David's Take on Pork & Beans

I can't take the credit for all of the dishes that come out of my kitchen these days. While most of the stuff on my blog is definitely my doing, there is a much more experienced and talented palette at my side.

So, I'll post a few of David's creations here and there, sans recipe, for your culinary inspiration and stomach's desire. Why no recipe? Some chefs don't like to freely give away their secrets, especially on their carefully tested (or magically concocted) recipes. I have to respect David's wishes. I ask him *politely* if he minds if I post a recipe that he comes up with, and if he gives me that look... I just post a photo. Another reason is that David usually cooks as he goes (without a recipe in mind), and his recipes tend to have more complicated-than-I-feel-like-typing steps.

Luckily for me, even after a 50+ hour week in the restaurant, he still wants to come home and cook. This was dish #2 to come out of our massive pork shoulder buy. 

It's David's take on pork and beans. Braised and seared pork shoulder with cranberry beans, watercress (can't get enough of these two) and chimichurri. Being from The South, this was not at all what I envisioned when tossing around ideas about doing a variation on the classic dish. It was light and fresh, packed with flavor, and dare I say it, pretty damn healthy.

The Importance of Eating Seasonally

There are plenty of reasons why one should eat seasonally. Without a doubt one of the main reasons is flavor. Take a mango for example, which, a few months ago, would not only cost you twice as much as it does today, but would also not shower you with the amazing sweetness that a perfectly ripe mango can offer. I adore mangoes. Probably due to the fact (ok, mythical fact) that I fell from the mango tree - which is where my mom told me I came from.

A few weeks ago, Ataulfo mangoes started appearing at our international farmer's market. Native to the Philippines and Mexico, they're smaller, bright yellow, luscious, and buttery. Unfortunately, they were all imported from Mexico, but alas, it's difficult to find these type of mangoes in the U.S. (mangoes grown in Florida are usually Tommy Atkins).

This same time last year, I was in the Philippines visiting the other half of my family for the first time since 1995. Sixteen years. My cousins who once were small enough for me to tote around on my hip were now sharing a beer with me at the dinner table.

 

 

I forgot a lot of things about the Philippines... the sights, the sounds, the smells... well, I may have purposely dismissed some of that from my memory.

 

I forgot, or maybe just never realized how good the food really was. Everything seemed new to me, except for my Lola's house... and the taste of a perfectly ripe mango.

Nothing beats the bang! thump, thump... thomp of a mango falling off of the tree and rolling down your roof... then bribing your little brother to climb up there and get it for you. That's right, they are so ripe that they fall off the tree. None of this picking it 2 weeks before it's ready so that it holds up through shipping and processing crap.

Broccoli, Leek & Red Pepper Quiche

I have a lot of odds and ends in my kitchen today, mostly vegetarian. Basics like carrots, onions, and celery. Some broccoli crowns. A couple of Ruby Red grapefruit and Cara Cara oranges. Potatoes. Coconut milk. Randoms things like Jerusalem artichokes and tomatillos stare me in the face saying "C'mon, eat me already!"

The easy way out would be to run to the grocery store and buy something to go with, say, the potatoes. Steak or chicken perhaps. Toss in some broccoli and I've got a decently balanced meal. That's all well and good... but there's no real effort involved, and it also means I would need to spend more money.

Right, now, I can't really afford to be picky.

I knew returning to the States from living in Europe for a year and a half would be difficult. Especially in this economy. I knew finding a job in my original field -interior design- would be unpredictable. I picked up a few decent contracting jobs with my previous design firm for the first few months back in the States, but now find myself back at the drawing boards. In between sending out resumes and typing up cover letters, I'm focusing on getting back to my blog. The last 8-10 months were a rapidly-changing and at times, emotionally-unstable ride, and the words just weren't flowing as freely as I would have liked.

I got my mojo back... but for now the biggest challenge is creating delicious meals on a veeerrrry *tight* budget. Riding on my savings and "emergency fund", coming up with inspiring dishes takes some real planning and dedication. In my last post, I mentioned that David and I had endured a month-ish long vegan stint. In doing this, we actually opened our eyes to how much money we spend on meat and dairy products. Our weekly grocery bills went from fifty dollars down to about thirty. We bought local produce that was in season, which not only saved even more money, but ultimately tasted better too.

