Welcome to Chez Didier

San Francisco DOs and DON'Ts

2009-01-03T09:54:00.010-05:00

We were surprised to find parts of San Francisco - Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf - more overrun with crowds and megastores than any city (New York, London, Barcelona, Paris) we'd ever visited. So for any crowd- and shopping-adverse friends and family who are thinking of a trip to San Francisco, here are our DOs and DON'Ts.

DO take a morning walk in the Yerba Buena Gardens before visiting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

If you buy a pair of earrings in the SFMOMA gift shop with the Visa gift card you received from your mother for Christmas, DON'T lose one on the return ferry from Sausalito.

DON'T drop $10 for two people to squeeze onto a cable car but DO take the city bus to Golden Gate Park for long walks in the Japanese Tea Garden and Botanical Garden.

And DO ride another city bus to the Mission District for a walk down Dolores Street. (Stop first at Chocolate on Castro for a coffee and selection of chocolate treats to get you up and down the hills.)

DO go to Y Ben House on Pacific Avenue for dim sum but DON'T visit the bathroom. DO consider a meal at the Hyde Street Bistro on Nob Hill but DON'T expect to be seated anywhere near the time of your reservation.

DON'T go to Fisherman's Wharf but DO go to the Embarcadero . . .

and take a commuter ferry to Tiburon or Sausalito

DO rent a car to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Muir Woods (and DO leave early so you DON'T have to park miles from the park entrance.)

Holidays (on a Budget)

2008-12-25T16:59:00.004-05:00

This year for Christmas Eve we skipped the oysters and duck breast - but still dined very well.

Gougères

Spinach and Mushrooms with Truffle Oil
(We bought the truffle oil at TJ Maxx)

Roast Beef with Dijon-Caper Sauce

And if after the holidays you pick up a deeply discounted turkey,

BEST TURKEY SOUP EVER

Bon Goût, Petit Prix

2008-12-10T08:56:00.020-05:00

We have not been posting many entries recently in part because while Chef Didier continues to cook up a storm, many of the recipes fall under "Depression Dining" - cheap meals (lentils seasoned with ham hocks and mustard, sauteed chicken livers and onions with red grapes) that really are delicious but don't photograph particularly well.

But what about company dining on a budget? Try these two suggestions:

Riesling Chicken

Quatre-Quart

á l'Orange

Didier's Quatre-Quart á l'Orange

For the cake:
Weigh two eggs
Then measure out the same weight in sugar, butter, and flour
1 tsp baking powder
Juice and zest of orange
Pinch of salt

For the sauce:
Juice of three oranges
5 oz powdered sugar

Soften butter in warm bowl
Mix butter with sugar and eggs, one at a time
Add pinch of salt
Add juice and zest of 1 orange
Add flour and baking powder sifted together and mix well

Pour in buttered and floured baking dish
Bake 40-45 minutes at 375

Mix juice of two oranges with powdered sugar
Pour over warm cake
Unmold cooled cake onto serving plate
Decorate with third orange, peeled and thinly sliced

A Veggie-French Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T09:00:00.015-05:00

Chefs Didier, Carrie, and Jonathan sit down to the first course.

(Photography and kitchen clean-up by Nancy)

Le Menu

Brioche (midday coffee break for our chefs)

Winter Squash Soup with Gruyère Crouton Get recipe

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cauliflower with Orange Get recipe

Mashed Red Potatoes with Wild Mushroom Gravy

Cranberries with Orange and Red Wine Sauce Recipe below

Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onion, Sea Salt, and Black Pepper Get recipe

Pumpkin and Brown Sugar Crème Brûlée Get recipe

Tarte Tatin

(Didier also made a papeton, or eggplant custard, but since we didn't save any room, it will be the star of tonight's Thanksgiving leftovers feast!)

Our chefs inspect the quality of the ingredients

Chef Carrie takes on the cauliflower

Didier says he'll play sous chef but here he appears to be acting as the chef de cuisine

If you must eat brussels sprouts and cauliflower, this is the way to do it!

Didier takes a serving of the delicious cranberry sauce by Chefs Carrie and Jonathan

Don't forget the crouton!

And now, about dessert ....

The finishing touch to the pumpkin and brown sugar crème brŭlée. (No professional kitchen is complete without a blowtorch.)

