Budgeted Entertaining, or how to cook for 10 people for under 50 euros.

The benefit of an abroad program with only 9 students, is that we all become sort of an extended family here in France. This means that birthdays are celebrated together in our professor’s beautiful apartment. I decided to take command of the kitchen for Darcy’s birthday, our group’s second in France. Darcy is a vegetarian, but I wanted to create a meatless menu that would satisfy even the most carnivorous amongst us. Along with the resulting salad and pasta, Laura made some totally delicious guacamole for a starter and our professor purchased two tarts for dessert. The whole meal cost under 50 euros, but an attention to little details and good ingredients made it feel much more expensive. Below are the recipes modified for 4 people, but they are great for entertaining a crowd.

Salad with Pears, Fennel, and Emmental Tartines

1 head of soft, mild lettuce (I used a French type de salade that I haven’t ever seen in the states, but think butter/bibb lettuce)

2 small bulbs or 1 large bulb of fennel (Roast with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper at 350 F until tender and sweet… or leave it raw)

3 pears sliced thin

Vinaigrette (I used a mixture of Red Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, Dijon Mustard, Honey, and Herbes de Provence)

2 cups of shredded Emmental cheese

8 or 12 rounds of baguette (I served two tartines with each salad, but 3 might be nice if you know your guests are hungry)

Directions:

Sprinkle cheese on each round and crack of pepper on top. Toast/melt in 350 over for around 2 minutes, until bubbly and browned.

Assemble and dress salad. Serve with Tartines and leave some extra vinaigrette for those who like their salad swimming.

Farfalle with Eggplant “meat” Sauce, Fresh Goat Cheese, and Basil

2 Large eggplants cut in large dice

4 roma tomatoes diced

1 shallot finely chopped

1 clove of garlic

2 tablespoons Herbes de Provence

Olive Oil

1 8 oz. can of plain Tomato Sauce

4 servings of Farfalle Pasta 

1 round of Fresh goat cheese, crumbled

2 tablespoons of fresh basil, ripped 

Directions:

Liberally Coat the bottom of a heavy pot with olive oil. Add eggplants, tomatoes, shallot, garlic, and Herbes de Provence. Roast in 375 degree oven until veggies meld together and eggplant is tender (about 10-15 minutes). Remove from oven and add can of tomato sauce, salting and peppering to taste. Cover pot and heat on stovetop to keep warm.

Cook pasta, drain and toss in olive oil. Spoon over “meat” sauce. Sprinkle on some goat cheese crumbles and some basil. Serve with slices of baguette to soak up the sauce.

Ricotta Tart

I won’t even try to make an excuse for how poor of a job I am doing at updating ff&f this semester abroad. Luckily, I have been cooking a bit and return to bring you new recipes, so I feel I am earning my keep in the world of non-paid electronic journalism. As a point of reference, France is still wonderful.  I continue to slowly crawl towards that distant horizon of linguistic proficiency, all the while eating everything in sight.

This post is about a tart that was never meant to be. I knew I wanted to cook for my host family, but hadn’t the slightest clue what to make. My host brother took the lead when he declared he’s always wanted to try cheesecake. Without any hesitation I agreed. After learning that cream cheese and graham crackers are unavailable in France, I changed from a traditional New York cheesecake to an Italian, ricotta-based varietal. Ingredients purchased and aprons strings metaphorically tied, I was shocked to find out that a 9 inch round cake pan is fairly uncommon in French kitchens. With the clock ticking and meal time approaching, I decided to improvise with a tart pan, measuring just slightly over 10 inches. The result was a different, but altogether successful dish. So successful that I remade it for my professor’s birthday dinner, to 10 more pleased diners.

The tart is rich like a cheesecake, but in a different, denser sort of way. Sweetened only with honey, it seemed like a perfect platform for the phenomenally delicious figs of Les Halles, a beautiful gourmet market in Grenoble. For those of you keeping track, this is my second dessert comprised of honey and figs. I know it’s time to move on, but the flavor combination is just so perfect. 

Ingredients

~90 cg of fresh ricotta (I purchased 1 kg both times and eyeballed the amount. The first time I used about 85 and the second time about 93. This could be due to different ricottas or different honeys, but as long as it is smooth and tastes good, you are fine)

6 large eggs

2/3 cup of honey

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 lemon zested

1 package of Amaretti cookies (you will only need about 1 1/2 cups for the crust, but when you drop 1 crust on the floor and burn another when you try bland baking, having the whole package on hand is a life-saver.) 

1 small knob of butter melted , and one tab of butter for buttering the tart pan.

Several fresh figs. 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients except butter and cookies until combined. Butter pan. Crush cookies and mix with melted butter. Pour onto pan until evenly coated with a thin layer. Pour over ricotta mixture. Bake at 325 for between 25 and 35 minutes. Cover with sliced figs and paint on some warmed honey, or marinate fig segments in honey and a squeeze of lemon juice or put 2 or 3 on each slice.

