Dave Hatfield

Nicoise Salad A classic French sald that I frequently make this time of year when the ingredients are at their best.

Don't think there is a 'rule' since you are dealing with the volume of a cylinder. The 'formula' is: 3.14 X one half the pan diameter X one half the pan diameter again X the depth of cheescake. In other words Pi times the radius squared times the depth which calculates the volume of a cylinder. I've done the math for various 3 CM deep cheesecakes. 24 CM = 1356.5 cubic CM = 1 20 CM = 942 cubic CM = .7 18 CM = 763 cubic CM = .56 16 CM = 603 cubic CM = .44 15 CM = 526.5 cubic CM = .39 Thus, using the 24 CM diameter cheesecake as the norm you would use 0.7 (or 70%) of the amount of ingredients to make a 20CM cheese cake at 3CM deep. Obviously if the depth is other than 3 CM you have to redo the calculation. Fortunately, the ratios still hold so all you have to do is recalculate the volume of the 24 CM cheesecake for the new depth then apply the factor above. Fairly simple math, but what else should I be doing on a hot afternoon in France.

They don't age beef much here in France either and most of it is grass fed. On the pork I think brining is the answer. Seems to do some of what aging does for beef; tenderizes & improves flavor.

TylerK, glad you're coming around a bit on the blue cheeses. I'm also glad that Stilton is your favorite so far. We have friends who live in the heart of Rutland where Stilton comes from & they'll be delighted. Another thought has occurred to me. Try some Blue de Bresse if you can find it. Its not that far off Stilton in taste. Very nutty & not too sharp. You have to be a bit careful with it though as a big coop has taken over a lot of the Blue de Bresse production (they sell it in small round cartons); its so mild as to be nearly tasteless. You need to find the farm made type if possible. This comes in much larger rounds which then get sliced up.

My abject apologies! Somehow I missed your post. Possibly the honey threw me off.

I can recommend 3 from my bookcase: - Au Coeur de la France des 1000 Fromages; Editions Ouest-France, 2003, ISBN 2-7373-3268-0. This is a very nicely produced book going around France talking about my favorite subject - cheese. Not truly a cook book, but very interesting & informative. - recevoir autoour d'une soupe, Editions du Rouergue, 2000, ISBN: 2-841-562-55-7 . A whole book of soup recipes. There are some classics plus some very interesting ones. Most ingredients are available stateside. - Les Bonnes Recettes de la Truff. Aubanel (Guy Moier) ,2002, ISBN: 2-7006-0279-X. A whole book of truffle recipes. Having this in your bookcase is a great way to impress your friends. A don't have a lot of cook books in French because its far easier to buy cooking magazines. Any French tabac will normally have racks & racks of magazines. The number devoted to cooking is large. They range from the frivolous to the very serious. Additionally, many of the magazines are online these days. Finally, this linkhttp://www.atelierdeschefs.fr/. will take you to a nice cooking site. You might even want to join one of their lessons while in Paris! They have a dynamite little cooking gadgets shop as well.

Why hasn't anybody mentioned Stilton? Stilton & port are one of the great flavor combinations. Stilton by the way is the same 'mold' as Roquefort, but made with cows milk.

Gosh; just don't ask any locals in Brussels. You're likely to start a fight. This is very emotive subject. I've haven't lived or been in BRussels for a number of years, but I can't remember ever getting a bad dish of moules frites there - ever!

Gosh, it seems a long time since anyone has posted to this thread. Kouign Aman, thanks for doing so & for the nice picture. It inspired me to go to the fridge & see what cheeses we have in 'stock' at the moment. That plus wanting to try our our new lens on the camera caused me to take some pictures of the cheeses we have. Here they are: We have four cheeses in stock. This is a cream cheese with chives & garlic. Very popular with lots of brands available. Boursin being the best known brand. Here's the price label on a piece of cantal. Note that its "entre deux". Cantal typicially comes in young, Medium & old versions. Entre deux being medium. About 6 months old. As its made not too far from us its very popular. We use it as if it were cheddar. St Andre is a well known cows milk cheese. Very mild flavor. You can just make out the sell by date on the wrapper. 10-07-2012. That's 10th July in the French way of doing dates. What's left of my favorite St Felicien. This cow's milk cheese started life as a goat's cheese, but is almost exclusively made from cow's milk these days. It comes from the Rhone-Alps region. Simply delicious. Don't know how available it is in the states, but if you can find it - try it! I'll try to be more active on the cheese front in future. Lets hear from all you other cheese lovers.

I use tomato puree (paste), no ketchup. A bit of red wine (mainly to get the consistency right), about the same amount of corn oil + the same amount again of white wine vinegar, dry mustard to taste, A good dollop of paprika (smoked is nice). Lots of freshly ground black pepper, crushed cloves of garlic and a generous amount of dried oregano. A normally add a bit of honey as well. I whiz it all in the food processor to finish. I've deliberately left out quantities as they depend upon the quantity you want to make & your personal taste preferences. This sauce keeps well in the fridge for several weeks. I like to marinate my ribs (cut into suitable lengths) in this sauce overnight in the fridge in zip-lock bags. I scrape off the excess before BBQing. Works for me. Especially as I find it difficult to get smoker wood around here.

