La grande excursion commence!

Taking a break from food blogging to explore les bistros et patisseries de France... When I get back, I am determined to attempt fabulous recipes in the winter months ahead!

Bake excellent, healthy fries in olive oil

We grilled burgers tonight, and served them with tomatoes on slices of the wheat bread I made yesterday. Nothing fancy, but pretty good. And we had fries. Healthy "fries" I baked in the oven with olive oil, using a technique my sister taught me a few years back.

I cut up three red-skinned potatoes into long, thick pieces. I threw these into a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil and stirred to coat the potatoes. I placed the potatoes on a single layer on a cookie sheet lined with foil, and sprinkled with salt. I baked at 450 for about 20 minutes, flipping potatoes after 10 minutes. (The convection oven worked beautifully for this, but a standard oven can do the job, also at that temperature. Be sure to turn the potatoes with a spatula about half way through cooking time.)

Fall's here and we're still cooking with gas

We were grilling novices when we moved to Wichita two years ago and bought a gas grill. It was January and winter cold didn't stop us from wanting to use our new toy, though after years of East Coast apartment life, we really didn't know how.

We've gained a degree of confidence since then, and we grill all the time. This week autumn cold is setting in, but I see no cause to turn off the gas. Here are a few strategies I've decided on for grilling success:

1) Skewers are good. Preferably stainless steel skewers-- available for just a few bucks a dozen at the grocery store. No need to pre-soak. No need to buy skewers more than once.

2) When skewering food for the grill, segregate meat from vegetables. Peppers and onions don't take as long as pieces of steak or chicken. Brush vegetables with olive oil and you're good to go. When cooking steaks or burgers or anything that doesn't require skewering, always chop up a sugary sweet onion into big chunks to cook on a skewer or two with pieces of fresh pepper. Always.

3) Have fun with marinades. Tonight, I was feeling really lazy, so I just threw ingredients into a plastic bag rather haphazardly-- some red wine, balsamic vinegar, a clove of crushed garlic, a shake of thyme, a shake of dried rosemary, a quick shake of Tabasco sauce, some soy sauce. I have no idea how much of anything went into the ZipLoc bag. Then I added 1-inch pieces of chicken breast, and let everything soak in the fridge for an hour. Laced the pieces about five to a skewer and handed 'em over to Dave to grill. They were heavenly.

4) Grill whenever you feel like it. Summer, winter, spring, fall.

Variation on a theme: Whole wheat bread

I've mentioned before that I bake bread at least every other week, sometimes more often. I use pretty much the same recipe every time, which calls for a 7-cup mix of white and whole wheat flour and 4 teaspoons salt. In a glass bowl, I stir together 1/2 cup honey, two packages fast-acting active dry yeast, 4 tablespoons melted butter, 2 cups milk and 2/3 cup boiling water. I pour this in with the flour and salt, and knead with the bread hook of my standing mixer for 10 minutes. I shape dough into a ball, then let it rise for an hour (covered in a buttered bowl), shape into loaves, and let those rise 20-30 minutes. I brush the loaves with beaten egg white, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and bake in greased, floured bread pans for 35 minutes in a 350-degree convection oven.

I've been a disorganized shopper lately, so today I realized I was out of white flour and nearly out of honey. So, I made healthier bread than usual, combining three cups white whole wheat and four cups whole wheat graham flour. Also, I mixed what little honey I had with white sugar to fill a 1/2 cup measure. No health benefit there, I know. But my bread turned out great. I may abandon white flour altogether for the time being, at least for bread baking purposes.

Knit night yields loads of nice appetizers

I still haven't done any cooking lately. Last night dinner was munchies, provided by a circle of girlfriends who came over for a knit night at my house. I picked up Larkspur artichoke dip and hummus on my way home from work. Party accomplished. Now if I could just finish the wool shawl I've been knitting on for more than two years...

Moving to a new rhythm as autumn hits

I'm going through an off phase, food-wise. I haven't made it to the farmers' market in a couple of weeks, and I notice that my approach to produce is different when I shop primarily at the grocery store. My grocery store has a wonderful produce department, but for some reason, I don't experience the same level of delight at stocking up there as I do when I buy what I need from the back of a farmers' truck. And now, I think in terms of utility, not so much adventure, as I plan a week's worth of menus. And actually, I find myself doing a lot less menu planning lately.

