Culinary Creation: Amy's Basquaise Chicken

Having never been to the Basque Country obviously makes me an expert in their cuisine. I have seen several recipes in the past, which have given me just the right amount of ammunition to attempt to make this on my own. To me, a little bit of French combined with a little bit of Spanish obviously equals Basquaise. And since it's my kitchen, what I say goes :-) That, and we really enjoyed this dish. Please note that this recipe is for two.* 1/2 pound fingerling potatoes
* Good pinch of saffron
* 1 chicken breast, cooked and thickly sliced
* 4 oz chorizo sausage, sliced
* 1 can Adobo Fire Roasted tomatoes
* 1 small onion
* 2 small different colored bell peppers (I used cubanellos), roughly chopped
* 1 zucchini, sliced thinly on the diagonal
* 1 yellow squash, sliced thinly on the diagonal
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* Splash of rosé wine
* 4 sprigs of thyme
* 1 bay leaf
* Small bunch of basil
*olive oil, sea salt, pepper

Boil potatoes in water with a good pinch of saffron for around 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender but not over cooked.
Sauté the zucchini, yellow squash, onion, garlic, and peppers using a drizzle of olive oil on medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add the potatoes and chorizo and continue sautéing for another 3 minutes. Next, add the can of Fire Roasted tomatoes. Fire Roasted tomatoes add an amazing flavor to this dish. If you can't find one that is adobo seasoned, add a pinch of dried chili flakes. Regular diced tomatoes can be used, just use 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika to get the roasted, smokey flavor.
Stir in the tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes before adding the chicken, thyme, bay leaf, and wine. You don't have to use rosé, both red or white wine are also fine to use.
Stir to evenly coat and simmer, covered, on medium low for 20-30 minutes.
Just before serving, mix in the basil. Now this is where my hunger took over. The smell was amazing and I was so eager to try it that I completed skipped taking a photo of the finished dish. I can assure you that we thoroughly enjoyed and definitely will make this again.

~ Topa! ~

Easy Provençal Pork Ragoût

This is one of my favorite week night treats. Pork makes a lighter summer alternative to the heavier taste of beef. You could also make a vegetarian version by substituting the pork with lentils ~ very French, or meat substitute. You will see that I'm using a jarred Italian Sausage Sauce, but the flavoring of Herbes de Provence and the use of a Rosé wine give it a Provençal twist. Using a jarred sauce is what makes this dish so forgiving: you're adding other flavors, but since the base had a head start, if you don't have the time, you don't have to simmer the sauce all day.

• 1 pound ground pork


• 1 small onion, chopped


• 1 rib celery, chopped


• 1 medium carrot, chopped


• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped


• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped


• 1 jar of Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce


• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste


• 3 oz Rosé wine


• 1/2 tablespoon Herbes de Provence


• 1 spring rosemary


• 3 springs of thyme


• 1 bay leaf


• sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Start off by sautéing pork in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. As the pork slowly browns, chop vegetables and garlic, placing in a bowl.

Once pork is half cooked, add the garlic and vegetable mixture, stirring well.Next add the Herbes de Provence, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and a pinch of sea salt. Cook over medium heat until pork is cooked and vegetables have started to soften. Next add in the Sausage flavored sauce. I'm not loyal to any one brand, most likely choosing whatever is on sale, or better yet ~ buy one get one free!
Then add the can of tomato paste and wine. For this recipe, you'll need to use a proper dry Rosé, not White Zinfandel or the like which are way too sweet.Stir meat, vegetables, and sauce to mix well. Once mixed, cover and simmer. It really doesn't take long to make. If you're pressed for time, follow the instructions above for the sauce. Once the sauce is mixed, start to prepare your pasta. While the water is heating up and then the pasta is cooking, simmer the sauce on medium heat. Once your pasta is cooked, the sauce will be ready to eat. If you have a little longer, turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer. While it simmers away, you can read a chapter or two of your book, look through a new magazine, call your mother, or do the laundry. Once you have relaxed or caught up on your chores, boil some pasta and you have a sauce that has slowly simmered, letting the flavors develop a little more.Taste before serving. I almost always have to add some more sea salt at this point. Season with freshly ground pepper.

