Thyme For Cooking, the Blog

Grilled Cornish Hens with Molasses Glaze; Eyes before Ease

The French may carry the whole idea of language purity a bit too far at times but at least they don't deliberately torture it.

The language police in France have, over the years, banned English words: Walkman, software, email, and countless others.

It doesn't work.

Well it works officially.

Unofficially everyone says 'Bon Weekend' on a Friday.

But they take pride in their language and don't intentionally abuse it.

You will never see the French equivalent of the 'Koffee Kup Kafe'.

It's like fingernails on a blackboard for me, just to type that.

And, what really irritates me, is, if the purpose was alliteration, Coffee Cup Cafe works just as well.

On principle, I would never buy a koffee from these people.

Why would someone name an educational child's toy 'PlaySKOOL'?

Less egregious, but so well-known one doesn't even think about it: U-Haul; Shop Rite; Xcel Energy

While Googling this subject...

Google, by the way, is a misspelling. They registered it incorrectly.

It was meant to be 'Googol' - which is a very large number: a 1 followed by 100 zeros or 1 raised to the power of 100. (Which is a very small number compared to a googolplex, or 1 raised to the power of a googol)

The catalog company, Lands' End, did a similar thing, registering the name with the apostrophe in the wrong place (it was meant to be Land's End, after a headland in Cornwall.)

While Googling this subject I came across the spelling equivalent of 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves', the current, fun book on punctuation (yes, it's fun.... Yes, I read it):

'Eyes before Ease; the Unsolved Mysteries and Secret Histories of Spelling'.

I don't think the French have entertaining books on either spelling or grammar.... They just have no sense of fun!

On the other hand, they all speak intelligibly.

And they provide me with these lovely little chickens.... Perfect for 1 person.

Cornish Game Hens would be the substitute.

Grilled Cornish Hens (Poussin) with Molasses Glaze

The combination of molasses, vinegar and soy sauce gives the chicken a flavor reminiscent of Peking Duck and leaves the crisp skin a lovely mahogany color.

2 Cornish game hens or poussin (little chickens)
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs molasses
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 lemon squeezed or 2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
1 tsp finely ground black pepper

Tie legs together with kitchen string and fold wing tips under back (at first joint) - keeps them from flapping. Rub birds with olive oil.
Mix all remaining ingredients together in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling and simmer a minute or two.
Cook hens on barbecue grill over indirect heat, covered, for 45 - 60 minutes or until done. Brush with the glaze immediately and 3 or 4 more times while cooking. Chicken is done at 160 F (70C) on your meat thermometer and/or the juices run clear when pierced with knife. Or they can be baked in a shallow roasting pan in a 400F oven for the same amount of time - until done, basting the same.
When done, remove from heat, cut string and serve - don't forget finger bowls (it's messy) and bone bowls (to keep your plates tidy). Serve whole or cut each bird in half.

Note:  Mon mari likes to toss in a few apple wood chips at the start of cooking for a bit of smokey flavor.

In addition to the above, for the week of August 14 we have Glazed Salmon, Tomato Consommé, Pork Tenderloin with Ginger Barbecue Sauce, Tomato and Zucchini Tart and more....

Become a Thyme for Cooking Subscriber and get the menu, complete recipes with meal preparation instruction, and shopping list each Thursday.  First two weeks FREE.   (Reverse seasons available for Australia, and others in the Southern Hemisphere).

For more recipes visit my internet cook book:  Easy Gourmet Dinners

Cheese and Shallot Pancake; More Language Mishaps

Cheese and Shallot Pancake

It never stops

Every time I start thinking I am making microscopic advances in my grasp of the language something happens to totally undermine my confidence.

Or to bring back the reality of my limitations, depending on your point of view.

Across from our house was an old sechoir or drying shed. The area we live in is dotted with them and, for the most part, they are an attractive or, at least, interesting part of the landscape.

They're normally made of wood and fairly well-tended; often still in use for grain or tobacco.

But this one had been covered, willy-nilly, with corrugated aluminum and was an eyesore.

When we bought the house I commented on how ugly it was. They acknowledged that it was a derelict wreck and offered to remove it.

Mais, oui!

Friday a group of young men came to dismantle it. The normal arrangement is that the removal is free of charge because the removers want whatever material is salvageable. They're not professionals but the current crop of hippies, recycling old buildings for use in building their own houses.

Late in the afternoon one of them came to the door.

He asked if he could 'hide his ladder behind our house'.

Now, as the only ladder I saw was the one firmly attached to the top of his truck, I assumed I wasn't understanding him.

Why would he want to take the ladder off of his truck, haul it down the hill and around to the back of our house? 

And HIDE it????  Why did he want to hide it?

So I told him I didn't understand and asked him to say it again.

