Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Winter root vegetables with lemon butter..and Toulouse, la ville rose.

Eat seasonal. It is cheap, delicious and it is harmony with the ryhythm of life. Winter root vegetables don’t have to be dull and bleak and tasteless. Steam them, roast them, pan fry them, cut in different shapes, add some separated laeves of brussels sprouts, a few broccoli fleurettes, add some chooped herbs, fry thin strips of leeks, turn them into a puree then scoop balls onto an oven pan and bake in the oven until brown….so many ways to bring colour…and nutrients to winter meals. See suggestions for more .

Suggestions:

  • Use other vegetables, but keep in mind the time each cooks and start off with the harde vegetables and add the softer veggies like mushrooms later, like 15 minutes before the end of baking time.
  • Vegetables can also be steamed and use the butter lemon sauce for all the vegetables.
  • Add other herbs of your choice…add towards the end.
  • The butter and lemon juice breaks the bitterness of the brussels sprouts.
  • A browned butter sauce can be used too.
  • Add some chopped walnuts when serving the vegetables or a mixture of chopped parsly and nuts.
  • Serve with any meat or fish dish or serve on its own with pasta.
  • Fry some thinly sliced leeks(in the length) until brown and crispy and place a small handful on the vegetables to finish off when serving.
  • Cut the vegetables in different sizes and shapes…matchsticks, cubes, rounds, curls…and remember to cook acoording to the thickness of the vegetables…ex. carrot curls cook much faster than carrot sticks.
..brussels sprout leaves and fried leek strips..

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…and Toulouse, la ville rose…

One can truly be considered fortunate when you have a daughter living in Paris and another living in Toulouse. Two equally amazing cities, each so unique and different…like the daughters themselves! And still in the theme of December memories, a visit to Toulouse, sleeping over in a quaint Toulouse apartement with the fairie lights of a first christmas tree and fresh foods from the market welcoming us…new memories and experiences enrich my life…those of being loved and spoiled by family.

..toulouse in all her splendor..

..Toulouse in December..

.. Sundays are market days…for all in France and those in Toulouse…as evidenced..

..buying clementines at the marché in toulouse..
..fresh vegetables..
..paella..
..oysters..
..le marché de dimanche..
..toujours des fleurs..
..empanadas..
..browsing the brocante..
..old pampilles(crystals) for lustres (chandeliers)..
..old books, paper, magazines, newpapers..
..a covered head and a bust..

..silver..

.. and having an outing in winter without pausing for a crêpe au nutella…unheard of!..

..eating crêpe au nutella at the borcante in toulouse..

..and going home…tired, happy and with old glass crystals in a bag..

..going home..

..à la prochaine fois..

..Ronelle..

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Ambiance 22/10: Spaghetti squash with three-tomato-sauce..and autumn flavour.

Spaghetti squash makes for an quite an interesting meal…served with a homemade tomato sauce, or with  oven baked tomatoes.   Especially great for those who want to cut down on carbohydrates…and calories..

 

Suggestions:

  • Don’t overcook the squash, or else it won’t shred off in strands, but be mushy.
  • The squash can alos be cooked in the microwave oven – prick all over with a knife and microwave for about 15 minutes or more until the skin is tender but not soft. (whole squash of about 1 kg)
  • The squash on its own is fairly tasteless and bland, so take care to make your tomatoes/sauce flavorful.
  • Instead of oven baked tomatoes, a tomato sauce can be made by sauteing some onions, adding chooped tomatoes and reducing at low heat until thick anad flavorful. Season with salt and pepper, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and add shredded basil leaves.
  • Chopped olives and parmesan cheese can be added when serving the dish.
  • Marinate tomatoes are tomatoes that have been dried in the oven until semi dry and still holds juice. It must be refrigerated and doesn’t keep as long as dried tomatoes, but is much more flavorful.
  • This spaghetti with sauce can be served as an accompaniment to any kind of fish.

 

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I don’t do a lot of fall decoration, but I do like a little pumpkin and some fresh autumn fruit here and there. Some leaves… Nothing very whoo haa. Just a little something. A little autumn flavor brought inside.

Normalement je ne fais pas trop de décoration d’automne, à l’exception d’une courge çà et là. J’aime aussi les fruits saisonnales en abondances , comme des poires, de jolies pommes de saison et n’oublie pas de délicieux coings! Et bien sur, les belles feuilles mortes, que je ramasse quotidiennement partout sur mon passage, remplacent les bouquets de fleurs estivales. Je ne fais rien en grande pompe, mais tout ça donne juste un petit gout d’automne dans la maison et ses alentours.

..autumn leaves in white vase..

Flowers get replaced by autmn leaves and greenery, picked up on walks by the Loire..in vases, in bowls.

..autumn leaves..

White pumpkins make for attractive decor everywhere in the house. place some small ones on a stack of books, or on top of some dried moss, stack them in urns and pots…

..sandpot with pumpkins...and old books with pumpkins..

Their shapes and smooth whiteness harmonize well with the rustic texture of outside walls and pots, urns and wooden surfaces.

...urn with pumpkins..

Outside they can stand quietly beside a pot planted with white cyclamen. Or even inside keeping a vase of drying hydrangeas company. Alongside apples, they seduce us with color and form. A still life.., there.., to admire and enjoy the quietness of autumn.

..autumn decor..

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..bon week-end!..

Ronelle