tickle me tartare

 

No cooking, baking or kitchen needed to enjoy this fresh for summer dish. Steak tartare is the perfect appetizer for dinner parties or as a date night dare on the back porch with a bottle of wine. Trey and I enjoyed this simple, yet sophisticated supper with toasted rosemary potato bread, onions from my garden and all topped with a farm-fresh egg. If you like your meat pink, then tickle me tartare.

Steak Tartare

1 lb. high quality beef, diced

1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

2 Tbsps. parsley, minced

1 sweet bulb onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

Taste of salt

Taste of pepper

1 farm-fresh egg, yolk only

1. Freeze meat for 10-20 minutes to make the meat easier to chop.

2. Combine all ingredients, except egg. Use both hands or a shaper to form the shape of a ball.

3. Finish with yolk of egg in the center. Enjoy with toasted bread or crackers.

*Optional: Add capers as garnish.

 

pizza et vin

It’s Friday! Time for a carpool trip to Blockbuster for two or three overpriced VHS tapes starring Freddie Prinze Jr.,  some Nerds Rope Candy and my best girlfriends. I wish. Sigh for circa 1998. Netflix may have replaced Blockbuster and Ryan Gosling for Prinze, Jr., but nothing can replace pizza night. Carbs and cheese delivered right to your door. What more could a girl want? Wine. We always want wine. Enjoy a grown-up girl’s night in with the best pizza et vin guide and if you’re lucky, She’s All That streaming on Netflix. #LaneyForPromQueen

très chic et faim

Qu’est-ce qu’un bon livre?

#TGIF. The weekend is finally here. Enjoy the small taste of spring weather this Saturday by ordering your café au lait at Barnes & Noble so you can pick up a little Paris for the park. These are some of my favorite Parisian paperbacks that offer a unique marriage of fashion et food. Forget your library, de livres of love stories were written to be stored next to your Le Creuset or Louboutins.

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard

In Paris for a weekend visit, Elizabeth Bard sat down to lunch with a handsome Frenchman—and never went home again. Was it love at first sight? Or was it the way her knife slid effortlessly through her pavé au poivre, the steak’spink juices puddling into the buttery pepper sauce? LUNCH IN PARIS is a memoir about a young American woman caught up in two passionate love affairs—one with her new beau, Gwendal, the other with French cuisine.

Forever Chic: Frenchwomen’s Secrets for Timeless Beauty, Style, and Substance by Tish Jett

For any woman who last saw forty on her speedometer comes a sparkling new primer for aging—the French way—with grace and style. Frenchwomen of a certain age (over forty) are captivating and complex. They appear younger than their years and remain stylish throughout their lives. American-born journalist and blogger Tish Jett has lived among the French for years and has studied them and stalked them to learn their secrets. Exploring how their wardrobe, beauty, diet, and hair rituals evolve with time and how some aspects of their signature styles never change, Jett shows how Frenchwomen know their strengths, hide their weaknesses, and never talk about their fears, failures, or flaws. After all, in France, beauty, style, and charm have no expiration dates!

Paris, My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (and Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas

Forever a girl obsessed with all things French, sweet freak Amy Thomas landed a gig as rich as the purest dark chocolate: leave Manhattan for Paris to write ad copy for Louis Vuitton. Working on the Champs-Élysées, strolling the charming streets, and exploring the best patisseries and boulangeries, Amy marveled at the magnificence of the City of Light. Part love letter to Paris, part love letter to New York, and total devotion to all things sweet, PARIS, MY SWEET is a treasure map for anyone with a hunger for life.