What followed was 10 minutes of him hastily sketching pictures of ladders and houses, and me frantically looking up words in the dictionary.

In the end I reached the only possible conclusion: I had understood him the first time.

He, on the other hand, reached the only other possible conclusion: I am an incredibly dim-witted, stupid woman.

I doubt that he would have believed me had I told him I was a Mensan.

We agreed that he could hide his ladder behind our house.

I still don't know why.

That night we went for a Holiday Apéro at our new neighbor's. It was a mixture of French and English.

I was totally tongue-tied. I had lost the will to speak.

I retain the will to make easy, cheesy food, however.

We had this as a first course. It would be equally good for brunch.

Cheese and Shallot Pancake  serves 2... maybe

1 egg
3oz (90gr) full-flavored cheese, sliced
2 large shallots
1 tsp oil

Thinly slice shallots. Heat oil in nonstick 8" (20cm) skillet. Add shallots and sautéuntil tender and starting to brown. Lay cheese on top and fry until bubbly and starting to form a brown crust along the edges. Lightly whisk egg and pour over cheese, tilting the skillet to cover all of the cheese and shallots. Let cook, undisturbed, until egg is dry on top. Flip it over onto a plate, cut into wedges and serve.

If you wanted to pretend this was healthy you could serve a Spinach Salad on the side....

Dressed with a Celery and Greek Olive Vinaigrette...

Definitely healthy!

Shirred Eggs; The Weekly Menu and the Combi!

Shirred Eggs

I bought a new toy for my new kitchen!

A Combi!

At least that's what they're called here.

It's a combination convection oven and microwave.

Cool, huh?

Since 'we are two' I have wanted a small oven for doing small things, especially during summer.

I also wanted a new microwave. Ours was making very scary noises.

I didn't want to buy both.

Problem solved: a Combi.

It's a handsome appliance, made by Samsung.

It came with lots and lots of internal apparatus.

It came with lots and lots of instruction manuals.

I haven't a clue how to use this wonderful machine.

Naturally, this being France, all the manuals are in French.

It gave me a headache just looking at them.

Naturally, me being a geek and all, I went online to download an English version.

Except there wasn't one.

I Googled and searched and looked and surfed and could find absolutely no information at all about combination microwave and regular oven 'ovens'.

Anywhere.

I did find a Dutch version.

I am, shall we say, somewhat less proficient in Dutch than I am in French, but did I let that stop me?

Of course not!

I downloaded the Dutch version of the manuals.

Now I had them on my computer. (And you thought I didn't have a plan!)

I downloaded a translator and Voila!

I am now the proud owner of a poorly translated, bastard child of a Dutch oven manual.

It tells me things I've always wanted to know, like how to 'thaw a court'.

Reading the translated Dutch manual was of minuscule` help.

It was time to come face-to-face with my shortcomings.

I had to read the French manuals.

I did.

In the car.

Sitting at the kitchen table, trying to read and translate the manuals gave me a headache.

Sitting in the car on a lovely drive through wine country on a sunny Saturday, reading them was, while not a piece of cake, eminently doable.

I could read a paragraph, grab the dictionary if needed, pause, gaze out the window, absorb what I had just read, then do the next.

Like magic, all of a sudden the words lined up and made sense.

For those who are wondering what was so difficult, it came with lots of trays, racks, dishes and covers, all of which were metal. I was trying to figure out which could be used in Micro-mode, if any.

I did.

I hope.

I haven't actually tried it yet.

When I do, I can make these again.

Baked Eggs

1 tbs butter
2 eggs
1 tsp Dijon-style mustard
3 tbs crème fraiche
1 tsp milk
1 tsp dried chives
bread I bought artisan rolls at the bakery

Divide butter and thoroughly butter 2 ramekins. Mix the mustard, crème fraiche, milk and chives. Put 1 tbs of mixture into the bottom of each ramekin. Put the egg on top of the sauce in each ramekin. Divide the remainder of the sauce and spoon on top of each egg. Put ramekins into a baking pan (I use a bread pan) with deep sides. Pour hot water into the pan coming half way up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake at 375F (190)C, 10 - 12 minutes, depending on how you want the yolks. Remove and serve directly from the ramekins.

In addition to the above, for the week of November 21 we have Paupiettes de Veau (Provencal Veal Rolls), Spaghetti Carbonara, Pork Amandine, and, of course, Thanksgiving Dinner....

Become a Thyme for Cooking Subscriber and get the menu, complete recipes with meal preparation instruction, and shopping list each Thursday. (Reverse seasons available for Australia, and others in the Southern Hemisphere)

Bon Weekend!

Tangy Cabbage Salad; No Assistance Required

Tangy Cabbage Salad

No good deed shall go unpunished.

Damned if you do; damned if you don't.

