A week of vinaigrette

Now that I’m almost completely over the morning sickness (why do they call it morning sickness if it lasts all day?) I’ve been able to get back in the kitchen. Although I was able to sneak back my grandmother’s rupjmaizes ieraugs (Latvian rye-bread starter) from Michigan on our last trip overseas (“excuse me ma’am, why didn’t you declare that gelatinous mass in your checked baggage?”), the bread baking is going to have to wait another month or so. Last week was hot here in Clermont-Ferrand, and although it cooled down considerably this weekend, the kitchen still heats up quickly. 

I've found a few more foods to add to that list I started at the beginning of the year of  foods not easily found here, including corn on the cob (thought of as being animal feed; sweet corn is sold in cans), salad dressings and many of the cheeses I’m used to cooking with (and for those who know of my love for Colby-jack, I’m still searching for anything similar!). Of course I don’t miss the American cheese and cheese whiz so much, but as I haven’t developed a taste for enmetal, which is the commonly used shredded cheese widely available here, I’m still searching for cheeses to use in various recipes. Oh, and kefir. But I had problems finding that in the US.

Lauris and Maksis in Chatenet

As for the salad dressing, we had made do with a pseudo ranch until we returned from the United States with those little ranch dressing mix packets, but I have been craving a change (why is French salad dressing called French if there is no comparable dressing here in France?). I had never made my own salad dressing, but having culinary geniuses among my friends I knew it should be easy and turn out tasty. So, I gave it a go with Emeril’s simple balsamic vinaigrette, and it came out delicious, leaving me wondering why I hadn’t made my own dressing before. And we had a delicious salad dinner.

With the heat wave continuing, I marinated chicken in the dressing, and served it cold over a salad tossed in the same the following night. And the day temperatures were the highest they’d been, a simple pasta salad with the remaining dressing tossed with rotini, red pepper, salami, red onion, and a cheese I’ve been experimenting with that comes in a red casing (don’t remember what it’s called, you could probably substitute provolone).

Lauris and Maksis sharing rocks

The weekend was spent in Chatenet (to read about our first visit, click here), visiting our friends before their long vacation. It turns out this is the ideal time to visit friends; they were busy harvesting the produce from their garden, and what would not keep in the root cellar either had to be eaten or given to visiting friends... As my balcony gardening experiment has completely failed (but that's a whole other post!) I was delighted to lend a hand with harvesting the potatoes, and this eventually resulted in a big bag of potatoes, beets (also called beetroot), carrots, beans, tomatoes, grapes, even a squash accompanying us home to Clermont-Ferrand.

This week will be an adventure in cooking. Not being a big fan of beets I have never prepared any before, but since Roberts's top-ten list of favorite foods includes aukstā zupa (cold beet soup), I have quite a bit of experimenting ahead of me! Wish me luck!