Makes 4 generous servings.

Enjoy! x

My Favorite Sunny Day Wine: Loredona Viognier

Loredona's Viognier (vee-ohn-yay) is my favorite recent find. Back in April I was shopping at Whole Foods where I spotted a display of these slim, elegant bottles of Viognier for $6.99. While they didn't look like you're average bottle of mass produced plonk, I couldn't get over the low price tag. Luckily the very helpful wine guy saw the look on my face and came over to put my concerns to rest. He said that they get it in every spring at a good price. Still not convinced, he gave me a taste. I was sold. This wine was like Summer in a glass. It had a lovely citrus, peach, and tropical fruit flavor. Completely light on your tongue. It was so well balanced and flavorful without being heavy or oaky. Needless to say, at this price it was a staple in our house. Sadly, they ran out towards the beginning of June and most likely won't have any in stock again until next Spring. This is such a shame as it truly is the perfect summer wine, at an unbelievable price for the quality. We particularly enjoyed it with Thai, pasta, and chicken dishes. Calender marked, I will be frequenting the wine section of Whole Foods next Spring awaiting it's arrival and will have to get a case... or two.

Bodegas Berberana Rioja Viña Alarde Reserva ~ A Great Summer Red

Once the temperatures start soaring, I tend to put away red wine until Fall. The scorching Florida heat paired with extremely high levels of humidity completely put me off red and instead I search for chilled, fruitier, lighter wines. That was until I discovered Bodegas Berberana Rioja Viña Alarde Reserva (2006). Tempranillo isn't a grape that I often tried, but this bottle will definitely have me exploring other labels. Florida obviously has a strong Spanish/Latin history, and Sarasota certainly has no shortage of that flavor. I suppose it is only natural that a Spanish wine would suit our summer climes.

The predominant flavors were black cherry and plum, but had subtle notes of tobacco, which made it the perfect pairing for our evening...

We had half a Cuban cigar from a recent trip to Ybor City, so decided to finish is off on the lanai with an Uno marathon. The Latin Jazz and Salsa program on WMNF provided the perfect soundtrack for the evening.

Culinary Creations: Oven Roasted Pork Chops with Mushrooms, Leeks, and Garlic Tomatoes

This recipe is the a prime example of why I created this blog: whenever I come up with a new recipe, and we really like it, I never remember what I did or how long I cooked it. Many a conversation in my house consist of: "It doesn't taste like it did last time" or "This isn't how I remember it at all". In addition, when I'm following a recipe from a book or magazine, I always add or change things around, and like to make notes on what I'd do differently next time. I've got an extensive collection of Sainsbury's Magazines, so remembering which issue what recipe came from can be a bit of a problem. One night after I made something we really like (which no doubtedly didn't get recorded and will never be remembered), I had the epiphany that if it were all in one place, on-line, I will never have to strain my brain/search/forget again!

This an idea that has been going around in my mind for a week: the ingredients were chosen, it was going to be something cooked on the stove, but 1/2 hour before cooking, I decided that bunging it all in the over would leave me free to do other things. This is what I came up with. Serves 4.

* 4 boneless pork chops
* Dijon mustard
* breadcrumbs
* 1 large tomato, cut into large chunks
* 1 clove of garlic, more if you want to roast whole cloves in dish
* 2 thin leeks (not links) (inside joke), thickly sliced
* 8oz Portobello mushrooms, halved
* 4 slices of smoked bacon, roughly chopped
* olive oil for drizzling
* 1/4 wine for drizzling, red or white
* salt, pepper, herbs to taste

