Thyme For Cooking, the Blog

Savory Beef and Vegetable Kebabs;, the French Saga continues; Weekly Menu

I've had a little, niggling worry at the back of my mind for the last several months.

When we left the Vendée, we made certain that we knew how to change our address for all the proper French governmental agencies. 

Most of it could be be done online, but some, like our Carte de Sejour, needed to be done in person with the proper authorities in the new Département.

We got our file together: passport-size photos, copies of passports, Carte de Sejour, electric bills, contract for the house, birth certificates, marriage license, the dogs' passports, bank statements and the all important RIB - authorization for whoever to take money out our bank account.  There might have been a few more papers....

I'm sure there were more papers.... 

We started making the rounds.

Now, remember, this is to change our address.  We already live in France, pay French taxes, and are on the French medical insurance system.  All we did was move.

We went to the local Mairie for the Carte de Sejour.  We were given the list of documents we would need by the secrétaire (who happens to be Russian).  The list was longer than when we applied for permission to live here.

Next we went to CPAM, the agency that handles the medical insurance.  We were given the list of documents we would need, again, longer than the first time, and told not to come back until we had our new Carte de Sejour, from the correct Département, in hand.

This was in early November.

All we wanted to do was change our address.

About a week later we received a letter from CPAM of the Vendée canceling our medical insurance.

At least, that's what I thought it said.

I called a friend and official translator in the Vendée and read it to him. 

He called The Powers That Be.

The next day he called back and explained that we had, indeed, been canceled.... 

But only from the contributory plan.

We'd been transferred to the free plan (for indigents, I guess).

It seems that, with the euro/dollar exchange rate becoming less favorable to the dollar, our income had fallen below the poverty level in France and we were no longer required to contribute the 150 some euros per year for our health coverage.

Worrier that I am, I hoped this wouldn't effect getting our Carte Vitale (the little green card that does everything for medical care) from the Lot et Garonne.

Yes, I know, we were just trying to change our address....

But, it felt like we were starting the whole 'getting permission to live in France' bit all over again.

This was all supposed to take a month.

Five weeks later, mid-December I went to see the secrétaire.  Perfect timing, as at were.... They needed more documents.

I gathered the documents and took them to her the next day.... that she worked, which happened to be the following Monday.

I knew that we wouldn't see any activity for at least another month.  No work is done in the 3 weeks or so surrounding the Christmas holidays. 

It's like dropping your paperwork into a black hole.... It gets sucked in and disappears.

Fortunately, I had a good teacher when we moved here and I make a copy of every copy of absolutely everything I give to them. 

Redundant, yes.

Sanity savor, bien sur!

In the meantime, this is when mon mari got the infection in his toe that started our recent odyssey.

Every time he took out his trusty little green card, whether at the clinic or at the pharmacy, it was examined, and he was told that 'he must apply for the proper card from the Lot et Garonne'.

Yeah, we know.... But we can't apply for the proper card because we still haven't gotten the address changed on our residence card because the entire bureaucracy is off skiing in the Alps until February for the Christmas hols.

And I'm still remembering that cancellation letter I got in November....

To be continued......

Have get to this gorgeous recipe - perfect for a 4th of July picnic this weekend....

 

Savory Beef Kebabs

These are best if prepared earlier in the day and allowed to soak up the flavors - plus it makes dinner a breeze! By doing the meat and some of the vegetables separately you can cook the skewers for different times: allowing the onion to get done to your liking without overcooking the beef.

12oz (350gr) beef loin or sirloin, cut into 1 1/2" (3.75cm) cubes
1/2 yellow, orange or red bell pepper save other half for Tuesday
1/3 green bell pepper use slightly more than 1/3 - we just want to save a bit for the Pilaf on Wednesday
1 red or sweet onion
1 small - medium zucchini (courgette) 8" (20cm)
6 - 8 mushrooms, large enough to be skewered
6 - 8 large cherry tomatoes
4 - 8 skewers, depending on length if wood, soak in water while preparing the rest Marinade
3 tbs olive oil
3 tbs ketchup
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs chili powder
1 tbs paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
Hot pepper sauce or red pepper flakes - optional too hot for me ;)

