Your Own French Onion Soup

 Soupe a` l'Oignon Gratinee

(Onion Soup Gratineed with Cheese)

"Anyone can cook in the French manner anywhere," says 

Mesdames Beck, Bertholle and Child, 

"with the right instruction."  ~ Mastering The Art of French Cooking

Today I celebrated the anniversary of Julia Child's birthday by making Soupe a` l'Oignon Gratinee.   My husband said it was just as good (or even better) than the French Onion Soup that we love in Paris!  

You can find the recipe in 

Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, Volume One.

It's also fun to actually watch Julia make the Onion Soup in her 1960's TV show The French Chef .  I found The French Chef DVDs at my local library and have been enjoying watching re-runs of the show.  They bring back such wonderful memories of when I was a young girl and watched The French Chef on visits to my grandmother's house.  Julia's episode of Your Own French Onion Soup is from Season 1, Episode 2. 

To make the soup, you need a lot of onions (as Julia says) and about 3 hours to make your own French onion soup.  The recipe instructions are very clear and it's easy to make.  The key to the best flavor is to use your own home-made beef stock or by using a very good pre-made bouillon like Better Than Bouillon Beef Base which is what I used because it's always in my pantry.   

So cheers to Julia for teaching us all how to cook in the French manner.  And as Julia would say at the end of every French Chef show...

Bon Appetite! 

(In the photos:  Apilco Lion Heads Soup Bowls purchased at Williams-Sonoma)

Old Fashioned Peach Skillet Cake

 Peach Skillet Cake

In season now:  peaches!

Peaches are a major crop where we live in the Yuba-Sutter area of California.  They are at perfection right now so I buy them every week either directly from the grower or at our farmers' market.  I love them for breakfast with Greek yogurt, in salads and, of course, in desserts!  I usually make peach cobbler every peach season, but this summer I'm trying out some new peach recipes. 

Freestone Peaches

 Today I decided to try the Peach Cake recipe in The Silver Palette Cookbook.  The recipe only requires three peaches and I just so happened to have three peaches on-hand.  

The cake recipe seems old fashioned to me since you bake it in a cast iron skillet.  I could see my grandma baking something like this back in her farm days.  The recipe is simple and most of the ingredients are pantry staples.  The recipe consists of a simple cake batter that you pour into a well greased skillet.  Then you top the batter with peach slices and bake the cake for 25 minutes.    

 Hot out of the Oven

Next you crumble a yummy topping (sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg) all over the peaches.  Then you bake the cake for another eight minutes and the cake topping will melt and spread all over the peaches.  The cake will be nice and bubbly and smell delicious when you take it out of the oven.  Trust me, you'll want to cut into it right away!

More, please!

Oh my gosh, this peach cake is so good; I am not sure I will ever make a peach cobbler again!  The Silver Palette recipe is wonderful, but I did make one addition.  I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste to the cake batter to give the cake more flavor.  

If you're thinking of making a peach cobbler this summer, make this peach cake instead.  I guarantee you'll love it!

Feeling French

My Salade Nicoise

Today is Bastille Day, 

the perfect day to be a little French and celebrate France's National Day.

One of my favorite meals to prepare on Bastille Day is a nicoise-style salad.  I've tried several recipes over the years (including Julia Child's) and generally combine the ideas and ingredients for my nicoise salads.

According to Jacques Pepin:  "Even in Nice, salade nicoise is put together in different ways and with different ingredients.  Conventionally it will always have canned tuna, tomatoes, and the small olives that are grown in that region."

Here are a few of my tips, that I've gathered over the years, for a delicious nicoise-style salad...

Tuna

It wouldn't be a nicoise salad without tuna.  Buy the best quality tuna you can.  Most recipes tell you to get high-quality tuna packed in oil.  This year, I lucked out and had tuna which was fresh-canned by my husband's family on the Oregon coast.  

Something's Fishy

Anchovies are also a staple in a nicoise salad.  I love anchovies but my husband does not.  So this year I found an anchovy vinaigrette to use so I snuck them in.  Yes, I can be a bit sneaky now and then!

 Also a tip from Julia Child, be sure to use the very best quality oil and vinegar for a superior vinaigrette. 

Anchovy Vinaigrette

My favorite anchovy vinaigrette is by Jeanne Kelley from her recipe Salad Nicoise Un Peu Classique.  Her recipe makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette.  You can find the complete recipe in her wonderful book Salad for Dinner .

