Your French Mot du Jour: Le Confinement, which is lockdown lingo. Meals come around really often in Le Confinement, don’t they? I don’t know about you, but I’ve been cooking like a maniac, and struggling to keep up with looming mealtimes.
Worried about food shortages, I signed up for a weekly local farm delivery here in Charleston. In which they deliver a box of 15 pounds (7 kilos) of assorted veggies each week, whatever they’re growing. I can tell you that no matter what shortages occur, we will not starve to death. Fifteen pounds is a LOT of veggies.
So each week on the day before the next delivery, I’m frantically cleaning out the veggie drawer. Soups, salads, pickles, gratins, whatever I can dream up.
And what I dreamed up this week is infinitely versatile: veggie turnovers, with a bit of meat or fish if you like.And if you use pre-made piecrust, you can turn out a terrific turnover in a half hour. I use Pillsbury here, but puff pastry would work too; in France I would use a pâte feuilleté.
We’ve blogged about turnovers before, which were never a French thing, until I discovered that the local traiteur (a fancy catering shop) in Beaune now carries round puffy ones for a quick lunch, in all sorts of varieties.
This week I stuffed mine with zucchini, broccoli, white onions, garlic, and a layer of thinly sliced deli cheddar I happened to have on hand. They were crunchy, creamy, and cheesy all at once. You could also use leftover meat or fish or vegetables, chopped fine, and avoid the stovetop all together.
The possibilities for layering in flavors are as endless as those veggies that are multiplying in my fridge. While we were tucking into them, Ron and I brainstormed some other good combinations for you. But check your fridge for inspiration!
RECIPE: Personalized Turnovers
Traditional French pastries are the sweet ones stuffed with apples, called chaussons aux pommes, but now savory ones are popping up.
For this week’s turnover version, which makes 3 large turnovers, I chopped some zucchini up small, and diced a small white onion. I sliced a few florets of broccoli very thin. I threw in a tiny bit of leftover chicken. I added sea salt and ground pepper and sautéed all this in a combo of butter and olive oil, for maybe 4 minutes, adding chopped garlic for the last minute.
Then I put it into a bowl and added a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and a squeeze of Sriracha sauce. I cut the pie crust into 6 wedges. I put the filling on 3 of them and laid thin deli slices of cheddar on top. Then I topped them with the other wedge, crimped the edges, put a slit in the top, and baked them for 15 minutes at 375, until they were golden and bubbly. If you have leftover topping, heat it up and serve it over a biscuit or toast for tomorrow’s lunch (which will be here before you know it!).
Here are some other combos—no recipe needed! Instead of sour cream, mayo or even Greek yogurt would work as a binder, and any sort of cheese you have on hand will do. Just be sure to chop everything small. Everything should be pre-cooked. You can also add a salsa or creamy sauce on the side, for dipping.
—Shrimp, celery, summer squash (or any veggie), onions, gruyère
—Chicken pie turnovers, with carrots, peas, onions, parmesan
—Italian sausage, sautéed bell peppers, onions, basil , grated mozzarella
—Chopped salmon, scallions, dill, asparagus, gruyère
—Leftover beef and chopped steamed or roasted potatoes, then stir in a little tomato paste or marinara sauce, grated cheddar or parmesan
In the Comments: Jane has many an interesting gougère tip for us. Colleen has solved a cheese puff mystery. Zing makes hers with the added decadence of bacon. And my sister checks in with some family secrets. Iris and Mary James think 5 eggs is too many and I agree, so I tried them agin, using a recipe from Alain Ducasse. Perfection! Here is the photo, cookies no longer:
Favorite READS: If you want to lift yourself out of lockdown for a moment, our loyal reader Natalia has a book for you: Paris in Bloom by Georgianna Lane. "Complete eye candy!!" she says, and she's right! And for anyone who is contemplating air travel, especially to Europe (as we are), you will want to read Karen McCann's hilarious account of her trip from Spain to the states in the middle of the pandemic.
And for another pleasant and beautiful distraction, please check out the work of some of our readers who are fabulous artists. Three new ones to try:
and my dear friend, Susan Altman