Category — Food for Thought

I grew up in the suburbs. Chicken comes cut up and wrapped in plastic; and eggs are white, and packed by the dozen in cartons.

Brown eggs? Gross! Clearly diseased.

Or so I thought. When we moved to Paris, one of my big adjustments was that all the eggs were brown. With big orange yolks. And not refrigerated.  All of them. At the marchés and the grocery stores. Hmmm….who knew? And often times they were fresh from the chicken: meaning unwashed. Gross. But, over the years, this became normal. I even spent one frantic day with bff J searching all over Paris to find a few white eggs that we could color for her childrens’ Easter baskets: yes, we finally found 6.  They were expensive.

Moi tip: I was attending a cooking class in Paris with a group of other American expats. We were separating eggs for the recipe, and bien sur, someone broke the yolk. Naturally, l’Américaine dipped her eggshell into the bowl to scoop out the yolk. Le Chef was horrified! These were typical unwashed fresh eggshells: covered with nasty chicken poop (sorry!) We Americans are used to the sanitized eggs we buy at the supermarket, the shells are white and sparkly clean. We were immediately instructed to discard the now ruined bowl of eggs. And in the future, remove yellow bits with a spoon. Good to know.

Now that I’m back in the US, do I buy white eggs at the grocery? Mais non! TBG and I buy our eggs from Knoll Crest Farm at the bi-weekly Greenmarket on Broadway outside Columbia University. And of course, they’re brown eggs (but lightly washed, we’re assured). And they have the bright orange yolks, just like we had in Paris.

The incredible, edible egg!

When we lived in Copenhagen, we became fans of ebelskiver: little Danish puffed pancakes, filled with fruit (typically apples, since the Danish word for apple slices is æbleskiver) and sold at streetstands and in many bakeries and cafes. Freshly made in the home to celebrate Christmas, and sold frozen in the grocery stores for easy treats year-round, we quickly became addicts! Our return to the US had us scouring the internet to find the ebelskiver pan, a skillet with seven round indentations for cooking these little puffs on top of the stove. hint: ebelskivers look a lot like Dunkin Donut munchkins!

Now just a few years later, the ebelskiver pan is sold at most cooking stores, and has been featured on many TV cooking shows like Rachel Ray. These shows added very American touches: the ebelskiver were filled not only with fruit, but with chocolate, cheeses, sauces and spices. I even upgraded my cast iron skillet for a lighter, non-stick pan from Bed Bath and Beyond, and now have a 2nd pan from Williams-Sonoma!

The challenge was learning how to make and cook ebelskivers. Naturally, I first turned to the internet. There are many complicated recipes out there, involving beaten egg whites, whisked yolks, buttermilk and sour cream, and lots of utensils. Then, to make the filling: chopping, sauteing, and spicing fruits. Delicious, but a lot of work! Williams-Sonoma recently started selling an ebelskiver mix, which cut down on the work, but still involved beating egg whites and whisking yolks.

Moi tip: WS even has a cookbook full of sweet and savory ebelskiver recipes!

Recently I simplified things and experimented with using buttermilk pancake mix: voila! It worked fine. The batter was light and fluffy, I was able to use it just as I used my home-made recipe, and they turned out great! Which is better: I think the homemade. Which will I make? The ebelskivers from the mix: its just so much easier and faster when I’m whipping up a batch for family or guests for Sunday brunch. Usually I just fill them with purchased jams, preserves, or chocolate sauces, followed by a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or if I’m making savory, a bit of jarred pesto or pasta sauce and a bit of feta cheese are yummy.

Moi tip: Ebelskiver need to be turned over so they can cook on both sides. The TV shows and cooking stores make this seem alot more complicated than it is: they sell special utensils that look like chopsticks, that involve using both hands. Forget it! I just flip them over by sliding a spoon underneath the cooked side, and quickly flipping them over. I’ve also used my wooden toast tongs, which at least uses only 1 hand, but the spoon works really well!

Ebelskiver are very similar to poffertjes, little Dutch puffed pancakes. Poffertjes are not filled, and are served with different fresh fruit toppings, I like them with strawberries and whipped cream.

