Endives, jambon, et sauce Mornay

I've posted about this dish, called gratin d'endives au jambon, many times. It's braised Belgian endives wrapped in slices of jambon de Paris (boiled ham), and baked in a sauce Mornay, which is a cheese sauce (a Béchamel sauce with cheese melted in it). Here's a link to a post about it (or two actually, parts 1 and 2) that I did years ago. I'll just post these recent pictures today...

Quick and easy lunch (or dinner)

Yesterday or the day before an e-mail from the Food section of the New York Times landed in my Gmail account. It was about beans, and what a good and easy product they are to use — especially out of a can. It gave a lot of ideas for dressing up the idiomatic "pot of beans" to make them more appetizing.

I took inspiration from that article and opened up a can of white beans (often called cannelini in the U.S. or lingots in France). I decided to flavor them with dried herbs — oregano, chives, etc. — that I soaked in warm water for a few minutes before adding them and the soaking water to the beans. I also put in some diced shallot, garlic, and bell peppers that I sweated in olive oil, and a couple of bay leaves. We enjoyed them with some smoked chicken that I bought at the supermarket.

Beans that are sold in cans are already cooked. You don't have to soak or cook them at all, unless you want to add some aromatic ingredients the way I did. The flavor and texture of beans (except haricots verts) don't seem to be altered by the canning process, so they taste the same as dried beans that you soak and cook yourself. Actually, the ingredients listed on the label of the canned beans I buy are just eau (water), haricots blancs secs trempés (dried white beans, soaked), sel (salt), and arôme naturel d'ail (natural garlic flavoring). (I wonder what that last ingredient is all about.)

It's almost funny....

These were yesterday morning's weather maps showing the forecast for the day — morning and afternoon. And it all came true. If it weren't so miserable, it would almost be funny. Joking about it helps a little. Should we build an arc?

Yesterday, our neighbors from Blois, whose maison de campagne is the house across the road from ours, had a birthday party there for a member of the family. They had invited 25 people. It rained off and on all day. I went over there to say bonjour at noontime.

I talked to one gentleman that I don't remember meeting before. He appeared to be about my age, maybe older. He said he has had a bad cold for two months now. Congestion, coughing, teary itchy eyes, aches and pains. So have I, I told him. We compared notes and commiserated. The eldest of the clan, a woman who is nearly 90 years old now, said hello to me but wouldn't faire la bise or even stand close enough to me for us to be able to talk. She was too afraid of catching what I've got.

Spinach/Mushroom lasagna

Here are some photos of a pan of spinach and mushroom lasagna that I made last week. I used frozen spinach, fresh mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, tomato puree, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella cheese. Here's a link to a recipe for a similar lasagne from Elise Bauers Simply Recipes web site.

Except for the large picture of the finished product, the pictures are in chronological order. First you cook the spinach/mushroom filling. As it cooks, mash the ricotta cheese. Put a layer of tomato slices or tomato puree in a lasagne pan. Arrange layers of lasagna noodles, spinach filling, and mashed ricotta over that. My lasagne had three layers. The top layer is noodles, sauce, and rough cubes of mozzarella (looks like popcorn but it isn't). Bake for 30 or 40 minutes until the cheese has melted and browned.