Monthly Archives: July 2011

Blue, white and red salad for Bastille Day

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It’s Bastille Day, and what’s more fitting than a salad in the colours of the French flag, blue, white and red. I was going to make one of the typical French dishes in sauce which didn’t seem to fit a summer’s day in the end, hence a salad of blueberries, chicory and tomatoes, in a raspberry vinaigrette. Perfect for a lazy picnic, like Katia and KylieMac’s on the esplanade of Les Invalides each year. Or the white picnic out at the Château de Versaillles, where the idea is that 10,000 people picnic wearing white. Not a good idea with raspberry vinaigrette!

It’s something to wake up on 14 juillet in Paris, to hear military planes droning overhead, seeing as planes cannot fly over Paris on other days of the year. Sometimes I wonder if it’s what it was like in wartime; the only time Bastille Day was not celebrated was for six years during the Second World War. Although it was a hundred years after the storming of the Bastille in 1789 that it started being celebrated annually, from 1880. (Funny, on a school trip to Paris when I was 13 I swear we visited the “Bastille prison”, but I know now that’s impossible as the place de la Bastille was created where it stood.Still no idea what we visited, but I remember Hollywood chewing gum, in Chlorophylle!)

If you’re waking up hearing the planes that means it’s after 10 and the Bastille Day military parade is underway. Climb out of bed and turn on the TV and you get the images that go with the noise. and see the soldiers from various international forces marching up the Champs Elysées in front of the President. This year the pompiers (firefighters) are honoured. Firefighters in a military parade? Yes, in France they’re military, and their training is as military as in any army. Tough. The pompiers are also the first on the scene in any accident, not the paramedics, as they’re also trained as paramedics.

Much more fun is a Bal des Pompiers, when the pompiers turn some fire stations into nightclubs for the evening of July 13 and sometimes the 14th. The bals serve as fundraisers, and the opportunity to admire a lot of fit pompiers. Like the pompiers dancing to Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ as a promo for their bal. (Be patient, you need to get past the intro.)

And after the lazing around, and maybe a walk along the Seine you end up near the Eiffel Tour to watch the annual 14 juillet fireworks, a half-an-hour of ear-pounding and an eye-dazzling explosion of colours over the Paris night sky. Tonight it’s happening from the Trocadero, opposite the Eiffel Tower at midnight French time (GMT+2), and you can watch it live from the special 14 juillet site. Or if you missed it, you should be able to watch it on replay. Alternatively you need to find someone lucky enough to have a balcony or terrace with a view of the Eiffel Tower, or head up to Montmartre and watch all the smaller fireworks displays that are set off in the suburbs of Paris.

So as it’s a day for lazing around, a simple salad seemed good. But how to make one in the colours of the French tricolor? (or the Stars and Stripes of Union Jack for that matter, although I wouldn’t attempt recreating it!) Changing my mind about what to make meant resorting to rummaging in the fridge, which turned up blueberries, chicory and tomatoes, plus raspberries for zing (they toned better with the blueberries but tomatoes are true red). The blueberries and raspberries take the edge of the slight bitterness of the chicory. I thought of using the white of a courgette too, but was tinged a bit too green.

Bonne fête nationale, as only we call it Bastille Day!

Blue, white, and red tricolour salad

Serves 2

For the salad:
– A handful of blueberries (small punnet)
– Two chicories
– 2 tomatoes
– A small punnet of raspberries

For the raspberry viniagrette:
– 2 tablespoons of raspberry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
– 4 tablespoons of good extra virgin oil
– Pinch of salt

Wash and slice the chicories crosswise.
Remove the pips from the tomatoes and finely dice them.
Mix together in a large bowl.
Sprinkle the blueberries over the top.
Crush the raspberries a little bit and mix with the salad.

Prepare the viniagrette buy mixing the ingredients together in a small jar, and shake.
Pour over the salad.

Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie

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And one last smoothie, this time from Cuisinart, for a final chance to win one of the two tickets they’re giving away to Food Blogger Connect…

And here’s the how, pretty much verbatim:
Create smoothie of your own, or make one by Cuisinart or from one of Anjum Anand’s books and post it on your blog and on the FoodBlogger Connect Facebook page by July 8, 2011 – Check

Talk about FBC11: Europe’s premier food blog conference that focuses on the art of blogging on food, with guest speakers from the food blogosphere or in food writing, plus food industry reps. – Check
Plus the fact that Cuisinart is enabling two lucky winners to have free entry to the full weekend conference including an opportunity to participate in the cooking demonstration with Celebrity Chef Anjum Anand. – Check

Link back to FBC, Anjum Anand’s and Cuisinart’s websites and Tweet your smoothie recipe to @bloggerconnect with ALL of the following hashtags: #Cuisinart #Anjumanand #FBC11 – Check

Each smoothie recipe posted separately counts as one entry. Then comment with your recipe link on the announcement post.

When browsing Cuisinart’s beverage recipes I realised that I had everything needed for a strawberry kiwi smoothie, so that’s become a Vitamin-C packed 5th smoothie in less than 48 hours (not intended).

Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie, by Cuisinart

– 150g frozen strawberries, partly thawed (about 10 fair sized strawberries)
– 1 kiwi, peeled, cut into eighths (I just scooped it out like a soft-boiled egg)
– 220ml cup fat free vanilla yogurt (mine was a pot of not so fat free yogurt)
– 220ml cup fat free milk (I used just 120ml of soya milk)
– 1 tbsp honey (I used Oak honey from Lebanon)

The Cuisinart istructions use a hand blender, but I gave it all a blast in a regular blender.

And it’s a very pretty pink! But not in the photo. Which is why I’m going to FBC…

Vanilla black and blue smoothie

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Smoothie epic part four.

Why? Because, if you’ve come straight to this post, Cuisinart are giving away two weekend tickets to Food Blogger Connect in August.

FBC was started pretty informally in 2009 and is growing each year. Well established bloggers, food writers and broadcasters are invited to speak about and their experience and know-how to newer food bloggers. This year there’s a photography workshop with Béatrice Peltre of La Tartine Gourmande, and a video cookery demonstration with Anjum Anand, who’s become a successful Indian TV chef. And who’s providing her equipment? Cuisinart! Who are also being incredibly generous in giving two people the chance to go, even if they’re going already. And an opportunity to take part in the video demonstration.

To qualify for the draw you have to come up with a smoothie, make one of Cuisinart‘s or one from Anjum Anand‘s books. Hence my marathon.
And then post it on your blog, plus tweet it and put it up on the FBC Facebook page, and go to the post that announced it and leave a comment.

Smoothies are somewhat addictive, and when you start looking there are so many combinations. I wanted to do one around vanilla, and then thought, why not blackcurrants. I can nibble away on summerfruits right off the stalk.

They remind me of summer on the farm I lived on up to the age of 10 when moved to a Big House. My mother lived quite The Good Life, raising chickens and ducks, and had a goat called Daisy that only she could milk. Anyone else who tried would find out that Daisy was a pretty good boxer! Mum also had a vegetable patch where peas and beans climbed up sticks, and we would sit among the leaves and eat the sweet juicy peas, right out of the pod. In another corner of the patch she grew raspberries and red- and blackcurrants (groseilles and cassis).

One of the things me and my  sister loved as kids was a blackcurrant ice cream mum made. A dense flavour that coated your mouth with lusciousness. So imagine our surprise when we asked her for the recipe as adults and she admitted it was some packet mix!

So how surprised and pleased was I that this smoothie turned out to be the closest in taste to that pud I think I’ve come across since then.

I also tossed in some blueberries (myrtilles), and even some blackberries (mûres) I’d found at the market. I wasn’t sure about the seasonality of them, but they are from France and they brought back another childhood memory from the same era of us stuffing ourselves with blackberries picked down on the old railway track of our little South Somerset village. Now not so little.

Vanilla black and blue smoothie

– 1 pot of vanilla yoghurt
– 125g punnet of blackberries
– 125g punnet of blackcurrants
– 50g blueberries
– 1 tbspn vanilla extract

Blitz the berries in a blender.
Add the yoghurt and blitz a bit more.
Mix in the vanilla extract.

Rose, white grape and litchi smoothie

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They do say things come in threes…

How much time have you spent smelling roses this spring? They don’t all smell the same, but some have so much waft, like the Ispahan, it’s heaven. But then they fade and frazzle in the summer heat.

I have a bit of an obsession with them at the moment, if they’re in syrup and preserve form at least. I seem to want everything to be rose-flavoured, let alone rose-tinted.

