"Thank you and have a good day!"

...or when the old-fashioned (out of fashion?) rules of courtesy get twisted in the end.

Well, it happened to me this morning.

As I was enjoying a day off today, I left home with a cunning plan. All bundled up, my child and I put on our best smile to walk out there towards the subway station and face the extreme wave of cold that has been hitting Toronto over the last two months. After dropping her off at pre-school, I was all excited at the idea of going to spend a couple of hours in, what I presumed, would be a warm and cozy 'habitat'.

Delica Kitchen at Yonge & St Clair

My plan involved sipping a cup of coffee in a great place while skimming through a couple of design magazines that I had carefully selected for my coffee session. I entered the place, ordered an Americano and a banana loaf with great expectations…Their food is quite pricy but it is tasty and delicate.

I started musing and jetting down notes on my notebook for future potential blog posts. After 15 mins, I checked my watch, 10:00AM, I was the only customer sitting for coffee…Why? I didn't know. Never mind, I was happy I was the first one of a big anticipated crowd. After all, the place displays nice graphic interior decor, has good food and is conveniently located next to the subway station. There was to be more action, for sure. Well…after an hour, 3 other patrons had dropped by to quickly buy a coffee or some food, but they had come in and out in no time. Was that due to the cold? Probably. Then I felt a massive draft, this Delicatessen/Coffee house really was not too well heated, despite a super warm furry vest and a pashmina that I threw on my lap, I started to feel the cold through my bones. Not pleasant. I felt the urge to shorten my stay to a little hour.

And believe it or not, not once did the staff ask me how I was doing, after all I was the only customer there. I know the place quite well as I have come on several occasions with my friends and family, but not once have I been greeted by the staff with a simple, genuine smile of recognition. ;(

As I left, I  said: "Thank you and have a good day!" As soon as I caught myself saying it, I thought "But wait a minute, shouldn't they say that to me?" ...

Oh well, I guess it was not the warmest place to spend a freezing cold winter morning.

Has it ever happened to you? 

My weekend with Marco, Lola and...Sophie.

Marco and I just discovered the delicious side of Miss Sophie Dahl last weekend! What a bliss!
You probably already know her or have already seen her beautiful face in fashion magazines as she was a big super model back in the days.

In this BBC cooking show, she truly is delightful. And her recipes are knock-outs!
Thanks to Sophie, I have found what to bake for my upcoming Xmas tea time parties, I will make her scrumptious flourless chocolate cake with cream and fresh fruit. Check it out!



And then on Christmas Day, Marco and I have decided on our brunch menu: Cheese souffle buckwheat blinis+scrambled eggs+salmon.



We are definitely looking forward to the Holiday Celebratory Season!

Happy preparations to you too for your Holiday festivities! EN-JOY!

The 40 most common cooking mistakes

If you just lamented the poor result of your efforts in the kitchen, and cried out: 'Oops, I did it again!' Then this post is for you!

Crêpez-vous le chignon mignon!

 

~ February 2 is la Chandeleur (Candlemas), a holiday that is traditionally celebrated in France by making crêpes.
So don't forget to crêpe it up!

Epiphanie & Cie.

Since the Middle Ages, in celebration of the Epiphany (Kings' Day), French people traditionally eat Galettes des Rois. Galette des Rois is called King's Cake in English. Here is a song called J'aime la galette, meaning I Love Cake, that French kids sing on Kings' Day!

" J'aime la galette,
Savez-vous comment ?
Quand elle est bien faite
Avec du beurre dedans.
Trala la la la la la la lère,
Tra la la la la la la la la,
Tra la la la la la la la lère,
Tra la la la la la la la la."

Today was the 12th day after Christmas, the Epiphany. 
In my new hometown, Toronto, this Christian landmark is not as celebrated as in France.

