Le Tour de France - Nos Tour de France

Starting our 10 day tour of France with the Finale of Le Tour de France on Les Champes Elysees was a treat as wonderful as all the food we experienced.
We traveled from Paris to Brittany, to Toulouse, to Clerment Ferrand, up to the Loire valley and back to Paris - eating everything we could find along the way! Over the next few months in this blog, you'll see me work my way through many of the great recipes we learned, and try to replicate them in the American kitchen. All the food we had was wonderful (except the snails, I have to admit), but the bread - need I say more? I was reading Julia Child's "My Life in France" during this trip, and she swears that we can make a good baguette back stateside - I have my doubts but this will be a challenge I will undertake in this blog... Stay tuned here for more details as I figure it out.

Barley Black Bean and Toasted Walnut Salad

2/3 cup barley
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large sweet potato, diced into 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow pepper, finely diced
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Dressing:
1/3 cup walnut oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper

Heat oven to 400F. Toss sweet potato with oil and salt, and black pepper to taste. Spread evenly on a jelly roll pan and roast for three ten-minute intervals, stirring in between. Meanwhile, bring 3 cups water with 1 tsp salt to a boil in a medium pot. Add the barley and simmer for about 30-40 minutes, until barley is just cooked. Drain and cool to room temperature. When cooked, set aside sweet potatoes and put walnuts on the jelly roll pan. Roast in oven for about 3-5 minutes, or just until the walnuts are fragrant. Be careful - it is easy to burn walnuts in a 400F oven! Cool walnuts to room temperature.

In a large bowl, mix together the barley, beans, potato, onion, pepper and walnuts. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing and toss gently with the salad.

Rehoboth Beach Salad

Keep cool on the dunes with a fresh summer salad - easy for the beach because it has most all of the meal inside a single container! On our first visit to the beaches of Delaware, our new state, we only complemented this salad with a nice Saga Blue Brie and crackers.1 1/2 lb. small red or yellow potatoes (fingerling), 1-inch
1/2 lb slice (about 1/2-inch) of cooked deli ham, diced
1/4 lb Genoa salami, diced
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup shredded carrot (2 cups julliened, packaged)
1/2 lb Dill Havarti cheese, finely diced
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained well and quartered
2 cups cooked elbow or shell macaroni
6 cups packed baby spinach leaves
1 can chick peas, drained
Dash red pepper flakes
Palmful parsley, minced

Dressing:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed through garlic press
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Herbes du Provence (or Italian herbs)

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and set aside. Meanwhile cover the potatoes in a pot with cold water and bring to a slow boil. Cook for about 10 minutes, just until tender - if anything, under cook a bit as they can stand and cook a bit more after they are drained. Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool to room temperature. Gently fold salad ingredients together and mix with dressing. Serves 6-8.

Pork Kebobs with Bourbon Molasses Sesame Glaze

4 boneless pork loin chops, cut into 4-6 pieces each
1 red pepper, cut into 16 pieces
1 yellow summer squash cut into 16 slices
5 large green onions, sliced into 1-inch slices from white end (about three pieces per onion; reserve green stem for another use)

Glaze:
1/3 cup Bourbon
3 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp sesame oil
1-2 tsp Tabasco (or other) hot sauce

Heat grill. Thread pork and veggies in an alternating pattern onto 4 skewers. Grill over high heat for about 2 minutes per side, coating kebobs generously with glaze. Salt and pepper generously. Serves four.

Roasted Potato Salad Provencal

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 lb small fingerling potatoes, about 1-inch diameter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 green onions, coarsely diced
2 tsp herbes de Provence
Palmful of fresh parsley, minced

Preheat oven to 400F. In a large mixing bowl, toss three quarters of the tomatoes with all the remaining ingredients except the parsley. Salt and pepper generously, and mix well. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Stir to mix veggies well, shake sheet to spread veggies out, and return to oven for another 10 minutes. Stir to mix well again, and bake for 10 more minutes, or until potatoes are softened. Tip into a serving bowl and add remaining tomatoes and the parsley. Refresh with a dash more red wine vinegar if desired. Mix well and allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Champagne Chicken

