We hadn't even checked in to the hotel yet, and I roll down the window upon sighting a street-side food cart billowing charcoal smoke. Is that pork I smell? My belly starts grumbling. Yes, please! I'll have some of that immediately; even if it means negotiating a pond-sized puddle (so much for the cleaning deposit on the rental car).
It's a challenge to find a spot for the car that looks as though we'll avoid being blocked in, and we ford the--er--lake heading toward the smoke and what's sure to be good food. There's not much more than a small assembly of plastic tables & chairs next to an aluminum shanty with a charcoal grill, but it's jam packed and there's a line at the take away counter. It looks even better than it smells. There's something called bolo de cacao, which kindof resembles a giant english muffin that's been cooked on a flat grill that's split in half and spread thick with garlic herb butter like is used for traditional escargots and what looks like chicken and some sort of ribs (pork? beef?).
Upon further investigation we find the covered market selling local tropical flowers, fruit and veg, but there's another surprise--a chimney in the corner for grilling meat on skewers. I found out later that espetada, beef skewers marinated in bay leaves and flavored with smoke from bay leaves that are thrown on the fire, are a local specialty. We turn another a corner and hit the motherload--2 stalls exuding the most enticing meat smells imaginable. We settle on pork ribs, bolo de cacao and some of the local alcoholic cider and dig in. Observing one of the locals beside us, it seems the traditional way of eating is to hold a piece of bread in one hand and meat in the other, and we feel very professional in mimicking his style. Bellies full to bursting, we explore the wonders of the market, which include some lovely old-school embroidery, something Madeira is known for, and then check in to the hotel to sleep off the food coma.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
an American Thanksgiving in Paris
At Thanksgiving, Americans celebrate the tradition of an "autumn harvest feast" shared by Native Americans and newly arrived colonists. Putting aside the ensuing tragic history of Americans' treatment of Native Americans... Thanksgiving was also a history of using local ingredients to prepare the feast, and it is in this tradition that I've prepared my American in Paris Thanksgiving Menu.
"Cranberry sauce" au groseilles
Lysh's special stuffing
Gratin des Patates Douces/Sweet Potato Gratin
Brioche du boulengerie locale
Pintade a l'Americaine
and... cheescake (I know, I know! --but I can only blame it on the fantastic meal we recently had at a NY-style deli/diner here in Paris)
Instead of cranberries I, tried groseilles--a small, tart, red berry that was available fresh at my local supermarket. I cooked up just like cranberry sauce! No poultry seasoning? I used bouquet garni + sage boiled for a long time together with the bouillion to 'wet' the stuffing. In my experience sweet potatoes are a bit, um...unusual to the french palate, so I transformed them into a gratin (basically scalloped sweet potatoes with cream and cheese, what's not to like?). Can't find turkey? Or in our case, will the turkey not fit in they tiny toaster oven? Then go with pintade--or even quail in a cocotte basted with wine. You can still stuff 'em even if they go in the cocotte! Finally, instead of homemade rolls, why not get some brioche from the local boulangerie (generally my job at Thanksgiving, and my roll recipe was rich with milk, butter and eggs, so brioche substitute nicely).
"Cranberry sauce" au groseilles
Buy fresh groseilles; measure amount of water needed to just cover them in a pan. Remove the berries from the pan and add an amount of sugar equal to the quantity of berries to the water. Add some orange or lemon zest and let the water come to a boil, dissolving everything.
Cheesecake in France--yes you can!
The Crust.
Forget graham crackers; that is unless you really want to schlep all over Paris to nearly every "epicerie Americaine" in order to find every last ingredient. Remember--this ain't your momma's T-day. It's yours-Paris style!
Buy a big pack of speculoos and toss 'em into the food processor and whiz till crummy. I think I just used a couple tablespoons of water mixed in till it formed a paste, but you could add 2 T of melted butter if you feel it necessary. Bake at ~160 deg C for 10-12 mins till golden. Let crust cool while preparing the filling.
The filling. How the heck is this gunna work without Philly cream cheese anyhow?
After extensively combing thru many many blogs of other folks living abroad and suffering from a similar lack of cream cheese, I decided that Carrefour's "fromage a tartiner" was the way to go, combined with a "New York style" cheesecake recipe, relying on some flour in the batter to stiffen it. Also, these are baked at a high initial temperature to give the outside a nice golden color.
2 1/2 pounds [actually 1.13 kg] of 'fromage a tartiner' Yes it IS alot. Don't sweat it, it's all gunna fit in there!
1/2 C heavy cream [creme fleur Normandie or high quality]
1 to 3/4 C sugar
3 T flour
SKIP the SALT! [bastard cheese is salty enough]
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract [I used 5 sachets of sucre vanille]
2 large egg yolks
6 large eggs
Whip the French cream cheese substitute like the bastard it is (in a land of glorious cheese such as France we can't be too uppity about the fact that we're using Monsieur fromage a tartiner, they just don't do good junk food here; 'tis true). Mix the flour in with the sugar & 'sucre vanille; mix with creamed cheese half at a time. Add lemon juice (and vanilla extract if you're using it). Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to thoroughly mix in each ingredient. Add egg yolks and mix; now 3 whole eggs; and the final 3 eggs. Filling's done!
