French Toasts

On a nice sunny Sunday morning, is there anything more awesome than a pile of French toasts? Having them served to you in bed, maybe, but since the cat really can't hold a spatula properly, I have resigned myself to making them and eating them somewhat vertically.

People have been making French toast, or pain perdu, for a long time. The oldest recipes for it date back to the 4th century, and it was already the yummiest way to use up bread gone a bit stale (it soaks up more egg mixture without falling apart than fresh bread will, so feel free to leave a few slices on the counter overnight if you plan on making French toast the next morning). It was eaten by peasants all over Europe, but I am not sure when it became nominally French. Today, it is a lovely brunch dish that you can make with any kind of bread that's sliced thick enough.

Some people top it with all kind of extravagant stuff, but I like to keep it simple (mostly because I am generally per-caffeinated when I make them): fresh berries and maple syrup. Feel free to use any other fresh fruit you like (peaches and bananas are especially awesome), toasted walnuts or pecan, and top your creation with whipped cream, creme anglaise or honey (sprinkle powdered sugar on top if you want; it's naughty, but I have to admit it IS pretty). I used rather conventional bread in the pictures, but a nice baker's bread stuffed with nuts and fruits makes French toast extra-special!

Nadia G.'s "Bitchin' Kitchen" recipe is virtually identical to the one my grandmother taught me, with the slight difference that my nonna spiked her French toast with nutmeg, making us all a bunch of raving addicts who only swore by her recipe. Here's how to do it:

4 eggs
1 vanilla bean (or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract)
Brown sugar

Freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup milk
Sea salt
4 to 8 thick slices of bread
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup fresh berries
Maple syrup

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, the seed of 1/2 vanilla bean (or the vanilla extract), a big pinch of brown sugar, a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg, a splash of milk and a small pinch of salt.

Slice 4 pieces of bread 1-inch thick. Drown in the egg mixture. Melt the butter in a large frying pan on medium heat. Fry bread until golden brown on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side (fry in batches of 2 slices, if needed).

Pile the toasts on a serving plate, sprinkle with fresh berries and serve with maple syrup.

This makes a lovely breakfast for 2, but the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd (the mixture with 4 eggs can soak up to 8 slices of bread, so only double that if you plan of frying an entire loaf). Serve it with some OJ and coffee, unless it's a special occasion, in which case, mimosas and a side of bacon are mandatory.

If eggs are not your thing, here is a vegan version from my dear "Vegan with a Vengeance". Mixing flour with a non-dairy milk makes an interesting substitute for the eggs, and chickpea flour is as close to the real thing as you can get. Simply use this little mix instead of the traditional egg mixture:

1/2 cup soy creamer

1/2 cup rice milk or plain soy milk

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup chickpea flour

Pour the soy cream and rice milk in a wide, shallow bowl. Mix in the cornstarch, and stir until dissolved. Add the chickpea flour and mix until it is mostly absorbed. Add vanilla extract if you want to sweetened it up a bit, use canola oil instead of butter to keep your bread from sticking to the frying pan and voila! Vegan French toasts!

With a little imagination, French toast can be quite versatile. Omit the vanilla, sugar and nutmeg, and you can make savory French toast served with breakfast proteins like sausages or ham, some roasted breakfast potatoes, a few asparagus and a drizzle of Hollandaise sauce...

Enjoy the beautiful Sunday!

Niçoise Salad

The nice weather is sticking around, and so is my insatiable appetite for fresh stuff! At the risk of being redundant, here is another salad recipe, but this one is way more bulky: a real meal-salad, the famous Niçoise! My coworker mentioned making some last week, and I have been craving it ever since. The Niçoise is a salad that became strangely fashionable in recent years, which amuses me very much, as it was originally meant as a cheap, filling salad. Just like when jeans (which used to be a strictly lower-class garments) ascended to haute couture, the working-class meal transcended to fine cuisine!

The recipe was first introduced to North America by none other than Julia Child, and some of the ingredients are still hotly debated by purists, particularly in the Nice region, where they don't like the addition of steamed potatoes (as this salad originally contained no cooked vegetables of any kind). Personally, it reminds me very much of puttanesca sauce, because a lot of the ingredients are preserves. In fashionable restaurants, the canned tuna is often replaced with fresh pan-seared tuna. Though very elegant, this luxurious twist on the original recipe seems a bit odd to me, as a salad made mostly of preserves ought to be a fairly inexpensive, yet elegant and nourishing meal. If you have the budget to afford fresh tuna, feel free to indulge, but there is nothing wrong with the canned stuff (as long as it's dolphin-safe, of course!).

