What’s New

• Dandelions are everywhere right now. That wild flower has a bad rap (people work so hard to get them off their lawn!), but I think they’re pretty, especially in such great quantity. Also, they’re edible and even good for you: half a cup of leaves contain more calcium than a glass of milk! They’re also full of vitamins and iron. You can enjoy dandelion greens in salad, or cook them like you would spinach. If you feel like you want to try them, always make sure you pick some that were not sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, of course! Have you ever tasted dandelions? I haven’t but this article makes me feel adventurous (Pickled Dandelion Flower Buds sound fantastic!).

• We’re flying to Europe next week! E and I are leaving on a well deserved vacation together. Our trip starts in Venice, where we’ve rented an apartment located right by the Rialto Market. We’ll be sharing it with good friends of ours who love to cook and eat as much as we do, so I really look forward to grocery shopping daily at the Rialto, cooking with our friends in our adoptive Italian kitchen, drinking Spritz (our favorite Venetian drink) on sunny terraces, and getting lost in Venise’s narrow streets!

• On the second part of our trip, we’re flying over to Copenhagen. The more I read about that city, the more I look forward to be there. No, we didn’t manage to get a reservation at Noma; we’re on the waiting list, but Chef Redzepi recently tweeted that there can be as many as 1,200 names on that list, every day…! I think our chances to get in are nonexistent, but I have a long list of other amazing restaurants to try so we’ll be eating fantastic food for sure. Also, it may sound silly, but I can’t wait to have Smørrebrød in Danemark! To me, Copenhagen rhymes with innovative design, delicious food, beautiful people and gorgeous surroundings, so I can’t wait to be wander in such inspiring surroundings.

Worth Talking About

• Mastering leftovers: Most people dread leftovers, but I actually enjoy the challenge of transforming them into new dishes. This week, I mixed leftover tandoori chicken and chickpea curry together to make a soup so tasty I noted down a recipe to actually make it on purpose. I love when such ah-ha moments happen! Not convinced leftovers can be exciting? This Food 52 article provides tips to transform them into delicious new dishes, from soups to pizza.

• Do you know Chantelle Grady? She’s a talented photographer and blogger from Australia who now lives in Montreal. She’s a fairly new comer to the blogging scene, but she immediately got noticed with the gorgeous online magazine about Montreal she published early this year. This week, she launched a new site, Sourced Cities, which promises to provide inspiring guidance through the world’s most beautiful cities. The first issue is not released yet, but have a look at the blog for a taste of what’s to come: 10 Things to Do in Athens.
  

• Looking for interesting reads? Have a look at this list of links to James Beard Award-Winning Stories, or these 16 Awesome Under-the-Radar Food Magazines. 

Just Added to My “To-Make” List

Click on each picture for recipes and photo credits.

Have a great and delicious weekend!

Shortly after publishing the new Food Nouveau, I decided to fade out Just Recipes, the recipe blog I started a little more than a year ago. Now that the content is better organized and recipes are easily accessible on Food Nouveau, it feels more logical to put all of my energy and efforts into one single blog.

I know that many readers loved the easier recipes I posted on Just Recipes. They actually reflect what E and I eat on weeknights: delicious, flavorful recipes that are quick and easy to put together. They’re often Asian-inspired, sometimes vegetarian, always easy to make and always delicious. People love how-tos, but nobody wants to embark on such a lengthy project when they come back from work.

The recipes that I will publish on Thursdays are dishes that are on heavy rotation at my home, the ones we frequently come back to when the “What’s for dinner?” question pops up every night.

I’m kicking things off with risotto. WHAT – risotto on a weeknight? Yes. It’s totally doable. The only ingredients you have to prep before starting the cooking process are the first ones going in (shallots and celery), then while the risotto is cooking away, you can prepare the remaining ingredients and add them when required by the recipe. It very rarely takes me more than 30 minutes all in all to make risotto, and the process is kind of relaxing, actually. Just stir and watch one of the most satisfying weeknight meals you’ll ever make come together before your eyes.

To make sure I can whip up risotto whenever we feel like having one (it’s at the very top of our comfort foods list), I always keep Arborio rice, organic stock (frozen or in Tetra-Paks), and parmigiano-reggiano on hand. My base is always the same (shallots and celery softened in olive oil and butter) and I let myself be inspired by what’s in the fridge. Cauliflower? Add parmigiano-reggiano and chili flakes and you end up with a dish that rivals the mac & cheese in the world. Fresh corn? Throw in crab meat for a delicious, fresh summer meal.

