Yves Fey's Blog, page 3

Beauty and the Beast

“I used Grammarly to grammar check this post, because I was tempted with promises of coffee, chocolate….and typo correction.

For some time, I’ve planned to write reviews of favorite films and save them in the Cinema section of my website. The blogs will focus on those most relevant to my mystery series—French films, movies filmed in France, those with a historical setting, and thrillers and mysteries.

I decided to open with the French classic, La Belle et la Bête.  With great anticipation, I unwrapped the new Blu Ray version of this tale.  The print was gorgeous, and I was as enraptured as ever with the film.  The evening was especially delightful since I had a virgin viewer, my friend Tamara, to watch it with me.   The film can still enchant me with the Beast’s magical castle, with it’s eerie watchful sculptures, and the arms holding the candelabra.

When the movie was over, we also watched some of the extras. My brain was spinning with ideas, and I set out to find some cinematic stills.

I also looked for illustrations from Gustave Doré, who I’d learned had inspired much of the look of the movie with his illustrations of fairy tales.  The first one looks very much like Beauty wandering the grounds of the castle.

These next two show how Doré’s Sleeping Beauty merged with Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast.

Then I happened on the gwarlingo essay I’ve included at the bottom of this blog.  The article seemed to say all I meant to and more. It has many stills from both the film and stories from the production, images of the art and the setting, plus a trailer. Rather deflated, I popped the link up once on Facebook and considered what else I might write about.  But I did continue to think about the film, and so will post a few of those thoughts, plus images that aren’t included in the gwarlingo post.  And some that are—just in case you don’t click there.

The main difference in this viewing was that for the first time I really appreciated the brilliant cinematography at the start. Always in the past, I’ve been eager to spend time with my beautiful beast, and wanted the sisters and despicable suitor to be gone.  A shot that I particularly loved was of the sisters entering a carriage, a frame within a frame within a frame. A clever and witty visual, one of many, and I waited far more patiently for Beauty to come to the Beast.

And as I watched I appreciated the subtlety and range of the greys in the film, which I later saw were very much the look of the Doré etchings.

Lastly, in watching the extras, I discovered something very strange. I’d heard the story of Garbo crying out at the end of the film “Give me back my beautiful Beast.”

Jean Marais as the Beast

I certainly wanted the dark, glorious beast, and not the shiny, pouffy Prince who rises up to replace him.

The Beast becomes the Prince. Alas.

And I found that both the director, Jean Cocteau and the lead actor, Jean Marais, were deluged with letters expressing the same demand. Because I knew that Cocteau was smitten with Marais, I thought that he was deliberately making him as pretty as possible.  Indeed, Cocteau was making him all pastel and shiny, but it was a disruptive, duplicitous choice. Cocteau wanted exactly that saccharine Prince so we would all cry for the Beast.  But why?  Apparently, the pastel Prince was supposed to show that women foolishly overvalued male beauty and sought it out over character. And because of this failing, Belle would end up with the boring pretty boy and be less happy than she would have in her enchanted life with the Beast.  She’d have lots of kids, a fancy castle to keep, but the magic would fade from her life.

I find several problems with this. There is the glorious spring into the future to end the movie, Beauty and her Beast sailing away quite joyfully, with the pastels blending very nicely with the billowing cloud.  Despite our regret at losing the magnificent Beast, the end does promise Happily Ever After. Also, the Prince is the Beast, so even if we don’t like the pastel round hose, smarmy curls, and lipstick, we should be getting the same soul in the new body, shouldn’t we—though perhaps minus some interesting bestial darkness?

And even more upsetting, Beauty chose the soul, not the packaging. She loved her Beast and was trying to save him, not playing Princess and the Frog in hopes of winning something cuter with a transformational smooch. She is not happy with the change, but dismayed, and says that she’ll have to get used to it.  So that rather bothers me now, even more than before.

I think I’ll go with it’s the same soul as the Beast, and maybe rumpled after sex, he’ll regain some Beastly charm.

Your plus, a most excellent commentary on the movie by Michelle Aldredge. Just click this last still.

Pear and Fennel Soup

In the sequel to FLOATS THE DARK SHADOW, my artist heroine has a night on the town and eats a fabulous after theatre supper at one of my favorite restaurants in Paris.

I’ve decided to do an approximation of her meal at the Brasserie Julien here on my blog.

A charming photograph of the exterior by Vinceloo from Wikimedia, intensified a bit by me.

The interior of the restaurant is gorgeous, with pale golden wood, stained glass ceiling in a multitude of greens, and Art Nouveau nymphs adorning the walls.

