Jennifer McLagan's Blog, page 2

Eating better

In the summer I was sent this book. I was very busy so I have only just managed to have a good look at it. Thanks to the content of my books I've done many interviews with paleo diet followers. I am not an advocate, dairy and grains play an important role in my diet. However, I do applaud any book that encourages people to eat pastured meat and quality animal fat as this book does. It covers

Squirrel 0 Jennifer 12

This year I am winning. My fig tree is not beautiful, but it is productive. Every winter I wonder if it is worth the effort of dragging it into the apartment and down the stairwell to the landing which is the coolest darkest spot we have. The tree is only about 1.5 metres tall however, the pot is big and heavy and manhandling it down the stairs isn't easy. We have to walk around it all winter

White Asparagus Part 2

As I said in White Asparagus Part 1, I'd always just boiled my white asparagus. Well this asparagus season we went to Spring restaurant in Paris. My favourite taste in the meal was the grapefruit jelly for many reasons, but the white asparagus were delicious too and a revelation. Obviously  chef Daniel Rose shares my opinion that white asparagus should be big and fat, look at these beauties

White Asparagus Part 1

I'm an asparagus snob. For me asparagus are white and fat. You have to peel white asparagus, so you want something left when you finish and I'd rather eat three fat ones than half a dozen skinny ones.  When I first came to France eons ago, green asparagus, the only ones I was familiar with at the time, were no where to be found. You could find skinny wild green asparagus, but everything else

Cardoons

One of my favourite places in Paris is the Luxembourg Gardens. This photo was taken in the autumn when cardoons were part of the flower borders, I've also seen them in Parc Montsouris. I wanted to sneak back late in the evening to harvest a few stalks, but the gardens, wisely,  are closed at night. 









As you can see from the cardoon flowers they're a close relative of the artichoke.

Fat Dinner part 2

Well after all that fat, dinner began with lean duck breast and salad, although it did have a healthy layer of fatty skin, I'm happy to say. Neumarkt chef Rene Zimmermann followed my recipe, using figs, which were in season, rather than blackberries that weren't. This is exactly how recipes should be approached, smart alternatives rather than following them to the letter.






The main

Fat Dinner

This plate of fat, was my snack before the fat dinner! I knew there was going to be lardo, that is what is filling my plate, but I didn't know there would be such a choice. Chef Rene from Neumarkt restaurant, had been to Salone del Gusto and returned with six different types. He created lardo heaven.





You might recognize the most famous lardo Lardo di Colonnata, it's the thick pale

Zurich

Last November I was invited to Zurich for the launch of my Fat book in German Fett. The trip from Paris on the TGV was pleasant on a high tech Swiss train that signalled where we were and how fast the train was travelling. We had good insider information about where to eat and drink, which was very helpful as Zurich is a lot pricier than Paris. And my husband and I spent a wonderful weekend

Keeping up Traditions

Yesterday was Epiphany and I made a galette de rois or king's cake. This cake is traditionally served in France around this time of the year. I've written about this before so I won't repeat myself. 



You can buy this cake in French pastry stores, but it is really worth the effort of making it yourself, yes even the pastry. There is something so satisfying watching your homemade puff pastry

Resolutions

New year's makes us think of resolutions, and we usually make many that we can't keep. Resolutions that my husband and I made were to spend new year's eve with good friends, drink champagne at midnight, and have scrambled eggs and truffles for breakfast on new year's day. And so far we've kept them for over 25 years. Who said resolutions had to be hard to keep? 


I like the idea of