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!

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Detailed instructions on how to make fritters

The Potager Awakens...and a few quick recipes

Since I am spending time outside pruning and digging beds, that is, when the plentiful rains and nippy winds ease a bit, hot, easy, and fast meals are what I want. One such satisfying repast is made by stirring instant polenta into boiling water (one part polenta to four parts water) along with minced garlic and rosemary fresh from our potager. It's simmered while being stirred for a minute or two, piled unceremoniously into a bowl, and topped with grated cheese and butter. If I remember to sprinkle fleur de sel, I do.

Sunshine in a bowl! That's grated Parmesan scattered amidst the butter rivulets

White beans are luscious nuggets of tasty nutrition made even more delicious by sauteing minced garlic and onions in olive oil and adding some tomato paste, an ice cube or two of my concentrated, homemade chicken broth (water or veggie broth, packaged or homemade, can be substituted), a good quality paprika, smoked or not, along with some well rinsed, drained, canned white beans. Simmer for about five minutes. Line a bowl with French bread 'fingers' (one-inch slices cut in half) and fill with the bean mixture.

I been known to use the bread pieces as a fork/spoon substitute. Finger-licking good for sure!

Since my frying technique has measurably improved, I could just eat fritters day after day. For the latest batch, I mixed together some well seasoned, left-over mashed potatoes, flour, grated Edam cheese, chili powder, a large pinch of baking powder, and an egg. An inch of fresh sunflower oil along with a teaspoon of used oil in a skillet was heated until it passed the wooden spoon test (I had to tip the pan to conduct the test). Tablespoons of the batter were fried on each side for a total of about eight minutes. Drizzle some soy sauce on them. À table!

These fritters were exemplary in both their crispness and moist centres

But the real mainstay has been hot cocoa which is often served in big bowls for breakfast here in France.  The bigger the bowl, the better it seconds as a hands warmer. Viennoiseries like brioche and croissants are delicious on their own of course, but they also lend themselves to a thorough dunking into the warm, aromatic dark liquid.

Unsweetened cocoa is not only low in fat and calories, it packs a potent dosage of energy-boosting, nerve-calming magnesium. So after living here for almost two decades, I am getting with the program, no matter how belatedly. Put on the kettle. A heaping tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa goes into a small cup along with a dash of maple syrup (Why? Because there was some in the fridge and I adore the stuff!), some milk, and a smidgen of cream.

I like half milk, half hot water

Whisk til smooth.

The water should be boiling by now. Hot water meet smooth cocoa paste. Voilà! I am so happy that I forget momentarily about the difficult-to-work, sodden soil.

In the potager, the rhubarb continues to leaf out. Before their growth gets too luxuriant as they love cool weather, it's time to scratch in a balanced fertiliser around each plant.

Carpets of sweet violets along with a few brave blue irises are blooming, but at a personal price as they are being lashed by the wind and rain into soggy taters. Botanical tulips and daffodils are putting out foliage and buds, and so far are retaining their 'cool'.

Cuttings I took last spring from the Vinca minor growing around the camellia are flourishing under the pergola and are beginning to bloom.

Common name: periwinkle

In the potting room, sowing has gotten off to a good start: red bell peppers, Thunbergia alata, and piment doux des Landes are being coddled in the incubator.

Instead of loose Thunbergia seeds, my plant nursery sent four seed discs, each containing about 10 seeds

This is the first time I have used a biodegradable seed disc which is placed in a pot almost completely filled with potting mix. Then it is lightly watered to help the disc adhere to the soil. Finally, it is covered with an inch of mix, kept moist, and put in an incubator or on a heating pad. It was much easier to handle than individual seeds.

This is how the black-eyed Susan vines looked last year, simultaneously acting as a ground cover and a vine covering an unsightly fence. Its lush foliage and cheery flowers last from June to nearly November.

Lovage (a fantastic, perennial celery substitute), parsley, chives, and lettuce are snug in their little, cold 'greenhouse'.

A recycled meat tray filled with sowing mix and seeds is placed inside a plastic bag

All three varieties of potatoes are nestled into their recycled egg cartons, quietly chitting in the cold sunlight. Sprouts that are coloured brown, red, yellow develop in seed potatoes exposed to sunlight, unlike the long, brittle, white ones that happen in the dark. Though not essential especially for primeurs (May/June harvest), this practice does give a head start while the danger of frost is waited out.

