eGfoodblog: Dave Hatfield

[Kouign Aman]

pastry mold, use to open tough jar lids, set up on end (wood screw into table surface) and use as a target to send watermelon or grape pits thru, off-table "wine bucket" for room temp wine service, cookie cutter.

[Live It Up]

The view down the hill.

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I am trying to figure out if I have been to this town, but I really have no way of determining if I have. When I was 12-15 years old I went to a summer camp in Monsac (or rather near Monsac) for a month every year. We visited a lot of towns in the area and went to a lot of chateaux. We also spent the last week of the month driving around down to Narbonne, and then back up to Paris. Najac certainly looks familiar to me, and whether or not I've been there it certainly brings back good memories. I'm enjoying this blog very much so far. Thanks!

[snowangel]

Dave, those Anaheims and brie look divine. I'm having folks over tomorrow night, and although I thought I was done grocery shopping, I can see that I need to go and get some Anaheims. I have a very nice sheep's milk brie in the fridge...

That looks like a truely inspired starter.

[mizducky]

Are you simply using the mystery clamp as a pastry/cookie cutter?

(As someone who has spent all of two weeks in France in her entire life, I am enjoying this blog greatly.)

[Abra]

That's a great looking dinner, especially the peppers. What are Anaheim peppers called in French?

I bought some apricots to roast today, before seeing your tart. I'll just give them a litle brush of honey and roast them in a dish, but I'll be thinking of your tart and how delicious it must be.

[handmc]

Here we go on dinner.

Of course the best laid plans go awry. Linda who had been shopping all day with her friend Jean in Montauban called at about 5:30 to say they were on their way home, but that she wouldn't want any dinner as they had had a big lunch of pintade. Here I am cooking for two on the blog!

Inspiration; I called Rob, Jean's husband, and invited him up for dinner since If Linda didn't want anything neither would Jean. This worked like a charm.

So, here's how you do Anaheim peppers with Brie on the BBQ.

1) Cut the peppers in half length ways. Then cut out the white ribs & scrape out the seeds.

2) Cut a nice piece of Brie into narrow strips.

3) Take both to a nice hot BBQ. Place the cut pepper, cut side down on the grill.

4) when the peppers start to brown turn them over & put a piece of Brie into the cavity.

5) let this cook until the Brie has melted and the peppers are soft. (on a hot grill this will only take 3-5 minutes)

6) serve immediately.

For the zucchini first cut them into quarters length ways. Then coat them lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle herbs de Provence & garlic granules over them.

Place on your hot BBQ skin side down.

Leave for 3-4 minutes then turn to one side and cook until browned.

Do the same for the other side then serve hot.

For the Magret (duck breasts) first cut a cross hatch pattern on the fatty side trying to avoid cutting into the meat. Then rub a good coating of sea salt into the fat side.

Next gently sauté the magret, fat side down, in a frying pan on the stove. You will need to pour off & save the rendered duck fat at least twice. This process should take about 15 minutes.

Take the magret(s) to your BBQ and place Skin (fatty) side down on a medium hot grill. Put salt, pepper & fresh thyme leaves on the top.Cook until the fat is crisp & brown.

Turn the heat up or move to a hot part of the grill and cook the other side. The timing depends upon how well cooked you like your meat. Traditionally, magret is cooked rare, quite pink.

When done take off the grill.

Note that I was cooking the magret & the zucchini at the same time. Its just practice to get the timings right.

Next cut the magret into thin slices & arrange with the zucchini to serve. As you can see I've added a little pot of ailiade de Toulouse. (I'll give the recipe for this if anybody asks)

Delicious. Rob & I enjoyed ourselves and Linda & Jean had a bit despite not being hungry.

The good news was that Linda & Jean had bought something we could have for dessert.

Lovely little white grapes marinated in cassis and covered with 70% chocolate.

Its so easy to eat well!

As for wine we had some more of Sarah's rose and some Burgundian chardonnay.

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Oh my God!! This looks incredible.

[judiu]

I'm sorry, but you CANNOT tell me that beast in your avatar photo is a POODLE! I thought it was some kind of bear with VERY strange ears. I KNOW a poodle can't hold its' ears up like that; neither can a daschund; no cartilage in the ear itself to keep it erect. So, what's the secret?

[Dave Hatfield]

Mystery object....I'm thinking it will hold either a bottle of wine or a baguette...I would vote for the wine!  I'm just not sure why or how

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Not there yet!

[Dave Hatfield]

pastry mold,  use to open tough jar lids, set up on end (wood screw into table surface) and use as a target to send watermelon or grape pits thru,  off-table "wine bucket" for room temp wine service, cookie cutter.

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Wow! What imagination. This is becoming the most versatile device ever.

Still no prize, however.

[Dave Hatfield]

Dave, those Anaheims and brie look divine.  I'm having folks over tomorrow night, and although I thought I was done grocery shopping, I can see that I need to go and get some Anaheims.  I have a very nice sheep's milk brie in the fridge...

That looks like a truely inspired starter.

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Thanks.

Don't forget to take your Brie out of the fridge early.