A word about hard-boiled eggs: I know it can seem a bit scary if you've never hard-boiled an egg before. How do you know it's done? That's when a kitchen timer comes in very handy, because there are no external signs that the egg is done. Get a small sauce pan, fill it halfway with water, add a pinch of salt (this helps prevent the egg from cracking) and bring to a boil. When the water is boiling, dip your egg in the water with a spoon a couple of times (again, to prevent the abrupt temperature change-related cracks), then lower the egg so it is submerged. You may have to experiment a bit, but the general rule of thumb is that it takes 10 minutes to hard-boil a large egg. Take it out of the saucepan with a spoon, and when it's cool enough to handle, gently knock it with the back of that same spoon until the shell cracks, and peel it off.

Kill two birds with one stone and marathon-steam your potatoes and green beans! Get your steaming apparatus ready and steam the potatoes for 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the size), until they are easily pierced with a fork. Add the beans to the steamer and steam for 2 minutes, until they are bright green. Fill a bowl halfway with ice water while everything steams. As soon as the veggies are done, transfer them to the ice water bowl and let them cool while you get everything else ready.

Yes, I know, it's an awful lot of prep for a salad. But trust me, it's worth all the fussing!

Older recipes for Niçoise salad contain raw red bell pepper and anchovies, two things that I am not especially fond of even if they are prevalent in southern French cuisine, so my version omits them (I decided to replace anchovies with artichoke hearts), but I kept the spirit of the salad alive with tuna, green beans and black olives. At the risk of shocking purists, I decided to add some steamed baby potatoes. Just because I love potatoes.

8 cups Romaine lettuce, washed, drained and dried, chopped
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 pound green beans, steamed, stalks trimmed
1/2 pound red-skin baby potatoes, steamed and quartered
3 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1/2 cup Niçoise or Kalamata olives
1 can flaked white tuna, drained
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
Chopped parsley, for garnish

In French cuisine, presentation is almost as important as composition, and Niçoise is no exception. Of course, you can toss everything together in a big bowl (it's what I do most of the time if I am not entertaining), but to create an traditionally elegant plate like what you'd be served if you wandered in a fancy café, here is what you do! Create a bed of lettuce in 4 serving plates. Then divide the tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, artichoke and green beans between the plates, keeping the ingredients together (e.g. a small pile of tomatoes, a small pile of potatoes, etc.), scoop some tuna in the middle of the place and sprinkle with black olives. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve the dressing on the side so your guests can add it to their taste.

Obviously, it's not a vegetarian-friendly salad, but there is a vegan version "Appetite for Reduction" which, although highly inauthentic, makes a very decent substitution for veg-heads, or for people like my boyfriend, who simply don't like canned tuna. It's also a lighter version, because as yummy as it is, classic Niçoise salad is not exactly diet food. Try the following version if you are watching your waistline:

1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 tablespoons capers

1/2 pound baby red potatoes, steamed

1/2 pound green beans, stalks trimmed, steamed

1/2 small red onion, cut into thin strips

1/3 cup of Niçoise or Kalamata olives

8 cups chopped red leaf lettuce

1 cup cherry tomatoes

Fresh parsley and chopped chives, for garnish

Place the chickpeas in a mixing bowl, and mash them with a fork or small potato masher. There should be no whole chickpeas left, but it shouldn't be completely smooth either. Add the capers and 2 tablespoons of whichever dressing you decided to use (dressing recipes are just below). Mix well and set aside. Place the lettuce in wide bowls or plates. Place a handful each of potatoes and green beans in piles on the lettuce, along with a wedge of sliced onion and a handful of tomatoes. Place a scoop of the chickpea mixture in the center and top with the olives. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve the dressing on the side.

You could also use a ripe avocado, thinly sliced, to replace the eggs, instead of the red onion.

Here are a few great dressings that go well with this French classic. There require the use of a food processor; when I make dressings, I like to use the blender attachment of my little Cusinart Smart Stick immersion blender. That gizmo was worth every penny!

This one is from Nadia G.'s "Cookin' for Trouble", and I have to confess that it's my one of my favorite salad dressings. Ever. It's sweet, with just enough tang from the garlic and mustard, and if you use walnut oil, the nutty finish is to die for:

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2/3 cup walnut (or olive) oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, thick and emulsified.

The following two are from the aforementioned "Appetite for Reduction".

Balsamic Vinaigrette:

1/4 cup cashews

2 tablespoons scallions, chopped

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon agave nectar

3/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Put the cashews in a food processor and pulse. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend for at least 5 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides often, until completely smooth. Transfer to a sealable container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Green Goddess Garlic Dressing:

2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled

1/2 cup fresh chives

1/2 cup fresh parsley

2 tablespoons tahini

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 tablespoon miso

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pulse the garlic, chives and parsley in a food processor until chopped up. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides a few times. Transfer to a sealable container and refrigerate until ready to use. It will thicken a bit when chilled, so don't be temped to thin it with more water!

