Elaine Corn, ceramacist, journalist, award-winning cookbook author, and friend, created something new just for La Vie Rustic – a rimmed platter. It’s perfect for serving something special, like the celery, mushroom and ricotta salata pictured here. It’s  shallow and its low rim sets a frame for the food. I’m going to pair mine with one of Elaine’s salt cellars putting young, tender French radishes and butter on the serving dish with the small dish filled with salt. In fact, I’m going to use 2 sets, one on each end of the table. At La Vie Rustic, we think everything, no matter how humble, deserves to be served with care and style. It’s more fun that way.

Shallow Oval Rimmed Serving Dish…………………………….$40.00

Size: 11 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches  and 1 1 /4 inch deep

Salt Cellar Sets

La Vie Rustic has discovered that Elaine’s small bowls make perfect salt cellars, so we’ve decided to sell her latest batch in pairs for just that purpose. Of course, you can still use them for prep or pinch bowls, to put your rings in while you wash dishes, to hold seeds or  precisious spices. Like all her dishes, they are hand-shaped and crafted and no two are exactly alike. The set pictured below is Green Swirl.

Please specify color in the comment section of the order form.  (Set is two of the same color) : Green Swirl, White and Blue Speckle, White with Blue and Copper Strand, Blue Swirl, Dark Ochre, Pale Provencal Yellow, Pale Bluish.

Set of 2 Salt Cellar bowls………………………..$15.00

Size: Varies from 3/4 to just over 1 inch deep and 2 /34 to 3inches in diameter

It’s a Holiday Sampler for Food Lovers  with creamy Rancho Gordo Royal Corona beans, three of LVR’s seasonings that are perfect for beans – Sel de Sarriette, Herbes de Provence, and a cluster of fresh sweet bay leaves, plus a recipe card White Beans with Ham Hocks with Thomas Kuoh’s gorgeous photo on the front. And, just for fun, a Holiday Fragrance Bundle. It’s a meal (or two or three) in a box, with easy directions. Price…………$28.00

It comes in a Kraft box, tied with twine and decorated with a spring of fresh olive.

Or, if you want to concoct your own sampler, just let us know and we will customize it for you. Perhaps the beans and bay tucked into a Provencal Gratin Dish, along with the recipe card? Or perhaps a set of prep bowls, also perfect to use as salt cellars, with Sel de Sarriette, beans, and bay?

Is there someone on your gift list who is always talking about wanting to have a kitchen garden but hasn’t gotten around to it? The Potager Garden Set with 13 seasonal vegetable seed packages packed in a muslin bag, full instructions from seeding to harvest printed on 3 different garden maps – one for spring, summer, and fall, plus 13 zinc plant markers.  Price………$38.00

No ready to commit to a year round kitchen garden? Try the Spring Potager Set with 7 seeds and a spring map. Price…………..$18.00

The Scent of Provence

Walking along the hillsides and trails of Provence, the fragrance of the garrigue, the scent of sage and rosemary, juniper, thyme, and olive, is pervasive. The aroma is woodsy, a little resinous, and distinct. At Christmas in Provence it’s traditional for the Yule log to be of olive wood, and splashed with eau de vie by the youngest member of the party before being lit.

For the holidays, I’ve created these fragrant bundles (photo above by Thomas Kuoh www.thomaskuoh.com)  to reflect the spirit of the olive log and the scent of the garrigue. Keep them in a bowl or basket and rub them between your hands from time to time, until the moment comes to toss one into your holiday fires in your fireplace or to scent a grill.

These are made from hand cuttings of French and Mission olives, rosemary, and sage grown on our small farm in Northern California. The fragrance bundles, with a hang tag that tells the story, make good holiday stocking stuffers or hostess gifts. Holiday Fragrance Bundles.

Another scent of the garrigue is winter savory. This perennial, sarriette in French, is an essential ingredients in Herbes de Provence, along with sage, rosemary, thyme, and sometimes lavender. I use Herbes de Provence to season everything from pork chops to oven-roasted vegetables, but I consider winter savory, on its own, to be an essential ingredient, along with bay leaves, for seasoning beans. So, I created Sel de Sarriette, French gray sea salt combined with winter savory with that pairing in mind. However, I discovered that the Sel de Sarriette boosts the flavor of cottage cheese, for example, and a pinch or so is the secret ingredient in my Bloody Mary.

