I don’t usually post on Sunday nor do I do two foodie stories in the same week…but then again…this isn’t any ordinary Sunday. So while I prepare the long wait until 8pm when the election results start rolling in, I am taking comfort in comfort, wherever I can.
My grocery store roses help, even if they are bruised and fading fast. I still love their leathery petals and spindly form that pulls me into the gateway of a labyrinth with a simple gaze.
And of course, there is food. I have been cooking even more than usual, if that is possible. Actually, it isn’t, so I will add that I have been putting a little more thought into what goes in the pan and onto the plate as I need an extra outlet for the brimming anxiety within.
First up, for those of you that might be pondering your Sunday brunch, a funky mixture that worked well. I have the fantastic Deb Perleman at Smitten Kitchen to thank for both the “just put it in a bowl” and the “everything tastes better with a fried egg on top” concepts which are fun to play around with. Here, the bottom layer is shredded zucchini sauteed in cumin and crushed cherry tomatoes, then perfectly ripe Haas avocados were spliced around the sides, topped with eggy and crumbled feta and there you go. I will be making this again.
Have you already eaten? Europe just finally swung around to the time change last night (I know, I don’t understand why we can’t just do it all on the same day either), so depending where you are, that is entirely possible. All right then, well, if comfort is what is called for, there is nothing that fits the bill better than this dish, a riff from the most amazing Patricia Well’s “The Provence Cookbook” which has been sleeping up on the top shelf for far too long.
Get out your trusty Creuset (or any deep iron casserole dish) then brown chicken legs on each side and remove with thongs so as not to pierce the skin (p.s. France, you may be in crazy politics mode, but I love you for providing chicken fermier or straight from the producer so readily). As they are in season, sauté some sliced spring onions until tender and then replace the chicken, add two cups of white wine (or less if you are not as greedy about sauce as I am), add olives (I happened to have some that are stuffed with chorizo on hand and I have to say that it added mucho gusto), more of those perky cherry tomatoes, additional spring onions and sliced lemons on top. Cover and cook over lowish heat for about an hour until done. This has to be the easiest and yet most rewarding dish I have made in forever. Don’t go by the mi-cooked crappy iphone photo, just trust me.
And since we know by now that roasted cabbage is actually vegetable bacon, why not make some? Along with eggplants roasted with a little olive oil and a delightfully wacky product that is a mashup of Tabasco and teriyaki sauces plus some strips of whatever fish you have on hand (I used leftovers of Remi’s excellent trout), voila, another healthy stack in a bowl idea. P.s. I also made a lemon tahini vinaigrette for this but it doesn’t really need it so if you are feeling lazy, like a true Food E, then skip it.
So there we are. I am currently roasting asparagus (two huge bunches for only 4.50€ at the market yesterday) to surprise Remi with a salmon benedict for when he comes back from voting…
…for something tells me that I am not the only one that is going to need to take comfort in comfort today.
So I will leave you with this absolutely gorgeous version of one of my very favorite songs in the whole wide world…turn it up and calm down…
…and sigh it with me now, “Ommm“…
…”Shanti, shanti, peace, peace, peace.”
Dear Mike, some advice from all-too-wordy-me:
1. always save what you've written in the comment-box before you hit "publish"; there are any number of reasons that the comment can go missing (particularly if, like me, you're working on/from AOL, have a very quirky&old computer, and are pretty tech-ignernt to being with. It's a triple-threat. So, I always save the comment. Often, I just put it in an email tomyself and re-send it later when the dust has settled.
2. I live mostly in North Carolina (Hillsborough, to be exact….a tiny, colonial town that's chock-a-block with justly renowned Southern writers. It's seriously difficult to throw a dinner party in this town, since a large number of the guests are invariably off on a book tour, a speaking engagement, etcetera. The bonus, as I've delightedly learned, is that you get CREDIT for so-generously inviting people without ever having to actually feed them). I'm not kidding…..I threw a lunch for 92 year old ElizabethSpencer (google her; she just coughed up a new collection of fine short stories) last week….to which I invited about twenty people. Only nine could come, but I got thank you/you're-SO-wonderful-to-do-this (!) notes from everyone.
—-david terry
like a Woody Allen film
you took us back to walking round the corner off fifth avenue and seeing a long, long (polite), line of navy blue blazers and children with blousy-bows-in-neat-hair a few years ago and realizing it was the presidential elections for France.
it could only have been French Expats. unmistakeable (and oui, tres chic).