Namaste!

She’s Shopping India:
Indian food is full of rich colors, tastes and scents. Cardamom, anise, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, ginger, tumeric and nutmeg: an enticing blend.

And while Starbucks has not yet broken into India, Moi has no problem finding a chai latte, extra hot. Chai is the Hindi word for tea, and while shopping for silks, pashminas or gemstones, vendors offer a cup of chai, milky and steaming hot, typically served in small clay cups. I prefer the masala chai, spicy and slightly sweet, over the strong black chai.

The street bazaars are crammed with spice vendors, pungent kernels brimming in baskets overflowing with color and scent, or in large glass canisters displaying the many choices.

After dining, you are traditionally served a small box or bowl of anise seed (sof) to freshen the breath and aide digestion. The anise can be served alone, or beside a bowl of sugar crystals to add sweetness to the spice. But Moi favorite is the colorful anise and sugar blend, already mixed, with added flavors such as coconut, beetle nuts, peppermint or rose.

Moi tip: Tourist shops sell the anise mixture for as much as 200 rupees ($4), which doesn’t sound like much. But the same small packets can be found in the bazaars for 25 rupees, plus alot more fun selecting your favorite anise blend from the 4 or 5 offered.

There are many advantages of living abroad, one of which is discovering new foods and ingredients. Like all bored expat spouses (remember Julia in Julie and Julia) Moi needed something to do while living in Paris, and ended up taking lots of cooking classes. An ingredient I had seen in the grocery, but never purchased, is ground almonds.

CoMo bff S and Moi met in Paris, and have taken many cooking classes together. Now that we’re both ex-expats, we enjoy sharing our culinary discoveries with our US family and friends. S developed this recipe to share her love of chocolate and almonds, and to make a standard chocolate cake or brownie into a truly special dessert.

And that’s why S won first prize in a local baking contest this month!

First Place: Chocolate Almond Cake

•   3 eggs
• 4.4 ounces chocolate
• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup ground almonds
• 1/3 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt chocolate in large bowl over boiling water. Whisk in butter and sugar. Remove from heat. Whisk in eggs, flour and almonds. Bake in paper-lined 8-inch pan for 20 minutes. If you cook this a shorter time, it is gooey like a flourless cake, and I serve it with a raspberry sauce or a crème anglaise. If you cook it 15-20 minutes longer, it is more like a brownie but still gooey, and is best topped with fresh raspberries. — CoMo bff  S

Moi tips:

• if you’re traveling in Paris (and other European cities) ground almonds are readily available at a very reasonable price. They’re packaged in small plastic bags, and freeze great. Throw a few bags in your suitcase: much easier than grinding the almonds at home. I purchase Vahiné amandes en poudre, and freeze them until needed.
• crème anglaise is an elegant finish to many French desserts, and not difficult to make. But Moi learned a tip for serving crème anglaise from the Barefoot Contessa, and of course shared it with CoMo bff S, and now is sharing it with you: Buy a carton of Häagen-Dazs Vanilla ice cream, allow to thaw until liquid, and serve. Voila!

Bon Appétit!

Our first year living in Paris, we were very excited to be invited to celebrate with The American Club of Paris, at a location on rue Saint-Honoré next to the  Elysée Palace . The dinner was one week before Thanksgiving, and we were looking forward to meeting some other Americans and enjoying a beautiful setting. What we discovered was most of the attendees that evening were much older than us, French, and loved everything American: not a bad thing, just not what we expected. The dinner was cooked and served in a very traditional historic salon, and TBG and I were the only Americans at our table. The food was delicious, the salon was tres grande, and the company fun and entertaining.

And then came the grande finale, dessert: a large square of cornbread covered in a pool of cranberry sauce.

