From San Sebastian with love
Edible Souvenirs: those tasty morsels that stick in your brain long after a special meal, a memorable mouth, a sensory two day fest. This week when I returned from San Sebastian and Eugenie-les-Bains (it is on the way after all!) I had this on my mind: I will slightly smoke my next foie gras and poach it gently until just PINK. I will grow more hot peppers next year and pickle them all! I will perfect my tortilla txisturro. I will remember to order jamon, first, every time, just... Read More
French Sunday Lunch with Ile Flottante
Late summer Sundays are full of festivals and village street parties featuring giant paellas, moules/frites or escargotlades. This Sunday at nearby LaPlume, the entire hilltop village narrow streets overflowed with OPJ- Other People’s Junk. It was a giant village-wide garage sale or vide grenier- literally a chance to “empty attics”. My cherished finds: a turquoise glass hanging lamp- 2 euros, a set of boules in a beautiful little cubed case- 4 euros, a brightly-colored... Read More
Beautiful Plum Spoon Pudding
In the time it took Tim Clinch to send me this beautiful photograph from Bulgaria via his blog, I knew exactly what I would cook with the first Pruneaux d’Agen hitting the markets this week. A plum pudding, a jammy spoon pudding made with fresh golden egg yolks and creamy milk. Part clafoutis, part spoonbread, I used half fine cornmeal or flour in the tradition of a traditional Gascon millasou. Here is the recipe modified from my own Clafoutis base: 6 eggs to one liter... Read More
Mme. Chapolard’s Paupiettes de ‘Pork’
When we put up the Seed to Sausage video on YouTube, I began to get Twitter comments, emails and even phone calls about Christian Chapolard’s Paupiettes. Although there is a more traditional recipe for Paupiettes de Veau in my book, I want to share my current favorite version with you here. This is a simple classic Gascon recipe- straight from the butcher, herself! Christiane is a soft spoken smiling Frenchwoman. Although she leaves the beret and mustaches to her husband... Read More
Who’s my butcher? Seed to Sausage on Ferme Baradieu.
To answer Protein University’s Brady Lowe’s question “Who’s Your Butcher?”, I am proud to submit the Famille Chapolard on their Ferme Baradieu to their Video Contest. Vote for the Ferme Baradieu and the Seed to Sausage video- CLICK, WATCH VIDEO & VOTE HERE “My Butcher” is my farmer, a family of skilled and caring paysans/bouchers, the Famille Chapolard who literally transform ‘semence to saucisson‘ every week, from 150... Read More
