Recently, however, I started reading a bunch of cookbooks and remembered I wanted to check out this one: New Jersey girl meets Parisien man, moves to France, marries and settles in Paris. The book is lovely. It’s a fast read and the recipes are simple and straightforward. I really want to try out the Yogurt Cake as it looks easy enough for a novice baker like me. Elizabeth doesn’t use her own recipe though; she references one by Clotilde Dusoulier, author of “Chocolate & Zucchini” – in a complete coincidence, I checked out “Chocolate & Zucchini” from the library at the same time!

Rather than report the recipe here, I’m including a link to it on Clotilde’s blog: http://chocolateandzucchini.com/archives/2005/10/yogurt_cake.php

Before we went to Paris last year, I bought her other book, “Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris”. I also copied down the addendums from her website and took them with us. She provided great guidance to many of the boulangeries, pâtisseries and restaurants we went to!

Paris in April is such a cliché but I really wish I was there right now!

I first had this lovely, home-cooked, Provençal-style fish in France during our girls’ trip. If you recall, Kathi B and I got stuck in Paris 4 extra days due to the volcanic ash airport shutdown. We were able to stay the first two nights at a second Haven in Paris property (thanks, Erica!) then were gallantly rescued for the final two nights by our dear family friend, Stazcek.

A Pole by birth but a Frenchman in spirit, Stazcek took wonderful care of Kathi and me. The first meal he served was this lovely oven-roasted fish with potatoes, tomatoes and onions. He used a gorgeous whole fish (a dorade, I believe), then sliced potatoes, onions and tomatoes to cook around it. He drizzled olive oil over everything and added some dried fennel seed and a bit of fresh thyme. That was it!

Your roasting time will vary depending upon the size of the fish (in the photo below, I’ved used an ‘ok’ subsititute, Huachinga Snapper – about 1.25 lbs). I pre-cooked the potatoes in a bit of boiling water since our fish was smaller than Stazcek’s then roasted everything at 375 degrees for about 45-50 minutes.

In Paris, we drank a very chilled rosé from Provence (as we were approaching summer) but Paul chose instead a Reserve des Remparts from Saint-Emilion (95% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon) since we are approaching winter. It paired very nicely!

P.S. Do any of you have any fall or winter-ish fish dishes to share? We are trying to serve fish at least once a week and I’m running out of recipes!
 

The other olive oil, Premiere Pression Provence, is from a new store in Paris; I read about it on the hipparis blog and stopped in during one of our daily walks. (http://hipparis.com/2010/04/09/premiere-pression-provence-the-new-parisian-mecca-for-fine-olive-oil/)  These oils are very fruity and delicious. Sadly, we are on our last of the 3 bottles I bought.

The Poilâne grey sea salt bag was relatively heavy but I wanted to bring back a souvenir that would last longer than a 5+lb loaf of their famous bread (gone in record time). If you live nearby and want some for your own use, contact me… we have plenty! If you are a bread lover and find yourself in Paris, head over to the main Poilâne store in the 6th arrondisement – you won’t be sorry (especially if they have an open basket of crispy cookies to sample – seriously yummy!).

That’s all from Paris…à bientôt!

Here are the sweet souvenirs I picked up:

Thé du Hammam (Hammam Tea)
Inspired by a Turkish recipe using green tea, Thé du Hammam is a fruity blend reminiscent of fragrances used to perfume the hamman (bath house): roses, green dates, fruit and orange flower water and flower petals. Found at:

Les Palais des Thés
64, rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris
01 48 87 80 60

Poudre de Cacao Créole (Caribbean cocoa powder)
This hot chocolate powder is really delicious: a combination of cocoa powder, cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, and rum! Found at:

Cacao et Chocolat
36 rue Vieille du Temple
75004 Paris
01 42 71 50 06

Hot Chocolate spoons
These were so clever and beautifully packaged! I bought four so my boys could try two flavors each. The idea is that you stir the spoon in hot milk until you reach the desired strength of chocolate flavor. Found at:

Mococha
89 rue Mouffetard
75005 Paris
01 47 07 13 66

Tahitian Vanilla Beans (great price by the way) Found at:

G. Detou
58 rue Tiquetonne
75002 Paris
01 42 36 54 67

Miel de Lavande (Lavender honey) Found at:

Oliviers & Co
90 Rue Montorgueil
Paris
01 44 82 62 28

I can’t remember where I picked up the black cherry (cerise noir) jam but it was delicious, too. We served it on cream cheese and Levain bread at the sangria party.