 

This lovely soup is my own creation, but seems très Français.

It’s deliciously mellow, faintly sweet, but with a pleasant tang.

 

Pear Fennel Soup 

1/4 cup butter

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons minced shallots

1 cup finely chopped fennel root

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

2 cups cubed potatoes

3 cups water or chicken stock

1 teaspoon crumbled Herbs de Provence or tarragon

2 cups cubed pears

1 cup watercress, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup Riesling or other white wine

Melt the butter in a soup pan, and sauté‚ the onion, shallots, fennel in it, until the onion is soft and transparent.  Add the potatoes and the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Crumble in Herbs de Provence or tarragon, or add a bay leaf.  Fresh tarragon would be lovely if available.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are soft enough to mash slightly to thicken the soup.  Add the pears and the watercress and simmer for 5-10 minutes more, until the pears are tender but firm enough to add texture.  Add the white wine and the cream and bring the soup to just below the boiling point.  Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish as you please.  Serves 4-6.

Brush Strokes to Key Strokes Panel

This month will be the first presentation of our Brush Strokes to Key Strokes panel.  I’ll be speaking along with Ciji Ware, Mary Burns, and Michael Llewellyn about the challenges of writing about both real and fictional artists.  We’re all very excited about our fascinating and fun topic.

Check out the Kepler’s link for more information.

http://www.keplers.com/event/brush-strokes-key-strokes-novels-about-art-artists

 

Summer Banquet Hop

Join the HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY feast.  I’m posting two special French dishes for you to savor.  Later this month I’ll be listing other artist inspired dishes.  Next week, Pear and Fennel Soup.

Plus, there are thirty other members of the HNS offering you special recipes and giveaways.  Their links are listed at the end of the post.

Giveaway of ~ FLOATS THE DARK SHADOW ~  Leave a comment below to join in the drawing for a signed hardback copy of my multiple award-winning mystery set in Belle Époque Paris.  Dark and decadent!  Recipient will be chosen on June 10th.  Book will be mailed by June 21st.  If the winner does not respond after a three attempts to make contact, another winner will be picked by one of my eager cats.

A MEAL IN HONOR OF MONET:

This Wikimedia photograph by Michael Scaduto has been adapted to create an Impressionist image.

In 1893, Claude Monet moved to the charming rural town of Giverny in Normandy, where he was to spend much of the last decades of his life.  He planned his garden to give him endless inspiration, and worked there both with the soil and with his palette and paints.  This is where his glorious lily pond is located, and every season brings new blooms to the vast gardens.

The building itself is lovely, soft pink with vivid green shutters, dripping with vines.  Its windows look out on the gardens and across the road to the pond with its willow trees.

 

Another beautiful Wikimedia photograph, this by Jean Robert Thibault, with Impressionist fiddling by me.

 

The interior is utterly delightful, especially the kitchen painted pale and deeper cobalt blue, with gorgeous blue and white tiles, and the beautiful yellow dining room.  When I say blue and yellow, I mean the rooms are almost entirely that color.   The photos rights are reserved, but you can Google them and you can see them in books, including the beautiful MONET’S TABLE, which is filled with photographs, old and new, with accounts of the Monets’ life at Giverny, the making of the gardens and tending of the house, and with a wide variety of recipes from Monet’s own kitchen. I went there in search of a recipe for the blog event.

Monet’s Table by Claire Joyes

The Monet family loved good food.  Some of these recipes are simple, some strange and complex.  I want to try the potato pie, and also the stuffed onions, maybe with a chicken filling.  There is a recipe for an ultra-chocolate dessert that looks devastating.

For the Summer Blog hop, I’m doing an adaptation of the Monet family’s Chicken Chasseur.  My version has onion, sweet yellow pepper and goat cheese topping.  Serve it with soup or salad if you like.  I did a tasty seeded baguette and cheese to start.  With the chicken, I served lovely thin French green beans with butter and lemon juice.

The Monet cookbook has a Cherry Clafoutis.  Having tried many.  I’ll be including my own recipe, which has a great balance between the cake and custard texture that makes a clafoutis a unique dessert for all its simplicity.

Together these will make a wonderful country style dinner.

MONET CHICKEN:

4+ Tablespoons unsalted butter

4+ Tablespoons olive oil

4 chicken breasts*

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups tomatoes, seeded and chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 sprigs fresh tarragon

1 cup broth

1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 cup soft goat cheese, crumbled

Parsley garnish if desired

 

Melt the butter and oil in a large skillet with a lid.  Saute the chicken breasts until lightly browned.  Remove and reserve them, saving any juices.

