Boxcar Kitchen

Very rarely do I read a recipe and say to myself, "Wow, that looks really complicated for no apparent reason ; I think I'll give it a try." But this is exactly what happens when you are faced with yet another rainy Sunday in May, a freshly purchased bag of semolina flour and a Monthly Mingle birthday to celebrate.

The previous week, I had found a great Oriental grocer near the marché d'Aligre on my way to a friend's house. Paris is chock full of Middle Eastern/North African mom and pop shops but this one was particularly impressive. Shelves stacked from floor to ceiling with spices, conserves, and sauces covered the walls and the center of the shop was dedicated to everything in bulk. Dozens of fat, perfectly aligned bags full of flours and dried legumes were meticulously arranged. I quickly spotted the almost 10 different grades of semolina and immediately thought of a cake - an orange water semolina cake. I chose the second finest mill of flour and I was stunned when the owner weighed out EXACTLY 500 grams of flour with one scoop and a tiny flick of the wrist. I was so happy walking away with my 50 cent bag of flour. I was going to make a cake, a semolina orange water cake just for Meeta.

I decided to use a slightly snooty Food and Wine recipe as my launch pad. I've never used so many dishes to make a cake before. I did ended up changing the recipe quite a bit but I stayed true to the structure. Even though I ended up using milk and light cream and less butter than called for, I still thought the cake was a little oily. The original recipe was for one large cake and it was completed with a center layer of raspberry preserves and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. Since I made individual cakes, I tried the jam but found that it detracted more than anything from the cake. It was kind of like eating a high end jelly donut. The cakes were so much better plain and fresh from the oven. The semolina flour added a nice crunch to the outside and the inside was dense, steamy and perfumed by the orange flower water.

Happy Birthday Monthly Mingle!!

In my opinion, Paris is one of the easiest cities to escape. Just a ten minute walk from my house in the 16th is the Bois de Boulogne where I'm surrounded by green. And with just a little bit more motivation and a ten minute drive, the Parc de St Cloud is at your fingertips.

We headed out there a few weekends ago for the afternoon and after a few hours in the gardens, we stopped at one of the many cafés that are hidden throughout the park. And lucky for us, we happened to picked the right one. After tasting the some of smoothest fresh squeezed orange juice, our waiter advised to try the fresh pear juice. The first sip was a revelation and before I knew it my frothy ice cold nectar was gone. With a final audacious slurp of my straw, I let out a sigh of happiness which persuaded the two elderly ladies sitting at the table next to us to giggle and ask what it was that we were drinking.

Needless to say, as soon as we got home I got out my never been used juicer attachment and hooked it up to the food processor. I added a little bit of mint from the window box and pressed it with the fruit. Last week I was still able to find some nice firm organic pears from Argentine but it looks like my new favorite habit will have to wait until this fall.

I have one word for this Sugar High Friday- YUM. The Flower Power theme for this month is right up my alley. Whether it is peppery nasturtiums in a salad or on fish, jasmine meringues, candied violets, or jasmine gelée, using flowers in food is creative way of stepping a dish up a notch or two. Anything with violet is my absolute favorite.

When I was little my mom had one of those pretty French tins of violet candies that she kept in a little drawer by her bed stand. I remember quite vividly the first time I ever tasted one. I think my initial reaction was one of surprise and maybe even a little bit of something like, "Yuck, it tastes like perfume!” But after the initial surprise, the "Yuck" slowly developed into a "Yum". From then on I would sneak one every now and again, carefully opening the pretty flowered tin to pop a little egg-like candy in my mouth. Today, I can't get enough of that intense flowery perfume taste.

When I first started thinking about a dessert using violets, I thought about pairing it with raspberries like my current yogurt obsession but I wanted something a different and I really wanted to go more monochromatic using the blue-ish crème de violette as my base, hence the blackberries. The addition of almond extract in the cream brings the whole dessert together. The earthy sweetness of the almond is the perfect bridge between the perfumed violet liquor and the woodsy blackberries. I think that this is honestly the first time I have ever impressed myself with a dish. I mean, I share a lot of recipes but I think this one is my best so far and I highly recommend giving it a try. And although there are several different elements to prepare, the technique is simple and everything goes together quickly.

I think violet, blackberry and almond will be my new fetish trio. I think it would make a great perfume too actually.

With the warming weather comes a desire for all things fresh and green. On one hand, I know that the very early delicious produce that I'm finding at the market, as well as the afternoons spent sitting in the sun at sidewalk café with a Perrier citron are both part of the negative effects of the ever increasing global warming. I keep reminding myself that these are bad things but yet I am enjoying them oh so much.

And along with my need to eat fresh and green comes a desire for the most simplistic dishes. When it's been months since your last stalk of asparagus, you really want to enjoy it in its purest form. Also, my time allotted to make something interesting for dinner has decreased since my visits to outdoor cafés has increased exponentially.

The only thing that needs real preparation is the asparagus and the positive point is that you can make it in the morning or even the night before and let it sit in the fridge all day long while you are off doing more important spring things. We devoured this fresh vitamin filled salad served with crusty Poilâne bread and big pieces of Tomme after our weekend without vegetables spent in the mountains.

My first idea for this month's Waiter, There's something in my...Easter Basket being hosted by the Passionate Cook, was to do some sort of rabbit dish. I had quite a good chuckle over it all by myself while I was doing the dishes. Unfortunately, since the demise of my dear Dodo lapin, I'm still in a lavender state of mourning and couldn't bring myself to do it. I love rabbit but felt morally compromised eating it when I had one as a pet. It's just not right eating your family member's cousins and even though he is no longer with us, I haven't found the courage...yet. But, I really really really do hope someone else will make a rabbit based dish because I think it's hilarious. Yum, yum.

Anyway, these lovely little things have been on my list to make for awhile and they fit perfectly with the theme. They are my verision of Easter grass! Every basket needs it and why not make it edible. These cookies are perfect in their original form and represent what an Italian cookie should be. They are mild and light with just the right crumb. My addition of lemongrass was a godsend (I think I'll double the quantity next time) and instead of regular sesame seeds I thought black ones would take the Asian touch a step further. Unfortunately, I discovered at the very last minute that I had eaten the entire bag of black sesame seeds that were in my pantry. Who goes through that many anyways?? So instead, I toasted regular sesame seeds as called for in the recipe and used some poppy seeds that were pretty happy to get in on the action.