Put wooden skewers in water to soak.
In small bowl whisk together all ingredients for marinade. Pour over meat and let marinate for 20 - 30 minutes, or longer. Clean mushrooms, removing stems. Add to marinade.
Cut each half pepper into 1 1/2 " (3.75cm) squares. Peel and cut onion into 8 wedges. Cut zucchini into slices about 1/2 inch (1.25cm) thick.
At this point you can set it all aside while the meat marinates, or assemble the skewers and allow to marinate on the skewers.
To assemble: Remove meat and mushrooms from marinade. Put onions, zucchini and peppers in the marinade and stir to coat.
Thread meat, tomatoes and mushrooms onto half of the skewers, alternating.
Remove vegetables from marinade and thread onions, peppers and zucchini on the remaining skewers, alternating.
To cook: Start to cook the vegetable-only skewers first, over indirect heat with the cover closed. After about 7 minutes, lift cover and turn vegetables, moving over direct heat. Add beef skewers over direct heat. Cook for 6 - 10 minutes, or until beef is done to your liking, turning halfway through cooking time. Vegetables should be crisp-tender. Remove and serve with Basmati Rice or Couscous.

In addition to the above, for the week of July 4 we have the Yogurt Dipping Sauce for the Kebabs, Grilled Scallops, Spicy Barbeceud Burgers, Honey Mustard Pork Chops, Rice Pilaf Salad....

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

Note: I have started a forum on my Diabetes, Diet and Recipe blog....

Turkey and Green Bean Pasta Salad; Be kind to your Behind

I love British commercials.

Maybe it's because they're good; maybe it's because they're different.

My current favorite is a toilet paper ad.

Yes, they have the cute little puppy running around, unrolling the ultra-soft (so they say) T.P.

But that's not why I like it.

It's the slogan.

"Be kind to your behind."

It starts out showing people riding bicycles and horses; it shows them bouncing in cars over rough roads; getting jolted on a see-saw in a playground....

All of this with a voice saying something like "Life can be hard on your bottom" and "You're bottom takes a lot of abuse every day".

Followed by the puppy and the T.P. and the slogan "Be kind to your behind."

In the U.S., when we see toilet paper ads, it's implied that it's a product used in the bathroom; but no one really says what for.

An American commercial would advertise an antiperspirant as a product to 'help you stay fresh all day'.

The British counterpart would tell you that it 'stops sweat'.

Brit's sweat; Yanks go stale.

In the U.S. one can see ads for Viagra.... Although, again, one never really is told what it's for.

I've never seen a British Viagra ad....

I have seen a series of commercials targeting women with "big boobs".

Yep, that's what they say.

The ad depicts several, very well-endowed women modeling bras for women with "Big boobs".

As in: "If you have big boobs, try our line designed especially for you."

That would have every male in the U.S. snickering.

(They don't snicker for the Viagra ad because.... Okay, I'll be nice and not finish that comment)

Could be I'm just easily amused.....

I know I'm easily pleased with summer pasta salads....

This one is my submission to this week's Presto Pasta Nights, founded by Ruth, of Once Upon A Feast and hosted this week by Katerina, of Daily Unadventures in Cooking.

Visit Katerina's blog on Friday for all of the wonderful pasta dishes from around the planet.

I found those gorgeous Ananas Heirloom Tomatoes again.

I do love summer tomatoes!

Turkey and Green Bean Pasta Salad

1 1/4 cups whole wheat penne
10oz (300gr) turkey cutlets
6oz (180gr) green beans
1 red onion
1 tbs olive oil
1- 2 large, garden ripened tomatoes
2 tbs snipped fresh basil
1/2 red or sweet onion
Vinaigrette

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, rinse in cold water and toss with olive oil.
Cut green beans into 1" lengths (2.5cm). Slice red onion. Cut turkey into strips.  Heat oil in large skillet.  Add turkey and quickly stir-fry.  Remove.  Add onions, beans and stir-fry until lightly browned and crisp-tender.   
Snip basil. Cut tomatoes into large chunks. Make vinaigrette.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, add vinaigrette and toss to combine.

Vinaigrette

1 1/2 tbs white Balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
3 tbs olive oil

Put all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well to combine.

Easy peasy....

What's your favorite ad?

Salmon with Tarragon Tomato Salsa; the cabinets

First: The fields of 'tournesol' or sunflowers.

