Week 10: The honeymoon is over…
We invited friends for brunch over the weekend. Be warned that should you have the honor of receiving an invitation to our house in the next few months, which we do hope you’ll accept, there will be apples and potatoes involved (from now on, bring your own carrots…). We let them off easy this time, just Apfelstrudel (recipe later this week). As part of the requisite visit to our cellar (our pride and joy—something you can only fully appreciate if you are living or have ever lived for a significant period of time in an apartment without basement storage) we proudly showed off our surplus but the fact of the matter, as they were apt to point out, is that it doesn’t look all that impressive anymore. Where there once stood two crates brimming with carrots remains only a pile of sand. Two of the original four apple crates are empty. The first sack of potatoes lays limp and empty; we’re already well into the second.
But as good as that all sounds, we’re not there yet and there’s no letting up now—the weather is warming which leaves us in a bit of a bind. The desire to continue eating rich, heavy dishes featuring root vegetables wanes just as the storage conditions for such vegetables worsens. Under normal purchasing conditions, this correlation is perfect but when there’s still 20+ kg of spuds and 30 kg of apples to be eaten it’s a bit unfortunate. To stay focused on the job at hand I’ve been avoiding the weekly market lately for fear of falling prey to all the beautiful spring fruits and vegetables that have begun to appear. No strawberries or rhubarb so long as there are still apples… No asparagus or artichokes until we eat that last damn potato…
So back to work:
Potato and leek soup
Pintade à la normande (Guinea fowl, Normandy-style)
Apfelstrudel (Apple strudel)
Porc en croûte de pommes de terre (Pork in a potato crust)
Saumon en croûte de sel (Salt-baked salmon)
Potato and leek soup
My father sent me this recipe clipped from their local newspaper. He had already tested it for us and sent it along with my mother’s resounding recommendation that “it tasted better than she thought it would.” Despite the ambiguity of the recommendation (after all, we don’t really know how low her expectations had been) on a rainy, chilly spring day I decided to give it a try.
Maybe leeks are different here in France, or maybe the author has a few tricks up her sleeve that she didn’t indulge in her column. You see, the first step of the recipe involves cooking the leeks until they are golden, approximately 10-15 minutes. I cooked the leeks and cooked the leeks and cooked the leeks some more but they were still far from golden. Granted if I had cooked the leeks a fourth time, they would probably eventually have turned, but if there is one ingredient we are always short of in the kitchen at chez Maureen it’s time (with an “i”, no “h”).
Leeks, 2-1/2 lbs (roughly 1 kg plus one extra stalk)
Bay leaves, 2
Thyme, 4 large sprigs
Sage, 4 large sprigs
Parsley, 4 large sprigs
Celery leaves, 1 large handful (optional, especially in countries where you can’t even find the stalks on a regular basis)
Butter, 4 Tbsp., (60 g)
Garlic, 2 cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Vegetable stock, 8 cups (1.5 liters)
Salt & pepper
Potatoes, 1-3/4 lbs. (800 g), halved and sliced thinly
Cream
- Trim the dark green parts of the leek. Peel off and discard the uppermost layer. Slice the leek in half and rinse away any dirt. Chop into thin slices.
- Place all of your fresh sprigs and leaves into a cheesecloth and tie together. Or, an even better idea, use a bouquet garni (an already prepared combination of dried soup herbs in a little pouch or tied together with a kitchen string). Can’t find the bouquet garni aisle at your local supermarket? Make your own as described above, set up a small stand and sell them to your neighbors at a premium. Don’t forget to mention that they are “French”.
- Melt the butter in a large pan (this makes a lot of soup). Stir in the leeks and cook until soft and “dark golden brown”, 10-15 minutes. (good luck!). Stir in the garlic for the last 3 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and the herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
- Add potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are tender, requiring up to 45 minutes. (Since that was a bit long for the window of time I had for the soup, I cooked the potatoes at the same time that I was cooking the leek and then added them already “tenderized”. I will not contest that they would have perhaps picked up the taste of the soup on the way had they been prepared according to recipe. I will concede that now and again it can be worthwhile to follow the precise steps of an intricate recipe carefully studied and prepared by qualified chefs in a reputable test kitchen, but most of the time, especially when it comes to soup, improvisation is totally in order.)
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Decorate with parsley and serve with a small amount of cream.
Potato and leek soup
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- Leeks 2-1/2 lbs (roughly 1 kg plus one extra stalk)
- Bay leaves 2
- Thyme 4 large sprigs
- Sage 4 large sprigs
- Parsley 4 large sprigs
- Celery leaves 1 large handful (optional)
- Butter 4 Tbsp., (60 g)
- Garlic 2 cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- Vegetable stock 8 cups (1.5 liters)
- Salt & pepper
- Potatoes 1-3/4 lbs. (800 g), halved and sliced thinly
- Cream
Instructions
- Trim the dark green parts of the leek. Peel off and discard the uppermost layer. Slice the leek in half and rinse away any dirt. Chop into thin slices.
