a little bit o' mexican

Friends keep asking me "why on earth would you be so obsessed with finding mexican food in Paris ?" What with all of the fresh baguettes and croissants and cheeses at my disposal, it might be a hard concept to wrap your head around. But the truth is, there's only so much confit de canard and salade au chevre chaud I can stomach. At some point, all I crave is a heaping plate of pad thai, or perhaps a nice, fat burrito. Luckily, I have a good friend who shares this sentiment and has been willing (ok, quite enthusiastic), to help me scope out the options I've managed to find via my obsession with Parisian food blogs.

Last week, my favorite of these food bloggers, David Lebovitz, published a comprehensive list of all Mexican places he had visited, or heard of. And so the search continued with one restaurant which was suggested by a great number of his readers, Fajitas. And what we found was beautiful indeed.

The interior is stylish, and points directly southwest, without being too kitsch. The service terribly friendly and relatively fast, and the food well.... let's just say all of the other places I've tried in Paris seem to think Mexican cuisine is limited to the taco, burrito, and an occasional quesadilla. Fajitas, however, serves up just that--fajitas, as well as chimichangas, panuchos, and a variety of other options, many of which have cactus as a main ingredient. And I was phenomenally happy to encounter this, a rarity in France:


My tasty, and well-tequila-laced strawberry margarita (ok, any place in France with a genuine margarita machine wins my affections immediately:


Our generous serving of homemade chips and salsa (which was actually spicy, not the french version of spicy):


My friend's chicken & goat cheese panucho:


My chicken chimichanga, with generous servings of guac & beans:



And the obligatory photo demonstrating how satisfactory the meal was :


The prices weren't the cheapest of the options we've tried in Paris, but the choices (and I would venture to say the quality) were far greater. Better believe Fajitas is being added into the permanent resto-rotation. Updates on the other options we've tried so far as soon as I manage to obtain photographic evidence.

Rangoon !

Since I've moved to Paris, one of the cuisines I've consistently craved is good chinese food. While their are loads of traiteurs chinois around town, the idea of my food sitting out all day and then being microwaved, instead of being properly prepared on location is chilling. That especially applies to anything that is normally wrapped in a crispy wanton. While their are good chinese restaurants to be found, they are concentrated in particularly inconvenient areas (well, for me anyway) near Belleville and Place d'Italie. And even when I do manage to make the trek, they rarely serve my guilty americanized chinese addiction-- the crab rangoon. I credit my even more addicted mother for passing on a genetic predisposition for being obsessed with the rangoon in all it's crispy delight.

All of this said, I was visiting the Marché d'Aligre with André on Sunday when we spotted a small asian grocery on the far side of the square. We wandered inside and what should I find but these:


Visions of grandeur came to mind as imagine how many crispy triangles of wonder I could fry up with this package (if you'll look closely, the price tag does indeed, say 1.15 !!). And so Caroline's corn rangoon was born !

First I mixed up a tasty, yet utterly unphotogenic, batch of filling. In the container are corn, cream cheese (for those of you in France, I used Kiri squares), paprika, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper.


Then I tossed a dollop onto a wrapper:


Folded the wrappers into triangle-like shapes, then stuck them into the freezer for about an hour so the cheese wouldn't be so ooooozy.



Then I fried them ! Frying not pictured due to, well, being busy frying. I didn't deep fry as we don't have a proper deep fryer, and I cringe at the thought of wasting that much oil. But I put about 1/2 an inch of oil in the pan and flipped them around 2 minutes. I think they turned out pretty well ! At least they must have, considering Monsieur le picky eater ate enough to feed a small farm animal. so voila !



And here is a gratuitous shot of Lucie, who wouldn't stop miaouuuuuuing at me from the terrasse while I was cooking :

Corsica Part I: The Food !

I had a great plan to update often while I was in Corsica. Daily details of sites seen, music heard, food eaten. But of course as soon as I arrived, it became clear that wouldn't happen. A beautiful never-setting sun, and a poor internet connection made sure of that. But all is not lost ! A sharp memory, and photographic evidence should provide a sufficient outline of my ten days on the Ile de Beauté.

Part I: The Food !

Corsica food is, in general, very earthy. The island is covered with forests, so most genuine Corsican fair comes from plants or animals that can be found exclusively in the woods. We're talking deer, wild boar, chestnuts, etc. And if it doesn't come from the forest, it definitely comes from the sea. There is incredible seafood to be found just about everywhere, and it's a comfort knowing that all of these products are fresh and local.

Some culinary highlights of the trip:

Zucchini Fritters



Fiadone: A traditional lemon cheesecake


Haricots soisson: white beans and pancetta cooked in white wine


Fritters made with leeks and locally picked walnuts


Risotto of chestnuts and local pancetta



fondant of chestnut cream and walnut



Fritto Misto of local seafood


Sandwich of figatellu--a local, and very popular sausage


the most wonderful assiette of local cheese, which was served with a divine fig jam


and the most importand, a fresh local beer !

kentucky pecan pie

While most are aware that I grew up in Maine and have a distinct love for blueberry pie, my roots haven't escaped me. I was born in Kentucky, not far from churchill downs, and have loved the combination of bourbon and chocolate since I was a child (oops...) Derby pie is a very special thing traditionally made for the first saturday in May, but since the name is trademarked, I'll call this kentucky pecan.

Ingredients:

1 pie crust pre or home made
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup brown or cane sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup corn syrup (or maple syrup if you are in france)
a few glugs of your best bourbon
1 cup pecans
3/4 of a dark chocolate bar
a pinch of cinnamon (optional)



After procuring all of the ingredients, it's really quite simple. Chop the pecans and chocolate.



mix all of the ingredients (except the pie crust, of course) together in a medium sized bowl, starting with the eggs & liquid, then the solids, adding the chocolate & pecans last.

Butter & flour a pie tin, and put in the crust.



Then pour in the liquid mix.



Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius, or 350 fahrenheit for around 45 minutes.

et voila !



* best consumed when with a nice kentucky hot chocolate (hot chocolate with bourbon)