Never mind. I still intend to bake my "galette des rois" for this coming Sunday as we have guests over for tea, that will be a good opportunity for them to discover a new tradition without choking on it, hopefully... ;O)

You don't have a clue what I am talking about... See what Clotilde says about the tradition, it should brighten up your wintry, snowy skies with the recipe of a buttery and fluffy galette!

"It is a typically French tradition to celebrate l'Epiphanie: this holiday celebrates the day on which the three kings Gaspard, Balthazar and Melchior came to pay their tribute to the world-famous baby born just a couple of weeks before. In French those wise men go by the cool name of Les Rois Mages (the Magi), and their first names are totally coming back in fashion these days, let me tell you. (Well, except maybe for Melchior, that's a tough one.)
Like many a Christian holiday, this one has lost its religious significance in most French families, gaining a sweeter, much more buttery one in the bargain: on the day of the Epiphany, families share a Galette des Rois, a flaked pastry pie filled with frangipane, a butter-rich, smooth mixture of crème d'amande (almond cream) and crème pâtissière (pastry cream)*.
The actual date on which to have the galette has gotten fuzzier and fuzzier: some families celebrate on the 6th, some on the first Sunday in January, but it's mostly considered fine to celebrate it all through the month of January. (I must however protest against the sale of galettes before the new year, and sometimes as soon as November. I mean, really.)
The fabulous thing about a Galette des Rois, apart from its deliciousness, is the family ritual that goes with it: the youngest child of the family hides under the table, an adult divides the galette in even slices, and the child calls out which slice goes to whom.

Why all the fuss you ask? Aah, it is just this small thing I haven't yet mentioned: la fève is hidden in the galette. Historically a dry fava bean (hence the name), it is now a little porcelain figure. (That figure used to have some kind of religious meaning but that, too, has gone the way of the dodo.) Whoever gets the fève in his serving is named King (or Queen) for the day, gets to wear the golden paper crown that came with the galette, picks who the Queen (or King) will be, and glows with pride for weeks hence." (From Chocolate & Zucchini)

Welcome to Mon Cher Coco!

Hello Mes Chers!

I am very happy to welcome you to Mon Cher Coco, my new blog that is more exclusively devoted to everything homemade for you... like food, for instance. I will therefore, and as of now, publish all my recipes and food-related anecdotes on this new-born blog.

See you soon chez Mon cher Coco ;0

Midnight soup: Of Fashionistas and Pumpkins!

Pink Tartan S/S 2010 Collection

Last Wednesday, we had planned to leave our house at 7PM to attend some events at the LG Fashion Week. Our evening was fully booked with 2 fashion shows and 1 art opening party. But before we left, I had come up with this idea that we should have a soup for dinner, you know a nice pumpkin soup... I unfortunately thought about it a bit too late, and started cooking at 5.30 PM...I know...It nevertheless left me enough time to get started, so I peeled the veggies, fried them and boiled them. After approximately 50 mins (preparation and cooking time), the mix was ready to be processed and savoured; but we were running short of time as we still had to get changed. Bah, too bad! The soup had to wait...
We made it on time for the Pink Tartan and the Joe Fresh Shows, we even had time to surf through the crowds of fashionistas, grab a drink or two and chat a bit before it all started. Nice!

Joe Mimran, shortly before Pink Tartan's show. He has become quite an icon over the years, here in Canada! Well, you know what, I like Joe Fresh a lot, and have the deepest respect for his line and ethics in the fashion industry. I was also happy to discover the new Pink Tartan Show. I enjoyed it. I found the style not only consistent and well structured, but also very wearable . Kimberley Newton-Mimran and Joe Mimran, husband and wife, are a very creative and inspiring couple. The few times I saw them together, they beamed with mutual love. I know I am a just-married type of girl, but I have always had a tendency to notice love around me quite accurately. I am a believer in the power of love and, in their case, it clearly (fashion) shows!

Well time flew by as usual and it was already 10ishPM when we decided to take off for our next event: Shadowplay, an in-store event/opening at Carte Blanche . The store had selected influential members of the young Toronto fashion and art communities to present the F/W 2010 collection from their in-house line Pink Cobra.