- Place all of your fresh sprigs and leaves into a cheesecloth and tie together. Or, an even better idea, use a bouquet garni (an already prepared combination of dried soup herbs in a little pouch or tied together with a kitchen string).
- Melt the butter in a large pan (this makes a lot of soup). Stir in the leeks and cook until soft and “dark golden brown”, 10-15 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic for the last 3 minutes.
- Add the vegetable stock and the herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
- Add potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are tender, requiring up to 45 minutes.
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Decorate with parsley and serve with a small amount of cream.
Pintade à la normande (Guinea fowl, Normandy-style)
If you’ve been following the “à la Normande” recipes here at chez Maureen, you might have noticed that they all have a few things in common: Calvados, apples and, often, apples. Lest you get the false impression that’s all Normands are good for, I’d like to point out that they also excel at cider, salted caramel and hood-winking naïve suburbanites into buying the remainder of their potato harvest in February.
Before the latest recipe à la normande, a confession… I’ve taken quite a bit of liberty my Pintade à la normande. In fact there weren’t any guinea fowls left at the supermarket so I bought a chicken instead. I ought to have changed the name of the recipe to Chicken à la normande, but a) it just doesn’t sound quite as sexy and, b) I know how much fun some of the American readers are having searching for exotic ingredients. Guinea fowl, anyone?
Please note: this recipe is really easy to make. After you’ve caught and slaughtered an urban guinea fowl, the rest is a piece of cake. Minimal peeling, hardly any chopping, very little attention required, and another excuse to stock up on Calvados. Plus the whole dish is ready in roughly the same amount of time it takes to defrost boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
(liberally adapted from Toute la cuisine au fil des saisons)
Guinea fowl (or bird of choice), 1, 2-1/2 lbs (1.2 kg)
Butter, 3-1/2 Tbsp (50 g)
Apples, 4, peeled if you like, halved and of course, cored
Onions, 2, peeled and halved
Garlic, 1 clove, peeled and halved
Oil, 3 Tbsp
Calvados, (apple brandy) 2 Tbsp
Cinnamon, 2 pinches
Salt & pepper
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Dry your bird well and brush him with a bit of the oil. Salt and pepper the exterior and the inside. Put the garlic and half of the butter into the bird’s cavity.
- Place the fellow with his back up in a roasting pan. Put the onions around and pour the rest of the oil on the onions. Cook for 35 minutes.
- Add the apples. Pour the Calvados on top. Sprinkle on some cinnamon and add the rest of the butter cut in small pieces. Put the cameras away, no flambé this time.
- Put the roasting pan back in the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes, dousing the bird regularly with the roasting juices.
- Cut the bird in 4 (you do have a poultry scissors right?). Place it artistically on a warmed serving plate with the onions and apples arranged into an adoring audience.
- Pour a bit of boiling water into the roasting pan and scrape gently to get all the good crusty stuff (in French called, much more eloquently, “sucs”) from the bottom of the pan. Serve the sucs on the bird and a full-bodied Fleurie or Brouilly in the wine glass.
Pintade à la normande (Guinea fowl, Normandy-style)
Ingredients
- Guinea fowl or bird of choice, 1, 2-1/2 lbs (1.2 kg)
- Butter 3-1/2 Tbsp (50 g)
- Apples 4, peeled if you like, halved and of course, cored
- Onions 2, peeled and halved
- Garlic 1 clove, peeled and halved
- Oil 3 Tbsp
- Calvados (apple brandy) 2 Tbsp
- Cinnamon 2 pinches
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Dry your bird well and brush him with a bit of the oil. Salt and pepper the exterior and the inside. Put the garlic and half of the butter into the bird’s cavity.
- Place the fellow with his back up in a roasting pan. Put the onions around and pour the rest of the oil on the onions.
- Cook for 35 minutes.
- Add the apples. Pour the Calvados on top. Sprinkle on some cinnamon and add the rest of the butter cut in small pieces.
- Put the roasting pan back in the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes, dousing the bird regularly with the roasting juices.
- Cut the bird in 4 (you do have a poultry scissors right?).
- Place it artistically on a warmed serving plate with the onions and apples arranged into an adoring audience.
- Pour a bit of boiling water into the roasting pan and scrape gently to get all the good crusty stuff (in French called, much more eloquently, “sucs”) from the bottom of the pan.
- Serve the sucs on the bird and a full-bodied Fleurie or Brouilly in the wine glass.