Paris Street Style: A Guide to Effortless Chic by Isabelle Thomas and Frederique Veysset

One city always seems to win the award for most-wanted style—Paris, where people walking down the avenues mix timeless and trendy pieces in a way that appears effortless. French fashion writers Isabelle Thomas and Frédérique Veysset break down the “je ne sais quoi” of Paris street style, describing the essential elements that should be in everyone’s wardrobe. Starring both fashion icons and anonymous women met on the streets of Paris and richly illustrated with hand-drawn sketches and Veysset’s striking photographs, Paris Street Style is an inspirational fashion guide that will allow you, no matter where you are from, to cultivate an everyday style of timeless glamour, careless, easy chic—votre style français.

my heart beets for you

Happy Valentine’s Day to the #punniest guy I know. He’s the #pun for me.

He’s got a #pizza my heart forever.

I know that we are #mint to be.

I’d #soda like to call him mine.

because he is just #ripe for me.

Olive you.

LBD

Images from Williams-Sonoma clever Instagram Valentines 2014.

go for the gold

Let the Sochi games begin. With winter weather below freezing, cheering on #TeamUSA during Friday’s Opening Ceremony felt like we had a front row seat to the Winter Olympic Games. Trey and I warmed up with Ruby by our side, a bottle of another Team’s wine and my stovetop burning as bright as the Olympic Flame. Go for the gold with our Sochi Squash Soup, Medal-Winning Corn Muffins and Double Axel Chocolate-Crème Fraîche cookies. With a team of ingredients this good, there is sure to be no #SochiFail in your kitchen.

Butternut Squash Soup

4 c butternut squash, peeled and cubed

6 c chicken stock

2 Tbsp. EVOO

1/4 c heavy cream

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp.  cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1. In a large pot, saute onions and garlic in EVOO until tender. Add squash, stock, salt, pepper, cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until squash is tender to mash with a fork around 20-25 minutes.

2. With a slotted spoon, remove squash and puree. Mix squash puree, butter and cream in soup. Add a garnish of basil or rosemary.

Gluten Free Rosemary Maple Corn Muffins

1 c gluten free cornmeal
1 cup spelt flour (or regular ap flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
3/4 c unsweetened almond milk
1/2 c maple syrup
1/2 c canola oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon, stir together until just combined. Don’t overmix.

5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full, and bake 18-20 minutes.

6. Let them cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove them, and let them finish cooling on a wire rack.

Recipe from Love and Lemons.

Chocolate-Crème Fraîche Cookies

Cookie Ingredients:

16 oz. bittersweet chocolate
¼ c coconut flour or all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1½ c brown sugar
½ c unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons crème fraîche

Crème Fraîche Ingredients:

1 c heavy cream

2 Tbsp. greek, plain yogurt

1. Make crème fraîche 24 to 48 hours before. In a jar, combine cream and yogurt and let sit at room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 8 oz. chocolate in double boiler over stovetop. Let cool.

3. Whisk flour, baking power and salt in small bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat brown sugar and butter. In a small bowl, beat eggs then gradually pour in brown sugar and butter mix. Add crème fraîche and melted chocolate. Mix in dry ingredients and remaining 8 oz. chocolate chips. Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.

4. On parchment-lined baking sheets, roll dough in tablespoon-sized amounts, 2″ a part. Cook for 18-22 minutes.

Cookie recipe modified from Bon Appetit. 

life’s like a box of flaxseed

Bake your beau a little banana bread love this St. Valentine’s Day. No time for breakfast in bed on a Friday morning, so pack a healthy, sweet treat for the morning drive to work. Flaxseed and agave nectar may not be the sexiest gift for Feb.14 but sometimes love is more than a box of chocolates.

Paleo Carrot Banana Bread with Flaxseed

1 Banana, mashed

1/2 c carrots, shredded

2 c coconut flour, sifted

3 Tbsp. flaxseed

2/3 c agave nectar (substitute for 1 c white sugar)

1 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 c EVOO

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, flaxseed and cinnamon in large bowl. In separate bowl, whisk nectar, bananas, evoo and eggs. Mix with dry ingredients and fold in carrots.