Marco and I were looking forward to attending this opening night as we knew it would come as a relief after several nights of Fashion Week events, we needed a change of scenery and the immersion in the glam'punk-rock artsy scene proved to be rejuvenating!

Miguel Jacob (photographer) and Dwayne Kennedy (Stylist), who that night had decided to let his hair 'up', great idea! And a friend of theirs. All were very happy with the show!

Above, selected photo of Miguel Jacob, styled by Dwayne Kennedy. See more in the post Fearful Symmetry, the behind the scenes of the shoot.

On that night, Marco put on his studded leather jacket and declared he was officially sick with the exclusively sartoriale look! Good for him ;) Here with his mother, Zuly, and Elizabeth Kaye, one of Miguel's passionate interns who shared the night with us.

After all, we got back home for midnight and believe it or not, we were hungry for soup. Ready to be turned into pumpkins! I blended the soup I had prepared, and Oolala, it looked and smelled exactly like what we needed : A yummy flavourful pumpkin soup to warm up and feel the comfort of good mother nature on our plate and palate...Pumpkin will never go out of fashion!

Impromptu Pumpkin Soup: (up to 8 generous servings)

- 2-3 tbsp of safflower (or olive) oil
- 1 yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves
-500g pumpkin (or butternut squash), peeled and sliced
-1 leek
-1 celery stick + leaves (very tasty!)
-1 carrot
-1 potato
-fine sea salt and ground pepper
-rosemary dried leaves, and three bay leaves
- a pinch of curry powder, cumin and cinnamon (or nutmeg, instead of cinnamon)
-1 tbsp of soy sauce
-1 tbsp of olive oil
-fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for garnish

Heat the safflower or olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic cloves. After 5 min, once they have softened and toasted a bit, add all the vegetables: pumpkin, leek, carrot, potato and celery. Let the magic work for 10 min or so, all the vegetables will greet each other and fry a bit to look gently golden!
Season to your taste with: pepper and salt, the above-listed spices, rosemary and bay leaves.
Pour in enough water to cover the vegetables. If you prefer, you can replace water by 1.5L of vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer, cover, lower to medium-low, and cook for 20-30 mins until the vegetables are soft.
Let the soup cool down for a few minutes (or hours in my case on that very night...). Purée the soup using an immersion blender, until the soup is smooth with just a few remaining chunks.
Stir in the soy sauce and olive oil (I used Croatian award-winner olive oil, Izbor 2008, from the Meneghetti property, 22 euros per 0,25L bottle: very expensive, but beyond compare with its bitter-sweet flavours!), taste, and adjust the seasoning. Ladle into bowls. Serve with a nice piece of multigrain bread + butter and tapenade spread (black or green olives purée: miam-miam!).
Wine: Côtes-du Rhônes red wine, Antonin Rodet - 2008, is what we had and it worked very well. The matching duet, soup+red wine, played the flawless score of its gentle melody on our taste buds.

Upon the stroke of 1AM, we had been turned into a pair of roasted giant pumpkins, happy and content, ready to be tucked in bed!

Bon appétit!

Marco, Julia & I...

Polaroid photo taken by Elsa Dorfman in 1988

Last night, my fiancé and I went to see this yummy film that has just been released: Julie & Julia. It is about the parallel lives of Julia Child, the French Chef, and Julie Powell, a blogger, whose life was saved by Julia Child's revolutionary cookbook : Mastering the Art of French Cooking. We had seen the trailer, and therefore knew that we'd better have a solid dinner beforehand, if we didn't want to agonize over the gorgeous food that would be shown sizzling, frying or roasting on screen. So we seared a couple of peppered steaks that we ate with a beautiful salad of mixed vegetables and scrumptious fresh peas. Miam-miam! We were ready. No rumbling stomachs would roar during the late show of Nora Ephron's adaptation of the two bestselling memoirs: Powell's Julie & Julia, and Julia Child's autobiography, My Life in France.

