First spinach & roquette of the season

Early in March, I hunger for greens. After weeks of myriad variations on white endive salad lunches, the menu changes drastically. March brings  snappy spinach salads with hot bacon dressing, the bite of roquette/rocket in a mixed toss of lettuces – and especially parsley mixed into everything.  All of this is inspiration to stir up a bowl of  spring tabouli, with scallions and heaps of just-plucked parsley and mint. Today all of the above were packed into my basket at the épicerie, toted along main street and hauled up the hill.  But I have to admit it was not all strictly local (if one sticks to the 100 mile radius to define local) produce, as I noted the spinach was from the Perpignan area – but still it grew in southern France, not on a distant shore.  And when the shopkeeper, Francis, agreed that it was a fine cluster of spinach he added the usual:  “Are you going to draw it before you cook it?”  Oui!

Why greens, why now?  Just when we are ready for a spring tonic, nature’s own detox system is right there in a pot of fresh, dark greens. The chlorophyl in greens acts to rid the blood of toxins, among many other benefits. Greens help stabilize the body’s PH, balancing the acid and alkaline in our systems. Greens’ hefty amount of antioxidants stimulate the immune system to fight spring colds and flu germs. But that’s not all:  phytonutrients in greens fight the ravages of age and pollution on our eyes.  Don’t forget the Popeye story of  “eat your spinach for iron and strong muscles” – not only iron, but potassium, magnesium, calcium, B, K, C, E vitamins  – a load of enzymes and nutrients for bodies to better function. Oh, before I forget, to stimulate brain function, greens’ omega-3 essential fatty acids go to work for us. It is clearly time to stir up a soup with greens, this time adding mussels for a dash of zinc and texture.  Watch for the recipe …soon.

It's almost time to mow the sprouts - more greens...

What’s coming into your markets to inspire and satisfy? I am curious…

Lemons ready.... for soup

There is a point in winter when my soup répertoire sags a little. What root can be added, what spice and snap can I stir in?  A perk-up for chicken or vegetable soup is in order. When one eats soup every day (in provincial France, still very common), before or as the evening meal, there must be something beyond tourain (a garlic-infused broth with slices of yesterday’s baguette) or soupe au pistou (many vegetables in a savory broth, somewhat like minestrone).  These are basics – along with velouté de potimarron (winter squash purée) and châtaigne (chestnut cream) -  filling soups for workers’ lunches in auberges and restaurants routiers (truck stops) across the southwest. There’s nothing wrong with those if you are chopping wood or building a barn.  Let’s simply say I’m looking to lighten up a first course soup. To do just that I look south to Greece…. and find lemons.

Whether this Mediterranean combination of eggs and lemons is a silky soup or a sauce, Avgolemono wakes up any bored diner’s tastebuds. Whisk eggs and lemon juice, stir into a chicken broth, heat through and serve – what could be easier?  I first tasted avgolemono (stress middle syllable…avgo Le mono) in a Greek Taverna in Chicago – on Halsted Street as I recall,  it seems eons ago – where my papilles (taste buds) were duly impressed.  And it was an introduction to pastina, tiny oval pastas that look like rice.  Most recipes begin with: cook a three pound chicken, etc. , but you could easily base this on last month’s basic soup stock (post of January 22), and add a cupful of chopped chicken or serve salted chicken on the side.  As with any use of fresh eggs, temperatures need to be watched carefully so curdling doesn’t spoil the soup.  Use white rice or pastina - i prefer “langue des oiseaux“, birds tongues pastina available in specialty shops selling Mediterranean products.

To serve 4, once you have  heated 4 cups of broth in a small soup pot, toss in 1/3 cup of pastina or long grain white rice to cook, covered for 20 minutes while you whisk the avgolemono in a bowl:

2 large, fresh eggs, whisked for 3 minutes

juice of 1 or 2 lemons (2 if you like it tart) & thin lemon slices for garnish; 1 lemon yields about 1/4 cup juice

Add the lemon juice to the eggs, beating constantly – then gradually blend in 1 cup of hot stock from the soup pot, continue beating without interruption, and pour this mixture into the soup, stirring (for 5 to 10 minutes) as it thickens slightly. It should be satiny smooth and the pastina or rice translucent at this point. This last-minute trick depends on the cook’s concentration, stirring as the soup warms. Garnish each bowl with a lemon slice or parsley sprig.

Avgolemono as a sauce can be made in a similar way, using a double boiler or dish over (never touching the water) a pan of boiling water.  Myrsini Lambraki* suggests sauce proportions of 1 egg to the juice of 1 lemon, a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup or more of the vegetable stock whisked in to the desired thickness.  Separate the whites and yolks for a frothier sauce, and serve on fish, asparagus, courgettes, broccoli or cauliflower (this is superb).  A Greek friend warns – never serve avgolemono with tomatoes or garlic, but suggests topping each serving with cracked black pepper or minced Greek oregano.  That, or a sprinkling of chopped fresh mint on top will transport you to a taverna table overlooking the Agean.

