I wish I had a new French recipe to post but ever since I returned from Switzerland, the part that is close to Italy, I have been on an Italian kick. I had the best fish in lemon sauce while there and some incredible polenta. My first try at making my own polenta was not a success. It needed a lot more in the way of spices and maybe some onion and, my, that stuff turns rubbery once it cools down. I spread it in a pan to let it cool, then cut it into squares and tried to brown it in a pan with some olive oil but it stubbornly stayed bright yellow and only an application of a spicy tomato sauce made it worth eating.
Next I tried making a dish of fish with lemon sauce. It was good but not as good as that I had in Switzerland. I think I made mine too lemony. But rissoto, now that was a huge success. I did not have that in Switzerland but I did see a recipe at the blog called Chez Lulu that called for baking the rissoto. One reason I’ve never made it before is that I can’t get excited about standing over a pan and stirring something for at least thirty minutes, adding chicken stock as it is absorbed. I’ve had it in restaurants before but never was inspired enough to do it at home but, suddenly, while on my Italian kick, I thought it was time and it turned out fabulous! The only thing that happened was that when I brought it out of the oven after 18 minutes, there was still a lot of fluid that hadn’t been absorbed so I just cooked it down on a burner until it was finished. Seriously good stuff. I’m going to start trying recipes, Italian and French, for artichokes next since they are in season right now.

Baked Asparagus Risotto

8 ounces/250g thick, smoky bacon, chopped into small pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons/25g butter plus 1 tablespoon/12g
10 ounces/300g risotto rice
8 ounces/ 250g fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup/125ml of white wine (optional)
3 cups/700ml hot chicken stock
pinch salt
freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup/50g Parmesan cheese, grated
Heat oven to 200C/400F
Fry the bacon pieces in an ovenproof pan or casserole dish with a lid for 3-5 minutes until crisp.
Stir in the onion and 2 tablespoons/25g butter and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft.
Add the rice and stir for a minute or two, until all the grains are coated.
Pour in the optional white wine and cook for 2 minutes, until absorbed.
Add the hot stock, the salt and the asparagus pieces, then give it all a quick stir.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and bake for 18 minutes until just cooked.
Stir in 2/3 of the Parmesan and remaining butter.
Serve, sprinkled with the remainder of the cheese and pass the pepper mill.

Sideroads of Europe

Provence is known for its blue skies, sunshine and incredible light. Unfortunately, today wasn’t one of those. I’m not complaining though. We need the rain.

I ventured out over hill and dale to Lourmarin and its Friday market, one of the best. Asparagus is usually the first vegetable you see for sale in Spring along with artichokes. They sell white and green asparagus. The white asparagus is actually just regular green asparagus but it has been covered with dirt so it stays white. It is supposed to be a gourmet item and it costs more but, to tell you the truth, I can’t tell the difference in taste, hick that I am, so always buy green. I didn’t buy the ones in this picture but found them cheaper at another stall. By the way, I was walking around with an umbrella along with everyone else.

You really know that Spring is here when you see the tiny French strawberries. Earlier you can find huge strawberries from Spain not grown in soil but some sort of artificial set up and there is a major difference in taste. I bought the French ones at this market and can’t wait to have them with sugar sprinkled over them-sometimes simple things are the best.

Sideroads of Europe

I love wysteria. I love how that mass of purple flowers hangs down from the thick vine, perfuming the air with its light sweet fragrance. One reason it is so special is because it comes so quickly and ends almost in a week-or so it seems. I’ve gotten a few shots of wysteria growing in Paris but somehow have always missed the season in Provence.

Every time I pass this corner in a little village near us called la Motte d’Aigues I wish I had my camera. Usually it’s just the thick trunk and green leaves but in April it is a show stopper exploding with purple.

Two closeup shots. Can you see the rain drops on the flowers? We’ve been getting a lot of much needed rain here and there is even more on the way. Up in northern France they even got snow which I’m glad didn’t make its way down here.