When seeking help it's best to appear helpless.

Last week, when I realized that my computer was fading fast, I took this photo of the screen.

I was 99% sure that it was the video card that was slowly slipping into oblivion.  The screen had been displaying these lovely tread marks off and on for about 2 months.  They normally went away after rebooting, but, this day, they didn't. 

To be helpful, and in case they didn't show up immediately on the monitor at the computer hospital, I took a photo.

We all know what happens when we take something in for repair:  it works....
Until we get it back home, then it goes bonkers again.

I was taking in proof of it's misbehavior!

Apparently, the nice young man at the computer hospital was unaccustomed to dealing with people who consider a digital camera a necessary part of their being, as crucial as a wristwatch, or clothing. 

Perhaps he had not met any bloggers, actually, make that food bloggers, who, by nature, take a photo of anything and everything that crosses their vision.

We never know what or when something might make an interesting post....

I set the computer down on his work table and whipped out my camera.

After scrolling through the photos of the previous night's dinner, I showed him the shot of my screen, explaining, or so I thought, about the problem with my computer.... In French, of course.

He seemed inordinately fascinated with my camera.

He took it from me and carefully inspected it, pushing buttons, zooming the lens in and out.

Finally he asked how often it happened.

I gave him the long version of all the problems of the past few months.

'But', he said, 'it's only on this one.'

Huh?

And then, comprehension dawned.

Apparently he thought I had been out taking my computer for a walk and decided to stop in and get my camera fixed.

Apparently he was treating me carefully, the crazy woman that had 50, almost identical, photos of meatloaf and one wonky photo of Stonehenge on her camera.

Frustrated, I slipped into English for another go at explaining.

Enlightened, he now understood both my words and my problem.

He plugged my computer in and it didn't work right for him either.

It was the video card.....

On to the food:

When I was in high school, I worked at the local restaurant (small town, there was only one).

The owner made the best coleslaw!  Everyone raved about it and everyone wanted the recipe.

It was a secret.

She made the dressing in big batches, once a week and no one was allowed to watch too closely.

She sold the restaurant, retired and moved away, taking her coleslaw dressing with her.

Or so I thought.

After we kids were grown and gone, my mother went to work, a few mornings a week, at the same restaurant.

Turns out my mother managed to snag the recipe at some point. 

Maybe she was entrusted with it when the owner was gone during the summer; maybe she just watched and learned.  She doesn't remember.  She never made it as it makes 8 quarts.

I found it the other day, in her old box of recipes that I brought back on my last trip.

I reduced it... Slightly

Tangy Coleslaw (Cabbage Salad)

2 - 3 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 red or orange pepper
Tangy Coleslaw Dressing

Shred the cabbage. Slice the pepper thinly, then cut the slices into 1/2" (1cm) pieces. Put cabbage and pepper into a large bowl. Add half of the dressing and toss well to combine. Add more dressing according to taste and the amount of cabbage.

Tangy Coleslaw Dressing

8 tbs olive oil
8 tbs sugar
3 1/2 tbs cider vinegar
3/4 tsp course grain mustard
1/4 tsp celery seed

Put all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, Using as large a whisk as you have (and is reasonable), vigorously whisk ingredients together. The sugar will dissolve and the dressing get very thick and clear.

The cabbage stays wonderfully crunchy with this dressing and will keep several days.... If you don't stand in the fridge with a fork...

Pasta with Tuna, White Beans and Fresh Tomato Sauce; Faux Amis

Pasta with Tuna, White Beans and Fresh Tomato Sauce

I was reading one of my favorite cooking magazines the other night when the title of an article jumped out and slapped me in the head.

It read, in big bold letters: Entrées!

It referred to main courses.

In France (it's a French word, after all) it refers to the first course or starter.

All I could think of was the ruckus raised a few years ago changing French Fries (known as pommes frites "fried potatoes" here) and French Toast (known as pain perdu, "lost bread") to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast. 

BTW, none of the French I know could understand any of it - not the original name (pommes frites are Belgian, in origin) or the change; so the denigration was totally lost on the intended recipients.

And yet, the same restaurant probably had the Freedom Fries listed as an accompaniment to an Entrée.

Can't they get the wrong words right?!?

I find it interesting, and yes, a little irritating, when a people insist on adopting a word from another language and then using it incorrectly.

I really should get over it.... It's been going on for hundreds of years.

According to one language instructor, over 2,000 common English words are French in origin.
And another 2,000 Spanish... 2,000 Italian... 2,000 German... I could go on...

Like George W's favorite: entrepreneur:

"The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur." -George W. Bush, discussing the decline of the French economy with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Had 'they' gotten the meaning right in the first place, life would be much simpler for those of us trying to cope with another language.

We have what are known as "Faux amis", false friends, words that sound alike, are spelled similarly but have a different meaning.

