bleudauvergne

Snack - in my office

Owen, I was very young at the time. I think everyone does something they regret during their youth. I got mine out of the way early. It is indelibly stamped in my checkered past like a stamp in my passport. And no, no one on Circle road disowned me. They knew and know me, they blame impetuous youth and all is forgiven. ------------Blog--------------> Lunch: Cafeteria Food. I used a "ticket restaurant", one of the few measly benefits enjoyed by French workers - It is the French version of food stamps, partially subsidized by the government, partially by my employer. Each month I am given the option to buy 10 of these tickets, at €2.40 apiece. They can only be used in restaurants and cafeterias that accept them. The face value of the ticket is €6.65. Therefore my actual cost for the meal is €3.20. I picked this salad because of the talk of Mussels in the cooking forum. I was not able to finish the cheese.

Those are all great ideas, Fi. Thanks. Hmmm.. :thinking:

But of course, Pan. How else am I going to get it? Once you've had it on a regular basis for a few years, it becomes a physical need. They certainly don't serve it at Chinese restaurants (although there were two places in L.A. that did a pretty good job of it).

Please excuse me for the last post - I meant about the recipe for the Coquilles St. Jacques. I made up the recipe. But no one makes things up out of a vacuum. We try things and we see things. But I haven't seen filo used this way before. [iNDULGENT REMINISCING WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO STRESS THE FACT THAT VARIED LIFE EXPERIENCES ADD TO A PERSON'S OBSERVATION SKILLS WHICH IS A CONTINGENT TO APPRECIATING FOOD] About my profession, I am one of the many people who studied art at the University, and then went on to do something completely different when there was not enough money to finance a studio. So in desperation and in kind of a rebellious move against my lot, which was basically to either go into lifelong debt by continuing on to grad school or work for minimum wage as a museum guard, I impulsively Joined the Army . It was there, in my early 20s, that I learned to speak Chinese and there that I first went to Germany, and Russia, and Turkey. Although I was chomping at the bit to get the heck out of that mess the entire time I was enlisted. I hated it. Every single day was a struggle. I toughed out a 4 year enlistment. But many good things came out of it. It made me bolder and stronger, and it was a terrific opportunity for me to travel. I managed to talk my way into a whole lot of fun jobs. After that, I got a job working for a Swiss commodities trading company in China. It was there that I first started doing a lot of cooking. Basically what happened was I was extremely busy, and could do nothing but work and sleep, because the Chinese day started a 8h00, and then at 3PM the London metal exchange opened. There were always calls coming from the head office and things to do until at least 9PM. It was mindless, brainless work. But it was my job to keep the hedge fund balance sheets and the P/L reports up to date, and make sure our Chinese trading partners opened their letters of credit on time. And I found that if I didn’t stay late and update things; things were hard to handle smoothly during the day that followed. I had an American friend who took me in and fed me from time to time. She was a young housewife my age in Beijing, following her husband. Straight from the mid-west. She had hired a cleaning lady who also cooked. But she wasn’t happy with her, because she was giving her recipes translated from the English for American dishes, which this Ayi had never seen before. Bless her heart, this poor downtrodden woman was being told to make Chicken and Dumplings without ever having tasted them. So my American housewife in Beijing friend was whining about how she didn’t do this right and didn’t do that right, and that she was going to fire her but it was uncomfortable because she knew she needed the money. So I said: “I need help. My home is a wreck. It is going to implode from the dust.” So I hired her. The first thing I did was double her salary. I could not believe what my friend had been paying her. I also left her to her own devices, and told her I would rather eat Chinese food. She saved my life at that point. She whipped everything into shape, including me. She took my clothes to the cleaners, darned my socks, changed the sheets, did wonders doing the shopping with the food money I left her each week, and lovingly prepared wonderful Chinese food for me which she left for me in the frigo. She hovered over me when I was sick. She was clearly downtrodden no more. Fresh flowers, business with the building management, she was amazing, she was wonderful. Every day she’d left me something great to eat. We had an agreement for her to come during the mornings every other Saturday, in order for her to be able to take instructions from me about what needed to be done. The thing was she did a perfect job, and I didn’t have anything to tell her. So she started to teach me to cook every other Saturday morning. She came with me to the airport when I left Beijing, and she cried when I left. I was really sorry to leave her too, and I gave her monry to send her son to school. I left behind a great salary and a future with that trading company. But the work was too demanding to not have much interest in it. Some people I knew who worked there lived for that kind of work. So it was a dream come true to work 13 hours a day crunching numbers. But I personally did not really feel like I was answering my life’s calling. It became hard to maintain when I began to travel a great deal inside China. I finally just said – It’s time to go. [/REMINISCE] Oh, about the Coquille St. Jacques. I saw a recipe in I think either a cookbook called the Great Chefs Cook American or Best American Recipes 2000 (?) for scallops with a roasted pepper sauce, that involved pureeing the peppers and incorporating them into a cream based sauce. It was alright but in my opinion the cream interfered. I felt the sauce was confused. The cream in the sauce, it muddied the beautiful clear voice of the peppers, I felt like the backdrop should be the scallops, and not the cream. But it was with that recipe that I first appreciated the combination of scallops and roasted peppers. And the filo thing lends itself to things that don’t cook a long time. One thing I would do differently, is before serving it I would lean a couple of chives along the inside, against the side of Queen Anne’s collar to make it prettier. About the Filo. I was browsing through a cook book aisle in a bookstore, and saw one of those fluffy no content photo books all about fantasies in brique. The book was badly done and not very creative. But just the idea of forming, folding, pulling, and sculpting it into shapes was what I took from it. I had never worked with it. That afternoon I picked up some of this dough and found that it is something that fulfils my creative needs quite nicely. It's almost lunchtime, and I am at the office. Food will not be so interesting at lunch - this is a warning! -Lucy

