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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 13:09:57 GMT
The recent references to the heat in the various corners of the globe suggests we might ease one another's discomfort however briefly, with the sharing of suggestions for what to prepare(or not) when it's too hot to cook. Tomatoes and cucumber salads,cold chicken and a variety of other cold meats,fresh melon in season and a plethora of cheeses are my mainstay a good part of the hot season here. And always,a container of yogurt.
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Post by happytraveller on Aug 20, 2009 13:25:53 GMT
Cheese, tomatoes, fresh bread and a bottle of rose would make me quite happy right now.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 14:13:44 GMT
One of the more interesting salad type dishes I had of late was a watermelon,tomato,onion,feta cheese ,black olive,teensy bit of basil and a dousing of champagne or apple cider vinegar melange. I didn't think somehow I would like and was pleasantly surprised by the fusion of textures and flavors. I will definitely make this for us sometime soon.
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 20, 2009 14:37:33 GMT
The temperature is 34 today but it is Mrs Faz's night for cooking: chicken curry, moong dhal pancakes, courgette curry, a couple of side dishes.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 17:12:39 GMT
The temperature has dropped in Paris. Otherwise I might have considered a salad of prawns, grapefruit sections and dill.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 20, 2009 20:37:10 GMT
Wonderful fresh San Marzano type tomatoes, olive oil, some crusty country-style bread a baker friend JUST BROUGHT ME AS A SURPRISE, cheese. That's about it; I don't feel like making a big meal.
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 20, 2009 20:43:47 GMT
Threadjacking... Yesterday our car broke down (clutch gave out) and we were stuck down a side road. It was lunchtime going on into the afternoon before we were rescued. We were 12 kms from Gaillac, the hottest place in France yesterday: 41. Yes, it was hot.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 20, 2009 20:49:15 GMT
What fantastic kindness, Lagatta! I can't imagine anything nicer than getting a treat like that to elevate a plain hot weather meal into something more delicious.
Since I always use olive oil in place of butter, I can generally press leftover vegetables or pasta into service as salad ingredients when I don't want to cook. Sometimes I like them better that way than in their original forms.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 21, 2009 15:05:47 GMT
Yes, the bread is delicious - it is organic, sifted (not bleached) flour. So about the colour of Poïlane bread if anyone knows that from Paris. Great crust. He is an excellent baker, though nowadays he is working at something else. He had opened a little boulangerie (remember that in French, "boulanger" and "pâtissier" are different professions) with a friend, though eventually this soured their friendship and the business. He has a little inheritance and would like to eventually get back into breadmaking.
I always use olive oil as well, and thus leftovers such as pasta or green beans make fine cold dishes. So do grilled aubergines/egglplants and sweet peppers.
I was able to thank my friend by giving him the huge cast-iron frying pan I bought at a charity bazaar and never use (it is very heavy, but a wonder). He said he'd use it for bread as well as paella etc. (I do have a paella pan). It would make excellent cornbread, of a Southern or Southwestern US type.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2009 16:36:15 GMT
Threadjacking... Yesterday our car broke down (clutch gave out) and we were stuck down a side road. It was lunchtime going on into the afternoon before we were rescued. We were 12 kms from Gaillac, the hottest place in France yesterday: 41. Yes, it was hot. Perhaps you could have fried some eggs on the roof of your car while you were waiting, Baz.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 21, 2009 16:41:11 GMT
... He had opened a little boulangerie (remember that in French, "boulanger" and "pâtissier" are different professions) with a friend, though eventually this soured their friendship and the business. He has a little inheritance and would like to eventually get back into breadmaking. .... When life gives you bad partnerships ......... make sourdough! I have one of those monster iron skillets. What I like about it is that it affords a large heavy expanse for sauteing.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 21, 2009 16:48:49 GMT
But you look so dainty! You must have arms of steel to lift that!
I have a wok for sautéeing. It is carbon steel so had to be seasoned like cast iron, but it is much lighter.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2009 16:49:36 GMT
My family had such great cast iron skillets, Dutch ovens and other such items. But there were too many moves back and forth across the Atlantic, so everything got left behind somewhere sooner or later. Old fashioned cast iron friteuses were fantastic. Even though my grandmother only used them for french fries, my mother later adapted them for delicious fried chicken and fried shrimp. This recent version looks extremely flimsy to me, but it gives you an idea of how good they could be.
