Fava Bean Hummus

Still another way to enjoy fava beans during their (too short!) season. Thanks to my good friend Kelly Lillis for this recipe, which I first enjoyed at her home. This recipe works great for fava beans that have started to get starchy, save tender young favas for another use. The recipe is very quick and […]

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Still another way to enjoy fava beans during their (too short!) season. Thanks to my good friend Kelly Lillis for this recipe, which I first enjoyed at her home. This recipe works great for fava beans that have started to get starchy, save tender young favas for another use. The recipe is very quick and

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Just another Friday night in Orthez

Chez Cabaillou is a restaurant and bar just around the corner from our little house in Orthez, family run since 1935. At lunch, it bustles with locals enjoying their well prepared daily 3-course lunch menu – an crazy bargain at 16 euros. In the evening, the bar becomes a sort of working man’s hangout, where

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Chez Cabaillou is a restaurant and bar just around the corner from our little house in Orthez, family run since 1935. At lunch, it bustles with locals enjoying their well prepared daily 3-course lunch menu – an crazy bargain at 16 euros. In the evening, the bar becomes a sort of working man’s hangout, where

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Pork chipolatas sauteed with fava beans, fava leaves and green garlic.

When planting fava beans for ground cover and to add nutrients to poor soil, one tends to forget that, with very little work, you may end up with a whole bunch of fava beans. One of the beauties of favas is that, not only are the beans delicious, but the leaves and flowers are edible

Pork chipolatas sauteed with fava beans, fava leaves and green garlic. Read More »

Slide 1

When planting fava beans for ground cover and to add nutrients to poor soil, one tends to forget that, with very little work, you may end up with a whole bunch of fava beans. One of the beauties of favas is that, not only are the beans delicious, but the leaves and flowers are edible

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Restaurant Le Socowa, Ciboure France

Literally across the street from the Bay of Biscay, Le Socowa is the  French version of a beach front fish shack. With that in mind, you would expect that organization would not be a strong point, which it is not:  they almost never answer the phone if you call for a reservation and as far

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Slide 1

Literally across the street from the Bay of Biscay, Le Socowa is the  French version of a beach front fish shack. With that in mind, you would expect that organization would not be a strong point, which it is not:  they almost never answer the phone if you call for a reservation and as far

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Farm Chicken

One of the difficulties of translating French recipes for the American kitchen is that many of the ingredients are just not the same in France as in America. This difference in ingredients can often mean that getting good results using a French recipe can require a lot of modifications in measurements, timing and techniques. Take,

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Slide 1

One of the difficulties of translating French recipes for the American kitchen is that many of the ingredients are just not the same in France as in America. This difference in ingredients can often mean that getting good results using a French recipe can require a lot of modifications in measurements, timing and techniques. Take,

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Spring lamb sweetbreads with cream and leeks

Living need the Pyrenees, where sheep’s milk cheese is king, inevitably means spring lamb.  Ewes need to have lambs to continue producing milk, and the male lambs are of very little use on a dairy farm. Thus in the spring, when they are between 30 and 50 days old, the male lambs are culled from

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Slide 1

Living need the Pyrenees, where sheep’s milk cheese is king, inevitably means spring lamb.  Ewes need to have lambs to continue producing milk, and the male lambs are of very little use on a dairy farm. Thus in the spring, when they are between 30 and 50 days old, the male lambs are culled from

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Chez Mattin, still great!

The last time I had the good fortune to dine at Chez Mattin in Ciboure was pre-covid.  This family-run Basque restaurants has been consistently one of my favorites for years, see my recommendation from 2013! But a lot changed during covid, and many wonderful restaurants have either not opened or never re-found their pre-covid form,

Chez Mattin, still great! Read More »

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The last time I had the good fortune to dine at Chez Mattin in Ciboure was pre-covid.  This family-run Basque restaurants has been consistently one of my favorites for years, see my recommendation from 2013! But a lot changed during covid, and many wonderful restaurants have either not opened or never re-found their pre-covid form,

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Preserved and pickled lemons

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

Preserved and pickled lemons Read More »

Slide 1

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

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Farm butter

Purchased this Tuesday at the farmer’s market in Orthez:  organic butter from the farm Leit de Brunas.  In Béarnais, the name means “milk from the Brunes”, which is fitting for this family-run farm located south of Pau that raises the Brunes des Alps breed of dairy cows.  In addition to butter, their tiny stand in

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Purchased this Tuesday at the farmer’s market in Orthez:  organic butter from the farm Leit de Brunas.  In Béarnais, the name means “milk from the Brunes”, which is fitting for this family-run farm located south of Pau that raises the Brunes des Alps breed of dairy cows.  In addition to butter, their tiny stand in

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