Where Julia Lived And Cooked

Imagine living where Julia Child lived,That is any chef's and foodie's dream come true and it did for New York Times Food contributor, Julia Moskin. She spent time at La Pitchoune, Child's home in the south of France. What a great holiday, first with fabulous inspiration and second with a breathtaking countryside.,bursting with some of the best foods in the world.

How did Ms. Moskin score such a fantastic vacation? It happened through airbnb. The current owners put the Provencale farmhouse on the popular site.It was well worth it, especially to those who love and worship the famed chef. Many original artifacts are still there. There is still the plastic bin labelled "ail echlotes"for garlic and shallots.There are her cooking knives, sharp carbon steeled ones still in the wooden block that her husband Paul carved.Outside the house , though, very few traces of her remain. For all her celebrity , Chef Child was not a big thing in France,  Her great nephew Alex Prud'homme  confirmed this, with saying that southern France is notoriously laid back, not caring who she was. .Some locals do remember her, such as one of the elder butchers in a local butchery, even doing an imitation of her along with the chef , Mimi Brothier at Les Arcades in  Biot, France. Les Arcades was her favorite eatery, starting out as a canteen for local artists.Ms. Moskin ate here too, in following the chef's trail, enjoying pan crisped sardines,roasted peppers and a bowl of soupe au pistou,Provencale vegetable soup.

Of course, being in Julia Child's kitchen means cooking in it too. Ms. Moskind did just that , along with picking basil and thyme from the garden and buying from hat's left of small family owned shops (the area has been inundated with the big box national markets) The dishes she made were a Provencale white wine beef daube and Provencale potato gratin.The first will make a wonderful fall dinner. It's boneless  stewing beef marinated in olive oil and Cognac. A melange of vegetables are cooked separately. The veggies used are onions carrots and mushrooms, Later , they and the meat are combined along with tomatoes, white wine, bouquet garni and whole peppercorns. The entire dish is cooked for three to four hours  until the meat is ultra tender. Orange zest is added at the end and then the daube can be poured over pasta or rice. The other is a gratin but made with a true Provencale ingredient, anchovies. Tomatoes and onions, again the pillars of southern French cooking, are also used, being cooked together in a kind of marmalade to spread on one layer of tomatoes. The next layer is spread with the fish, pounded with olive oil to form a loose paste. Grated Gruyere or Parmesan - Reggiano is sprinkled on the last layer to give it a nice, crispy finish.

Living in Julia Child's Provence house is a  chef's and foodie's dream come true. It was an inspiration to Ms. Moskin as she created the chef's famed dishes. It was the ideal vacation, definitely full of flavor  and memories.

The Summery Harvests Of September

Even though it's September there is still tomatoes and greens to be harvested. With them come delicious recipes that utilize the produce of this still summery season. Have them now while  the weather is still balmy and the gardens are still lush. Enjoy these tastes of late summer.

Melissa Clark and David Tanis realized this and made  the early September harvests the subject of their individual columns in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Ms Clark's A Good Appetite  featured the perennial star of the season, tomatoes. She creates a  mash up of three great tomato sandwiches. She deftly blends a BLT with  teas sandwiches  and throws in a heavy dose of the famed Catalan sandwich pan con tomate.The sandwich's base comes from the last. She takes rustic country bread. toasts it and then rubs it with raw garlic and the tomato's pulpy inside.Drizzle olive oil and lightly sprinkle sea salt on it.The tea sandwich part is when strands of tangy white onion is added. Layers of bacon and mayo are added , this is the BLT part of it.It's a messy , yummy sandwich that's literally finger licking good , according to Ms. Clark.Variations abound  with subbing the onions with cucumber and giving it a more Iberian spin by using thinly sliced Serrano ham instead of the  bacon.

David Tanis devoted his a City Kitchen Column to that flavorful French vegetable soup, pistou..This is a Genovese influenced soup from the French Provencale town of Nice. A kind of pesto is made, called pistou and it's exactly the same as its' Northern Italian cousin. Basil ,garlic and Parmigiano cheese is ground  and the olive oil is added to it. since this is a bean soup, there should be  a good mix of them, Use shelling bean from the vibrantly colored  cranberry to the large  , meaty cannellini These should be cooked independently from the soup base. The base itself is a kind of potato stock that also has sautéed onions and more beans, this time romano and yellow wax beans You can add squash and zucchini too, but you can also vary this   with adding a quartered ripe tomato or two.along with cubes f pumpkin of you have any in early bloom. Rice or pasta can be added but it's not necessarily.Afrter cooking  the soup is ladled into bowls and then a spoonful of pistou is added. Serve with toasted baguette slices dipped in oil, or if you want the pistou itself.

The summer is still giving us bounteous harvests. Take advantage of them by making a delicious tomato sandwich  mashup  or a bright green Provencale. soup. Both are perfect to eat during these still balmy days.