Author: Trish McGee

In early July, as I tapped away on my laptop, my friend Cindy studied the cookbooks she’d discovered at the beach house we were renting. Whoever owns that house must love to cook as much as Cindy and I. Although we had planned on dining out for most of the week, Cindy was so excited about the recipes she’d been reading she offered to cook. I should also mention while inventorying the resident spices, she discovered a pretty little jar of saffron – sealing the deal. We would be dining in for the rest of her stay.   The cookbook most intriguing for her was “Peddling through Provence” by Sarah Leah Chase, 1995.

Cindy selected two recipes from that book: Tomato Soup Aux Parfums de Provence and Cauliflower a’ la Grecque. On the first night she prepared the cauliflower and created an original chicken dish to go with it. We seriously groaned with each delightful bite. I wonder what the neighbors were thinking since we were eating out on the deck. The cauliflower was smothered in an elaborate cheese sauce. For this recipe, you might just have to buy the book. However, Cindy’s chicken creation was over the top. Since she was experimenting, we tried to record approximately what she did.

Cindy’s Paprika Saffron Chicken Recipe

Olive oil to cover bottom of sauté pan
1 leek, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
3 chicken breasts, skinned and boned
paprika, salt and pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1 tomato, diced
1 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon saffron

The following day Cindy made a large batch of the tomato soup. And once again she added her own touch by making large crunchy french bread croutons. Since most of my experience with tomato soup has been Campbell’s with a grilled cheese, I couldn’t have imagined what leeks, fennel and orange zest would do to make this soup so irresistible. I was a little bit happy when she had to leave knowing there was a large pot half filled with the remaining soup…I slurped every last drop throughout the rest of the week.

I was grateful to Cindy for preparing the food. Normally, I’m the cook and it’s just so wonderful to have someone else prepare the meals. Seriously.

Before her departure back to the working world we purchased two copies of the cookbook on Amazon. I think it was only about six bucks. My book arrived several weeks ago, but I haven’t had much opportunity to look through it.

So guess what. I’m leaving for France tomorrow. Yep. I’ll be living in Provence for almost a month. I hope to post a few blogs while I’m there so stay tuned for that. Since I’ll be gone for so long, I wanted to have my good buddies over for dinner before leaving. And in the spirit of our pending departure, I decided to make it a Provence theme.

I prepared the following dishes from the Chase cookbook.

Roasted eggplant pistounade (pages 8-10)

2 large eggplants, rubbed lightly with olive oil
1 can (15 oz) chick-peas, drained
3/4 cup green olives *
3 cloves garlic minced
1 roasted red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 c olive oil *
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup rehydrated sun dried tomato halves, slivered
1/4 cup minced fresh parsely
1/4 cup slivered fresh basil
salt and petter
French bread toasted rounds for dipping

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil.
Prick the oil rubbed eggplants in several places with the tip of a sharp knife and place them in the prepared pan. Bake, turning occasionally, until the eggplants feel soft when pierced, about 45 minutes. Let cool, then halve and scoop out the pulp. Discard skins.
Place the chick-peas, olives, garlic and roasted pepper in a food processor. Pulse the machine so that all ingredients become coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and pulse briefly to incorporate.
Add the eggplant pulp and pulse again. *
Remove from the processor and put into large bowl. stir in the capers, sun-dried tomatoes, parsely and basil. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve at room temperature.

* My changes to her recipe. I used cheap olives from a can. She recommended Imported green olives such as Picholine. I used whatever olive oil I had, she recommended fruity olive oil. She recommended coarsely chopping eggplant, I pulsed it since the eggplant seemed stringy.

Pork and Apricot Ragout (page 152-154)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ounces pancetta or bacon diced*
2 pounds lean pork, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 medium onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups dry white wine*
2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons slivered fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste
2/3 cup pitted and halved green olives*
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried apricots

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven or large stew pot. Add the pancetta and cook until crisp, 6-8 minutes. Remove from the pot with a slotted spatula and set aside to drain on paper towels. Add the pork to the fat remaining in the pot and sear until browned on all sides, 5-7 minutes. remove from the pot and set aside temporarily.
Add the onion and garlic to the pot and sauté until softened, 2-3 minutes. Pour in the white wine, and then stir in the tomato paste to blend well. Season with the sage, salt and pepper. Add the seared pork and any accumulated juices to the pot. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/4 hours.
Add the olives and apricots to the ragout, cover again, and continue simmering for another 30 minutes. Just before serving, sprinkle the ragout with the reserved pancetta. Serve hot.

Makes 4 servings.*

* Since many recipes call for small amounts of pancetta, I generally buy the 8 oz. pack and freeze the rest. It’s always good to have pancetta around to enhance a recipe.
* There seems to be a debate about whether to use expensive wine to cook with. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Don’t cook with wine you wouldn’t drink.” I haven’t found that to be necessarily true, so generally when cooking with white wine, I use about a $7.00 bottle of Chardonnay.
* Once again she recommended imported olives and I used the cheap canned version.
* Since I was having 6 people, I increased the quantities, but above are her exact measurements.

Rosé Rice (page 200-201)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, minced
1 cup minced fennel bulb
1 1/2 cups long-grain rice*
2 cups dry rosé wine*
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter over medium heat in a large, squat saucepan. Add the onion and fennel and sauté until quite soft, 5-7 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat with the butter and vegetables.
Pour in the wine and the chicken broth; bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer, cover the pan, and cook until the rice is tender and all of the liquid had been absorbed, 20-25 minutes. Fold in the Parmesan, fluffing the rice with a fork, and season with salt and pepper.

*I used my favorite rice: Texmati RiceSelect Brand.
I don’t know much about rosé wine so I chose to use the rest of the white wine from the same bottle of chardonnay I used for the pork.