Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Chili peppers stuffed with rabbit..and a home library.

I had left over rabbit. And small chili peppers. Some goats cheese. Herbs. And guests for dinner. As un apéro, these would do perfectly.

But BEWARE: They are very hot. While I was preparing them, I took a tiny bite from one and it was fairly piquant, but not as I expected and I continued happily.  BUT THEN… later the afternoon, I propped a smallish whole one in my mouth….well,  I flounced desperately around the kitchen table, like a horse being backed for the first time. I fled  outside in the rain for oxygen and help.  Not finding it there, I scrambled back to the fridge and gulped down 6 joghurts… I think next time I will use the mild spanish red pepper instead…but oh, these look SO pretty on a platter…!


Suggestions:

  • Use left over chicken or duck or turkey instead of rabbit.
  • When using duck, leave out the cheese and replace with balsamic vinegar and grated apple, sprinkled with lemon juice.
  • Ricotta cheese or créme fraîche can be used in place of the goats cheese.
  • Serve as a sterter with a small green salad, or serve as an apéritif with a cold white wine.
  • If the chili peppers are too hot to your liking, use the long Spanish red peppers instead and cut them shorter from the thin point upward.

Apart from smelling freshly brewed coffee when entering a home, few other things can  give a home that feeling of lived in comfort, cosiness , than seeing books…stacks of books, or shelves overflowing with a chaos of books. It doesn’t matter if it is a formal library or the living room where books are strewn on the table and couches.  I’m not talking about the pretentious shelves and  more shelves of beautiful books, only admired for their leather covers…No,  I love entering a home and seeing books everywhere, inviting me to take on from a shelf or pick it up from a table or chair or even the floor….open it up and page through… read the end…the sinopsis and discover a little bit about the owner’s taste and likes and discover new titles…

We don’t have a libraryat home, only “corners” of books which  I try in vain to keep  neat. Now I look past it and only try to balance out the stacking in order to prevent a shelf from breaking. And I LOVE it when people come here and pick up a book…!

..books at home..
..books in corners..
..books on the coffeetable, by the bed, decorating corners(which I HAVE read and still reread, yes)..

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I bought this beautiful and inspiring book on libraries a while ago: BIBLIOTHEQUES – l’art de vivre avec des livres by Roland Beaufre and Dominique Dupuich..

..BIBLIOTHEQUES - l'art de vivre avec des livres by Roland Beaufre and Dominique Dupuich..

*All the following images are borrowed from the book:

These next two libraries, are my most favorites in this book…if you leave me in either of these two, I’ll just happily disappear and you’ll never see me again!

..from the family Tazi, at Rabat..

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Another wonderful treasure of books!

..library of the Parisian decorator, Laure Welfing in Tanger..

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This library below is beautiful…too beautiful actually. I feel like someone’s is whispering…:”Don’t touch”!

..a bourgeoise library in Tanger..

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Don’t you just love a space like this, with so much to see and look at and loaded with personality…except for that spider on the lamp shade of course…

..working space/library of Gilles Neret in St-Germain-de-Prés, journalist and editor..

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This inviting couch and the lamp won me over!

..library/working space of art writer, Francois Jonquet with a bohemian flavor..

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A bit less chaotic, but still inviting with its couch and music station, the warmth of family photos, botanical prints…and of course…MANY books!!

..library of decoration journalist, Pamela de Monbrison..

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I hope this kicked you into a mood of reading, like it did me…and instead of watching a good DVD this weekend, let’s make it one of reading those oldies we haven’t touched in a while!

..bon week-end!..

Ronelle

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

Sorrel and rocket cappuccino..and the chicken chronicles II.

When something is in abundance, we should make use of it…like the sorrel in my garden, which is growing profusely. Not to mention the rocket, which is close to taking over the garden. Combine the two in an early atumn soup, sprinkle with some pistachios and cut some baguette to accompany.

Suggestions:

  • Spinach and basil leaves can be used instead of the sorrel and rocket.
  • The green peas are added for a green color…don’t boil the peas so they lose their green colour.
  • Potatoes can be added for a more consistent soup.
  • Be sure to sauté the sorrel beforehand in a bit of oil to prevent a sour taste to the soup.
  • Use a cuppaccino frother to make milk froth for a light version, or use whipped cream instead.
  • My way of making a creamy milk froth: Use cold, half fat milk. pour up to the marked level of the frother and froth until creamy. warm in the microvwave until the froth rises to the top. (Keep an eye on it, it haapens very quickly).Remove from the microwave and stir with a metal spoon until the mixture is nice and creamy.Spoon onto your soup(or coffee). The froth will hold its shap for quite a long time. For a cold soup, omit the heating.
  • This soup is delicious warm or cold.


…bon appetit!…

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…while the soup is busy simmering… an update on the chicken chronicles...

I mentioned in a previous post: Asparagus with poppy vinaigrette and a confused chicken, that the one hen turned out to be a rooster, which forced me to give them to a friend living on a farm.  It broke my heart to see them go and I especially missed Petronella, the rooster terribly, with his wonderfully cockey attitude! But they are happy  where they are now and Petronella can crow to “his” heart’s delight without worrying about neighbours. Here they can be seen as cute tiny chicks…A simple salad and special corners.

After a while I got two new chickens…Tartelette and Omelette.  Two Pekin bantam little chickens in the colour of Touraine…a soft grey, called “porcelaine“. They soon filled the sad corners of my heart…isn’t it amazing how much love we have to give? They are two adorable little featherfooted friends and I couldn’t ask for better chatterboxes to bring fun and laughter to my days!

Early mornings begin with joghurt. Healthy chicken food the rest of the day and a gouter(snack) late afternoon is  their favorite joghurt again, some grated coconut and a few shreds of salami…yeah yeah…I know… chickens know nothing about joghurt and coconut…, but then I also think these  two chickens don’t know they are chickens!

Where Tokala and Ayiani(my two beautifully chic cats)ignore me for the better half of the day to live their royal life, Tartelette and Omelette are just too eager to follow in my every  fresh footstep, to entertain and be entertained all the way. They fiddle around under my easel in my atelier during the day, groom and massage their feathers by my feet  and slip into the kitchen when I’m not looking to nestle in “their” corner for a nap, while looking at me with flirty eyes and charmingly tilted heads, begging to be allowed to stay…now tell me…how can I refuse such seduction?

…à la prochaine!

Ronelle