As we first looked silently, then started to laugh out loud, our dinner companions questioned us: why are we laughing? Apparently they all thought cornbread and cranberries was a traditional American dessert. The French thought it strange, but apparently served this every year. Were we the first to comment? We’ll never know…

A week later, TBG and I hosted our own Thanksgiving dinner for 10 (plus a 2 week-old baby) chez nous. As Thanksgiving is an American holiday, all the men (sexist, but true) had to work, so cocktails were at 7, and dinner was scheduled at 8pm so everyone would have time to arrive after late French workdays. Everyone brought a dessert, and Moi shopped and cooked. And encountered Thanksgiving Paris Problems. [Read more →]

Type the words “black friday” into google or bing  or twitter and see how many millions of hits you get. Which are the best? I prefer a few major sites:

• blackfriday.info
• blackfriday.com
• bf.net
• theblackfriday.com

Unless you’re in some sort of a media-blocking coma (in which case you’re not reading this) you’re being TMI’d with Black Friday promos:

• Amazon.com has announced this is deals week
• Apple’s ad has been leaked (hasn’t everyone’s ad been leaked? Who’s doing the leaking?)
• iPhone has new apps to help with Black Friday shopping
• Kohl’s is allowing customers to make a pre-BF shopping list and 4am opening
• QVC is promising deals to keep viewers locked to their television screens (Moi likes this idea: the deals come to Moi!)
• Target is promoting a two-day BF sale with 5am door-buster deals
• every national and local paper and news broadcast is providing shopping tips, websites, deal-breaking news to keep viewers on edge and frenzied
• stores are announcing new security strategies to prevent tragedies like that in 2008

What does Moi plan for Black Friday? Maybe a stroll down to Columbus Circle with a Starbucks chai tea latte to see what’s on sale at Williams-Sonoma after Thanksgiving. Wander across the street to Best Buy to check out whether iPhone has finally invented a retractable headset. Drift on down to Bed Bath and Beyond to check on a few items on Santa’s list.

But if there’s a crowd, I’m not going in. I’ll drift on home (with another Starbucks tall skim chai, extra-hot, extra-water latte to sustain me), haul out the turkey left-overs, maybe a glass of champage, and become best buds with my DVR. Maybe drag my laptop over to the couch. Cuddle up with the pup while TBG works (sorry, TBG!) I’m shopping smart this year… I’m waiting for Cyber Monday!

If you’re like Moi and browsing all the fall produce at the outdoor markets, enjoying the brisk fall weather, and thinking about eating healthy for the holidays, soup is the answer! I’m a soup girl, and for TBG I usually serve it with a toasted cheese sandwich (perked up with apple slices and mustard).

This is my all-time favorite soup, and since I’ve been asked for this recipe twice this week alone, Moi is willing to share! This soup is easy enough to serve for Saturday supper but elegant enough to serve at your Thanksgiving dinner. I’ve adapted this recipe from several others I’ve used, keeping all the flavor but lowering the salt and fat. I never add milk or cream, but a dollop of sour cream swirls deliciously!

bon appetit!

Butternut Squash Soup

• Cube 1 butternut squash and bake in 400° oven for 30 minutes to soften (hint: for a price, you can buy cubed squash in your grocery)
• Brown 1 chopped apple and 1 small chopped red onion in 1/4 cup butter for 20 minutes
• Add 4 cups salt-free chicken broth (Moi uses cubes dissolved in hot water: they store easier in a tiny NYC apartment )
• Add butternut squash,  1 bay leaf, 1 tbs paprika, simmer 20-30 minutes
• Remove bay leaf, use hand mixer or blender to liquify until smooth
• Optional: Add 3/4 cup milk, heat through
• Serve with a dollop of sour cream, garnish with chopped pecans or
  chives. Freezes too!
• Can substitute 1 can of pumpkin for butternut squash

A business friend was married recently, and TBG and Moi needed to find an appropriate gift,  though we weren’t invited to the wedding. We wanted to wish them well on their new life together. You know how it is, we needed to do something, we wanted it to be creative, fun and appropriate: show alot of thought, and not spend too much money.

This is an ND friend, and as in all things ND, we decided the fun part would be the Notre Dame colors, blue and gold; and the Notre Dame passion, football.

Hmmm…original, blue and gold, Notre Dame: that took Moi a little serious mind tumbling…

Voila! The age old appropriate gift, champagne! And our fave Champagne, Veuve Clicquot. Love the widow (veuve in French) and her story as a young widow leading this small French company to the top of the Champagne world. Even better: VC is packaged in gold!