The Dilettante’s Eye: Photos from my Weekend in Provence

Even though my first roll of film perished in the unfortunate film ripping incident of week three, my second attempt at photography with my dad’s old A-1 proved much more fruitful. Despite some ugly photos and random splotches of blue and a holographic dog (see below), I am generally pleased with the results. Our trip to Provence brought us to a vineyard, a monastery, 2 mountainy towns, and a castle. We stayed in small cottages run by a charming couple who cooked wonderful meals for us. They taught me their recipe for jams (60-40 ratio of fruit to sugar, plus a little something else I will share when i finally try the recipe), the difference between pates and terrines, and how to make radishes the perfect vessel for dips and tapenades (make an X shaped slit at the end of each radish). Despite all these amazing experiences, Provence was mostly a trip about lavender. I purchased 60 g’s of cooking lavender grown by monks, tried lavender biscuits, and watched the sunrise in a lavender field.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the roll (I splurged and got them put on a CD). The titles are in French to make them appear more authentically like art. Hope you freak out about these colors as much as I did. 

 ”Chateau de la Croix Chabrieres”

 ”Champ de Lavende”

 ”Aurore Lavande”

 ”Notre Dame de Senanque”

 ”Saint Nicholas” (can anyone confirm this?)

 ”Gordes”

 ”Chateau de Grignon”

 

Now for the oops…

 ”Le Chien Holographique”

Glace Gluttons 1

I am lucky to be traveling abroad with a group of students who appear to be just as passionate for ice cream as I am. We chow down on the cold stuff just about all the time. On the whole, you can except to find the usual culprits in any French ice cream shop, but also a bevy of new flavor combinations and interesting creations. I tend to focus on trying all of the unconventional flavors, and rely on the kindness of others to taste the tried and true ones. Here are the three ice cream spots that have really impressed me so far.

Punto Gusto (Grenoble)- This charming cafe and glacier whips up deliciously creamy ice cream. The man who works behind the counter is also a wizard with the ice cream spoon/scoop  and turns ice cream cones into floral sculptures like he’s been doing it his whole life (he really might have.) I accidentally deleted the pictures I took of the ice cream there… but I’ll return and snap a few so that you can see the flowers. 

Flavor to Try: Meringue- there is some serious French magic going into this ice cream because it is basically like eating freshly whipped meringue, only colder, denser, and fattier. Mmm… Their Fraise was also unbelievable, and there Toble (which we thought was toblerone flavored) is chocolate/orange and also a fine treat. 

Glacier des Alpes (Annecy)- Annecy is pretty touristy, so there are tons of glaciers on every street. We knew we stumbled upon the right choice when we saw our tour guide/social director, Vincent, waiting in the 20 person line. He told us this was the place to go for a scoop or two. We listened and weren’t disappointed. This family operated creamery, whips up a ton of different flavors. Every “parfum” I tried was great (5 in total amongst the group), so if you are in Annecy, this is a pretty safe bet.

Flavor(s) to Try: Kibana- I thought I was going to talk about the Honey Lavender ice cream I had when I ordered it, but a last minute decision to add a second scoop changed everything. Kibana is a combination of kiwi and banana, and it is out of this world. It basically tastes like banana ice cream with a little added tang. The chunks of kiwi in it really put it over the top. If you are interested in something less fruity/floral, try the Cookie Flavor. Vanilla ice cream, HUGE cookie chunks, and chocolate swirl… done deal. 

Royal Chocolate Carincotte (Grenoble)- Earlier today, on our way to do homework (or sit around a drink tea) Laura spotted a chocolate shop selling Fig ice cream and we decided to stop in. Royal Chocolate also happens to be the kitschiest/cutest chocolate shop I’ve seen so far in Grenoble. All the other clients were elderly, so you know they make good stuff. The owner is a really sweet lady, and I felt bad not ordering anything, but I had just eaten a pastry. After tasting Laura’s ice cream, I really wish I had.

Flavor to try: Figue- As long-time readers know, I made Honey Fig ice cream this summer. While I still think my version was successful, I had no idea the full potential of figs and ice cream. Royal’s version is so jam-packed with figs, that is a deep maroon in color. If figs were creamy, they would taste like this ice cream. I will definitely be returning to try their Mangue épicée flavor. Mango, lime, cardamum, and coriander in an ice cream? I’ll let you know how it goes. 

 

Also, here is how ice cream ought to be served (courtesy of Glacier Les Alpes and Darcy’s photos)…

Tartiflette Savoyarde

dear blog,

remember when i didn’t neglect you. oops!

Anywho….

Saturday, a whole group of international kids hopped on a bus, and scooted on over to Annecy for the day. Annecy is known as the Little Venice because it has canals running through the old parts of the city. Unlike Venice, Annecy’s canals don’t smell and are filled with ducks and swans. Vincent, the social coordinator for the international students and our tour guide for the day, recommended that we try the signature dish of the Haute-Savoie region, Tartiflette. 

Tartiflette is basically the richer and fattier cousin of Grenoble’s own speciality, Gratin Dauphinois. Like most gratins, the Tartiflette is a baked casserole of cream and potatoes. However, it distinguishes itself as typically savoyarde with the inclusion of Reblochon cheese and chunks of lardon. Our tartiflette was served with a generous salad of greens topped with a tangy, but unidentifiable vinaigrette (my bets are on Apple Cider vinegar, but who knows) and some slices of jambon cru. 

