Felinity on la Côte d'Azur - Week's End

[altered post from 24 August 2008; stripped of some extraneous html & 5,000 all rights reserved notices; it is all rights reserved but obviously we didn't know what we were doing last year. Thanks again to Jilly, who is so very generous & has given the go-ahead again for these 2 great pix. Please do visit her Menton, Riviera Daily, & Postcards from Milou photography blogs. We do, every single day. Lovely sites with excellent prose as a welcome bonus. More information about her life is in the post below. We hope you have a wonderful weekend & we hope to be back next week.]

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A breath of fresh Mediterranean air from GG Central.

Earlier this month, we had heaps of basil bestowed upon us by the munificent Maria Caterina di Perugia, Hermione the Cool Cat’s human-maman). GG’s editor dragged out an old recipe for Soup menton. Then, choses Menton (and all things southern French—from west to east) began to pop up.

A few days ago, one link led to another, to the Menton Daily Photo, & we just had to go. A beyond-adorable cat was the Thursday, 21 August 2008 Daily Photo. GG was entranced, as was her editor. The tabby-tiger resembles our late, dear Teddy & Oliver in their mischievous-but-sweet, pink-nosed splendor. Beyond the cuteness factor, note the elegant shot & the colors in both photos; anyone with thumbs can take a photo of a cute cat. This is different….and all due to the skill & empathy of photographer/hotelier/writer Jilly Bennett.

Also in the MDP, meet Woolite the Swimming Sheep (yes!) & Manon, the baby donkey at the Fête Patronale de la Saint Barthélémy.

Jilly’s main website is Pension Milou, “…PM... is a 5-star 'pension familiale' for dogs on the Côte d'Azur. The dogs who come to stay, live in the house with me - no kennels or cages. Here you'll read stories of their lives and mine on the French Riviera."

To round out her empire, Jilly publishes Riviera Dogs & Monte Carlo Daily Photo. They are lovely--a mini-holiday. It is well worth a drop-in for a smile, a recommendation to friends, & a thought about our friends–human & animal–across the sea. Read here about Jilly's life & work with animals in the South of France in Real Life Stories from Provence. She's an inspiration.

We plan to visit Menton Daily Photo every day to maintain our sanity in a world gone mad.

Cheers & ciao-meow to all!

© 2007 - 2009 · Jilly Bennett · Menton Daily Photo · All Rights Reserved/photos used by permission of photographer

France: Menton & soup Menton recipe redux

Soup Menton

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 35 to 40 minutes

This is an excellent summer soup that allows you to take full advantage of your garden (or the farmer’s market). A few shelled peas or several tiny cauliflower flowerettes may be added to it.

Ingredients

8 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, finely minced

1-pound fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, & chopped*

2 cups new potatoes, cut into small cubes

2 cups young green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

Salt & freshly ground pepper

3 small zucchini, cut into cubes

½ cup broken-up spaghetti*

1-cup fresh basil leaves*

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese (if you don’t have fresh, leave it out, you’ll live)

Optional

3 egg yolks

Preparation

1. In a large casserole heat 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onions and cook without browning for 3 to 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, & beans. Season with salt & pepper & cover with 6 to 8 cups of water. Bring the mixture to a boil & reduce the heat. Simmer the soup partially covered for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are almost tender.

3. Add the zucchini & spaghetti and continue simmering the soup for 12 to 15 minutes more or until all the vegetables are tender. Do not overcook. The soup must retain its freshness.

4. While the soup is simmering, combine the basil, garlic, & parmesan in a blender. Add enough of the remaining olive oil to make a smooth paste. You will need about 5 tablespoons.

5. Just before serving (off the heat), whisk the basil paste into the soup. Correct the seasoning & serve.

Remarks

For a more refined soup, mix the egg yolks with a little more of the broth, & whisk the egg-yolk mixture into the soup. In this case, the soup must not come to a boil again or the yolks will curdle.

A firm tomato, peeled, seeded & cut into tiny cubes, is a lovely addition to the soup just before serving

When including peas in the soup, they should be added no more than 5 to 8 minutes before the soup is done. Cauliflower flowerettes can be added together with the zucchini.

©Recipe from Perla Meyers, The Seasonal Kitchen, A Return to Fresh Foods, Vintage Books edition, 1975.

*Remarks from GG’s editor.

This is an old (early 1970s) cookbook & some things might drive the au courant version of a food snob mad, such as breaking up spaghetti & tossing it into a soup. My dears, stop the hissy fits, it’s so unbecoming. Intentional pasta breakage occurs in Italian & French kitchens every day of the week. It is a good way to use those odd bits at the bottom of boxes & such. Just don’t do it when you’re serving pasta as the star—then, there is hissing at GG Central.

*About the tomatoes…well, we don’t have a reliable fresh supply & so really, really good tinned ones, drained & crunched are OK, if you don’t tell Perla Meyers. But really, do try to get fresh ones, especially this late in August on into October (really). Or whimper to friends & colleagues who have gardens. When it comes to fresh produce, have no shame. That’s according to GG. Blame her.

*About the eggs: it makes a divine difference & we highly recommend it to non-vegans & French-fancy-averse cooks who are chicken (ha!) about it (or lazy, might we say?). Still, don’t do it if you aren’t going to use the egg whites for omelettes or soufflés or meringues (freeze them). Egg whites make a fabulous facial masque, by the by. Haven’t done it in years, but we're fairly sure egg whites haven’t changed. Anyway, the yolks aren’t necessary but do try it at least once to show how open-minded & sophisticated & non-alarmist you are about eggs-as-lethal weapons.

*Other unnecessary remarks. We finally faced up to our blender-less kitchen (as in: it's a problem) Friday night. A “baby” Cuisinart is not the best for this paste or any other. Our blender conked out ages ago & we’ve been getting by with pesto (yes of course, we use Marcella Hazan's, why do you ask?) that’s all flaky…with basil bits that look like pests, not pesto…ugh. The basil goes brown, of course, the minute one chops it (which is why we tear it onto salads & so on). So by all means, if you find yourself without one (& have the means), buy a new blender. Otherwise, muddle through & eat it yourself (it is good), but don’t serve it to guests; save your pennies for a new or used one, or haul out the old mortar & pestle & pound out your frustrations. Just don’t scare the cat for heaven’s sake.

Rosemary, sage, catmint, & basil (green & purple) bouquets still grace the kitchen, living room, & bath from the ever-generous Maria Caterina di Perugia's garden. Some rosemary & sage are already dried & stored for the coming autumn. Heavenly feeling. More photographs (uh, scans), recipes, etc. later. GG's editor is preparing dejeuner, trying to ignore the terrible world news.

ciao-bonjour-meow!

Menton, France & soup Menton

GG & her editor confess that they've not been to Menton on the French Riviera (yet!). However we are taking a break from all the death & sadness of the Olympics, Darfur, untimely death of that funny guy Bernie Mac, poet Mahmoud Darwish's death last night, the outbreak of war between Russia & Georgia...among so many awful things--yikes! So why the photo of Menton? We have often made a soup called soup menton by Perla Meyers. GG's editor bought her first cookbook, The Seasonal Kitchen in the late 1970s upon her return from studying in Strasbourg. This is one of her favorite summer soups & it's simmering away as we type. We include the recipe above (adjust according to what is in the kitchen & in season). Oh dear, the lazy way out (scanning dog-eared, smudgy book) isn't going so well. But our soup awaits & we doubt anyone will be making this ce soir. So we'll re-do a lovely copy tomorrow.

Ciao, bisou, xoxo, darlings!