Dining “tapas” style is the Spanish tradition of eating a bunch small plates of both hot and cold foods and in my travels through Spain years ago, Healthier Tortilla Española is undoubtedly a popular one. It’s a style that encourages sharing, which is my…
I think it’s safe to say that we’re solidly in December and, thanks to climate change, it’s weirdly still in the 40s temperature-wise. I shouldn’t be complaining since my morning commute has been rather pleasant, but I really want a white Christmas, and that doesn’t…
It’s two days past Thanksgiving here in the States, and in my house, we’re still eating leftovers. Unfortunately, we’ve run out of the delicious sides and are left with a plethora of turkey. What to do….what to do? So today, in a last nod to France, I’m giving you some help on how to use those leftover turkey bits if you’re looking for a different flavor combination than parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Here we’ve got it with this Thanksgiving leftover slow-cooker cassoulet.
Reine de Saba Chocolate cake, or the Queen of Sheba cake is a rich French-style chocolate cake with an almond base, topped with rich chocolate ganache.
About four years ago, my friend and her parents spent about a month floating around Europe before she met up with me and another friend at Oktoberfest, Take One (we went two years in a row because it was soooo fun!). Recounting her adventures, she…
Profiteroles, or cream puffs, are filled French choux pastry balls with a typically sweet and moist filled with whipped cream, custard, or pastry cream.
Admittedly, I’ve become cranky in my old age. On my last few vacations, I’ve found nothing to be more annoying and unpleasant than being in the same place at the same time as a large group of high school students on an international tour. I know this is mean and scrooge-y, especially since my first European adventures were on exactly that kind of trip- I visited the Normandy region on my second hop across the pond with my AP European History class. The coastline is absolutely breathtaking and, as I’m sure you know, Omaha Beach carries the distinction of being the site of the largest military landing in history, which occurred on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Despite the overwhelming sadness of being at the Normandy American Cemetery, there was also a sense of overwhelming calm and a gravity that my seventeen year-old self couldn’t fully grasp.
Photo courtesy of Tomato
We only spend a few short hours touring the beaches, bunkers and monuments and I didn’t get a chance to sit back and appreciate the town itself-or the food. I’d love to go back and experience the sights, sounds and tastes with my thirty-one year old perspective. Seafood in Normandy is abundant; Normandy being the chief oyster-cultivating, scallop-exporting, and mussel-raising region in France. Another fun fact I discovered, thanks to Tomato, is that Normandy is known for its cider (and not so much for wine), and the popular apple brandy, Calvados. Since we’re still sort of in apple season here in Chicago, this was the angle I went for with dinner.
Chicken Normandy is a very simple dish that takes inspiration from the flavors of the region, most notable, apples. Typical of French cuisine, the accompanying sauce is very rich, with lots of butter and cream. My version omits most of that, but still manages a very rich, flavorful sauce. Served with haricot verts, my dinner guest, Apple Crisp, gave it a thumbs up.
Crème brûlée also known as burnt cream is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar
