Southern Fried French

Oh You Beautiful (French) Doll

Herm Meyer, who has been a loyal reader for many years, passed away this past week at 90 years old. Many of you know Herm from his blog and from his book, Poems Pics and Stuff, and for the many comments he contributed to this blog. Herm was a veteran, a patriot, an engineer, a poet, and a nature lover. I never met Herm, but I feel like I've lost an old friend. Au revoir et adieu, kind soul, friend, and poet.

 

For years I've been taking pictures of French dolls that I spot at the vide greniers, the  "empty the attic" sales that most every French village holds annually, and which is our standard Sunday outing.

After a while I noticed that the well-used dolls, abandoned and out-grown, made a little cultural snapshot of the French at play. And not just regarding children. As you will see, some of the dolls are very much in the adult category. Even the way some of the dolls are displayed tells a story.

And just what story do they tell? Hmm, I'll leave that for you to decide, dear readers. History, culture, play, pathos, gender, sexuality, diversity, it's all here (keeping in mind most of these dolls are discards from the past). You may find it interesting  how they differ from your own culture, and our current one. Or if you are French, what memories and thoughts they evoke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the COMMENTS: Paula, I've got a Le Creuset pot and also a vintage oval one I bought at a flea market for a song. And boy is it heavy! Anne Marie, you've been much more productive in "confinement" than I have, great idea. Francine, I have a Silpat, I think it's the same thing, and I couldn't live without it. Suzanne, your recipe will be featured at my next brunch, merci! Suzanne (of Living with Loulou) has a great cookbook called No Need to Knead, my kind of book. And Julie, happy to hear Peanut has joined your family.

 

Favorite READS & Views: Two great new ideas for you this week! Cynthia Bogart has a brand new newsletter--for house addicts like me.  It's called House and Hammer Report: A Newsletter about Buying, Selling, and Living in Old Homes. Fun to dream over if nothing else.

My friend Carol suggested a sassy little book of stories, for those of us who are of a certain age, called An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good.

Natalia recommends Little Paris Bookshop, which I've read too, and it's a fun book.

And if you want to brush up on your French, we just discovered a YouTube channel called Français avec Pierre. All the lessons are completely in French (with English subtitles) and they cover the really current language, the way the natives speak it. Here is the first one in the series. They make it fun, too. And if you want to get inspired to learn a language, there are a number of TED talks on the subject, which we've been enjoying. (Or, of course, you could order my book: How to Learn a New Language with a Used Brain. The Kindle edition is under $4!).

 

 

A Sweet Petit Déjeuner

 
It’s good to have rituals in lockdown, or just if you’re laying low, to structure your day or week. Maybe you have pizza night or taco night, or take-out night. My friend Debbie and her husband cook a very fancy dinner every Wednesday night. She slips on a dress and heels, he puts on a jacket, and they dine by candlelight. We’re not that ambitious, but we do have our Sunday brunch.

Sunday brunch, newly trendy here in France, for us usually starts with my bartender putting a Mimosa in the hands of the cook. I typically cook baked eggs or an omelette, and make a fruit cup. But the star of the show is some kind of fancy homemade quick bread.

I meant to get this post out for Valentine’s Day, but the time got away from me. Anyway,  I was in a mood for cinnamon rolls (but too lazy to break out the yeast). So I decided to make a rich biscuit, layered with cinnamon sugar and pecans and raisins, and nappped with an orange glaze. In the shape of hearts, of course.

How do you make a richer biscuit than the everyday ones? There are several ways, and you can adapt your favorite biscuit recipe (mine is here).

One way is to substitute half of the butter with cream cheese. Another way is to use creme fraiche or sour cream or cream instead of milk or buttermilk.  If you use sour cream, thin it with a little milk or cream. Or do what I did here, for richness: substitute an egg for part of your liquid.

I served these biscuits with baked eggs, my quick and easy recipe is here.

These biscuits took a bit of time, but they were so worth it, to perk up a wintry day. Now please share some of your stuck-at-home rituals. And have a happy and romantic post-Valentine's Day!

