Crocus day!

I was flummoxed when we came to crocus day of the French Republican Calendar – surely crocuses bloom only in the early spring? To my astonishment, a fall-blooming crocus, crocus sativus, is where saffron comes from! Each blossom has three stigmas which when harvested and dried are saffron. I’ve ordered ten bulbs of crocus sativus and will update you in one years’ time as to whether I have harvested 30 saffron threads.

So, we find ourselves celebrating saffron again, two days after saffron day in the calendar. While the saffron lassi highlighted saffron, I chose a recipe today where saffron would be a member of the chorus of flavors. We turn again to Meera Sodha‘s wonderful Made in India for her “Perfect Lamb Biryani.”

Lamb biryani 

2 star anise

2 tbsp coriander seeds

10 cloves

50 black peppercorns

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 cinnamon stick

4 large onions

2 inch nub of ginger

8 garlic cloves

2 lbs lamb shoulder, cut into two-inch pieces

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp chili powder

3 tbsp whole milk yogurt

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups basmati rice

1 tsp rose water

25 saffron threads, soaked in 2 tbsp hot water

First, wash the rice in three changes of clean water and leave soaking for at least 20 minutes. Chop the onions into thin slices and mince the garlic and ginger.

Make your spice mix by grinding together the anise, coriander, peppercorns, cumin, fennel and cinnamon stick.

Put one tablespoon of oil into a large pot on high heat. Sear the lamb so that you get some nice brownness on the meat. Remove the meat and set aside. If the pan seems dry, add some more oil and begin to cook the onions. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes and then remove half the onions. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan. Cook for a minute or two and then add the ground spice mix together with the turmeric and chili powder.

After a minute, add the lamb, yogurt and tomato paste. Stir and add a coup and a half of water. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and cover. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Drain the rice and put into a pan covered with 1-2 inches of water. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Put the reserved onions in a pan and cook until caramelized and sweet – 30 minutes on low.

Preheat the oven to 300. Once the lamb has finished cooking, start making your biryani layers. In a casserole dish, form this pattern x 2: lamb, rice, onions. Save the lamb sauce to serve with the completed dish. Sprinkle the rose water and saffron on top of the dish and seal with foil. Cook for 20 minutes in the oven. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Mes amis,

Today we celebrate the ancient chestnut! In Thornbury, England, grows the Tortworth chestnut, allegedly planted in 800 AD, but written records referencing the tree (the Domesday Book!) only go back to the twelfth century. So, the fair chestnut tree is 800 years old +/- 400 years. It has since been selected by the Tree Council of England as one of fifty great British trees. Naturellement.

Our dish on this third day of Grape Harvest highlights the sweetness of the sweet chestnut. Adapted from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe, I have omitted some of the orange flavoring to better showcase the chestnut. Enjoy!

Chestnut Chocolate Trifle 

1 14 oz can of chestnuts

1 1/4 cup sugar (divided)

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup orange liqueur

8 oz dark chocolate

2 tbs butter

1 pound cake

I began with making my own pound cake, but purchasing one frozen or from the bakery at the grocery store would serve this dish just fine. The cake is our ballast and will dutifully absorb the flavors of the dish. Melt two tablespoons of butter at medium heat in a saucepan. Add the chocolate and mix to melt, but be careful not to burn. Set aside to cool.

Puree your can of chestnuts in a food processor with 1/4 cup of sugar and two tablespoons of water.

Start mixing the heavy cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until mostly whipped. Add in the remaining one cup of sugar slowly so as not to deflate the whipped cream.

Fold half of the whipped cream in to the chestnut puree and the other half in to the melted chocolate.

Start to assemble! Here’s our pattern: pound cake, liqueur, chestnut, poundcake, liquer, chocolate. Repeat x 1. Place in the fridge to cool and wait as long as you can to eat (aim for three hours).

 

 

Bonsoir!

