Southern Fried French

An Almost-French Weight Loss Diet That Works

PHOTO:  Has your inner Pig emerged for summer?  Here's a little help, inspired by the French.

Jenny Craig est arrivée in France!  Can you believe it!  America has triumphed at last.  I have a BETTER diet solution for you today, but first, this just in:

Yes, some of the French are overweight--call it American Creep.  And yes, a few of them are actually signing up for pre-packaged food, an anathema to the French diet. It may not sound like a fun read, but it is:  last week in the NY Times Susan Dominus wrote about Jenny Craig's French debut, and she interviews the French marketing exec charged with selling this totally un-French way of eating  to the French.  It’s entertaining, if you're a student of the French character as I am, to hear Madame the exec get her tongue all tangled up trying to justify this distinctly American plan while haughtily defending the superior French diet.  

 Which got us thinking about les regimes, since that same American Creep has slipped in chez nous, after a few rounds of visitors and trips lately.  Alors, time for a tune-up!  

When I need a diet tune-up,  I loosely follow the diet that I’ve stolen from my dear friend Sandi.  It worked well for her, and it works great for me also.  While it isn’t French per se, it happens to have many elements of the French way of eating:  a French breakfast, no snacking, lots of fruit, and no suffering.  The French, as you know, don’t do suffering, especially when it comes to food.  PHOTO, from a beach at Nice: Time to play the diet card.

Here is the very simple plan. Do le petit déjeuner the French way: coffee or tea, plus a tartine (baguette split lengthwise) or toast with jam. The main trick is lunch: you fix yourself a huge, delicious fresh fruit smoothie, recipe below.  Fun AND filling! (Being a gourmand, I confess I sometimes have a small salad, some good whole wheat bread, or raw veggies at lunch with my smoothie). Then you eat a generous but healthy dinner, with  lean meat or fish with a couple of veggies, maybe a lightly dressed salad, perhaps a whole grain starch that’s not too loaded with fat.  Here we're talking whole grain pasta, grains, grits, potatoes, etc. (I often skip the meat and go with several veggies). And that’s it.  Dessert should be a special event, like when you go out for a nice dinner, but that yummy smoothie is going to help with sugar cravings.  Snack if you must, only once in the afternoon or with your apperos,. Snacks should be healthy, like a handful of nuts or some crudités.  Cheese is off the menu for a while, except occasionally (Note that the French seldom use cheese in cooking as we do, and when they eat it, always after a meal, the portions are small. Also they eat it not on a fattening cracker but on a low-fat baguette.  So go with that plan if you get cheese-obcessed).   PHOTO: "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy!"  Painting spotted at a  Burgundy flea market.

 My other very favorite French diet trick is to drink my coffee/tea on a schedule, the way the natives do.  LIke this: a cup with breakfast, then at the end of lunch, and one 4-ish if you like, and maybe one after dinner, especially if you’re trying to resist dessert.  Not only is it a filling way to round out a meal, but also if you take coffee on a schedule it also becomes a psychological signal to your mind and body. It says to you, "OK, You are done eating until the next time!"  This works SO well, especially if you make not just any old watered down coffee but an excellent, rich expresso (we are totally addicted to our Nespresso  machine) with just a touch of sugar.

Now, here is how to make Sandi’s smoothies that are good enough to be Lunch.  And we'd love to hear your summer diet tips!

 

RECIPE:  Sublime Smoothies

To make a “lunch” smoothie, do the following:  Your main ingredient is going to be lots of fresh fruit. Then add a carton of lowfat yougurt, a little fruit juice or milk (just enough to get the blender whirring away), flavoring if desired (e.g. vanilla or almond extract), and a handful of ice cubes to make it cold and a little bit slushy.  I find that adding some banana to a smoothie will give it a thicker, milkshake-like texture.   Throw it all in the blender and you’re done.  Anybody lurking around is likely to steal a slurp or three, so you may as well make a big one.

My favorite smoothis this week is a take on pina coladas. 

Fill blender half full of fresh pineapple.  Add some light coconut milk and coconut yogurt, and a splash of lime juice.  Add half a banana or a handful of strawberries, and ice cubes.

There are a zillion other good combos.  Summer peaches are out and they make the best smoothies ever.  Try cantaloupe with blueberries; watermelon and banana; strawberries with kiwi and orange juice; coffee or caramel yogurt with bananas, and so on.  Add lemon yogurt for a zing, or Greek yogurt for richness.  Happy, healthy dieting!

 

Favorite Reads/Films:  Also in the NY Times this week, food guru Mark Bittman talks about the lastest diet research in his excellent article Which Diet Works?  In movie news, I'm sure I'm the last person still standing who hasn't seen The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is out on DVD in Europe and available for pre-order in the US.  I'm waiting for Apple to offer it, but in the meantime I've ordered the book the movie was based on, which was originally called These Foolish Things.   Can anyone recommend it? 

Meanwhile in our corner of the world we're all excited about seeing The Vintner's Luck, a New Zealand movie, obviously with a major wine theme, which will be at our little theater in Cluny next week-end.  It was filmed in part at the magnificant château Berzé-le-Chatel, which is just down the road from us. Note to US buyers: you can order it, but you have to have a multi-region DVD player to watch it.  You can see the trailer, with a peek at the châteu, here.