1) Half hour before cooking, put a dollop of mustard on each chop, spread to cover, set aside. Then chop 1 clove of garlic, sprinkle over chopped tomato along with a good pinch of salt. Also set aside, both out of the refrigerator. You could use this half hour to clean and prepare the rest of your veg and any side you might serve with it. Duh, I didn't have to tell you that.
2) When half hour is up, pre-heat oven to 350F. While oven is pre-heating, place pork in a large oven safe dish. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs, any type will do, I like to season mine with Herbs de Provence and a little Parmesan cheese. Next add mushrooms, leeks, tomatoes, and bacon. Drizzle with olive oil, wine, season with salt, pepper, and herbs - to your liking.
3) Bake for 30-35 minutes, stirring the veggies after 15 minutes.
I served it with some bow-tie pasta that was tossed in a garlic and herb butter and some white beans with yellow carrots, spinach, also in a garlic butter (compliments to Mr. Green Giant). Keeping the sides simple made it a really easy dish to make, I was glad that I decided to let the oven do all the work. This was all washed down by a lovely sparkling rosé that really complimented the meal. James gave it a 9 out of 10 and said it was restaurant quality. I'm just hoping he didn't mean Denny's. He once rated something I made a 10 out of 10, now if only I could remember what that was...

Gratuitous Cat Post, With Some Gardening Thrown In

Here it is, it was bound to happen sooner or later: the gratuitous shot of Harry. When I'm not in the kitchen and the weather is nice, I love nothing more than to sit out by the pool, reading a book with a glass of wine, accompanied by my faithful companion. My curry plant is doing really well. I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually looking forward to some of our humidity coming back, as when it's humid it carries the smell of the curry plant farther. James bought a huge rosemary for me in November. I'm keeping it in the lanai for the time being as we're still getting the odd burst of freezing cold weather, but once we get passed that, it will have a permanent place with my roses.

Le Cave De Lumières Wine Cellar (10/08)

We were in the middle of wine country in Provence, nearing the end of our week, and still hadn't taken in a dégustation. It was late in the day, but we were determined to fit in a tasting. After driving around in the countryside looking for an independent farm that was open for business, we were completely out of luck. All week we had passed more than I could keep track of, but now that we were looking to stop there was nothing. We passed the Cave de Lumières Wine Cellar several times, and much to our luck, they were still open. Not keeping track of time since we were sur les vacances, we strolled in looking to taste and buy. The staff were so friendly and helpful. Marjorie was kind enough to speak to us in English, despite the fact we could speak to her in French, which we greatly appreciated. Mathilde reminded me ever so much of my friend Emily D. We were pleased to see a wine that we had the night before on the recommendation of the local grocer that we befriended in Rousillon. It was nice to see he not only suggested a very local wine, but also stocked them in his shop. After sampling 5 or so wines, we settled on 3 that we liked and settled up the bill and were on our way. Once we got to the car we realized that they were actually supposed to have closed 10 minutes before. We never once felt rushed or unwelcome, so would highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area. I definitely look forward to stopping in again.

Goat Cheese Tart, Carottes Râpées, & Celeri Remoulade (10/06)

We didn't want a huge dinner that night, so before we left for Avignon, stopped at the local boulangerie where I scored myself one of these luscious Goat Cheese Tarts. It was heaven in a pastry crust. The tart consisted of red and yellow tomatoes, fresh basil, and that creamy chunk of my favorite cheese. After seeing it, I nearly didn't make it to Avignon!
To keep it light, we served it with several salads: lettuce, Alison's tomato salad, and two French classics: Carottes Râpées (shredded carrots dressed in a light vinaigrette) and Celeri Remoulade (shredded celery root in a mayonnaise sauce). Now, I adore celeriac and have been to France several times, but this was a first for me. It was one of my favorite foodie discoveries (along with Perrier Menthe and Macarons) and I will definitely be adding it to my staple recipe collection, once I have mastered it. In the upcoming weeks, I'm going to give it my all to see if I can recreate the taste, and once I do - will be sharing it with you.

This was all washed down with a lovely bottle of chilled Pouilly-Fumé. Pouilly Fumé is a fantastic budget friendly alternative to the pricier Sancerre.

Provençal Lunch in Avignon ~ Restaurant le Lutrin (10/06)

We had a lovely lunch in the center of Avignon at the Restaurant le Lutrin, just around the corner from the Palais des Papes. It was a lovely restaurant, part of the Hôtel du Palais des Papes, and had a lovely outside seating area that sheltered you from the sunshine.
The perimeter was surrounded by large planters containing Bay Laurels, Lavender, Thyme, and Rosemary plants.
Surrounding the area was a small market of local artists, which provided a lovely backdrop to our heavenly meal.
This was one of my favorite meals of the trip: it was my ideal Provençal lunch. As it was a warm afternoon and we had been eating non-stop for a week and a half, I was in the mood for something light. My main course did not fail to please...
Roasted Aubergines with a simple Provençal Sauce. The flavors were so fresh and bold. I was in heaven. This was obviously washed down with a nice bottle of Provençal Rosé.