Sideroads of Europe

Often in the afternoon, especially when it is raining like today, I will wander into our bedroom, lie on the bed and turn on the TV. I flip through the many channels and, except for an occasional home decorating show-many of them from Quebec-or a cooking show, I usually settle on an old tried and true Hercule Poirot written by Agathie Christie and done so well by, I think, BBC. I know the endings of all of the ones shown here, plus they are all dubbed into French. My husband always asks me why I am watching the shows again and I’m really not sure. I love the actor who plays Hercule with that waxed moustach, prissy walk, the sharp mind and kind eyes-I guess it is comforting, like a meeting with an old friend. I am especially drawn to the art deco buildings that they have in so many shots as well as the furniture and clothing. The women all have those hair dos that must have been done the old fashioned way with hair pins and air drying. The hats are fabulous, as are the accessories. I just love looking at a scene and spying some great jewelry or a really fantastic dress. I wonder at the scenes with old cars up and down the streets, people in clothing from the 20’s walking along, as Hercule gets out of an old taxi and marvel at how long it must have taken to set the scene up. One show even has Hercule flying over the Channel to France and I recognized some streets in Montmartre.
I went through a period, some years ago, of reading every Agatha Christie book I could get my hands on. I eventually got tired of her style and moved on but I did find her personally very interesting and enjoyed the movie, “Agatha” very much in which Agatha, after her husband leaves her for another woman, something that happened to her in real life, disappears for ten days. She was finally found in a hospital and she said she was a victim of traumatic amnesia. She eventually remarried an archeologist and traveled extensively with him to his sites becoming an expert herself in it, helping him excavate. Many of her stories are set in Egypt.

Sideroads of Europe

France recently celebrated a fete du fromage although if they celebrated it around here, I missed it. Anyway, almost every day here at chez nous is a fete du fromage. I try not to eat it all of the time but Maurice can’t have a meal without having some at the end with some bread. I really like blue cheese and just a simple goat cheese that comes in little tubular shapes. Occasionally I will buy this:

It is a very bland soft white cheese mixed with garlic and herbs that is wonderful spread on a cracker. I could eat a whole meal of this. I think it is over 40% fat so I try to limit my self to a cracker or two at a time.
Then there is this:

Another simple white cheese, a little harder, with chopped walnuts stirred into it and those brown stripes are some sort of walnut paste. It is so good and crunchy and sweet too. I usually eat it as a dessert. I only buy this once a year or so. There is only so much my arteries can take.

I was tagged by Meredith to list seven weird things about me. She wrote about food so let me see if I can come up with seven weird things related to food.

1. I am one of ten people in the world who doesn’t drink coffee.
2.Strangely, I love kahlua and cream so I’m thinking if I add enough sweet and creamy things to coffee, I would drink it every day.
3. I used to drink Diet Coke every morning as a breakfast beverage as my source of caffeine. I finally broke the habit but I will drink it occasionally in the afternoon now.
4. I used to eat Ding Dongs with milk for breakfast too back when I was skinny and knew any better. I still would if someone would come out with the news that they were good for you. (Ding Dongs are sort of like chocolate covered twinkies, everything in them is totally artificial). But, really, how much better are pancakes or donuts?
5. I hated blue cheese when I lived in the States. Maybe it is because the cheese is made of unpasterized milk that it tastes better here. I used to like Velveeta too which, really, isn’t really cheese.
6. I don’t like “innards” and can’t stand liver and onions but I sure do love foie gras.
7. I used to eat Cheerios for dinner at least once a week. I can’t find it here in France without all sorts of things added to it, nuts or honey. I love to eat it with bananas. I don’t eat cereal at all here in France.

The rules for the above meme:
THE RULES:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
I haven’t listed seven people-I ran out of time. Is there some sort of penalty for this?

Sideroads of Europe

Church steeple in Caron

I was just thinking about our trip to Switzerland. Of course, most of my memories are of my grandchildren and all they said and did. The youngest at age two, Micah, is so funny and smart (of course). One day his mother was getting after his older brother. She was saying, “I’m giving you until three to come out of there. One…, Two…” Micah was standing beside me while this was happening and he quietly said, “Three.” He also threw a little fit one day and decided to put himself into time out. I know all three of my grandsons will be rattling off Italian before long.

Yet another door there

I was wishing I had been raised to speak at least one more language than English. I think it is so smart to teach children several languages. Almost everyone we had interaction with there spoke French very fluently. My son and I walked up to the local cafe one night for a drink. He was greeted by all of the regulars. One man said, “Jason, I have a solution to your transportation problem.” My son doesn’t have a car yet. This was said in perfect English. “You need a glider!” They are so high up on the mountain that this actually could probably work. Anyway, we sat down at a table and a family of four was seated next to us. Jason tried to say in Italian that we would be gone soon and that they could then also have our table. The family, it turned out was German with a family vacation home up there in Carona. The father answered Jason in perfect English. They ordered their dinner in fluent Italian, and then spoke really good Spanish when I told them Jason could speak it. The older son also rattled off Spanish. I just found the whole experience amazing.

On a totally different subject, I found this website http://icanhascheezburger.com/ while browsing around the Internet. It mostly has funny photos of cats, but this one made me laugh outloud:

Sideroads of Europe