patates gratinées

I found this recipe in a bi-monthly kid magazine that Diane receives:

1 kg potatoes

2 cups of milk

150 g gorgonzola

20 cl heavy cream

1/2 coffee spoon* of grated nutmeg

1 coffee spoon* of butter

salt & pepper

*coffee spoon is more or less the equivalent to our teaspoon.

Cut the potatoes into thin slices.

Spread them in a gratin plate.

Sprinkle with nutmeg

Melt the following over low heat in a sauce pan: the diced gorgonzola, cream, milk, salt & pepper.

Pour the contents over the potatoes in the plate.

Place in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (1h15)

et voila:

tomates gratinées

tomates gratinées

grated tomatoes

Recipe:

1. Slice tomatoes in half and gut out the innards. Turn over the tomatoes on a sheet pan so the water drains out

2. In a bowl mix 1 soupe soup olive oil + 1 bouquet of basil + 1 bouquet of parsley + 80g of breadcrumbs + 2 soup spoons of oregano + 2 cloves garlic + 60g grated parmesan

3. Stuff the tomatoes with the mixture

4. The recipe didn't call for this, but I did it, and I highly recommend it, drizzle balsamic and plenty of lemon juice over the stuffed tomatoes

5. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 400 degress

aubergine façon parmigiana

aubergine façon parmigiana

parmesan-stuffed Eggplant

Recipe:

1. Cut the eggplant in small pieces (2-3 cm thick)

2. Dice the mozarella, chop the basil leaves and grate the parseman

3. Fry the eggplant until golden

4. Remove the eggplant and try to soak up as much oil with a paper towel as possible

5. Place on a cooking sheet and salt generously

6. Place some tomato sauce, distribute the mozarella/parmesan/basil on each layer, repeat 2-3 times stacking a new piece of eggplant in between.

7. place in the over at 400 for 10 minutes, et voila.

nom nom nom nom, it was sooo good.

touché-coulé + quiche lorraine

It was too rainy to play outside so I taught Diane how to play touché-coulé (hit-sunk) a.k.Battleship and in return she taught me some new french words. The first round was played in English and the second round was played in French.

Some new vocabulary words in case you ever play Battleship in French:

touché = touch/hit

coulé = sunk

à l'eau = pronounced a-low, literally to the water, in this case, miss

We both had major difficulties with the pronunciation between 'g' and 'j'.

In English 'g' is pronounced |jē|

In French 'g' is pronounced |ʒe|

In English 'j' is pronounced |jā|

In French 'j' is pronounced |ʒi|

If you don't know IPA i'll break this down for you, 'g' sounds like 'j' and 'j' sounds like 'g'. Diane kept mixing her pronunciation up in English, which caused me to double guess my pronunciation in French. So I created a technique to clear up confusion, we used our hands while speaking. I think implementation of motor skills with verbal skills really helped us.

We used this to signify 'g' in both French and English:

and we used the ASL 'j' to signifiy 'j' in both French and English:

For dinner I made my first Quiche Lorraine, it was sooo good.

And fool proof! And fast! And delicious!

Here is the Recipe:

6 oz ham diced (bacon can be used as well)

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 large eggs

1 egg yolk

1 cup heavy cream

generous pinch of nutmeg

salt & pepper to taste

4 oz gruyère, shredded

1 partially baked tart crust

1. Heat sauce pan over medium-low heat

2. Add bacon and fry - I just diced up deli ham

3. Transfer to small bowl

4. Add onion, saute 7-8 minutes - I didn't use onions because Clemence doesn't care for them

5. Transfer onion to bacon bowl

6. Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C)

7. Blend eggs & yolk in bowl - I had regular sized eggs, so I did 3 + 1 yolk

8. Stir in heavy cream (I used 75% crème fraîche and 25% lait demi-écrémé) & nutmeg

9. Season with salt & pepper

10. Spread bacon (or ham) and cheese mixture in the bottom of the tart crust

11. Slowly pour egg mixture - I added more cheese on top, who doesn't love more cheese?

12. Baked 25-30 or until golden brown

portorbellos + finesse

Tonight I made vegetarian burgers with the following ingredients:

• Grilled Portobello Mushrooms
• Melted Pepper Jack Cheese
• Alfalfa Sprouts
• Dijon Mustard
• Grilled Red Onions
• Toasted Onion Buns
• A generous handful of potato chips

Here is a nice cross-section of the burger:

I wonder where I get my finesse from?