photograph by Thomas Kuoh

If you love Rancho Gordo beans (Royal Coronas pictured here at left with Sel de Sarriette)– and most people who have had them do – consider adding La Vie Rustic’s new Sel de Sarriette to your pantry to season your beans. Photo by Thomas Kuoh

Other scents, very earthy ones, abound during mushroom and truffle season. Mushroom season starts about a week to 10 days after the first heavy rains of October and continues until the first freeze. You can tell if the season is in full swing because cars are parked helter-skelter along the roads that cut through or border forests of oak and pine, the favored habitats of apricot-golden chanterelles, plump cêpes (porcini in Italian), ruffle-edged hedgehogs and the highly coveted sanguin, with a concave, creamy orange top brushed in spots with verdigris green.

What to do with the fungal finds? Simply sauté them in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper and serve along with toasts, followed by a salad, or use them to stuff a plump chicken. Slice and dry the cêpes. The sanguins are often grilled with a little olive oil and garlic, or pickled to serve throughout the year to accompany aperitifs.

If you want to discover wild mushrooms in northern California, head to Mendocino County, where these mushrooms, left, were found. There are guides there who will take you foraging and restaurants often have special mushroom dishes on their menus.

Truffles are a different story.

Truffles (Tuber melanosporum), the black truffles of Perigord, also known as ‘black diamonds’ are abundant in Provence, and today the majority of the black truffles, come from that area, not from Perigord. Unlike mushrooms, which push through the earth as they mature, truffles grow to maturity beneath the earth, primarily in association with the roots of trees, primarily oak. Filaments emerge from the spores of the truffle that then elongate and attach to the roots of the host trees – oaks, hazelnuts, pines, and lindens. From this union mycorrhiza are formed, and eventually the tree’s root system in invaded. Truffiere, or truffle –producing grounds, may be found extensively in the wilds of Haute Provence, but the trufffiere may also be cultivated ground, planted with hand-selected acorns or with young trees that have been commercially inoculated.

Pigs and dogs can scent the truffles’ powerful aroma under the ground, and can locate the truffles for their master. The pigs will want to eat the truffle themselves so their master has to be quick to grab it and substitute a treat for it, such as a dog biscuit. Dogs are far more common today than pigs for hunting, and they prefer the biscuit to the truffle. The masterless wild boars, however, know no limits and it is not surprising to be in the forest and find turned earth ravaged by the boars and the truffles long gone.

Truffles are in season starting in late November through February and sometimes into March, depending upon the year. They are prized for the holidays, and everyone who knows a truffle hunter gets one or two for a special dish. Those who don’t have a truffle hunter friend can buy them at the outdoor markets or the special truffle markets or fairs that are held throughout the season.

Truffle oil has become quite common in specialty markets here in the United States, but try to get a whiff before purchasing – the oil should exude an earthy, not oily, aroma. For a holiday taste of Provence, try the crudité recipe below, which uses truffle oil.

Winter Crudité with Porcini and Truffled Bagna Cauda

Here is my French take on Italian Bagna Cauda, an Italian warm dipping sauce based on olive oil and anchovies. It is full of umami, rich and deeply earthy with dried porcini mushrooms and black truffle oil, plus a little nori seaweed. It’s dark and unctuous and actually looks a bit forbidding, but when I served it at a holiday open house, people couldn’t get enough of it.

1 cup boiling water
¼ ounce dried Porcini mushrooms
2 inch- square Sushi-Nori (roasted seaweed)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 or 3 good quality olive oil packed anchovy fillets
½ teaspoon good quality black truffle oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
8 thin carrot sticks
8 very small radishes, a few greens attached; if large, halved lengthwise
8 small cauliflower florets
8 thin rounds of small Scarlet or Tokyo turnips, thinly sliced
8 thin slices fennel

Put the porcini in a saucepan and cover with the boiling water. Simmer over medium low heat until the mushrooms are soft and the liquid is reduced to about ½ to ¾ cup. Add the nori, simmer another 1 to 2 minutes and remove from the heat.
Ina small frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When it is hot, add 2 or 3 anchovies, and cook stirring, until the anchovies begin to dissolve, about 5 minutes.
In a blender, combine the porcini mixture along with the olive oil and anchovy mixture and liquefy. Add the truffle oil and sea salt and liquefy again.
Serve warm accompanied by the vegetables. Serves 6 to 8.

