Sur ma table

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My very own carciofi

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

I don’t think it’s a secret that I like love am hopelessly addicted to the artichoke pizza at Pizza Chic, with its crisp/chewy crust spread with artichoke purée and topped with arugula salad and shaved parmesan. Alas, at 19€ a pie, it’s a little too, well, chic. But then I started thinking: Arugula, parmesan, artichoke spread? Just how [...]

Pot luck

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

When my husband’s office holiday party rolled around, I considered making something healthy, like a bean salad. But then I started thinking. When you’re at a pot luck, what do you want to eat? Recalling office pot lucks of my past — when the slightly junky, sour cream, powdered soup, mayonnaise, and/or grated cheese-enhanced  food [...]

Galette des rois favorites

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

A galette is a galette is a galette? As it turns out, no. Here’s a little ranking of the puff pastry confections I’ve consumed this month… Third place: La Grande Epicerie Pros: Their individual galette is perfect for two (or one). Frangipane filling had a boozy hint. Cons: Pastry wasn’t flaky enough and the surface was [...]

Happy new year!

Friday, December 31st, 2010

Judging from the lines at the poissonerie this morning, nothing says bonne année quite like seafood. Luckily for me, I recently learned how to shuck an oyster — just in time to ring in the new year. Oysters look like rocks so forgive me if I doubted the fish guy when he tried to convince me [...]

Pumpkin mania

Friday, November 19th, 2010

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! I have been obsessed with PUMPKINS this fall. In the past, I avoided them, intimidated by their grandiose size, their knife-defying flesh. But then, a couple of things happened. First, I ate a wonderful dessert during my rainy weekend in Provence — a pumpkin cappuccino — pumpkin purée, warm sautéed apples, and cinnamon whipped [...]

Daube

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

A few weeks ago, we went to Provence for the weekend. I’d never been there in the autumn (or winter, or spring, for that matter) but after five summer vacations there, I thought I knew the region: sunshine, blue skies, warm temps (or at least warmer and sunnier than Paris, right?). Emit hollow laugh here. [...]

How do you like dem apples?

Friday, October 15th, 2010

Friends are coming to dinner tomorrow and I’ve been doing a little baking. Thanks to a windfall from David, who kindly gifted me with three pounds of apples, this pie came to fruition (ba dum). I was inspired by this New York Times pastry recipe, except I couldn’t bring myself to use lard. Instead, I made a [...]

Cooking with Dad

Friday, September 24th, 2010

When Mom and Dad come to town, what do you do? If you’re in the Mah family, you cook a huge Chinese dinner. Twelve people. Fourteen dishes. One day of shopping and cooking. It was a marathon, let me tell you. My father is a Chinese food guru, so I was delighted to pick up a [...]

Before and after

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

   Mirabelle is the cutest name ever for a fruit, and when the tiny plums started appearing on menus and in the market, I wanted to experiment with them, too. And thus, this rustic mirabelle tart was born. It has a crunchy whole wheat olive oil crust and walnut filling, and a wholesome sweetness (though it could have [...]

Fire in the oven!

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

That is, the PIZZA oven. But let me explain. For five years, we’ve rented the same house in Provence, a house with a remarkable garden, a beautiful swimming pool — and a pizza oven. For four years, we’ve attempted to make our own pizzas in the wood-burning oven, only to face uncooked dough, ash-covered cheese, [...]

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