From early to late: Dolwen, Jeannette, and Desiree

The peas, garlic, and onions are waiting to be planted outdoors. 

The garlic is stock from our own harvest from last summer

Before I know it, it will be time to plant spinach, carrots, and beets outdoors and sow indoors zinnias, tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and butternut squash. Where's that hot cocoa?

À la prochaine!

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Apple Crisp/Crumble...and savoury fritters made from leftovers

Apple crisp served warm is a lovely and simple winter dessert. Crumble is how the British describe this comely duo of juicy apples and a candied, spiked-with-cinnamon, buttery topping while the Americans refer to it as crisp. Since no rolling out of pastry is required, this treat is really easy to do compared to tarts and pies.

Saucy crumble splashed with heavy cream

Ingredients

• Apples, tart and firm, (I used Granny Smiths) 870 gms (about 5 medium apples)
• Flour, plain 160 gms
• Sugar, 300 gms
• Butter, sweet, 170 gms
• Cinnamon, 3/4 tsp
• Salt, 1/4 tsp
• Lemon juice, fresh, 1 T diluted with 1 T of water (total of 2 T liquid)
• Cream or ice cream for topping

A square oven dish measuring about 20 cm by 20 cm by 5 cm will give a nice proportion of topping to filling. If it comes with a lid, all the better.  If not, then fit some foil over the top.

Wash the apples. Quarter them, core the quarters, peel, and then slice thinly, putting them into an oven-proof dish as you work. The thinner they are, the more like apple sauce they will become.

Toss the apple slices with the diluted lemon juice. Even out the slices as much as possible.

Preheat oven to 177 degrees C. Mix the the flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon together.

Cut the cold butter into small chunks, about 2.5 cm square and put them in the mixing bowl.

Using with your finger tips (or ingredients can be put into a processor for a minute or so), work the butter and flour mixture until it is mostly coarse sand with a few pea-sized pieces here and there. It should take about five minutes.

Pile the contents of the mixing bowl on top of the sliced apples in the oven dish and spread it out to fill all four corners of the casserole. Place on the lid and put the crumble/crisp in the oven.

To guard against any messy spills, the dish is placed on a parchment-lined cookie sheet

After a half hour, remove the lid and let bake for another thirty minutes. It is essential to uncover the crumble at this time or else there will be no crisp topping as it will mostly dissolve into the juicy apples. When done, the topping will be nicely browned and crusty with apple-juice rivulets bubbling up through it. Test by inserting a knife in the centre which will slice right through if the apples are soft enough.

Wait about ten minutes before serving to give the juices time to congeal a bit.

The next day we served the crumble cold with a wedge of coffee ice cream, and our lunch guest said that the two accompanied each other superbly.  We eagerly agreed, especially The Calm One who came up with the pairing idea!

The marinated roast loin of pork I made a few weeks back yielded several meals, but there was still a couple of slices remaining. Leftover peas, mashed potatoes, and minced pork were combined to make an easy, delicious make-over with an Asian accent. I added an egg, about a half teaspoon of baking powder, a few tablespoons of flour, a minced flake or so of red pepper, a minced garlic glove, a bit of minced fresh ginger, and some salt. More thorough directions for making fritters can be found here. I doused the whole lot with soy sauce and really enjoyed them. Leftovers can be yummy!

One of the present garden tasks is to start pruning which means tools need to be clean and sharp. Last week the asparagus and raspberry beds got their trimming. The one-year old asparagus plants were cut down to the ground. In order to put all their energy into making roots strong enough to generate good cropping, we will wait another year before harvesting them. However, during this waiting period, it is important to keep the bed free from weeds as they will become entangled with the roots.

The raspberry canes got trimmed to about fifteen centimetres above the ground.

The warm, wet winter continues, slowing down the planting preparation for early potatoes, onions, peas, and spinach. But I am not too miffed because the weather can present some fantastic skies at dusk. One twilight, I walked out from the sous sol to see what I thought was a billowy, smokey blaze.

Mummified fruit was left on the fig tree for the birds.

It turned out to be a fantastic, back-lit rack of huge, fluffy clouds.

À la prochaine!

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