Pumpkins, Potagers and New Products
I’m harvesting my Musquee de Provence pumpkins, the most beautiful of all in the pumpkin world. They are big and deeply lobed with burnished copper-gold skin. They remind me of being in Provence in fall, when the market vendors stack the pumpkins and then sell them cut in wedges. The best thing about this pumpkin is how good it tastes. Its flesh is dense, not fibrous, and it takes well to both sweet and savory treatments. My personal favorite is using it to make pumpkin gratin well-seasoned with garlic, fresh thyme and lots of Gruyere cheese. Happily, Musquee de Provence pumpkins can increasingly be found across the country both in farmers’ markets and in retail supermarkets during fall. I just found a binful at a La Superior supermarket in Woodland, California.

A Seasonal Potager in a Box
Michael Schwab, the brilliant graphic designer behind iconic logos for such clients as Amtrak, US National Parks, and NPR, http://www.michaelschwab.com is also the design force behind La Vie Rustic. Most recently he created the design for my Potager Garden Seed Set with Maps.

There are 3 fold out maps, one each for spring, summer, and fall. On one side is a planting scheme for a small garden space and on the other, complete planting and harvesting instructions. Packaged in the convenient Kraft box along with the maps, is a muslin bag with a Baker’s Dozen of French vegetable seed packets, a packet of melon seed, plus one of a flower – because gardens should be pretty – to plant throughout the seasons. Also in the box are 13 aluminum plant markers for you to write on.

The beauty of a French style potager garden is that it supplies your kitchen, year round, and the Potager Seed Set has everything you need to begin your get started. Imagine what it will be like. In early spring plant quick growing roquette (arugula), Flamboyant radish (pictured left), Paris Market carrot, frisée, lettuce, and peas to harvest in late spring.

At the same time you are harvesting your spring vegetables, you’ll be planting for summer – Longe de Violette eggplant, Marmande tomato, La Victoire haricot vert, Verte de Petit Paris cucumber, Ronde de Nice zucchini, and Charentais melon, followed in mid –to late summer by another planting of Frisée, lettuce, carrots, roquette and radishes for fall and early winter harvest. The nasturtium seeds can be planted anytime. (photo below of a Provencal potager in summer)

Potager Seed Set with Garden Maps.……………………………………………….$38.00

SPRING POTAGER SET WITH GARDEN MAP – NEW!

A smaller version, with six spring vegetable seeds plus nasturtiums packed in a heavy Kraft mailer, is also available. These are the same French vegetable seeds and map that are found in the larger set above. This is packaged in a sturdy Kraft envelope.

Spring Potager Set with Garden Map.………………………………..$18.00

And, a repackaged Children’s Kitchen Garden Seed set in a similar format.

The attractive packaging makes these 3 different seed sets a beautiful as well as useful gift.

NOTE: New photos coming soon of the 2 new Potager sets and the repackaged Children’s Kitchen Garden.

Living with the Seasons

Part of what I enjoy about the seasons is how, especially in fall, they crossover. I’m still harvesting the last of summer’s tomatoes, basil, and Sultan de Marabout figs while beginning the harvest of fall pumpkins. If you would like to place an order now to reserve your 2-year old Sultan de Marabout fig tree (fruit and tree above) for bare root shipping in early spring La Vie Rustic can do that for you.

And, Speaking of Seasons…

Sooner than we think the holiday season will be upon us, and La Vie Rustic, in addition to our classic letterpress holiday cards has added a Fresh Sweet Bay Laurel and French Olive Swag, cut to order the day they are shipped. The bay is the same bay we sell fresh in bouquets and dry in packages. The olive branches are cut from a combination of French varieties, Cailletier, Bouteillan, Cayette Roux, and from 100 year old Mission olive trees. We imported cuttings of the French varieties more than 10 years ago under USDA supervision and now have a small orchard of them. The Mission olive trees were growing on our property when we bought it.
Over time the bay and olive leaves will gradually dry. The bay leaves can be used to flavor soups and stews, or anytime a bay leaf is called for in a recipe. The dried olive leaves can be used to brew olive tea.

La Vie Rustic DIY Roulade/Pancetta Set Photograph Thomas Kuoh

Any of La Vie Rustic’s products make good gifts. DIY Jambon Cru and DIY Roulade charcuterie sets (see photo above), artisan fruit and herb salts, Heirloom French Lettuce and Chicory Seeds, French Red Poppy seeds, gorgeous handmade gratin dishes and brilliant prep bowls, silk-screened pillow shams – even something for the chickens – a juicily tasty pasture mix.. There is much to choose from, all practical, useful, but also beautiful – in the French style. Visit La Vie Rustic’s store to peruse and shop.

