A Personal Post

Breakfast...

As much as I would love to go on about how I owe my fantastic figure to starting the day off with yogurt, freshly cut up fruit, and a warm cup of green tea; it's really actually down to great genes and kick starting the day with a café and chocolate biscuits (followed by a daily dose of wine, cheese and bread).


I never could stand waking up to a massive spread on the table for breakfast... you know, when people empty out everything in their fridge and cupboards and display it on the table like it's Christ's Last Supper: breads, cheeses, meats, eggs, juices, five types of cakes... just seeing all that food early in the morning makes me positively sick. 


Life is complicated enough that I like to keep to keep my mornings simple with a warm coffee, a bit of milk, and a few classic biscuits (nothing too fancy, elaborate and commercial). 


I have tried tea... but you need to drink several pots of the stuff to get the whole 'it's so good for you' effect - which by the way, you also get if you eat just one apple a day - and that comes minus the yellow teeth. (Yes, tea drinkers, your teeth are yellow and mine are going red from all the wine). Sure everything that surrounds tea is lovely: the cups, the smells, the visions of India, the rituals, but frankly, nothing compares to a shot of espresso. 


Once I was smitten for a man - and then in the morning he asked for 'tea please' and I had to leave him because I henceforth considered him a pansy. I know that may sound horrible, but what can I say, I'm half Sicilian. 

When is it OK to cheat?

When it's with an Italian - 'ovviamente'. 

Sauces from La Favorita

My girlfriend Julie Brassard (see below), came over for dinner last week (a dinner that Franck made) - and, inspired by this blog, brought me sauces from La Grande Epicerie - which is, Paris' haute couture destination for food. I never go there. 
But that's besides the point...introducing products by La Favorita! The Anti-Chef (moi) suggests that you serve them in a bowl to accompany toast as an appetizer or as a sauce to accompany a pasta or meat dish. When your hubby compliments you and asks about the sauce, smile demurely and say, "Thanks amore, it's an old recipe from Nonna."  If you don't have a Nonna, say, "Thanks amore, it's an old recipe from Caterina's Nonna." (You can borrow mine, she's lovely). No one will know you are cheating, because everyone knows that Nonnas always have the best recipes.  

Julie: another beauty and great chef.  This woman however is not a cheater. A few years ago, we were both in Montreal for a big meeting and instead of afterwards ordering pizza, she came back to the office a few hours later with an exceptional dinner that she had prepared for everyone. All of a sudden the table cloth was laid and it was Thanksgiving in the middle of June. On a work night. Yes ladies. A work night. I was stunned and felt highly inadequate. Needless to say her hubby won't be looking elsewhere. 

Salmon and Maple Syrup

As you can see from the above title, this meal I made last week combines two things I love deeply: salmon and maple syrup.

A well-balanced meal: salmon, skinny spaghetti (numéro 1), green beans and red wine from Chinon. Everyone says drink white with fish, but I find that the red brings out the flavour of the maple syrup.

As you know (or don't), maple syrup is a Canadian delicacy... it's a syrup made from the red sap of sugar maple, red maple or black maple trees. In cold climate areas (ie. Canada) these trees store starch in their stems and roots before the winter. This is then converted to sugar and rises in the sap in the spring. Quebec produces most of the world's supply of maple syrup.  No, that didn't just come from the top of my head, I copied it from Wikipedia.

Canadian maple syrup. Bottled like a fine wine.

I have always enjoyed maple syrup, sometimes, when I'm feeling homesick for Canada (yes, it does happen), I go to the fridge, and take a shot of the good stuff. You may think that's gross or unhygienic, but it's no different from sticking your finger in a nutella jar when you think no one's looking. Moving on.

Franck and I were in Toronto a while back visiting my friend Laura - I've added a picture of her below because she's gorgeous and who doesn't like looking at pretty women, especially on a Monday morning when you'd rather be anywhere but back at work. Not only is she a classic beauty, but she is also one of the best chefs I know.  While we stayed with her, Laura made us killer mojitos every night, and also barbecued salmon with a maple syrup dressing which was delicious. I had never tasted this before, and last week decided to give it a shot on my own. Admittedly, it wasn't as good as Laura's, but it was still yummy, which is a great reminder that there is hope for all of us. There were many recipes online, check the one I found below.

Laura Boag. Beauty and Chef Extraordinaire. Please come visit us soon.

From All Recipes:

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup maple syrup 
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound salmon
• 
  

1. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
2. Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

We accompanied this dish with a bottle of red 'Chinon' and Jacqueline Du Pré's Elgar Cello Concert.