Another amazing benefit? I haven't gotten sick in months. My parents always harp on me to take my vitamins, but with flying between countries, visiting family on holidays, and the onset of pollen season here in Atlanta, by now I would be cuddled-up in my comforter with the sniffles. I don't know if it was a weak immune system or the quality of my diet, but with the change in my eating habits has come a change in my heath... for the better.

Ok, back to the food in my kitchen.

Crispy Yellowtail Snapper with Red Watercress and Citrus

I'm a Florida girl at the core. I love blindingly sunny weather and wearing flip-flops all year round. I pledge to live out the second half of my life somewhere along a beach, and when I die, hope to be sprinkled across the sea.

I adore great seafood.

I also adore great citrus... and good Lord, Floridians know great citrus.

I can't put into words the deliciousness of a blooming lemon tree... or how perfect life feels when a grapefruit is sweeter than an orange... or the joy I get from puckering my lips at the thought of key lime tarts.

Living in Atlanta means I'm too far away to pick the oranges right off the tree, but close enough to get some real Florida citrus from my local farmer's market. I've been looking forward to those early spring months when Mother Nature tells us it's time to boost our immune systems with vitamin C. The powdery blanket of pollen which has turned all the cars in the parking lot a pale shade of yellow let's me know that time is finally here.

Gnocchi from Scratch - First Attempt

Damn I love gnocchi. It brings me back to 2005 when I studied abroad in Florence. I would sit at this small cafe across the street from school, and trade a couple of meal tickets for a fantastically fragrant bowl of the basil and garlic coated potato pillows. It's one of my favorite smells. I can still taste it when I close my eyes. And still, to this day, I have not tasted another pesto gnocchi recipe that has topped it.

Keeping that taste at the back of my palette, I set out to make it myself. I know what I want it to taste like, now how am I going to pull it off?

Step Back and let the Chef do the Cooking

There are times when a person has to know when to step back... 

... and this time, that person was me. 

One thing I've learned from living with other foodies is that things can't always be your way, especially when it comes to cooking. It took a long time, and a broken relationship or two for me to appreciate something as simple as stepping back and letting the other person take the lead. I guess I'm kind of OCD in that that way.

The good thing about past relationships though, is that you learn (hopefully) from those flaws and failed experiences. With new relationships, you test yourself. You react how you normally wouldn't react, and you do what you normally wouldn't do, and maybe... just maybe, you realize it wasn't entirely their fault.

So I put myself to the test. Last week, one of my good friends from college came into town, and she graciously opened up her swanky bachelorette pad (and kitchen) for David and I to just have at it. If David cooked the dinner, she said, she'd pay for all the ingredients. Pretty sweet trade-off. A free meal of whatever we want to cook, in a gas-stove, kitchen-island, counter-tops-for-days dream kitchen? Ideas swirled in my head of what we could cook. Steak? Risotto? CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN?!?!

A Perfect Meal for When You Don't Want to Cook

There are those days when I just really don't want to cook. No, seriously! Usually they're the days when Atlanta traffic likes to make my afternoon commute an hour instead of twenty minutes, or after seventy-five minutes of sweat inducing bikram yoga... I just don't have it in me to make anything worth eating. That's when the fast food drive thru lights start flashing. Not good.

 

I know it's hard to want to cook for yourself. Especially something that's good for you. I've had my share of popcorn dinners with a side of gummy worms. Whether you're cooking for just yourself, or a bouncing off the walls family of 4, this dish is something easy enough for even the busiest of busy bodies. And with all of the rich iron and veggie protein, it'll fill you up without slowing you down.

End of Summer Slow Down

I don't know where it went, but summer flew by in a blink of an eye. The summer season was intense. A week of fireworks. 60 person barbecues. Six-course pintxos tours that end in massive food comas. Weekly pub crawls that end in massive hangovers. Opening a new reception and chill out area for the hostel. Friends coming. Friends going. Whew. Now that it's calmed down a bit I can take a few minutes to sit down and write about it all.

It's been quite an intense lifestyle change, working at a backpacker's hostel in the small, tourist-packed city of San Sebastián.

I've traded my apartment with an actual bed, my own kitchen, and bathtub that I could actually feel safe bathing in, for a mattress on the floor in a room the size of a closet, a kitchen I share with 40 other people, and waiting in line for the bathroom. It feels a bit like going from the real world back to living in the college dorms.

 

But I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Tartine Tuesday: Foie Gras and Fleur de Sel Tartines

This was my 2nd Christmas in a row that I've celebrated in France. The first time, I had the unfortunate luck of coming down with the flu, and was bedridden most of the week of Christmas. I even slept right through Christmas dinner. That being said, this year was much much better. 

Christmas Eve, as is the usual, is spent at Quentin's parent's home. They celebrate with a big family dinner the night before Christmas and open the gifts that night. Who doesn't love opening presents early?

Christmas Eve dinner is a little different here than it is in the States. Back home I imagine a perfectly spiral-cut honey glazed ham with buttery mashed potatoes and my Dad's pumpkin pie. In the Isackson home, we started with the aperitif; bowls full of mini boudin noir and boudin blanc, green olives(my favorite), and salty pistachios which were all washed down with a few glasses of foamy eggnog (a little American tradition was inserted here and there). 

Dinner started with a typically French Christmas specialty: Foie Gras. Foie gras is the liver of a fattened goose or duck. The way foie gras is made is not the most ethical. I won't go into detail, but one basically force-feeds the animal to make it delectably plump. It is however, absolutely delicious. It has that devilishly creamy and you know it's not good for you taste... like butter, only meatier. So we started with toasted bread, topped with slices of foie gras, and quickly moved on to the main dish... Le Chapon de Cyrano de Bergerac: capon or castrated rooster stuffed with (more) foie gras and chestnuts. Delicious. Following that was of course lots of cheese and then 3 different desserts... I hadn't been full like that since I was in the States. My stomach hurt so good.

So for my last Tartine Tuesday of 2010 I give you something simple and straight from France...

Foie Gras and Fleur de Sel Tartines

8 slices of foie gras

8 slices of baguette or toast

fleur de sel

Toast slices of baguette until brown and crispy. Top with the slices of foie gras and sprinkle fleur de sel on top. Serves 2.

THE OUTCOME! Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for 14 in a Parisian Kitchen

I just wanted to give a quick recap for those of you who might be wondering about the outcome of our  little 14-person Thanksgiving dinner in a Parisian kitchen. Hehe.. well, here it goes...

As I quickly mentioned in my previous post, our 14 (actually 12 in the end) person Thanksgiving dinner was a success. The food was delicious, and the two turkeys *magically* cooked perfectly (thank you turkey gods!). The only thing that didn't quite cook completely... or bake, rather, was the sour cream apple pie. It actually almost set the kitchen on fire. It was 100% my fault, as I shouldn't have dunked the apples into a bowl of lemon water to keep them from browning before I put them into the pie. This made them WAAAAY too juicy, and as the pie cooked, sugary liquid oozed out over the crust onto the bottom of the hot oven. That turned into one hot mess (literally); the burnt sugar turned into embers and before I knew it, the whole kitchen was clouded with smoke. Whoops... hehe.

Aside from that, my game plan worked out just as I hoped, and I was able to enjoy the party, the food, the booze (of course), and even some of the apple pie.

Alice made a boat load of delicious appetizers... 

Bouchées de boudin noir with a touche of compote de pomme (blood sausage with apple compote)...

Cheese and potato puree with chives wrapped in phyllo dough and fried until crispy, tomato basil bruschetta, and bouchées de chèvre chaud with a tranche of green apple and oignon caramélisés (warm goat cheese with slices of green apple and caramelized onions). 

Quentin really helped me out by taking charge of the mashed potatoes. 

He even kicked it up a notch and made some "from scratch" cornbread.. which was a knockout hit. Surprisingly, not many people knew what cornbread was... although not surprising to me since I had a hard time finding cornmeal. It was gooood...

We spent the night drinking cider and wine and decorating our Christmas tree. We roommates thought it would add to our maison du bonheur (house of happiness) to have a tree that was created/decorated by our friends instead of hurting a poor little tree from the forest. Go green!

