What a joy to get back to my Sunday farmers’ market and familiar kitchen! The last months of 2011 were filled with lots of excitement, from several trips (including Berlin and New Mexico) to some fun Parisian restaurant discoveries – promise to keep you posted on all that soon.

There’s nothing like getting back to cooking though, and this recipe for Buckwheat Banana Bread is fitting to start off a healthy new year. Since moving to France, I’ve been a fan of galettes de sarrasin (buckwheat crepes), which are savory and traditionally eaten before sweet crepes. I’ve been experimenting with incorporating more buckwheat flour into my baking. Usually, I mix it with regular white flour, but I wanted to try making 100% gluten-free bread, so used only pure buckwheat for this recipe. The health benefits of buckwheat are numerous (high in protein, fiber, B vitamins, amino acids…). It’s also a great alternative for those who can’t tolerate gluten because, despite its name, buckwheat is not wheat, but a fruit seed.

When I make banana bread I’m always worried it’ll be either too dry or not cooked enough. I actually think the buckwheat, which isn’t too compact, actually helped with this problem. I also tried an experiment by whipping lots of air into the bananas before combining them with the rest of the ingredients. Whatever the secret, this recipe worked well for me. The bread tasted yummy, yet healthy at the same time.

Random thought: For a couple years now I’ve been using a kitchen scale to weigh butter. It is so much easier that scooping chunks of cold butter into my measuring cups! I’d definitely recommend equipping your kitchen with one, especially if you’re an American cook living abroad or simply enjoy using European recipes. I still tend to use my American measuring cups and spoons for the rest though, so bear with me as I try to find “balance” in my proportions!

Shopping List

120 grams salted butter (about half a cup)

3 very ripe bananas

1 ½ cups buckwheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¾ cup fresh, chopped walnuts

Recipe:

1. Melt the butter and set aside.

2. Whip the bananas with a hand blender until they are smooth and airy.

3. Add the sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and butter to the bananas.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry.

6. Mix in the walnuts, but don’t over work the batter.

7. Bake at 180?C or 350?F for about 30 minutes (until the center is fully cooked). Note: if the top begins browning too quickly, cover with a piece of foil until the center catches up.

This bread keeps well for several days in an airtight container. It’s nice toasted for breakfast.

It took me quite some time to find where to buy frozen berries in France.

During berry season, I would stock up on my favorites (Mara des bois strawberries, for example) and freeze what would fit in our tiny freezer (I do mean tiny – it’s just as high as a pint of ice cream). The rest of the year, I was at a loss – and not getting my customary dose (or overdose) of phytochemicals.

If I wasn’t so stubborn, I would have found the frozen berries sooner. But, I said “No, I’m not going to Picard.” This is a French chain-store that is wholly dedicated to frozen foods. I’d walk past it every day on my way home from the metro, and I’d imagine (in one of those scouring, devilish ways) what was inside: rows of ice-cold pre-packaged meals, just waiting to be taken home, thrown in the microwave and devoured in front of the television. That’s not why I came to France. This place was for those who didn’t cook – and that’s where I was a little wrong. While I still don’t like the idea of going into a huge white room that reminds me of the guts of a giant meat freezer, Picard has proved to be my organic frozen berry oasis. In addition to the ready-made meals, they have a large variety of pure and simple frozen fruits and vegetables – including organic ones.

Now, because I’m like that, once I actually found my berries, I started wondering if frozen food is actually a good thing. Here’s my dilemma:

Environmental Disadvantages of Frozen Foods:

1. Freezers consume electricity and create CO2.

2. There’s a lot of plastic packaging.

Environmental Advantages of Frozen Foods:

1. A full freezer uses less energy than an empty one.

2. Freezing helps reduce food waste. You only take eat what you need and keep the rest frozen until you need it again. Also, frozen produce tends to use more of a harvested crop.

I guess it’s kind of a toss-up. If we could use low-energy consumption freezers and biodegradable storage containers, we might be okay.

To help us contemplate, here’s one of my favorite recipes, using frozen (or fresh) berries.

You can replace the fromage blanc with yogurt (yaourt brassé is a nice alternative in France). Fromage blanc is a fresh cheese the consistency of thick, creamy yogurt or sour cream. I love the wholesome taste of plain yogurt, but sometimes I want a dessert that makes me feel like I’m being naughty – yogurt is for good-girl days. The pure smoothness and lack of bitterness of fromage blanc is what makes it feel like dessert. Kind of like the way mascarpone works in tiramisu.