A word of caution. I nearly destroyed my lil' oven with this recipe. Use a pizza pan under the springform pan to catch any batter than leaks out--or gushes, in my case. Months later, it still smells like cheesecake when I preheat the oven.
Pop into the oven preheated to a searing 260 deg. C. That's max, baby! After 10 mins, reduce heat to 93 deg [(I know, I know, but we're converting from 200 F). Stupid ovens with Celcius dials] and bake for 1h 40mins. Remember, it's basically a big flan, so it won't set until it's chilled. But I seem to recall doing the giggle test. You know--giggle the pan and if the middle part sways like a drunken football fan, then it ain't done. Cool slowly over 2-3 hours. The Joy of Cooking suggests placing a bowl over the pan during cooling. The recipe I used said to run a knife along the outside of the pan to loosen the edge, but my cheesecake came out very light, airy and fluffy, I guess due to the bastard cheese being runnier than traditional Philly. She came out de-lish-ous!
"Cranberry sauce" au groseilles
Lysh's special stuffing
Gratin des Patates Douces/Sweet Potato Gratin
Brioche du boulengerie locale
Pintade a l'Americaine
and... cheescake (I know, I know! --but I can only blame it on the fantastic meal we recently had at a NY-style deli/diner here in Paris)
Instead of cranberries I, tried groseilles--a small, tart, red berry that was available fresh at my local supermarket. I cooked up just like cranberry sauce! No poultry seasoning? I used bouquet garni + sage boiled for a long time together with the bouillion to 'wet' the stuffing. In my experience sweet potatoes are a bit, um...unusual to the french palate, so I transformed them into a gratin (basically scalloped sweet potatoes with cream and cheese, what's not to like?). Can't find turkey? Or in our case, will the turkey not fit in they tiny toaster oven? Then go with pintade--or even quail in a cocotte basted with wine. You can still stuff 'em even if they go in the cocotte! Finally, instead of homemade rolls, why not get some brioche from the local boulangerie (generally my job at Thanksgiving, and my roll recipe was rich with milk, butter and eggs, so brioche substitute nicely).
"Cranberry sauce" au groseilles
Buy fresh groseilles; measure amount of water needed to just cover them in a pan. Remove the berries from the pan and add an amount of sugar equal to the quantity of berries to the water. Add some orange or lemon zest and let the water come to a boil, dissolving everything.
Cheesecake in France--yes you can!
The Crust.
Forget graham crackers; that is unless you really want to schlep all over Paris to nearly every "epicerie Americaine" in order to find every last ingredient. Remember--this ain't your momma's T-day. It's yours-Paris style!
Buy a big pack of speculoos and toss 'em into the food processor and whiz till crummy. I think I just used a couple tablespoons of water mixed in till it formed a paste, but you could add 2 T of melted butter if you feel it necessary. Bake at ~160 deg C for 10-12 mins till golden. Let crust cool while preparing the filling.
The filling. How the heck is this gunna work without Philly cream cheese anyhow?
After extensively combing thru many many blogs of other folks living abroad and suffering from a similar lack of cream cheese, I decided that Carrefour's "fromage a tartiner" was the way to go, combined with a "New York style" cheesecake recipe, relying on some flour in the batter to stiffen it. Also, these are baked at a high initial temperature to give the outside a nice golden color.
2 1/2 pounds [actually 1.13 kg] of 'fromage a tartiner' Yes it IS alot. Don't sweat it, it's all gunna fit in there!
1/2 C heavy cream [creme fleur Normandie or high quality]
1 to 3/4 C sugar
3 T flour
SKIP the SALT! [bastard cheese is salty enough]
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract [I used 5 sachets of sucre vanille]
2 large egg yolks
6 large eggs
Whip the French cream cheese substitute like the bastard it is (in a land of glorious cheese such as France we can't be too uppity about the fact that we're using Monsieur fromage a tartiner, they just don't do good junk food here; 'tis true). Mix the flour in with the sugar & 'sucre vanille; mix with creamed cheese half at a time. Add lemon juice (and vanilla extract if you're using it). Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl frequently with a rubber spatula to thoroughly mix in each ingredient. Add egg yolks and mix; now 3 whole eggs; and the final 3 eggs. Filling's done!
A word of caution. I nearly destroyed my lil' oven with this recipe. Use a pizza pan under the springform pan to catch any batter than leaks out--or gushes, in my case. Months later, it still smells like cheesecake when I preheat the oven.
Pop into the oven preheated to a searing 260 deg. C. That's max, baby! After 10 mins, reduce heat to 93 deg [(I know, I know, but we're converting from 200 F). Stupid ovens with Celcius dials] and bake for 1h 40mins. Remember, it's basically a big flan, so it won't set until it's chilled. But I seem to recall doing the giggle test. You know--giggle the pan and if the middle part sways like a drunken football fan, then it ain't done. Cool slowly over 2-3 hours. The Joy of Cooking suggests placing a bowl over the pan during cooling. The recipe I used said to run a knife along the outside of the pan to loosen the edge, but my cheesecake came out very light, airy and fluffy, I guess due to the bastard cheese being runnier than traditional Philly. She came out de-lish-ous!
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