Sherry – Page 54 – Rosemary and the Goat

Spring Peas with Dates and Walnuts

Just love those little sugar snap peas!

Are you old enough to remember your mother or grandmother sitting in a chair with an apron cupped in her lap and a bowl of peas. I remember my dad’s mother doing just that and she was in a rocking chair rocking away the afternoon shelling peas that she was probably going to be cooking for dinner that night. My mother shelled peas and so did my other grandmother. Do we have time for that now in our busy lives? Maybe we need to make the time and slip back to a more relaxed day where our mother’s and grandmother’s did such a simple task and how they probably benefitted mentally just to chill and think of the day’s activities.

I actually did try to find English peas in the shell, but no luck. Now if I was still in France, I probably could find them in one of the local market places. I loved this recipe before I even had it on my dish. Sugar snap peas are one of my favorites with a good dill dip and snow peas I have been using for years. I actually use to stuff each one for an appetizer — Honey Pecan Stuffed Snow Peas. My kids were never a fan of English peas when they were young, but I’m sure they would like this dish. I plan on making this for my daughter-in-law in Chicago in a couple of weeks; she loves English peas.

I found this recipe in Food Network magazine and all I added was the pancetta. And I would only make one change in the cooking directions and that would be to add thawed English peas at the end so they don’t overcook and become too dark. I would prefer them to stay bright green.

April 20, 2012 By Sherry

Food Stories/ Side dish

Swiss Chard and the French Markets

Oh how I loved those French markets!

I snapped this picture of Swiss chard one day. A little lady was hand picking her chard probably for her dinner that night.

It is hard for me to imagine (except I was there and saw it) what it would be like to shop daily for your food, to see just picked vegetables and know that they probably still are covered with dew drops and an earthy smell to them. One day we saw the most beautiful turnips, they still had green stems attached and looked just picked from someon’s field.

We live in a world where we get our grocery ads on a Wednesday to see what’s going to be on sale this week at our local market. Just think what it would be like if all we had to do was take a leisurely walk down the street (or up a hill) with our basket over our arm and shop for what we needed for the day; or go to our local bakery and line up with others waiting to buy a baguette for today’s meal (we saw that in Eylgaliers).

I can’t say that I have ever eaten Swiss chard, I have eaten other greens, like kale, turnip greens, spinach, but after seeing this in the market in France, it just made me want to try it. I’m sure chard that is bought at a farmer’s market is much more sweet and buttery tasting than the bunch I purchased at a grocery this week. Who knows how long that has been laying around in their cooler. So, I’m thinking if you have never eaten Swiss chard before maybe your first time should be with some fresh leaves from a local farmer’s market. (This chard I made was really good. I would definitely buy it again.)

April 20, 2012 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Bread/ ColdApp

Rosemary Blue Cheese Wafers

Blue cheese and rosemary, what a combination.

Délicieux!

We had some wonderful blue cheeses while in France so I decided this would be a nice little cracker to make upon coming home.

A friend made these from Ina Garten’s Paris cookbook and I loved them at first bite. Ina used Stilton in her recipe and I had thought about using a Roquefort cheese since that is from France. BUT, at our store they only carried one brand of Roquefort at $32.00 a pound. Yikes, I was not about to spend that much on a recipe I was trying out for the camera guy coming to my house that day.

So I bought another French blue cheese, D’Auvergne, which was around $16/lb and I only needed 8 ounces. This cheese is made in France and from cow’s milk which has a creamier taste than Roquefort which is made with ewe’s milk. I found this interesting — Blue d’Auvergne was created in 1854 by a producer of Roquefort. After noticing fungus on his bread, he tried to mix the same fungus with the cheese. A littler later, the farmer pierced the cheese so that the air could enter into it and help to develop the blue mould. These days the cheese is inoculated with Penicillin Roquefort. This cheese is best served at room temperature and is a perfect blue for salad dressings.

For anyone who does not know the different types of blue cheese, here’s a quick run down and I may have forgotten a few.

Roquefort is blue cheese from France

Stilton is blue cheese from England

Gorgonzola is from Italy

Cabrales comes from Spain and is a very pungent blue cheese.

Cambozola is one of my favorites. this cheese is German and they combine camembert with blue gorgonzola.

Bavarian is a mild and creamy German blue cheese.

Then you have the Irish bleu, the Danish blue, the Maytag blue which is American, and the list goes on and on.

So, when it comes to blue cheese, just choose what your pocketbook will allow.

I decided to add some rosemary to the recipe because I love the flavor with the blue cheese.

