How to cook impossibly French - casserole with crepes

Ingredients

for the pancakes/ crepes see this recipe

filling:
3/4 cup ground pork (or beef or chicken)
1 finely chopped shallot
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup heavy cream
as much grated cheese as you like

Maybe after having gotten through the craze of the holidays, the first busy weeks of the new year culminating with the rush for the perfect Valentine's Day, you are ready to slow down with me and finally enjoy your newlywed state or spending quality time with your family or friends without having to rush off somewhere... Are you ready to put your copy of 'How to get dinner ready under 30 minutes' on the shelves for once and instead take a whole lazy weekend afternoon to prepare piece after piece for this casserole dish? It is also a lot of fun to divide it up and prepare it together.

This recipe, as you see in the ingredients, is also not for those counting calories. There are a lot of veggies but there are also melted cheese and silky cream and juicy meat. It is a recipe for indulging with all your senses, from preparation to a cozy evening filled with leisurely eating and finishing the rest of the red wine.

First, the pancakes/ crepes need to be prepared. To achieve the crepe-like texture and thinness necessary for the later folding, follow my recipe here. To upgrade the white flour, I am using 50% regular flour and 50% spelt flour - adding a lot of nutritious value, but it is not necessary. Put the pancakes to the side for the time being.

Now to the filling. Brown the meat in oil for 5 minutes and then add in the shallot, and after another 5 minutes the pepper and mushrooms. Let this saute until the mushrooms are soft and have released their water. Pour in the peas as well as the cream and red wine and let simmer until the sauce has reached the desired thickness. Season with salt, pepper and if you like, Italian herbs.

In the last step, fill and roll up each crepe, placing them next to each other in a casserole dish. If there is any filling left, pour it over them and cover everything with grated cheese. I like cheeses like Swiss or Gouda, but whatever you prefer is fine and one can certainly also experiment with feta or blue cheese.

Almost there! Put the casserole in the oven at 300 for about 20 - 30 minutes until the cheese has melted. The true test whether you have successfully acquired a true Zen state of mind in this slowing down cooking process is when you see your family or friends wolfing down the work of hours in a matter of minutes. See it as proof that the dish turned out well and relax with the wine :-).

Life is good!

Dinner for one - Judith Jones's Roast Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound), cut into slices
1 cup milk
1 sprig fresh thyme


In today’s fast paced and highly mobile universe, one person households are constantly on the rise in most industrialized countries. This is not the place to explore the social consequences of this versus the freedom and flexibility on the plus side, but to focus on one major impact that usually goes hand in hand with living alone (and holds mostly true if living in a two person household as well): the deprivation from good home cooked meals.

Reasons for not cooking for one are plentiful. It seems to much trouble if you put all this effort in just for yourself, pre-prepared meals are available everywhere while ingredients are still not always available in the small quantities you’d need (again, also somewhat true for two person households).

Therefore, besides having made the world a better place by giving us the delights of Julia Child's cooking, the heart wrenching story of Anne Frank and many, many more books, one of Judith Jones' most outstanding achievements is taking a stand against this mindset of not cooking for yourself.

The message is clear: living by yourself need not mean forgoing fresh and home cooked food. Realizing that you are indeed worth all the efforts that go into a nice meal and showing that these efforts are maybe even less than you imagined. Food should bring joy, health and delight every day, in every meal - be it to a family of ten or a household of one.

In the following recipe, I have slightly adapted Judith Jones’ idea to make a pork roast using a small pork tenderloin. She also suggests to use the leftovers for Pork Hash, but they can also be frozen and enjoyed at a later time.

Cut the pork into slices, rub them with the mustard, garlic, salt and pepper and let sit for at least one hour. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, while in a Dutch oven on high heat, you brown the meat. Add the milk, cover with a lid and put it in the oven, basting the meat from time to time with its juices and the milk, for approximately one hour. Because of the addition of the milk, it is also necessary to turn the meat regularly to prevent burning; on the plus side, the meat will stay tender even if slightly overcooked.

In the meantime, bring out the fanciest tableware, cutlery and napkins you have and set the table with flowers and candles. When the food is ready, just add a boiled potato or a little salad, and sit down without distraction from TV, books or anything else, take in the beautiful dinner you have created for yourself, enjoying every single bite.

Life is good!


You might be interested in checking out tributes to Judith Jones (and her recipes!) today on these lovely blogs:

Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen - Bake Away With Me
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud

Soup for the sick

Ingredients

1 large onion, cut into rings
2 serrano peppers
3 red potatoes
1 pork chop, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 cup Italian parsley, chopped
½ cup fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper
2 portions love and sympathy


When I wake up, I already feel like my head is exploding. It’s just one of those days when you feel sick and cranky and can’t even stomach the idea of leaving your any further than to snuggle under a ton of blankets on your couch. A sudden craving for fennel tea. The shining sun and singing birds cruel sarcasm and a personal attack by the universe.

But as no woman’s an island, I am not alone in my misery, and some time after breakfast, I hear strange sounds coming from the kitchen. It sounds like our beloved Dutch oven being put on the stove, I hear water running and the rhythmic banging of a knife (wanna bet it’s the famous Santoku?) on a cutting board, the sounds of chopping and boiling, opening and closing of the fridge.

What on earth can be happening? This being Saturday, what I remember of our fridge is that it is empty, waiting to be re-filled to get us through another week. Then the smells start emerging to the living room and my couch, poking my nostrils with increasing intensity while I suffer away on my blankets, demonstratively too sick to even schlep myself over to the kitchen to observe what’s going on.

And then out of nowhere, a steaming bowl of soup makes it to my hands, covered with fresh green herbs and rings of raw jalapeno that immediately lift my spirits. Potatoes and thinly sliced pork, savory bits of garlic hiding under the tremendous amounts of sweet rings of onions, and all of it floating in a delicious and fragrant broth that warms the heart.

I don’t know what happened that day in our kitchen and if you are interested in the exact recipe, you’ll have to ask my wonderful someone. From my guess, cut and chop all of the above and boil it in a sturdy pot until the potatoes are done. Season it with tender loving care and good wishes and serve boiling hot, with a kiss.

Life is good!