The speculoos sprinkled on top add a sort of pre-holiday cheer to this simple dessert. Speculoos are Belgian spice cookies made with cassonade (dark brown sugar) and spices (i.e. cinnamon and cloves). They kind of remind me of ginger snaps.

Shopping List

A mix of berries

Liquid sweetener (mayple or agave syrup)

Fromage blanc

Speculoos cookies

Recipe:

1. If using frozen berries, cook them over medium heat and add a small amount of sweetener if desired.

2. In a small bowl, mix the fromage blanc with small amount of sweetener to taste.

3. In a glass jar or other suitable container, layer the berries, the fromage blanc and broken pieces of speculoos.

Serve immediately.

Conclusion first: the original experiment failed after only a few hours.

When my sister told me she was going vegan for a month, it reminded me of the first time I tried. One day in 2003, I made it until mid-morning. Seven years later, I thought I had a stronger will and, since I wanted to be a good big sister and support her endeavor, I decided to go dairy-free for one week. (The whole month was out of the question). As I mentioned: big failure. I was only able to resist the strawberry yogurt nestled in the fridge until noon.

Thus, the original experiment has been redesigned: as a creative challenge, I’ll prepare one vegan meal per day until the end of the week.

Despite the fact that I have not yet met a vegan in France (nor a vegetarian for that matter), they do exist and the French language (despite popular belief) does have a word for them. Vegetarian translates to végétarien (no meat or fish) and vegan to végétalien (no meat, fish, dairy, eggs…not even honey). As I’ve mentioned in the past, I grew up vegetarian, and am now pescetarian.

Breakfast was one of the reasons going vegan sounded so scary to me. Milk, yogurt, butter: breakfast necessities. Without milk in my cereal, butter on my toast, milk in my tea, yogurt with my fruit…breakfast would cease to exist – as would any motivation to get up!

Yesterday morning, ready to tackle the first challenge, I headed into the kitchen. This was a completely un-prepared adventure and I had to make do with whatever was in the cupboard. Just leaving out the dairy would be too simple. First point: dry cereal was out of the question. Second point: my breakfast had to make sense and include protein, iron, calcium… all the important nutrients. A mix between muesli and tabouli ended up being my inspiration for this “Vegan Breakfast Salad.”

First, some nutritional info:

Bulgur is a whole grain, widely used in Middle Eastern cooking and rich in fiber.

Flax seeds have many benefits, but I added them for their Omega-3 fatty acids (similar to salmon).

Raisins contain antioxidants, iron and Boron (a mineral that helps absorb calcium and, thus, develop strong bones).

Nuts are a great source of protein. Walnuts are pretty much a miracle food if you ask me (they contain fiber, vitamin E, Omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, B vitamins…). Almonds are a source of calcium (didn’t know that till yesterday), as well as iron, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins…

Shopping List

Bulgar

Raisins

Dried apricots

A juicy orange and lemon

Flaxseeds

Walnuts

Toasted almonds

Recipe:

1. Cook the bulgur in boiling water for about ten minutes. Add the dried fruits  just before draining so  they will just slightly cook. Drain well.

2. Mix in seeds and nuts.

3. Squeeze in some orange juice (until the bulgur takes the flavor) and some lemon juice (just a bit). Mix well.

I thought the fruit sweetened the salad enough, but add some agave syrup or cinnamon to taste if you like.

This salad is also great served cold and will give you a boost of energy to start your day.

When I moved to college, one of the first gadgets I had to buy was a blender.

Since we’re all products of our environment, my breakfast habits have little-by-little been influenced by those of the French. The typical petit déjeuner in France includes a hot drink (coffee or tea, but usually coffee) and some bread or biscottes (little dry, crunchy breads that we have yet to find in the United States) smeared with creamy butter and/or jam. On the weekends, breakfast branches out to fresh-baked goodies from the boulangerie. This straightforward routine, obviously, was an easy trap to fall into- especially since I’ve discovered the foam function on the coffee machine. Now, without a comforting hot drink, I just don’t feel like my day is starting out right.

That’s until the first hot days of summer arrive. Then, all I want is an ice-cold smoothie. Just for info, the temperature in Paris today was a very warm 29 degrees C (84 degrees F).