I made it up, please make it. Good morning.

It's chilled vin de noix! Very good with a cheese called bleu d'auvergne. Is this something that you serve mixed or straight? Of what "noix" does it taste? I am intrigued. Do you ever shop at hypermarchés? Or are they mostly for people who live outside of the city? We stayed outside of Lyon and would drive in each day passing a few large ones, we would stop in and always get snacks for the road. Thank you again for all the pictures, including those all the steps that go into the final dish. Larry - We barely ever go. If we do, it's for cleaning supplies and stuff. I avoid the food rayons in these types of stores. But it's a choice we have made. Noix is walnuts. It's noted that you like the steps, I'll keep including them, then! -Lucy

Brooks, I am going to have to check the orgin of the scallops. I've had them frozen since December. But I can still ask. I will do that this week.

It's not required. But in my opinion it reinforces this baker's real comittment to basic ingredients. His customers appreciate that.

That would be so 70's.

Jensen, have you ever been to Provence? That's a place with some serious lighting. If you're into that kind of thing, I suggest you add it to your pilgammage list (good food to accompany the light)

It's chilled vin de noix! Very good with a cheese called bleu d'auvergne.

Our main dish as usual salad with crudites, which we like to eat with a sampling of all of the herbs in the week's bouquets. Eggs ans Lardons are a typical Lyonnaise combination, the salad Lyonnais is this salad, but with poached eggs instead of boiled eggs. Followed by the cheese plate: and chocolate. Good night - see you in the morning!

On with dinner. I love the crust named brick in France. Filo, phyllo, that kind of dough. It comes in sheets here. Easy, pliable, friendly. Tonight I was thinking about cooking things that don't need long cooking times. In particular, scallops. Coquilles St. Jacques. I heard a report on the radio about the disciples of St Jacques today. I had a few in the freezer, so at lunch time, I took them out and thawed them, by putting them in a little bowl with cream. So tonight, first I cut my filo into triangles, with scissors. I got out my ramekins and pushed two triangles into each one, to make a kind of Queen Anne's collar. Inside, a wreath of dill. Slice your scallops. Place inside over the dill. Put minced roasted peppers over the scallops, top with a drizzle of evoo, and season. Bake at 400F/200C for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. When it's browned on the edges, add a litle wedge of lemon inside, lift out of the ramekin, and put on the plate. Voila.