Running Away from Home, to a Boat in France

My new friend Lin in Valbonne did a guest blog for me last month, and after all the nice comments she got, she said enthusiastically, “I feel so...connected!”  Which sums it up pretty well for me too.  Being a blogger or a blog reader means opening up a world of new friends you would never have met, outside of the virtual world.

 And so it was that out of the blue I got an email from fellow bloggers and loyal Southern Fried French readers Heather and Kent, of the Unexcused Absenses blog.  “We’ll be in Dijon next week, can you come for a cruise on our canal boat and une pique nique?”  

Bien sur!  So off we went to spend the day with a couple we’d never met but whose adventures we knew well.  Their story, which we’ve now heard first hand, is pretty inspirational (photo: passing a cruise boat on the canal. See more photos of our trip at their blog).

Heather and Kent  were Washington D.C. professionals at the height of their careers when they became aware of something disturbing about their lives:  their vacations were not NEARLY long enough.  Instead of dreaming or complaining, they made a plan.  They rented out their house, bought a boat, and began cruising the canals and rivers of France.  They are both excellent skiers, so they found work in the winter as ski instructors at Beaver Creek, and they spend the summers on the boat.  Their lifestyle is not as lavish as before, but their new life, full of the pleasures of travel and sport, suits them just fine.

We located their boat, Apés-Ski, in the harbor at Dijon with no trouble--it had an American flag flying off the stern.  The boat is just right: a two-cabin affair with a sunny galley lined with cheerful curtains and pots of fresh herbs on a perch just outside the window.  Installed on their upper deck, we cruised at a leisurely eight knots down the shady tree-lined waterway.  At each lock, Monsieur l’éclusier (the keeper of the locks) would arrive on his moto or vélo and help manually open the  gates to flood the lock (Kent and Heather will pass through quite a number of the 189 locks on the Canal de Bourgogne this  summer).  At some of the locks there were charming maisons d’écluses, the lock keeper's cottages.   We saw ducks and swans, came close enough to passing canal boats to chat with fellow boaters, and in general had a fine time. 

After a bit we tied up on the edge of the canal and had our pique nique in a park by a lake.  The day was cool-ish, so Heather made a delicious warm pasta with smoked salmon, goat cheese, and caramelized red onions. We were so close to the lake she just grabbed the hot frying pan and brought the cooked dish along with us.

The particular path they chose may not be for everyone, but Heather and Kent's story is all about thinking very clearly about priorities, chasing and catching dreams, and making pro-active decisions about lifestyle, even when it involves a leap of faith.  Take a look at their blog to share their dream.  It may even inspire you to think about your own! (and hopefully to share them with us, in the Comments section).

A huge merci and gros bisous (that's a French smooch on the cheek) to the darling Heather and Kent, and Heather thank you for sharing your pasta recipe with us!  The pasta was really good and I learned from Heather that you can cook it ahead and sauté it, so it makes a good company dish.

 

RECIPE:  Heather’s Aprés-Ski Pasta

• 250 g of Farfalle (bow tie) pasta (half a box).  I'm a total pasta snob (I lived in Italy) and eat Barilla pasta    almost exclusively.
• 3 small red onions
• 25g of buttter
• 2 T of balsamic vinegar
• 2 T of raw sugar
• 150g of smoked salmon, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 small wheel of chevre cheese (not the super fresh stuff but the one that looks like a Brie when   unwrapped -- a basic supermarket cheese), cut into small chunks.
• 50 g of frozen peas, more if you like

Thinly slice the onions.  Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the onions.  Once the onions start to soften (about 5 minutes), add the balsamic vinegar and the sugar.  Yes, I totally cheat when I caramelize onions.  Gently saute the onions with the lid on the pan for about 30 - 45 minutes, until the onions are quite dark.

Cook the pasta until it is al dente.  Drain.  

Add the salmon and cheese to the onion mixture.  Once the cheese starts to melt, add the peas.  When it is fully melted, toss it with the pasta.

This works really well when reheated in the frying pan because the cheese gets all brown and yummy.  We don't have a microwave on the boat, so we always have "planned overs" with this meal.

In the COMMENTS:  Suzanne, I've never heard of the French 'Suze', which seems to be an apperatif--anyone tried it?  Linda, merci and bon courage! Beth says British lemonade is different from American, so use 7-up in your Pimm's Cup to get the right taste.  Thanks for the tip. Those Brits do everything a little different.  Cateriana, you are a true country girl, it sounds fantastic.  Now Hampton--Lordy me, white gravy on biscuits with chicken fried steak, for breakfast---where you from, Boy?!

Catching our Breath in the Crépuscule

There is a romanesque church near us which was built in the 11th century.  The 11th century!  Six hundred years before our own Charleston was even a place.

At night the village proudly lights up their ancient church, which stands on the crest of a large hill.  At sunset we often walk to see it, just after the last carillon from the giant cloche.  It stands alone at the center of the village, a beacon in this radiant evening sky, its sharp stone-roofed steeple  piercing the heavens.  At sunset the profoundly deep blue of the early night sky takes on a luminous, one might say holy, glow around the golden stone of the church.