This week, I had peas and shrimp in the freezer. Knowing that it’s a common flavor combination in risotto, I searched online for inspiration and liked the addition of saffron for a Spanish-inspired twist. Purists say that no cheese should go in seafood risottos, but the salty and briny nature of pecorino-romano pairs exceptionally well with shrimp. You can leave it out completely if you don’t have any on hand.

With that, I leave you with the recipe. Try making risotto on a week night – you’ll love it.

Shrimp & Pea Saffron-Infused Risotto

Serves 2

Ingredients

2¼ cups [560 ml] fish or seafood stock
1 tbsp [15 ml] extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp [15 ml] butter
2 shallots, chopped finely
1 celery stalk, chopped finely
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp [pinch] saffron threads
¾ cup [80 ml] arborio or other Italian risotto rice
¼ tsp [1.25 ml] salt
½ cup [125 ml] white wine
½ lb [225 g] peeled and deveined raw shrimp (16/20 count), chopped
½ cup [125 ml] frozen peas, thawed
1 tbsp [15 ml] grated lemon peel
1 tbsp [15 ml] freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about ½ lemon)
Freshly ground pepper to taste
½ cup [125 ml] pecorino-romano cheese, divided

Method

Bring stock to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cover and reduce the heat to a minimum, so it remains steaming, but not simmering.

Heat oil in a large, shallow, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat. Add shallots and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and saffron and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add rice and salt and stir to coat. Cook the rice until it looks translucent (the inner grain will remain opaque), a minute or two.

Stir the wine into the rice. Cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has been absorbed. Continue to cook on medium-low heat, adding hot stock in ½-cup [125 ml] increments, and stirring frequently after each addition, until most of the liquid is absorbed. With the last addition, stir in shrimp and peas. Stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed and the shrimp is just cooked through, about 4 minutes. The risotto is done when it looks creamy and just tender.

Remove from the heat. Stir in grated lemon peel, lemon juice, pepper and most of the pecorino-romano cheese, keeping a little just to sprinkle on top of each serving. Serve immediately in warm bowls, sprinkled with the remaining cheese.

Recipe Credit: Adapted from Eating Well Magazine.

Meet Sandra Harris, from Vancouver, Canada, who writes about living a creative life at RaincoastCottage.com. Sandra’s blog is filled with the discoveries and projects that inspire her – and will inspire you too, I’m sure. Here’s Whistler, in her own words.

My Edible City

Whistler, BC. I love the big city and all that it has to offer in terms of the arts and culture. In fact I visit NYC twice a year – once with my family and once on my own for the museums, theatre, galleries, restaurants and just walking around. But I also love getting away to the outdoors and doing something physical. I have my summer sports and my winter sports. My winter sport is snowboarding and I am lucky to live near one of the best spots for snowboarding in North America – Whistler, BC.

Being an international ski resort destination, there are world-class restaurants throughout the village. But the Whistler that I know, the Whistler that I experience is the one that I met years and years ago before the world discovered this wonderful place.

And that is what I love about Whistler – it’s an upscale, world-class resort and it’s also a low-key, small town. After a day of some of the best snowboarding anywhere you can choose which Whistler you want to experience – it’s all here.

My Favorite Dish

Cinnamon Buns. When fueling up for a day of snowboarding, I need my carbs. And nothing goes better with my morning cup of coffee than a cinnamon bun. Not any cinnamon bun but a cinnamon bun from Ciao Thyme Bistro. Like cookies and muffins and other baked goods, cinnamon buns SEEM like they would be easy to make but in fact they are easier to make poorly than to make well.

They need to be baked all the way through – ever bite into a cinnamon bun that was still yeasty and unbaked in the middle? They need to have just the right proportion of cinnamon and gooey goodness to bun. And for my taste, they need to have toasted pecans sprinkled on top. Icing? I can do without – it takes the sweetness quotient over the top.

And with this yummy cinnamon bun you need a piping hot mug of coffee. I do like my latte but with this tasty a cinnamon bun, it’s a filter coffee for me with milk. So when you are next in Whistler, stop by Ciao Thyme Bistro for a cinnamon bun but get there early before they are sold out!

Useful Links

• Whistler’s official tourism site
• Whistler hosted many sporting events and competitions during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Read all about it!
• Don’t make the mistake of thinking Whistler is only a winter destination! There are tons of amazing activities to do over the summer.
• Care to make your own Cinnamon Buns? Try this fabulous traditional recipe, or this quick yeast-free version.

Next Week on Edible Cities

Next week, Shaheen Peerbhai, a food blogger and aspiring chef currently studying at Paris’ prestigious Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, is taking us to Rome. Don’t miss it!

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Photo credits: All pictures by Sandra Harris.