I found a site for Jeanne's recipe, so here you go:

Salad Nicoise Un Peu Classique 

Bon Appetit!

Whether you serve your nicoise salad on a platter or a plate don't forget theses staples: oil-packed tuna, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, capers, nicoise olives, haricots verts, parsley and a bed of lettuce.  Anchovies optional. 

And if you want to make your Salade Nicoise Julia Child's way, you can watch her version from her televison show,  The French Chef.  It's really fun to watch!

As Julia would say:  

"Bon Appetit!"

Farmstead

The  Farmstead Garden

Nothing beats a summer day in California's wine country connecting with great friends, 

farm-to-table cuisine and world class wines.

A few days ago, we gathered with a group of friends at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch in St. Helena, California.   (Farmstead is on Main Street, right street across from Tra Vigne.)   The property features a demonstration garden, a cute farmers' market stand, a general store, wine tasting room and the Farmstead restaurant.  

On our visit, we enjoyed lunch out on the patio.

Farm Fare

And, of course,
everything tastes better when shared with friends.

 Bay Area Artisan Cheese Board

You can't go wrong with farm fresh fruit, honey and cheese.

 Beets

Farm-to-table:  

Long Meadow Ranch organic beets from the little farmers' market stand next to the garden and restaurant. 

 Farmstead Beet Salad

My farm-to-table salad:  

Caramelized beets with sky hill goat cheese crema, greens and chimichurri.

Farmstead

Farmstead is a great place to gather and eat.  I can't wait to go back!

738 Main Street

St. Helena, CA 94574

The British Aisles

 60 Years a Queen!

I received a "hot tip" today that there's now 

Queen's Diamond Jubilee display

 (on this side of the Pond)

 at Cost Plus World Market.

So this afternoon, I made a mad dash and hit the 

"British aisles"

at Cost Plus World Market.  

 Long May She Reign

I spotted the Queen Elizabeth II tea mug right away.

Cost Plus did a nice job with this lovely Jubilee keepsake mug 

and it's hand finished in the UK.

 Devonshire Cream

Nothing goes better with tea and scones than Devon Cream!

I'd already stocked up on this tea party necessity 

and can't wait to see if it tastes as good as 

Devon Cream in England!

 Digestives Anyone?

It's always nice to have digestives on hand 

in case some "pops" over for a cuppa!

 Scottish Tea Cakes

I've spotted these cute little Scottish tea cakes by Tunnock's 

in Emma Bridgewater's Diamond Jubilee photo styling.
I bought them awhile back for the Jubilee Weekend...
but they didn't last a day in our house!

They are "ooey-gooey" good!

Best way I can describe them is, they're  like a chocolate, 

marshmallow covered biscuit.  

 Scottish Shortbread

Well, the Queen loves Balmoral Castle, Scotland and her Corgis 

so these little Scottie Dogs are perfect for a Jubilee Celebration!
They're not Corgis but they're sure cute!

 Spot of tea?

What's your favorite cuppa?  

There's plenty of good British brand tea 

to stock-up on in the tea aisle. 

I enjoyed visiting the

British "aisles" today but left empty handed since I'm already 

stocked up for the big Jubilee weekend.   

It was fun to see a Diamond Jubilee display though 

on this side of the pond!

Just What the Doctor Ordered!

Fauchon French Treats!

My hand surgery went very well

 but I will be recovering for awhile.

To speed up my recovery

I'm enjoying Fauchon "French treats"!  

I think they are just what the doctor ordered!

     An Afternoon in Paris

Every afternoon, 

I'm enjoying my favorite Fauchon tea 

"An Afternoon in Paris"

that I picked up at the Fauchon store in Paris last year.

Fauchon
 Paris

I'm also enjoying a few extra treats 

that were an unexpected find here in the States.

I was so excited about this Fauchon find...

I just had to share it with you!

Home Goods 

currently has some Fauchon products in their food section.

(You rarely find Fauchon products in the US.)

At my local Home Goods, I spotted Biscuits, 

Chocolates, Chocolate Orange sauce 

and Cafe Choc gourmet coffee.

I believe these products are all overstock

 from the 2011 Christmas season

with expiration dates for later in the year.  

.