The field in the background is all in bloom.  The field bordering our property is just starting...

There is one, lonely, sunflower blooming.

But, isn't it going to be spectacular when all the rest catch up?

On to the kitchen.

Cabinet doors require a lot of gluing and drying so the work is progressing slowly. 

Plus, we wanted to live with one for a bit to make certain we like it.  We do.  Do you?

That, and the fact that he conveniently forgot I wanted more glass doors....

And doesn't have the glass...

There will be built-in lights running the length of the cabinets, underneath, so there is a bit of overhang that looks a little strange with only one set of doors finished.

In the meantime, he's decided to tackle the bathroom window.  It's the only one we didn't have replaced.  I liked it better than the more modern alternatives.

This is the before:

Between the 90 million layers of paint and all the rotten wood it's taking him a bit longer than planned.

Maybe next week we'll have the after...

In the meantime, we have cardboard and green plastic.  Tres chic!

We have a proper, big round smoker.  We used to use it lots. 

Then mon mari figured out that he could just throw a few wood chips (soaked in water first) right on the coals in the Weber and get a very similar effect in much less time.  We are always in a hurry, you know....

Slightly Smoked Salmon with Tomato Tarragon Salsa

2 salmon filets, 12oz (350gr) total  or tuna
2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
wood chips for smoking
Weber-type kettle barbecue with charcoal
or Gas Grill

If you are using small, commercial wood chips, put them in water to soak for 30 minutes or longer.
Charcoal grill: Put some charcoal in the barbecue, off to one side and light it.
Sprinkle the dill weed and salt on the top (or one side) of the fish.
When the coals are glowing, add the fish - either in a basket or on a grill mat (foil works) of some sort, to the other side - in other words, not over the coals. Throw some wood chips on the coals and cover. Check it halfway through and add more wood chips if it has stopped smoking. It's done when if flakes easily with a fork. We left ours on for about 15 minutes.
To use a gas grill: Only light one side of the grill. Wrap the soaked wood chips loosely in foil. Poke a few holes in the foil and place on the grill. Keep the fish off of direct heat and the grill cover closed and vented or propped open an inch or so.

Did I ever mention that mon mari really doesn't like any fish other than salmon?  They had some gorgeous tuna... I had this - still slightly pink.

Tomato Tarragon Salsa

1 ripe tomato
1 1/2 tbs fresh tarragon, snipped
1 1/2 tbs fresh parsley, snipped
1 clove garlic
3 tbs mayonnaise

Chop tomato, mince garlic and snip herbs: hold leaves in one hand and snip with a scissors. Put into a small bowl and add mayonnaise. Mix well and serve.

About the wood chips - mon mari just keeps a small bucket of chips and water next to the grills so he always has some ready to use.

That's the news chez nous.

But there is something going on over at my other blog, Easy Gourmet Dinners.  I should have an announcement posted in about an hour.... 

Gardening, part 3: Compost; Fried Green Beans

Until I actually started my own compost pile I thought compost was a smelly pile of garbage one kept behind the garage.

Now I know better.

Compost, done correctly, doesn't smell.

It can be kept right on the kitchen counter if you like.

This will be a short post; composting is simple.

First: What goes in the compost pile?

From the kitchen: All of your fruit and vegetable scraps and peelings, coffee grounds, bread trimmings, and eggshells, plus the occasional bits of plain cardboard, black and white newspaper or plain, white paper towel. The worms like the wood pulp.
This includes scrapings from your dinner dishes except as below.

From the garden:  All of the trimmings and clippings from your vegetable and herb garden, all annual weeds that have not seeded, plus the occasional load of grass clippings from the lawn mower.

Second: What does NOT go in the compost pile?

From the kitchen: No meat, fish or dairy.  These will make it smell - which will irritate you and attract critters of the night.

From the garden: No perennial weeds, annuals with seeds or anything with a thick stem that will take a long time to decompose.

Third: Where should you put the compost pile?

You need 2 compost piles and they should be located out of the way as they will be permanent fixtures.

They should be on bare ground and be enclosed with a wire mesh or cage.  You use the first one for 6 months, just dumping everything on the top. 

At the end of 6 months you start using the second one. 

