and D gave us recently. The cerise jam was made using cherries from our trees; and the cassis/groseille and mirabelle confitures were made using berries and prunes from their garden. Mmmm. Pinch me because I think I'm in heaven.

It is a brilliant 17C outside, and I have mail from the U.S., so R and I are walking down to La Poste soon. Make some cornbread and let me know how it came out for you.

Luzerner Fasnacht Photos

During Carnival season, many Swiss-German towns and cities organize Fasnacht festivities. The Luzerner Fasnacht—known for its informal and inclusive style—stands out from other Fasnachts held in Basel, Bern, and Zurich, among other cities.

In Luzern locals and tourists alike are invited to masquerade themselves—the more whimsical, creative, and colorful the better.

Fasnachting in Luzern

Today I made beef rendang using a paste I purchased in Maastricht on my last trip to the Netherlands. To the paste, I added small chunks of beef, champignons de Paris, carrottes, lentilles, a teaspoon of fish sauce, two pinches of salt, and two teaspoons of dark brown sugar. Then I simmered the beef and vegetables for an hour, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed. The scent of star anise, chilies, garlic, cloves, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves filled up the kitchen...and the gurgling sounds of the simmering beef made me hungry. To offset the heat in the dish, I served it with crispy, crunchy chunks of cucumber and steamed white rice.

Spring is near..we can feel it in the air. Early this week, R and I spent two wonderful days at the Luzerner Fasnacht. We chased away the ghosts of winter with thousands of colorful revelers, singing and dancing our hearts out in old Luzern.

Warm people, creative costumes, great street food, and some of the best Guggenmusig bands. I've heard this is THE Fasnacht experience. Cities like Zurich and Bern are copying the Luzerner's "march in any direction you want " style.

Vietnamese green mango salad

The market square was busy and colorful today. I strolled past all the tables, looking at the beautiful greens, reds, purples, oranges..and every hue in between. One of my favorite experiences is walking through the entire farmer's market first, to survey what is available and fresh. Then I will circle around a second time, this time stopping at the stands I am interested in. Today was no different than other days...I love the happy commotion that is the French farmer's market. Whenever I'm buying food, there is no real recipe I have in mind. Instead my purchases are based on color, smell, and shape, and what's in season (if possible). I often pick ingredients that look pretty and/or interesting..or vegetables that I don't ordinarily buy. Like le citrouille (pumpkin) and les navets, or purplish-white turnips I bought last week. Once home with my goodies I'll look through cookbooks and websites for inspiration.

Today when I saw green mangoes at one stand, I couldn't resist buying two large green ones. To that I added four bright yellow lemons, and three heads of broccoli. At the supermarket I purchased jambon cru, des fraises (strawberries), du pain, and concombre.

Soufflé aux poires

Happy Peanut Butter Lover's Day! Today's forecast was 7 C and sunny—but winds and gray clouds loomed overhead on the drive to Geneva. While R was visiting with a former colleague near the Palais des Nations, I planned on spending an afternoon with my new camera strolling the grounds and visiting the greenhouses, or serres, of Geneva's Jardin Botanique. But "the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry" wrote Robert Burns'.

The day didn't go as planned—en route to Geneva my mobile rang—KO, from last Friday's missed connection, was free today and could come meet me in the city! We met at le jardin, and from there we followed Rue de Lausanne vers centre ville to do some shopping at Manor, a large and fancy Swiss department store with its own fancy-schmancy supermarket in the cellar. It was so refreshing to spend time with someone who is as passionate about food and France as I am. Hours flew by as we chatted about life, love, moving to France, and food. She's returning home to San Francisco at the end of this week but her plan is to move here in August. That is something to look forward to!

When I got home, the four poire williams sitting in the cherry bowl were calling to me. I couldn't resist buying these pears at the market last week—not only were they a beautiful shade of yellow with patches of pink red, but their parfum was amazing. My initial plans were to use them in a tarte aux poires, but after a week of neglect, the pears were becoming spotty brown and too soft for a tart. Listening to the wind blowing outside, I decided to make something warmly appealing..a confiture des poires, which I'll whip into a soufflé aux poires tomorrow, if the confiture lasts past tonight! It is simply amazing what a few good ingredients can become.