What people are saying about La Vie Rustic…
From William Widmaier, author, A Feast at the Beach, “Think of it as a quasi-secret French village store. The kind that would open only when Madame was in the mood, is stocked with magical treasures sourced from the land the old fashion way, by hand, and is known mostly to the locals and those few tourists that stumble upon it.

It’s the type of place that would sit in the old barn on the ground floor of a 700 year old village house located in an off-the-beaten-path town settled before the Romans dropped in for an extended visit in the hinterlands of Provence. Well, it reminds me of a place like that.” [except it’s online]

It seems like a cliché – lavender and sunflowers in Provence. I think we’ve all become jaded by endless reproductions of Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings and, year after year, calendars featuring a summer month with a shot of blooming lavender fields. Nonetheless, vast fields of solid purple next to brilliant yellow fields set against a bright blue sky is a stunning sight as I was reminded this past July when I drove across the Plateau of Valensole in the Alpes de Haute Provence, climbing north out of Quinson on the way to Riez to meet friends at the market.

The lavender harvest had just started and in the photo you can just see, on the far right side of the photo on the left,  a truck being loaded with cut lavender to go off to the distilleries. In the old days, portable distilleries, first drawn by horses, then tractors, came directly into the fields, but no longer.

The sunflowers are grown for oil, not floral purposes, and although the nearby plateau was covered with sunflowers, I saw only a few stems for sale at the flower stands in the market. I suspect, however, that people do stop along the roadside and surreptitiously cut a few stems for themselves, just like they do with the lavender.

Here are some different varieties of sunflowers I grew in California. These, unlike those in the French fields above, are bred specifically for cut flowers and grow on multi-branched stems. I’ve put the collection here in  clear glass wine bottles, just a few stems in each.

Riez
Riez, located in the Alpes of Haute Provence is an ancient place, where prehistoric man was well ensconced, followed by Celto-Ligurians, who were then conquered by the Roman legions. The Romans established the town here in the 1st century, and by the 5th century, the Bishopric of Riez was one of the most important in the region. The 5th century baptistery, built near the banks of the Colostre River, is one of the oldest in Christian Gaul, and the grounds surrounding it are currently the focus of an archeological dig. Every time I visit, the dig is deeper and deeper. On a grassy plain nearby stand 4 Corinthian columns, the remains of a temple to Apollo.In Roman times, Riez was an important trading city as well as a key point in the movement of troops, sitting as it does on a connecting road to the Via Aurelia that connected Frejus on the Mediterranean to Arles on the Rhone River. It’s strange to see these remains of grandeur in what is now a rather sleepy, small Provencal town renowned now for lavender and for black truffles.

On Saturday mornings, when the market, set up along the main street, is full of shoppers and vendors, and the streets are jammed with cars, motorcycles and tour buses, you can still feel a bit of the bustling past of those ancient days. Vendors’ stalls, with their bright umbrellas, selling everything from wind-up toys to fish, are set up in the vast parking space just across the grass from the columns.

If you park at the far end of the parking lot, near the highway, you walk past the baptistery and the columns to get the market and the main street itself , which is lined with cafes, boulangeries, charcuteries, and restaurants.

Riez remained important through the Renaissance, and many of the Renaissance mansions, which had fallen into disrepair during the last century, are now undergoing a massive restoration project, which promises to enhance the town’s sense of history.

La Vie Rustic News

Bay Leaves in Smart New Packaging – at a smart new (lower) price
We are now packing our dried, sweet bay laurel leaves in cellophane bags – with a new price. Only $6.00 for these hand-picked, hand-washed and dried true bay leaves. You’ll find them online at lavierustic.com and at Rancho Gordo stores in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza Building and in Napa at 1924 Yajome Street. These bay leaves are the perfect, just right seasoning to use in Rancho Gordo’sdelicious heirloom beans. Among my favorites are the Christmas Limas and the huge Royal Corona beans which plump up to bite-size when they are cooked, and which render a broth as good as the beans themselves. For more on Rancho Gordo beans and cooking dry beans, visit my April post at La Vie Rustic https://lavierustic.com/bean-broth-its-about-the-beans-and-bay/

Coming Soon
Just in time for holiday gift-giving, a Kraft Boxed Potager Garden Set with Maps, zinc garden markers, and a baker’s dozen of French seeds – 11 vegetables, plus Charentais melon and Vining Nasturtiums. There are 3 maps, one each for spring, summer, and fall, and of course, complete growing instructions. And, a simpler set, just for spring in a sturdy Kraft envelope.