No Pan, that's a celery root.

BTW, that's really wonderful, Paul. Greatest compliment a gal can get. edited to say - I guess we're real geeks, huh.

Aperetif hour -

Hi docsconz: I have loved the blogs so far and what I find fascinating about them is that each one has it's own personality, and each one has a sense of place, and rhythm, and color that makes a whole thing. I am just taking photos of what I'm cooking and eating, and talking as I go along, and I ask that no bars be placed in front of people unless there will be martinis served at them. OK? Thank you, by the way.

Hey, it's not that good! It's just soup!

Jinmyo, I was actually thinking of you when I did that, knowing how much you like knives and the effects of knives. About the lighting for the vegetables, I wasn't happy with it either. I think I should have adjusted the white balance to cool it down. I dont' normally take photos with the wooden cutting board in the background. I think I'll keep that in mind when I make dinner. Edited to say I tried to fix the lighting on the cutting board but then I thought- what the hell am I doing? And took it out.

Thank you, Paul. Your input is always most welcome. Lunch is over and we are going to venture out into the overcast afternoon to take in a film. But before we go, I will share the soup with you. After sweating the vegetables in the pot, the bouquet ball was stuffed with fresh herbs - tarragon, bay, and parsley. The vegetables were then covered with chicken stock, brought to a boil, and simmered covered over low heat for 40 minutes, or until the root vegetables are tender. After 5 minutes I removed the skin of the tomato. The stock ball does not have to completely be immersed in the stock, because the contents wilt and the essence of the herbs infuses into the soup anyway. A leftover quail was pulled out of the frigo and the meat pulled from it. I thought I had some rabbit leftovers, but apparently they were eaten without my knowing. Oh well! When the vegetables in the soup were all tender, I transferred all to the blender, and added 1/3 cup heavy cream, 1/2 t. paprika, 1/4 t. cayenne, 1/2 t. black pepper, and 1/2 t. sea salt, sprigs of parsley and cerfeuille. This was blended until it was smooth, and transfered to a medium saucepan to stay warm while I sauteed the quail in a T. butter maitre d', 2 drops of sesame oil, and a little bit of salt. Season the soup, adding 2 pinches of nutmeg. Voila - Market Potager with Quail. We are going to the movie now!

Hi Pan - I will see if I can talk to her about it, and I can add what I know about them during the week. I have done a little bit of research into the different flours because I spent some time hanging out in BIO shops that sell these types of flours, while looking for things to use while I was on the MONTIGNAC plan . That's about the extent of my knowledge so first I'll tell you what types of flours these are. But that will come later. I have to get the soup going. -Lucy

I'm back from the bakery. I spoke briefly with the stagiere, who's name is Miwa MATSUI. She is from Tokyo. She came to Lyon a little over a year ago, after having worked two years in Tokyo in an industrial baking operation there. She says the product they made in Japan was much more like production line, they did not have the opportunity to learn much since they were kept busy for long periods of time, and the work hours were long in Japan. Here in France, she was studying French and saw that many of her classmates were doing stages of various kinds. She had the idea of working in a bakery and had the opportunity to work for M. RICHARD. The first thing to get used to was the flour here, she says there is an enormous difference between the flour here and that which they used in Japan, which was American flour. After that adjustment, she has been progressing through a rich learning experience by working with all of M. Richard's specialty breads. Here are better pictures of some of them: She says that she has developed a new understanding and appreciation of the trade here, and aspires to return to Japan and open her own bakery one day. The hours she works here allow her to think about what she is learning and to study the French language. She says that her learning process has just begun, and that she thinks that it will be at least a couple of years before she will be able to open her own boulangerie. Our conversation was cut short due to a long line of customers and the huffs and sighs of her co-worker who was working at the register, who did not appreciate my monopolozing Miwa's time during in their brisk Sunday turnover. During the Sunday rush, Miwa works the register and keeps the trays full. I went back to get in line for my own bread. As I waited, I saw that Miwa went back to work with M. RICHARD, pulling breads out of the ovens, putting new ones in, rotating breads from the racks to refill the trays out in the store. As I reached the front of the bread line, Miwa brought out some hot steaming cheese buns fresh from the kitchen. I bought a loaf of Pain Rustique (since we're having soup today) and one of the buns, oozing with melted Compte, to eat on the way home.