Some are just confusing:

    Assister means to attend (something).

    Attendre means to wait.

Some can be rude:

     'Con' is a vulgar word referring to female genitalia.

Some totally perplexing:

     Sale is an adjective meaning dirty.

     Formidable means fantastic, wonderful.

And they're not unique to French.

The Spanish word, embarrass, means pregnant.

I was a bit confused when I went for my chest x-ray, for the Andorran physical needed to get residency, and there was a sign telling me not to have it done if I was embarrassed... (Or so I thought.)

Ah, yes, another usage I find confusing:  We started watching Law and Order a year or two ago (we watch what we get) and I couldn't figure out why all these New Yorkers kept spending so much time in wine cellars....

And why were they letting children in them?

A 'Bodega', in Spain is a wine cellar, like a French cave (rhymes with ahhhh).  It's where we keep the wine and booze.

How did it ever get to mean a grocery store? (That is what they're referring to, isn't it?) 

In honor of our impending move I am making fewer trips to the grocery store... And trying to clean out my pantry.

There's always something to toss with pasta...

This week's Presto Pasta Nights, started by Ruth, of Once Upon a Feast is being hosted by Michelle of Greedy Gourmet.  Be sure to visit her blog on Friday for all of the lovely pasta dishes!

Pasta Salad with Tuna, Cannellini and Fresh Tomato Sauce

7oz (200gr) canned tuna
15 oz (450 gr) can cannellini (white beans)
2 ribs celery
1/2 cup green and/or black olives
3 - 4 garden fresh tomatoes
1 tbs olive oil, the good stuff
2 tbs fresh snipped chives
2 tbs fresh snipped oregano
1 1/4 cup small pasta, farfalle, penne, fusilli

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain tuna and put into a large salad bowl. Drain and rinse beans. Add to tuna. Snip herbs and add to bowl. Thinly slice celery and add to bowl. Slice olives, add.
Cut the tomatoes in half. Cup half of a tomato in your hand and rub it on the big holes of a box (or other style) grater until all that is left in your hand is the skin. You'll have to press a bit, but not too hard, be careful not to grate your hand. Repeat with as many halves as you think you want/need. You end up with fresh tomato sauce with no skin...and no cooking. Depending on size of tomatoes you will want to do 3 or 4. Add to bowl and toss all to combine. Drain pasta and toss with 1 tbs olive oil. Add pasta to bowl and toss all to combine. Serve.

Be mindful of false friends....

Chicken and Vegetable Salad with Hummus Dressing; Ma Belle Soeur

Chicken and Vegetable Salad with Hummus Dressing

In French, one's in-laws are called 'belle-famille'.

Sister-in-law is 'belle-soeur'; brother-in-law is 'beau-frère'.

Mother-in-law is 'belle-mère'; father-in-law beau-père.

Belle/beau means beautiful, lovely or handsome.

The same words are used, in extended families, to refer to a stepmother, stepfather, etc.

Wouldn't you rather be referred to as a belle-mère than a stepmother? (Maybe they have a different term for the traditional 'evil stepmother'... any help from expats here in France with kids?)

Do you think that having terms reflecting positive attributes is indicative of a more loving feeling about the extended family?

Or does having terms reflecting positive attributes try to encourage and support a more loving feeling?

The chicken or the egg.....

What do you call your parents and/or in-laws?

The British  are pretty consistent with mummy and daddy; even among adult children.

I must admit I find it strange to hear a 25 year-old call his mother 'mummy'.... 

It's occasionally shortened to mum - like The Queen Mum.

When I was a little girl I called my mother 'mommy'.

When I was a teenager I called her 'mom'.

When I became an adult (still under debate) I started calling her 'mother'.  I thought it represented a more mature relationship (foolish, I know).

My older brother calls her 'ma'.

He started calling her 'ma' as a teenager: because she hated it and he was a boy and that's what teenage boys do.  It kind of stuck...but only for him.

Mon beau-fils (stepson) addresses me by my first name and refers to me as his mom, mother, stepmother, or stepmom, depending on the situation.  When his (other) mother and I are together, we're 'the two moms'.

With all of these words are we making our relationships overly complicated?

Or do they allow us a certain subtlety, depending on mood and circumstances, that one word couldn't possible do?

My mind has been wandering again... If you see it, could you send it back, please?

Perhaps if I eat more vegetables  herbs...

There are new happenings at Weekend Herb Blogging.  Our illustrious founder Kalyn, of Kalyn's Kitchen, wants to bring the focus a wee bit more sharply to the herbs....
Rumor has it that some of us, ahem, (who? ME?) have been sneaking off into the vegetable world a little too frequently.

Sigh, guilty, as charged.