Here’s a little tour of Food Nouveau’s new home:

• Top menu: Provides access to the site’s main sections.
• Destinations: A drop menu which allows you to browse my posts by city or country. These categories include city guides, restaurant reviews, and recipes that are truly anchored in a particular cuisine.
• Recipes: This menu provides easier access to the recipes, which were hard to find in my old blog layout. The drop-down menu contains links to the most popular categories (like How Tos, and All About Macarons) as well as general recipe categories which should make it easy to find culinary inspiration.
• About: New Q&A topics!
• Where am I going next? My past and future travel plans.
• Press: A list of my contributions to other projects or sites, and the publications in which Food Nouveau had been mentioned. (I’ve wanted to put this one together for so long!)
• Advertise: New venture! I’m now accepting sponsors and advertisers on Food Nouveau. Details here.

In the right-hand column, you’ll find:

• Links to my RSS feed and, of course, the social networks you know and love.
• A search box to quickly find what you’re looking for.
• Clearly marked “Sponsors” areas.
• A “Quick Links” column that provides access to more popular pages and categories, such as Edible Cities, conferences, and my favorite sites & blogs.

All in all, I hope I have succeeded in making the site feel lighter and less cluttered. If you previously linked back to a particular Food Nouveau page, those links should still be active since the structure of the site hasn’t changed. (If you stumble upon a broken link, please do let me know!)

In case you’re wondering which platform and theme I’m using: I’m still on WordPress.org, but this time I’ve created my own theme. I spent a lot of time looking for a theme that would be a perfect fit for my blog, but something was always bugging me (requiring hours of custom coding to modify it). I ended up figuring it would be easier and much more satisfying to just build my new site from scratch and I’m really proud of it. Being a graphic designer, I’m used to creating websites, but working for myself is always hard (I’m a tough client to please!).

So now, I’ll let you explore. I hope you like my new digs, it sure feels a lot like home to me.

This is an express version of Happy Fridays, because I’m very busy finalizing my new blog design. Actually, the design is done, but I’m tweaking each and every last detail to make sure everything will be perfect once my new blog goes from the staging process to being live on Foodnouveau.com. I’m really happy with the new look, and I hope you’ll be too. I should be able to go live over the weekend (most probably on Sunday), so come back to see what’s new!

On with one important announcement:

“Ripe” Giveaway Winner
The winner of a signed copy of Cheryl Sternman Rule’s “Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables” is: Mindi! Congratulations! I just emailed you to tell you the good news. Please reply with your mailing address so I can send you the beautiful book you just won!

Just Added to My “To-Make” List

This week, I felt inspired by Asian flavors. Here are three of the recipes that caught my eye this week. If you want to see more, have a look at my “Food on My “To-Make” List” Pinterest board.

Click on each picture for recipes and photo credits.

• Because I never can resist crab cakes {and the mayo-free sauce sounds especially great} : Asian crab cakes with avocado-wasabi sauce
• For a brunch with international flair: Vietnamese Eggs
• The perfect last-minute pantry dinner {I’d eat that every night} : Black Sesame Otsu Recipe

Have a great and delicious weekend!

Well, Quebec City has finally had its first major food event. Sure, there are a few tradeshows that take place every year, but we had yet to host a fully fledged conference with chefs, and demos, and tastings, and networking opportunities—and fun!

It was called FoodCamp Québec, and it all happened thanks to the determination of one of Québec’s foremost bloggers, Francis (Tranche de Pain). I truly admire people who stop wishing and start doing. I mean, I’ve been wishing for a conference to happen in Québec, like those I fly miles to attend, but truthfully, I never even thought of organizing one. Why not? Francis created the event he dreamed of attending (and he had never done anything like this before). I have to say, he and his team did a fantastic job. The events ran smoothly, the sessions were unique and interesting, the food was fantastic, and the crowd was delightful. I cannot begin to tell you how great it felt to spend the day with people who share this deep, overwhelming passion for food; chat with some of Quebec’s most influential chefs; and indulge in such flavorful local cuisine.

The event’s organizer, Francis Laplante.

FoodCamps are a relatively new type of conference. There have been some in Italy, a couple in France and another in Copenhagen, Denmark–organized by René Redzepi, no less. They evolved from the BarCamp concept, which is an “international network of user-generated conferences” (source: Wikipedia). BarCamps are about technologies and software development. The first one was held in Silicon Valley, California, in 2005, and it has evolved to become a worldwide phenomenon (with BarCamps having been held in over 350 cities worldwide since then). The format has now been used for a variety of other topics, including—you guessed it—food.