[Dave Hatfield]

Are you simply using the mystery clamp as a pastry/cookie cutter? 

(As someone who has spent all of two weeks in France in her entire life, I am enjoying this blog greatly.)

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Nope. At the end I think I'll add up all of the suggested uses and see where we've gotten to.

You are an imaginative lot, but perhaps not thinking as a Frenchman might.

That's a hint by the way.

[Dave Hatfield]

That's a great looking dinner, especially the peppers.  What are Anaheim peppers called in French?

I bought some apricots to roast today, before seeing your tart.  I'll just give them a litle brush of honey and roast them in a dish, but I'll be thinking of your tart and how delicious it must be.

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Don't know if there is a specific name. Guess there must be, but I'm not sure what it is. At the market they just seem to be called poivron vert, green peppers.

Maybe a better French speaker knows & will enlighten us.

All the tart is is your roasted apricots using a pastry shell (bowl) to hold them.

[Dave Hatfield]

I'm sorry, but you CANNOT tell me that beast in your avatar photo is a POODLE! I thought it was some kind of bear with VERY strange ears. I KNOW a poodle can't hold its' ears up like that; neither can a daschund; no cartilage in the ear itself to keep it erect. So, what's the secret?  

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Here he is in all his glory.

You have to make allowances for a nearly full grown poodle puppy full of the joys of spring running through a meadow and me getting a very lucky shot with my new camera!

[Dave Hatfield]

Before I get into what I had planned to blog about today I thought that I would share the following with you.

In the NY Times today there was an article about potato chips. Here's the link to the article.

Now, its fine to be chauvinistic about potato chips, but we hardly have a monopoly on them. The British are great lovers of crisps (chips being French fries in the UK) and sell a huge variety of types and flavors.

The French do pretty well with potato chips, but not to the extent that we or the British do. As you much expect the quality is pretty good here in France. There is not, however, the the wide variety of types & flavors that are available in the states or the UK. Plain, crinkle cut and a few flavors; that's about it. You rarely see anything like a Frito (my favorite)

What I can get, however, are bags of truly hand made potato chips which are the greatest.

Happy 4th!

[Simon_S]

Loving this blog. Your avatar has always reminded me of the pet from either Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers. Can't remember which.

I know you will soon reveal the proper use of "the device", but for now I will continue in the fantasy that it is used to clamp monkeys to the side of the table while you feast on the brains, Indiana Jones style.

What's that? The men in white coats have arrived...?

Si

[jumanggy]

You are an imaginative lot, but perhaps not thinking as a Frenchman might.

That's a hint by the way.

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Hmm... Crepe template? Baguette protector? Cheese slicer? Wine bottle holder? Beret hanger?

I'm just kidding, by the way

Loving your blog! My eyes lit up with the market photo.

[Dave Hatfield]

I have two 4th of July recipes for you. Later I'll describe what we did for the 4th.

The first recipe is for the holiday classic; potato salad. What would the 4th be without it. We all have our own favorite way of making it. This is mine and with all due modesty I can say that its really really good.

Mary’s Potato Salad

Mary was my next door neighbor when I lived in Emeryville California. Her’s was & is my favorite potato salad. She was kind enough to give me the recipe & I’ve been making it ever since.

It’s a classic for the 4th of July & has migrated well to France. The French love it!

Ingredients: (Recipe for about 10 people)

7 large potatoes (Boil with skins on until cooked through.)

1/3 Cup Italian vinaigrette (olive oil, white wine vinegar, Italian herbs,

garlic granules, salt pepper)

3/4cup Celery diced

1/3-cup onion diced

4 hard boiled eggs chopped up

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream (or crème fraische)

-1~t/2 tablespoons horseradish

11/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Method:

-Peel cooked potatoes while still hot &.cut into bite sized pieces.

Mix the potatoes with the dressing while still hot. Chill for a couple of hours in the fridge.

- Mix all of the other ingredients with the potatoes.

- Season with salt & celery salt or seeds to taste.

Then cool in fridge for another 2 hours

Here's the second recipe

Roasted Peppers

I love roasted marinated peppers, but have always found the traditional way of doing them to be a pain in the neck. Holding under or over the grill, placing in bag, peeling … a lot of work I thought. So, being a lazy devil I decided to see what I could do to make life simpler. What follows is my simple method of doing roast peppers.

Ingredients: (for a generous appetizer)

- 1 green bell pepper per person

- 1 red bell pepper per person. (or you can use yellow or all one color)

- 1 good sized clove of garlic per pepper plus at least one ‘for the pot’

- 1 tablespoon of good quality olive oil per pepper plus extra to taste.

- 1 teaspoon of sherry vinegar per pepper plus extra to taste.

- A sprinkling of either piment de Espalion or cayenne pepper.

- About a teaspoon of drained capers or more to taste.

- Coarse ground sea.

- Day old bread about 1 ‘slice’ per person.

- Fresh endive; 4 or 5 leaves per person.

NOTE: All of the above measurements are just guidelines. Feel free to play with the proportions until you get the taste you like best.

Also note that I've used only red bell peppers this time. The simple reason is when I was making this & taking pictures I happened to have ONLY red peppers. No big deal.

