No Sorrow That It's Sorrel Season...and no pity for pityocampa

The spring after our arriving here in the autumn of 2009 was mostly dismal as the garden had been neglected over a decade. The light-green whorls of perennial, tough sorrel had beckoned like a refreshing oasis poking out of the surrounding, rock-hard soil which was mercilessly smothered in matted layers of rank, dead weeds. 

Its season which started in February will be coming to an end fairly soon. Sorrel's beloved culinary characteristics are a lemony flavour and an ability to melt into a sauce in a few minutes when sauteed in butter.

Chiffonade: stack sorrel leaves, roll into a cigar shape, and slice thinly

Adding scrambled eggs makes a dynamic duo.

Let the mixed eggs coagulate a bit before scrambling

Chez nous is still the kingdom of quick meals so the green-streaked eggs were piled between slices of sourdough rye.

In the garden it's the right time to prune lavender. More harsh pruning than just the light trim they need after their summer flowering can be done with a fair amount of safety now as the warming weather will encourage new growth. However, such reduction still needs to be paced over several years to avoid losing a plant which can happen when cutting into woody branches that may remain unproductive. It has taken several years to transform the leggy bushes flanking our front pathway into compact mounds.

Newly leafed-out roses hidden by a lace curtain, irises, not-yet-blooming peonies, and lavender hedge

Leggier /ropy lavender in June 2012

Though Thaumetopoea pityocampa is an innocuous moth, an encounter with its larval form can be injurious as it was to our neighbours' small dog. What energetic doggie could resist licking some as they seductively wiggled their sinuous way while touching each other tail to nose forming a long caterpillar caravan?

Photo taken from here

The tufts of hairs growing on their segments trigger inflammatory reactions ranging from mild to lethal. The little dog's tongue developed some necrosis. He of course needed medical attention and happily is doing well once again.

Soon after, Madame M told me that early one morning--she had wanted to wake me so I could take photos but refrained--as she entered her garden she spotted a long branch on the patio and wondered from where it fell. Then it moved! White vinegar poured on them was to no avail, so some careful foot stomping got, well, underfoot. The pile of carnage was removed to the back of the garden where I suspect Monsieur M will burn them. A fifty percent/fifty percent mixture of bleach and water is supposed to be deadly. Bleach in our cabinet? Check!

Hopefully Elmo the Cat will remain safe from the caterpillar chain gangs.

Note to Elmo:  Do not confide in processionary pre-moths, in essence, keep your tongue to yourself

Monsieur M and The Calm One raised our one-cubic-meter, rainwater harvester on cement blocks so a faucet can be fitted to enable the filling of watering cans. Elmo made himself right at home.

The black plastic covering was done by Monsieur M to stop red algae from forming

À la prochaine!

RELATED LINKS

More about Pine Processionary Moths

Minestrone Redux...and the latest mural in Angoulême

Stewing a bony and lean cut of beef is something I do at least monthly which allows the making of borscht with beef dumplings, French onion soup, and last but not least minestrone.

The Calm One lucked out and the finest Limousine jarret avec os jumped into his market basket

Since spring heralds change, I added sorrel fresh from the garden and subbed broken-up tagliatelle for the usual mini elbow macaroni.

Lemony sorrel is on the right

We each enjoyed a couple of bowls on a nippy spring day.

I forgot to put in some peas!

Conditions are still suitable for sowing in the garden.

Mid-season tater bed followed by soon-to-be carrots/beets bed followed by pea bed

Elmo the Cat visiting is always welcomed.

A cat and his apple tree

Our Angoulême is internationally known for its murals depicting various comic strip characters along with its comic book museum and its prestigious comics festival held each January. The newest wall painting which is number twenty-eight in this series of public art was recently completed in our own quartier. The Calm One during his various grocery shopping hikes--we are happily car-free though sadly sans bike--spanning from late autumn to early spring took these photos with his smart phone.

 Fregeneuil Park where we would live if living there was legal

On the other side of the park, there are several public housing buildings with windowless sides which provide the perfect setting for a three-panel comic based on the work of Turf, the artist of La Nef des Fous.

The facades were steam-blasted spanking clean and primed white in preparation for the artwork.

First the sketching and then the painting was done by artists other than Turf who directed and oversaw the completion of the work.

Though not familiar with this particular comic, I love the elegant, seemingly effortless style of fluid outlines and merrily coloured and cleanly spaced forms.

À la prochaine!

Spring Progresses...and yet some more quick recipes!

Weather permitting I will be found in the potager doing all sorts of totally important tasks which needed to be done the previous week! So quick and easy meals are still paramount on our menu. I saw a lovely jar of white beans in the fridge.  I saw a ripe avocado framed in a patch of sunlight beautifying the kitchen table. Soooooo...the beans were rinsed and drained then mashed with a dribble of olive oil and minced garlic while the avocado was seeded (cut lengthwise to halve, insert blade of a knife into large seed, twist a bit, and remove it) and intimately united with lemon juice and a smidgen of crème fraîche. Spread each on a slice of bread, in our case, sourdough rye The Calm One got that morning.

Bring them together to make a fresh-tasting and substantial lunch resembling at first glance a chicken avocado sandwich!

Though the soft mushiness was delightful, I suspect toast could be subbed for some welcomed texture

Another speedy meal is penne drenched in an olive-oil based sauce of cèpes, garlic, and capers. While the cèpes are rehydrating, bring water to a boil and throw in the pasta. Shortly before the penne is done, saute minced garlic, chopped cèpes, and capers in olive oil for a few minutes. Add a tablespoon or so of the pasta cooking water and an equivalent amount of the cèpes liquor. Drain the pasta and toss into the skillet, stirring everything together and heating for a minute or two over medium heat. Salt and grind freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Cèpes impart a robust accent in taste and looks.