Ceramicist Elaine Corn has almost completed a new round of her La Vie Rustic prep bowls, so do watch for those as well.

Recette du Jour
Sausage and Potato Gratin
Fall is on the way, and gratins,  full of hearty flavor, like this one, are a good way to welcome the season. The secret ingredient? Bay leaves. For a complete meal, serve the gratin with a green salad. (and, take a look at La Vie Rustic’s handmade French style gratin dishes.

2 bay leaves
2 to 2 ½ cups whole milk
3 tablespoons butter, plus 1 teaspoon
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups thinly sliced potatoes
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
2 uncooked sausages, sliced, such as chicken fennel, Polish, etc, sliced into ½-inch thick slices
¼ cup grated Gruyere cheese

In a saucepan, heat the milk and the bay leaves to just below a boil. Turn off the heat and let stand for 1 hour, infusing the milk with the flavor of the bay leaves. When ready to use, reheat the milk to a gentle simmer.

Preheat an oven to 375 degrees.

Butter a gratin dish with 1 teaspoon of the butter. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. When it foams, remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the flour to make a roux, or paste. Return to the heat and gradually whisk in 2 cups of the milk. Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the salt, pepper and cayenne. Continue to cook until thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In the gratindish, arrange a layer of potatoes, sprinkle with fresh thyme, make a layer of sausage, and top with a second layer of potatoes. Pour over the sauce, lifting the potatoes and sausages gently so the sauce fills in. Top with the grated cheese and dot with the remaining butter.

Place in the oven and bake until bubbling and golden, and the potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 40 minutes.

Remove and let stand 10 minutes or more before serving.

Serve hot.

Serves 4

The Markets of Provence and Sel de Lavande
La Vie Rustic’s goal is to bring to anyone, anywhere, the experience of the French life, and markets figure high on the list. Shopping at the open-air markets is a ritual for many people, a must-do for tourists, and always a social event. Charcuterie, cheeses, breads, vegetables – they’re all to be found. We’re offering some of the products you might find in the markets, or at least a way to do create them yourself.

Visions of a Market

In the markets, vendors vie with one another to make the most enticing displays. Pyramids of plump red and white radishes tower above artfully arranged bouquets of gold squash blossoms and baskets of perfumed wild strawberries.

Big bundles of freshly cut spinach leaves, huge heads of lettuce, and fresh herbs engender dreams of pristine salads, while eggplants and tomatoes speak of ratatouille. Shiny-eyed fish, still slippery from the sea, are tucked into ice, surrounded with lemons and parsley and garlanded with glistening seaweed to temp shoppers.

Cheese and charcuterie, bread and pastries round out the food, while on the periphery the eye catches straw and wicker baskets, bolts of fabric, wine, olive oil, tools, and even clothes. Through all wafts the garlic-and herb-laden scent of chickens turning on rotisseries, of safronned paella, and spicy harissa sauced couscous, all ready to be boxed and taken home for lunch. By 12:15, the market is beginning to close down, and by 1:00 PM little trace of the bustling activity remains.

Roulade

La Vie Rustic brings you the means to DIY your own roulade (pancetta) that will look just like this beautiful one, pictured above, at a market in Provence. La Vie Rustic also brings you California/French versions of the herbed artisan salts that are on display everywhere, with each vendor creating his or her own version.

La Vie Rustic Roulade Set….$20.00 

New to La Vie Rustic’s artisan salts is Sel de Lavande. How to use it? Sprinkle it on a chicken before roasting, mix it with freshly ground pepper to season pork chops or lamb chops and then grill over grape vines.

Grillade Grape Pruning Bundles…………………$8.00 

LA VIE RUSTIC SEL DE LAVANDE……………$8.00

Content: Sel de Guerande and French Lavender Net Wt. 90 grams; Origin France and California

Brocante Markets

Another type of market, marche de brocante, a sort of upscale flea market plus antiques may be held weekly or monthly in the larger cities and towns, and elsewhere seasonally. Shoppers can wander among aisle upon aisle of tables and rugs spread with the history of Europe. Seventeenth century porcelain services for twenty sit next to single art deco plates, nineteenth century transfer ware, and collections of salt and pepper shakers. I’m drawn in by the old silver, polished to brilliancy, stacks and trunks of antique linens from long-ago trousseaus, often unused, and bolts of fabric discovered in warehouses closed and abandoned after the Great War. Ribbons, tassels, buttons, and lengths of lace are all there at the brocante markets.

