Allez donc voir: Ratatouille est content!

It was simple but very tasty! I just need to learn how to cook better looking poached eggs now… No problem for a rat cook, right?

So I looked up the recipe in my Basque cookbook (yes I have one!) and made this succulent stew of red beans, pork sausage, chorizo and blood sausage. Best the day after, and the day after and the day after but barely since it was all gone by then!

Notice the steam: coming right off the pot!

Isa loved it and kept saying:  “I love those simple country dishes, I am a simple peasant girl deep inside!”

First remedy: I bought fresh ground meat, Worcestershire sauce, onions, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, nacho-cheese flavored corn chips (well, she IS native of South of the Border, you know!) and buns.
She simply devoured the burgers when she came home from work that day!

Then we went on to look for different restaurants, and I found a series of places (2 restaurants, 1 brunch-like cafe’ and a store) all run by the same people… from Mexico!
Names are great: “La Panza es primero” (the stomach is first!) and “La barriga llena” (the full tummy!) , from an old Mexican saying “La barriga llena, corazon contento”. They have pretty decent food, though still missing the authentic touch (ingredients like fresh cilantro, and the right chilies make all the difference), but the places are very friendly, and overall the food is a very welcome change (see fun web sites for these places). Plus they made pretty good micheladas.

Last week, I was ready to make yet another original dish, that we never quite had here: a fish I thought, with some citrus sauce and steamed veggies “en papillote” (I like the technique and the word!)
Fish looked like this:

and the veggies like this (at first)…

Isabel loved it and so did I: the fish was very soft and tasty, with a great grapefruit flavor and the veggies like always with “papilotes” were perfectly tenders and flavorful (simply baked with a bit of butter, hint of lemon, and some herbs), served with butter-sauteed shrimps and muchrooms on the side. And it looked quite nice:

Best of all, the fish left overs were delicious in a broth of fish, with added mushrooms and pasta!

Voila! )

So I’ll post old favorites, to this date still my baking references (with the famous mango mousse I could make here relatively easily!).

Irenee’s cake was baked with lots of organic California strawberries and whipped cream (hand made of course!). Special cake that looked particularly good, especially the music note cookie, make of the cake crust leftovers, like you would a graham cracker crust!

The Mirra cake was made with layer sof chocolate ganache, nougat and Toblerone chocolate,  and a chocolate mousse layer too (if I recall well). Big hit at the soon-to-be-acquired party in Debbie’s backyard in San Jose!

Here’s my own version of Pad Thai, which was only missing lemongrass (if I recall well): things on the left are “presentation items”, you ignorant foodies! ) A shrimp, chili flakes and peanuts…

I made my first tortilla con patatas that rainy day I was alone at home. Didn’t turn out the way it is supposed to, but after flipping it over and seeing the color difference, I decided to present it like this. Next time I’ll try with 1/8th instead of quarters. )
Here with a glass of Spanish wine (Estola, maybe) and a sandwich of salsichia con tomates. (Good bread is hard to get, so we settled on Pan Gallego, in general: nice crusty bread from Galicia, originally).

That’s what you eat at CASA ANTON, in LERMA.
You come in, you seat, and they get you your leg of lamb! Very good… The owner is in love with Mexico and goes there every year: some pictures of precolombian sites, of some frames of the Virgin of the Guadalupe and the music all attest to his passion. (Read a testimony, in castillano).
Oh yes: the walls are covered with pictures of “famous” people, or not so much!

I’ve decided to start another blog to deal with my cooking experiences, ranging from hat I make at home (some things are to be laughed about…) to what I find here in Spain that is of culinary interest.

I’ll also add wine info when I encounter good sources or taste good wines!

Bon Appétit!

Arnaud