So now we have a colorful and unique Christmas tree... complete with a dead angel, melting ice cream, a Super Mario star, phantom, and a big blue snake being attacked by my rendition of Bruzer (just to name a few).

Christmas, here we come!

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for 14 in a Parisian Kitchen

It can be done. I hope. 

Tomorrow, I will be putting my tiny little oven (and cooking skills) to the test. I originally planned to have a 6-8 person Thanksgiving dinner in our little Parisian apartment. The head count is now at a staggering 14 with a possible 2 more. You can do it Katrina. Just breathe. 

Luckily, without the stresses of a full time job, I have been working on my Thanksgiving dinner game plan for the past week or so. Not only am I trying to have an American Thanksgiving in Paris, but I'm trying to work with what France has to offer. Sure, I could just get everything at the American grocery store, actually called Thanksgiving... but I want a challenge. I will admit I cheated a teeeny tiny bit (I bought a bag of fresh cranberries and cornmeal from Thanksgiving, but other than that, everything is via the local grocery stores and markets.

 

The key to pulling off a successful dinner party of any quantity is to plan your meals smartly. Don't cook all your dishes in the oven. Don't cook everything the day of the dinner. Don't do all of the cooking yourself! These are the three rules I'm sticking to like peanut brittle in your teeth (white on rice was just too obvious... hehe).

Originally, I was planning on baking a small mountain of turkey cutlets (escalopes de dinde) since the whole turkeys at Thanksgiving were going for 13 euros a kilo (with a 3 kilo minimum), and escalopes are fairly cheap. No way I was going to pay 13 euros a kilo to feed 14 people (I love you guys, but I'm not made of money). Amazingly as I was making my 2nd wave of food shopping (I went to certain grocery stores for certain items) I passed the meat counter to find whole turkeys! At only 4.30 euros a kilo! They weren't nearly as large as the American turkeys (which kind of creep me out anyways... I mean, who really wants to cook a 30lb turkey?!!) weighing in at only 5.5lbs each... I bought 2, praying to the turkey gods that they would both fit in my oven at the same time. 

The gods were on my side this year... :)

So here's my Thanksgiving Prep Breakdown:

 YESTERDAY

-Make the huckleberry cinnamon cranberry sauce - DONE

TODAY

-French cut the green beans - DONE

-Blanch the green beans - DONE

-Make the pie dough - DONE

-Refrigerate pie dough - DONE

-Roll out pie dough and form to pan

 

-Prep the turkeys - DONE

THANKSGIVING DAY

-Prep/bake sour cream apple pie

-Roast turkeys

-Finish prepping/bake green bean casserole

-Prep/bake mini corn muffins

  

Quentin is in charge of the mashed potatoes. Alice is making the appetizers and Jules is bringing a second dessert.

Since the turkeys are pretty small (2.5 kilos each)... ok really small...  I'm going to attempt to cook them both at the same time (cross your fingers for me!!) This is not the first time I've made the turkey at Thanksgiving... but it is the first time I'll be cooking two at the same time. It's going to be interesting. I'll be watching them like a hawk with my meat thermometer in hand. 

While the turkeys are resting it will give me enough time to pop in the green bean casseroles and the mini corn muffins. Then I will pop in the apple pie. I have most of my list checked off for today, with the only last thing to do being to roll out the apple pie dough and forming it to the pan. Whew.

Wish me luck guys!

Squid Ink Pasta with Crawfish and Garlic Ginger Velouté

About three weeks ago I went to this place with Quentin and his Dad called Metro. It's similar to Sam's or Costco in America; a gigantic warehouse-type building with everything you might need... in bulk. I of course, felt right at home, since everything was "American-sized". Big jars of mayonnaise, ketchup... an enormous food section(almost 5 times the size of the one's at Sam's) and of course, laptops for half the price you would pay in the normal electronics store. Quentin was there to find a laptop, so he could use it to look for jobs and apartments since I needed my laptop for work... his dad wanted to take a look at the projectors, and I, of course, wanted to look at the food/kitchen stuff.