This last trip I bought vintage tea towels, a very old wooden fabric printing block, the kind used to make the original Provencal prints, vintage bistro glasses, and a green glass silver decorated music box – with the music part missing. I also bought some pristine, right-out- of- the trousseau linen sheets. I had to pass up the gold-trimmed Limoges full set of dishes.I couldn’t imagine how I would get it home.

There’s something pleasurable about drying lettuce the old-fashioned way  -with vintage French tea towels. No whirr of the salad spinner, no washing and drying and putting the spinner away, just the gentle pat-pat with the towel, as you delicately dry the leaves. La Vie Rustic is happy to offer a limited supply of these cotton-linen towels, just in from Provence.

There’s also something pleasurable about going out to your garden, no matter how small, and gathering lettuce that you’ve grown yourself. It’s a process that connects your actions from earth to kitchen and plate.

These vintage French tea towels, made of cotton and linen, measure a generous 20 inches wide and 26 inches long.

They are sold in sets of 2.

Some sets are pre-washed (not pre-used) and are softened. Other sets have not been washed and are stiffer, but will soften with washing.

Set of 2 Vintage French Tea Towels pre-washed   $15.00

Set of 2 Vintage French Tea Towels……………………..$15.00

TIME TO PLANT NOW FOR FALL HARVEST

Thomas Kuoh Photography

Although it’s high summer now, it is time to be planting lettuce and chicories for fall and early winter harvest. Planted in late July through mid to late August, the emerging seedlings will have the benefit of the warm days and cooling nights of declining summer to grow and mature, and be ready to harvest in late September. If you’d like a fall garden of heirloom lettuces and chicories like escarole, frisee, and radicchio, order La Vie Rustic’s Seed Collections to plant in the coming weeks.

A personal note~

I’ve made the mistake of planting my fall garden in – fall. It’s too late then because the shorter, cooler days aren’t enough to produce the heads of lettuce, radicchio, and escarole for fall and winter harvest, Instead, the plants get a little growth, then stand nearly dormant until the lenghting and warming days of spring bring on a spurt of growth. And, instead of the pleasure of a daily garden harvest, I’m shopping at the market instead.

 French Lettuce Seed Collection……$15.00

French Chicory Seed Collection…….$15.00

RED POPPY FIELDS -Get ready to plant soon

Late summer and early fall is the time to plant red poppy seed for a blanket of color in spring and early summer. In mid-July, the wheat fields of southern France still had remnants of the blaze of spring time poppies scattered among the edges of the blooming lavender and sunflower fields.

Thomas Kuoh Photography

 Fields of Red Poppies and Bishop’s Lace…………….$10.00

Recette du Jour – Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

If you have squash growing in your garden, you’ll find male blossoms on long stems. Pick these. You’ll also find female blossoms attached to small fruit. Pick these too. Gently remove the stamen. If you wash the blossoms, do so very gently and allow them to dry on a tea towel or paper towel.

Make a mixture of soft goat cheese, finely chopped chives, shallots, or onions, a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Then add enough milk or cream to make a spreadable consistency.

Fill each blossom with about 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture, and twist the petals to seal it in. The petals will unfold a bit, but don’t worry. This can be done an hour or two ahead, and the stuffed blossoms refrigerated.

When you are ready to cook them, heat a thin film of olive oil in a frying pan. When the oil is hot, carefully add the stuffed blossoms and saute them over medium high heat, turning once or twice. Cook until the stems turn bright green and the petals begin to lightly brown. Remove to paper towels to drain, then to a platter. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and eat with your fingers as an appetizer. Goes well with chilled French-style rose wine.

Preserving the taste of ripe summer fruit by turning it into jam is a time-honored method and it is easy to do. Why, you ask, make jam when you can buy it anywhere, anytime? Because it’s fun, it tastes food good and making your own jams to stock your pantry is exceedingly rewarding.

Two of the easiest jams to make are plum and fig, and the season is starting now for both. Most figs bear two crops, one in early summer and again in late summer. Plum season starts in June and different varieties come into bearing, one following another until early fall.