The dish is definitely too rich to have everyday, but certainly something worth trying. I was grateful for our glasses of Rose wine (50 cl for 8.95!) to cut the Tartiflette’s creamy decadence. Below you will find a picture of my plate and some more pictures from Annecy. Oh, and here is a link to a recipe for Tartiflette if you are interested in serving it at your next “This is why you’re fat” Party.

The many humiliations of Week 3.

I am working on my first paper of the semester all afternoon today, and for the first time, I feel like getting a little journally on ff&f. My professor warned us that week 3 of abroad often takes an abrupt but temporary dip south. It certainly did for me. Here is a little list explaining why. 

1. Walking to the tram after a night of bad mojitos (with French people!!!) and long walks to over-crowded international students party, my friends and I were asked for directions by a clearly inebriated young lady. Understanding French is hard enough when people speak slowly and clearly, but drunkenly slurred French is just damn near impossible. When we said we didn’t know, and they recognized our accents, the boyfriend turned to the girlfriend and cackled… “They don’t even speak French!!! AHAHAHAHA” Feel incompetent.

2. Found a great new lunch spot/cafe with free wifi. After first lunch success, Laura and I returned the next day to do our homework and grab some coffee. After about 2 hours of grammar exercises we get up and leave, absent-mindedly forgetting we hadn’t paid. Say good byes and seconds later are met by the server telling us of our mistake. Walk back apologizing the entire way and pay our bill. Return next day to work on paper, have lunch, and attempt to rectify the awkwardness. Make things more awkward. Obligatory break from cafe is now necessary. Feel mortified. 

3. Take oral comprehension “pre-test” to gauge our ability. Fail with an 8/20… Assume level is pretty low. Feel dumb.

4. Start to rewind first roll of film to send for developing. Hear nothing but continue to wind for about a minute. Open up back of camera to find that film had ripped and was wound around the right side of my camera. Film is almost certainly ruined. Feel unlucky.

ff&f PSA: Do not go to Le Mérou Bleu

Here at ff&f, restaurant profiles are usually spaces for me to share worthwhile dining experiences. ff&f PSAs will be reserved for truly atrocious dining experiences. Trust me when I say that Le Mérou Bleu deserves its status as my first PSA. Here’s why…

1. Service- Our waiter at LMB was an unbelievable jerk. Just after bonjours were exchanged and menus received (we asked for the French menus, bien sur), he informed us not to worry, that our french would improve once we spent more time in France. This would probably have been less insulting had we actually said anything in to him in French beyond “hello”, asked him how we sounded, or interacted with him for more than 1 minute. Thankfully for us (we thought we were being singled out), but unfortunately for diners everywhere, we noticed that he acted like an ass to just about everyone. When he wasn’t displaying his alarmingly inappropriate attitude, he could be found flirting shamelessly with female diners. I’ll let you decide which is worse.

Oh I almost forgot to mention, our waiter was also really clumsy. We watched him spill water on a nearby diner. Even worse, while attempting to clear our table, he managed to launch a small crab off of Laura’s plate onto the ground. He never apologized for the gaffe, or even bother to come back for the crab. 

2. Bad service can really ruin a dining experience. Luckily for our waiter, the food also sucked. Marseille is known primarily for one dish: Bouillabaisse. Laura and I decided we needed to try some before leaving the city, and made the horrible mistake of ordering it at Le Mérou Bleu. It should be noted from the start, that the Bouillabaisse is LMB’s specialty, so good luck with anything else they try to whip up.  

Bouillabaisse is a rustic seafood stew made with an aromatic orange broth of saffron, garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Our Bouillabaisse was, as you can see below, an unappetizingly putrid yellow and smelled legitimately more like the nearby Vieux Port than food. La piece de resistance of this mess in a bowl, was the aforementioned crab, which was nestled in the middle of the plate, and, so far as we could tell, not really meant to be eaten. Below is the aftermath. The empty space on my plate was occupied by two large pieces of potato, which were bland but edible. If this were any other dish, I might have been upset by the disproportionate ratio of potato to seafood. I guess there’s always a silver-lining

Weekend in Marseille

I finished week 2 in France with a weekend trip to Marseille. I figure it’s easier and more fun just to include some pictures, instead of detailing the whole trip. The cocktails pictured are called the Blue Planet and Red Planet, respectively. If you are ever at Bar Equinoxe with a friend and are willing to have French people gawk at you, please give them a try.

Week 2: And classes begin…

This is a bizarre hallway I walk through to get to French class. The entire Université Stendhal 3 is a cluster of academic buildings linked by many passageways like this one to form one massive complex. The architect wanted students to be able to move throughout the university without ever having to go outside. Unfortunately, this design choice leaves many students (*cough* me *cough*) confused and disoriented.

Vive La France, Allez à Sydney.

One of the many clever posters for Sydney’s International Food Festival. Seemed almost too apropos.