I will go into a PAUL shop and order a simple cup of tea then stash about 10 sugar packets in my purse. I can’t help myself. My husband, Paul (!), is a wonderful barista on our Vibiemme machine and we love hosting monthly coffee mornings for our friends (breakfasts are the new dinner parties). Maybe it’s the Martha Stewart in me but I am tickled every time someone wants sugar in their cappuccino or latte and I get to haul out our ‘house’ sugar.

I especially love the clean, simple lines of the logo (of course, we have an official PAUL sugar cannister and bread bag). Kathi scored the last PAUL burlap shopping bag one morning and sadly every other store we visited was sold out. Oh well, I know at least one other person now shares my obsession with PAUL.

Before (and during) our Paris trip, I started following a really cool blog, http://hipparis.com/. It is run by Haven in Paris, the boutique rental agency we worked with (http://www.haveninparis.com/). By the way, if you go to Paris and want to rent an apartment, I cannot recommend Haven in Paris highly enough. Not only do Erica and her staff hand pick the most amazing apartments, they truly understand customer service. They were tremendously helpful when we got stuck due to the volcanic ash airport shutdown; Erica instantly tracked down an available property and offered it to us – giving us immediate peace of mind. And if I didn’t mention it in a previous post, the apartment we rented near Parc Monceau was incredible – spacious (really!) with understated, elegant decor and every consideration given to comfort. It was perfect for two girls looking for a haven…not that we mind the clutter that comes with husbands and sons, but stepping into a virtual magazine layout was pretty incredible!

Any-hoo, I especially enjoyed reading Maggie Battista’s ‘hipparis’ posts because she likes to eat as much as I do; I figured her advice would be well worth taking. Thank you, Maggie! Café des Musées was everything you said it would be and the pommes frites were, hands down, the best I’ve ever had in Paris. Kathi is not a potato eater and even she could not resist them! Kathi also tried my ‘chevre chaud’ salad and was immediately hooked. Here are the details in case you are in Paris:

Café des Musées
49, rue de Turenne (3rd)
Tél: 01 42 72 96 17

http://hipparis.com/2010/04/16/paris-foods-you-must-eat-part-1/

kathy

p.s. Did anyone celebrate Bastille Day today? I went to my client’s store in Woodside: Emily Joubert Home & Garden. You can see the pictures we posted on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emily-Joubert/101312312858

We walked over around 7pm to find the staff busily preparing for the night’s service. After ascertaining we did not have a reservation, the maitre d’ asked us to wait a few minutes while he determined what he could do. We stood there and watched them consult the reservation book, look around, then consult the book again. I was sure they were going to turn us down but, amazingly, they brought us to a very nice table in the center of the room. We split the entree (note that the fish in the photo is a half portion) and ordered a side of pommes frites. We asked for a wine suggestion and our lovely waiter recommended a white burgundy. It turned out to be a perfect compliment to the crispy, lemony fish. Kathi surprised me when she suggested we order dessert, she had totally embraced the spirit of Paris – eating well!

We had great fun over dinner, then took a taxi back to the apartment rather than walk (too far and too dark). On the way, our taxi driver asked about our evening. When we told him where we’d dined, he immediately said, “Mais, President Obama a juste mangé là!” (Apparently, President and Mrs. Obama had dined at La Fontaine de Mars during their recent visit to Paris). Funny, huh?

La Fontaine de Mars
129 Rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris, France
01 47 05 46 44

Subway: École Militaire

I was so inspired by this pairing, I created an ‘homage’ at this year’s sangria party. Raspberry sorbet with candied rose petals on top; you can find the (pictured) rose petals at Market Hall in Rockridge – http://rockridgemarkethall.com/. C’est Magnifique!

Bread & Roses is located just outside the Luxembourg Gardens (7 Rue de Fleurus, http://www.breadandroses.fr/) and it’s not so much a boulangerie as it is a hybrid French/Italian deli. You are just as likely to find Italian items on the shelves and menu as French ones. We didn’t sample them but these individual quiches looked amazing (note that they were photographed through a glass case). The desserts looked absolutely perfect – too perfect to eat, in fact, but I’m sure they were/are delicious. We had a lovely lunch there one afternoon and were so smitten, we returned for breakfast the next morning.

Spring was in full swing though it was still a bit chilly. Luckily, it got warmer every day we were there. Everywhere we went, the flowers were absolutely perfect. Almost as if they had just bloomed that day. I’ve never seen Paris look more lovely!

Let the season of giving begin!

kathy

P.S. If you want to view the article, please visit http://dirtandsunshine.com/about-the-author.html and click on the link to the SCENE article; FYI, the PDF file is BIG so it might take a minute or two to load!