Plums come in all different colors from pale yellow Mirabelle plums to dark-skinned, red meated Elephant Heart and each yields a different color jam. Figs too come in different colors, from deep purple like Violette de Bordeaux to the amber green of the Adriatic fig, and each produces a different color jam.

Plum Jam
Any plums will work, so use whatever you see that looks good to you, as long as they are firm, and a little underipe. You’ll also need a candy thermometer, one that goes to at least 220º F.
2 ½ pounds firm, slightly underipe plums
3 ½ cups granulated sugar

Rinse the plums, pit them and chop them into small pieces. You should have about 4 cups. Put the fruit in a large, stainless-steel or other non-reactive saucepan. Best of all for jam-making are the copper kettles the French like to use. They conduct the heat evenly and are nice and broad, making it easy to stir down the jam. However, a large pan as described above works well. Stir the sugar into the fruit.

Let it stand for an hour, then, over medium heat, slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Cook rapidly – there will be big, frothing bubbles and you will continually stir them down, for about 15 minutes until the gel begins to thicken. Put the candy thermometer in and when it registers 220º F, the jam is ready.

Remove the pan from the heat and skim off any foam. Ladle the jam into 2 pint size jars or 4 ½ pint size, filling almost to the rim. Wipe the rims with a damp cloth, cover with lids and screw rings and tighten down. Set your beautiful jars of jam on a kitchen towel and let them cool. You’ll most likely hear a ‘pings’ ringing out as the jars seal. When they are completely cool, store the jars in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Makes 2 pints.

Fig Jam
2 pounds soft, ripe figs, any kind
½ cup water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced lemon zest

2 cups sugar.

Remove the coarse stem end at the tip of each fig and discard. Coarsely chop the figs and put the fruit in a large, stainless-steel or other non-reactive saucepan and add the water.

Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cook until the figs have dissolved somewhat to make a thick sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the lemon juice, zest and sugar and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring until thickened. Put the candy thermometer in and when it registers 220º F, the jam is ready.

Remove the pan from the heat and skim off any foam. Ladle the jam into 2 pint size jars or 4 ½ pint size, filling almost to the rim. Wipe the rims with a damp cloth, cover with lids and screw rings and tighten down. Set your beautiful jars of jam on a kitchen towel and let them cool. You’ll most likely hear a ‘pings’ ringing out as the jars seal. When they are completely cool, store the jars in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Makes about 1 ½ pints

Note: La Vie Rustic is closed until July 12, 2015. We will still be accepting orders, but shipping will occur on or after July 13.

Le Grillading

As David Lebovitz, the wonderful blogger and cookbook author who lives in Paris, points out in a recent blog post, http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2015/05/weekend-out-of-paris/, that, for the French, barbequing specifically means grilling, not the process of long, slow-cooked, sauced meats that connote part of the American notion of barbequing. As David tells it, the French call the process‘ le doing of le barbecuing’, which actually means grilling.

According to David, “In spite of the concern over proper grammar, the French often add a “le” in front of certain English action words that they’ve adopted, such as Le Fooding, le jogging, le planning, le networking, le lifting (getting plastic surgery), le scrapbooking, and le relooking (a make-over).”

In a turn around, I like the sound of the term I’ve created, le grillading, transforming a French noun into an English action word. For le doing of le grillading, the unquestioned fuel of preference is either grapevine stalks or, failing those, grape vine prunings, called sarments. Of course, the stalks are only available when a vineyard has been pulled out. In that case, the pulled vines are stacked and carefully guarded until needed. My neighbor in France pulled out an old vineyard not long ago in order to plant olive trees and for several years I had a healthy supply of grape vines.

However, every year, without fail, there are prunings. The stalks and prunings burn very hot, but briefly, and add a smoky, woodsy flavor to steaks, chops, and sausages, which are the main choices for grilling, along with the occasional slices of pork belly, handily marked bon pour le barbeque. (Remember, barbeque in French means grilling.)

My friend, Denise Lurton Moullé, in her book, French Roots, co-authored with her husband, Jean-Pierre Moullé, former longtime chef at Chez Panisse, tells it this way:

“Grapevine-Grilled Rib-eye Steaks –Entrecôte Bordelaise aux Sarments

When it comes to grilling in Bordeaux, the choice of wood is invariably the same: grape vine cuttings or stalks. The cuttings are saved and bundled up in winter when the vineyards are pruned. The cuttings are thin and don’t burn quite as hot as the more precious stalks, the gnarled wood that is only available when an old vineyard is removed. You don’t need a grill or a fireplace to cook over wood –in Bordeaux many people dig a fire pit in the dirt, place the wood in the pit, and set the grill right on top once the wood has burned down to hot coals. This French version of a campfire-cooked steak is not to be missed.