 

RECIPE:  Cinnamon Sugar Hearts

For the biscuits:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 stick of butter (113 grams), cold
• 1 egg, plus cold milk to make 3/4 cup

For the filling/topping:

• 1/3 sugar (or raw sugar)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons of butter, melted
• 1/4 finely chopped pecans
• a handful of raisins (optional)
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (200C). 

Add the dry ingredients to a food processor and pulse a few times to blend. Cut butter into several small pieces, add to flour mix and pulse for a second or two, about eight times, until there is a coarse crumb but it’s not too fine. (do this with your fingertips if you prefer).

Put the mixture in a large bowl. Put the egg in a measuring cup and beat it with a fork or small whisk. Add milk to make 3/4 cup and mix well.

Make a well and pour in the liquid. Quickly stir it with a fork just until it forms a dough. Turn it out onto a floured surface. With floured hands knead it lightly, turning it just a couple of times just to smooth it out. Pat it out thin, about 1/2”, because the biscuits will have two layers.

If your cutter is 2.5 to 3”, it will make about 16 rounds (or hearts), for a total of 8 biscuits. Cut out 8 biscuits and place them on a baking sheet. Brush them with melted butter, sprinkle with sugar mixture, sprinkle with most of the pecans and with a few raisins if using. Top with 8 more biscuits. Brush tops with butter, sprinkle again with sugar mixture, and sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake for about 15 minutes, then cool.

Make a glaze by mixing a little liquid at a time with the confectioner’s sugar. Mix with orange juice, lemon juice, milk or water. Drizzle glaze over the top

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In the COMMENTS: Christine, I think you absolutely could lose each other in Carrefour forever! Paula, I confess I did not know what Za'tar is, but I thank you and Karen thanks you. I am behind the power curve as you all seem to be using it, I must try it! Sarah, the French make légumes rôtis au four, though they are not as popular as in the States, but I don't know if they have a term for sheet pan dinners. Bonnie, yes, you bag your own and weigh your own, and put your own cart away too. Bonnie has another good sheet pan recipe. And don't miss Natalia's au pif soufflé which she kindly shares this week. Connie, thanks for the Netflix tip, I did not know that!

RE the previous post on letter boxes, of 1/21: Forgot to post this photo, sent in by our loyal reader Nancy, which she took on a trip to the south of France. A lovely addition to the collection, thanks for sending!

Favorite READS: Speaking of rituals, Karen McCann (of the Enjoy Living Abroad blog), who I think maybe has too much time on her hands, goes all out on Date Night with her husband. Read her hilarious date night adventures here. I'm also reading a book a friend gave me, A Bite-Sized History of France, which neatly ties French  history into food and drink. 

 

 

 

 

Grocery Shopping on Roller Blades

When we have guests from the states, what’s the first place they often want to go? The museums? The public châteaux? The Romanesque churches? Well yes, they want to see all those things. But first off, many of them want to head right away to: the Carrefour. What’s so special about this French grocery store?

Usually they’ve heard this, and it’s true: this famous French magasin grand surface (big box store) is so big that some of the employees whiz around on roller blades. But then, this is no ordinary grocery store.

Carrefour is the French word for crossroads, and if a crossroads is a big meeting place, then this grocery store is aptly named. It’s not a marché (market) or the larger supermarché, but an HYPERmarché, and some are  the size of a small city. You can buy groceries, of course, and car insurance, plants for the garden, Christmas trees, refrigerators, you can book a vacation, sometimes they even sell cars out in the parking lot. If they could figure out how to sell you a house I’m sure they would. It is in fact the second largest retailer on the planet. Imagine a Costco with a regular grocery store at its heart, on steroids.

Sure, we get our veggies at the local market and do our normal grocery shopping at a smaller supermarché, but every once in a while we make the pilgrimage to a big Carrefour, found in most French towns (well, we did before COVID, and someday will again). The selection is so incredible, it’s hard to resist.