It's too bad that this place is only allowed to business owners, because they would make a lot of money off of me. Their kitchen section had a lot of professional kitchen equipment that made me wish I had my own restaurant... sous-vide machines, crêpieres, induction cook-tops... sigh. I spent about 15 minutes daydreaming on my perfect kitchen and then moseyed on over to the food section. 

The food section in this place makes my eyes glaze over. Now, yes, when it comes to "quality vs. quantity" you would think this place would lean more toward the latter, but the only things that stood out to me as being less than worthy were a few batches of barely ripe tomatoes and some packaged frozen foods. They have a great produce section, with just about anything you might need, a meat section that is so cold you may just come out of there with frostbite if you're not wearing the right clothes, and a dry goods area that has some pretty interesting finds.

One of those interesting finds happened to be the squid ink pasta I stumbled upon while looking at the price of quinoa. I had never tried squid ink pasta before, but was always curious about it. Luckily, it wasn't one of those items you had to buy in 50 pound bags, so I picked up a single package and took it home to give it a test run. 

Quentin's dad also picked up a small bucket of crawfish tails, écrevisse, from Metro and I thought they would make a good accompaniment to the pasta.

I've tested this dish two similar ways already... The first dish didn't photograph as well as I thought it would, so I wanted to test another way to see if I could make the dish better tastefully and aesthetically. My inspiration for the second dish came from a cooking lesson I watched on Rouxbe, the world's first-ever online cooking school. I came across this site from a fellow food blogger, and after browsing through a few videos using their 7-day trial, I went ahead and purchased the lifetime membership!

Note: I am a Rouxbe Cooking School affiliate partner. As part of their affiliate program, I have the power to give you a free, full-access, no-videos-barred, 14-day pass to their site. All you have to do is go to the Rouxbe Online Cooking School and redeem the 14-day Gift Membership. After the trial, you can join for as little as $15 per month; however, there is no obligation. This site is unlike any other cooking site I've seen. It gives you clear, step-by-step demonstrations as you would receive in a cooking class. I've already learned so much, and hope to improve my cooking skills via Rouxbe. It's awesome! Check it out!

So as I was browsing through videos I watched their lesson on velouté, one of the 5 mother sauces made from combining stock with a roux. 

Rouxbe Online Cooking School & Video Recipes

After watching it, I adapted it to my recipe.

Squid Ink Pasta with Crawfish and Garlic Ginger Velouté

500g squid ink spaghetti pasta

1 cup of crawfish tails (you can substitute with small shrimp)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup of vegetable stock

1 cup of fish stock

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 shallots, minced

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

white pepper, to taste

salt, to taste

1 bunch of fresh chives

In a large pot of boiling salted water, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions.

To start the velouté, first melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the shallots, garlic and ginger to the butter and sauté until the shallots have softened and become translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Then add the flour and whisk until fully incorporated. Cook the flour/butter mixture (roux) until it just starts to change color.

Slowly add the vegetable/fish stock, a little bit at a time. Whisk and let it come back to a gentle boil each time before adding more stock. Add the stock until you reach a silky-smooth consistency. Strain through a sieve or mesh strainer to remove the garlic, shallots, and ginger pieces and any remaining lumps. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Note: The sauce may thicken slightly as it cools, so if you’re not planning to use it right away, you may need to loosen it up with a bit more hot stock before using.

If your crawfish tails are cold, you can place them in a strainer and dunk into the hot pasta water for about 15-30 seconds. Just be sure that if they are pre-cooked crawfish tails, that you do not overcook them when re-heating them.

Drain pasta in a colander. In a large bowl, add the pasta, crawfish tails, and sauce, and toss to combine. Top with freshly chopped chives. Alternatively, you can plate these individually as shown in the picture above. Serves 4.

Drunken Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes

Uuuuugggh... I am really not feelin' so hot today. Last night was Romain's (our friend who let us stay in his apartment for free for a month) 30th birthday party. Let's just say there was a lot of dancing to 80's music (since Romain was born in 1980), a lot of booze, and a lot of, "This is so AMERICAN!" from Romain's brother, Ben. It was tons of fun, but I woke up this morning with a bruised and throbbing finger, and I can't remember how I hurt it. Thankfully, it's not broken.