The goal of a FoodCamp is to gather chefs, artisans, and producers to highlight the cuisine of a particular region. In Denmark, Redzepi’s MAD FoodCamp celebrated the country’s seasons, harvests, and foods, which all together define what Nordic cuisine is. In Quebec City, seven of the province’s best chefs partnered with terroir producers and wine makers to create recipes they demonstrated on stage. There were also exhibitors who provided tastings, which we could enjoy during breaks.

Food conference attendees love cupcakes and cookies, of course.

It was a delicious and inspiring day, and I loved the opportunity to see where our chefs are heading in terms of flavors and techniques. Some of them love basic, comforting (but reinvented) dishes and classic techniques, while others steer toward the modernist movement. I noticed a growing popularity of the up-and-coming “Cuisine boréale,” which seems to be Quebec’s answer to Nordic Cuisine (using ingredients foraged from the province’s boreal forest).

Here are highlights from the conference. I’m already counting the days before next year’s edition, hoping it’ll last two days (with hands-on workshops on the second day!) One cannot be too demanding, right? I will, for sure, offer my help to Francis; I have a feeling that with this year’s success, he’ll need it.

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Chef François Blais / Bistro B, Quebec City
About Bistro B: A laid-back modern bistro with an ever-changing seasonal, terroir menu.
Cooking with: Émeu de Charlevoix and wine from Vignoble Ste-Pétronille.
We ate: Emu tartar (made with cranberry seed oil, shallots, raisins, dried cranberries and lemon juice) over a Mistelle jelly.

Chef Frédéric Laplante / La Tanière, Quebec City
About La Tanière: An institution located on the outskirts of Quebec City, the restaurant used to specialize in wild game, but has taken a turn towards the modernist movement in 2002. They now serve “avant-garde cuisine”, tasting menus with 10 to 20 courses that feature the very best local ingredients. They are amongst the leaders of the “Cuisine boréale” movement (the phrase is actually the restaurant’s tagline).
Cooking with: Hen from Domaine de Lavoye and wine from Vignoble Carone.
We ate (and drank): Hen liver mousse, dipped in cherry jelly (thanks to liquid nitrogen), and served with quinoa, endives and garlic powder. The wine was a surprisingly delicious Pinot Noir (a grape that is very rarely grown in Quebec).

La Tanière’s Chef Frédéric Laplante and partner-owner, Karen Therrien.

Playing around with liquid nitrogen.

Pastry Chef Sébastien Camus / Hôtel Château Laurier, Quebec City
About the performance: The chef plated six spectacular desserts made with blueberries and chocolate, accompanied by dubstep music and lighting effect. All of the desserts used the same basic components but they were organized differently to create each dessert. It was quite a mesmerizing and magical performance, unlike any cooking demonstration I had ever seen before.
We ate: A miniature dessert, featuring all the key components used by the chef (blueberries, crumble, chocolate and coulis).

A video of the performance (filmed with my iPhone). Pastry & dubstep! Who knew?

The performance ended with a giant blueberry (made out of sugar) sent floating over the stage.

Chef Camus assembled the desserts on a large, round, rotating glass surface (the music scratched when he turned it between each plating). 

One of the desserts, up close. 

Chef Danny St-Pierre / Restaurant Auguste, Sherbrooke
About Restaurant Auguste: Danny St-Pierre drove all the way from Restaurant Auguste in Sherbrooke (about 2.5 hours South of Quebec City, in the Eastern Townships). He has lots of fans in the online food community because he’s very active on Twitter – and because he’s funny and accessible. Auguste serves reinvented classics (including the famous “inverted poutine”), an effortless and comforting cuisine that I wish I’d get to enjoy more often (I’m sad Auguste is so far away from home!)
Cooking with: Chicken. The session was called “My friend the chicken”. Chef St-Pierre demonstrated how to make the most of a whole chicken and turn it into many different dishes: in an hour, he made a blanquette of chicken, a grilled breast with perfectly crispy skin, a pot-au-feu and a chicken cassoulet.
We ate: A to-die-for Kiev chicken croquette. The Kiev chicken mixture was frozen, cut into squares, dipped into egg and panko crumbs repeatedly and then fried, so that the exterior was very crisp but the interior was melted to its original state. The croquette exploded in savory deliciousness – it was one of the best surprises of the day.

Raw chicken on 20-feet screens, courtesy of Chef Danny St-Pierre.

Blanquette and cassoulet on the way.

Chef Phil Viens / Restaurant DNA, Montreal
Cooking with: ”Boreal terroir products” from Société Orignal
We ate: A “baloney” sandwich. Yes, you read that well! Of course, it was a gourmet version of the sausage, homemade with mustard seeds and a touch of spiciness. It was delicious and satisfying (I kind of hope they would commercialize it!)