An unbelievable concerto performed by one of the world's best cellists who tragically died of MS at 42. See this video. Her husband is the conductor. The concerto is fantastic, I think I will buy the music for violin, because learning this concerto will be less daunting than cooking stew. 


And now - the shoes:

Red shoes: a fashion don't

A shot from the one night I dared wear them out. As you can see they look fluorescent.
A big mistake.

I bought these in Dubai, and it was definitely a fashion no. Whenever I'm in the UAE, I tan and wear  bright colours to match the sun. When I saw these red shoes I thought, "Oh, how cute will my slender legs look in little white shorts and these red shoes on a yacht." Wrong, wrong, wrong. First of all, when on a yacht, you remove your footwear. Secondly, contrary to what you think, red shoes look good on no one. Red boots neither. So there I am at the party when my Emirati, Cavalli-loving girlfriend  turns to me and says, habibti, why red? Shouldn't you have worn navy? In that instant - I knew she was right. Contrary to what people (and myself included) might think, red shoes only belong on Dorothy and only for a few minutes, when she wants to go home, and that's it. Any other circumstance is just 'haram'.


Reason? If you wear red shoes, people don't look at your face, they look at your feet - because they are just so bright. Hit by the force of blinding colour, one can't look away. Instead of being sensual, red shoes just stand out too much and make you look all off balance. The viewer gets confused and embarrassed because he feels like his eyes are magnetised to your feet and will eventually turn away and leave. 


So now I only wear these shoes indoors when I cook salmon.

Until next time, your Anti-Chef. xx

RIP Cocotte

Go to www.seb.fr to see why you should get this. They're expensive though
- who knew pots and pans could be so pricey.

....and just when things couldn't get any worse. The cocotte minute (also known as the vertebrae of Franck's Kitchen) broke 5 minutes before the duck was ready. Oh cocotte..... - for 15 years you have prepared so many wonderful meals for Franck, for me, and for Franck's ex-girlfriends. And now, you too, will make your way to the door and down the path of no return. 

Tomorrow, we will spend money that could go elsewhere (like dinner in a restaurant, for example) on a new cocotte.  Sigh, can't wait for Saturday.

Onions + eyes + wanna be Oakley's = cry no more

In other news, an old school mate from high school, we'll call her 'Chantal' who is reading this blog just sent me a link to purchase the above glasses/goggles. Thanks Chantal, now I will no longer have any excuse not to cut the onions!  Go to Ashton Greene to learn more. Damn you Ashton Greene!

Vodka Cream Sauce for Penne Pasta

                  

Parmeggiano cheese is obviously the best sprinkler for any pasta, but Franck said that it wasn't visible enough for the picture so he garnished it with Elemental grated French cheese. Tsk.

I love pasta. I grew up on the stuff. Mom knows how to make so many homemade sauces - and one of my favourites is pasta alla vongole (clam sauce) - but I've never tried cooking that.


Looking for an easy pasta sauce online, I came across Vodka Cream Sauce for Penne Pasta. Genius. Who doesn't like vodka? The ingredients were basic enough (meaning, I understood what they were):

Ingredients
butter (just a knife slice for the pan)
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
basil leaves
tomato purée
hot pepper flakes
soup spoon of sugar
several soup spoons of heavy cream
salt and pepper
2 shots of vodka (one per person, but I put 5 shots)
penne
*It says that you can also add chicken to this dish, but I of course, didn't take that option.

How to cook it:
Heat butter in a pan over a medium heat. Sauté the garlic and onion. I found that the butter was used up too quickly and that the garlic and onion were burning, so I added olive oil, yes I also thought to turn down the element, but it was an afterthought. Add tomato purée and then the basil leaves (I didn't bother cutting them and they look nicer and tasted better whole) and pepper flakes. After the tomato has simmered add a soup spoon of sugar to get the acidity out. Also add a bit of salt and pepper... add the vodka shots (go heavy). Then about 25 minutes into it, add the cream until the sauce is a nice pinky colour. Boil water, add penne - cook it 'Al Dente' for the love of all things holy, drain and voilà.

Add parmeggiano cheese, more basil to garnish and "Buon appetito baby".

This was dish was easy enough and tasted great.


I have to be honest. I didn't wear heels. I know, I'm disappointed too. But let me put it this way, Franck was lucky I even cooked that night. ;)
Pasta always puts me in a fantastic mood though - and it always appears to be the centrepiece for an incredible atmosphere. 

Kirk Douglas and Sofia Loren enjoying spaghetti

Marcello Mastroianni

Ancora la Loren

When The Recipe Calls for Two Shots - GIVER FIVE!

Tomorrow's blog post: Adding Vodka to your penne in red, Betty Boop heels. Stay tuned.
-the Anti-Chef