French Food Market

I've been touring through France and Spain for the last three weeks and have had some fantastic food experiences that I will definitely be writing about. The first one I want to share is French food markets. A friend and I started out in Strasbourg, near the border of Germany, and drove through the country, ending in Provence and the south. We were hoping to catch markets in a few cities but ended up only visiting two because they kept closing before we could get there.

Our second day in Strasbourg we were lucky enough to find a street market and the food was absolutely amazing - I wanted to eat everything I saw. The variety of vegetables was fantastic and together with bread, cheeses and sausages of all sorts, I was definitely ready to eat.

Rainbow Chard and White Asparagus with Panko Brown Butter

This winter I decided to try growing rainbow chard in the garden. It was kind of a funny choice because up to that point I’d never eaten any sort of chard and had no idea what to do with it. I came up with this recipe one night after finding some sweet little white asparagus at the local farmers market. The result was a good mix of healthy and comforting, being enough vegetable to make it feel like a good choice and enough panko crisped in brown butter to make it feel a little bit bad.

Rainbow Chard and White Asparagus with Panko Brown Butter

Several large leaves of chard (rainbow or swiss), roughly chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (depending on how offensive you choose to feel!)
1 bunch white asparagus, hard bottoms trimmed off and sliced into large chunks
olive oil
about ½ cup panko bread crumbs
3 Tbsp butter 

Saute the chard in olive oil on medium heat for several minutes until it starts to wilt. Add minced garlic and asparagus and cook until all the vegetables are cooked through but not soggy. Remove from the pan and add butter. Let the butter foam up and cook. It will turn slightly brown and begin to have a nutty smell. Add the panko crumbs and toss for a few minutes until they begin to brown as well. Pour over the vegetables and serve.


The only real trouble I had with this recipe was when I decided to serve it with panko encrusted salmon. I should have known better – it was just too much panko for one meal.

Both tasted excellent but overpowered one another when sharing the plate. Next time I might go with some grilled shrimp or roasted chicken.

As far as the chard goes, I am definitely a fan, especially of the homegrown variety. It’s a fun thing to grow – like basil, you cut a leaf off and it makes the plant grow even more. It looks so pretty out in the garden, soaking up the sunlight.

Adventures in Lettuce Land

I've been on a salad kick lately.  I used to pretty much hate salads - they all seemed boring with their limp lettuces and bottles of dressings in varying colors.  Now I've started playing with them and I've discovered they're so fun!

 

Mache salad with orange muscat vinaigrette and herb-chevre

I especially like the possibilities with changing up the lettuces.  I'd never tried Mache before (also called Lamb's Lettuce) but it is fantastic!  Small little bouquets of mild leaves with a hint of pepper.  They are especially good with avacado.

Mache with avacado, walnuts, apple, and lemon-dijon vinaigrette

I've been so inspired that I started growing some things in the garden specifically for salads (radicchio, Chinese radishes)  and I'm hoping with my spring garden I can expand a lot to include things like endive and more herbs for dressings.

Mache with avacado, radishes, pomegranate, and herb vinaigrette

Making dressings is another new fantastic world.  The possibilities for vinaigrettes are endless and now I've even started playing with buttermilk dressings.  Those might take a while to perfect though - they seem a bit more complicated than the vinaigrette.

Spinach salad with candied pecans, onion confit, and goat cheese

The winner for best salad topping has to be the onion confit that I made for the salad above.  It's the perfect mix of sweet and tangy (almost like an onion marmelade) and paired with the mild creamy fat of the goat cheese is a match made in heaven (or in my kitchen more like).

Onion Confit

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb red onions - very thinly sliced into half rounds

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp dried fruit (I used apricots)

1/2 c. good red wine

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in pan over medium.  Add onions.  Let sweat gently until onions give off their juices and become transparent.  Stir in sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper until the mixture starts to melt.  Add dried fruit and wine, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Watch and stir often, adding more wine (or water) as needed.  When onions and fruit have melted to a jam-like consistency taste and adjust for seasoning (takes at least 30 minutes).

Seasonality

I've noticed that since starting a garden (a picture of some summer bounty is on the left) my food philosophy has changed quite a bit.  I find myself thinking seasonally much more than I used to.  This might sound a little hokey, but I almost feel like my body and mind are a part of everything and if I listen closely enough to myself, I find that I crave the foods that are in season.  In the summer I want fresh salads, fish and seafood lightly prepared, crisp white wine.  In the fall I start craving stews and thick slices of bread and dark red wine.

In the spring I planted eggplants, melons, tomatoes, squashes.  Now with my fall garden I'm eagerly waiting for my leeks, shallots, winter squash, and radicchio.  I like the feeling of changing with the seasons.  It feels very natural to me and comforting somehow.  I wonder where all this comes from and how my body keeps track of seasons.  It's strange because I live in this hot desert and it doesn't even resemble fall right now but I want the fall food anyways.  Regardless of where it comes from,  I'm going to embrace it.  I'm thinking leek and zucchini soup and roast for dinner.  And maybe some Pinot Noir.