Needless to say, today I'm a little cloudy-brained.

Since yesterday was my first time back to Romain's apartment since we left, and we're talking about all things drunk-related, I figured I would do a little reminiscing. I'll share with you one of the things I conjured up while we were squatting Romain's apartment. It starts with a bottle of wine... no, not to cook with (yet), to start drinking. Then there's the roasted eggplant. I threw that in the pot with some pasta, tomatoes, onions, garlic, splash of wine, and topped it all with basil and some French Comté cheese. Comté is one of the most popular cheeses in France. It is a semi-firm cow's milk cheese and has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor, much like Gruyère. By the end of it, you'll be nice and toasted (due to constant drinking of wine while cooking), but it just makes it taste that much better.

Drunken Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Tomatoes

3/4 lb of fusili pasta

1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 medium onion, diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup of red wine (I used a Côte du Rhone, but you can use any red wine you like, just make sure it's a wine you would drink)

2-3 sprigs of fresh basil

a block of Comté cheese

extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over the cubes of eggplant and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss together so that all of the eggplant is coated with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for about 25 minutes, occasionally moving pieces around so they brown evenly.

In a large pot, bring pasta water to a boil and add salt and olive oil. Once boiling, add pasta and cook until just al dente, about 2 minutes less than is directed on the package. You can strain the pasta in a colander, just make sure to save 1-2 ladles of pasta water for the end!

In large sauté pan, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and the minced garlic. Slowly bring the temperature to medium, and once the garlic has infused the oil (about 3-4 minutes) add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent. Add 1/4 cup of red wine and bring the heat to medium-high. Add the halved cherry tomatoes and sauté until softened.

Add the roasted eggplant, pasta, and a ladle or so of the pasta water to the tomato/onion mixture (if your sauté pan is not large enough to hold everything, you can transfer it all into a large pot). Stir over medium heat for a few minutes, just to finish cooking the pasta and let the red wine and pasta water create a tasty sauce. Sprinkle some chopped basil over the hot pasta and stir to let the basil start to wilt. Top with some freshly grated Comté cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Serves 3-4.

Super Simple Tonkatsu

If there's one thing I know I'm going to miss from the States, it would have to be fried chicken. Good ol' southern, crispy, fried chicken. Don't get me wrong, I'm kind of happy that I won't have the usual greasy chicken and cheeseburgers knocking at my door like they do in the states. I should eat a little healthier. Really good(I mean bad for you) cheeseburgers here in Paris are few and far between... and fried chicken? Well, I haven't even heard the words "fried chicken" since I've been here. Tear.

So yesterday, I was on my own, as Quentin went to Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Bougival to do some job stuff and grab my tripod from his parent's place(I want better pictures, damn it!). As I sipped my morning... okay, who am I kidding... afternoon coffee I read through a few of the newest food blogs I'm following. A post I happened to stumble upon from Tasty Colours caught my interest. I knew I could get recipe inspiration from following all these food blogs, never had it occurred to me that I could also get advice on the best "food" places to go in Paris(duh, Katrina). As I read through the post, I came across La Grand Epicerie de Paris. La Grande Epicerie is like the Louis Vuitton of grocery stores. Very high-end, unique, and exquisite quality products. Their website sells hedgehog-shaped sugar cubes, molecular gastronomy kits, black salt from Hawaii... just to name a few. To make it even better... it's two stops from the closest metro. Weeeee!!! I'm there.

I felt like I was going to freaking Disney World. I walked inside, and it literally took my breath away. This place is huge. As you walk in, the first thing you come across(and you can't miss it) is the absolutely perfect display of desserts. Macarons, éclairs, fruit tarts... oh how I wish I had extra money to throw around. I was a little hesitant to take pictures in there with my big camera, so I'll try to go back with my little point and shoot to get some photos of this place.

