Glorious food....

“You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.”
― Julia Child

Julia Childs would have been 100 this year(Aug 15). I loved the Julie Julia movie (2009) with Amy Adams & Meryl Streep. I really got into it from the perspective of creating a blog, as Julie did. But the life of Julia Childs was enchanting. She was a big & interesting lady. I loved her passion, her pursuit of being a beginner, and through adversity living a wonderful life. 

I read more about her and got the cook books. I thought i might like to try cooking French food too.

Now here we are in France and i thought i would learn to cook "french".
Everyday tootling down to the fresh produce market,
picking up the local ingredients as required for a recipe and cooking up a storm. 

When we were packing to come,

 i realised the Julia cook books are too big & heavy to travel with. 

So they did not make the trip. 

Then i found going to the markets, although interesting and yummy,

 wasn't great with the kids everyday. 

I can see why in some parts of the modern world, the car to supermarket and back is quite appealing. 

The alternative is currently my reality; market trolley in hand, trudging in all weather, dodging bikes, dog poop & blocked walkways to the market only to head back with lagging kids, fighting, bored with looking at different mushrooms, poultry with claws & beaks still attached and broken weird anglo-francaise conversations between their uncertain mother and the confused stall holders. 

Luckily for us all it is only like this on some days.

Finally, i now know, i actually don't like cooking, much. 

I am good with left-overs not with detailed instructions.

However I am doing the domestic goddess here, with full skirts & capes swirling.

My daughter & i decided to cheer up the working Monsieur with a cooked dinner.

Menu

Pre dinner: fresh olives & radishes with cold beer

Main: Roasted chicken with homemade stuffing, pumpkin & spinach & baguette on the side

Desert: Apple pie with runny creme

 We took turns preparing and photographing our afternoon.

Pie first. 

The movie "The Waitress" is another one of my favourites.

It is, among other things, about pies. All kind of pies.

I would like to know how to make great pies. one day.
Today with our fresh ingredients, we made apple pie. 

I bought the pre-done pastry sheets.

When i opened the box it was only one circle so we improvised and made a lattice top.

All recipes come from internet sources. Thats where i saw i could make the top like this.

Cinnamon and sugar coated, to hide the rustic imperfections. Perfect.

 It turned out pretty good too.

while it had been cooking we started on the stuffing for the chicken.

I made the recipe up myself, again with what we had, 

onion, garlic, stale baguette, giblets* olive oil, butter, herbs, lemon, salt & pepper 

chopped the bread & onions

(photos by Miss 6)

 Then it was my turn while she softened the onions, garlic and then cooked the chicken bits.

Then added all the rest to the mix. 

She loved this day. She is a little cook.

She was so proud that she could do it all.

 “Fat gives things flavor.” ― Julia Child

*giblets are the colourful bits of chicken innards

I knew they would make the stuffing tasty. Like little drops of pate.

I think my son could become vegetarian if we lived in France for longer than a couple of months. 

He really struggled with the visual information at the markets.

Our Western sanitised life means the chicken he eats rarely resembles any living thing by the time he has it on the fork. Seeing fresh produce up close & personal has had an effect on him.

Although raw chicken isn't that good looking, i quite like how my roast preparation was coming along.

Julia would be impressed.

So in it went, into the oven to do its thing.

                                                “In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.” 

― Julia Child 

Pre dinner nibbles are a favourite in our house.

Olives at the market are sold in little plastic baggies.

The red & white radishes come with the field of green stems.

Salted they are sweet & crunchy. 

 The veggie steam with succulence. Perhaps a touch on the well done side of the texture scale.

But Y.U.M.

Drum roll, please........

TA DA......

here she is, our Poulet Rotie

Parfait or perfect.

Plated up, as some say.

Oh, and some room for desert.

Good to the last mouthful.

"Learn how to cook - try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, 

be fearless and above all have fun.~Julia Childs 

We did just that today Julia, new, messy and fabulous.....

sparkle & twirl*

sources: julia childs quotes: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3465.Julia_Child

Pain Perdu....

In English sounds like agony, here in France it is a fantastic breakfast made from the week's old bread (The Lost Bread). Nothing is wasted here.

I thought i would learn to cook French while here. 

Maybe build up a repertoire of recipes to dazzle you all back home. 

Somehow i am not sure its my thing. Cooking is not a love for me. 

Food & eating is. 

I am an artist who does not like to colour in the lines.

I cook the best meals with bits & pieces, leftovers, few ingredients, some imagination and flavour. 

Not everyones taste, but my family are stuck with it and 

don't really complain because I'm the main cook in this house.

Recipes where everything is measured exactly is like colouring in the lines. 
Not really my style.

But that is why this recipe spoke to me. I read it on Corey's blog Tongue in Cheek and I thought "thats my kind of cooking". I love her site and if you want to read her family loving this recipe then go to the link. 

Below is how Pain Perdue unfolded for me this morning......

Cut the baguette in oversized bites, put them in a large mixing bowl.

In a separate bowl whip four eggs, with 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 cup milk, 2 tablespoons of vanilla,

1/2 of a cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (or nutmeg).

Pour the egg mixture over the bread and mix thoroughly. 

  Butter a baking dish with a heavy hand.

 Sprinkle half of a cup of brown sugar on the buttered pan, then add slices of one apple 
(any other fruit will do, or no fruit at all) over the brown sugar.

Pour the egg batttered bread mixture in the buttered-brown-sugared dish.

Now Mme Amaro says "Bake at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes." This was too hot in our oven so as she is American i thought maybe that was meant to be Farenheit.  Doh.

So i put it at 180Celcius. probably needed 30-40mins. The egg mixture goes very custardy and mmmmmmmm.........

Serve warm with maple syrup.

 Then it came out of the oven and was approached by my family with initial apprehension.

After one spoonful they were hooked. 

All loved it. 

......But of course.....

She loved the cooked apples.

He loved the crunchy top. He actually loved it all. Twice.

 Gone in 10minutes. Nothing last long on the table. As some of you know!

Good to the last bite.

Thanks again, Ms Corey for your inspiration. 

Maybe I will find another easy to make recipe in the net and try it next weekend.

Off to the markets to sparkle & twirl*

See you tomorrow.....