The only thing that could have completed this would have been lavender crème brûlée, and I was in luck: on the desert menu was a trilogy of crème brûlée. The flavors were Lavender, Thyme, and Vervain (Verbena). This is my ideal desert, right down to the fact that I have this thing about the number 3. It was the perfect way to finish the meal, even if the Thyme brûlée was actually Rosemary. Lucky for them, Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs too. Actually, in Provence, you really can't go wrong when it comes to my taste buds.

Hôtel du Palais des Papes ~

Restaurant le Lutrin

3, Place du Palais 84000 AVIGNON

E-mail: contact@hotel-avignon.com
By phone: (+33)490 860 413
By fax: (+33) 490 279 117

Images of Gordes (10/05)

Not far from Roussillon was Gordes, a beautiful, ancient hillside village. There was a carnival on the day we were there, so once we got past the music, bumper cars, games and carnie food, I got to see exactly why people flock to Gordes.

Any village with olive trees growing throughout is alright by me...
especially when it's also surrounded by vineyards...

and has dogs roaming solo...

Market Day at Coustellet (10/05)

Sunday was market day in Coustellet, a town not far from Roussillon, so we decided to go and explore. I have to admit we were slightly disappointed when we first got there. Parking was insane - so we expected an amazing market, only to find what looked like a flea market with a few food stalls. Don't get me wrong, a French flea market is a shopping dream come true, but at that point of the trip I was limited in packing space and we wanted produce, cheese, and bread. There was a good olive stand, spice stall, and baker whom was nearly sold out. We decided to split up - so J and I had a good wonder around. My in-laws quickly found us as they had just discovered that the main part of the market was across the street, hidden behind the buildings on the main road. This all made sense: all of those cars, there had to be some place for everyone to go! The market didn't disappoint. By the time we got there some of the vendors were packing up. There were still loads of stands with autumnal produce: root vegetables, pumpkins & gourds, apples, squash, potatoes... you get the idea (sadly, I didn't take any photos). There were also stands with home made jams, honey, local wine producers, and my favorite: the nursery stand. It was really hard for me to walk around knowing that I couldn't buy an olive or fig tree to take home. They were so healthy looking and were really reasonably priced.
It was also hard for me to pass up some more of my favorites: rosemary, lavender, and violas. I was in absolute heaven, and if there is one place on earth that has all of my favorite things: it is truly Provence.
To make matters worse, I spotted this Citroën HY. Now I was in seventh heaven. Ever since I first spotted the Citroën 2CV in "Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown"; many, many years ago - I have had a fetish for Citroëns.
It was hard to tear myself away, but lunch was calling. As I walked away with images of owning a vineyard (complete with olive and fig trees, of course, oh... and obviously tons of lavender and rosemary) and driving to the market in my Citroën HY to sell my wine - and probably jams, chutneys, etc... we were off to find somewhere for lunch. The first thing we spotted was this pizza van...
Now if you didn't know (and I didn't), the French LOVE pizza! I have never in my life seen as many pizza establishments as I did in France. Annecy was over run with them. Literally 4 on every corner. Even small villages that we had driven through had several pizza places. Where the UK have fish and chip vans (that you don't actually see all that often, in comparison), France has pizza vans. We even spotted on outside of Roussillon called "Pizza Chris". Bizarre. Anyway, as curious as I was to know what sort of pizza would come out of one of these vans, we had been walking all morning so obviously deserved a sit down meal. And a glass of wine. Obviously. We were in Provence after all! We found a cafe with tables out front, and chose a nice sunny spot for lunch. My first course was a bacon, leek, and goat cheese tart. Wash down with a nicely chilled glass of Provençal rosé.
This was followed by tagliatelle with roasted chicken, tomatoes, and aubergine. Ah, what a way to spend a Sunday.