Meryl Streep // Julia Child

I wanted more recipes, more anecdotes about how Julia got her savoir-faire, more, more! I wished the book had been 1,000 pages long for the film to keep going for at least another half an hour...Because, well, I am afraid I have to admit but I did not know anything about Julia Child before I arrived in Canada. That's true! She was a total stranger to me! It's Marco who introduced me to her for the first time. So now I am getting to know her better - I am reducing my ignorance of great North American chefs. I have also recently discovered The Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr, the incredible James Bond of the food shows in the 1960s...

And another mad chef, Stephen Yan, who would do anything to have it 'wok' alright in his show, Wok with Yan. Good recipes and hilarious!

Being French, I was raised in a kitchen with traditional cuisine performed everyday and most spectacularly at weekends when family gatherings took place. Television was not part of the way to get new recipes, we looked to magazines and cookbooks. I started to watch a few cooking shows on TV, in the 90s. My favourites were Carte Postale Gourmande with the food critic Jean-Luc Petitrenaud or Bon Appétit, Bien sûr with Joël Robuchon, the French chef who also opened a restaurant in NYC, L'Atelier.

So, this morning when I woke up, I was still under the influence and felt like cooking an omelette 'à la Julia'. I opened the original 1969 version of Julia Child's reference cookbook that belongs to my fiancé; who is un fin gourmet, and a pure francophile. Marco has had years of practice with Julia's technique (see bottom of the article where he tells you more about it!), and has therefore become an expert in tossing it on the edge of the pan so as to get a perfectly rolled omelette. Well, I haven't reached that stage of perfection, yet... I got pretty successful with the tossing, I slid the pan back and forth alright but when I tilted it at a 45-degree angle to rapidly gather the eggs at the far lip of the pan with the back of my fork, I could not manage to roll the omelette with the fork...so I used my hands, oops! Well, we didn't have any guests, just the usual suspects, so I felt entitled to experiment and get a bit messy.

Later in the afternoon, we were invited for dinner by wonderful friends of ours who live in Oakville. I was invited by Barbara, the most gracious 70-something Australian lady, to pick up a few fresh goodies from her garden. I reveled at the sight of gorgeous tomatoes and fantasized about the rhubarb, thinking of all the strawberry and rhubarb pies and other preserves I could make. Now, tomorrow is going to be quite indecent, blushing with red organic tomatoes. I will most probably make a nice Salade Niçoise (p542) and bake Tomates à la Provençale (p507) (stuffed tomatoes), one of my favourite meals growing up. My mother would sometimes add rice and ground beef to the classical recipe, in order to turn it into a main course.

If you want to find typical recipes from Provence, get yourself a copy of the classic yellow book by J-B Reboul. An absolute must if you like la cuisine provençale. Believe me! No illustrations, just recipes- plain but authentic, the real stuff!

Julia Child’s Tomates à la Provençale

(Tomatoes Stuffed with Bread Crumbs, Herbs and Garlic)

For 6 people

6 firm, ripe, red tomatoes about 3 inches in diameter

Salt and pepper

For the stuffing:

1 to 2 cloves mashed garlic

3 Tb minced shallots or green onions

4 Tb minced fresh basil and parsley, or parsley only

1/8 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp salt

Big pinch of pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup fine, white, dry bread crumbs

A shallow roasting pan just large enough to bold the tomatoes easily in one layer

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the stems, and cut the tomatoes in half crosswise. Gently press out the juice and seeds. Sprinkle the halves with salt and pepper.

Blend all the ingredients for the stuffing in a mixing bowl. Correct seasoning. Fill each tomato half with a spoonful or two of the mixture. Sprinkle with a few drops of olive oil. Arrange the tomatoes in the roasting pan; do not crowd them. (My note: The tomato halves can be stuffed ahead to this point and refrigerated before baking.)

Shortly before you are ready to serve, place them in the upper third of the preheated oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender but hold their shape, and the bread crumb filling has browned lightly.