Add more butter to the skillet if needed.  Saute onions and garlic.  Reserve.

Saute the mushrooms until tender.  Add the wine and the chopped tomatoes and cook for approximately 10 minutes, until soft.  Add the tomato paste and the herbs.  Cook uncovered 10 minutes to reduce the liquid.  Add the broth and simmer for 10 minutes more.

Return the chicken to the skillet.  Cover and simmer for forty five minutes.  Add the chopped yellow sweet peppers for added contrast and cook 15 minutes.  Arrange the chicken on a platter and keep warm.  If needed, reduce the sauce by boiling uncovered for 10 minutes.  Pour it over the chicken.  Sprinkle with the crumbled goat cheese.  Serve with polenta, rice or potatoes.  I used polenta both because I love the flavor and for the golden color.  Add some parsley garnish if you’d like.

*The original recipe called for 1 cut up chicken.  For cooking consistency, I decided on 4 breasts, bone-in, with skin.  The next time I made it with 4 complete legs (thigh and drumstick).

 

CREAMY CHERRY CLAFOUTIS:

Clafoutis is very homey, and can be made just with milk, or with half and half.  I’d gotten what I thought was the perfect moist, chewy texture using a mix of the two.  I created this newer version when I didn’t have enough of either, but did have some cream on hand.  It was the tastiest of all, no surprise.  Perfect for the Banquet version.  I haven’t since tried one of the versions with more liquid, but with cream they probably wouldn’t be too thin, which was my complaint about the milkier ones.  There are many styles out there for you to try.

1 teaspoon butter

3-4 cups dark cherries, preferably pitted

3 large eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Optional garnish: confectioners’ sugar, ice cream or cream (poured or whipped)

Preparation:

Preheat an oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch by 9-inch square baking dish or a 9-inch deep-dish pie round with the softened butter.

Pit the cherries and arrange them in the baking dish.  The French like to leave the pits in the cherries, saying it adds a subtle almond flavor.  I prefer the way the cherries absorb the moisture if they are pitted.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs till light and lemon colored, add the vanilla and almond flavorings (almond is optional, but very nice with cherry)  Whisk them together with the sugar, then add the flour and beat till smooth.  Add the cream and blend. Pour the batter over the cherries and bake for 55 – 60 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  When I made it with 3 cups of cherries, I liked it baked for an hour so the texture was more cake like.  With 4 cups of cherries, I preferred the creamier texture of a shorter bake time.

Serve the clafoutis warm, if possible.  Confectioner’s sugar sprinkled on top is pretty, but I prefer less sweetness and would top the clafoutis with cream or whipped cream instead.  This cherry clafoutis recipe makes approximately 8 servings.

Clafoutis is a very adaptable recipe.  Cherry is traditional, but many other fruits work well.  My favorite alternative is to use 2 – 3 cups of blueberries and 1 cup of raspberries instead of the cherries.

 

 

 

 

BLOG HOP PARTICIPANTS:

Random Bits of Fascination (Maria Grace)
Pillings Writing Corner (David Pilling)
Anna Belfrage
Debra Brown
 Lauren Gilbert
Gillian Bagwell
Julie K. Rose
Donna Russo Morin
Regina Jeffers
Shauna Roberts
Tinney S. Heath
Grace Elliot
Diane Scott Lewis
Ginger Myrick
Helen Hollick
Heather Domin
Margaret Skea
Yves Fey
JL Oakley
Shannon Winslow
Evangeline Holland
Cora Lee
Laura Purcell
P. O. Dixon
E.M. Powell
Sharon Lathan
Sally Smith O’Rourke
Allison Bruning
Violet Bedford
Sue Millard
Kim Rendfeld

Orinda Books – Sisters in Crime Spring Showcase

This Saturday, June 1st, from 12 – 2, there will be a special event for the Northern California Chapter of Sisters in Crime at Orinda Books.  I will be reading from my award winning mystery, Floats the Dark Shadow.  Cara Black will read from Murder Below Montparnasse, Gigi Pandian from Other People’s Baggage, and a dozen other talented local authors will give a brief presentation.  Join us for an intriguing afternoon.

Orinda Books

276 Village Square

Orinda, CA  94563

http://www.orindabooks.com/

Peanut Butter Cookies

PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

P.B.C.’s, as he affectionately initializes them, are a favorite of my husband.  It’s the extra peanut butter that makes them so good.  They are a very dense, chewy cookie. These are my own devising, and I’m very proud of how delicious they are.