Whichever version you decided to make, Niçoise is really a full meal of a salad, and is a perfect lunch or light summer dinner. A crisp, slightly sweet white wine or rosé is de rigueur here; C'est La Vie would be my pick.

Omelets or Post-Ska-Show-Life-Saver

Here's a funny story: one gray, mucky Saturday, I felt too tired to do much around the house, and my boyfriend and I had tickets to go see the Real McKenzies and the Planet Smashers that very night. We figured we'd do some grocery shopping the next day, so we just enjoyed our day of farniente, went to our show, danced our hearts out because the bands are absolutely amazing (we discovered an awesome British band called Random Hand; check them out, they will blow your socks off!)... and woke up the next morning ravenously hungry to an almost empty fridge... Curses were mumbled as we made some coffee and tried to figure out what to do to get some food in our alcohol-shocked system. We were out of milk, so muffins and scones were not an option, we had finished the bagels and the bread, we had one lonely mango in the fruit bowl... I looked bleak.

And then, I saw eggs, cherry tomatoes and a small block of cheddar in the fridge. Saved!

Omelets are an amazing morning-after breakfast, as they are easy and quick to prepare,  they will soak up any alcohol left in your belly, and give you energy to get up and do all the important things you need to take care of (you can even make them upon returning from your nightlife adventures, before you pass out into a Jack and Coke stupor). Obviously, they are very versatile, so lazy folks rejoice, as this recipe can be used not only for breakfast, but also for lunch and dinner, when you can't be bothered to spend more than 10 minutes in the kitchen. Unless you want to go very fancy additions, omelets are also cheap, making them a favorite dish of students and broke musicians everywhere.

Allow me a hippie moment to strongly suggest that you encourage free-range and organic farming, and make sure you buy eggs laid by happy hens who run around a bit. They are not really more expensive than the other eggs, and you'll sleep better at night. Oh! And avoid those prepackaged egg mixes like the plague!

The following recipe serves one, so my advice is to not crowd your pan, and make your helpings one at the time if you are not cooking just for yourself. Omelets are good fresh, and in a morning-after haze, social conventions are not as strict as usual. I use a small frying pan (cast iron is great!) and a firm spatula, to fold the omelet over and serve it. Make sure you slice anything you want to add to you omelet before you turn the heat on under your pan, to avoid frustrating accidents and messy results. If you want, you can grate the cheese directly on the omelet as it cooks, but whenever you grate it, use the small holes on a box grater. Big lumps of cheese won't melt well in your eggs.

Here is the basic omelet recipe from Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution", followed by a few of my favorite ideas to pimp up your omelets. The version I cooked post-ska show was the tomato and basil omelet; I can never get enough of that combination of flavors.

3 large eggs
Sea salt and ground pepper
1 small nub of butter
1 small handful grated Cheddar cheese

Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper, and beat well with a fork. Put a small frying pan on medium-low heat and let it get hot. Add a small pat of butter to the pan; when it has melted and is bubbling, add the eggs and move the pan around so that they spread out evenly. When the omelet begins to cook and firm up, but still has a bit of raw eggs on top, sprinkle the cheese. Using a spatula, ease around the edges of the omelet, then fold it over in half. When it starts to turn golden brown underneath, remove the pan from the heat and slide the omelet on to a plate.

Tomato and basil: Pick the leaves off 2 or 3 sprigs of fresh basil and roughly tear them. Cut a handful of cherry tomatoes in half and add it to a hot frying pan with a bit of butter and a drizzle of olive oil. Fry and toss around for about a minute, then lower the heat to medium and add the basil leaves. Add the eggs and proceed with the recipe.

Mushroom: Roughly chop 2 or 3 nice Portobello mushrooms and add to a hot frying pan with a bit of butter and a drizzle of olive oil. Fry and toss around until golden. Turn the heat down to medium, add the eggs and proceed with the recipe. Not a bad idea to switch the Cheddar for Swiss cheese in this variation.

Hangover: Finely slice 1/2 fresh red chile. Squeeze the meat out of 1 good-quality sausage and crumble it into a hot frying pan, with a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Fry until golden, turn the heat down to medium and add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds, the chile and the eggs. Proceed with the recipe.

I also threw a small handful of chopped scallions to our omelets, along with the tomatoes, to give the flavor a bit more bite. Use your imagination and whatever is left in your fridge to give your omelet that personal touch and turn it into a quick feast. If you are serving it the morning-after, don't forget the huge mug of black coffee and a big glass of orange juice!

P.S. My flipping-of-the-omelet went slightly awry, so this picture shows the genuinely messy, but delicious, breakfast we enjoyed! Presentation is not that relevant when it's just you and a half-asleep significant other...