Feeling cheated by the arrival of “spring”? Um hum, I hear you.
There are a fair amount of mopers around these parts as well. Why? Ah, you see the puppers were in a tizzy because leur maître, Remi, was out of town for a few days and so they were stuck with…sigh…the girl…me. No big romps in the country. Oh, the utter sadness of sofa surfing and resting weary heads on velvet pillows…
I also felt a touch out of sorts but not exactly for the same reasons. You see, when you spend as much time together as Remi and I do, when one of us suddenly goes missing it is as if an arm had been misplaced. I spend an inordinate amount of time looking for it too. However, one way in which I let my “freedom” sing is in the kitchen.
Now I love to cook, don’t get me wrong, even in the truly closet-like “turn around and there you are” space in our current apartment. It is the “what” that tires me. As I often cook for both lunch and dinner, that is a whole lot of menus to scramble. So when Remi is gone, I don’t think, I copy. Things like the really perfectly balanced goat cheese, radish and arugula “tartine” (I used Wasa crackers instead for the crunch factor) drizzled with fruity olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt from La Tartine Gourmande (minus the endamame–again, Trader Joe’s how I long for thee!). Or my version of Ella Coquine’s “Italian Girl Stir Fry” aka “Pasta sans Pasta”.
It goes a little something like this: chop broccoli into florets, slice up red papers, prepare cooked chick peas. Sauté all of the above with a sliced onion and several cloves of garlic plus more spices than you can shake a stick at (chipolte, cayenne and ancho pepper? Uh, yup), add in enough coulis de tomates to coat, top with a blanket of melted emmenthal and then plop down in front of the most unapologetically girly American movie, because you can.
It was so good that I did exactly that two nights in a row.
And if that doesn’t warm you up (and it will)…?
Find a buddy to cuddle up to and hold on. No matter what might be happening outside of your window right now, the real deal is right around the corner.
PS:
Speaking of Ella, she recently wrote about tracing the path of her jazz vocalist Grandmother, Stella Levitt, who was an established artist in Paris for several decades. Frankly, this story is too fascinating not to pass on, so here is the link. The same can be said for the incredibly unique voice attached to it, so take a listen and see if that doesn’t make your heart take flight. It did mine.
When may I stop over … at dinnertime? (*sourire*)
These images make me want to dive right in… and then snuggle up with both Ben and Kipling.
(There is nothing quite like certain foods to satisfy and comfort and also be good for us. You've put me in a something-like-ratatouille mood, and I have none of the ingredients chez moi!)
Inspired by your photo, I'm changing my supper plans. I had never thought of using sliced radish that way. Using what I have at home, my bread will be whole wheat toast with cheese added to toast hot out of the toaster! At 66 degrees and windy, i.e., chilly in this place full of floor to ceiling sliding glass doors, will have a cup of hot tomato soup. The cheese will be Ombra, from Catalonia only found on line here, not during my 5 years each in Spain and France. If you come across it and/or Nevat, also from Catalonia, I recommend both….but they might well be old hat to you. Thanks for your inspiration.
Oh Heather I have to tell you – I cooked atlantic salmon with dukkha last night, served with a combo of sauté zucchini, aubergine, fresh tomato, red capsicum, garlic, paprika and spanish onion. It was delicious, but. The "but" was Andy saying "this is good, but when are you going to make Heather's recipe with the maple syrup again? That was sensational."
So you see your cooking skills have traversed the globe! This meal sounds delicious. Anything with chickpeas and I'm in. And I spy the jar of herb salt in your collection here which is the same as the one you recommended to Henrietta! It is quite sensational, and is going in lots of my cooking at the moment.
Know what you mean about the "what's for dinner" thing. Love cooking for dinner parties, but the everyday gets hard to think of something inspiring sometimes. xx
YUM! It's all I can do not to lick my computer screen. When my husband goes away, I subsist on toast. (The shame.) Seriously impressed with your meals for one!
I sure wouldn't mind having a cuddle with those two lovely dogs. I have become a very bad cook these days – i only make what's quick.
Just watched Zero Dark Thirty last night, really intense. Really excellent. Now, about food, look up what Dylan Ratigan is doing, and find his recipe for his morning juice/veggie drink which I just saw on TV. His project is amazing and this drink sounds like heaven in a glass. The dogs look really happy, just chilling, you know….
Yummie! I've been bored with cooking lately but I plan to imitate your spicey concoction and put a bit of life to tonight's leftovers! (Love those fur-babies of yours!)
Movie! Movie! Movie! (Inquiring minds need to know the name of the movie you watched!!!). As for the rest, "aw!" And "YUM!!" : )
*too embarrassed to admit as to what movie, no the puppers would have none of it*
And as for my kitchen, that is pretty much it! 😉 Just the oven/stovetop/dishwasher (yes all in one) to the right and the sink behind. Do you remember those "bachelor kitchens" that were in closets? It is pretty much like that.
Enjoy your morning in Palm Springs!
delicious!
and we have to say how gloriously poetic it is to be able to lean in and see a little of your kitchen…….
which movie did you choose?
and did the pups watch too?
tg xxx