If you're ambitious, take a pitchfork or stick and turn or stir up the first one about a month after you stop using it, and again in another 2 months... Or not. 

The first compost pile will be ready for your garden in 6 months, at which time you stop using the second one and start over at the first.

I keep a plastic bowel under the sink that I scrape everything into as I cook, taking it out to the pile every few days.

Told you it was simple...

So are these....

Everyone loves roasting vegetables.

As do I - in the winter.

I really don't like turning the oven on in hot, summer weather.

Plus, I'm usually in a hurry and roasting takes 10 or 15 minutes.

Pan frying only takes about 5...

Sautéed Green Beans

6oz (175gr) green beans
2 tsp olive oil
a bit of nice sea salt

Top and tail beans. Leave whole. Heat oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add beans and sauté, turning and shaking, until light brown and blistering in spots.  Remove, sprinkle with salt and serve.

Summertime and the living is easy....

German Summer Salad; Trap Shooting with live pigeons; Weekly Menu

My last post, about walking in the mountains in Andorra, brought back a lot of memories about that small Principality.

Andorra has been an independent country since 917 (I think that's the right date), well over 1,000 years.

They are independent, not only in politics, but in mindset.

The Andorrans march to their own drummer.

They can, after all.... It's their country!

Our house in Andorra was 'on the hill', meaning built into the mountainside.  We were at 1300 meters elevation.  The back of our house was dug into the mountain; the front had spectacular views.

Directly above us, at about 2000 meters, was the Andorran Shooting Club.

It was in a glorious position, jutting out over the side of the mountain.  The targets were thrown up and out, arcing over the valley below.

A few years ago they hosted the World Trap Shooting Championships.

This was a 4-day event and shooters from all over the globe participated. 

As you may or may not know, Trap Shooting, along with Skeet and Clay Pigeon Shooting, is an event in which people with shotguns shoot clay targets, also known as clay pigeons.

Well......

Apparently the Andorrans thought this was a bit boring.

They decided to use real pigeons.

Real, live pigeons.

They brought in some 50,000 live pigeons for the event.

One can only assume that they (in turn) assumed that the world class competitors would actually hit and kill the pigeons.

They were wrong. 

There were dead, dieing, maimed, limping, broken pigeons gracing the mountainside for weeks after the event was over....

As well as a few that escaped unscathed to take up residence in the trees and rooftops.

Where, you might wonder, were the people who chastised President Obama for his inhumane murder of a fly?

First, they probably don't know where Andorra is.....

Second, when one has one's own country, one gets to make the rules.... Including who gets to come in....

But that story is for another day.

This recipe is based on one from the Time Life "Foods of the World" series that I have had for years. The first time I had a similar salad was in Germany, I had expected the typical Midwestern version of Hot German Potato Salad and was wonderfully surprised by this light salad, perfect for summer, and much lower in calories than other potato salads.

German Summer Salad

 4 - 5 medium potatoes, depending on size, 14oz (450gr) total
1 large onion
3/4 cup (6oz, 175ml) chicken stock
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs white wine tarragon vinegar
2 tbs Dijon-style mustard
1 tbs lemon juice

Potatoes: Put a large saucepan half full of water on medium heat and bring to boil. Cut potatoes - the long way, first in half, then in half again. Now slice (the short way) about 1/4 inch thick. We are aiming for bite size so if you have a huge potato, adjust accordingly. Add to water, cover partially and cook until done, about 15 minutes.
Drain, put into a serving bowl and immediately pour sauce over, turning to coat slices evenly. Set aside to cool.
Sauce: Finely chop onion and sauté in olive oil until transparent. Add stock, vinegar and mustard and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
To serve: Salad should be served just slightly warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers.

In addition to the above, for the week of June 26 we have Grilled Swordfish, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Grilled Pork Chops, Grilled Chicken Breasts, Cucumber Salad....

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

Hot and Sweet Grilled Pork Chops; What goes up....

What goes up must come down - or so the proverb would have us believe.

But not always easily.

My brother and a friend, both recently and separately (different continents) have started walking in the mountains.

That thought brings back wonderful memories of all of the Mondays, for 7 years, that I spent walking the mountains in Andorra.

The winter walks were all relatively easy, being in the lower elevations to avoid the snow and cold.