Cover of the original 1961 edition

But, let's finish with the story of Marco & Julia Child's 1969 version of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (whose cover is identical to the 1961 edition shown above)...It is quite a story! Actually, I've asked him to tell you about it himself:

"I was living in Montreal in 1997. Missing the cooking I had learned in Montpellier a couple of years before, but dead broke, I invested the last few dollars I had in a vintage copy of Julia Child's 752-page Magnum opus 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking'. That book brought a lot of happiness to my life and was well worth the skipped meals required to finance its purchase. I taught myself many dishes from that book, including how to properly cook an omelette. While moving out a few months later, I was devastated to discover that I had lost the book. I am still convinced that one of my flatmates had stolen it...
A year later, I was at a bookstore shopping for Christmas gifts. When I walked up to the cash with a couple of books for my family, I caught a glimpse of the long lost Julia Child's book in a bargain bin, the same 1969 edition as the one I had lost! When I asked the shop owner how much he wanted for it, he answered: "Two dollars". I snatched it up without hesitation, experiencing the exhilaration of a bank robber"

Dan Aykroyd as the bloody French Chef for the Saturday Night Live on December 9th, 1978. Sorry, I could not resist that one. Mea culpa, Julia. Aykroyd nails Child’s every nuance so well that he simply is irresistible. Oh well, she had a great sense of humour, she must have loved and laughed at her doppelgänger's show, don't you think?

Her Life in France. Learning how to bone a duck...Go to Julia Child's official website to watch The French Chef's unique videos!

Marco, Julia and I are now sharing a lot of omelettes and other delicious recipes together, happily ever after... Bon Appétit!

On the menu today...

The other day, after a refreshing stroll in the green through Trinity Bellwoods Park, we stopped by at Balfour Books on College Street. As soon as I set foot in the shop, I noticed the two new cookbooks on French cuisine that were on display in the window... I asked for both and plunged head first into their heart with surgical care. They were a bit too polished or fancy, I guess - I eventually discarded them. Even if they both whetted my appetite with a colourful range of new recipes or good old classics from the south-west of France in particular, I discarded them because I needed something louder, something bigger, something that would sound that great pandemonium of ruffling saucepans and steaming pots...

This is not my kitchen but I love the bric-à-brac of saucepans in this picture...

Yes, it took me some time to make up my mind and discard the two books that had first caught my attention, but I did it- for the better, as I found two jewels: a 1963 American cookbook, the Gourmet's Menu Cookbook (edited by Gourmet, Inc) and Bocuse's Regional French Cooking (Flammarion Editions, Paris, 1991) - both irresistible! Love at first sight.

My two trophy books at work in my kitchen...

Ah, the 1960s and their retro style! The book offers a thorough lesson on how to devise a properly planned menu. The retro elegance that unfolds before my eyes as I go through these 652 pages of oddly colored and always neatly compounded food, is quite addictive. Neato! I was surprised to even find a whole section of the book devoted to what is called 'Terrace Dinner.' Where have our good manners gone?

Here is an excerpt from the introduction to the section. Just to give you a taste of the art of terrace dinner...
'Given the proper facilities and suitable weather, it is possible to serve almost any meal outdoors. Usually, however, it is desirable to capitalize on the outdoor situation, to some degree, in the menu. This should not be taken to imply that an alfresco meal must necessarily be cooked outside, The implication is, rather, that the outdoors tends to deformalize any occasion slightly, and that some dishes seem more appropriate than others to the outdoor situation. Grilled meat or a fruit compote is more "at home" than an escalope à la crème or cherries Jubilee.'