This  VC bottle comes packaged in a fab gold hardcase traveller, with 2 champagne glasses: Parfait! Moi jumped on the internet, and googled and binged and compared prices, and came up with a very reasonable $80 for the set…compared to up to $150 on other sites. This travel set is perfect for picnics, tailgates, days at the beach, movie in the park, anywhere you need to add a little luxe to the menu.

Hmmm…now for the blue part…blue food? blue paper plates, blue blanket, not too expensive…think think think…

Voila! Moi has to read her own blog: custom printed blue and gold M&Ms…perfect! Buy 3 get 1 free. Free shipping. Sold!

Like the Veuve Clicquot idea but look for something a little less, well, gold and a little more romantic? Check out VC’s Rosé Mon Amour line: perfect for an anniversary, Valentines’ Day, or any reason to celebrate.

What are you celebrating? Santé!

I just like it. Not because I’m from Chicago. Not because my grandparents immigrated from Germany. Not from my years living in France. I just like mustard. Always have. Always will.

Actually I like all things vinegar. Even the smell of Easter eggs being colored. I like balsamic vinegar as a salad dressing: hold the oil. Someone I worked with in Syracuse used to keep a giant bottle of vinegar in her desk drawer to wipe the winter salt off her leather boots: made me hungry.

So when I travel, I visit grocery stores, and I search for mustard. (and vinegar, but that’s a different blog.)

quimper mustard pot

On one of my first trips to France a colleague of TBG’s who lived in Dijon invited us to stay with them for the weekend in their 12th century mas (farm house)…I know, how lucky were we! While the guys went off to golf I, speaking not a word of French, loudly repeated MUSTARD and was quickly escorted to a real Dijon mustard shop, where I purchased a Quimper mustard pot and a jar of Dijon mustard, from Dijon! Voilà! This was the first time it occured to me that I could travel and bring home souvenir mustard. [Read more →]

Fall has officially arrived: the leaves are turning gorgeous colors, and the weather is turning blustery. It’s cold and raining and windy, and Sunday we watched (on TV) New England v Tennessee in Boston and they were plowing snow…in mid October…what’s up with that?

So I’m looking for ways to be warm and cozy this week-end. And what’s warmer and cozier than a little hot spiced wine!

hot and spicy glühwein

A few years ago I discovered a fast, easy and inexpensive way to make glühwein, the German version of spiced wine that is made with cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, sugar and citrus. I have a recipe for traditional glühwein, which I’ll share below, but sometime Moi needs a little shortcut!

Years ago on a trip to Germany I was visiting a grocery store (I always visit local grocery stores and come away with the best stuff to haul home…for myself and for gifts). And I discovered boxes of  glühwein bags! These look like tea bags, but are filled with spices and you simply add 1 bag to a bottle of wine, heat and serve! Voila: glühwein! About €2 0r $3 a box of 10. When I’m being extra lazy, I just pour a glass of wine into a mug, add a glühwein bag, microwave for about 90 seconds, and Prost! (tip: If you do the micro shortcut, re-use the bag several times!)

I have found these handy little glühwein bags a couple places in the US: at the German store in the food market at Grand Central Station in NYC and at the annual Christkindlmarket in Chicago. I’m guessing other German neighborhoods in Milwaukee, St Louis and other cities might offer these handy little spice bags. Williams Sonoma sells a wonderful can of mulling spices every year at the holidays, this could be put in a loose tea strainer to easily make your own single-serving spiced wine. Or you can make a whole pot by following Moi recipe!

Moi’s Glühwein recipe:

• 1 bottle of dry red wine
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 tsp orange peel

Simmer the wine, add sugar and stir to dissove. Remove from heat, add remaining ingredients, and steep. Serve hot in mugs.

Boxes of glühwein bags make great gifts to stock in your gift drawer…buy a dozen! They could just as easily be used to spice up a cup of tea or apple juice. Perfect for everyone from BFFs to teachers to the postman to your favorite blogger!