le sauce

mom's beets

(photographed by james piper) 

 

Mom's beets. Heh. If you say it out loud, it sounds like I'm talking about my mom laying down some tracks. She doesn't do that, as far as I know (though she surprises me constantly), but she is an awesome, passionate and adventurous cook. I already featured one of her recipes this month in my quest to share great recipes from the cooks closest to my heart, but I couldn't keep this beet recipe to myself. I shared it once with a friend long ago, but it was only when I was testing the recipe with my mom that I actually made it myself for the first time. I was actually surprised at just how simple it was. 

(photographed by james piper) 

Throughout february I posted several recipes that called for rampe, or screw pine leaves. That's the only ingredient in this recipe you probably aren't/weren't familiar with. But by now you've gone out to an Asian grocery store and bought some, right? Oh good, then the rest of this recipe you can make with your eyes closed. 

(photographed by james piper) 

Except don't close them while cutting the beets. (Now it sounds like you're cutting your own tracks. Cutting beets! Ok, I'm done.)

I love beets, all kinds of ways, and I know I may sound biased when I say this, but this is the best way I've ever had them--seriously. The mix of spices creates a delicious sauce, for sure, but the best part is that the beets are actually so great soft. It seems that usually beets are served raw or roasted, rarely cooked till tender. Here, stewed down in this curry, they are perfect. 

(photographed by james piper) 

roasted beets on orzo with fried shallots

beets. they're what's in season. but that's not the only reason to eat them. you already know how good they are for you, you may already like how they taste too. but i'm also fond of them because they're so dramatic. they're beautiful. they're dark and mysterious when raw, and they're sweet and have a very distinct flavour when roasted, and they're not shy about leaving their wine-stain pink calling card on everything. i really saw that pink celebrated during my visit to budapest, in beet soup (borsht) of course, but also in creamy beet salads. i only realized that's what probably inspired this recipe after trying it for the third time. i couldn't figure out why i had the urge to eat roasted beets on creamy, tangy, dill-y orzo until then. that's how they do it in the old country!

paris day 9: full on french

seeing 4 different vats of good olives sitting side by side stops me dead in my tracks. this is a picture taken through the window of a random store in the 2nd arrondisment. i was in too much of a rush to write down the name or enter the store which also sold all kinds of nuts, oils and spices. it's hard to believe all i managed to take in this day, while also spending about 6 hours at the louvre. and speaking of which, when visiting the louvre, i highly recommended taking a break to lunch around the corner...

le louvre ripaille

having to wait to be handed a larger than you blackboard in order to read the menu isn't very efficient. but it's still the norm in paris and i know i'm going to miss it. i read about the beautiful makeover of le louvre ripaille on design sponge, and i also read that i must go there in their paris guide. it was a good recommendation. i loved the design and the food was delicious--just good french food. the betteraves et chevre "mille feuille" (below as it came and cut open to reveal the many layers) would have been sort of predictable if not for the whisper thin fried crepe, basil oil, balsamic reduction and what i think was a spicy paprika oil that it was served with. the foam-covered salmon had a tail of perfectly made couscous and the mushrooms in my omelette were well seasoned and seared before added to the eggs. i enjoyed a red sancerre again--another one of the wines i ended up bringing back because i liked it every glass i tried.

e. dehillerin

if you've read julia child's biographies or about french chefs, you know about e. dehillerin (julia's picture hangs above the cash register there). if you didn't and you liked cooking at all, and stumbled into this place, you just might scream at discovering it. i almost screamed and i knew what i was getting into. imagine a store selling every type of cooking utensil and vessel of real use (in western cooking) without any of the crap or brand names. then imagine every single one of those items in every single size and variation needed. i only had about 20 minutes to shop there before they closed, which was a very good thing. after walking around the maze of the store, i started grabbing things i never thought i would buy (3 of the same rectangular 3 x 12 tart pans and a 12" pie pan...i don't bake...) and only one thing i actually need which is a good big whisk. i was about to grab a few chef knives when my shopping buddy tried to calm me down and remind me of weight restrictions on planes and other rational things. whatever. i'm totally excited to make 3 different tarts this weekend. and he can't have any...

le jour a peyrassol

i don't know exactly how this restaurant stays open since we were the only diners there, or why we were the only diners there. about the latter, i can only assume that it's really not that rare to have a dish made with good truffles in paris, so a whole restaurant specializing in them is not as exciting to parisians as it was to us. but we had a great time being spoiled at un jour a peyrassol, which is also a stunning restaurant. totally old and restored, the walls, staircase and basement private rooms and washrooms are entirely stone. the coziest, tastiest cave you'll ever visit. above, some of their cotes de provence rose from their affiliated producer commanderie and truffle pate courtesy of the restaurant, to enjoy while we perused the menu. we settled on 4 creamy, rich, generously truffled dishes including eggs en cocotte and a salad with the creamiest, fresh chevre pictured here. 

pan-fried gnocchi with beet pesto, in an orange butter sauce

i am so happy with how this recipe eventually turned out--because the first attempts did not. the first beet pesto i made was more like a...paste. it may have tasted good, as my kind dinner guests assured me, and one of them made a good point: "this would be a good ravioli filling." true. but not what i was going for. i've learned that pureeing roasted beets with ricotta creates the kind of sponge that no amount of oil or water will loosen up. but enough with the failed attempts--and on to what ended up being a dinner party-worthy dish. i will have to have those guests over again to try this, asap.

raw beets this time, make the base of the pesto. i've been hearing lately that garlic-intolerance is more common and this pesto has no garlic, yet tons of flavour. i used all parts of the beets in this dish, saving the stems and leaves and sauteing them as a bed for the gnocchi.