3 Set Menus for Terrace Dinners
Menu 1
Cold Carrot and Orange Soup
Broiled Marinated Steak
Burgundy Onion Rings
Charcoal-Roasted Potatoes
Pineapple Ice Cream in Meringue Shells

Menu 2
Ham Steaks San Juan
Cheese-Stuffed Potatoes
Sliced Cucumbers with Avocado French Dressing
Skewered Caramel Apples

Menu 3
Duck Orange Salad
Crackling Bread
Raspberries Romanoff

In this 1960s Gourmet cookbook, the delicately adorned drawings (by Marilyn Miller) and photographs (by Arthur Palmer) reminded me of the visits I would pay to my aunt's when a child- her house was also typical of that style, full of the same decorative dishes, rattan armchairs and teak furniture.

In 1963, Jerrold Nathan developed a Scandinavian style range in teak. Nathan advertising campaign.

It also reminded me of Tati's films with their fantastic vision of modern interiors. Let's take, for instance, Mon Oncle, this 1958 film comedy that presents us with Monsieur Hulot's quixotic crusade against modern design and architecture or any machine processes, criticizing thus the consumer society, and yet offering amazing sets and interior decors at the same time! The film set was most entirely built from scratch by painter Jacques Lagrange.

Mon Oncle by Jacques Tati, 1958.

As for the other book of the day, I felt a real kinship with my compatriot (of course he is from Lyon...), Paul Bocuse. I've had the privilege to taste his art several times; with my family as a teenager (great education!), at the Abbaye de Collonges and, as an adult, at his compass-rose brasseries in Lyon; le Nord, le Sud, l'Est & l'Ouest- Bocuse's book offers the reader a tasty voyage through the regions and provinces of France.

For your eyes only, here below are two exclusive highlights that I selected from the menu I had planned for our engagement party, last June 21st..Click on the photo and enjoy! One is about La Pissaladière, a specialty from Nice, and the other one is about Le Plateau de Fromages. So gourmand, so French!

Happiness is happening...

Today has been a wonderful day both outside, and inside! I could literally hear the wedding bells chiming all around me... David Bowie and his Fill your Heart was for me today! Happiness is happening...It started with an unusual meeting, whose subject will be revealed after August 17th, it went very well and the outcome should be a great experience! After that meeting, Marco and I went to B Espresso Bar, on Queen East. Hmm, for a second we put the blame on our detox diet (that will last all of August) as it prevented us from drinking a deeply unctuous, black Italian espresso, but we compensated our crave with a very flavourful green jasmine tea. Happiness was happening then, all the same! B for Buonissimo...

The rest of the day just gracefully unfolded, you know, like one of these Victorian fans, richly adorned with evocative and picturesque details.

Lunch was fun, I had just an hour to get it all ready so I prepared a ratatouille with lamb chops and roasted garlic, which were greeted with great success by my two co-lunchers, Marco, and his twin brother, Miguel. Note that a ratatouille is very tasty hot (don't forget the coriander seeds, it is the secret touch for me!), but I find it even better cold, at dinner time or the next day...either with cold meat or with just an avocado and a few sardines on the side. Vive la Provence!

My espresso ratatouille of the day!

The afternoon was devoted to work and to house-cleaning - now, everything is in order. I like it like that too. You know when the tiles are shiny, the shelves, rid of the dust, and when the wooden floor smells of polishing wax. Ahh, reclining on the sofa, I am now writing this post and as I look around, I think to myself 'what a wonderful life!' Have I forgotten to tell you that, to top it all, I am listening to an incredible vinyl (a 1963 Angel Stereo recording), CRRRRrrr! The crispy sound is part of the pleasure, isn't it? Well, I am playing the complete orchestral works by Maurice Ravel (conducted by André Cluytens and interpreted by the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra), impressively dramatic and intimate: Le Tombeau de Couperin, La Pavane pour une Infante Défunte, Alborada del Gracioso, (Listen! This piece is conducted by my favourite conductor of all times, Sergiu Celibidache) to name but a few...If you don't know them, try them - and tell me how it feels!

Ravel at the piano, accompanied by Canadian singer Éva Gauthier, during his American tour, March 7, 1928. At far right is George Gershwin.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

Last Saturday, we decided to have a German party at our place : friends, food, music and movies from the Rhineland...

