When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Coq au Vin

Dear readers, I am completely recovered from the Coronavirus, thanks I’m sure in part to your many uplifting comments and prayers. More in the comments section below, but in the meantime, let’s try to get back to normal with this “blob”, and with our lives!

Photo: The Mystery of the Missing Chickens (This chick seems to be in lockdown, or maybe she's looking IN at us!)

I hope you are all coping well, and isolating yourself for the cause. My heart goes out to all those affected by this awful disease, financially or health-wise. Especially to those who have lost jobs and were already living from paycheck to paycheck. What will they do? And the frustrating thing is, we can’t leave our homes to help them.

This crisis is what the ever-resilient Charlestonians, veterans of many a war, plague, and natural disaster,  would call “the Latest Unpleasantness”. 

Let’s take a look at how the French are coping, as reported by our friends in Beaune.

First up are the grocery store shortages. Are the French obsessed with toilet paper as we are? Pas de tout. Maybe because lots of French houses have bidets, and with a bidet you hardly need toilet paper at all (so will bidets finally become a ‘thing’ here?).  

The grocery stores  this week are well stocked with food and toilet paper, folks are not hoarding as they are in the US. Except for one surprising item: chicken! None to be found in any store.

Now why could that be? Julie, a friend in France, says, "it’s French comfort food!" Mais oui. Everyone is home making coq au vin! No peanut butter, beans, or tuna fish for this crowd, they’re going down in style.

And of course it freezes well. I usually use Julia Child’s recipe, though I simplify a bit, and add more veggies. You’ve got time on your hands, so why not make it?

The French are also limiting the number of people who can go into a boulangerie at any one time to only 3 or so, instead of the usual crowd inside, who are impatient for their morning baguette. There is nothing that can make the French give up their daily boulangerie visit.

In France, where the virus is ahead of us, you must have a document to leave your house, and only for certain essential things, and only for an hour a day, and you can't go far. They have issued many thousands of fines for those who don’t comply. We may see the same thing in the States, especially since so many young people appear not to have gotten the message.

So, we’re all looking for comfort food this week. Here’s a recipe by Ali Slagle that I found (and made a few changes to) which was both easy, quick and nourishing. By the time the oven heated up, it was ready to cook. It worked for my meat-loving husband, and I ate the tasty veggies. So whip this up for dinner, then get back to all those projects you’ve been meaning to do around the house. And I have all of you in my thoughts, wishing you good health.

 

RECIPE: Sheet Pan Sausage with Veggies and Honey Mustard

This sauce is so good I will use it when I just make roasted potatoes, too.

• hot Italian sausges, 1 per person
• one of, or some combo of: trimmed, halved brussel sprouts; chunks of sweet peppers; carrot sticks or small carrots; chunks of yellow squash or zucchini; broccoli florets
• 1/2 to 1lb small potatoes, halved or quartered, maybe throw in some sweet potatos
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• coarse salt and black pepper
• a heaping tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, or cumin seeds
• ¼ cup almonds or walnuts, chopped
• Heat oven to 450 degrees, and place a sheet pan in the oven. Score the sausages in a few places on both sides.
• Transfer to a large bowl with the veggies, potatoes and 2 tablespoons olive oil, and stir until coated. (If the mixture seems dry, add a little more oil.) Season with salt and pepper.
• Spread the mixture in an even layer on the heated baking sheet. Roast 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the honey, mustard, and seeds.
• Drizzle the honey mustard over the sausages and vegetables, and toss with a spatula to coat.  Sprinkle with nuts. Roast until the sausages are cooked through and the vegetables are golden and tender, another 10 minutes or so. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve with plenty of wine, you are going to need it.

In the COMMENTS: I was completely overwhelmed with all the warm, lovely comments I received, and I can’t thank y’all enough. You might want to check them out—there are  some harrowing stories of those affected, and tales of getting stranded, and reports from different countries on how they are handling it.

I'm fine now and it turned out I’m one of the lucky ones. I continued to isolate in my bedroom for an additional 11 days after the 14, to be safe. Now I’m happily out of jail, Ron is still fine, and we are hoping to get serology tests one day. Immunity seems increasingly to be a illusive concept, so I’m being careful, distancing and masking up like everyone else.  

Our reader Anne made the sconces we blogged about recently, but with chocolate chips! Here is her photo. Pretty yummy looking.