Jaymes & Andiesenj thank you both for your very helpful words of wisdom. Unfortunately I haven't found either buttermilk or cottage cheese here so far. I do keep looking though. I can buy raw, unpasteurized milk easily & there are actually milk kiosks outside my favorite supermarket (there is a surplus of milk in France so they're trying this as a marketing ploy.) Most milk sold here is ultra pasteurized; only the larger supermarkets sell fresh milk. Yukky, but keeps well. I refuse to give up though. I'll have a look at your blog, Andiesenj to see if I can duplicate your method. Interestingly, I've just had my Niece in England send me some packets of spring onion seeds. I couldn't find any here. I'll be planting as soon as they arrive. This is part of our new garden. My wife has had scads of flowers, lavender and shrubs put in. I've got rosemary, thyme, sage, mint and marjoram as perennials and basil, cilantro, chives and, soon, spring onions as annuals. Lots of watering to do. I suspect that much of my problem stems from living in the boonies of France. La France profund (deepest France) as they say. Wouldn't trade it though as its a wonderful place to live.

Thirtyoneknots, yes we can get creme fraisch. No problem. We can also get it in various types, low fat, Issngy and so forth. We can also get fromage frais and umpteen kinds of yogurt. BUT! There are a few things such as blue cheese dressing that just aren't the same without sour cream. We've tried most of the types available here, but none of them quite do it. Its a pity as we do love blue cheese dressing and do have access to a whole variety of blue cheeses. Quell domage as we say here.

In France (or at least the part of France we live in) you can't get: -sour cream -Shredded wheat (regular or spoon size) -Cheddar cheese - Spring onions (except for a very brief period & even those are too large) -Fritos (but you can get tortilla chips) There are probably more things if I think about it more, but those are the ones that spring to mind.

Nothing, IMHO, beats Peanut butter & dill pickle sandwiches.

I'd recommend that you try this link: http://parisbymouth.com/. These people all live in Paris, eat out a lot and are very current on the Paris dining scene.

We have an induction cook top from Ariston that we inherited when we bough this house 18 months ago. I have always been a confirmed gas user, but getting gas in this location would have been both difficult & expensive. The only problem I have with our induction cook top is that the controls don't seem to be very linear. They are touch controls that go from 0 to 6 with nothing in between. The difference between 5 & 6 is far too large. The difference between other setting is also too coarse. I miss the 'infinite' control I had on my gas cooker. Otherwuse induction is fine.

We were forced into induction about a year ago when we bought our new house. Putting in gas would have been a major hassle. We bought a selection of induction friendly pots & pans from IKEA. They look good, cook well, clean easily and so far show no sign of wear despite heavy use. Thus, if you live anywhere near an IKEA I can heartily recommend these to you. The prices are good as well. We have since installed a smaller second kitchen and have done what jayesb recommends above. We put in a small two burner electric hob. There I can still use my much loved set of copper clad pots & pans from Dansk. I've had them for 25 years & they're still going strong.

100% agree! Parisian every time.

Can't say that I've ever seen or heard of celeriac being used in a stock base. Normal stock type (branche in French) celery is readily available here and can be bought by the stalk (branche. It is commonly used in a mirepoix to make stock of most kinds. Celeriac on the other hand is used differently. Probably the most popular way is 'celeri rave'; julienned celeriac with mayonnaise & a hint of mustard. Its also delicious boiled in milk with some onion & potato; drained & mashed with lots of butter added. See Patricia Wells for a great recipe. I personally like my mirepoix based stocks,but see no reason why 'pure' stocks shouldn't be good as well.

Having a few spare minutes this morning while waiting for my sister-in-law to get ready to go out to lunch I Googled 'boulangeries Beaune' Some interesting places came up complete with map locations. Can't vouch for any of them, but you might want to start a bread quest just for fun. Let us all know if you have any luck.

I guess that good bread is in the taste buds of the eater. We have no difficulty finding excellent bread in our part of rural France. I seriously doubt that any of our better bakers could afford to buy the pre -prepared or frozen dough. What always amazes me is the variety of taste that the boulangers can get from simple ingredients. A fond memory from when we first moved to France was too see the smoke rising from Jacques Vigidier's bread oven at 5:00 AM as he fired up his wood fired ovens. His bread was excellent. He's died now, but his daughter carries on the tradition. She apprenticed herself to her father for two years to learn his craft. She now has three bread shops in a much larger nearby town & does very well. She still transports bread every morning to her father's old shop so the villagers can get their bread & her mother can keep abreast of the local gossip. I'm sorry that I can't help with Beaune, but I strongly suspect that there is at least one excellent baker in a town that size. The trick is in finding him or her. In general the French bakers don't waste much money on shop fronts or decor. In fact some of the best are very hard to spot; they're just holes in the wall. So, good luck, don't give up. If desperate head our way.

Kit I won't chime in on the food per se as you're getting good advice. I will, however, recommend that you buy one or more cellar rats to take home with you. A conversation piece(s) for evermore.

Sorry, David, but I don't get your point. I understand that you're trying to be 'discreet' when you take pics in a restaurant. That's better than the in everybody's face slobs who just don't care who they annoy. Its a nice enough picture of some bibs, but to what point?

We had the Cassoulet I made over the last few days for dinner last night. There were 12 of us at table. This was our monthly wine tasting group & I'd decided to do something a bit special. We were tasting Fronton which comes from between where we live & Toulouse. Turns out that its a nicer wine than I though and was perfect with the Cassoulet. . Here's the finished Cassoulet. You can find the complete recipe with pictures on my blog, address below.

Did you mean this recipe?