A Local Bar for Local People ~ Roussillon

This was the beautiful image that greeted us as we went out to dinner. The street was lightly illuminated and the sky was a deep blue.
This is how the street looked after dinner, and several drinks later...

It was still fairly early after dinner, and J wanted to go explore the night life of Roussillon. We went out the front door, to the left, towards a nightclub. They were playing very loud techno music - not a type I would consider cool - Eurotrash would be a more accurate description. Now I know that the drinking age is way younger in France, but the first few people we spotted looked around 14. Or am I just getting older? When the ambulance pulled up to this "Restaurant by Day - Nightclub by Night" establishment to tend to a girl who looked more like she should be working on book reports, we decided to have a quiet drink at the bar next door to the house, to the right...

When we walked in, it looked like a safer bet. There were still people dining in the back, and the people at the bar looked our age. Now I should tell you that by day, Roussillon is completely overrun by tourists. By night it dwindles down to a few, but is mainly inhabited by the locals, which explains the reaction when we entered the bar: Everyone looked at us like it didn't occur to them that someone out of the clique at the bar might possibly enter. This was far too amusing to walk away from, so we stepped up to the bar and ordered our drinks. Service from then on was pretty much non existent. We were given our drinks and there was a minor to-do about shutting the door so no one else would wonder in. We took our time drinking in the atmosphere and the fact that we were having a drink in a small bar in France, as opposed to our local watering hole. It was very dimly lit, there was a wide screen television which was playing the National Geographic channel - something about a ferry that had sank in the '80s, listening to various jazz and blues legends like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and the likes. And even though we were not accepted as part of the bar group, their laughter and warmth towards each other really seemed to emit throughout the place. When we were finished with our drinks we had to call attention for the bill. The reaction from the man behind the bar was almost Oscar worthy - like he had totally forgotten that we were even there - despite the fact that we were only 5 feet away. Now did I really need another drink that night? No, but it left me with a memorable evening.

... and this was a more accurate vision of the street that night as we were leaving.

Annecy - Lunch at L'Auberge du Lyonnais (9/30)

After a busy morning shopping at Annecy's lovely market, we were ready for lunch! At the recommendation of my in-laws, we chose L'Auberge du Lyonnaise. Located in the Old Town of Annecy on the bank of the Thiou Canal, it was an ideal spot to have lunch during the week when we normally would have been at work. We reserved a lovely table in the shade on the pavement at 12:45 for lunch.

The sun had broken through the haze and it was turning into a very warm day, so we chose a cold bottle of Apremont. It couldn't come quickly enough and it was accompanied by a plate of jambon pastry pinwheels.

We opted for the week menu which offered two starters, two main courses (one fish and one beef), and two deserts to chose from.

J and I chose the Tomato and Feta Cheese in Filo Pastry Shell. Drizzled with a little olive oil, it was sublime! With dishes like this, it can be so tempting to add too much to it, a drizzle of Balsamic Reduction - or other sauce, I was so happy that they didn't. The sweet, rich flavor of the lightly roasted tomatoes went so well with the salty, creamy feta. This was proving to be a very good choice for lunch...

... then came the main course: Faux Filet, à point. Now if I could scream it from the roof tops: I LOVE FRENCH BEEF!!! This was just a simple steak: good quality beef, cooked well, seasoned with a little sea salt. So simple, so perfect. America is known for it's steak houses, but the best steaks I've ever had have mostly been in France. Even my favorite local steak is at a French restaurant. I LOVE FRENCH STEAK!!! Ok, regroup... The steak was joined by:

...creamy, smooth mashed potatoes drizzled with a little jus, and my favorite, haricot vert.

Dessert was something chocolaty that didn't impress me enough to take a photo, and didn't really leave much of a memory. To be fair though, I was a state of food bliss from the preceding courses, not to mention also very full, it would have taken something insanely amazing to live up to all of that.

~ L'auberge du Lyonnais ~

9 rue de la République

74000 Annecy

contact@auberge-du-lyonnais.com

Tél. 04 50 51 26 10 Fax. 04 50 51 05 04

For more info on the restaurant and hotel, along with beautiful photos and their menus, please click the following link: http://www.auberge-du-lyonnais.com/