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.”
Heather this all looks so delish. I am writing my grocery list right now!!
xoxo
Karena
The Arts by Karena
PS re your April visit, I love May 1st in Arles. Would be a shame to leave the night before. joan
Well, that must cut down on too many friends wanting to visit you. My rule of thumb when I lived in Paris was first dibs to people who had visited me in Madagascar or sent me care packages when I was a Peace Corps volunteer. Hope you enjoy Arles, one of my favorite places too.
Hi Heather, found your blog while looking for election results. Signed up and joined….I guess. I'm not a social networker. Anyway I visit Arles regularly and have an apartment there since late 2011. Lots of stories there already, especially after a friend died in my apartment and wasn't found for several weeks….Place du Forum, right on top of Agence du Pays d'Arles and MonBar. It is finally coming together again and will be better than before. I'm still in my working years as a pediatrician in Las Vegas (yes, families live here). I say I work here and live in Arles ever since. Hopefully can settle down one day there if the magic persists.
Will be back in Arles mid April for a couple of weeks. had the coup de coeur my first time there and with the philosophy of life is short….well.
Hope to meet you.
Mike Levin
ml*****@*ol.com
P.S. thats' supposed two bee "Avignonnaise" (Eye still havent' figured out how to edit things on this sight).
—–david
Well, I'm glad to see (having just followed your link to Patricia's "The Provence Cookbook") that somebody's finally gotten the good sense to change the 2004 first-edition cover of the book. I never could figure out why the first edition's cover featured an enterprisingly amateurish/anodyne watercolor of a lavender field (I suppose it'd serve just fine if it were shrunk-down and plastered over a coffee mug) rather than the photograph of Patricia in her blue smock that's on the back cover (it's a lovely. charmingly casual photograph of her).
Oh (and yes, the book's in front of me as I pound away at this, My Engine of Truth), I hope the illustrator isn't reading this, and/or doesn't turn out to be Patricia's previously-unknown stepdaughter, cherished neighbor, or longtime pal. I do see (now that I've checked) that the photographer is Steven Rothfeld.
That boy (I should have guessed this photograph was by him; he's awfully good) gets around. He also photographgs Frances's annual "Under the Tuscan Sun" calendars.
In any case, I'm glad the thing's got itself a new cover. It's a wonderful and very useful book. It (along with Richard Olney's "Provence: The Beautiful Cookbook" and Anne Willan's "The Country Cooking of France" are the three books I invariably give as presents to folks/friends who want to "learn" about French cooking (sorry, Julia…..).
Two of this household's staples are from "The Provence Cookbook" . Try the lentil/walnuts/walnut oil/caper/mint salad; people love this. THEN……try Patricia's White Wine Daube ("Daube Aignonnaise").. I love this recipe (so the folks I serve it to). Basically, it's a "quick" daube…..perfect for warmer months in that it's not overly heavy/hearty (there's a more refined, mustard-y version in her later, "Patricia Wells At Home in Provence").
Unexpectedly enough?…..her sister lives only about twelve miles way, in Durham, NC. I discovered this basic fact after I'd wondered why in the world her website was issuing out of iddy-biddy Carrboro, NC (twelve miles away in the other direction). Turns out that Patricia's techie nephew manages the thing.
Small world after all…..
—-david terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Lovely food, lovely woman. I, too, am anxious about this possible political travesty, but let's see how it goes. Be well.
You must be a wonderful cook Heather. I love to cook anything that is unhealthy (read desserts) but find real food a bit more boring to make. The truth is that I'm probably rather lazy and there are some thing which I do not like the taste of so which I will never cook.
The man I love….an ageless song and so emotional. Try the chicken in the oven (roasted) not cooked on a flame , think it's more tasty. We always eat it with white bread (yes, I know…) and white wine. ..and relax till you know the
result of the votings…then relax again. Have a lovely Sunday evening.
You had me at eggs, feta and avocado (which puts to shame the poor excuse for 'huevos rancheros' I ate in a local restaurant yesterday. As you know from my post of yesterday that I agree with Tip O'Neill that all politics is local and that what happens in France matters here too.