BASQUE CHICKEN HAS LONG had its Nashville hot chicken moment. To get it, you no longer have to go to its place of origin, the Pays Basque in the southwest corner of France. It is a beloved national dish, so commonplace that it’s easy to find as a convenient, grab-and-go food in grocery stores all over France.

Last winter, my husband and I ate a lot of the stuff. We were living in France, in the Loire Valley, some 560 kilometers northeast of the Basque region. We spent much of our time redoing the kitchen in a sixteenth-century house my husband bought more than twenty years ago. To eat, we set up a makeshift kitchen in a small, unused room on the top floor, equal in (more…)

Mid-August is not a great time to turn on the oven in Richmond, Virginia. But it is a great time to enjoy the masses of locally grown height-of-the-season tomatoes tumbling out of farmer’s markets and gardens. Thanks to Odette Podevin, my French Patroness of Cooking, I knew just what to do with my own bottomless supply, churned out by our plot in a community garden. I would make Tomates Farcies au Riz à la Chair à Saucisse, or Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice and Sausage Meat.

Last Sunday, along with (more…)

This is Nigel Slater’s redo of clafoutis, a French rustic dessert that is traditionally made with cherries. Slater’s version is a good showcase for the flavor and color of blueberries: the amount of sugar doesn’t overwhelm their tart aspect, and the pretty blue juices of the berries stain the batter as they burst. The sides and bottom of the pudding, or quasi-custard, as you and I are more likely to think of it, form a nice golden brown crust. The center remains delicate with a near flan consistency.

Blueberry batter pudding is served (more…)