Warming spinach watercress soup
When seasons change, our systems change and our bodies crave different types of food. While summer has me craving salads, peaches, watermelon, ice cream and rose wine, fall and winter call for soups, casseroles and warming stews. This week, we had a soup extravaganza. Especially after having visited the farmers market in Grasse, a town […]
Sweet potato gratin
This sweet potato gratin is my new favorite cold-weather lunch recipe. I actually use a mix of sweet and regular potato for two reasons: first, I don’t like sweetness overkill in my savory dishes. Second, regular spuds are starchier and when making a gratin, this matters. Because when starch releases itself in the cream or […]
Cheesy leek “gratin”
Leek reminds me of winter in France. When we lived in Paris, we’d do our fresh food shopping on weekends at the beautiful outdoor market at the Bastille, where we would come home with more produce than we could fit in the fridge. When December rolled around, tomatoes, eggplants and bell peppers would get replaced […]
A great pissaladière
Today I gift you with the ultimate French summer staple: a great pissaladière recipe. Pissaladière is the renowned southern French melted onion pizza that is served through Provence and the French Riviera throughout summer appetizer parties. Cut into little squares, it is divine served at room temperature, with a frosty glass of rose in hotter […]
Warming ginger kaffir lime carrot soup
This exotic and warming ginger kaffir lime carrot soup hits the spot when the weather starts cooling down. It gets all its magic from the kaffir lime and coconut cream, two key ingredients often found in southeast Asian cuisine. You can find kaffir lime leaves in most Asian supermarkets. They freeze well so are worth […]
Creamy tarragon chicken
Creamy tarragon chicken showed up on our dinner table regularly when I was a kid. You could be sure I’d finish my plate on those days and often ask for seconds. Much later, when I went to France, my husband and I revisited the recipe – it is traditional French fare – and made it […]
Grilled harissa olive chicken
This grilled harissa olive chicken recipe is a wonderful way of preparing chicken breasts. The harissa and lime marinade makes them extra tender so do try to keep them in the marinade for at least a few hours before throwing them on the grill. These are perfect for a summery al fresco lunch or barbecue, […]
Pan bagnat tartines
The quintessential “Pan bagnat” consists of a big round white bun drenched in an olive oil dressing and filled with all the ususal provencal suspects (olives, basil, bell peppers, anchovies, tomatoes, tuna) plus a couple of essentials like hard boiled egg, celery, tiny green fava beans and radish.
Off-the-charts-good calamari prawn stew
I love calamari in all its forms, crispy and deep fried, sautéed, lightly grilled or tossed into a big old paella. Here, it meets garlicky tomatoes, feta, saffron and fresh herbs to form what I think will be my signature summery stew of 2019. It’s off-the-charts good. And if you close your eyes, the flavors […]
Pan-fried sea bream & fresh pineapple chutney
Long ago, when my husband and I travelled to Thailand, we spent a few days on a beautiful island called Kho Phi Phi, where we stayed in a modest resort run by a lovely Thai couple. The little bungalows were terribly uncomfortable and the lack of AC kept us awake most nights under our mosquito-net-covered […]