My newest obsession is kefir in my smoothies. This is a slightly tart, fermented milk- thicker than drinking milk, but thinner than yogurt. It’s made from milk (cow, goat…) and “kefir grains”- a bacteria and yeast culture. Originally from the Caucasus, kefir is known to be quite good for you, especially for your digestive system- thanks to the presences of probiotic bacteria. Best of all, it’s delicious in a smoothie.

My other smoothie obsession is bananas. All smoothies must have them. Trick: when your uneaten bananas start getting too ripe throw them in the freezer (just as they are) and keep them until you make a smoothie. To peel, run under hot water until you can easily take off the skin. I’d recommend putting a strainer at the bottom of the sink to keep the gooey peel from going down the drain.

This recipe makes 1 really big or 2 medium glasses:

Shopping List

1 banana (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup plain kefir

2/3 cup organic berries (blackberries, blackcurrants, wild blueberries, raspberries, strawberries)

1/2 cup orange juice

Liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave nectar) to taste, if desired

Blend and enjoy.

Back from San Francisco- with lots of foodie stories to share!

When I travel, it’s all about food- well, at least 85%. It’s about trying new fare and seeing what’s in, what’s local. It’s about color and spice and just plain satisfying the palate.

Food-wise, San Francisco is a beautiful fusion of culture. I felt like I traveled the world in only a couple weeks. Sometimes I almost felt like I was back in France (French-inspired cafés and bakeries run rampant, as do fine red wines and decadent cheeses). Other times I was transported to far-off places like China, Italy, and Thailand. San Francisco is definitely the place if you like variety- high quality, healthy variety that is. What struck me most about the city is its abundance of fresh, organic produce and gourmet-style vegetarian cuisine.

You can’t write just one post on an entire trip, so I’ll be spreading my San Francisco food adventures over several days. I’ll talk about a few excellent restaurants, including my new all-time favorite, Green’s. I’ll also fill you in on tea, coffee, fortune cookies and cupcakes. Let’s start with farmers’ markets, though- essential when visiting this vibrant , farmer-friendly city.

I made it to two a couple open-air markets, but the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market was my favorite: a definite must if you’re in San Francisco on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday. Overtaking the Ferry Building Market Place in the Embarcadero neighborhood, this market has a great community vibe. It’s happy. It’s bustling. It’s full of mouth-watering samples.

My mom and I started our morning out at Frog Hollow Farm’s café just inside the Ferry Building back doors. Actually, we ended up spending more than just one morning here- thanks to the cherry almond scones and well-made coffee drinks.

Revved up and ready to go, we headed to the clock tower to meet up with a good college friend of mine and take in the humming sights, sounds and tastes of the market.

Meyer lemons were everywhere, from Frog Hollow Farm’s zest-filled lemon marmalade to lemon-flavored quark cheese. These sweet, fragrant lemons are originally from China, but are the craze in California today.

Quark cheese, originally made in Eastern Europe, proved to be a special, and addictive, find. It’s a soft cheese, kind of a cross between ricotta and cream cheese. While the garlic, lemon and vanilla flavors were all fun, we all ended up favoring the latter. The cheese naturally has a slight tang which gives a subtle kick to the vanilla. Such quark is great at breakfast, spread over warm toast or homemade scones.

We eagerly wandered from stand to stand in awe at all the edible originality for sale. Tangled kiwi vines- well, those aren’t actually edible, just a sight for the eyes. Stinging nettles- yes, those are edible, when cooked. Cap’n Mike’s Indian Smoked Salmon, (basted in honey). Herbal sugars- such as lemon (there it is again!) verbena and rose petal- and dried Thai basil at the Allstar Organics booth. Crispy, juicy Asian pears (which had a slight lemon flavor by the way).

I could go on and on, but I’ll just mention a few more finds…

On more of a French note, we encountered huge bundles of fragrant, organic lavender; some not-so-ordinary mushrooms; rich, creamy cheeses; fine red wines; and excellent renditions of real French bread. Just inside the Ferry Building doors, for example, lies Far West Fungi, a small shop that offers all sorts of intriguing mushrooms I’d never heard of before (like Nameko and Pioppini). Also inside the building is the Cowgirl Creamery, the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant and the Acme Bread Company. The best way to combine it all (and feel a little French) is to sit down for wine, cheese, marinated mushrooms and baguette at the wine bar.