A nice festive dish to celebrate the inauguration of the kitchen in our new home! Serve with remaining Champagne!1 whole roasting chicken, cut into 8-10 serving pieces
1 dozen small peeled carrots, or 6 peeled carrots cut in half
2 leeks, cleaned or 1 large onion, diced
1/4 lb salt pork or bacon, diced
1 small jalapeño or red chile pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 fresh sage leaves, minced, or 1 tsp dried sage
16 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
3 cups Champagne

In a large Dutch Oven, saute the pork or bacon in a bit of olive oil until browned a bit and most of the fat rendered. If using salt pork, you can simmer in a few tablespoons of water first, then brown after the water cooks off. Set aside in a large bowl. Brown the chicken pieces in a bit of the reserved fat and a dash of olive oil, in batches if necessary, setting aside in bowl after browned. Then add a bit of olive oil to pot if necessary, and sauté the leek (or onion) and the carrots, until the leek are softened and just beginning to brown. Add the garlic, chili pepper and sage and cook another few minutes, until fragrant. Set aside in bowl with chicken. Raise heat in the pot and cook the mushrooms. Allow them to release their water and then cook it off. Brown the mushrooms just a bit. Return chicken and vegetables to Dutch Oven and add the Champagne. Add a bit of water or chicken broth (or apple juice) if necessary to just about cover the chicken. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 30 minutes, just until chicken is cooked through. Turn pieces carefully during cooking to mix flavors.

Mango Peach Strawberry Smoothie

Smoothies are the power drink we love! There are mirad varieties, so experiment and enjoy. Here is one of my favorites.

1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen mango pieces
1 cup frozen peach slices
2 cups Greek vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup orange juice

Place frozen fruit in a blender and chop using 'chop ice' function until finely minced. Add the juice and yogurt and blend just until smooth. Scrape down sides of blender and pulse a few tines. Serve immediately.

Cook's note: use frozen fruit and serve immediately to achieve that frozen ice-creamy consistency.

Tomato Crustade

This was inspired by a great blog, A Taste of Beirut - so very Lebanese in style, but definitely French influenced with lavender and mustard. I have fresh lavender in my herb garden but also have tarragon, which would work beautifully as well (as would basil chiffonade). A great little appetizer when tomatoes are in season - our Greenfield Hill Farm is swarming with tomatoes already - and this requires the best tomato you can find - none of those tasteless, factory tomatoes you find in large supermarkets will do here.

1 12”x12” section puff pastry
2 large ripe gorgeous, unctuous, delicious fresh ripe tomatoes, VERY thinly sliced
1 Tbsp small capers
1 Tbsp fresh lavender or tarragon leaves (I use lavender here)
2 Tbsp really very good Dijon mustard (I use a mix of Dijon and Country-style Dijon)

Preheat oven to 375F. Lay out the puff pastry on parchment paper on a baking pan. Slather the mustard on the pastry. Top with the tomatoes, overlapping each by a bit. Scatter the capers and the lavender on top. Salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle tomatoes with a good dash of olive oil. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the tomatoes are well roasted and the crust is browned nicely. Cool slightly and slice across diagonals to make individual serving wedges.

Black and Kidney Bean Cheese Burgers

This is not a great week for 'Meatless Monday' so I'll post this bean burger today - not tomorrow! But if you are serving anyone vegetarian tomorrow - go for this; it'll feel right at home at any BBQ.

1 medium carrot, peeled and quartered
1 small onion (size of a lime) quartered
1 jalapeno pepper, quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
palmful cilantro
1 16-oz can black beans, drained
1 can light red kidney beans, drained (not dark red)
1 tsp powdered cumin
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup cooked brown rice or other leftover grains
¼ cup Besan (chick pea flour – or gluten free flour)
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 egg, very well beaten

If the rice is cold, zap it in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it a bit warm and stickier. In a food processor, pulse the carrot, onion, jalapeno and garlic until very finely minced. Transfer to a large bowl. Repeat with the cilantro (or parsley if you prefer). In batches, pulse the beans a few times just until they are very coarsely ground, not puréed. Transfer to bowl. Add the cumin, salt, pepper, cheese, rice, besan and bread crumbs and gently mix together. Gently fold in the beaten egg. Allow mixture to firm-up by cooling in the refrigerator about an hour. Form into eight patties. Carefully fry in a well-oiled non-stick skillet until browned on one side. Carefully flip and cook remaining side. Serve with your favorite condiments.

Cook's note: I have never met a bean burger that will hold up on a gas or charcoal grill grate. I doubt this would work on anything but a flat skillet.