I am a PC person using a new mac; I didn't see how to copy and paste my deleted portion of the new reply….i'm learning….
there is a limit to number of characters one can write here…i'm learning.
So I wrote a long response but it is lost. It was enjoyable, but lost. I didn't preview and clicked publish but it disappeared. I can't resist to write again but it won't be as good or detailed. A lot more about the story in the original. So just some answers and abbreviated details.
The man had a "Belle Mort". He was a playwright and wanted to resume where he had left off around 10 years ago, his work prior had only been performed in local theatre communities in Southern California. I left a few days after he arrived in Arles, by design, so I could show him the ins and outs of the apartment. I was thrilled to have this meticulous loner who I had met through the father of my business partner who was one of the muckily mucks at the UNLV program for continuing education for seniors. The latter was visiting a creative energy unleashing class where Stephen was talking about going to France again to write. Emails led to breakfast, to other get togethers and even a trip to Utah mountains. When I got home I had scheduled back surgery and read his plays while convalescing and communicated by emails. The emails stopped and we considered the worst but convinced ourselves that he was deeply into his work or on a voyage….He had written that he wanted to die in France. I never imagined I would have to learn so much about France this way. Shame I lost my first reply….
I brought an industrial ozone generator over in October, but the lavender extract I put on the grout end of the february seemed to make the biggest impact on the odor. I used a syringe to apply it until 4 am one evening; the rubber stopper slipped and I was greasy with the substance….if there is lavender poisoning I had it. The original cleaning service was arranged before I arrived as soon as the police cleared the scene. I was literally taken to the cleaners and then had to find a real disinfection service. Insurance in France did not cover any of this. Policies are very precise. An attorney in Arles looked at this for me. Have had the entire place repainted as well. Stephen's sister, his sole surviving relative, wouldn't talk to me after several days when I told her how much the clean up cost. She didn't come over to France either and his body stayed in a funeral home for three weeks until she finally sent funds for cremation. I met the American counsul from Marseille; she came to pick up his affaires after I got there in June.
We stayed in a hotel and no friends or family have visited since!
Heather you probably know the neighbors with the terrace kitty corner, the Paccaras. Jacqueline flagged me down when we reentered and began cleaning this summer. I did not know her before and havent spoken with her since. I guess her son is a co-owner of Cuisine de Comptoir. She was on her terrace and I was in my bedroom. She felt the need to tell me that she had seen him lying on the couch, not moving for over a week and thought to herself "cet homme, il dort beaucoup". Denial?, indifference? The folks downstairs didn't smell it either. This event also sifted the good time company from the serious ones we have met thus far. Friends is a much looser term than "amis", don't you think?
Yes the apartment was purchased.
I wrote a lot but it was too long…explaining loss of the response. i just cut off more. I have more to express and it is lost again. I can't believe I can't remember seeing a Redhead with two beautiful dogs. I have dogs too.
It was a thrill seeing all your comments this morning.
I stopped by hoping you had some election news (to your liking). Then I fond myself copying down a recipe and drooling over a white rose….I. Never expected to be entertained by the comments section. Let me rephrase that. Someone dying is not entertaining….but Dr. Mike is so cute…and a newbie at blogging…Oh to have an apt in Provence …Then David and his client who has an aversion to unsettled spirits…..
Love your blog,
David, I'm still trying to figure out how this blog works. I wonder if my response to all the comments was lost? Do you live in France or North Carolina?
Not at all about the insensitivity. Humor always helps too.
Hey Mike….I hope my comment about the dead dogsitter didn't seem insensitive.
Not entirely incidentally? I live in a 220 year old house. A client was here yesterday (and at this point I should emphasize that, MOST of the time, my clients are surprisingly bright and interesting folks), and, at one point when we were standing in the front hall, she said "Do you think anyone ever died here? I couldn't live anywhere somebody had died…."
All I had to say was that, given the odds over 220 years, the number of folks who had died in the house and the number who'd been born in it were probably about equal…..and that she probably wouldn't like living in Europe. This didn't allay her misgivings.
—david terry
I replied under your, David's and Joan's comment, clicked Publish but don't see anything. Not sure how it works…was a long reply! Did you receive it?