Max Raabe

We had invited Tess and Daniel, our German friends, for dinner to celebrate Daniel's belated birthday. As soon as they arrived we popped the cork of a Moët & Chandon and yelled : Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag! while listening to a German album they had brought for the occasion, "Ich wollt, ich wär" by Max Raabe - He and his orchestra specialise in recreating the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 1930s, amazing!

Daniel had also brought his own birthday cake (as agreed), a delicious cake which he made for the very first time. A big hit!
Here is the recipe for Schwäbischer Ofenschlupfer - literally: Swabian Oven Slipper (?!) ...don't ask:-)
Ingredients
25g raisins
1-2 tablespoons of rum or apple juice (for kiddies)
2 rolls (preferably yesterday's)

1 big sour apple (e.g. Granny Smith)
1/2 vanilla bean
100ml cream or milk
3 eggs
40g sugar
1 table spoon almond sticks
Icing sugar
A pat of butter to grease a 25cm springform pan or small individual ramekins.

1. Soak raisins in rum - cut rolls in 2cm cubes - wash apple and cut it into slices - slit the vanilla bean open lengthwise and scoop out the marrow - whisk cream, milk, eggs vanilla marrow and sugar gently.

2. Grease the baking pan and insert bread cubes, apple slices and raisins - pour over the egg-cream mixture - garnish with almond sticks - bake in preheated oven (390° - 400°) for 25-30 minutes (cover it after a while if necessary) .
Sprinkle with icing sugar as desired.

White wine sauce:
200ml white wine
1 egg
2 yolks
100g sugar
1. Gently whisk egg, yolks and sugar
2. Place bowl with mixture in a warm water bath and add wine
3. Whisk it until it's fluffy and serve it hot! (N.B: one generous spoonful on top of each slice of cake should do)

Guten Appetit!

Our night unfolded most pleasantly with inspiring conversations and listening to and even dancing to a few groovy tunes by Otis Redding such as Day Tripper ...

Otis Redding performing on stage...

After that, we were ready to watch the scene from Pretty in Pink , you know, when Duckie does this amazing entrance on Otis's Try a Little Tenderness. I thought they would love it, and they did! Tess suddenly exclaimed "Oh My God! If I were this girl, I would fall head over heels in love with a guy like him!" Well, well, well, the character actually does not...

Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald, and John Cryer as 'Duckie' in Pretty in Pink (1986)

We had nearly reached Satisfaction, when Marco said, but wait a minute, there is a video that we must watch now...Otis starts the song with an introduction thanking his good friend, Mick Jaegger, for being in the audience--sheer rhythm, sheer madness! Totally phenomenal and astonishing, it caught us completely off-guard, Marco smiled with content.


When we eventually sat down on the couch to watch the German movie they had recommended, Vier Minuten (2006), Chris Kraus's film, it was already 1 A.M.
But we did not miss out one second of this film, from the beginning to the end, we were riveted to the screen, so intense it was.

Vier Minuten...

Trust me, it was not only in the last four minutes of the film that we felt the high tension of the pianist's chords, but these last four minutes were sharp! At the end of the night, that is to say early in Sunday morning, we had one last drink in the cool air, under the porch of the house, and I asked Daniel once more about this incredible pianist he had already mentioned before. He talked passionately about Gabriela Montero, and told us her interpretations were unique just like her improvisational gifts.

Gabriela Montero, 2007

I found a piece that will help me loop the loop of our German night. She here plays a humorous and powerful improvisation based on a song the audience sang back to her at the Kölner Philharmonie in October, 2007.

What a night! Gute Nacht,...stille Nacht!

The Ideal Picnic Loaf!

The loaf, shortly after being taken out from the oven...

Miam-Miam! Here is one of my favourite loaves of them all. As we are planning to go picnic on the Toronto Islands next Sunday, I've already thought of what to put in our basket and this loaf came first on my list - I will bake it once more...