So now I begin my day with a gourmet latte' 

made with Fauchon's 

Cafe Choc ground coffee.   

The label on the bottom reads:

Cafe de Noel moulu saveur chocolat.

This special-blend Christmas coffee

is flavored with cocoa nibs.

I love the back and white Fauchon tin that the coffee is packaged in.

The coffee labels peel off, 

so I will be re-cycling this tin as a tea caddy,

I'm sure!

I'm also enjoying 

"les biscuits"

from Fauchon...

delicious little French cookies

stamped with Fauchon's signature letter F. 

If you have a Home Goods near you...

rush down soon

 so you can enjoy some Fauchon 

French treats,too! 

Happy Christmas!

 Gingerbread for Santa

Because Santa deserves the very best...

 we went to Tartine Bakery in San Francisco yesterday

to pick up our holiday order of

Soft Glazed Gingerbread Tiles.

 Gingerbread Tiles

Years ago,

I saw Pastry Chef, Elizabeth Prueitt

(when her bakery was in Marin County)

on the  Martha Stewart show

making her Soft Glazed Gingerbread Tiles.

They looked like a wonderful holiday treat and

I even purchased the Springerle Rolling Pin

she uses to decorate them

so I could make them at home. 

Well, I've never made them at home

partly because I've always wanted to taste Elizabeth's first.

 In Line for

Santa's Cookies

For years, I have tried to buy Tartine's

Soft Glazed Gingerbread Tiles

during the Christmas season but they're always sold out.

So this year,

I was a smart Santa's Helper and placed a holiday pre-order for

my Gingerbread Tiles to avoid disappointment.

For holiday pre-orders at Tartine you must pick them up
on Christmas Eve...

 so off to San Francisco we went yesterday.

 Croque Monsieurs

We made it to Tartine at 2:00 PM.

Every time we've been to Tartine,

there is always a line out the door.  It was no different on Christmas Eve

only this day there were two lines...

one for customers of the day

and one for holiday pre-order pick ups. 

We ended up standing in both lines and even managed to snag an outdoor table

to enjoy a late lunch at Tartine, too. 

It was our first time finally getting a table

for lunch at Tartine.

Lunch at Tartine

is the next best thing to a table for two

at a cafe in Paris!

Union Square

San Francisco

I think we've started a new Christmas tradition...

going to San Francisco on

Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas to you

and

savor every moment with your family and loved ones!

Mince Pies

 Mince Pies

More mince pies, please!

One of the best days of my England trip this year

was spending the day at the Emma Bridgewater factory

 in Stoke-on-Trent. 

Thanks to my shopping trip at the factory,

I became an Emma Bridgewater Collectors Club member this year. 

The Collectors Club has special privileges including special pieces

made exclusively for club members. 

This holiday season,

the Collectors Club Mince Pie plates from the Joy range were a smash!

The factory had a tough time keeping up with demand for these adorable plates

and I managed to snag two of them.  

 Mincemeat Tarts

I was hoping to make mini mincemeat pies for Christmas

 to serve on my cute mince pie plates
but it seems that I have run out of time. 

Thankfully, there are Walkers Scottish mincemeat tarts available in America.

  I picked some up last night at my local Cost Plus World Market. 

Dusted with powdered sugar,

 they are a perfect holiday treat on Emma's Mince Pies plates.

For my tea break today,

I'll be enjoying them with a "cuppa"

of my Whittard's Christmas tea!

Emma's Mince Pies Plates

If you ever get to the potteries (Stoke-on-Trent),

I highly recommend taking the Emma Bridgewater factory tour. 

The nicest people work at Emma Bridgewater. 

I loved seeing that each employee

had their own personalized Emma Bridewater mug

in their work station where they can drink tea all day long. 

 How neat is that?!

I hope you get to take a break during the busy holiday season

and enjoy a tea break
with some mincemeat tarts or home-made treats!

(In the photos:  Emma Bridgewater Mince Pies plates from the Joy range.)

More Summer Pudding, Please!

 Summer Pudding

Summer is winding down...

and I'm still savoring my Summer Pudding Tea

these last few weeks of summer.

I'm also enjoying time in my kitchen with the last of summer's
berry harvests.

Red Fruits

Not all Americans are familiar with Summer Pudding. 