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 21, 2009 17:30:34 GMT
Threadjacking... Yesterday our car broke down (clutch gave out) and we were stuck down a side road. It was lunchtime going on into the afternoon before we were rescued. We were 12 kms from Gaillac, the hottest place in France yesterday: 41. Yes, it was hot. Perhaps you could have fried some eggs on the roof of your car while you were waiting, Baz. If we had had some eggs we could have fried eggs and bacon if we had had some bacon.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 21, 2009 17:50:39 GMT
But you look so dainty! You must have arms of steel to lift that! *SNORK* LaGatta, I'm 5'6" with bones of lead pipe and the shoulders of a linebacker and rather pride myself on my strength!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2014 19:55:45 GMT
I've been making a lot of cold soups lately, gazpacho and a cucumber/dill soup which has to be one of my favorites. Fresh salads with local fruit. Blueberry ice cream and today I had enough figs to make 2 batches of fig ice cream. Also, lots of cheeses and good crispy fresh French bread. And, grilling, meats, seafood, and fruits. Very little use of the oven or stovetop.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2014 17:38:27 GMT
Although there are some days that I do not go near the stove and have meals of cantaloupes and cucumbers and cold cuts or whatever, there are other times that hot weather pushes me to cooking spicy food to reach a paroxysm of something or other. This of course requires having unlimited quantities of liquid refreshment on hand and the acceptance of fire in the toilet the next morning.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2014 18:00:11 GMT
Yesterday, I had an episode (I'm sure it was dehydration and a lack of sleep from the previous night, where I became woozy and disoriented, unsteady, vertigo like...). I had been outside in the intense heat for several hours and came inside and collapsed. I awoke with a voracious appetite, and so my husband, bless his heart, prepared a perfect summer lunch. Grilled boudin, served with crunchy fresh French bread and Creole mustard, marinated beets and Bermuda onion with some feta cheese, fresh figs just plucked from our tree doused with a Marsala wine. It revived me and sated me, accompanied by the volumes of Pelligrino water accompanying the fabulous meal. This is classic summertime fare for here.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2014 19:10:41 GMT
Sounds delicious, casi.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 9, 2014 0:27:33 GMT
Yes, that does sound wonderful. And I do prefer San Pelligrino to Perrier, though I also like some high calcium and magnesium water like the German Gerolsteiner and Romanian Borsec. Either as is, or mixed half and half with some rather ordinary white wine. Perhaps a spritz of lemon or lime. (Obviously your home-grown ones are better).
I think your boudin is different from ours, which is definitely a more winter dish.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 14:36:06 GMT
yes, our boudin is quite different than the boudin in other regions. Still, yummy.
I am trying to get rid of alot of the fruit we have in the refrigerator before going on holiday. Anything we don't use will go to a neighbor.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2015 13:41:44 GMT
With heat indexes 104F and up we have done very little in the way of cooking. The occasional omelet but certainly no use of the oven.
Yesterday I made a huge batch of pesto and another huge batch of gazpacho. I will go the farmer's market this morning and purchase my usual batch of cheeses, breads, and some eggplant to put on the outdoor grill later in the afternoon.
This hot weather doesn't induce much of an appetite for me. Lots of small meals and nibbling.
I will make up for it when in NY next month.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 16, 2015 2:39:07 GMT
I bought a bit of not so wonderful fresh salmon a couple of days ago (Chum or something like that, cheap). I sautéed half of the small pieces I had, and left the rest in the lemon marinade. Just poached that this evening. Quite good. I didn't eat the marinade softened skin, but someone else did. And purred.
I've cooked and non-cooked up a storm. Blanched Vlita (a Greek variety of amaranth), salsa, a base of onion, tomato, pepper (poivron) and herbs to cook frozen cod in.
bixa, is it hard to find olive oil in Mexico?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2016 22:15:30 GMT
Unbearably hot the last few days (actually, all summer). I guess I just expect it to be a tad cooler by now.
Anyway, I found some gazpacho in the freezer and bought some beautiful large shrimp which I will boil and make a Remoulade sauce for. Some brie and cold salami, and a nice crispy baguette. A nice chilled Pinot Grigio. That should do it.
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Post by rikita on Sept 21, 2016 11:34:48 GMT
well, at least the cold chicken mentioned in the OP has to have been cooked at some point, doesn't it?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2016 16:38:21 GMT
That was quite number of years ago Rikita (2009) but, more than likely, in fact I'm fairly sure that we bought a rotisserie chicken from a local market, which we continue to do on a fairly regular basis.
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Post by rikita on Sept 21, 2016 22:39:12 GMT
i suppose more in general heated then, not necessarily cooked in the sense of cooked iwth water in a pot ... but raw cold chicken would not sound that appetizing ... (planning on rotisserie chicken for friday btw, been craving it for days, and i won't have time to cook then).
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2018 19:07:02 GMT
I went to the supermarket early this a.m. and bought a nice sized (2lb.) portion of smoked salmon and then whipped up a wonderful tahini sauce in the blender with lemon juice, serrano chiles, fresh garlic, grated fresh ginger, olive oil and some parsley. A pinch of salt.
It was a take off of a dish I had for lunch with my brother while I was in NY and I really think mine was better.
Some sliced fresh tomatoes with basil and a light vinaigrette and some French bread.
A perfect too hot to cook lunch.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 19, 2018 21:04:35 GMT
I've been craving smoked salmon but these days it is expensive and I don't see any on sale. I have the most wonderful dark rye bread with sunflower seeds and want to make the open-faced sandwiches found in northern European countries. I don't mean I don't have the $$ to buy any, but it just seems suddenly overpriced. And I can't seem to find a fishmonger nearby that sells scraps of fish to make a fish stew/soup, one thing I often crave. My best place shut down.
This post should go in the petty peeves thread!
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Post by casimira on Jul 24, 2021 14:15:56 GMT
My husband made a huge batch of olive salad earlier in the week. We gave some to a couple of neighbors. Together with some Genoa salami and Provolone cheese on some decent bread will be the fare of the day. I plan to make some pesto maybe later but I am not sure I can put my hands on the blender or mortar and pestle. They may have already been packed up. I'll soon find out.
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