Cooking in France

A few months ago we made a trip to France.  After spending a few days in Paris we made our way to Antibes, a small town in the French Riviera nestled on the coast of the Mediterranean.
Surrounded by some of the best food and ingredients I've ever seen I couldn't resist doing a bit of cooking.

La Marche' Provencal is the largest market in region.  The food was simply amazing; purveyors selling spices, veggies, cheese, sausage, butter, olive oil....  Everything was amazingly fresh and the quality is something we don't even come close to here in the States.  Every purveyor was so proud of what they had produced and was eager to tell you all about where it came from.

After acquiring some cheese, sausage, butter and veggies we went next door to the fish market (poissonnerie).  We marveled at the array of fresh seafood and eventually settled on the item I knew how to order, fresh Mediterranean shrimp.

For an appetizer I simply cut-up the tomatoes and topped with garlic.  We also had the fresh cows milk cheese and some of the garlic and boar sausage (saucisson) we purchased.

The shrimp were sauteed in butter & white wine and served with some roasted potatoes.

Chili & Biscuits

The leaves are turning and it's getting cold outside, that means one thing, Chili.  I made big pot and some homemade biscuits.
I still can't quiet make a biscuit that will impress a southern grandmother but they are getting better with every try.

Creole Cream Jambalaya

I came up with a creamy version of Jambalaya.  The tradition with Jambalaya is that it doesn't have set ingredients, so for mine I decided to used shrimp and sausage.

The base is very similar to a classic Jambalaya; the difference is that I made a creole-cream sauce and mixed that into the rice before mixing everything together.

Doughnuts

Decided to make homemade Krispy Kreme style doughnuts.

The dough recipe was borrowed from a fellow blogger; it turned out great.  The yeast dough is cut and fried up.

I made plain glazed, bavarian cream filled and cinnamon sugar doughnut holes.

Bavarian Cream recipe:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 (3 1/2 ounce) packages instant pudding mix
• 3/4 cup milk
• 12 ounces whipped cream, from whipping cream

Mix together cream cheese and dry pudding mix. Slowly beat in milk.  Fold in whipped Cream.

I'll definitely be making these again; keep an eye out for the hot doughnut sign outside the house

Avocado Soup

Put together a quick chilled Avocado soup.  Just fresh Avocados with some chicken broth, lime juice and water.

Garnished with creme fraiche, lime zest and habanero Tabasco.

Seared Scallops w/ Lemon-Butter Sauce & Tarragon Oil

Pan seared scallops served atop a lemon butter sauce with a drizzle of tarragon oil.  It's basically like scallops atop a decontrcuted bernaise sauce.

I usually shy away from somewhat pretentious food but sometimes I do like to challenge myself.  I'm usually all for food that's rustic and big flavors but I think there is a place for food being pretty and interesting.  As long as it taste good and makes everyone smile after that first bite.

Veal & Buffalo Meatballs

On my latest trip to the farmer's market I decided to try something a little different.  Rather than going for the traditional pork or beef meatball I went with a combination of veal and buffalo.  The buffalo is very lean but has a lot of meaty flavor; so the veal is a good compliment as it adds the needed fat and is a bit more delicate.

Veal & Buffalo Meatballs

1/2 lb. Buffalo

1/2 lb. Veal

1 clove Garlic

1 Egg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

8-10 leaves of fresh Basil- cut into ribbons

salt

pepper

1 cup ground bread

1/2 cup water

The bread just needs to be plain white or french bread that is chopped up finely (cuisinart).  The water is kinda of a strange ingredient but it really helps keep everything nice and moist.

The meatballs were covered with a quick fire-roasted tomato sauce and placed atop homemade fettucini.

Sausage Sandwiches

I found some interesting lamb & mint sausages on my latest trip to the Dekalb Farmers Market.

I grilled these up along with red onion and red pepper.  Everything got cut up, covered with havarti cheese and served atop a fresh roll.

I finally learned the trick to cooking sausages on the grill is to keep them away from the fire and let them cook slowly at a lower temp; then just before removing, move them over to the high temp area and let them get a bit of color.  They turn out much better this way (thanks Jamie Oliver!)

Roasted Tomato & Asparagus Pizza

A simple summertime pizza with asparagus and roasted tomatoes.

The sauce is just a mixture of olive oil and roasted garlic.  Mix it together to form a paste and lightly coat the dough before adding the other ingredients.

The tomatoes are sliced, seasoned and slowly roasted at 350 until they dehydrate a bit and the flavor is concentrate.  Asparagus is blanched so it will be soft and retain it's color.  Last, top with some slices of fresh mozzarella.  Simple but delicious.

Bananas Foster

There are a handful of things that make me nostalgic about where I grew up, the food of New Orleans being one of them.  From my early childhood, yearly trips to the Big Easy were a chance to explore all the culianry delights the city had to offer.

As I've grown older and geographically farther away, I'm constantly trying to recreate these classic dishes that I love so much.  One of these is Bananas Foster; one of the most popular desserts in the city.  It's truly a New Orleans creation as it's genesis can be traced back to Brennan's on Royal Street

It's an incredible fun and easy dessert to make; especially if you have an inner pyro like me.  And, keeping with the Brennan's tradition it's just as much about the show as the taste (they still prepare the dessert table-side).

All you need are

1 Ripe Banana (the more ripe the better) - split in half length-wise then cut into small chunks

1/4 cup Brown sugar

1 Tbsp. Butter

Cinammon to taste

1 oz. Rum (or banana liquer) -use a decent quality

Vanilla Ice Cream

Lighter or Open Flame

a fire extinguisher in the vicinity is also probably a good idea

The above will make a small serving for 2 people, adjust accordingly.

Allow a shallow skillet to heat up, then add in the butter.  Once the butter is melted add in the bananas and brown sugar and allow to cook/soften for 1-2 minutes.  Season with cinnamon to taste.

Now comes the big finale, remove from the heat and add the alcohol and add the flame; be sure to have you and your guest stay back from the pan as it will ignite and make culinary fireworks.  For a beginner, I recommend using a stick lighter, however with experience you can just use the open flame from a gas stove.

Once the flame subsides you can spoon it over the ice cream and enjoy.  Serve immediately because the warm mixture will melt the ice cream quickly.