1 ½ pounds rib eye steak
Salt and black pepper
2 shallots, minced
½ cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Season the steaks with salt and pepper and set out at room temperature for an hour or so to temper. Prepared a large fire and allow it burn down to hot coals. If you have gas grill, set it to the highest heat

To make the butter, combine the shallots, butter, parsley, a pinch of salt and some black pepper.

Before cooking the steak, place a generous bunch of vine cuttings over the hot coals and let them burn completely. (if you don’t have fine cuttings, use hardwood chips instead – my favorites are fig, almond and apple.) Grill the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, depending on the intensity of your fire. Remove to a platter and, with a spoon, spread the butter over the steaks. Set that aside to rest for 5 minutes as the butter melts, mixing with the meat juices.

Serves 4 to 6”

Grilling photos and recipe excerpt from French Roots: Two Cooks, two countries & the beautiful food along the way. 10-speed Press, 2014. Photographs by Jan Baldwin

Denise comes from the Bordeaux wine-making empire, the Lurton family, and she certainly knows grilling over grape vines, whether stalks or prunings, as well as being a brilliant cook.
Of course, not everyone can get their hands on grape prunings, and even less so on grape stocks.

So, La Vie Rustic has put together a combination of table grape prunings from our small farm and grape rootstocks from a neighboring vineyard (these are the small ones used for grafting) to create a set of 4 Grillade Bundles for grilling, French style. Each bundle is enough for Denise’s recipe, or a similar one of your own creation.

The prunings are about 8 -inches long and fit nicely into Weber and other similar barbeque grills.

Remember, first build a fire, either wood or charcoal and when coals have formed, undo the string and toss the bundle onto the hot coals. When the prunings are burned to bright coals, it’s time for le grillading. Set of 4: $8.00 Purchase at: https://lavierustic.com/store/

Let’s keep cooking fun and pretty, not just utilitarian. Pretty prep bowls in black, ochre, olive green, and sky blue handmade by ceramicist Elaine Corn especially for La Vie Rustic are back in stock at lavierustic.com Yay!

It’s fun to surround yourself with these little bowls, with their carefully (or not so carefully) measured ingredients, like cayenne pepper, chopped fresh dill, sea salt, baking powder, mixing and matching the colors to the bowls. You know, just looking at what you’ve artfully composed with your prep work,  that the dish you’re cooking is going to be delicious.
And, the bowls can double as salt cellars, spice or herb dishes for your table. Or however else you might be inspired to use them.

Elaine’s Gratin Dishes
These beauties serve, as a good gratin dish should, to be as beautiful on the table as they are functional in the oven. We are on the cusp of summer, so start imagining eggplant and tomato gratins, zucchini gratins, even fruit gratins, coming hot out of your kitchen arriving at center stage on the table. At lavierustic.com

Recette du Jour

Gratin of Baby Gold Zucchini
This gratin puffs up, develops a luscious golden crust and can easily serve as a main course, along with a little salad. This works best with baby zucchini which have little or no seed development and the flesh is firm. Larger zucchini have a higher water content, large seeds and are slightly spongy around the seeds.

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh basil
2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt
2 ½ pounds young zucchini, ends trimmed, and grated on the large holes of a grater and squeezed very, very dry
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 –inch long piece of baguette, crusts removed
1 cup hot water
3 ounces Gruyere, cut into 1/4 to 1/8 inch pieces
2 large eggs

Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F.

Crush the parsley, basil, garlic, and 1/8 teaspoon coarse sea salt together to form a thick paste using a mortar and pestle. Set aside.

In a frying pan, heat 2 ½ tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat. When it is hot, add the zucchini slices sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Sauté until limp and lightly golden, about 20 minutes.

Soak the bread in the water and squeeze very dry. Tear the squeezed bread into small pieces and put them in a bowl with the cheese, the parsley mixture, the egg, and a little salt and pepper. Beat with a fork to make a fluffy mixture. Add the zucchini and toss. Lightly oil a gratin dish and spread the mixture evenly into it. Sprinkle the surface with a little olive oil and bake until puffed and golden, about 1/2 hour.

Serves 4 to 6
Adapted from a recipe by Richard Olney in Simple French Food, a wonderful book that I highly recommend.