Dinner from Hell

You know when you have one of those days? A day when everything you cook is a disaster? Like there is some malevolent, unseen force in the universe that entered your kitchen and put a curse on you?
Yesterday was that day.
And yesterday our good friends, the poor things, were invited to dinner.
I must say, they were very kind about the whole thing and we'll have fodder for dinner party conversation for years to come. "remember that night when you made the chicken that wouldn't cook and then I found, not one, but two strands of your hair in the apple crumble?"
It was horrific.
It started so innocently...I found an interesting chicken recipe online, got ingredients together for a nice salad, made my apple crumble and some savory mini cakes with roasted red pepper and gruyère cheese (the only thing that came out well).
Then it all fell to shit.
To start, I only had about 1/8th of a teaspoon of sherry vinegar for the salad and I really couldn't have used balsamic or red wine vinegar for this particular salad. Of course I didn't realize this until about 8 pm while trying to dress the salad. I improvised with apple cider vinegar but it just wasn't the same.
Then the chicken didn't cook! I removed it from our plates, put it all back in the pan and simmered it for another 15 minutes and it still didn't cook! This was after over an hour of simmering. I'm telling you, I was cursed!
Then my friend found a hair in her apple crumble. I immediately took the plate away and gave her another serving. After several bites, she found another hair.
Can you believe this???
Thank heavens they brought some delicious white wine and we opened a bottle of our favorite red so at least we had good wine. And good mini cakes.
Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
130 g (1 cup) flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 cup gruyère
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
freshly ground pepper
1 egg
1 plain yogurt (125 g ; 1/3 cup)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup minced roasted red peppers

Directions:
Heat oven to 180°C-350°F.
Put dry ingredients and wet ingredients in two separate bowls. Add peppers to egg mixture; pour over flour mixture and stir until dry ingredients are moistened.
Spoon into mini muffin pan and bake 15 min or until an inserted toothpick comes out dry.
Set aside to cool before unmolding.
Yields appr. 15 mini muffins Pin It

Autumn Lamb Stew

This recipe came about last week when I was trying to find a use for lamb shoulder and turnips that I had bought at the market. I love turnips but I rarely buy them because I have so few recipes that call for them.
The result was a rustic stew with a rich broth that pairs perfectly with crusty, French bread.
A delicious starter would be a salad of sliced Belgian endive, lamb's lettuce and Granny Smith apples drizzled with lemony dressing and sprinkled with toasted walnuts.

• 1 ½ pounds boneless lamb stew meat, I used shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes and trimmed of fat
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 2 cups diced turnip
• 1 branch fresh thyme
• 1 cup frozen baby peas, thawed

1. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat.
2. Mix flour with herbes de Provence, salt and pepper. Coat the lamb pieces with the flour mixture and add them, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil. When browned, remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.
3. About halfway through browning the meat, add the garlic cloves and brown them alongside some lamb, being careful not to burn them.
4. When the pieces are all done, reduce heat to medium and add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until lightly browned.
5. Stir in the water, scraping up the browned bits clinging to the bottom of the pot.
6. Put the lamb, garlic, carrots, turnips and thyme branch into the pot, give it a good stir and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook about 1 and 1/2 hours or until the lamb is meltingly tender.
8. Stir the thawed baby peas in at the end and make sure they're warmed through.
9. Before serving remove the thyme branches and smash the garlic cloves against the side of the pan and mix them into the broth.
10. Taste and correct for salt and pepper.

Serves 4 Pin It

Autumn in the Minervois

I just can't believe these colors! Pin It

Vinaigrier

I've been making my own vinegar for about a year now by just leaving an open bottle of red wine (the opening covered with cheesecloth to discourage fruit flies) on the kitchen counter for a few months and, voilà, vinegar!



But now I want a vinaigrier, like this one.
Isn't it gorgeous! Pin It

Pinching Myself

Something odd has happened...
On Monday I was given a provisionary document that allows me to finally open my business. They're sending me the other documents I need in a couple of weeks.
That's it.
Done.
Am I still in France? Did they change the system over the weekend to make it easier?

I'm so amazed and excited and now need to go and do millions of little things that I thought I had several more months to do! Pin It

Bureaucracy

September 19.

The right to have my own business in France continues to elude me.
In addition to the huge dossier I delivered to them in May, just last week the sous-préfecture requested a corporate ID number, called a K-bis, which I cannot have since I have no registered corporation in France and cannot register any business in France until they change the status of my carte de séjour!
I tried to explain this to them but ended up having to go back to Béziers (about an hour each way) to the Tribunal de Commerce to request the K-bis and have them tell me “mais, c’est impossible” to which I replied, “yes, I knew you would say that.” So, back to the Mairie where the secretary asked me to write a letter to the sous-préfecture explaining the situation. She is as confused as I am.

That was 3 ½ weeks ago.

Update
October 9.

The secretary at the Mairie called. Things are moving forward!
I've received a récipissé de carte de séjour which allows me to go, yet again, to Béziers to the Chambre de Commerce this time to request...actually I'm a little confused about what to request. There was mention of a carte de commerçant étranger, but I know I don't need one. I know I need a carte de something which I then take to another office in Béziers to get a number of some sort. Then I take it all back to the sous-préfecture and they re-issue my carte de séjour.
Here's the best part...the date of expiration on the récipissé is December 25, 2006. It took the sous-préfecture six months to get me one piece of paper and they expect me to get a carte de something and a number of some sort from two different offices in just 10 weeks??? Pin It

Lucca...

... was stunning.





The most popular form of transportation is the bicycle. They were everywhere and could be rented by the hour or by the day.




The living area of our apartment.

And the kitchen.


Across the street from our apartment was a focaccia bakery with about seven different kinds to choose from. No photos were ever taken as it was always eaten too quickly.
Here is some bread from another bakery with some marinated olives and baked eggplant.


Gelato was everywhere and we took advantage of it!

Two or three espressi a day kept me very happy. Perfect flavor and crema every time.


What a wonderful week!
Seeing our friends from New Orleans was the best part and when you add to that a beautiful city with welcoming people, divine food and amazing scenery, the combination is a recipe for the perfect vacation.


Lucca, I just found out, is known to the French as Lucques, which must be why whenever I told someone in our village where we were going, they looked at me blankly.
Les Lucques is also an olive varietal grown in the Hérault. This olive has a small crescent-shaped stone, thin skin, crunchy flesh and an incredible flavor with tastes of fresh almonds and avocados. Pin It