The summer walks, in the high passes, were my favorite.  Those walks were to places only ever seen by other walkers or the shepherds, goatherds, and.... What do you call the guy that tends a herd of food horses?  (As in horses raised for slaughter.)

For the first 5 years we followed our 'Fearless Leader' on whatever route he chose for us that week.  Some, but not all, of the walks were marked.  Even fewer had anything vaguely resembling a trail.  If they were marked it would be a yellow or red dot on a boulder or tree trunk, every 100 to 500 meters... or so.

Our Fearless Leader always scoped out the walks a day or two ahead of time so he knew where to go, if we could do a circle or would have to retrace our steps, where the best spot for lunch was, and so on.

BTW: in Andorra, one walked in the mountains unless one was equipped with, and used, ropes, crampons, and harnesses, in which case one was hiking.

He left Andorra and our walking group was without an official leader. 

Another woman, A, and I took over as co-leaders.  She, because she had been walking in Andorra for years longer than the rest of us; I, because I had kept trail notes of all the walks I had been on.

We never checked out the walks ahead of time.

Most of the time, when I led the walks using my notes, we didn't get lost, although we often spent lots of time looking for little yellow dots.

Most of the time, when A led the walks we did get lost - mainly because she always wanted to try something new: a new route, a different peak, a valley she'd heard of but never found...

Her walks were always an adventure.

The most memorable was a gorgeous, and well-marked walk up to a peak we had never walked to before.

We had lunch at the top, as usual.

We discussed how to go down, not as usual.

Part of the group wanted to go back down the way we had come up.  Part of the group didn't.

We had scrambled over a section of loose scree, which, while challenging going up can be very scary going down.

The group split: 4 women and my trusty brown dog, Sedi, decided to find a new way down; the rest of the group, including mon mari, went back down the trail, such as it was.

Many people think going down is easy.

They would be wrong.

I climbed the highest peak in Andorra, once.  I would have done it again, often and happily, if I could have been picked up on top by a helicopter.  Going down was terrifying.... And there was a trail.

We thought we had a trail, going down the other side of mountain we were on.  We could see it perfectly clearly from where we had lunch.

We set off, confidently.

After about 20 minutes, the path we are on, which had been going down, started going back up, over the next hill.

We didn't want to go up; we wanted to go down.

We spotted another path.

This one just ended after about 15 minutes, in a bit of flat meadow.

We spotted another path.

This one ended shortly... and steeply, in a small cliff.

We were following sheep trails - or goat trails.

That's when I learned that dogs are not as agile and sure-footed as a goat....

And that, sometimes, having 4 legs is less advantageous than having 2 legs.

There were places we humans could climb over or around that poor Sedi had to be carried or slid.

We persevered.

We hoped, eventually, one of the trails would lead us off the mountain.

In the meantime, the rest of the group was sitting at a bar at the bottom of the mountain, having a coffee and watching our little dots going back and forth.  We won't guess as to their unkind comments.

Eventually, we worked our way down the mountain.

I will not comment on some of the conversations held by 4 strong, competent women in discussing various path options.  I will say that we remained friends.

Fortunately, it was a nice summer day; no unexpected thunderstorms or drops in temperature.  We had adequate water and we had people who knew where we were.

We four intrepid, confident, mountain walkers learned there are marked trails for a reason, and one needs to be very careful and prepared before attempting to find one's own way in the mountains.

It's a little scary to be standing on a mountainside, tired after walking for hours, having no idea how to get down and thinking the only choice is to go back up to the top and down the other side.

Damn, I miss those walks!!!!!

Hot and Sweet Glazed Pork Chops

2 - 4 pork chops, 12oz total (350gr)

Marinade

1 tbs Dijon-style mustard
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbs sherry
2 tsp fresh, minced ginger 
2 cloves minced garlic powder

In small bowl whisk together the ingredients for the marinade - you need to use the whisk to break up the marmalade. Pour over chops and let marinate for 10 minutes (or longer...).
Remove from marinade and cook on barbecue 10 - 15 minutes turning once or under broiler for 12 - 15 minutes turning once - or sauté in large skillet 10 - 15 minutes (you get the picture). Baste with any remaining marinade 1 minute before removing to give better glaze.

I do love summer cooking!