I recently had a note from Brant asking the following question:  Is there any French cookbook that’s in the same vein as “The Joy of Cooking”?

Good question and thanks for asking Brant!

First off, I have to admit that I am not that familiar with  The Joy of Cooking.  Written by Irma S Rombauer and first published in 1931,  Joy of Cooking has gone through 9 editions and is considered by many to be the most popular American cookbook of all time.  That said, when I was growing up, the two cookbooks that my mom would always use were The Betty Crocker New Cookbook and The Lilly Wallace New American Cookbook. I still have my grandma’s much thumbed and annotated copy of the latter on my shelf here (see this earlier post).  However, for the purposes of this question, Joy of Cooking is THE bible of American home cooking (according to its publisher).

I have been told by French people who should know that Je sais cuisiner de Ginette Mathiot is, for French people, what Joy of Cooking is for Americans; a compendium of classic French home cooking but also filled with hints, shortcuts and general wisdom for the home cook. However, I am guessing that you are looking for a reliable, English-language book of  classic French dishes.  There are two that I go back to again and again, and that I consider must-haves for anyone serious about traditional regional French cooking.

Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cooking is my ablsolute favorite.  This cookbook, written just after the end of WWII, is a compendium of recipes, stories and observations from the time David spent traveling and living in France, Italy and Egypt.  I own the 1958 edition – it was originally called “French Country Cooking” –  as well as the significantly updated and expanded 1999 edition with a forward by Julie Child.  David’s recipes are reliable, aware of regional variations and imminently practical. Her stories, antidotes and asides make the book read like a novel.

Richard Olney’s Simple French Cooking is les novel and more textbook. Almost technical in his approach and insistence on authenticity, his recipes can seem a bit daunting in their complication  and the amount of time required.  But country cooking sometimes consists of a number of steps that traditionally were integrated into the flow of the work day. The finished dishes shine in their simplicity.  When I worked at Campagne restaurant in the 1990’s, “Simple French Cooking” was the go-to source when we wanted the definitive, authentic version of a recipe. The house copy was so much used that the binding had cracked and the pages falling out. It was held together with a fat orange rubber band.  One of the gifts I took with me when I left Campagne to open Le Pichet was this old copy, which I kept for many years in a manila envelope. I finally bought a new copy when I could no longer keep the pages in order.

There you have it Brant, hope that helps. And if you have a question, please let me know via the Comment tab on my posts.

On a recent warm evening, a storm passed through Orthez, with wind and beating rain.  We were snug inside but the cherry tomatoes took a hit;  the next morning I discovered a lot of green tomatoes on the ground around the plants.  My mom used to make pickled green tomatoes using the same recipe she used for dill pickles…Why not give it a try?   We have just harvested onions , so the smallest these will make a great addition, along with a few cloves of garlic and a sprig of dill.

Since this is a new process for me, I sought out a recipe in my Grand-mother’s cookbook, The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook, circa 1949.  When I say it was her cookbook, I mean that it was the ONLY cookbook she owned, her go-to for everything about the kitchen, stuffed with more than 3800 recipes and advice on everything from canning pears to pickling tongue to serving an elegant afternoon tea to how to make a Sidecar.  The copy she passed down to me is full of mark-ups and notes in my grandma’s hand and stuffed with other recipes and articles she gathered somewhere along the way.

It selected a recipe for “Mixed Pickles”, recipe 3627, which seemed to be going in the direction I was hoping for.  The only change I made was that I salted the vegetables and left them overnight, rather than leaving them in brine for 16 days as the recipe recommended.  After that, I packed the vegetables into a sterilized jar with spices and dill, then covered with a mix of 50/50 cider vinegar and white vinegar, then sealed the jar. Now I just need to wait for 4 weeks and see how they turn out.  I will provide the complete recipe once I have tasted and made corrections.

So it all started with a tajine that I saw at the local vide-grenier (vide grenier =”clear out the attic” = garage sale) to support the Calendretta, the local bi-lingual school, which teaches in French and Occitain.  A brand new Emile-Henry tagine, still in its original box, never been used!  Although my experience with cooking Moroccan cuisine is limited, I have always loved eating it and found the tradition and history that surrounds it very appealing. I have never owned a tajine, the quintessential Moroccan cooking vessel;  its peaked top is said to yield the most succulent slow simmered stews by causing all the steamy goodness to condense and drip back into the sauce. But I have always been intrigued to find out if it actually delivered a better result than just using a Dutch oven.  And here was my chance to give it a try. Admittedly, Emile-Henry is 100% French, so not authentically Moroccan, but still, lovely ceramics all the same.  After a bit of haggling, I walked home proudly with a beautiful tajine large enough to cook dinner for six.