I took my time, and walked through every aisle. They had an entire aisle dedicated just to salts, one just to oils, and so on. I was in culinary heaven. Even though everything in there is ridiculously expensive, their produce is what I was I was there to buy. It's still fairly pricey, but when you're only buying for one or two people, the quality is worth the price. I bought one eggplant(to re-make my awesomely drunken fusili with roasted eggplant), some fresh apricots, two celery ribs(you can buy them by the rib, an individual portion of the celery stalk, which is perfect when you only need one or two), a head of broccoli, and two small pork chops. I really only knew what I was going to do with the eggplant, the rest I figured I'd improvise. I spent a total of 9.68 euros and got the hell out of there before I could do any more damage.

So back to the whole fried chicken bit(sorry, I got a bit carried away back there), I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with the pork chops I bought from La Grande Epicerie. Pork chops in themselves are pretty easy to mess up, if you overcook them they become dry and tough. The ones I bought were small and very thin, so I wanted a way to make sure I didn't overcook them. Since I've been craving fried anything since I got here, I figured the best way to cook these little chops would be tonkatsu style.

Tonkatsu is a breaded, deep-fried pork cutlet that is usually served with shredded cabbage. Typically, very thin pork cutlets are used for this dish, since quickly frying them in oil prevents them from drying out. Another important ingredient is the breadcrumbs. Japanese panko breadcrumbs are the best to use for tonkatsu, and will yield a light, and super crispy crust. Perfect for me, since I had two thin little pork chops, and while rummaging through the cupboards found some breadcrumbs and flour. Instead of serving this with shredded cabbage, I made it with rice and steamed broccoli.

Super Simple Tonkatsu

2 thin pork cutlets or chops, about 1/3 of an inch thick
1/3 cup of flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs
vegetable oil, for frying
salt and pepper, to taste

Add about 1/4 inch deep amount of vegetable oil to a large frying pan. Heat vegetable oil on medium high until nice and hot. I like to test that the oil is ready by flicking a drop of water on the oil, if it crackles and pops, it is ready. You can also be more precise with a thermometer and heat the oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a shallow bowl, add flour, and salt and pepper to taste. In another bowl, add the egg, and gently whisk with a fork. In the last bowl, add the breadcrumbs. Take each pork chop and first dredge in the flour mixture until fully covered, then into the egg mixture, and lastly into the breadcrumbs. I like to sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the pork and pat them into the chop, so the crust adheres to the egg mixture. Once both chops are completely breaded, gently place in the hot oil and fry until browned on each side(for my small chops it took 2 minutes on each side, if you have larger chops, it may take longer).

Once browned, place on a paper towel to absorb any extra oil, and allow to rest for 3-5 minutes. Serve this either with tonkatsu sauce, or in my case, I only had worcestershire sauce, which is equally as delicious. Serves 2.

Filipino Chicken Adobo

Alright people, here is my first recipe post. It's not a classic French recipe like Coq Au Vin or Boeuf Bourguignon, but it is something that hits home more than anything else in the world. One of the few dishes that brings me right back to when I was young would have to be my mom's Adobo, a classic Filipino dish. Chicken cooked slowly in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic... oh, how I can remember that smell just from the thought of it. It makes you want to eat the whole house because it smells so good.

So simple, yet so comforting.

I'm mainly posting this recipe for my little brother, John(you better be reading this, Bubba!!!) so that he can start making it for himself. Now that he's moved out of our parent's house, he's learning that it's a little more difficult to work all day and still have enough energy to put a decent dinner on the table. Well Bubba, this recipe couldn't be any easier.

Filipino Chicken Adobo

Adapted from my Momma :)

1 whole chicken, cut up, bone-in and skin-on(usually I only use dark meat, mainly chicken thighs, but you can do either)
1/2 to 1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Now, if you're in a rush, you could just throw all of the ingredients in a large pot(minus the vegetable oil), bring it to a boil, and then turn the heat down and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour. I've adapted it a teeny tiny bit by searing the chicken, which I think adds a little more depth of flavor.

Heat oil in a large pot on medium-high. Sear the pieces of chicken, skin-side down, until browned, about 5 minutes. Once browned, add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until chicken is fully cooked(and falling off the bone), about 45 minutes to an hour. Serve over rice.

Although I usually eat this just with rice, I wanted to make a more balanced recipe post... So, Bubba, get some veggies in there! The Adobo goes really well with Adobong Gulay, a Filipino eggplant dish.