Entries Tagged 'Cuisines' ↓

More than just recipes and techniques, this adventure introduces you to the best of Provencal way of life – a life based around friends, the kitchen, wonderful food prepared from the freshest local ingredients, good wines and amazing liquors, warm nights and fun

By the end of the week you will have learned a whole new way of living and eating. You will go home with your own cookbook, personalized with photographs of you and your friends, cooking and travelling with Philippe. But best of all, you will go home with wonderful memories of a great time in the warm sun of Provence or of la Côte d’Azur.

www.ArtandCookingClassesinFrance.com

via NYTimes.com

Brined meats end up gaining 10 percent or more of their original weight in water and salt. Then when they’re cooked to well done, their swollen muscle fibers can lose moisture and still have enough left to seem juicy. And the weakened fiber structure makes them seem tender as well.

So what’s not to like about a brined turkey?

check out gastrokid

Madonna Lisa writes:

Editor of Bon Appetit writes a blog of his (mis)adventures of getting food
to his kids..one picky..another one not so picky...lots of great links to
other kid-friendly food/restaurant sites.

via MSN Travel Articles

Legendary chef Jacques Pépin escapes to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to watch the waves, drink chilled rosé and use his French technique to transform local ingredients into simple yet elegant recipes.

a recipe by Anthony Bourdain

You’ve made meat loaf, right? You’ve eaten cold meat loaf, yes? Then you’re halfway to being an ass-kicking, name-taking charcutier. “Ooooh…pâté, I don’t know.” Please. Campagne means “country” in French — which means even your country-ass can make it.

Charles Chocolates offers Factory Tours

Every Wednesday and Saturday, at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, we offer a free guided factory tour of our production facility. You’ll be able to watch as our chocolatiers are in full production in our kitchen, observe various chocolates being made, and learn how hand-crafted, artisan chocolates and confections are made at Charles Chocolates. The tour will end with an interactive question and answer session. Tours will happen twice daily at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm every Wednesday and Saturday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/dining/22fran.html?ref=dining

“SERIOUS cooks know they can go off to France and take immersion courses, but until recently, I hadn’t realized that it is possible to take quickie cooking classes: a few hours, a half day or a day.

From SFGate

Associated with the southern Italian island of Capri, a famed vacation spot for the moneyed set, insalata caprese requires five ingredients, and five only: tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil and salt. Full stop. Vinegar, especially balsamic vinegar, doesn’t belong.

“You could put me on record as saying that (vinegar) is the most nontraditional thing, and I see it all the time and I cringe,” says Nate Appleman, chef of A16 in San Francisco.

Tomato Bread Salad with BurrataServes 6

Acme Bread Company’s herb slab is a good choice for this recipe. Look for burrata at Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace and the Cheese Board in Berkeley, the Pasta Shop in Berkeley and Oakland, and A.G. Ferrari stores throughout the Bay Area.

1/2 pound plain or herbed focaccia, such as Acme’s herb slab, in 3/4-inch cubes

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish

11/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, in 3/4-inch dice

1/2 pound cucumber, peeled, quartered lengthwise, then sliced in 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 small onion, very thinly sliced

16 kalamata olives, pitted and halved

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped

8 to 10 fresh basil leaves

The dressing

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1 large clove garlic, finely minced

Kosher or sea salt

3/4 pound burrata or fresh whole-milk mozzarella, cut in 6 wedges

Coarse salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400°. In a bowl, toss the focaccia cubes with the olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and bake until the bread is lightly toasted, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and capers. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces and add to the bowl along with the focaccia.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently but well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Divide the salad among 6 salad plates. Make a small well in the center of each salad and put the burrata in the well. Drizzle some olive oil over the burrata, sprinkle with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Restaurant Rech, Paris

 Interestingly, this recipe has some heat, but it is from pepper, wasabi, and mustard, not chilies.

 Time: 30 minutes

1 pound bluefish fillets

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 1/3 cups dry white wine

2 tablespoons grainy mustard

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 tablespoons soft unsalted butter

2 tablespoons minced chives

2 teaspoons minced cilantro leaves

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Scant teaspoon wasabi paste

2 tablespoons flying fish roe (tobiko), optional

Toasted slices of baguette.

1. Place fish in a sauté pan or a skillet. Pour vinegar and wine over, bring to a simmer and remove from heat. Allow to cool to room temperature.

2. When fish is cooled, remove to a cutting board and peel off skin. Discard liquid. Place fish in a bowl, breaking it up with a fork. Add mustard, lemon juice and butter and mix. Add chives, cilantro and salt and pepper. Fold in wasabi.

3. To serve, pile rillettes in a serving dish and, if desired, spread tobiko over the top. Or fashion mounds on plates. Garnish with toast. Serve as an hors d’oeuvre or a first course.

Yield: 4 to 8 servings.