Now followed a flurry of activity as I considered my options for the first dish to cook in my tajine.  I paged though the tajine recipes in my favorite Moroccan cookbook, “Cous Cous and Other Good Food from Morocco” by Paula Wolfert and was particularly interested in a recipe for a chicken tajine simmered with preserved lemons and green olives.  Sheila and I both agreed that this should be our first tajine effort.

Not having access to a North African grocery store in Orthez, I decided make preserved lemons myself.  We used to make them from time to time at Le Pichet and Café Presse.  The ingredients could not be simpler, the job is easy and the main requirement is the willingness to wait a month for them to finish.

Sheila also noted a recipe for lemon pickles in another favorite cookbook, Claudia Roden’s “A Book of Middle Eastern Food” so we decided to make both (note Claudia Roden is also the author of “Arabesque: a Taste of Morocco, Turkey and Lebanon” which is also very good, but my personal copy is currently on a steamer somewhere between Los Angeles and Bordeaux, with much of our personal belongings).

So what is the difference between Preserved Lemons and Lemon Pickles?  Preserved lemons are  salted whole, then left in the salt and their own juice for at least a month, until the lemon rind (which is the part that is used in recipes) has an intense, almost fermented flavor. Lemon pickles, which, according to Roden, are eaten as a condiment in the Middle East, are salted lemons slices that are packed with chili powder and neutral oil and left to cure. In both cases, use only organic lemons to avoid pesticides on the skin, and wash well before using.

Preserved lemons
1) Wash and scrub the lemons well, the split them 3/4 of the way through the long way in quarters so that they open like blossoms.  Sprinkle the inside heavily with course sea salt and then reshape the lemons.
2) Press that lemons tightly into a jar, pushing down firmly so that the juice begins to flow. Top each layer of lemons with a little more coarse sea salt. Continue adding lemons, pushing down, topping with salt, until the jar is filled.  The lemon juice should cover the lemons completely. If not, add more lemon juice to cover.
3) Seal the jar, then leave in a warm place for at least one month.

Lemon Pickles after Claudia Roden
1) Wash and scrub the lemons, then slice the short way about 1/4″ thick.  Salt liberally on both sides with course sea salt, then spread on a wire rack or in a colander. Leave overnight to allow to drain. Note the lemon juice that accumulates can be used for marinades and vinaigrettes, but be careful, it is salty!
2) Layer the lemon slices into a jar, pressing down gently, sprinkle each layer with a little ground chili powder. You can use whatever chili you like, depending on your tolerance for heat. Rodin calls for paprika, we used Piment d’Espelette, which yields a fairly mild pickle.
3) Cover the lemons with vegetable oil, such as sunflower or canola.  Spend the extra to buy cold pressed, organic oil, the flavor difference is very noticeable.
4)  Seal the jar and leave in a warm place for about 3 weeks.

Our lovely jars of lemons have been on the shelf for most of a month now, and we are very curious see how they turned out.  Then it is on to chicken tajine with preserved lemon and green olives!

What:  Book signing luncheon for Patricia Wells

When:  Wednesday November 20, 2013 at 12noon

Where:  The back room at Cafe Presse

We are thrilled and  honored to welcome Patricia Wells to Cafe Presse.  Patricia will be signing copies of her new book The French Kitchen Cookbook.  Chef Jim Drohman of Le Pichet and Cafe Presse will be preparing a luncheon buffet of dishes featured in Patricia’s new book.

This is a rare opportunity to meet a culinary icon!

This event is by reservation only and space is extremely limited.  The price is $60 which includes food, beverage and a copy of Patricia’s new book.  Tax and tip are not included.

Please call Cafe Presse at 206 709-7674 to reserve you place.

“Patricia Wells – journalist, author, and  cooking teacher – is an American who has lived in Paris since 1980.  Several of her books have received the James Beard and IACP awards, and most of them have been translated into several languages.  She is the only woman and only foreigner to serve as restaurant critic of a major French publication, the newsweekly L’Express.  From 1980 to 2007 she served as restaurant critic for the International Herald Tribune. Previously, she was a writer and editor for The Washington Post and The New York Times.

The French Kitchen Cookbook is about a way of life and a lifestyle of food and entertaining,” Patricia writes. “It is all about the joys of combining good food, good wine, and friends altogether around the table—an experience we can enjoy day in and day out, any time.”