Recent Yummy Food Items

My sister said, "you are just going to hate leaving all that good food in France." She is absolutely right - that's why I have been scurrying to track down recipes and menu ideas. From clever ideas like scallops sliced horizontally and then filled with a dollop of creamy mashed potatoes to good old stand bys like a peppery potato soup made with leeks and a spoonful of creme fraiche - just before serving, the french can make a very ordinary ingredient proud to be on your plate or bowl.

Last night we dined on pan fried fois gras, and for me -- chicken gizzards on a bed of mixed greens with pieces of walnuts and snips of blue cheese, cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Our recent amazing finds - I regret that we don't have photos of this are two desserts, both very interesting and one I will try to make again.

Gateau au Fromage Blanc is what the french typically think of  as cheese cake - though we Americans would never think of it as that as it is too light and airy!  This cake is actually more like a custard in that it uses lots of eggs, but it's not custardy - it's light like a key lime pie - though the flavors are subtle - a hint of citrus (lemon rind) and not as sweet. The crust is just a thin simple pie crust and the whole thing bakes up to a nice height with the egg whites holding it all up.

I found a couple of recipes - I tried this one, and it's a good thing I did. I had these french instructions all screwed up!!

Préparation : 20 mn  Cuisson/Cooking Time : 20 mn

Ingrédients (pour 6 personnes) :
- 500 g de fromage blanc à 0% de matières grasses  - fromage blanc, a little sweeter than yogurt, but close.
- 50 g de farine -- flour
- 40 g de sucre en poudre (ou 30 g + 1 sachet de sucre vanillé) - not powdered, but finely ground granulated sugar
- 3 oeufs - eggs
- le zeste d'un citron - lemon zest (could use orange)

- 1/2 cuillère à café d'extrait de vanille - vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
- 1 cuillère à café de levure chimique - yeast - 1 teaspoon
- 1 pincée de sel - salt - a pinch!

Préparation :

• Dans un bol, mélanger la farine et la levure.  In a small bowl, mix the flour and the yeast.
• Dans un grand saladier, mélanger les jaunes d'oeuf et le sucre et bien battre (si possible au batteur électrique). - In the mixing bowl, beat the yellows of the eggs, and the sugar to a froth.
• Rajouter le zeste de citron en petits morceaux et l'extrait de vanille. Re-battre, puis mettre au frais.
• Add the lemon zest in little tiny pieces and the vanilla extract. Whip through.
• Préchauffer le four à 180°C. Preheat the oven to 365F.
• Battre les blancs en neige avec une pincée de sel.  Whip the eggs whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks.
• Incorporer le fromage blanc au mélange jaunes d'oeufs- sucre, puis le mélange farine-levure. Mix the fromage blanc into the egg yellows - then add the flour/yeast mixture...
• Bien mélanger. Mix well.   Puis rajouter délicatement les blancs d'oeufs.  Fold in the egg whites.
• Pour all of that into a 9" round cake pan - on top of sulphurised paper. Verser la pâte dans un moule à manqué revêtu de papier sulfurisé.
• Cook for ~ 20 minutes. Faire cuire environ 20 minutes à 180°C (le dessus du gâteau doit être bien brun). The cake should be brown and firm - but not too dried out.

  Now I recommend that in fact you double the recipe for a normal size cake pan. Or use a smaller pan, or make cupcakes, and fill about 2/3 full.  When I next try this recipe though, I am going to increase the lemon, the vanilla and the sugar - just a little to try to get closer to what we bought in Pont-au-Mousson. This recipe is good - it's not great, yet.

The other cake we found was called Gateau de St. Epvre. It's a specialty of Nancy and we found a delightful version in the Salon du Thé across from the catholic church in Vitry-sur-François. It is a combination of nougat and meringue baked in a powdery shell and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Apparently the recipe is a bit of a mystery - but the cake is divine. I will get back to you when I find out more!