And to make matters worse, I decided I really had to share this salad, which is chock-a-block with vegetables, before the new/old rules go into effect on July 20th.  She's has everything outlined very nicely so be sure and read it soon.

But first, on Monday, visit Pam, of Sidewalk Shoes, this week's host, for the recap of all the herb-y (and veggie) posts.

I love fresh herbs, and use them with abandon in all of my summer cooking.  But I have found food with an oriental flavor to be a bit more of a challenge to pair with herbs. 

Chives and garlic chives, naturally; the other one I always head to is the parsley.  It's more than a pretty garnish.  It's full of flavor, vitamins and has "chemoprotective" oils which have been shown to inhibit tumor growth in animals (according to World's Healthiest Foods) and to help neutralize carcinogens.

So, eat your parsley!

Chicken and Vegetable Salad with Hummus Dressing

2 small chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
2 tbs Teriyaki sauce
1/2 red bell pepper
1 onion
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs soy sauce
1 avocado
1 carrot
2 tbs fresh snipped parsley
1 tbs fresh snipped garlic chives
lettuce for 2 main meal salads
Hummus Dressing

Pour Teriyaki sauce over chicken and set aside. Clean and slice the pepper into strips. Cut the onion in half and slice thickly. Heat oil and soy sauce in large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add onions and stir-fry quickly, just until starting to get soft. Add pepper and stir-fry for 2 - 4 minutes. They should be getting brown spots but still be crisp-tender. Remove from heat and spread on a plate or tray to cool quickly.
Start to cook chicken, either on barbecue grill or in nonstick skillet, 12 - 15 minutes.
While chicken cooks: Make the Dressing. Prepare lettuce and put in large salad bowl. Slice the avocado. Slice the carrot into paper thin strips using the vegetable peeler. Add a bit of dressing to lettuce and toss well to coat. Add carrot, peppers, onions, herbs and a bit more dressing and toss well. Arrange avocado slices around edge of salad. When chicken is done, thinly slice and arrange in center of salad. Drizzle a bit of dressing on the avocado and chicken and serve.

Hummus Dressing

3 tbs hummus
1 tbs sherry vinegar
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs Teriyaki sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs walnut oil

In small bowl whisk hummus, vinegar, sugar, Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and mustard. Slowly whisk in oils.

Bon Weekend!

Tomorrow.... The boot sale!  aka vide grenier,  garage sale, yard sale.  Another first for me... and I have to leave at 6:30  in the morning!!!!!!

Picnic Pasta Salad; When the words don't work right....

Picnic Pasta Salad

When one studies a language in school or a class, one studies it as it should be....

Not as it is.

Take the, controversial, MessieurDame.

In France, one greets people with 'Bonjour Monsieur' or  'Bonjour Madame' upon meeting them for the first time, each day.

Here, in farm country, if there is both a man and a woman present, one hears Bonjour 'MessieurDame' to encompass both sexes or a group of people.

All of the Parisian wags instruct us non-native speakers to never, never, never say that.

All of the language gurus instruct us non-native speakers to speak the local language.

I was commenting on this to my s-i-l (who is visiting from the U.S.) and on other unexpected challenges.

Two weeks is not 'deux semaine'  when speaking, but 'quinze jours' or fifteen days.

Similarly, one week is 'huit jours' or eight days.

Then my s-i-l brought up a reference to time that mon mari and I can't agree on:

If today is Tuesday, is the day that is 5 days in the future 'This Sunday'?

Or 'Next Sunday'?

I maintain that it's 'This Sunday' and that 'Next Sunday' refers to the day 'one week from this Sunday'.

Mon mari maintains that the first Sunday in our immediate future is 'Next Sunday'.

As you might guess, we have some awkward conversations in trying to determine the specific day we are talking about.

Me: Are you talking about 2 days from now or 9 days from now?

Mon mari: I'm talking about next Sunday - what's so difficult to understand?  Sheesh!

Me; in an attempt to simplify: do you mean the 13th?

Mon mari: I don't know, I don't have a calendar.

Me, quietly in the corner, banging my head against the wall.....

But, really, what do you expect? 

You know we are still trying to agree on the definition of salad...

Someone ought to write a book telling us what all the words mean... Wouldn't that be a novel idea?

I bet lots of people would buy it...

I know lots of people that should.... But we'll leave that rant for another day. 

For this day, I have an old, favorite Pasta Salad, er, Dish. I've been making it for more years than I'm willing to admit, but, suffice it to say, at least 2 years before pasta salads were EVERYWHERE!

I actually quit making it for awhile.... Too 'common'.

I revived it the other day....Still good and a worthy pasta for Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights, which is back home at Once Upon A Feast this Friday.  Check it out!