Left: Chef Phil Viens of Restaurant DNA in Montréal, with a representative of Société Original.
Right: Chef Viens’ “Baloney” sandwich.

Chef Christian Lemelin / Toast! and SSS (Simple Snack Sympathique), Quebec City
About Toast! and SSS: Toast! is a gourmet restaurant housed in a boutique hotel, in the city’s most charming neighborhood, the Old Port. Their specialty is foie gras, and they just changed their menu to serve small dishes, which you can assemble to create your own tasting menu.
SSS, located a short walk away from Toast!, is a chic bistro that serves accessible but sophisticated dishes. It’s a popular spot to have an after-work happy hour or grab a late-night snack.
Cooking with: ”Boreal terroir products” from Société Orignal. Chef Lemelin also demonstrated how to make your own foie gras au torchon (cloth wrapped duck or goose liver), including how to devein and season the liver before wrapping it into cloth.
We ate: “Mauvaise herbe” goat cheese, cooked sous-vide in a water bath until warm but still holding its shape, then drizzled with Volte-Face sunflower oil and sprinkled with sunflower seeds.
Also: Moutain Alder-infused Panna Cotta (set with agar-agar) with an orange emulsion, candied pecans and an exceptional maple syrup, the “Chasse-Gardée”. This syrup is boiled to 72°C (instead of the usual 60°C), which means that more liters of maple sap are required to produce the same amount of syrup. It’s a gourmet version of maple syrup, probably the finest most of us in the room had ever tasted (and believe me, we know our maple syrup).

The FoodCamp’s host, Chef Marjorie Maltais, and Chef Christian Lemelin.

The cheese course, as plated by the chef, and as it was served to attendees.

The panna cotta, as plated by the chef, and as it was served to attendees.

Aren’t all those dishes making you hungry?

Meet Kait Kucy, a freelance lifestyle writer who lives in Calgary, Canada. Kait is a woman of many passions: food, fashion, travel, DIY projects and interior design are all topics that catch her attention and about which she cheerfully writes on her blog Yuppie Love. She’s a regular contributor to Calgary’s Swerve Magazine, Air Canada’s EnRoute Magazine, and many other online publications. Here’s Seattle, in her own words.

My Edible City

Seattle, Washington. Last August, my husband and I roadtripped to Seattle for the first time – a special trip marking our one year anniversary. While we had done plenty of research of where to go and what to eat, what we found was beyond our expectations. Seattle was a real treat for people like us who just love to eat and consume copious amounts of strong coffee. While every meal was breathtakingly delicious – from numerous scoops from Molly Moon Ice Cream, fabulously fresh sushi in the University District and the farmers markets that seemed to pop up on every corner – there was, of course, that one standout dish that is particularly memorable for me.

My Favorite Dish

Oysters. We ended our fifth amazing day with the most incredible, intoxicating, mind-blowing batch of MASSIVE oysters that I have ever eaten.  We saddled up to the tiny bar at Jack’s Fish Spot at Pike Place Market and ordered a dozen oysters and fish & chips. Oh, and of course, some Coca-Colas. Not only were the prices incredible (ie. cheap!) but the oysters were so intoxicating we were literally drunk off our stools at the fish shack. I definitely consider myself an oyster-junkie (which is certainly hard to deal with when living in between the mountains and the prairies in Calgary) but I have certainly never tasted any quite like these.

Useful Links

• More about Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market
• Frantic Foodie, the site that provides up-to-date info about Seattle’s food scene (see also the author’s book, Food Lover’s Guide to Seattle)
• A complete guide to oysters
• Video: How to Shuck Oysters
• Not sure you can stomach raw oysters? No worries, there are countless other ways to prepare them. See Saveur Magazine’s list of recipes to get you started.

Next Week on Edible Cities

Next week, Sandra Harris, a blogger from Vancouver, Canada, is taking us to Whistler. Don’t miss it!

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Photo credits: All pictures by Kait Kucy.

Last weekend, winter (and snow and freezing rain and tornado-like winds) came back to pay us a visit. When life gives you lemons? Make Lemon Meringue Pie!

