I was hankering for spag bol the other day and didn't
order it because the menu description admitted to the
dreaded courgettes ... so I stumbled into a coq au vin
blanc that was the only bad, really bad dish, that I've
had in France this millennium.

You'd've done better with the dreaded courgettes... speaking of which, I

Assuming that the spag Bol was any decent, I'd have done
much better with the courgettes.

recently made a spicy ratatouille, which Richard declared Michael-hot...

Actually, Michael prefers his ratatouille on the mild
side and with not so much rat in it (nor zucchini). I'd
eat a spicy version but would have to classify it in my
head as something other than ratatouille.

I'd added some roasted Hatch chilies (which I'd put up for later, and
dug out of the freezer) to the batch... apparently 3 (the amount in the baggie) was about triple the amount I should have used... ;) Tasty,
but it made his tongue hurt, and mine tingle... :)

And Hatch chiles are not normally that hot.

Midweat Living

Is that meant to be MidweSt Living...? I noticed that it was MidweAt
for a succession of recipes appended.... But west made more sense...

And so it does. Those recipes were mostly silly
filler anyway but on the short side, so they could
be appended to long posts.

Ah. One just notices the oddities, ya know.. ;)

As my hands are variable in size, and I've always hated
this keyboard, more frequent typos are likely to be the
rule as my eyesight and proofreading deprove. I of course
typed in several recipes and used the same identifying tag
for them all, and the a and s keys are next to each other.

+

I think that it was supposed to have had more of the blue and cream
cheese adhering to the grapes on the inside of what were supposed to be rounder and larger balls.... ;) Some people like blue cheese, you
know... (G)

I alway said, that's fine, if you like the taste
of moldy old books.

Ummm.... I think this is more a case of taste buds differ... some people
like cilantro, some people think it tastes soapy; some people like
stevia, others taste the bitter component... and so forth... ;)

Funny thing is that I'm seeing more defense of blue cheese
than zucchini.

I got a chunk of Balderson 4 year Canadian Cheddar, and
as previous discussion revealed that most of us found
4 years to be the optimal age for Cheddar. This was
just barely sharp enough, no crystals though. It
disappeared in a trice.

It certainly did... I think I only had a couple slices of it... :)

I had only a tiny crumble (smidgen?).

Got distracted for too long...? Maybe it would have lasted longer had
there been more choices of cheeses to taste from...

Not that much cheese but plenty of butter and other dairy
stuff at this picnic. But with prudence coupled with a
diminishment of that old bugaboo lactose intolerance, I
used a minimum of pills. Good thing, as I'm currently on
the east coast and on my way to Australia before I get to
the west coast, where my pill supply resides (yeah, if
worse came to worst, Costco might get a visit).

Shipps had requested pumpernickel which you'd've been even less pleased with, but the closest thing I found was the swirl, which at least satisfied them... ;)

Satisfied me, too, as I wouldn't be inclined to eat either.

Worked out for everyone, then... ;)

Bread isn't my favorite; caraway isn't my favorite.
Things worked well.

Jams from Lydia - all were good
- sour cherry was pleasantly not too sweet, and I took a
jar but managed to forget it there;

I can get you a jar if you wish, and hold it until you finally visit...

Not necessary, and it looks like 2018 is filling rapidly
(more later in e-mail).

I'll be watching for that.....

- the Shipps and others really liked the strawberry rhubarb,
- and a peach preserve was very delicious, but I found the
texture kind of nubbly and strange. No doubt using it on
bread would smooth out that issue.

Lydia does make good jams... :)

Yep. Following her example I made some jam out of some
not-very-good mirabelle plums from the Tulle amrket.
This went quite well with salvage French toast made
for Lilli.

I'm sure that it was well appreciated, too... :)

The plum flavor was okay, but it was the starchy texture
(almost like American fruit) that was improved by cooking.
What I made was between a compote and a jam, so there was
a bit of fluid that could be used with the French toast.

Pain perdu
Categories: sweet, starch
yield: 1 batch

eggs
stale bread
oil
butter
sugar
chocolate, opt

This dish is very, very ancient and has delighted many
generations of hungry children. Made with slices of
stale bread soaked in milk and then coated in egg
beaten with sugar, then fried in butter, it is served
hot and crusty. Formerly devised not to waste bread,
pain perdu (French toast) was made with crusts and
leftover bread. Today, it is often made with brioche,
but that's a shame, because made this way it is a bit
gummy. Use a sturdy loaf, even black bread, which
works better.

The dish is also called "pain crotte" (crap bread),
"pain a la romaine" (Roman bread), "croutes dorees"
(golden crusts). In its simplest form - milk-soaked
bread fried in shallow oil and served with homey, it
appeared as "Aliter dulcia" at Trimalchio's table.

In Germany, it is called "Arme Ritter" (poor knight).

There are also savory versions with cheese and ham.

Soak stale bread in milk - not too much lest it fall
apart. Heat two parts butter to one part oil in a
frying pan big enough to hold all the slices in one
layer. Pass the bread through beaten egg, coating
both sides. Cook in the hot fat, turning once,
until browned on both sides.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar, or if you want to gild
the lily, grate a little chocolate over.

Accompany with your choice of compote, strawberries,
or other seasonal fruit, vanilla sauce, or whatever.

Source: Rene Gagnaux
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