Hey, a food post!

Well, sort of. Let's call it a "food porn" post. The thing that's really on my mind right now is this year's vegetable garden. Because of steady winter and spring rains, for a long time the ground was just too soggy for me to work it with the rototiller. Then when it dried out in April, weeds had completely taken over the part of the plot that was not covered with a tarp. The dry ground was like concrete. So I kept putting off working out there.

This is a duck burger made with a duck breast filet that we thawed, skinned, and then ran through the meat grinder.

Now the time has come. We lucked out with the weather over the past week. Fairly heavy rains were predicted, but they didn't materialize. We had showers, including one or two hard ones, but mostly we had very light drizzle for a few days. I'm optimistic that the ground is just damp enough to be softened up and tillable. And I'm glad to say that the roots and stems of the kale plants I harvested in mid-March have sent up new leaves that I'll be able to harvest today.

These are toasted ham, cheese, and Red Russian Kale sandwiches. Eat with knife and fork...

I think it might be more important than ever to have a good vegetable garden this year. I really don't see myself going shopping in open-air markets or supermarkets on any regular basis any time soon. If there is a second wave of Covid19 infections as France starts to gradually lift the confinement ("stay-at-home") order, I don't want to become a victim. I'll be staying in a lot and going out very little this summer, I believe.

How about some deep-fried zucchini fritters (grated zukes from freezer) and pulled pork barbecue?

I don't like the prospect of having to have supermarket employees pick out my produce for me. I don't know when open-air markets in our part of the country will start operating again. I'm afraid that any market that does re-open will be mobbed because there is so much pent-up desire to return to an existence that was considered normal before the pandemic shut everything down.

Duck confit from a big tin, with dried haricots beurre (pink beans) imported from Portugal and cooked overnight in the slow-cooker

Luckily, the weather is supposed to be dry today (Wednesday) through Friday. Luckily, I feel pretty good physically. I'm optimistic I'll be able to handle the heavy rototiller and get the job done. We shall see. The photos here show some of our recent "confinement cuisine" — we've been emptying our freezers, our pantry, and our kitchen cabinets over the past 6 or 7 weeks, that's for sure. I guess that's a good thing.

Another gratin de pommes de terre made with sautéed potatoes, Brie cheese, onions, and smoked pork belly lardons