What’s New

• Macarons are still very popular: Trend experts and countless articles have been calling the end of the macaron fad for a while now, but I see them as much more than a fad: they’ve been enjoyed in France for over 200 years! Most North Americans have just been introduced to the delicacy, which explains why they are currently so popular on this side of the ocean. In my own modest way, I can attest that people are far from being bored with macarons: this week, I was quite shocked to see that my Macaron How-To Video had reached 110,000 views! I had not visited my YouTube page for a while so this came as a complete surprise to me. The video and my technique are far from perfect, but I’m happy that it seems to help so many successfully making macarons. I don’t know about you, but I still love them. I think they are one of the most satisfying French confectionary to make at home.
• Redesigning my blog (finally!): I’m currently working on redesigning (or should I say, rebuilding) my blog from scratch. It’s still the same as I launched it over 2 years ago, and many things have been bugging me from day one. I finally managed to set aside some time to redesign it and the “new and improved” Food Nouveau should be online sometime next week. I’m very happy with this major change and I can’t wait to unveil my new site to all!
• A major food conference in Quebec City (finally!): Tomorrow is Quebec’s first-ever FoodCamp and I’m really excited about it! Over the last few years, I’ve travelled quite a bit to go find inspiration, meet fellow bloggers and learn about the food writing, photography and blogging worlds, so I can hardly believe an event is now happening in my hometown–it’s literally a 5-minute drive away from home! One of Quebec’s prominent bloggers, Francis (Tranche de Pain), is behind this ambitious event during which some of the city’s best chefs will demo their skills by cooking local terroir products. There will be inspiration, food, drinks, friends and fun, for sure. I’ll make sure and report back about the event so everyone can see what a dynamic food scene is growing over here (not just in Montreal!).

Worth Talking About

• Speaking of Montreal, here’s a list of 11 Things to Eat in Montreal Right Now, according to Food Republic. I don’t agree with the whole list, but there are good pointers in there. Maybe I should write up the “Things to Eat in Quebec Right Now” list next?
• While planning our upcoming trip to Copenhagen, I’ve read some fascinating articles about Nordic Cuisine, which I wanted to learn more about. Of course, many articles are about the über-famous Noma and its charismatic chef, René Redzepi. I found The Noma Effect particularly interesting, because it not only recounts a meal at the restaurant, but tells more about Redzepi’s story (with quotes from the chef himself) and his cooking philosophy. I also liked this video interview with Matthew Orlando, Noma’s current head chef.
• I love anything mini, so these miniature food sculptures made me smile. I want a bag of those mini pretzels!
• Is your ultimate life-goal to work less? What would you do if you were not working? Books that aim at teaching how to work shorter hours are huge best-sellers, but sometimes I think people should put their efforts into finding a way to work at what they love, instead of wishing they would stop working. This article, There’s Nothing Wrong With A 40-Hour Workweek, is an interesting read on the topic, and a great discussion is also unfolding in the comments section.

Just Added to My “To-Make” List

Click on each picture for recipes and photo credits.

• Lemon + maple syrup = bliss, I’m sure. I won’t wait for warmer days to come before making this Maple Lemonade.
• Who else can elevate the humble PB&J sandwich but Ruth Reichl? She makes it desirable and luscious. I eat PB&J toasts every morning, but this weekend, I may very well try a sandwich instead.
• As long as you have eggs in the fridge, you’ll never be hungry. That’s how much I love eggs anyway! Unfortunately, lots of people don’t know how to cook them right (I plead guilty!). Shauna, the Gluten-Free Girl, has fairly recently started publishing videos starring her Chef husband, and I especially love their eggs series. Learn how to poach an egg (a technique that frightens many) as well as how to cook eggs sunny side up or over easy.
• Speaking of eggs, adding one to rice fried with leftover vegetables is a delicious and quick weeknight dinner solution. In case you feel for fancier fried rice, here’s a recipe that should get you started: Nam Prik Pao Fried Rice with Shrimp and Pineapple.
• Creamy Panna Cotta. Balsamic strawberries. Need I say more? Didn’t think so.

Book Giveaway!

Enter now for a chance to win a signed copy of Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables! Giveaway runs until 5/04/2012 at 12:00 PM EST. DETAILS HERE.

Have a great and delicious weekend!

My RSS Reader is embarrassingly loaded. I have 1000+ unread items at any given time, but I can’t manage to edit the list of blogs I follow because I truly feel like I need to read all of them (even though I rarely have time to). When I feel desperately overwhelmed, I click the dreaded “Mark All as Read” button, which makes me feel awfully guilty (all that great content I missed!). But most of the time, when I have just 15 minutes to spare, I cherry-pick my favorite blogs and catch up.

One blog I always prioritize is Cheryl Sternman-Rule’s “5 Second Rule.“ What I love about Cheryl’s blog is that her posts are on the shorter side of things—so I can read many in a short amount of time—but her words pack a lot of punch. From one post to the next, she can be funny, serious, poetic, politicized, nostalgic, moving—most often in less than 500 words. I wish I could write half as well. In fact, she’s the kind of writer I’d like to become when I grow up professionally. But Cheryl isn’t only a great writer; she’s also a gifted recipe developer. Her food is simple and approachable, and her dramatic photography—colorful dishes contrasted against a black background—sets her apart.