*Myrsini Lambraki’s useful Cretan Cuisine for Everyone, published by Myrsini Edition in 2005, emphasizes vegetables and explains the principles of the Mediterranean diet pyramid.

A crocus catching sunlight on February 2

Forty days after Christmas, the end of winter and return of longer days are cause for celebration.  Whether you call it Chandeleur, Maslenitsa/Mavénitsa or Ground Hog Day, how do you welcome brighter days ?  It isn’t only about eating crêpes, though many do in France, but the old rhymes point to the same iffy weather prediction system based on ground hogs and sunlight:  if the ground hog sees his shadow, forty more days of cold weather will follow. Before tucking into a hot crêpe, a Frenchman might say….

à la Chandeleur, l’hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur (On Chandeleur, winter ends or gathers strength)

à la Chandeleur, le jour croît de deux heures (On Chandeleur, the day grows by 2 hours)

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte (When snow covers all on Chandeleur, we will lose 40 days)

Rosée à la Chandeleur, hiver à sa dernière heure (Dew on the morning of Chandeleur, winter’s last hour!)

During the Chandeleur mass, commemorating Christ’s presentation at the Temple, candles for the upcoming year’s ceremonies were blessed – and some households would bring their chandelles for blessing as well. In Provence, this was the day to dismantle the crêche de Noël and tuck it away until Noël rolls around again. In many parts of the French hexagone, people still try to flip a crêpe with the right hand and flip a coin with the left…if you can do both, some may suspect you of lying.  And there are probably many more dictons and sayings about this mid-winter milestone.  Crêpes will still be tossed until Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday, and the vagabond is content with a glimpse of spring:  the first golden crocus in bloom, a cup of sunshine.

For Mardi Gras (16 February), watch for a new take on blini – with an eastern twist.

As turkey day approaches, put a few new salad ideas on the list….all the shopping, chopping, roasting, saucing and baking takes time and planning, but what about the salad? For the vagabond, a simple and savory salad offers a refreshing pause between the turkey, roast beef, pork or pheasant and the oncoming pies – a natural palate-cleanser. For special holiday meals, a salad need not be dull during a greens season of  ruby radiccio, ivory endive, fennel and curly green frisée. Talk color, talk about Trevisa and Chioggia, two towns in eastern Italy where winter lettuce is a market draw.

Our local growers bring the round, firm Chioggia variety to November markets. Best after the first frost, Trevisa radiccio is elongated with deep red veins and a tangy, slight bitterness in the bite. Radiccios add snap to a tossed salad, color when shredded and stirred into a risotto, and perk up appetites as a grilled and oil-drizzled first course.  For a dramatic dish on the holiday table, mix them with chunks of white Belgian endive dressed with a classic, herbed vinaigrette.

Winter salads, toss as you please

Recipe: MC, our “Maître de Salade”, does a basic vinaigrette – whisked together in a minute:  2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 1 teaspoon (or tablespoon if you wish!) French Dijon mustard, a pinch of salt, then whisk in 3 tablespoons of your best olive oil. Mix it up an hour ahead, let the flavors mellow and re-stir before tossing the salad. Variations on this theme run from adding peeled and deveined shrimp, a little dill or thyme and some pomegranate seeds to shredded Belgian endive, or add strips of cooked beets (add a pinch of sugar, ginger and black pepper to the dressing) and arugula leaves for diverse textures. Bring on the winter greens, whether before or after the turkey – that is your call.

Squash & cabbage families reign in November

Beyond the mounds of yellows, deep violets and pink tints of Toussaint chrysanthemums, the Bergerac market never fails to brighten the first Saturday in November – always a foggy grey, often drizzly day.  Heaps of bright squash and pumpkin are ready for slicing into wedges.  Red, pale green and curly dark Savoy cabbage weigh in for soups and casseroles. What about roots?  Grab the fringy tops of carrots, just-dug beetroot, purple-shouldered turnip globes, fennel bulbs to be gratinéed, or fill a sack with oval red Rosamonde potatoes. Delicate chanterelle mushrooms may still be around, but the meatier cèpes (boletus) are found in many markets now.

Select mushrooms - or chestnuts of your choice

Then, look for perfect, local persimmons – the glow-in-the-dark orange fruit visible on the farthest market stalls, or reach for rosy pomegranates packed in straw to cushion their journey to market. Whether the vagabond is in Brive or Bergerac, these nut growing regions never fail to supply wonderful breads for a simple market day lunch of salad (often endive with a mustard vinaigrette), nutbread and fresh cheese.

Artisanal breads, a market must

But what’s colorful about a loaf of nutbread?  Just roll a round of chèvre cheese in pomegranate seeds, slip a slab of it onto your slice of nutty bread – not only colorful…. but juicy!

Simply chèvre & glossy pomegranate seeds