As I've noted before, I'm feeling busier now that summer is over (and let's face it, it's over after Labor Day.) At work, this is when we plan for a new fiscal year, so I'm poring over spreadsheets, incessantly punching buttons on my calculator, printing out budget projections. And with summer over, my datebook is filling up with meetings and lunches that were impossible to schedule during everybody's vacation season. And choir practice has started on Wednesday nights at church. Who has time to cook?

I'm determined not to let my effort in the kitchen slide, but for the most part lately, it's sliding. Last night Dave grilled farmers' market pork chops that were delightful. I contributed nothing more than egg noodles and steamed broccoli, nothing fancy. Tonight I picked up Chinese take-out on my way home-- Singapore rice noodles, mixed vegetables, rice and steamed dumplings. Tomorrow? Hey, I won't be home for dinner tomorrow.

What I need to do is get into an autumn cooking groove that is as rewarding as my summer cooking groove. New ingredients. A new pace. Different kind of planning. More slow-cooker meals, more stir-fry (that isn't take-out!), more oven-baked fare as we begin to grill less. I'll get there. I'm just not there yet.

C'est bien: White asparagus with chicken

It's been 30 years since I took a year off from college to experience my great adventure in France. And of course I thought the food there was better than anything I had ever had, and it was. It wasn't just the croissants and the brie and the baguettes and the creamy pate, all of which I loved and none of which you could buy in the U.S. back then. I also remember eating Yoplait yogurt in Paris before it was available in American supermarkets and thinking it was exquisite.

Now I can enjoy Yoplait whenever I want, of course. And I can buy decent croissants and baguettes here too. Even pate. Despite the proliferation of fast-food joints and convenience foods and all the bad stuff that is making Americans fatter every year, I do think it gets easier all the time to eat well in this country.

I bought wonderful camembert today at my grocery store, and some white asparagus (a spécialité of the Loire region, where we will spend part of our vacation in a few weeks). The asparagus I bought was a product of Peru, not France, and I steamed some for dinner, with chicken cooked the way my mother often made it, sprinkled with equal parts soy sauce and white wine, then coated with dill weed. (I baked the chicken for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.) It was good. Not anywhere close to what I'm expecting when we're on vacation in France, but good.

Do you suppose there's any way that French food could be better too than it was 30 years ago? Now that will make for a memorable trip.

Calming influence: Fettucine with sausage

I found myself suffering a bit of anxiety this afternoon, and I wondered if it wasn't because I haven't spent any time in my kitchen all week. My schedule has been so busy, with meetings after work, after-work gym time, and also several work-related get-togethers at various restaurants. Wichita has dandy restaurants, so that was fun in its way, but I like to cook. And I think to feel grounded, I actually need to cook.

My hectic schedule spilled over even into my weekend. After a breakfast meeting with a job candidate this morning and then lunch at a pizza joint with two friends, I really didn't need anything more to eat today. And I hadn't made time to shop for groceries. But at dinnertime, I felt the urge to chop some garlic and onions, stir up some tomatoes, steam some vegetables. So I thawed some sausage in the microwave and cooked that with sauce to serve with fettucine and fresh broccoli.

I'm full. I'm calm. I feel better.

Pasta with sausage and tomato sauce

1 pound Italian sausages
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 sweet onion, finely diced
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
16 ounces fettucine
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, brown garlic in olive oil. Add sausage, cook until nicely browned. Add onion. Cook over medium heat 'til onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, wine and sugar. Let simmer 45 minutes to an hour. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Top with sausage and sauce. Top with parmesan.

Un gâteau délicieux: French nut roll cake

I bought six bottles of French wine when we were out shopping on Saturday.
"What's the point of that?" Dave asked. "We're going to be in Paris in three weeks. You can drink all the French wine you want..."