2. Pour in greased loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes. Serve with fresh whipped butter or Melt Organic Butter.

salt and spice makes game day nice

Super bowl weekend is always more fun for the food and friends than the football. Especially this year with the ‘eh’ commercials (except the #bestbuds, so cute) and the almost blow out game. What was not a bust? Bruno Mars and my spicy homemade popcorn. Great for a game day snack and impressive to showoff in front of friends. Simple recipe, hundreds of ingredient variations and a savory reason to step away from the television.

Homemade Popcorn

1/4 c EVOO

1/2 c popcorn kernels

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. sesame seeds

1 tsp. table salt

1.  Heat EVOO in saucepan over medium-high heat. Drop one kernel in saucepan and cover.

2. Once the kernel pops, add the rest of the kernels to coat the bottom in an even layer. As kernels begin to pop, pour into separate bowl.

3. Add cayenne, cumin, sesame seeds and salt. Cover and shake well to cover all kernels. Serve warm.

Optional: Substitute spice for sweets. Melted chocolate, caramel sauce, shredded coconut, etc.

sugar-plums and snow

I’m dreaming of a pink Christmas

As I snuggle down in bed with Ruby on this Christmas Eve, dreaming of sugar-plums and snow, I can’t help but feel like my armoire represents my little Cottage Christmas. With un petit nativity from an antique shop in France to the array of perfume-filled bottles lined up in trays, my Mimi’s rose garden painting passed down to me watches over my collection of this-and-that. Hemingway and happiness are the last blessings I see as I close my eyes for Christmas. Joyeux noël, à toutes et à tous une bonne unit!

a few of my favorite things

#67 Work at a vineyard. #41 Go to the Olympics. #20 Read all works of Shakespeare. These are a few of my favorite things…that I want to complete on my bucket list. The entire list features 77 items that I would like to experience during the days of my life. #40 Taste a cloud. Might be one of the more whimsical adventures on my list, but these mint meringue macarons are pretty close to checking it off. Perfect for a holiday party or dusted in gold glitter for wedding favors, these melt-in-your-mouth delights have a touch of sugary romance that will make you want to whip up a dozen in all pastel palettes.

Mint Meringue Macarons

2 egg whites

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/8 tsp salt

 1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1/4 c sugar

1/2 confectioners’ sugar

Food Coloring

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and peppermint extract at low speed. Add both types of sugar in tablespoons at a time  while increasing the speed of the mixer as the meringue begins to form from soft peaks to stiff, glossy peaks.

2. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, drop the firm meringue with a large serving spoon and swirl at the top. Repeat to form cookies with remaining meringue. Bake for 60 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Once cooled, sandwich same-size cookies together for macarons with desired filling such as whipped cream or raspberry buttercream frosting,

pasta prelude

The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” -Henry Ward Beecher

A few days away from one of my favorite holidays. Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, National Dog Show and an entire day to spend in the kitchen with my family. As an only child, we have some unique traditions. A turkey breast to feed the three of us, cinnamon apple slices to prep our taste buds for the pumpkin pie and my daddy’s fruit salad that takes him the entire day to cut each piece of fruit perfectly. Before I head home for the holidays to feast on homecooked favs, I decided to do a semi-homemade version of a dish from my archives. Homemade Ravioli with Chardonnay Cream Sauce is still one of my favorite meals, but hard to execute after work. This recipe rewind features store-bought Buitoni Four Cheese Ravioli, found in the refrigerated section, homemade sauce and a finishing touch of basil to give your stovetop and stomach a rest before the big day! Joyeux Thanksgiving!

Semi-Homemade Ravioli Dish

1 package of pre made ravioli

2 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 sprigs of basil

Chardonnay Cream Sauce

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 c minced shallots
1 3/4 c dry chardonnay
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
3/4 c heavy cream
1/2 c of shredded Italian blend cheeses

 1. Cook ravioli as directed.

2. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, add butter and when foamy, add shallots and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the chardonnay, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cream and combine well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes; the mixture will thicken slightly. Add Italian blend cheese and stir to melt.

3. Pour over drained ravioli and coat well. Finish with Parmesan cheese and basil.