The first encounter I had with a sublime rose preserve was on a spoon in Lebanon at the beginning of May. Talk about heavenly mmmmmmness. And for once, rather than leave it as an ornament in the cupboard as I tend to do with precious ingredients, I’ve put my jar of pale pink petals encased in syrupy jelly to work pretty quick. It’s even featured in the first post.

So I couldn’t not use it in a smoothie for the Cuisinart Food Blogger Connect 2011 ticket giveaway. Cuisinart has been generous enough to provide not one but two people with the chance to have a ticket to the 2011 event this August, even if they’re already registered.

FBC is in its third year and will be welcoming food bloggers not just from the UK and Europe, but worldwide. Including me. I went blogless last year but went home with loads of tips, advice and ideas that have taken more than a year to shape into something.

Cuisinart is teaming up with celebrity chef Anjum Anand by providing the blenders and grill she’ll be using to give a video cookery demonstration, with an opportunity for someone to take part too. Plus another lucky person at the conference will take away a Cuisinart Elite 3.8l food processor.

And all you have to do is come up with as many smoothies as you want and post each one separately (yay!), or even make one of Cuisinart‘s or one of Anjum Anand‘s from one of her books. Plus Facebook it on FBC’s Facebook page, tweet it to @bloggerconnect #Cuisinart #Anjumanand #FBC11, and post the link in the comments of the giveaway post. Hope I haven’t forgotten anything…

Rose-tinted Smoothie

I’d use fresh litchies (or monkey balls as my nephew likes to call them) if they were in season, but it’s summer not Christmas so only tinned are available.
The grapes would be better peeled, but although I do actually have a grape peeler in my gadget collection, it is yet to be used.
And the result is a very pale green, with a hint of pink from the rose preserves, and incredibly refreshing.

– About 16 fresh litchies (peeled and stones removed) or 1 tin of litchies (to be frozen)
– About 40 white seedless grapes
– 2 tbspns Rose syrup
– 1 tbspn Rose preserve, for a bit of decoration
– A small glass of water

Freeze the litchies and for at least 4 hours before you want to use them.
Blitz the litchies and grapes in a blender, starting on the ice crush level.
Stir in a good 2 tbspns of rose syrup, and the glass of water.
Drape with a spoon of rose preserve.

Apricot, melon, lime and basil smoothie

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So, with the opportunity of multiple entries to the Cuisinart ticket giveaway to FBC 2011, one won’t do.

As you may be aware, Cuisinart are giving away two tickets to the Food Blogger Connect conference from 12-14 August in London. And if you’re not, let me fill you in.

Apart from being incredibly generous in allowing two people to go to FBC, Cuisinart is providing the small electrical appliances – blenders and grill – for TV chef Anjum Anand‘s video demonstration workshop at FBC 2011. Apparently the giveway gives the opportunity to take part in Anjum’s filmed cooking demonstration in the workshop too.

It’s the third FBC and the only European food blogging conference on blogging rather than cooking that I’m aware of and, with Anjum Anand‘s video workshop amongst others, it keeps getting bigger and better.

I should know, as I went last year, feeling naked as blogless.
The idea for this smoothie comes from an ad that’s been running on French TV recently for something that smells of Apricots and Basil (girl riding bike, falls off approaching a guy…her apricots fall out of her basket and mix with his basil…eyes meet…) and the fact that Pierre bought 8 Charentaise melons at the market the other day. Yes, 8. Pierre likes buying lots of fruit, especially if he gets a good deal (reasoning: “but it’s only two euros for three melons”. Yes but Pierre, there are only two of us!). Unbelievably he will eat at least two melons in a day, and then some.

Add a spritz of lime juice for some zing, and you’ve got a new super slick smoothie.

Sunshine smoothie

– 6 apricots
– Half a Charentaise melon, or other round melon, chopped into chunks and frozen in advance, or bought frozen
– 6 basil leaves (or frozen basil) plus some leaves for decoration
– Juice of one lime

Chop the melon into chunks, put it in a freezer bag and pop it in the freezer at least 4 hours before you want to make the smoothie.
Half the apricots and take the stones out.
When the melon is frozen, put it in a blender with the apricot halves and basil leaves and lime juice and whiz.
Add the lime juice, and half a glass of water if you like it more soupy.