Picnic Pasta Salad

6 oz (200gr) sliced, hard salami
1 red onion
1/2 cup green olives
1/2 cup Greek dry-cured olives
4 oz mushrooms
2 stalks (ribs) celery
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
2 cups farfalle
1 tbs olive oil
Italian Vinaigrette

Cook pasta according to package instructions. When done, drain, put into a large bowl (or back into the cooled pot) and toss with olive oil. Slice celery 1/4" (.5cm) thick, cut cherry tomatoes in half, and chop pepper. Add all three to pasta and toss lightly. Cut salami in half or into quarters. Peel and quarter the onion and slice thinly. Clean mushrooms and slice. Cut olives in halves or thirds. Put salami, mushrooms, onions and olives in another bowl and add vinaigrette. Allow to marinate, at room temperature, for 1 - 3 hours. Before serving add marinated vegetables to pasta and toss to combine. If not serving immediately, refrigerate to chill.

Italian Vinaigrette

1/2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
2 tbs white wine (tarragon) vinegar
1 tbs lemon juice
5 tbs olive oil, the good stuff
1 tsp snipped fresh chives
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp chopped fresh marjoram

Place mustard, vinegar and lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slow add olive oil, whisking constantly, to combine. When all oil is in and emulsified, add herbs.

BTW: to the Brits 1 week is a sennight, and 2 weeks a fortnight... But that makes sense to me.

And 'Next Monday' aka: the Monday following 'This Monday'?  Simple: 'Monday week'. 
Hmmmm, they may have sorted this out.....

Burgers & Beans; The saga continues: The Visiting Nurse

Burgers and Beans

Another example of two people talking about different things together: Do  you walk to school or carry your lunch?

Mon mari was discharged from the hospital on Saturday morning.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? 

He comes home and mows the lawn (which he is doing as I write this, but I digress).

The French, after investing 17 days in your health and well-being, are not simply going turn the maintenance of said health and well-being  back to your, obviously incapable, hands. 

They do not want all of their hard work to be wasted on an incompetent ingrate.

After paying the bill (16.97 euros for the T.V. and phone - we don't know what else we'll have to pay yet), we left the hospital with a sheaf of prescription papers and were told to get them all filled. One cannot go off meds cold turkey, after all! 

The nurse would come that night and take care of everything.

The nurse?

Yes the nurse.  We were shown the paper that said the nurse would be there at 7:00 pm.

We dutifully went to the pharmacy on the way home and handed over the stack of papers.  We were then inaugurated, officially, into the French Rx system.  Being always conscious of waste and recycling, we were given our own, reusable, cloth Pharmacy Shopping Bag, which they then filled to the brim with goodies.

One area in which the French are not particularly conscious of waste is in pharmacuticals.  Everything is given fresh, all the time.  If one has a cut finger in May, one receives a large bottle of disinfectant, a large roll of bandages, a roll of tape, etc.  If one cuts another finger in June, even though only 2 % of the earlier supplies have been used, one gets an entire new supply.

The pharmacist looked at the 'prescription' for the nurse, nodded, and assured us that she would take care of everything.

That evening we waited for the nurse.  One of the things she was supposed to do was give mon mari an injection - a continuation of a treatment started in hospital that goes on for 1 more week.  (The French are also very fond of injections rather than pills.  They also like suppositories... but, touch wood, no personal experience in that area yet...)

She never came.

We waited the next morning.

She never came.

Nor did she come in the afternoon or evening.

Finally we took the syringe and went to the emergency room.

The ER nurse said: Who's your nurse?

I said: I don't know; she never came.

ER nurse: Well, did you call her?

Me: I don't know who she is; how could I call her?

ER nurse: Well, if you call her, she'll tell you, than she'll come and do it.

Me: (Head spinning, once again) Okay... But, as it's Sunday night, could you just give him the injection... Or show me how and I'll do it.

ER nurse: Of course, and very nicely gave him the jab and me the instructions.

Me: Thank you.

ER nurse: Call your nurse!

Me: Yes, Ma'am!  (muttering 'How the F*** can I do that if I don't know who or where she is?')

I realized, somewhere along the line, a crucial bit of information went missing. 

Everyone: doctor, hospital staff, pharmacist, ER staff; assumed that I would know about the nurse.  Nowhere was there any information to give me any clue that I needed to do anything at all.

I assumed, since everyone: doctor, hospital staff, pharmacist, ER staff; kept telling me about the nurse, that it was a standard arrangement handled by the hospital.

Turns out we were all wrong: I hadn't a clue what to do and they didn't supply the nurse.

I was meant to contact the home-care nurse for our commune.  To find out who that is, I ask the maire (mayor) whose office is not open on Saturday, anyway. 

Apparently every little town and village has at least one nurse on call, always.

Apparently every French person knows this, as home visits by the nurse for an illness, or after a hospital stay, are standard and and an expected part of ongoing health care.