We ended up going back to the Ferry Building several times. On one such occasion, we enjoyed two 2007 Californian reds: a Scribe Pinot Noir, Carnezos-Sonoma and a Nalle Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley. The cheese: a ½ round of Mt. Tam. The bread: an entire, fresh épi baguette.

Whether you start the day or finish it at the Ferry Plaza Market and Ferry Building merchants, you can’t go wrong. The market itself gets my “kudos for sustainability” for it’s support of local farmers and various other environmentally-friendly initiatives. The vendors, for example, only dispense bags that are compostable or recyclable- important since, as I learned, the City program doesn’t recycle just any old plastic bag!

All the market excitement almost made me wish we didn’t have dinner reservations that evening. I wanted to shop and cook, shop and cook- especially some of the stranger looking mushrooms. Fortunately, Green’s restaurant, and their mushrooms, was well worth the sacrifice.

Next post: favorite San Francisco restaurants…

Some exotic spice, no?  The one that giddily finds its way into Indian and Thai cookbooks; the one I’d always ignored.  Until my most recent cooking adventure, I’d always skipped that part of the recipe, replacing the unknown with the familiar.  I only ever thought freshly squeezed lime juice could be my accomplice in Pad Thai crime.  I knew this friendly fruit could easily replace the so-called “tamarind,” and at least I knew where it came from and what tang it’d give my noodles.

That’s where my story starts, actually- with my trip to the Paris-based Asian grocery store, Tang Frère (*see note below), to buy the ingredients for one of my all-time favorites: homemade Pad Thai. There I was buying bean sprouts, leafy greens, hot chili sauce, carrots, rice noodles, lime- you name it- all those ingredients I usually buy to make my dish.  Yes, there I was, minding my business, when I looked up and saw a stack of bright red boxes marked “sweet tamarind.” Wow, I thought.  It really exists.  And it’s here in France, in front of me.  And, wow, it’s a… fruit?  That ‘s funny, whatever it is, it’s in a… it’s in a pod- a strange little four-inch brown pod. In my moment of folly, I didn’t know anything from anything, except that “tamarind paste” must come from this “tamarind” fruit.  Decided: If I was going to make Pad Thai, I was going to make it “the real way.”  My very spontaneous idea was first to make tamarind paste.

As I learned, tamarind is a fruit that grows on a tamarind tree. The outside, indeed, is a curvy, bumpy pod which is filled with large seeds, a fibrous spine and, of course, pulp. Normally, tamarind is fairly acidic, getting sweeter as it ripens.  The ripe pulp can be eaten just like that or, after being made into a paste, can be used in cooking.  Tamarind contributes to the sweet/sour taste in a variety of recipes; popular in India, it’s one of the main ingredients in chutney, for example.

Cracking open my first pod and tasting the pulp, I was reminded of a date- a similar chewy, sticky texture and a similar dark red/brown color.  Thus, my problem: I thought tamarind was supposed to be acidic.  This was quite sweet.

I forged on and tried using a few different (intuitive) methods of making my tamarind paste. I tried soaking the peeled whole in boiling water, then picking through the seeds and fibers and crushing the pulp through a sieve.  But, it was too liquid, tasted like water and was too sweet.  Then I tried again, with less water, at room temperature.  (I know, there was no “constant” in my experiment- very bad).  This time, my paste was too thick and still too sweet.  I reminded myself I had bought “sweet tamarind” from Thailand and began to wonder if maybe there were other kinds. Then I realized I had no idea what tamarind paste was supposed to taste like or what the consistency should be.

In short, I ended up resorting back to my lime for that evening’s Pad Thai.  I’m not finished with this one, though!  Next task: find some sample tamarind paste (apparently, it’s sold either as a block that has to be prepared or ready-made in a jar).  Then, back to the tamarind pods (once I figure out if I can find some sour ones!), finger smooshing and sieving.

Anyone know more about tamarind and making the paste from scratch?

*Tang Frère is an Asian grocery store not to be missed.  It has two locations in Paris: 168, Avenue de Choisy (13^th arrondissement, China Town) and 41, Rue Labrouste (15^th arrondissement).  Although both will entice you with an array of not-so-common products, the China Town location is the largest and most well-known.  Fresh tofu, rice paper wrappers for spring rolls, wasabi…