Freshly grated Parmesan increases that robustness.

Making leftovers into fritters is still a common occurrence. So this became...

A simple meal of bangers (Toulouse sausages in this case), mash, and stewed tomatoes

...this!

Well sloshed with soy sauce

Mince the well drained tomato and sausage. Add some flour, the mashed potatoes, an egg, a half a teaspoon or so of baking powder, and salt.

Mix well.

Drop by heaping tablespoon into hot oil and brown on both sides which takes about eight minutes in total.

In the potager, fifty of the seventy-five seed potatoes have been planted.

Jeannette, a late early and mid season variety sprouts the most gorgeous coloured buds--turquoise fuzz splashed with amethyst.

The peas sowed about two weeks ago are showing off their tender, green sprouts.

There are still some more seedlings which need to be transplanted from flats.

Tomato, melon, cucumber, squash, zinnia, Black-eyed Susan, and herb seedlings

In the flower garden, deep purple irises are showing off.

Species tulips are finishing up their blooming.

Elmo the Cat loves the lawn which is festooned with English daisies.

The wolfish one enjoying himself

À la prochaine!

RELATED POSTS

Detailed instructions on how to make fritters

Pains de navet au cacao

This savoury turnip flan, enlivened with green peppercorns, brightened with diced carrot, held together with a rich custard, and dusted with unsweetened cocoa (an unexpectedly fantastic addition) is one of the many gorgeous entries found in Mousses et Terrines de Legumes, a scrumptious vegetarian cookbook that I bought shortly after our arriving in France. Book details can be found here.

Though each and every vegetable-based recipe is truly vegetarian, being a French cookbook, suggestions sometimes are made for these creative and delicious concoctions to accompany a meat dish, specifically with game in this recette. Well, I decided to have this as a side with itself, that is, a double helping, because these mounds of goodness bust the wow meter.

INGREDIENTS
makes four 4-inch diameter, 2-inch high individual flans

Turnips, 400 gms, (about four medium turnips)
Carrot, 1 medium
Butter, sweet, 40 gms/just under 3 T (extra for buttering the ramekins)
Peppercorns, green, 1 tsp
Eggs, 3 (recipe did not specify size, I used 3 medium ones)
Cream, heavy, 25 cl/8.3 fluid ounces
Cocoa, unsweetened, 1 T
Salt and sugar if needed

Wash, trim, and peel the turnips and carrot. Cut the carrot lengthwise into several slices. Cut each strip into thinner strips and dice these. Cut the turnips if large into half and slice thinly.

Simmer together the butter, turnips, carrots, and peppercorns till turnips are tender and beautifully translucent, about twenty minutes. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C/302 degrees F.

Let the turnip mixture cool down enough so you can handle the turnip slices. If the turnips are a bit bitter, you can add a little sugar. It was not necessary with mine. Salt to taste.

First butter well the insides of the molds, especially paying attention to their bottoms. Then line them with turnip slices. I used molds 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter by 6.5 cm (2.6 inches) tall. Leave about 2.5 cm (an inch) from the top free. A spiral pattern on the bottom which will become the top of the flan is a nice decorative touch but just make sure that the inside surface is mostly covered.

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl and whisk till blended. Then beat in the cream.

Add the turnip mixture into the cream and eggs. Put the kettle on the boil.

With a small ladle or serving spoon, fill the ramekins about three-quarters to the top rim which will allow the flans to expand in the oven. First spoon an equivalent amount of solid bits and then evenly distribute the liquid. Lightly tap them on the work surface to eliminate air bubbles. Place in a shallow oven dish and pour an inch of boiling water around the molds.

Either cover with a lid or with foil.

After twenty minutes, remove the covering (contrary to the book's direction because I wanted the top edges to brown a bit) and bake for another twenty, testing by noting that an inserted knife comes out dry.

To serve warm, let them stand for about five to eight minutes. Loosen the flan with a knife or a thin spatula all around its sides. Tip them carefully onto paper towels; if the bottom sticks, remove those turnip slices and replace on the top of the unmolded flan. Let sit for a few minutes for excess moisture to be absorbed.

Though the author presents these in the chaud (hot) sector, I am convinced that not only they taste and look best (the cocoa 'bleeds' unattractively on a hot surface) when served tepid or cold, they are easier to unmold and lend to much more convenient serving as they can be made in advance and brought to room temperature as needed. In any case, dust with the cocoa just before serving. To get a really fine veil of cocoa, put a tiny amount (I used about a 1/2 tsp at a time) in a very fine sieve to prevent exuberant clumping.

Along with a pleasing piquant accent, the flan boasts of an incomparable richness in both flavour and texture.

Elmo the cat has kept away for a couple of weeks because of incessant rain, but I suspect it is because his maitresse wants to keep his pristine, white, long-haired belly and huge paws mud-free. Though he allows me to pet him outside, he will only let me take photos at a certain distance!

This is as close as he lets me get when taking photos of him outdoors before prancing away

Indoors is a different story. If he gets a little spooked by the proximity of the camera, I speak French softly and caress him with one hand until he relaxes so I can begin clicking away.

His small yellow eyes, long snout, and extreme floof has garnered him the nick of Wolfie.

His tail when he is cavorting about in the garden resembles a waving black flag. Despite his substantial bulk, his meow is a mere squeak. He gives out a series of these 'meows' when he needs assistance in climbing the wire fence separating our garden from Monsieur and Madame Ms. My job is to tap the safe spot which lacks spikes while calling to him. After a few minutes he makes a clean jump and whooshes into our sous sol.

If I am lucky enough, when he plays with me, he repeatedly bats my hands with his over-sized, padded paws inadvertently giving me a luxurious massage. He's a lovely fellow indeed!

À la prochaine!