Recipe: Egg White "Tortillas"

This is a great and easy recipe that is perfect for Mexican dishes calling for tortillas, such as enchiladas. They are also great for making omelettes or crepes. Experiment with different fillings like cheese and sautéed vegetables.

1 1/2 C egg whites
1/3 C heavy cream
Salt, Pepper
Olive oil

Whisk egg whites and cream, add some salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil in non-stick frying pan, on medium heat. Use a ladle to pour in enough of the egg white mixture to coat the pan in a thin layer. Cook until set, flip to cook other side. Fill and enjoy!


This recipe will make about 8 tortillas.
Inspired by the Primal Blueprint cookbook which you can get here.

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Recipe: The Best Fondue

Inspired by entertaining fondue outings last year in France and Switzerland, I decided to try to make this tasty and fun meal at home. It turns out to be very easy! This recipe can serve 6-8 people - perfect for a fondue party!

1 lb each: Gruyere, Emmental, Raclette cheeses (rinds removed, cut into chunks)
1/2 bottle white wine (dry French - could be a white Bordeaux)
Juice of 1 lemon - in a small bowl, mixed with 2 TB corn starch
Pepper, nutmeg - freshly ground
2 TB kirsch
2 TB creme fraiche
2 baguettes - sliced in rounds, then 1/4s

Boil wine in fondue pot, add cheese while mixing together. This step should be done over the stovetop. (Stir diagonally, not in a circle - to avoid creating a ball of cheese.) Add lemon juice mixture.

Add some pepper and nutmeg and stir. Add kirsch and stir. Stir in creme fraiche just at the end. Transfer the fondue pot to the table for serving.

Voila! Serve with a variety of cured sliced meats, sausages, cornichons, other pickled vegetables, and grape tomatoes. Bread will look great in a basket. Select a dry white French wine to accompany - have fun trying a few different types!

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Recipe: French Kir Cocktail

Kirs were our favorite thing to drink in Paris, when we were out at a cafe before dinner, people-watching and relaxing after a long day of walking around.

This is very easy to make at home! Normally a Kir would be made with Creme de Cassis from Dijon, and a chilled white wine from the Burgundy area. If you are not using a French wine, you can simply find a 100% Chardonnay. It is important to purchase a good bottle of Creme de Cassis though, and make sure it is from Dijon (not those big plastic bottled mixers that claim to be Creme de Cassis!)

We also discoverd that you can make a red wine Kir, using a chilled red wine from Burgundy, which would be a Pinot Noir grape. We had this as an aperatif "de la maison" at a delicious and old-fashioned fondue restaurant on the rue Mouffetard in Paris.

One other variation is a "Kir Royale", which is made in the same manner, only using Champagne as the wine!

-Glass of wine (Chardonnay, Champagne or Pinot Noir)
-Creme de Cassis

Pour about 1 tablespoon in the bottom of a glass. Fill with wine of your choice. Taste, and add more Creme de Cassis if needed, depending on how sweet you prefer.

 

Recipe: Cranberry Orange Relish

Make this tangy cranberry relish and serve it alongside traditional cranberries at Thanksgiving. Use year round as a condiment for sandwiches or on grilled chicken!

1 C sugar
Juice of 1 small lemon, or 1/2 large lemon
Several TB of water, as needed
1/2 large orange - juice, plus chop remaining pulp and peel finely
1 bag of fresh cranberries, chopped (be sure to remove any stems)
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
Handful chopped parsley

Place sugar, lemon juice and a couple tablespoons of water in a large pan, and cook on high until mixture is bubbling, and sugar turns a bit darker. Add orange juice and let cook (still on high) until peel becomes softer.

Add cranberries, and cook for a few minutes - they should still be firm. Turn off heat and mix in onion and parsley. Let sit until room temperature.

Culture: The Centre Pompidou Museum in Paris

A fun part of a day can be spent at the Centre Pompidou modern art museum centrally located just north of the Seine in the 4th district of Paris. The building itself is as interesting to see as the art inside, and there is a nice restaurant and outdoor cafe for hanging out, relaxing and feeling chic.

You can easily purchase a ticket to enter the museum on the ground floor, from one of the large red machines using your bank card, to avoid waiting in line. It is also possible to purchase a ticket for €3 that will not allow access to the galleries, but just to ride the escalators up to the top, where you will have a view over all of Paris! This is where the restaurant, Le Georges, is located as well - which looks so cool with its curvy metal seating booths, and pink chairs. Outdoors each table has a single long stemmed red rose, which in the design context adds to the feeling of being modern and chic.

Centre Pompidou

19 Rue Beaubourg  75004 Paris

01 44 78 47 99 - This number can also be used for booking dinner reservations at Le Georges

www.centrepompidou.fr 

Restaurant: Best Crepes in Paris at the Creperie de Josselin!

This is a wonderful place for all kinds of crepes in the Montparnesse area of Paris. I am sure you have tried a ham and cheese or Nutella crepe from a street vendor while walking around the streets, at some point on your visits. But how about coming in for an amazing instance of a crepe, in a sit-down restaurant, that is full of charm - with traditional decorations like lace covered lamps and dark wood paneling, along with really friendly staff.

This street has so many crepe restaurants! This is supposed to be the best one, and it was really good. The menu has so many flavor choices you probably never thought of, for both salty and sweet versions. I had a spinach and goat cheese version (after seeing it on the plate of the person at the next table), while my dining companion had a ham/cheese/mushroom version. We had a bottle of traditional French apple cider to accompany our crepes, which you drank from small bowl-like ceramic cups.

 

Creperie de Josselin

67 rue du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris

01 43 20 93 50