A good year and a good soup!

My dear, poor, non French people

Comment ça va?
I'm so happy to write to you again after these terrible Christmas holidays. 
Oh, don't misunderstand me, I have loved going back to France to see my family and friends. But excusez-moi, there's too much good food there! After days and hours of family banquets, foie-gras get-togethers, chocolate éclairs snacks and other "you definitely should take the vol-au-vent AND the tête-de-veau: after all you never get it there", I am so glad to be back THERE, in California! Finies les tentations! 

That's when I get to tell you about the most important Holiday tradition in France. 
It's not Bûche de Noël, it's not marrons glacés nor Chapon roti... (Although all these great dishes are compulsory in any Christmas dinner or NYE Reveillon).

It is crise de foie.
Crise de foie, or litterary "liver crisis" is another part of the French paradox. 
No other country or culture IN THE WORLD suffers from this sickness which only appears once in the year.
Tv news and newspapers make their headlines with it every premier de l'an, the first day of the year... And you can be sure that it's the first thing your butcher or your pharmacist would want to know when you come back from the holidays: "Vous l'avez eue?" 

So what is it about crise de foie?
It's not a stomachache, it's not a hangover, it's both and it's none... 
Thousands of doctors have tried to convince the French people that it actually doesn't really exist... It's just that we ate and drunk too much during the holiday season. 

But you know how we are. 
We French people like to stand for what we believe.
So we may have a little crise de foi (faith crisis, disbelief) from time to time,  but will always believe in crise de foie. 
(how strange my mother tongue is... Foie is liver and foi is faith...)
Anyhow, I just wanted to give you my little tip to get better after too much stomach pleasure...
It's not "detox" or raw or anything, it's just good and soothing.




La soupe au chou-fleur


Ingrédients

1 cauliflower
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of water
1 star anise pod
1 tbsp Tumeric and or Curry





 
 Wash the cauliflower, cut the green parts
Put in in a pan with the chicken broth and the water
Add the star anise pod.
Put to a boil, and then let it gently cook (on medium) for at least 20 minutes
When the vegetable seems soft (and cooked) enough, mix it
Add the turmeric and/or curry.

Et voilà!

A soup very light in calories but full of récomfort, just for you and your crise de foie les amis!

Bonne année! et Bon appétit!


PS: it's not Cauliflower soup, but you should know that Cabbage soup is a huge pop-culture thing in France... A hit movie from the 70's pretended that the smell of it was able to attract aliens and their UFO's...
La soupe aux choux, with Louis de Funes and Jacques Villeret

A magic soup just for you

My poor non-French people,

I guess you all know now that "French women don't get fat".

Mireille Guiliano, who I was lucky to meet a few years ago and interview her for a profile of her I directed for French TV, has explained to the whole world the basics of the French and perfect silhouette: eat everything, not too much, enjoy it but pay attention, and when you've forgotten all the rules, try and detox with a good leeks soup.

She's totally right, of course, but I prefer another magic soup...

La soupe de Cresson comme à la maison

Ingrédients

2 bunches of Watercress

2 cups chicken broth

Pepper

Salt

and some Creme Fraiche...







One of the best surprise when I arrived in LA was to find upland-cress so easily at the market.

It's actually quite rare in Paris, only in season and in some very specialised primeurs (fresh vegetables grocery shops).

But my mom would often cook it when I was a kid : in Sologne, where my village is, the land is very wet in some parts, and you could sometime find some fresh one while walking in the woods.

Cresson is so full of flavors, you would almost forget that it's very good for your diet, and for your health.
The Romans thought it was a good way to prevent baldness, the Greek imagined it was a good detox after a big hangover... 

Now the scientists have discovered a new incredible benefit: it is full of isothiocyanates, a good prevention against cancer, and mostly lung cancer I understand.

My uncle Bernard loved to use it in a salad in his restaurant, but I prefer it in a soup.This one is great to get comfort and energy at the end of a long day.

And the taste of the cresson?

I've spent the last three days trying to define it, and am still wordless.

So let me quote my boyfriend on that: "subtle, a bit astringent, it's kind of like a time bomb... Gosh, I don't know, why don't you cook some more so I can taste it again ?"

La recette

Put the chicken broth to a boil.

Wash the upland cress, cut it in half and plunge it in the broth.

Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Put the leaves in the blender and mince them.


Then mix with the chicken broth


Add salt, pepper, and at the very end, add the touch of paradise: a tablespoon of creme fraiche...


(it's hard to find a good one here, so I use Crema Mexicana, which is very easy to find in the supermarket)

C'est tout!

Bon appétit les amis!