We called this morning.

She was here an hour later.  Gave mon mari a quick once over, read all the papers, explained what she needed to do (a couple of periodic blood samples in addition to the injections), and said she'd be back tonight - for the 7pm jab. 

She left; he went back to lawn mowing.

Apparently it never occurred to any one, that we, being Americans, might not know this part of the system.

Now we do.

Oh....doctors still make house calls here, too.

And, now to the Burgers and Beans....thought I'd never get there, didn't you?

Simple Summer Cooking!

When we lived in the U.S. we did these with ground venison. They would also be good with ground turkey. If your beans have a very watery tomato sauce (like mine) drain them first. Otherwise use as much of the sauce as you like.

Burgers and Beans

12 oz (350gr) ground beef
1 large onion - preferably red or sweet
1 can barbecue or baked beans or 'beans in tomato sauce'
4 tbs ketchup
4 tsp Dijon-style mustard
aluminum foil

Tear off 4 squares of foil (1 1/2 times as long as the box is wide). Peel onion, cut into 8 thin slices and put one slice in the center of each foil. Divide ground beef into fourths, patty and place a patty on top of each onion slice. Top with another onion slice. Spoon beans on top of burger patties dividing evenly. Put mustard and ketchup on top of beans - dividing evenly. Bring long ends of foil together and fold over. Fold in sides, loosely. Cook them on a gas grill for about 15 minutes. When done - unwrap and put on plates. Serve with Brown Rice or quinoa.

The other advantage to having a visiting nurse: Everyone, from the mayor on down, knows everything.  Significantly shortens the regular gossip grapevine.

Salad with Grilled Turkey, Beans and Feta; More French Misunderstandings

Salad with Grilled Turkey, Beans and Feta

Nurse: We're going to put votre mari to sleep.

Me: (Thinking:  I'd really prefer you didn't.  He's not that old or sick.... and I have rather a lot of uses for him yet!)
Me: (Speaking) What?

Nurse: He's having surgery on Monday.  The doctor wants him to sleep.

Me: Now?  He wants him to sleep now? (It's 10:00 in the morning, why does he need to sleep now?)

Nurse: The doctor wants to be sure he'll sleep right.

Me: The night before the surgery?  (That's logical, but why tell me?)

Nurse: (Slightly exasperated) He's having surgery on Monday.

Me: (More than slightly confused).  Yes, we know that.

Nurse: (Patiently) The doctor wants to talk to you about him sleeping.

Me: (Helpfully) What can I do about his sleeping?

Nurse: (Thoroughly exasperated) The sleeping doctor wants to talk to you about the surgery.

Me: (Thoroughly confused) HUH??????

Nurse: (On the verge of physical violence) The doctor wants to come and talk to you.

Me: (Somewhat enlightened) We already spoke with the surgeon.

Nurse: (Ready to commit heinous harm) Not the surgeon; THE SLEEP DOCTOR!!!!!

Me: (Total enlightenment) Do you mean the anesthéstiste?

Nurse: (Staring at me in astonishment) Yes.

For some reason, she assumed that, as I did not speak French to her standards, she must explain things to me as if I were an idiot.

Me, reacting like an idiot, was listening so carefully to the words, that I didn't 'step back' and hear.

I even said, at one point: I understand everything you're saying but I don't understand what you're telling me.

The result: The anesthéstiste would not talk to us without a translator present, because, while he spoke English, he did not speak American.

As it turned out, we never did talk to him as he was called away on an emergency.  The same nurse that I wowed with my use of a medical term took the history, and was continually amazed that, asked an intelligent question, I could give, at least, and intelligible answer.

The surgery was this morning, mon mari dutifully slept through it, and was awake, assuring me that he was completely lucid, 4 hours later.  An uneventful recovery is expected, with a return home in 10 days and full resumption of lawn-mowing duties in about 4 weeks.

And in other news: My blog is TypePad's Featured Blog today!
Yippee!!!!!!!

Lastly, it's raining.  I never thought I'd be happy to see rain again, but, now it means that I absolutely cannot mow lawn for at least 2 days.

Life is good!

So was this salad:

Salad with Grilled Turkey, Beans and Feta

10 - 12 oz turkey cutlets (300gr) 
1/2 green pepper (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup (3oz, 90gr) cherry  tomatoes
8oz (250gr) red kidney beans
8oz (250gr) white beans
1/2 cup (3oz, 90gr) Greek olives
2oz (60gr) feta, crumbled
2 tbs fresh oregano, snipped if large leaves
Lettuce - enough for 2 main meal salads
Marinade for turkey
White Balsamic Vinaigrette

Make the marinade and spoon on to turkey, set aside. Make the vinaigrette. Open and drain the beans. Clean and slice the pepper.  Cut the tomatoes and olives in half. Tear the lettuce and put into a large salad bowl along with the oregano.
Cook turkey on barbecue grill or sauté in nonstick skillet until done, 4 - 7 minutes per side, depending on thickness. Remove and let rest while assembling the salad. Add half of the vinaigrette to the lettuce and toss well to coat. Add beans, peppers and the rest of the vinaigrette, toss well. Slice turkey into strips. Add turkey, tomatoes and olives, toss gently. Sprinkle with crumbled feta and serve.