Well, I'm in pre-vacation obsession mode right now, trying to remember my long-forgotten French vocabulary, studying maps of Paris and the Loire Valley, circling bistros in my Zagat's guide before our 10-day visit at the end of the month.

Last night we had dinner with our friends Marti and her Dave, who are going to France with us. Fortunately, Marti is in obsession mode too. She bought a copy for herself and a copy for me of a wonderful book, Paris Bistro Cooking, by Linda Dannenberg. The book features chapters about specific Paris bistros, with recipes from each and gorgeous photography. Our plan is to take the book along when we try out some of these bistros, and perhaps even ask the various chefs to autograph our books. (We're not buying into any stereotypes about the snooty French! Pas du tout!)

Last night Marti asked me to bring a dessert to dinner, and I decided to make something French, bien sur. (Again, Dave shook his head...) So I found a recipe in my recipe box that my friend Felicia, who had lived in Paris, wrote down for me many years ago. I remembered it was delicious when she made it, but I had never tried to make it until yesterday.

Oh la la. Il était délicieux. Not complicated to make, either.

French nut roll cake

Butter a jelly roll pan and line it with waxed paper. Butter the waxed paper well. Beat until thick six egg yolks and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix in 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1-1/2 cup finely chopped pecans. Fold in six beaten egg whites. Spread in pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Cover with damp towel and chill (at least two hours). Turn cake out on towel and remove waxed paper.

Whip until stiff 1-1/4 cup heavy cream with 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. (I also added 1/4 cup cocoa powder.) Spread on cake, reserving about 1/2 cup. Roll lengthwise and chill.

(My cake cracked in a few places when I rolled it up, so I used the reserved whipped cream as a thin coating to hide those imperfections. I then sprinkled the cake with sifted powder sugar and a few more finely chopped pecans.)

Easy contribution: Rosemary breadsticks

We have friends who are the best when it comes to throwing dinner parties. What amazes me about this couple is not just what wonderful cooks they are, and they are, but how spontaneous they are about calling a bunch of people and saying, "Want to come over?" just hours before serving an elegant feast for a crowd. I aspire to get into the same rhythm, but whenever I think about having a last-minute get-together, I get caught up in thinking people need lots of time to plan, everyone's probably already booked, my house is too messy today, let's aim to do something next weekend instead.

Yesterday afternoon, Dave and I came home from doing errands to find a phone message from these friends: "Hey, we're trying to get something together for tonight, give us a call." And of course they didn't want us to bring a thing. I don't like to go to any party empty-handed, but since I knew they'd put together a perfect menu, I wasn't going to contribute an unsolicited side dish or salad. I opted instead to take an unsolicited appetizer: quick rosemary-parmesan breadsticks and some storebought pesto for dipping. Using rapid-rise yeast, these took about 90 minutes to rise twice and then just 20 minutes to bake. I got them out of the oven just before we headed to the party, threw a nice jar of spicy olives into my basket, and some chilled white wine.

Our friends served the breadsticks with their perfect dinner of grilled pork loin, fresh corn, Caprese salad, and a casserole called San Antonio squash, baked with cheese and fresh chiles. Everything was excellent.

We need to invite these folks for dinner at our house real soon to reciprocate, anad we will, you know... after I've had a few weeks to plan it all out.

Rosemary-parmesan breadsticks

1 packet rapid-rise yeast
2-1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for brushing on breadsticks
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
Fresh grated parmesan (or romano) cheese

In the bowl of a standing mixer, mix 1/2 cup warm water (105 degreese) with yeast. Let stand for five minutes. Add flour, salt, olive oil, rosemary. Mix with bread hook, slowing adding 1/2 cup warm water. Knead for five minutes. Let dough rise in bowl for 1 hour. Sprinkle a cutting board with flour and roll dough into a 6-inch-by-12-inch rectangle. With a sharp knife, cut across short side of dough to make 12 slices. Roll each into a long breadstick, folding and twisting to braid a little. Cut each breadstick in half, place on two parchment-covered cookie sheets. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan. Let rise 20 minutes. Bake at 400 in convection oven for 20 minutes. (Adapted from Cooking with Convection, by Beatrice A. Ojakangas.) Makes 24 breadsticks.