la vie au printemps
There are many things about the French, but what they know of food, from the Frenchies I've met, is that they don't have to start a food movement to become conscious of what real food is. Real food is in their blood, in their stories, part of their livelihood. French Folk Music is playing in the background right this moment from the accordion which was actually invented by a German Berliner in 1822 by the name of Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann. Last night a French man, Mattieu, at my newest couch surfing locale made Lasagna, while the Italian in the room and I watched and talked economics. Right off the bat Mattieu and I dove into conversation about the notion of cooking from scratch and eating real food. Meanwhile and ever-so idyllically, he cared for each piece of the spinach that would go in our lasagna that night by pulling off the stem and washing it--care that only a person raised in a culture of food would consider important. And now, without further adieu, the recipes...
Paeonia tenuifolia--Fern Leaf Peony
French Man's Lasagna
* de-stem and wash fresh spinach
* sautee in EVOO
* heat tomatoes in sauce pan with EVOO + Laural leaf (aka Bay Leaf) + oregano + basil and cook until it becomes a sauce
* mix in sauteed spinach with mascarpone + dill
* layer a casserole dish with sauce, then lasagna sheets (dry)
* alternate layers of spinach mixture, tomato sauce and lasagna sheets
* here's what makes the lasagna MIND BLOWING---> after last layer of sauce, add a layer of smoked salmon
* top with more sauce and grana pradano
* bake at 200C (375ish F) for 45ish minutes or until done and cheese is bubbly on top
cucumber + yogurt salad
* mix plain yogurt + salt n pepper
* add thinly sliced cucmbers
and for dessert...A la Loretta ice cream
* vanilla ice cream topped with warm raspberries
et voila le dîner est servi
fallen apple tree petals
~ fin ~