April 16, 2012 By Sherry

Entree/ Pizza

Tomato Phyllo Pizza

Have a pizza craving but not much time?

(We had pizza once while in Paris and I have to say I was not impressed. After a day of seeing so many museums, we were just too tired to track down one of our restaurants that we were going to try while there so we decided on pizza. It was a local place and it was just so-so.)

Do you ever have a pizza craving and don’t want to take the time to make a homemade crust? That is if you make homemade crust. Then, this recipe is for you, no using scissors to cut open that prepared pizza dough or crack that can on the counter to unroll some pizza dough but you simply open the thawed package of phyllo dough and you instantly have your crust and it is much better. This is definitely a light, thin and flaky/crispy type crust

When I first got married a good pizza to me was a Chef Boyardee pizza mix, a pound of hamburger meat and I actually tried to jazz up the crust by adding some Italian seasoning to the crust mix. Then one day, some years ago I decided to make my own crust and I never used that mix again.

What is a pizza anyway but a “crust” of some sort, rolled thin or not, slapped with some sauce or not and baked in the oven. French bread, pita, crescent rolls, naan…. anything can really make a crust for a pizza. The Greeks spread their pitas with oils and herbs and cheese — pizza. The Romans took a sheet of dough, topped with cheese and honey and bay leaves — pizza. A Calzone and stromboli are similar to pizza but the dough is rolled around the filling. In America we have deep dish, traditional, Chicago Style, California style, white pizza (no red sauce), thin/cracker crust and now this phyllo crust. Our toppings or unlimited. One I posted here a while back is a favorite now and that is a Shrimp and White Bean Pizza. Yummmm.

I remember when we lived in Ft. Madison, Iowa we had a Happy Joe’s Pizza Parlor. They had a taco pizza which was a regular hamburger or sausage pizza and when it came out of the oven they covered it with shredded lettuce and tomato and served it with taco sauce and it was delicious. It’s been over 20 years since I have had that pizza and I may try it again soon.

I made this pizza to take to a friend’s house one night. She was making spaghetti and meatballs and I had planned to make this for the blog that day so I took it to her house as an appetizer. It was perfect; a light crispy crust, fresh tomatoes and feta and it made a perfect first course to her spaghetti. It would also make a nice lunch with a salad. I’m anxious to try out different toppings using this phyllo crust.

April 11, 2012 By Sherry

Salads

Red and Green Cabbage Salad with Fennel

Spring like salad that will take you through the summer months.

(France update: Back from France on 4/1. Hope to put together some of my food pictures and post soon.)

Sometimes it only takes a glimpse of a recipe or picture of a recipe to get me thinking of how I can change the recipe and make it more like something my family would enjoy.

When it comes to change, I’m content with pretty much what I have and I don’t really move things around a lot in my house. I get them the way I like them and comfortable for me and my husband and I’m perfectly satisfied. That’s not the way I am with food though. I’m not a meatloaf (I love meatloaf) on Monday, pot roast on Sunday type of person; I love making all kinds of food whether it is good for me or not.

Since starting the blog almost 3 years ago, I have loved trying to come up with new recipes. My freezers are full of meat/fish/poultry, so I can pretty much grab anything out in the morning, thaw, and by dinner have something yummy on the table. Most of the time that is. Occasionally I do have flops but even then I’m thinking how I could make that dish better the next time.

I tweaked this recipe from one I saw in Food and Wine magazine’s March issue. I loved the colors and textures of the recipe but thought I would like to have some frilly lettuces thrown in and definitely changing the nuts since I have no idea where to find hemp seeds.

April 5, 2012 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Prosciutto Rolls with Fig Preserves

What delicious foods we have been eating here in France.

These are as delicious as they look and is one of the recipes I made before leaving for France.

I was hoping to post pictures of what we are eating in France each day but I’m not sure if I will be able to figure out my new iPad (got it the day we left for Paris and I was in line at the Apple store at 7:00 a.m.) before I get there.

So, here we are in France and this is our last day. We are back in Paris and will be leaving tomorrow. We have tried our best to try some of everything they had to offer.

In one of my Saveur magazines recently was a special supplement on The Wines of the Rhone Valley and my first thought was “hey, that’s where we are staying our second week in France” and one of our day trips will be to go check out the wineries in the Rhone Valley area. This recipe was in a supplement to the magazine and I’m not changing one thing about it. Why mess with perfection.

