Patricia Wells at Home in Provence - Recipes

Provence is uniquely blessed with natural beauty as well as some of the world's most appealing foods and liveliest wines. Patricia's culinary skills have transformed the signature ingredients of this quintessential French countryside into recipes so satisfying and exciting they will instantly become part of your daily repertoire.
Here are 175 recipes from Patricia's farmhouse kitchen. Simple but imaginative "palate openers" such as Tuna Tapenade are followed by a profusion of salads, from All-Star Herb Salad, which captures the essence of the herb garden in a single bite, to the vibrant, cream-dressed greens of the Cheesemaker's Salad.
Vegetables have a special place in the hearts and palates of Provence's cooks, so Patricia presents an entire chapter of quick-and-easy vegetable creations.
Soul-satisfying soups have their own chapter, with such delights as Summer Pistou and the deeply flavorful Caramelized Fennel Soup. Pastas, too, are on the menu, with inventive dishes like Provencal Penne and Spaghetti with Green Olive Puttanesca, inspired by the produce of Patricia's village market. A chapter on breads includes everything from Crusty Wheat & Polenta Bread to an olive oil brioche, a local classic.
Poultry and game are represented with everything from Butter-Roasted Herbed Chicken to Monsieur Henny's Rabbit Bouillabaisse. In the fish and shellfish department, you will savor Seared Pancetta-Wrapped Cod and The Vaison Fishmonger's Fresh Tuna Casserole. When it comes to meat, Patricia offers recipes for earthy daubes, the slow-simmered almost-stews so beloved by the French, along with homey favorites like Lemon-Thyme Lamb Chops, and Spit-Roasted Brine-Cured Pork.
To round out the meal, there is a treasure trove of desserts based on seasonal fruits - Cherry-Almond Tart, Winemaker's Grape Cake, and Patricia's Apricot-Honey-Almond Tart, as effortless as child's play but as impressive as the most exacting work of the pastry-maker's art.

Excerpt

Chapter 1

PALATE OPENERS & APPETIZERS

At chanteduc, the aperitif hour signals the end of the work day, the beginning of the play day. Whether it's a lively session with the mason to work out the design on a new bread oven, a social gathering with the winemaker and his wife, or simply a time to catch up on events with neighbors or visiting guests, the end of the day is synonymous with the cocktail hour, the sunset hour. It's then that bottles of anise-flavored pastis and homemade liqueurs, bowls of home-cured olives, thin slices of local black-olive-stuffed sausages, tapenade, and varied cheese spreads are brought out to the sunset terrace, to begin the evening's relaxation in earnest. The following are some of my favorite palate openers, ranging from the simple Smoked Trout Tartare to the elegant Curried Zucchini Blossoms, food designed to assuage hunger as well as stimulate the appetite for what's to come.

ANNE'S GOAT CHEESE GRATIN

Anne Macrae is a Scottish neighbor in Provence who shares my love of simple, big tastes. She served this luscious gratin one spring evening and explained that she devised the recipe when she and her husband, John, lived in an isolated part of northern Provence, in the Drôme. There were no fresh-produce markets nearby, but thanks to neighboring farmers she always had plenty of fresh goat's milk cheese - known as tomme. Her larder was always filled with the meaty black olives from nearby Nyons, and wild herbs were as near as the back door. In summer months Anne prepares the sizzling, fragrant first course with fresh tomatoes, and in the winter months she uses canned tomatoes. That evening she served the gratin in individual gratin dishes, but I suggested it might be easier to make one huge gratin and pass it around. "I used to do that," she countered, "but people got greedy and never left enough for the other guests!" So controlled portions it is! This dish lends itself to endless variations: Think of it simply as a pizza without the crust. Add julienned bits of prosciutto, a bit of cooked sausage, sautéed mushrooms, or marinated artichokes. It's also a convenient dish when you're alone and want something warm and quick. I always add fresh hyssop, for the Provençal herb's pungent, mintlike flavor blends well with the tomato-cheese-olive trinity.

EQUIPMENT: Six shallow 6-inch (15-cm) round gratin dishes or one 10 1/2-inch (27-cm) round baking dish

About 10 ounces (300 g) soft goat cheese or a mix of rindless soft goat and cow or sheep's milk cheese, cubed
2 teaspoons minced fresh hyssop leaves (optional)
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano leaves or a pinch of dried leaf oregano, crushed
1 1/2 to 2 cups (33 to 50 cl) homemade Tomato Sauce (page 325), at room temperature
About 24 best-quality black olives (such as French Nyons), pitted

1. Preheat the broiler.

2. Scatter the cheese on the bottom of the baking dish or dishes. Sprinkle with half of the herbs. Spoon on just enough tomato sauce to evenly coat the cheese. Sprinkle with olives and the remaining herbs.