Cake Tomate, Pistache et Chorizo

(An English version follows...)
Préparation: 20 Min. Cuisson: 50 Min.
Pour 8-10 personnes, à servir froid ou tiède.
Petite suggestion... Déguster froid avec une mayonnaise et une salade de mesclun ou avec un coulis de tomates concassées & des feuilles de basilic frais en décoration. Idéal pour un buffet ou un pique-nique!

Ingrédients
-15g de beurre pour le moule.
-2 cuillers à soupe de graines de sésame — une pour le moule, une pour en recouvrir la préparation dans le moule.
-150g farine
-1 sachet de levure
-3 gros oeufs
-1/2 cuiller de sel fin de mer
-1/2 cuiller de poivre du moulin
-4 cuillers à soupe d’huile d’olive
-150g de yaourt grec /fromage blanc battu nature non-sucré
-100g de chorizo bien épicé, retirer la peau de préférence et couper en dés.
-12 demi-tomates séchées (marinées dans de l’huile d’olive), égoutter et découper finement en dés.
-100g de pistaches entières, grillées. Retirer les coquilles et concasser légérement les pistaches dans le mixer.
-Un bouquet de persil plat (environ 15g) hâché grossièrement.

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Instructions

-Préchauffer le four à 180*C. Beurrer un moule à cake de 24 par 12cm, tapisser l’intérieur beurré du moule d’une cuiller de graines de sésame.
-Mélanger la farine et la levure dans un petit saladier. Mettre de côté.
-Dans un saladier de taille moyenne, mélanger les oeufs, le sel et le poivre. Puis incorporer l’huile, le yaourt et mélanger le tout. Tamiser la farine et la levure et incorporer-les au mélange des oeufs, remuer avec une cuiller en bois. Ne batter pas trop l’appareil, ce n’est pas grave si cela forme quelques grumeaux. Incorporer délicatement les pistaches, les tomates, le chorizo et le persil.
-Verser l’appareil dans le moule à cake, uniformiser la surface avec une spatule et saupoudrer le tout avec la deuxième cuiller de graines de sésame.
-Mettre au four pour 40-50min jusqu’à ce que le cake soit doré. Laisser refroidir et déguster!
- Variation: Figues séchées ou dates, ou tout autre sorte de noix, herbes de Provence, olives, poulet, jambon, gruyère, fruits frais, etc.

BON APPÉTIT!




Source: I translated this recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini, by Clotilde Dusoulier
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And now, in English...

Couple enjoying leisurely chat at picnic, USA, April 1950-
Photo by Lisa Larsen for Life Magazine

Tomato, Pistachio and Chorizo Loaf
Source: David Lebovitz, adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini by Clotilde Dusoulier.

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 1/4 cups (150g) flour
1 tablespoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon chile powder
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup (150g) plain, whole-milk yogurt
3 ounces (85g) chorizo, preferable spicy, skinned and finely diced
8 sun-dried tomato halves, finely diced
3/4 cup (100g) unsalted shelled pistachios
1/4 cup (15g) chopped flat-leaf parsley
butter, for greasing the pan

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
2. Butter a 9-inch (23cm) loaf pan and sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of the sesame seeds, tilting the pan to distribute them.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and chile powder.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs and yogurt. Sift the dry ingredients into the egg mixture, stirring until barely incorporated. Don't overmix.
5. Gently fold in the chorizo, tomatoes, pistachios, and parsley. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds.
6. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the cake just feels set in the center. Let cool for 15 minutes, then tilt it out of the pan onto a cooling rack.

Kate Jenkins
Sequined Anchovies
Lambs Wool Crochet , 2009
33 x 33 cm (13.0 x 13.0 ins)

Serving and storage: Once cool, cut the cake into thin slices and serve as is. Leftover cake should be wrapped snugly in plastic and will keep up to five days at room temperature. I often cut savory cakes in half and freeze part to have on hand for emergency cocktail parties.