The wine that was paired with this appetizer was Cotes du Rhone Coup de Coeur: Domaine de la Janasse, 2010 (a white)

March 31, 2012 By Sherry

Bread

Fougasse

Fougasse, a bread I had never heard of.

A French, flat, leaf shaped bread

(Update from France — went to I’sle sur la Sorgue today for market day. Tasted some wonderful cheeses and sausages that we bought for dinner. We have a little bakery in our town of 1800 and the first thing I noticed was they sold fougasse bread. Trying to find a goat farm, olive orchard and wineries to visit tomorrow.)

What is it about making bread that is so relaxing. Maybe it is the fact that it takes several hours to make with just a little work and then you produce this great smelling hot bread out of the oven that you can’t wait to get your hands on. I seem to make the biggest mess when I make bread. I have the flour all over me, the floor, and the counter. One would think I had never stepped in a kitchen before from the way I look with flour all over the place. I am not a neat baker to say the least but I think I can produce great things from the oven.

I hope while in France, that we are eating croissants every morning, French Baguettes with wine and cheese in the afternoon and some other fantastic pastries just for the heck of it.

Fougasse is a type of bread associated with the Provence area of France but is also found in other regions with variations. Some recipes will have olives, cheese, anchovies. Normally it is rolled into a rectangle shape and slashed then pulled apart at the cuts to resemble a leaf. Some bakers make it more tree shaped. This is almost a focaccia type bread but is baked a little crispier than focaccia. My focaccia is wonderful so I couldn’t await to try fougasse to compare.

Most recipes I looked at suggested letting your guest tear off chunks of break instead of cutting it.

So, we are traveling in Provence now and I hope I’m having this bread at some local bistro. I do so want to compare my attempt at making this bread to one from the area which made it famous.

March 27, 2012 By Sherry

Dessert

Chambord Ganache Raspberries

These are to die for and you will want more than three.

We served these three little chocolate filled raspberries after the cheese course of our French dinner a few weeks ago.

NOTES FROM FRANCE: Left Paris today and arrived in Elygaliers in Provence. Now this is France. Feel like we are in another world. Had one fantastic meal at Sous les micocouliers. Bought some great things from bakery for breakfast tomorrow before heading to markets at Isle sur la Sorgue.

I first saw a filled raspberry on the Pinterest site but they were only filled with a white or chocolate chip inserted in the end. My first thought was – “I can improve on that”. I think I did.

I love raspberries in just about anything and to pair it with chocolate and a raspberry liqueur makes the end results worth all the fuss.

Chambord is a black raspberry liqueur modeled after a raspberry liqueur produced in the Loire Valley of France in the late 17th Century and is made from red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla and Moroccan citrus peel, honey and cognac. Now how could anything made with this delicious liqueur not be wonderful.

March 24, 2012 By Sherry

Salads

Salad Lyonnaise

Simply wonderful and oh so French.

(Paris update: Bon Jour –been here six days and loving every minute. Had my second chocolate croissant this morning. Breads fantastic. Weather perfect. Saw Eiffel Tower last night. Our dinner at Verjus tonight 9:30. Everyone very nice.) (UPDATE– I can’t believe we did not see this salad on bistro menus in Paris or Provence maybe it is only in the Lyon area of France — whatever the reason it wasn’t on the menus, it should have been.)

I could hardly wait to “eat our way across France” so the first time I saw this salad on a menu, I had to order it. See picture of the French version at bottom of this post. (If I figured out how to upload a picture from my new iPad that is, if not, then I will

What a perfect salad to say hello to Spring and to France. This is a very popular salad on French bistro menus. Beautiful lettuce like frisee make this such an attractive salad on the plate. This is a simple salad with ingredients you probably already have in your refrigerator. Don’t be intimidated by the poaching of the egg; you’re just boiling them without the shell. They can be done in advance, shocked in ice water to stop the cooking and rewarmed in simmering water when ready to put your salad together

This salad typically is made with frisée, because of the unique texture and slight bitterness but if you can’t find it do a spring salad mix. Escarole, dandelion and arugula would work in this salad also. The frisee along with crisp bacon lardons, garlic croutons, a mustard vinaigrette made with some of the warm bacon fat topped with the beautifully poached egg makes this an amazing salad.

I made this salad for a French dinner we did before leaving for France.

March 20, 2012 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Game/ HotApp

Duck Confit

So you say, “what is duck confit” and what are you going to do with it.

I tried to anticipate what we might be eating and tried a few French recipes. I’m sure I will be taking a lot of food pictures and I will post some of our favorite places and meals when we return.