Summer Pudding is a chilled British dessert made in a large pudding mould
or small individual moulds.  Its ingredients are simple...

stale white bread, luscious summer fruits and sugar.  

I've wanted to make Summer Pudding for years now. 

All my British recipes call for red currants which are very popular in England but very difficult to find here in sunny California.  I finally found red currants earlier this month at a grocer in the San Francisco Bay Area.  The red currants were grown and shipped in
from Hurst's Berry Farm in Oregon...
a climate closer to England for growing red currants.

Pudding Please!

So I finally got to make Summer Pudding!  I adore small desserts so I chose a recipe
for Individual Summer Puddings and I already had the moulds.

Years ago on a trip to London, I picked up small pudding moulds at the

neat cook shop Divertimenti.  Loved that store!

***The recipe is a keeper and my tip:

 be sure to use stale bread and red currants!

Happy end of summer...

and I hope your last few weeks of summer

include a little summer pudding!

(In the photos:  Emma Bridgewater Hearts 8.5" plate, Black Toast French Bowl and

Divertimenti Pudding Tins.)

Vive la France!

 Tarte au Citron

It's Bastille Day...

the national holiday in France. 

I hope your day and night

includes some French treats!

Kitchen Secrets

No time to bake Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Tart in Paris Sweets...

no need to worry.

Just head down to your local Trader Joe's or gourmet grocer and pick up
a ready-made Lemon Tart. 

Garnish it with fresh fruits and voila...

you'll  have what the French call a Tarte au Citron!

Bon Appetit

and

Vive la France!

Tea Leaves

Tea Leaf Cookies

Blend fine black tea with oil of bergamot and you have one of my favorite tea blends...Earl Grey.  I've never met a "cuppa" Earl Grey that I didn't like.

Earl Grey is an old tea blend that has been around since the 1830's.  There's a new twist on Earl Grey today...it's popping up in chocolates, macarons, cakes and cookies. 

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

Recently I was tea shopping at The Pasta Shop in Berkeley and I spotted these cute little Earl Grey tea leaf shape cookies.  These gourmet short bread cookies are made by Tea Aura.  They actually have Earl Grey tea leaves and bergamot oil in them. 

To be honest, the tea leaf cookies disappointed me.  The cookies lacked that distinctive Earl Grey flavor and seemed a bit chalky to me. 

My remedy is to try my hand at making my own Earl Grey Tea Cookies. 

Here's a link for a recipe I found from Real Simple Magazine for Earl Grey Tea Cookies and another for Martha Stewart's Earl Grey Tea Cookies.  I think I'll try Martha's recipe first since you add orange zest for more bergamot citrus flavor!

I hope to make a batch soon!

My Lunch at Chez Panisse

 Chez Panisse

It's every "foodie's" dream to dine at Chez Panisse. 

It's hard to believe that I'm an East Bay native and had never dined at Chez Panisse.  Turns out, I'm glad I waited.  Last week I had the pleasure of lunching with special friends at Chez Panisse . 

My friend Catherine has been anxious for me to meet her daughter who lives in Paris.  I finally had the chance to meet her.  My friend's daughter just happens to be... Meg Zimbeck.

Meg is a food/travel writer and food critic living in Paris.  You can imagine how excited I was to finally meet Meg.  I love Paris, I love food and I love to travel.  Meg filled me in on all three over lunch with her Mom at Chez Panisse. 

 Farm to Table

I love the Chez Panisse story. 

Proprietor/chef/author Alice Waters visited France in 1964 and fell in love with the French way of life.  In 1971, she started a food revolution when she opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. 

Waters is credited with pioneering the California Cuisine movement.  Her philosophy:  fresh seasonal foods produced locally. 

I love the farm to table approach to food.  Upon our arrival, just before the lunch hour, we saw a produce van delivering farm fresh produce and the Acme Bread truck driving away. We enjoyed both with our lunch!

 Baked Goat Cheese with Garden Salad

I tore out the recipe for the Chez Panisse Baked Goat Cheese Garden Salad in the September 2010 Wine Spectator magazine.  So you can imagine my delight when I found it on the menu at Chez Panisse. 

Fortunately for you, Alice Waters recipe is now on Epicurious.  Just click here for the recipe.

My review:   my salad had the tenderest salad greens I have ever tasted.  I loved the subtle surprise taste of  the fleur de sel (sea salt) seasoning as I enjoyed my salad.  Hint, hint...that's not in the recipe so be sure to add a bit of finishing fleur de sel on your salad greens just before serving. 