Method: (turn oven grill on to high heat. That’s 275C on my oven. Adjust the top rack to about mid-oven.)

- Julienne the peppers being careful to remove all seeds and white veins.

The julienne should be lengthwise on the peppers & about 1/8 to ¼ inch wide.

- Place the pepper strips on a rack in a roasting pan.

- Place the roasting pan on the top rack. Roast the peppers until they become soft. As the top ones start to brown turn the peppers, using tongs, to expose new strips to the direct heat. It’s nice to have some browning, but not essential. The peppers are done when you start to see juices in the bottom of the roasting pan. The roasting process will take anywhere from 15 minutes upwards depending upon quantity, heat and placement. Don’t try to do them too fast.

- While the peppers are roasting, peel & finely chop the garlic. Place it into a good sized bowl and mix thoroughly with the olive oil & sherry vinegar. Add the salt & “pepper”. Add the capers. Adjust the dressing until you have the taste you like.

- Remove the peppers from the oven when done and immediately mix them with the dressing. Mix well and then cover the bowl with cling film. Let cool for a while then place in the fridge. The peppers should marinate for at least one hour, longer is better & overnight is ideal. (If overnight then take the peppers out of the fried well before serving. They are best slightly cool or at room temperature.)

- Next & this is optional; make some croûtons. Cut day old bread into 3/8 inch cubes. Mix with a very light coating of olive oil (use your hands to mix), add S&P plus oregano or another favorite herb, place one deep on a cookie tray then roast in the oven until crisp & slightly browned.

- To serve. Carefully break off endive leaves from their stalk and place them around a plate. Add to each a portion of roasted pepper, heaping it up over the endive so that it looks nice. Sprinkle on some croûtons.

I find it wise to hold some roasted pepper back when serving this dish. Seconds are normally appreciated especially by the guys.

Simpler to do than to write up, but this dish never fails as an appetizer. I’ve never tried to keep it for more than a few days so don’t know about longer term storage.

Without the endive presentation this is a great picnic dish as it travels well.

[Dave Hatfield]

Loving this blog. Your avatar has always reminded me of the pet from either Battlestar Galactica or Buck Rogers. Can't remember which.

I know you will soon reveal the proper use of "the device", but for now I will continue in the fantasy that it is used to clamp monkeys to the side of the table while you feast on the brains, Indiana Jones style.

What's that? The men in white coats have arrived...?

Si

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You could have been right during the middle ages, but, unfortunately, they ate so many that monkeys are now extinct in France.

Keep trying.

[Dave Hatfield]

You are an imaginative lot, but perhaps not thinking as a Frenchman might.

That's a hint by the way.

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Hmm... Crepe template? Baguette protector? Cheese slicer? Wine bottle holder? Beret hanger?

I'm just kidding, by the way

Loving your blog! My eyes lit up with the market photo.

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I like beret hanger a lot! Too bad that it isn't the right answer.

[Dave Hatfield]

Despite all of the imaginative guesses as to what my mystery object is used for so far nobody has got it as of yet.

Are you trying hard enough? Thinking laterally? I think you need more incentive, so.

I'm offering a prize (of sorts) to the first person who comes up with the right answer.

The winner gets a dinner for four cooked by me at our house.

The catch is that you have to come to France to collect. (you can stay as we do have several spare bedrooms.)

In the interest of fairness friends, family and local residents are ineligible to participate.

Hopefully, this will spur you on to greater feats of imagination.

[amapola]

You are an imaginative lot, but perhaps not thinking as a Frenchman might.

That's a hint by the way.

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...do you perhaps use it to encase a piece of round cheese, such as camembert, to help it keep its shape when you put it in the oven (for example with some slivers of garlic hidden in tiny cuts you made in the top)?

I'm loving your blog and drooling over your food pics by the way...

[Dave Hatfield]

You are an imaginative lot, but perhaps not thinking as a Frenchman might.

That's a hint by the way.

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...do you perhaps use it to encase a piece of round cheese, such as camembert, to help it keep its shape when you put it in the oven (for example with some slivers of garlic hidden in tiny cuts you made in the top)?

I'm loving your blog and drooling over your food pics by the way...

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Nope. I might give it a try though.

[Abra]

This is driving me crazy. I'd guess that you stick a baguette or a saucisson through it and use it to hold while slicing, but I see neither bread nor sausage in that dinner. And unless you made the tiniest of tarts, that truc wasn't holding the pastry together either.

[amapola]

This is driving me crazy.

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Me, too.

You wouldn't use it as a corkscrew, would you?

No, probably not

[judiu]

I'm sorry, but you CANNOT tell me that beast in your avatar photo is a POODLE! I thought it was some kind of bear with VERY strange ears. I KNOW a poodle can't hold its' ears up like that; neither can a daschund; no cartilage in the ear itself to keep it erect. So, what's the secret?  

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Here he is in all his glory.

You have to make allowances for a nearly full grown poodle puppy full of the joys of spring running through a meadow and me getting a very lucky shot with my new camera!

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AHA! What a wonderful picture it is, too!