In just a few more hours and we will be boarding our plane for France. A week in Paris and a week in Provence I’m sure the trip is going to be wonderful with breathtaking scenery, new experiences and lots of wonderful food. I am sure that we will be seeing duck confit on all the menus; so I decided to make it before our trip then I can compare my version to theirs.

I tried to anticipate what we might be eating while there and tried a few French recipes before going. I’m sure I will be taking a lot of food pictures while there an

Duck confit is a French dish made with the leg/thigh of the duck and it is prepared in a century-old process that consists of salt curing the duck legs and then poaching slowly submerged in its own fat for hours.

The duck legs are rubbed with garlic, herbs (thyme) and salt (I love using thyme because my herb garden is full of it), then refrigerated 36-48 hours. After rinsing off the salt and herbs the meat is slowly poached for 6-8 hours and the meat and fat are removed from the bone. After the meat has cooled it can be put into a container and submerged in the fat. A sealed jar of duck confit can be refrigerated for up to six months or longer. You need to top the meat in the jar with at least 1″ of fat.

One weekend when we were in Austin visiting our kids, my son was chopping up some duck legs that he had confitted (if that is a word). Anyway, my grandson, Milo, who was only two at the time stood on his chair, watching his dad cook and ate a whole pile of chopped duck legs.

My duck legs were not easily found; I looked all over Houston for duck legs and finally found them at Central market (by phone) but at $6.99 lb. So, what I love most about the internet is that after searching just a little while, no driving, traffic, or gas involved, I found the duck legs at Maple Leaf Farms at $2.99 for 12 oz. leg/thigh. So I ordered six. Why not order more than I needed since I had to pay shipping anyway and on top of that I found a promo code for $5.00 off. So I ordered 6 legs for $25 and that included shipping. I search for promo codes on EVERYTHING I order off the internet. Usually one can be found for a percentage off, free shipping or at least $5.00 off. In this case I got $5.00 off so, what a deal; now I don’t have to drive into Houston. So if you need a promo code, just Google promo code for…. (whatever) and you may have to look through a couple of sites before you find one that works.

I did find whole duck at this Asian market in Houston ,BUT, the frozen and fresh ducks had their heads and feet still on and I just couldn’t bring myself to buying them; they kind of gave me the heebe geebies to look at them. I know I have eaten tripe, lamb fries, tongue and different organ meats that most people wouldn’t think of eating but there was just something about seeing the head and legs/feet still on the duck all curled up in the package made me shiver just to think of it.

March 16, 2012 By Sherry

Salads

Shaved Asparagus Salad

Spring is here and asparagus is on sale!

Spring is here and we are headed to Paris in a couple of days. Ahhh, Paris in the Spring time. Ohhh, it is still going to be in the 50’s during the day and maybe some rain but that will not dampen our spirits. Maybe on a rainy day we will just have to duck into a little cafe and spend a little time people watching while enjoying a glass of wine (or two) and some wonderful cheese.

Seems like just yesterday we were getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas. How time flies. What I love about Spring this year is that we are going to be in France with friends. We are spending a week in Paris (staying a couple of blocks from the Louve) and then in Provence (Elygaliers) area for a second week. We are signed up for a cooking class while in Provence (Arles), which I know will be a blast and I wouldn’t be surprised if we cooked some recipe using asparagus and we have a couple of “must get reservations for” restaurants while in Provence.

Another thing I love about this Spring is that we are getting ready to have our third grandson; and hopefully he won’t arrive until we get back from our trip and then in June we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our fourth grandson. The little Michie boys will definitely carry on the family name.

I know I will pick up at least one new asparagus dish while in France but until then, I hope you will try this recipe. Continue Reading…

March 12, 2012 By Sherry

Entree/ Game

Fig Basted Cornish Hens

Oh, what good things come from cleaning my refrigerator.

So today I decided that it was time to clean my refrigerator. I don’t know about you, but I tend to find food hiding away under or behind things that I don’t even remember buying. I found a couple of swiveled up lemons, a really mushy tomato, some bottles of stuff that should have been thrown away months ago except for the fact that they calling to me every day “use me”…. and I kept telling myself one day I was going to use them. Well, that day never came; so today I filled my trash can right before a hungry garbage truck pulled up to my curb.

But, tucked away in all this refrigerated garbage, I found a nice jar of fig preserves, one perfect lemon, some soy sauce and I knew I could come up with something to make with those ingredients and I also found two Cornish hens in my freezer — so dinner in the making.

March 3, 2012 By Sherry

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