The Main Event

We unanimously agreed that Meg's entree was the best.  She took the waiter's advice and had the Soul Food Chicken Leg Confit with Creamy Corn and Wild Rocket.   Catherine had the Tomales Bay Clams & Spicy Pork Sausage entree and I enjoyed the Casarecce Pasta with Pesto and Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes. 

Over lunch Meg introduced us to Francois Chidaine, a lovely French wine from the Loire Valley. 

I really enjoyed my lunch and can now say that I have dined at world-renowned Chez Panisse.  The best part though was lunching with my good friend Catherine and her adorable daughter Meg.  Meg's conversation about Paris just makes me want to go back to Paris even sooner. 

I asked Meg what seemed like a million questions about  Paris and she generously answered them all for me. 

If you love Paris, food and wine like me...be sure to read Meg's personal blog and  Paris By Mouth (she's the editor).  For foodies, Meg has a Ceviche recipe in Dorie Greenspan's new cook book Around My French Table.   

You can also spot Meg in Paris, with her cheese knife, giving French food tours.  Contact Meg for tour information.  I can't wait to take one!

Happy Bastille Day!

Tarte au Citron
I hope all my Francophile friends ate something French today in honor of Bastille Day.

I had a busy day so I picked up a Tarte au Citron from Trader Joes tonight. Once I plated it on a pretty Spode Toile cake plate it looked just like one from a Paris Patisserie!

I highly recommend this tarte if you're ever in a pinch and don't have time to bake.

Vive la France!

Julie & Julia

Julie & Julia

A Year of Cooking Dangerously

A few years back a book with a catchy title and cute cover caught my eye. That book was Julie & Julia :My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell. The cover's clever quote hooked me: "Irresistible....A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef." - Philadelphia Inquirer. So I bought it.

I haven't read Julie & Julia (yet). Sadly it just sits on my book shelf due to my current obsession of blogging and knitting.

I know I would love this book. In 2002. author Julie Powell decides to change her life by cooking every one of Julia Child's 524 recipes in Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the course of one year. She documents this online and cleverly turns it into a blog the Julie/Julia Project which later becomes the book Julie and Julia.

Julie & Julia is now a major motion picture. It is based on the two best selling memoirs Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child and Alex Prud'Homme. The memoir stories are intertwined together in the movie.

Bon Appetit...I'm Julia Child!

Remembering Julia

My earliest memories of Julia Child are of watching her on TV in the early 1970's at my grandparent's house . My grandmother, a fabulous home cook, always watched Julia Child's The French Chef and Graham Kerr's The Galloping Gourmet .

My grandparents also introduced me to French cuisine. I think I was around 12 years old when I had escargot at a fancy restaurant in South Lake Tahoe. I seemed to like the chewy snails okay but it was the hot, buttery garlic sauce I liked best when I dipped my French bread in it. And so began my love for French food influenced by my grandparents and those Julia Child television shows.

Meryle Streep as Julia

Julie and Julia the movie is by director/screenwriter Nora Ephron. It is the first major motion picture made from a blog! I love that!

The one and only Meryl Streep stars as Julia Child and Amy Adams portrays Julie Powell. Being a foodie, I just know I will love this movie! I read that Meryl Streep nailed Julia's mannerisms! (Hmm...I'm thinking maybe Oscar caliber performance here.)

Julia's famed Kitchen

Julia Child's famed Cambridge, Massachusetts kitchen was replicated for the movie by set decorator Susan Bode Tyson. I loved reading that Julia used her Spode Blue Willow dishes nearly everyday. We just happen to have a blue and white Spode decorated kitchen, too!

I love collecting vintage French cookbooks. I have a vintage set (1971 & 1974 printing) of Julia's Mastering the Art of French Cooking on display in our kitchen. Sitting on top of them is a Spode Blue Italian mixing bowl. I think that would make Julia smile!

In 2001, before moving to California, Julia Child donated her real Cambridge kitchen to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History for all the world to see.

Julie & Julia

In Theaters on August 7, 2009

A toast to Julie & Julia!

I hope to see the movie on opening day.

When I come home,

I am going to have a glass of wine and toast both Julie and Julia!

Bon Appetit!