No fête would be complete without Chef Didier threatening to toss an offending dish into the poubelle. Here our guests intervene to save the tarte tatin.

Cranberry, Orange, and Red Wine Sauce

from The New Vegetarian Epicure

1 1/2 pounds fresh cranberries

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup water

grated zest of 1 orange

1/3 cup dry red wine

1 3/4 cups sugar (Carrie recommends 1 cup)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of cloves

Wash cranberries and pick them over, throwing any that are soft or discolored. Combine all ingredients in a large non-reactive pot and bring to boil, stirring with long-handled wooden spoon. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce is thick and glossy. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally to keep skin from forming on top. Enjoy!

Leftovers

2008-10-23T18:23:00.009-04:00

What can you do with the following leftovers:

pastry dough for a tarte tatin

one boiled chicken (left over from making stock)

two boiled carrots (also left from making stock)

add an onion and a cup of frozen peas

Voila!

Recipe for Chicken Pot Pie

It's Peak!

2008-10-12T15:52:00.010-04:00

The view from Mount Philo

Shelburne Farm hilltop

Apple-picking with Mom and Dad

Click for a recipe for Apple-Ginger Chutney (DEE-licious on pork chops!)

A Sunday afternoon walk at Shelburne Farm

A perfect ending to a perfect day

We'll always have ...

2008-09-20T17:52:00.004-04:00

During our last few days in Paris, we did not pause to take many pictures but will carry with us fond memories of the café at Place Colette, the evening of couscous and laughter with Miriam, Alain, and Gretchen, and the tour of The Cube digital art center with Carol-Ann.

And, of course, we'll always have Bofinger's ....

The Very Best of Arles

2008-09-20T16:25:00.015-04:00

The beautiful house Jean and Marie loaned to us

Outside the door, the first day

The view from the kitchen window

Lunchtime

Christianne who had everything prepared for our arrival and showed us the town

A statue marking a street corner

The Arles Photography Festival

The exhibit of "bad" wedding photography was especially good - funny, human, accidentally meaningful

The old railroad atelier, site for many of the exhibits

Day trips

On the train to Avignon

The Palais des Papes

Camargue beach in the morning

Marie and Didier at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

A Romanesque church on the way to St. Remy

St. Remy de Provence

Féria du Riz

Music and dancing in the streets

Corrida de toros

Time with Jean, Marie, and family

Dinner at Anne's

At Le Malarte during the rice festival....

...where the music - including brass marching band in the bar - was a bit loud!

Tourists in St. Remy

Merci beaucoup à nos amis et a la prochaine!

Bien Manger en Provence

2008-09-16T11:26:00.009-04:00

This blog hasn't been about food recently, but our week in Arles was all about eating well.

For petite déjeuner....

and cocktail snacks....

....we made many trips to the boulangerie at the end of the street

Saturday's market in Arles was the biggest we'd seen.

And if lunch from the market took a little work....

....it was worth it!

But while Didier's #1 food memory from Provence are the oysters from the market, mine are the four desserts Sébastien and Annabel served us....

Creme reglisse, rice pudding with raspberry and fig, creme caramel, and a rhubarb tart

with champagne, of course!

....and on the lighter side, Anne's delicious soupe au pistou.

Try this recipe for Soupe au Pistou

Nos Voyages en Panorama

2008-09-07T11:54:00.012-04:00

Chalon sur Saône in Bourgogne

Port Leucate, the last day of the August vacation

Chateau de Lara near Toulouse

Hauterive sur Tarn, a village reachable only by small boat

Ste Enimie in the Gorges due Tarn

The Valley du Tarn

French 101, Les Editions Grenade, Gaillac, et Villefranche de Rouergue

2008-09-07T03:45:00.015-04:00

En Famille

Au Marché

Les Travaux

Les Loisirs et Les Promenades

Paris Panorama

2008-08-23T03:06:00.014-04:00

We leave Paris this afternoon for Chalon sur Saone, but here are some parting images until we return in mid-September:

Ile de la Cité

The Louvre

Palais Royal

Memories of a Day in Paris

2008-08-22T03:22:00.008-04:00

Setting out from our apartment in Pigalle

An arcade, somewhere in Paris

Au Jardin du Luxembourg

Hot chocolate and pastries at Angelina's

The Eiffel Tower from Montmartre

The Louvre Pyramids

Nous Sommes Arrivés!