You want it, you can probably get it here. From dishes to tools to books to washing machines, and that’s before you even get to the groceries. Be sure to arm yourself with a list that is itemized by department---if you forget something on one end, it’s a good ten minute walk back. And beware of employees zipping past on roller blades, though you may be wishing you’d brought your own.  

Since everything in France is seasonal, there is a huge central portion in Carrefour which morphs into an entirely different store each season. It’s  a toy store at Christmas, a plant nursery with grills and lawn furniture and beach umbrellas in summer. If you miss the moment, you’re out of luck until next year.

Then on to the groceries. There's a cheese aisle about the length of a soccer field--a main attraction for our visitors-- with employees in aprons busy slicing and wrapping for customers. In the fish section there will be mountains of mussels, fresh oysters and clams, and poissons of every variety. There is often a guy in the meat department stirring a table-sized pan of steaming paella or couscous, singing out loudly to hawk his ready-to-eat marvel. 

Shoppers line up at the cheese isle

It’s all quite festive and overwhelming. A friend who just moved to France says, “Each time we go, we are so astounded at everything that there are large chunks of time that we spend just wandering around in awe. "

It may be that Carrefour has finally gotten too big for its britches.  When they doubled (again) the size of the monster one in nearby Châlon-sur Saône, many folks said “enough already”! A trend is taking hold to shop at smaller, more local stores. So who has filled the gap? Carrefour, of course, which is now busy opening dozens of smaller, more intimate stores called "Carrefour Market"(smaller) and "Carrefour City" (smallest). At least now we can leave our rollerblades at home.

Blue orchids seem to be on special this week.

Now that we've done our grocery shopping, what's for dinner? Here's a super easy recipe.

 

(But first, speaking of recipes: merci to the readers who alerted me to the fact that the Grand Marnier recipe I linked to last week was in fact behind a fire wall. If you go back to the post, you'll see I've added the full recipe).

 

RECIPE: Spicy Sheet Pan Sausage Dinner

Adapted from a recipe by Ali Slagle

This is my favorite kind of dinner: one that I can prepare completely before the oven heats up. And my resident carnivore can feast on sausages, and I can just eat the veggies.  

It's the sauce and toppings that makes this special. This serves 4, but double it if you are into leftovers for lunch, it's easy to re-heat. No problem to add turnips or broccoli or any other roastable vegetables you have on hand.

• 4 spicy Italian spicy chicken or pork sausages
• 1 bell pepper, cut into large chunks
• 4 small red potatos, cut into quarters
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• 4 carrots, peeled, halved if large, and cut into 2" long pieces
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 1/2  tablespoons grainy mustard
• 1  1/2 tablespoons honey

To sprinkle:

• 1/2 cup almonds,  coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds 

Pre-heat oven to 450, and put the sheet pan in the oven with a Silpat, or line it with foil. Make a few slits down the sides of the sausages.

Put the veggies and sausages in a large bowl, except for onion wedges, and toss with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Turn them out onto the hot sheet pan and shake to distribute evenly. Add the onion wedges (they tend to fall apart if you toss them, so I add them last) and the sausages.

Bake 15 minutes. Meanwhile, stir sauce ingredients together. Remove veggies from oven and drizzle with sauce, then toss well with a spatula. Sprinkle with almonds and fennel seeds. Cook for 10 more minutes or until tender, and serve. A fried egg on the side would not be a bad addition.

 

In the COMMENTS: Natalia, Karen wants to try your soufflé recipe (me too). A photo of Natalia's pouffy soufflés is below. Paula, I'm now on the look-out for downspouts. Kate, so good to hear from you. Huzzah is right! As Jane says, a collective sigh of relief. Ella, glad the book was a help, and bon courage with the next course. Libby, isn't it fun to think about traveling again? Hope everyone is getting vaccinated (but still masking up!).

Favorite Reads and Views: Our friend Gordon sent us a new David Leibovitz book called Drinking French. He's an author we love. I hear that  Call my Agent, a popular French TV show which  is called Dix pour cent in France, is now a Netflix hit in the states. (I've watched some episodes in French--Lordy they talk fast!).