The church faces due west, and just over the low wall where it’s perched on its grand peak is a view that flows out around it on every side, paying homage.  Hills dip and roll, the hedges divide the fields and crops as if by the hand of a fine painter, a quilt of greens dusted by the softening twilight.  The white cows scattered about in the fields are tiny from our high perch, and they catch the last rays of light.  Over the last hill is an otherworldly glow of ochre and gold, the final breath of fire from the spent day.  We stand before the the tall oak doors of the church, breathing in the sharp coolness of the night, soaking up the absolute silence, turning now toward the rising moon.

There are really no words for this beauty or this serenity, just as no photo can capture it.  

I think of a city friend who said the other day, “What do you DO all day in Burgundy, isn’t it boring?”  Well it is quiet here, the foreign life can be aggravating at times, and yes we miss Charleston, and friends.  But this little French moment, and so many like it, is what brought us here and, at the end of the day, what will make us stay.

 

In the COMMENTS:  Hampton says Kate wore fake jewles with her dress, now that's a down to earth royal!  Suzanne wants to know what a Pimm's Cup is (Merci Bill, for correcting my spelling). I didn't know this drink either until I started hanging out with the Brits and Aussies who live here.  To make this classic British summer cocktail, you'll first have to find a bottle of Pimms No. 1 (a sort of herbed gin). Then take one slice of orange, lemon, apple, and cucumber per person  and add two parts lemonade to one part Pimms. Top with a splash of club soda and a sprig of mint.  If you're really a purist, you'll garnish it with borage leaves and then find a good cricket match or tennis game to watch.

Our Reader's Blogs:  Diane finds her inspiration Under An Olive Tree, out in the country south of Rome. And Heather of Lost in Arles, in the south of France, is dreaming over houses this week.  No new recipe chez nous this week, but over at Provence in Ann Arbor, Liza is making a really interesting watermelon salad which we'll be trying soon. 

Diamonds, Pearls, and Corn Flakes

Fashion is fast and fickle, and now that Europe's fashion reine du jour Carla Bruni has been summarily dethroned, it’s Kate Middleton’s hour.  Following Diana’s legacy, and quite a leggy number herself, the newly minted dutchess hasn’t taken a fashion misstep since taking over the tiara, starting with that restrained  and elegant confection of a wedding dress.

This being Europe, there was a High Tea Diamond Jubilee party to watch the festivities  to fête the queen this week, thrown by Australian friends who live in a wonderful converted train station.  We all gathered at la gare for a sumptuous spread of scones and such, sporting our pearls and fascinators, for a glimpse at the fashions and faux pas of everyone’s favorite royals.

The Queen of course was wearing her trademark matched-from-hat-down-to-sensible-pumps ensemble, all in white for the big day, with a chapeau that looked like it might go spinning off on its own at any moment.  A predictable choice, but at 86 she looked pretty well put-together.  Toute le monde was appalled at Camilla (what’s new), who wore an off-white coat dress, way too close in color to the queen’s frock to be suitable.

For our money, Kate was a huge success, we all loved her red dress.  It was matched exactly to her hat, perhaps in honor of her mum-in-law?  The next day the catty English papers fussed that the lady in scarlet stole the Queen’s thunder, but the color of her dress WAS picked right from the British flag, and so what if a rock star had worn the same dress earlier?  We like that she picked it right off the rack.

Our hostesses, Mariella and her daughter Gabby, made us the most wonderful goodies, and  host Michael served up the Pimm’s cup.  One big hit was a crunchy, addictive cookie which had everyone wondering what was in it (corn flakes in disquise, among other things!) and everyone was asking for the recipe.  We have managed to obtain it, just for you. Long live the Queen!  

Photo: our hostess Mariella with friend Narissa, who sports a patriotic fascinator.  Photo by Ali Herron.

RECIPE:  Salvina's Jubilee Florentines

• 4 cups crushed cornflakes
• 1 cup chopped almonds
• 1 can condensed milk
• 1 box of mixed dry fruit, finely chopped   (375 grams)
• 2 oz. semisweet chocolate

Pre-heat oven to 325F  (160C).  Mix all ingredients together except chocolate, take your time to mix it well. Place baking paper (or a Silpat ) on cookie sheet  and drop mixture onto the sheet by the spoonful. Press cookies into rounded mounds with wet fingers.

Bake about 8 minutes. (They should be golden brown but not browner at edges, watch them closely).  Let them cool.

Melt chocolate.  Spread chocolate on flat side (or dip bottoms lightly into chocolate, then spread).  Cool them upside down until chocolate sets.  You can refrigerate them briefly, to set the chocolate faster.   

Many thanks to Mariella for the recipe.

Favorite Reads:  My friend Anne highly recommends the book The Secret Life of France by Lucy Wadham, which we mentioned a while back, about a British journalist who married a Frenchman, and tries to uncover the French character.  The author sometimes takes a hard view of the French.  Several of us are reading it to discuss with Nicole at our French class.  Let the fireworks begin!