3. Place the baking dish or dishes under the broiler about 3 inches (8 cm) from the heat. Broil until the cheese is melted and fragrant, and the tomato sauce is sizzling, 2 to 3 minutes.

SIX SERVINGS

WINE SUGGESTION: Think of what you'd normally serve with pizza; a pleasant, vigorous red such as a young French Corbières from the Roussillon, a dry Italian red such as a Barbera d'Alba, an Australian Shiraz, or a California Zinfandel.

SMOKED TROUT TARTARE

Not far from our village in Provence there's a trout farm begun centuries ago in the town of Suze-la-Rousse. The farm smokes its own salmon trout, curing it lightly with the local olive oil. I always have the delicacy on hand and love to serve it plain on rounds of homemade toast topped with nothing but snippets of dill from my garden. I also prepare it "tartare style," that is, hand-chopped bits tossed with crème fraîche and dill. The dish is easy to prepare and requires nothing more than a sharp knife and a clean cutting board. (Do not attempt it in the food processor; even if you are careful, the mixture turns mushy. Hand chopping brings out the quality and flavor of the fish that tends to be masked in the food processor.) Usually, no salt is necessary since the smoking process imparts a pungency of its own.

This makes a great appetizer served either with drinks in the living room or individually plated and served before the first course. Accompany with slices of toasted bread or with Pompe à l'Huile: Provençal Olive Oil Brioche (page 167) prepared with added fennel seeds.

About 4 ounces (125 g) thinly sliced smoked trout or smoked salmon
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons fresh dill or fennel fronds, snipped with a scissors

1. Trim any unwanted bits and ends from the fish. Lay each slice flat on a cutting board and cut into thin, matchstick-size strips, keeping the strips evenly aligned. Cut crosswise into tiny cubes of fish about the size of the fat end of a pencil. (You want a kind of elegantly chunky, not a mashed, tartare.) Toss with the cream and dill.

2. Serve on chilled salad plates with tiny mounds of dressed herbs or lettuce alongside. If desired, garnish with additional fennel or dill. Or serve atop slices of freshly toasted bread, such as the variation of Pompe à l'Huile prepared with added fennel seeds.

ABOUT ONE CUP (25 CL) OR FOUR SERVINGS

WINE SUGGESTIONS: A dry white wine goes nicely with this smoked tartare. Try a fresh and fragrant French Sancerre, an oak-aged California or New Zealand Fumé Blanc, or a California or French Riesling.

HERB-CURED FILET OF BEEF: CARPACCIO

This is a fabulous preparation, ideal for those who love the qualities of a classic carpaccio but look for more herbal flavors in their food. Quite simply, a filet of beef is marinated for forty-eight hours in a mixture of sea salt, tarragon, parsley, basil, and thyme, then sliced very thin, carpaccio-style. The herbs permeate the beef, making for a lively, delicious warm-weather appetizer. Note that the herbs need not be stemmed here since they are used simply to flavor the beef and will not be consumed.

8 sprigs of fresh tarragon, rinsed and dried
8 sprigs of fresh parsley, rinsed and dried
8 sprigs of fresh basil, rinsed and dried
10 sprigs of fresh thyme, rinsed and dried
1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
1-pound (500-g) filet of beef, rinsed and patted dry

1. On a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the beef, place half the herbs in a single bed. Sprinkle with half the salt. Place the beef on top of the herbs. Add the rest of the herbs and the salt on top of the beef. Wrap securely in the foil and place on a large plate to catch any juices that might run from the beef. Refrigerate for 48 hours.

2. Two hours before serving the beef, transfer to the freezer to firm it up and to make slicing easier. Unwrap the beef. With the tip of a knife, brush aside the herbs and salt. With a very sharp knife or an electric slicer, cut the beef as thinly as possible.

3. Serve as you would any carpaccio, with thin slices overlapping on a chilled salad plate, drizzled with olive oil and plenty of coarsely ground black pepper. For a wholesome salad, drape slices of cured beef over dressed arugula, then drizzle with oil and garnish with Parmesan shavings. (I find that the beef stays perky and fresh for three days more. If any is left over, chop it finely, form into patties, and fry it up as a luxury hamburger.)

TWENTY SERVINGS

WINE SUGGESTIONS: A good choice would be a red Sancerre, a Tavel rosé, or - if you can find a bottle - a Ladoix-Serrigny from northern...