 

Favorite READS: We all really need good books right now. I've been reading Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford, very droll and oh so British (and now a Netflix series, which I didn't love). After wallowing in  the bad news that's in the daily paper, Ron has recently forbidden me from reading anything but Dave Barry. Try Dave Barry Turns 50 if you are of a certain age, or Dave Barry's Greatest Hits. A laugh is good for the soul! Our voracious reader Natalia recommends Prairie Fires:The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder,"by Caroline Fraser.

 

 

Comments

[Tom Berry]

Hi, Lynne. So you are still in the US.... I hope you can get back soon. As a friend pointed out to me last week, my move last year was providential so that I can ride it out here vs. the US. I haven’t been that badly inconvenienced, and my walks in the countryside and vineyards surrounding my village have been therapeutic. Macron is organized and has been thoughtful about what the country needs. His television briefings (of which there have been four to date) are reassuring. And this week they announced special aid to families with low income. The concern for people is very impressive. Not having to worry about health care is also very reassuring, The only thing that I am concerned about is that they may ask “citizens of a certain age” to stay confined longer. Hopefully at 69, I will gain my freedom May 11 when confinement is slated to end. I need a haircut! Take care and be well.

[sally vegso]

I am reading "The Years" by Annie Ernaux. The author and I are the same age and I compare her French experiences with mine. The overlapping of events (before the internet) is incredible even if the names of politicians and products, etc is different. But the "reasonable desires" of "clean work,an indoor workplace, enough to eat, dying in bed" stunned me as I think about all who are still striving for those desires.

[Vicky]

Let me recommend Carl Hiaason for some hilarious reading. Sometimes I have laughed til I cried when
reading his books! And don’t we all need a good laugh! Of course you have to like his crazy brand of
humor and I do!!

[Jacky Burdett]

so happy that you are in better health - take good care of yourselves - plenty of chicken in Cluny - we are having a roast on Sunday - no real problems with shopping - just missing my friends and any social contact - thankfully the garden keeps me busy and the weather is great - love Jacky X

[Christine Webb-Curtis]

It's so good to read two blogs in a row so quickly. Clearly you are on the mend. I don't believe my comment registered from your last post, but I'm relieved to see your page again. I've spent the last few months reading Sharon Kay Penman's series about the Plantagenet royalty. I've always been fascinated with Elinor of Aquitaine; and these books do not disappoint, starting with When Christ and His Saints Slept. The only problem is that each is a veritable tome. But what better way to spend your days and evening when you are "resting" at home? I, like you, look forward to the days when we can traverse the Atlantic with ease and you can return to your nest in Beaune.

Best to you.

Chris

[Jo Anne Marquardt]

I use a version of your above recipe with salmon and an Asian inspired sauce. Easy and delicious, of course with lots of wine. Your covid story gives me chills and Jeeps me motivated to be super careful. So glad you recovered.

[Thea Jarvis]

Enjoyed hearing how they're riding things out in France -- and the happy news about your recovery, Lynn! Thinking of you and Peggy and Mickey as I 'sequester' on Poplar. All is well here. xoxox

[Natalia]

Wonderful news,dear Lynn,to know that you have fully recovered.Absolutely answered prayers! How you handled your illness is an inspiration for all of us.
I very much enjoyed learning how the French are handling le confinement and all that goes with it.
I especially loved this recipe!! We have not had a real shortage of veggies(thankfully),and this adapts itself so well to what is available.THANK YOU!!
I also got in the habit now of making cream veggie soup with an immersion blender.One recipe from our Serbian roots is called Burek.Half a container cottage cheese,blended with an egg.Brush with olive oil, an Emile Henri dish 5 1/2 by 8 inches.Line bottom with three sheets phyllo dough,overlapping sides and ends..Brush with melted butter.Spoon in cottage cheese/egg mixture.Fold one sheet of overlapped phyllo dough over top.Brush with butter.Spoon on cottage cheese mixture.Fold over another layer of phyllo dough. Brush with butter.Repeat till cottage cheese mixture is used up.Top with final layer of phyllo dough.Brush generously with butter.Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 10 or so minutes ,till golden brown.Serves one hungry person,or two if accompanied by side salad.

[Colleen Taylor]

Lynn, I'm so relieved you are still doing well & have recovered. Thank you for sharing the Coq au Vin recipe. I've always been the type of cook that will try new recipes so this will be on my list. I've expanded considerably on my culinary skills during this pandemic but how my challenge is to not let my posterior expand.

I do think I just might bake a loaf of fresh bread to accompany this delicious recipe.X