les marchés ouverts

I love open-air Parisian markets -- and it's nice to be staying in a place where I can cook. There were also sardines, which I think will be wonderful with fennel and leeks. All those artichokes were only 2€, which would be unimaginable in Chicago.

chicken fat

Once you have started frying eggs in rendered chicken fat, it is hard to go back. This was destined for a sandwich with tomatoes and Pecorino Romano. Delicious.

tacos

Long day workwise and had not eaten by 8pm, so I figured that I ought to. I was craving tacos, but there are not any great taquerias near my house, and I already had onions, cilantro and jalapenos: I bought a couple of bone-in breasts (I refuse to buy skinless chicken breasts) and ground them up whole on the coarse setting running the skin through as well (in a meat grinder that is at least fifty years old but works perfect). I toasted cumin seeds, peppercorns and dried cayenne peppers and then ground them up. I heated a bit of water in a sauté pan (I trick I learned making the Thai dish laab), added some salt and the ground chicken and then stirred in the spice mixture and cooked until it was done and the liquid was mostly gone. Heat your (corn) tortillas as normal and serve with cilantro, onions, and jalapenos. The jalapenos are perfect for muggy weather and the allergies associated therewith, and even grinding your own meat, this only takes minutes.

Julia Child, August 15, 1912 - August 13, 2004

I grew up watching Julia Child on WGBH Boston and her approach to cooking led to a lifetime of me being excited about food and all things culinary. Here are a handful of adventures from the last few years:

• Clafoutis aux pêches: a pear custard.
• Lapin au saupiquet: marinated rabbit with prunes.
• Julia Child's phenomenal and simple haricots verts with lamb or with rabbit.
• Hollondaise sauce: on eggs Florentine.
• Gratin de pommes de terre aux anchois: a delicious potato gratin.
• Gigot rôti: roast leg of lamb.
• Poulet à l'estragon: chicken with tarragon.
• Roast chicken: Julia Child is the reason that I can make a great roast chicken.
• A Bastille Day party: mini vol-au-vents (bouchées), foies de volailles à l'estragon en aspic (chicken liver pâté in aspic), gâteaux St-Andre (walnut cake), tartes aux framboises.
• Comfort food: biftek sauté au beurre, pommes Anna, champignons sauté à la bordelaise, chou frisé à la vapeur.
• The best pound cake I have eaten: quatre-quarts.
• A simple soufflé. And another.

RIP, Julia.

clafoutis aux pêches

This is Julia Child's basic recipe for clafoutis (from Mastering the Art..., but I subsituted amaretto for vanilla and brandy) with sliced peaches and sour cherries that have been soaking in rum for the last year. The sour cherries, being on top, caramelized and had wonderful flavor. The peaches needed no peeling or preparation: simply sliced, they were great. This is probably my favorite clafoutis of those that I have made.