On today, the second day of the year 225, the sans-coulottes celebrate saffron. And so shall we! I have decided to make the saffron flavor the focus of this post and highlight it in a traditional lassi. The inspiration for this recipe came from the delightful Made in India by Meera Sodha. I love this book so much I gave it to my husband as a Christmas present on the understanding that I was actually buying it for myself. I have found every recipe I have tried so far to be delicious and simply explained. I have added to her recipe for saffron lassis with some complementary flavors – cardamom and banana. I found the drink to be refreshing and filling. It even inspired my four-year-old to request to make a “banana smoothie” for himself. Enjoy!

Saffron cardamom lassi 

25 sprigs of saffron

2 cups plain greek yogurt

2 cardamom pods, ground up

1 banana

Sugar to taste

Heat two tablespoons of water to just boiling and place in a bowl along with the saffron sprigs. Let them steep for 5 minutes while you ready the rest of the ingredients. Grind the cardamom until very fine – I do not like chunks of cardamom in my dishes. Place the yogurt, cardamom, banana and sugar in the blender and remove the saffron sprigs from the water and place them in the blender as well. Add as much or as a little sugar as you wish. Blend until very smooth. My blender needed a little assistance, so I added about two table spoons of milk to get it going, but water would also be fine. Makes two fairly large glasses of refreshing lassi.

 

 

Today marks the first day of the 225th year of the French Revolution! I would not have known this were it not for a gift from my lovely husband a few months ago. He had been listening to Mike Duncan’s Revolutions podcasts about the French Revolution and became fascinated with how the revolutionaries altered the calendar. One of their methods of doing away with the Catholic church was to abolish the Gregorian calendar and start anew.

The french republican calendar kept the concept of a 12 month year, but swept away pretty much everything else recognizable about the traditional calendar. Each month was made up of three, ten-day weeks. The tenth day, rather than the seventh, was the day of rest. To account for the several missing days, each year ended in a series of “complementary days.” Each month was named in reference to a seasonal occurence with the first month of the new year beginning on the Autumnal equinox (today!) and named Vendémiaire, or “grape harvest.” Each day, in turn, was named after flora or fauna of the season so that today, September 22, is “grape”.

My husband gave me the very beautiful French Republican Wall Calendar recently and as it hung in our kitchen, it began to inspire our cooking. I found myself cooking more seasonally inspired meals and checking the calendar before making a grocery list to see what fruits or vegetables might be at their peak. It is from this impulse that this blog has sprung. I will attempt to cook a dish every day based on the calendar. Every fifth and tenth day celebrate an animal and a tool or cooking implement. I will do my best to cook or use these items, but will probably skip them in the immediate future as Vendémiaire celebrates the horse and the donkey.

Today, we celebrate the grape! I thought of making dolmades, but then decided to make my favorite chicken salad that incorporates red grapes. Below is the recipe. Enjoy and venture back tomorrow as we celebrate saffron!

Chicken Salad

1 whole fryer chicken (a chicken cut up into pieces)

1 lemon

Dill (a few sprigs)

Green onion (three stalks)

2 stalks of celery

20 red grapes

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 sweet apple

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup plain yogurt

Bread of your choosing

Mustard

Baby arugula

To begin, set a large pot of water to boil and then boil the chicken pieces for about an hour. Remove the chicken to a plate and let them cool down before you begin shredding them. Shred the chicken, discarding any skin and bones.

Ten minutes before the chicken is finished, begin chopping the green onions, celery and dill and place in a large bowl. Slice the apple in to small slivers and then dice. Place the apple into the bowl with the vegetables and squeeze the juice of the lemon over all of it. Add the cool, shredded chicken along with the pecans, mayo, sour cream and yogurt. Cut the grapes in half and add to the bowl and mix everything together. Place the chicken salad in the fridge and let it cool before eating.

Toast some bread, spread your favorite mustard on the slices and add your cooled chicken salad and arugula.