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 cups good peanut butter, crunchy

1 egg, beaten

Grated rind of one small orange

¼ cup orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla paste

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

!/2 teaspoon baking soda

 

Preheat the oven to 350.  Lightly butter a cookie sheet.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar, then cream in the peanut butter.  Add the beaten egg.   Add the flavorings.  Sift in the dry ingredients.  Work with a big spoon or your hands until all the flour is incorporated.

Roll the dough into balls and place on the prepared cookie sheet.  Press the cookies with a flour-dipped fork, making crosshatched patterns.  Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes.  Cool a couple of minutes, and then remove from pan.  Makes about 2 – 4 dozen, depending on how big you make the cookies.

Delicious Chocolate Almond Shortbread Recipe for the holidays.

This recipe is my own devising, less “short” than the traditional recipes, with a dense texture and a unique flavor from the brown sugar and almond extract.

These are a bit raggedy, since I waited till they were cool before I cut them.

YVES’ CHOCOLATE ALMOND SHORTBREAD 4 cups flour

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

¼ teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate  bits

Toasted almonds for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter a 13 x 9 inch pan

Cream the butter and sugar together till fluffy.  Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla and almond extracts.  Add the flour a cup at a time.  You’ll need to work in the last cup with your hands.  It feels very sumptuous!

Press into baking pan, and bake about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Sprinkle the chocolate bits over the shortbread and allow to melt enough to spread into frosting.  Mark off the number of the pieces desired with toasted (or not) almonds.  Cut while still warm.

The Nightingale Poem Video

Here’s the latest poem video, Verlaine’s Le Rossignol - The Nightingale – with a translation by A.S. Kline and music by Christian Comeau.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z6iAUOg5Zo

Happy Holidays

In honor of holiday feasting, I’ll be offering my own Chocolate Almond Shortbread.   Early in 2013 there will be a perfume giveaway of an Yves Fey Eau de Parfum.  Meanwhile, savor this delightful Art Nouveau French poster celebrating both Cats and Chocolate!

 

$1,000 CHOCOLATE PECAN TORTE:

I thought my first post should be a prize winner, so here is my $1,000 chocolate pecan torte to inspire your holiday baking.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE PECAN TORTE:

12 oz. semisweet chocolate

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 1/4 cup pecans

3/4 cup softened butter

1 cup sugar

5 eggs, separated

1/3 cup sifted flour

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 teaspoons vanilla

PEACH FILLING:

1/3 cup peach jam

1 tablespoon orange liqueur

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 teaspoons lemon juice

CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

6 oz. semisweet chocolate

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons sweet butter

DECORATION:

1/2 cup pecan halves

1 tablespoon sweet butter

1 tablespoon Peach Filling

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Butter a 9″ springform pan*, and dust it with cocoa, shaking out the excess.  Set aside.  A 10” springform pan will also work, but the peach jam layer will be spread more thinly.

Torte:  In the top of a double boiler, over hot water, melt the two chocolates together.  Stir until smooth, and completely combined.  Remove from the heat, and allow the chocolate to cool slightly.

Using a food processor, grind the pecans fine with about 1/2 cup of the sugar.  Add the butter and the remaining sugar, creaming together well.  Beat in the egg yolks, the rum, and the vanilla extract.  Now, add the flour and process it in with the rest.  Add the melted and cooled chocolate, and process again.  The mixture will be very dense.

Whip the egg whites until they are stiff and peaky.  Mix about 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the thick chocolate batter, then fold the chocolate mixture into the remaining whites, folding thoroughly.

Spread the chocolate batter into the prepared springform pan, and bake in the preheated 325degrees oven approximately 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes slightly moist.  Remove the torte from the oven, and allow it to cool and settle in the pan.  Take off the springform, and transfer the torte to its serving dish.

Peach Filling:  Sieve the peach jam into a small saucepan.  Add the liquids and bring to a boil, stirring.  Reduce the heat and simmer a moment, stirring, then remove the pan.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the finished glaze for the pecan trim, and spread the rest over the torte.  Allow the peach filling to set, then top it with the chocolate glaze.

Chocolate Glaze:  In the top of a double boiler, over hot water, melt the chocolate and the cream together.  Remove from the heat, and stir in the butter, whisking till smooth.  Allow the glaze to cool until it will spread smoothly over the torte.  Use a spatula to smooth it evenly over the top, and coat the sides with a thinner layer.

Decoration:  In a small sauce pan, combine the tablespoon of peach glaze and the butter.  Melt them together.  Add the pecan halves, and stir until they are all coated.  Drain the nuts, and allow them to set slightly, then press them around the edge of the torte.  The torte serves 12-16 people, as it is very, very rich.  It tastes best at room temperature, but will also refrigerate well.