I will be spending some time in the kitchen today. This is the view from the door of the kitchen. edited to say thank you Pan and Ludja for the tips on what to do with the ginger. Hmmm. Thinking.

Pan, I'm sorry you lost your pictures taken on a beautiful day. I hope they are still inthe card and somehow you manage to get them out. ------------BLOG continues--------------> It’s Sunday morning here now. I was awakened early by the song of Sissy. Loic’s not functioning in this dimension, because he is working some findings that he’s going to have to present in Copenhagen. Yesterday he didn’t go to the market with me, which he usually does, and he worked the entire day. It’s exhausting to him. I had to drag him away from his work to take a walk yesterday afternoon to keep him from getting one of those blood clots in his leg. As I was setting the table last night, he was staring out the window into the trees outside with a blank look on his face. “are you ok?” I asked. He was in another world. “Loic?” Silence. Just as I was about to be concerned, he said, rather quietly: “Physics can be strange sometimes.” Whaa? Then he grabbed me and hugged me! “I’ve solved it.” he said. What exactly that was I have no idea, nor did I ask, because we had hot food coming up. He is lucid and present most times, but when he is in the critical part of a project, he gets lost in space. Why have I told you that? Because he needed breakfast in bed this morning due to his dwelling in the other dimension, that’s why. During these times he must be taken care of. He takes care of me all the rest of the time, so I cannot complain! What we ate: My favorite Turkish brand yougurt, wild blueberry jam from the alps, juice, and coffee. Loic likes yesterday’s bread, toasted. Sissy got Canard this morning. I simply love this yougert. It’s good, as good as the French premium full fat yougurt, and it’s not expensive at all. Yesterday I was unable to get to the Indian food shop. This was because I got side- tracked on the way to the bookstore to check for Balmagowry's magazine. I passed the Laura Ashley store, and it seems they are going out of business. Closing their doors forever, and selling everything off, even the store fixtures. They had some very nice looking picture frames, cheap. I am considering going back Monday. We have been looking for wallpaper for the wc. I wanted something rather retro, since the building where we live was built in the late 1800s and has that style. And it’s a small room so we can do something interesting in it. And it was there that I found it, for €3.50 a roll. It was amazing and I also got some other paper in green for €1 a roll which I plan to put in the panels inside the hall closets. Anyway, I got loaded down with a large heavy sack containing wallpaper. At the bookstore, which has English language books on the ground floor and cookbooks and travel maps in the basement, I asked about the magazine. The man who works there is an interesting fellow. He is British, but speaks perfect French. He knows I am a native English speaker as I have been a customer for 3 years now, and I know he is a native English speaker. Yet, somehow, our conversation took place entirely in French. It was kind of silly. I asked him about the magazine and he said I would have to go to the other branch to see if they had it. I asked him to call, since I was loaded down with wallpaper, which he did, and confirmed that this publication is available only in Paris. Oh well. I had to go downstairs and look. And I had to get another cookbook. It's not very good. It has instructions like "perfectly season the fish, and dust with flour". Duh. I would not be looking at a recipe if I knew how to perfectly season all the different kinds of fish available. The day has begun! -Lucy