2008-08-21T03:35:00.008-04:00

We arrived in Paris without trouble, and thanks to Miriam's invigorating and informative tour of Paris - taking us from Montmartre/Pigalle to the Louvre and then across the Seine to St. Germain - we haven't felt a bit of jet lag: slept like babies last night and woke up at 8 this morning, just like vrai Parisians.

A sampling of pictures:

Be It Ever So Humble

2008-08-18T07:06:00.006-04:00

Didier has a new software program for making panoramas. Our house has never looked so good!

The best zucchini soup ever . . . .

2008-08-17T08:56:00.003-04:00

. . . is Chilled Zucchini Cumin Soup, which we enjoyed with Didier's old friends Marie and Jean before taking them to the airport for a trip out West and then home to France. Top the soup with plain yogurt and chopped basil: Parfait!

Summer Supper

2008-08-15T07:53:00.007-04:00

Grilled shrimp
Pasta with pesto

Chocolate zucchini cake

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside. With a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until they are smoothly blended. Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. With a spoon, stir in the vanilla, orange peel, and zucchini. Alternately stir the dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture. Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes!) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes; turn out on wire rack to cool.

Charlotte Idyll

2008-08-12T21:10:00.011-04:00

Didier, Mary Lou, and John wander the woods of Charlotte

in search of the elusive chanterelle

Recipe for Wild Mushroom, Haricot Vert, and Shallot Saute

A Birthday Greeting for Hannah

2008-08-10T12:49:00.001-04:00

Lunch with Brian

2008-08-07T10:19:00.003-04:00

Wild Alaskan salmon with dry rub grilled on a cedar plank

Greens from Brian and Pat's garden and tomatoes from Nancy's

And a good meal was had by all!

Recipes Worth Repeating

2008-08-07T09:54:00.015-04:00

Chicken with plum barbeque sauce

Recipe for Gingered-Plum Barbeque Sauce

Chocolate souffle

Recipe for Individual Chocolate Souffles

Garden Dialectics

2008-08-01T17:35:00.014-04:00

A living thing is at each moment itself and yet something else.
Frederick Engels, Anti-Dühring

Hot Peppers

Recipe for Pork Chops Scarpariello

Zucchini

Recipe for Zucchini Carpaccio

Green Beans
and
Tomatoes

Recipe for Grilled Tuna Salad Niçoise
(Didier says skip the potatoes - an American addition)

Like Riding a Bike

2008-07-27T12:50:00.022-04:00

Yesterday we found that Didier had regained enough of his balance to (for the first time in three years!) ride a bike. Though wobbly at first, he made quick progress, and we were able to bike to Oakledge and enjoy a late-afternoon swim in Lake Champlain - a chilly treat on a hot summer day.

Didier wasn't happy with last night's culinary creation, a curried chicken salad with raita (cucumber and minted, spiced yogurt) and roasted chickpeas: too many flavors not coming together.

But there could be no complaint about these "drunken berries," soaked in raspberry liquor! (Just add to 3/4 cups Chambord to berries an hour or more before serving.)

Warm Lentil Salad with Smoked Kielbasa

2008-07-24T19:02:00.003-04:00

Recipe for Warm Lentil Salad with Sausage

From the Garden

2008-07-21T20:53:00.022-04:00

Today's meals were all about the garden. For lunch Didier made a pizza topped with swiss chard (sauteed stems and leaves) I picked this morning. If you think you don't like swiss chard, try this pizza, also with onion and red bell peppers: Recipe for Majorcan Pizza.

For dinner we had an abundance of zucchini and so--voila!--flounder filets with basil wrapped in zucchini very thinly sliced with a mandoline accompanied by grilled-vegetable ratatouille brightened with basil and feta. Recipe for Grilled Ratatouille

Blame It on the Rain

2008-07-21T20:45:00.012-04:00

As it rained all day yesterday, canceling any summer outing plans, Didier made an "indoor clambake" with lobster, steamers, corn, smoked sausage, and red potatoes all bundled together in cheese cloth and steamed on the stove top. Add an egg and when it's hard-boiled, your clambake is done! Recipe for indoor clambake