All of these reasons explain why I was happy when I learned that she had a book on the way. I knew it would be unique, and I would love it. Ripe: a Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables was released at the end of last month. In her book, black is no more. Instead, her vegetarian dishes are set against a rainbow of colorful backgrounds, coordinated with the featured fruits and vegetables. Flipping through the pages of Ripe feels like walking through the best-stocked farmers’ market where everything is at its peak—or its ripest—all at once.

Cheryl credits photographer Paulette Phlipot with the original idea to create a book based on colors instead of seasons, courses, or cuisines. Phlipot’s work in Ripe truly brings the simple beauty of fruits and vegetables to the forefront. The recipes are categorized by colors and each produce item has its own full-page picture. The pictures of the dishes each deserve their own page too, with Phlipot’s macro photography showing off colors and textures in an in-your-face kind of way. It’s impossible not to become hungry while reading Ripe. The book literally provokes oohs and aahs, as I have been witness to since purposefully leaving it on my kitchen counter for all guests to see.

Fortunately, the recipes do live up to the book’s exuberant layout and pictures. I have already made around 10 dishes from the book, and they were all delightfully successful. At first (being the recipe addict that I am), I was disappointed to see just one recipe per fruit or vegetable presented in the book. Then I noticed the clever “Simple Uses” section, which presents three more suggested uses for each produce item. They are simple ingredients lists, without quantities, that provide quick flavor compatibility profiles to enable readers to start creating their own dishes, in a way that reminds me of The Flavor Bible. I love that this feature of the book helps me get more creative and independent in the kitchen—and inspires me to turn fruits or vegetables that I very rarely cook into stars of new dishes.

The book features a vast majority of savory dishes with many sweet options provided in the “Simple Uses” sections. Amongst the recipes I’ve tried so far, I love the Radicchio Salad with Tahini Lemon Drizzle (above), a simple and fresh salad that I jazzed up with grilled chicken strips and crunchy croutons (see link to the recipe in the “Interesting Links” section below).

The Radish Olive Crostini were a revelation: I would’ve never thought of topping buttery crostini with a combination of kalamata olives, radishes, thyme, and lemon zest—and the result is nothing short of amazing. It has become an instant classic; one I can’t wait to serve to friends over the summer.

Another truly great dish I tried is the Curried Red Onion Jam with Simple Dal. I’m a sucker for Indian food, so this recipe was at the very top of the ones I needed to try ASAP. The onion jam is a jewel that would be great in sandwiches or as a condiment with any Indian meal. The dal is made with red lentils simply combined with ginger, chile, and star anise that all cook together to produce a rich, porridge-like mixture with a taste that improves with age. In fact, it’s even better the next day, and the next, and the next! Because the recipe yielded a large quantity of dal, I enjoyed it many times without ever becoming bored with it. I served it with grilled chicken and roasted cauliflower, with sautéed shrimp, as well as topped with arugula and a poached egg. All dishes were fantastic, the dal becoming a chameleon-like flavor vessel, and the jam giving meaning to the whole thing.

Curried Red Onion Jam with Simple Dal two ways: on the left, with grilled chicken and roasted cauliflower; on the right, with a poached egg and arugula, lightly dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.

As you know, I’m not a vegetarian, and it’s important to note that this book should in no way be considered solely a book for vegetarians. In fact, Sternman-Rule is an omnivore, while Phlipot eats only fish. The book’s introduction says, “It’s not a health-focused prescription. It’s not an environmental screed.” It’s a celebration of the best nature gives us. I have effortlessly added (animal or vegetal) proteins to many of the recipes I tried because we wanted dishes that were a little more filling, and because this combination corresponds exactly to the way we like to eat: protein playing a supporting role to a plate full of tasty, creatively prepared produce.

There are over a dozen more recipes I flagged when I first flipped through the book, many of which I’ll have to wait for the right time in the season to try, such as Corn with Cilantro-Lime Salt, Green Beans with Smoky Pistachio Dust, and Blueberry Nutmeg Cake. I suspect these will be heavenly, but only when made with the best and freshest produce. It’s okay—perhaps it’s a good thing—that the seasons give me the opportunity to pace myself and make the novelty of this book last longer.