Marinade
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs ketchup
1 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs olive oil

Mix all ingredients well and spoon over meat.

White Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tbs white Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Dijon mustard
4 tbs olive oil, the good stuff

Crush garlic.  Mix garlic, vinegar and mustard. Slowly add olive oil, whisking constantly.

I think I deserve a glass of wine.... Two, actually, since mon mari can't drink his, I'll have to do THAT for him, too!

Sigh.....

Creamy Herb Dressing with Yogurt; Listening v Hearing

Creamy Herb Dressing

There's nothing like two people talking about the same thing, differently; one in a foreign language, the other with a foreign accent; to really cock-up the simplest request.

There is a phone next to the bed mon mari is currently lounging in.

We thought it would be kind of fun if it worked.

I asked one of the nurses how to use it.  She told me that we had to pay for it.

Well, of course we would have to pay for it.... But how do we get it to work?

She repeated that we had to pay for it and then sent me to the main desk.

I assumed that we had to pre-pay the phone: buy a phone card, minutes, whatever.  All phone calls in Europe, even locals ones, are charged for. Pre-paid cards and plans are common and have been around for years.

I went to the main desk and told the nice young woman that I wanted to pay for the phone in mon mari's room so he could use it.

She asked when he would be leaving. 

I said I didn't know, and what difference did it make anyway?
 
She started to send me to the billing office.

I said that I had already been sent to her.

A discussion of sorts ensued:

 Me explaining that we just wanted the phone to work and what did we have to do to make that happen.

 She explaining that in order to pay for the phone, we needed to get the final bill from the accounting office after discharge.

Of course, by this time my comprehension of what she was saying in her rapid French was rapidly diminishing, and her comprehension of what I was saying in my accented French was nill.

Finally, another young lady walked over and asked, in English, what I wanted.  I repeated that I just wanted to be able to use the phone.

She turned to the first young woman and said, in French, the exact same thing I had been saying, also in French.

But now it was understood. 

She asked me his room number again, looked at her monitor, hit a couple of keys and: Voila!

We pay when we leave.... And no charge for incoming calls...

Sometimes I think we try so hard to understand what the other person is saying that we simply forget to listen....

Sometimes we do that in our own language as well.

One of the things that I really missed, during the first 6 months or so of leaving the U.S. was bottled salad dressing.  There was nothing similar in Ireland, or anywhere else in Europe.

I soon learned to make my own.

I learned how incredibly simple it is; and how incredibly quick and easy.

The last time I was in the U.S. I wandered through the salad dressing aisle, reading the ingredients in the 'Regular', 'Light', 'Free', 'Reduced Fat', etc. versions of what I used to eat.  Some didn't have any recognizable food in them....

I'll never go back!

The theme for this month's Heart of the Matter is herbs.

Two of my favorite spring herbs, oregano (top, in red) and garlic chives are in this creamy, yogurt based dressing that is one of my favorites.  It's also great for dipping artichoke leaves....

(Loosely based on a recipe from a Williams-Sonoma book on Salads:)

Creamy Herb Dressing with Yogurt
   This is very similar to 'Ranch'.

2/3 cup (5oz, 150ml) Greek or plain yogurt
1 tbs Dijon mustard
2 tbs white Balsamic vinegar
2 tbs fresh snipped garlic or regular chives
1 tbs fresh snipped oregano
3 tbs olive oil - the good stuff

Snip oregano and chives with scissors. In small bowl whisk yogurt, mustard and vinegar. Add oil, a bit at a time and whisk well. Add herbs. This will keep a week.

How about a nice 'heart-healthy' salad to eat it on??

Salad with Creamy Dressing, Tuna, Walnuts and Cheese

greens: lettuce, spinach, mesclun
4oz (125gr) tuna
1/2 cup walnut halves
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup creamy herb dressing
1/4 cup shredded cheese - any flavor

Prepare greens and put into a medium bowl. Add a bit of dressing and toss to coat (use tongs, it's easier). Taste and add more dressing if desired. Arrange tuna, tomatoes and walnuts on top.  Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle a bit more dressing.

The host for this month's Heart of the Matter is Michelle, of The Accidental Scientist.

She'll have the complete, heart-healthy round-up on the 2nd or 3rd of June.... Check it out!