Linguine alle Vongole

I *heart* pasta with seafood. Any type of pasta with any type of seafood.

My first love & you never forget your first. Linguine alle vongole. We go way back.

Clams are really easy to prepare & if you don't add pasta, this makes a great clam starter - not unlike the one that I'd already bogged about here. Some recipes use tomatoes making it a red clam sauce but I personally prefer not to.

Remember my trip to Geneva way back in August last year, well my friends gave me 10 packets of Prima Taste's Vongole Sauce. I thought Prima only does Asian so I was a little sceptical at first. Besides I've never really needed this to make vongole sauce before. But you know what - I'm already down to 4 packets. I don't know how much they are retailing for so I can't say if they are worth it or not but if you're given free packets by generous friends, by all means use them.

Since it is basically clam juice - I've used it to flavor my fish stew & instead of clams (cos they are really expensive here), used them to cook prawns & squids. The packet suggests using Chinese wine but I wouldn't dream of using anything but white wine.


Linguine alle Vongole
(for 2-3 portions)

2-3 cloves garlic, diced
2 chilli (optional)
500g fresh clams
parsley
linguine
1/2 cup white wine
clam juice (if available)

1. Cook linguine. Drain & set aside

2. Fry garlic & chilli in olive oil until fragrant. Then add clams, white wine, clam juice, salt & pepper. Cover the pan

3. Once the clams open which shouldn't take very long - around 5-10 mins, they are ready. Discard any that aren't opened

4. Toss linguine in the sauce & add chopped parsley before serving

International Museum of Shoes, Romans

We rang in the New Year with friends who lived in Romans, not far from Valence, just over an hour from here. Even though we've visited them many times, we've never actually explored the town. This time round, I decided we should go earlier to see what Romans has to offer before heading over to their place.

One of the must see is the International Museum of Shoes. Romans sur Isere or simply called Romans has a tradition of leather making & shoe making thus earning the title of City of Shoes.


The museum is situated in a convent built in the 17th century with a beautiful garden. The visit takes you through the cells which used to house the nuns.

There are apparently more than 15,000 items going back some 4000 years & as their name implied, also covering the evolution of shoes all over the world. They even had a collection of shoes from China for women with bound feet. My favorite were the thigh boots worn by the musketeers.

There were also designers of the 20th & 21st centuries but the focus seem to be more on contemporary design. The Girl was particularly tickled by the pair of zebra shoes (shown below).

Even if you're not a shoe lover (like the Dutchess whom by the way I've dedicated this post to), I would recommend a visit.

International Museum of Shoes
rue Bistour Romans
04 75 05 51 81

Art Exhibition

I'm really pleased to announce that my friend Ms Gaby Scholz is currently exhibiting at the Salle Volane in Vals les Bains. This is her first solo exhibition & we're all very excited for her. She's been hard at work the past few weeks putting the finishing touches to her paintings.

A couple of us were over on Monday to help her hang her paintings & let me tell you, it was a lot harder than it looks but we all had fun doing it. I didn't have time to take individual pictures of her paintings yet but will do so soon & post them on the blog to share with my readers.




She was also interviewed by the regional newspaper, Le Dauphiné libéré. Below is the announcement that they published on the 4th.

We now have a celebrity in our midst.

Coconut macaroon

Coconut macaroons are more like little coconut bites rather than cookies.

I made them at our last playgroup & they were a big hit with the young & old. If you don't like coconuts, you can substitute with almond powder.

Coconut macaroon
makes about 30

180g desiccated coconut
1 packet vanilla powder
150g sugar
3 egg whites

1. Mix dessicated coconut, vanilla powder & sugar

2. Beat the egg whites till stiff then add to coconut mixture

3. Place wax paper on oven tray

4. Form little balls & place on oven tray tray

5. Bake at 190C for 10-15 minutes until brown - check often to make sure you don't burn them

More feasting & dining

This is just another one of the many lunches & dinners we've been to the past couple of weeks. Isn't that what the holiday is all about - feasting & dining ?

It has been a while since we were over at our neighbour's - Laurence & Christophe for dinner. Back then in the summer, we dined on the terrace. Well we couldn't very well do that now, could we ?

This was the first time I had Hydromel -
a honey liquer with origins from the Middle Ages, brewed by the Greeks & Romans

No outdoor dining this time of the year
- there's nothing quite like the warmth from the fire place

Raclette with vegetable side dish

Bonne Annee

Albeit a little mellow, we had a wonderful New Year celebration. How could we not when there were good food, good wine & good friends ?

Here they are again, the Usual Suspects

Foie Gras with Fig Jam

Les Huitres - Oysters with red wine vinegar & shallot sauce

Scallops & Lobster

Champagne

I'm not one for resolutions cos I always end up breaking them so after a while, I don't even bother any more. But recently several issues have been bothering me so I've decided to make a list this year. I figured if I were to blog about it, I would be more motivated to try to stick to it.

1. Eat healthy
We hardly eat out so I suppose we are already eating healthier. Which means in our case, it would also translate to cooking healthy as well. But there's a lot more to talk about so I will do a separate post about this.

2. Start speaking Chinese to The Girl
This is something that I've been meaning to do & I know the sooner I start, the easier it would be for her. So one of my goals this year is to make sure I start teaching her to speak Mandarin & to let her appreciate her Chinese roots.

3. Make time for the family
Being a SAHM, you would think that's all I do but I'm not talking about chores, cooking or even going to The Site. I want to take time to do things as a family like this. I want to stop saying "wait a minute" to The Girl whenever she wants to play with me. I want to have more couple time with X.

So instead of waiting till the end of the year, I'm going to do a review after 3 months to see how I'm doing with these resolutions.

Happy New Year & here's wishing you joy, happiness & health for 2009.

French Doughnuts

Beignets are French donuts, without the holes. You can find them in the local pastry shops & like everything else, each region would have their own special recipe.

It's a tradition in our family that X makes beignets around this time. So instead of cookies, we give away bags of beignets.

Beignets
(makes around 50 pieces)

1.5 kg flour
42g fresh yeast (usu comes in a cube)
8 eggs
1 cup of oil
100g butter
1 bottle fleur d'oranger
icing sugar

1. Mix yeast with a cup of hot water, 100g of flour & 1 Tsp of sugar. Set aside to let rise for half an hour

2. Take the yeast mixture, add the rest of the flour, eggs, oil, butter & fleur d'oranger. Mix into a dough & then leave to rise for 3-4 hours (depending on temperature of the room)

3. Roll the dough to 1 cm thick, cut into squares & then deep fry till brown

4. Drain & then put in plastic bag with icing sugar. Shake till all are coated