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About the book

• Title: Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables
• By Cheryl Sternman Rule (Author), Paulette Phlipot (Photographer)
• Hardcover, 312 pages, 75 recipes, about 150 photographs
• Publisher: Running Press
• Buy the book

Interesting links

• Recipes from the bookthat were published online:
  • Watercress Butter
  • Toasted Nori Edamame with Garlic-Chile Oil
  • Cucumber Halloumi Salad with Licorice Notes
  • Honeydew Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
  • Eggplant Romesco Rigatoni
  • Radicchio Salad with Tahini Lemon Drizzle
  • Spinach Smoked Gouda Frittata with Tomatoes
  • Avocado Tangerine Salsa
  • Kumquat Arugula Salad with Currant-Walnut Vinaigrette
  • Warm Fava Shallot Couscous
  • Carrot Soup with Garam Masala Cream
• A sample of “Simple Uses” for cherries, coconut, corn and watercress
• A chat with author Cheryl Sternman Rule in which she reveals what are her favorite recipes from the book
• A glowing review by The Wall Street Journal
• Another great write-up by Sarah Henry for Bay Area Bites

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WIN A SIGNED COPY OF RIPE: A FRESH, COLORFUL APPROACH TO FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
I had the chance to attend the book’s East coast launch in New York City, where Cheryl and Paulette were kind enough to sign a copy for one lucky reader to win. 

Note: The book wasn’t given to me for free; I just thought it looked so fantastic that I bought two copies, convinced it would make someone else deliciously happy.

To enter the giveaway (open to US/Canadian residents only):

• Comment on this post: Tell me what is your favorite fruit or vegetable, and what’s your favorite way to enjoy it and get an entry;
• Follow me on Twitter and get an additional entry;
• Follow me on Pinterest and get an additional entry;
• Become a fan of Food Nouveau on Facebook and get an additional entry;

*** VERY IMPORTANT! *** Leave a separate comment for EACH of your entries or only one entry will be counted. For example, leave your first comment about your fave fruit or vegetable, then add another comment to say “I follow you on Twitter”, another to say “I follow you on Pinterest”, etc. If you already follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and/or Facebook let me know as well, since this counts as an entry.

Also: Please make sure to provide your current email address (which won’t be visible on the blog) so I can reach you if you win.

I will randomly draw one lucky winner on Friday, May 4 at 12PM EST. 

Good luck to all!

Meet Lindsey Johnson, a food blogger who lives in Utah. She is also a regular contributor to MakeandTakes.com and her blog, Cafe Johnsonia, was named one of Babble.com’s Top 100 Mom Food Blogs of 2011. I met Lindsey early this year when she was hosting a vegetarian welcome dinner for the Alt Summit in Salt Lake City. Along with a blogger friend, she prepared wonderfully tasty dishes that left me wanting to print every recipe from her blog. I love that the food she makes showcases fresh produce in an array of beautiful flavors inspired by cuisines from all over the world. Here’s Bergen, Norway, in her own words.

My Edible City

Bergen, Norway. My grandfather is Norwegian. Before he died, he wanted to take my family to Norway to see the place where his father was born. My husband and I, along with my grandfather, my mother and my sisters, travelled to Norway for most of the month of August 2004. The second stop on our tour was Bergen.  I don’t know that I’ve ever loved a city as much as Bergen. It was beautiful. I called it the San Francisco of Norway! Our luggage has been lost in transit to Norway, so Bergen was also the place I found maternity clothes at H&M, and could finally change out of the dress I’d been wearing every day for a week!

My Favorite City

Bergen Fish Soup. Everything I ate in Norway was special and wonderful. There were wild strawberries and cloudberries we bought at Farmer’s Markets that were so juicy and full of flavor—and still warm from the sun. We ate fish and chips on the wharf and walked around the famous Bergen Fish (Fisketorget) and Farmer’s Market. My husband was brave enough to try smoked whale and all different kinds of roe. (I was a little queasy from my pregnancy and passed on trying those.) Norway, as one would suspect, has the best seafood of anywhere in the world. But the one dish I will always remember as my favorite, was the Bergensk Fiskesuppe (Bergen Fish Soup) I had at our hotel’s restaurant. It was creamy with julienned vegetables (carrots, leeks, celery) with all kinds of seafood in it. The shrimp and scallops were so tender they melted in my mouth. When I go back someday, that is the first thing I want to eat when I get there.

Useful Links

• More about Bergen, via Wikipedia
• About Bergen’s bryggen (Norwegian for “wharf”, illustrated above)
• A review of Bergen and its food, Life’s Better in Bergen, by the Naked Hungry Traveller
• A recipe to make Bergen Fish Soup, from the author of Scandilicious, Signe Johansen.

Next Week on Edible Cities

Next week, Kait Lucy, a lifestyle blogger from Calgary, Canada, is taking us to Seattle. Don’t miss it!

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Photo credits: Bergen picture and Lindsey’s portrait by Lindsey Johnson; Bergen fish soup by Saxyscorpio (via Flickr).