Iparralde - the French Basque Countryside

It feels so good to be home. Fresh air, green mountains, and soft sandy beaches.

I am still in the thick of my vacation with my family in the Basque Country, but I wanted to pop in and say hello. I have captured over 1,000 images and I thought you would like to see some from a trip we took to Iparralde last week -- the French Basque Country.



Despite current political divisions, the Basque Country (Euskal Herria) is made of seven provinces, four of them in Spain in the south (Hegoaldea) and three in the north in France (Iparraldea). The Basque language is spoken throughout and that is why we call it the Basque Country.

When I was a little girl and before all European borders disappeared, going to Iparralde was a very exciting adventure. Only an hour drive away, we had to carry our passports and a completely different currency. We looked for products that we couldn't find back home and indulged in the supermarket aisles.



Last week we decided to take a trip to Donibane Lohitzun (St. Jean de Luz) and Espelette, where the famous peppers come from. We packed some food, but we knew we would find most of what we would need for our picnic in the farmers' market that happens every Tuesday.

We purchased local sheep's milk cheese and yogurt, artisanal bread from Etchart, charcuterie, mirabelle plums, berries, and more. As we expected, the old pedestrian streets were crowded with tourists. We ate amazing ice cream at Txomin and macarons and gâteaux basques at Maison Adam, then headed to the beach where we leisurely ate our bounty while we watched people come and go.



In the afternoon, we drove to Espelette. I was so excited for the burst of color that awaited us. The buildings are covered with hanging red peppers that are dried to make the coveted piment d'Espelette that I love.

Green hills surround the old town where herds of sheep graze. There was a light mist of rain that afternoon and it smelled of the Basque Country I remember from my childhood. A certain nostalgia and mysticism.



Last week I also taped a new episode for cooking show Robin Food, which will air in November. I cooked a risotto with wild mushrooms and clams, as well as a plum and red currant galette. I think you will like it. We certainly did.

I was also extremely lucky to eat at three-star Michelin restaurant Martin Berasategui and two-star Michelin Mugaritz. I will have to tell you all about it. What an opportunity.

I am in awe and inspired.



The kids are having so much fun playing with their cousins, visiting family farms, and running around in the open spaces. Weather has been unpredictable, but I welcome it. I love summer rain.

And so we will be here one more week. I will return with more images and stories, but for now, I must go.

The park awaits us.

continue for recipes...

The Manuscript and the Scones that Will Take Us Home

"I feel like I am forgetting something" I emailed my agent Judy on Thursday. I had just submitted the manuscript for my cookbook to my editor. It was time to celebrate, yet I felt as anxious as ever. "Yes, you forgot to celebrate!" she wrote back. I laughed.

So true.

After months of working on this manuscript as if it were my third child, I am done. I have created it, now it's in someone else's hands. Of course there will be revisions and edits, but the recipes are set, the images captured, and the stories told. And here is a small sample of the images you will find in it.



These props will finally have a home and some order.

C. will thank me.

I am looking forward to the promise of time off with my family back in the Basque Country. I am ready to relax, cook with my mom, drive along the coast while stopping for a pintxo or two, pick apples from my uncle's orchard, and sit under ancient oak trees while the children play.



The last thing I baked this weekend were scones. Three batches of them to be exact; until my oven finally gave up. It has had enough. Almost like life telling me it is time to stop baking compulsively.

I got it. It's time to stop.

We will take these with us on the plane. Full of black raspberries, red currants, quinoa, and oats.



I leave you with this recipe and soon I will be back from images from our trip. In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying your summer with your loved ones, cooking, and eating away.

See you soon!

Black Raspberry, Red Currant, Quinoa, and Oat Scones

adapted from Dorie Greenspan

makes 10 (2-inch) scones

1 1/3 cup (140 g) gluten-free oats
1 cup (140 g) superfine brown rice flour
1/3 cup (70 g) natural cane sugar
1/3 cup (45 g) quinoa flour
1/3 cup (40 g) tapioca flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of 1 lemon
10 Tbs (140 g) unsalted butter or non-hydrogenated shortening (I used shortening)
1/2 cup (125 ml) unsweetened almond milk ( you can use whole milk)
2 eggs, divided
1/2 cup black raspberries
1/3 cup red currants
Demerara sugar, to sprinkle on top

Put the butter or shortening in the freezer for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the first 9 ingredients. Take the butter out of the freezer and grate it into the dry ingredients using a box grater. If you don't have a box grater, then just cut it into small pieces (no need to freeze) and work it into the flour. Coat the grated butter with the flour and spread it throughout.

Whisk 1 egg and almond milk together and add it to the flour mixture. Fold using a spatula or your hands until flour moist. It will be lumpy and chunky. Just press it together with your hands. Add the black raspberries, red currants, and fold.

Transfer the dough to your work surface and knead a few times until it comes together. Pat to a disk that is about 3/4-inch thick and cut scones using a 2-inch cookie cutter. Place the scones on a baking sheet and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with demerara sugar.

Bake at 400F (200C) for about 18 minutes or until golden. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before lifting them. Serve while warm. They can also be frozen for up to 1 month.

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A Chocolate And Tahini Tart For Mikey

I woke up Monday morning to the sad news that Jennie Perillo's husband Mikey had passed away hours before. Suddenly, just like that, he was gone. The news left me paralyzed. I didn't know Mikey personally, but I thought about Jennie, their girls, and their family. I put myself in their shoes and could feel the pain almost as mine.

And today in Mikey's memory, the blogsphere is filling up with love-filled peanut butter pies -- his favorite. In Jennie's words "make a peanut butter pie this Friday and share it with someone you love. Then hug them like there's no tomorrow because today is the only guarantee we can count on"

We will be doing that with this chocolate and tahini mousse tart. No peanut butter in our pantry, but it doesn't matter, as it's all about love and what we are and what we have now -- Right now.



Our love goes to you and your family Jennie. You know Mikey is smiling.

Gluten-Free Chocolate and Tahini Tart

Makes a 7-inch tart

Chocolate Pastry

1 cup (140 g) superfine brown rice flour
2 Tbs (20 g) potato starch
2 Tbs (15 g) tapioca starch
2 Tbs (10 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbs (115 g) unsalted butter, cold and diced
1/2 cup (125 ml) ice cold water

Place the first five ingredients in the food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 times until the butter is cut into pea-size pieces. Add the ice water while pulsing. You might not need all of it so reserve a couple of tablespoons. The dough will not form a ball, but should stick together when pressed but not be too wet.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it a bit with your hand. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4 to 1/8-inch thickness and fill the tart mold with it. If the dough cracks, don't worry, just pinch it back together. It might happen if it's too cold. Return the tart mold to the refrigerator for another 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Cover the pastry with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 20 minutes, remove parchment and beans, and finish baking for another 8 minutes. Let the tart cool.


Chocolate and Tahini Mousse

10 ounces (300 g) bittersweet chocolate, I used 64%
1 Tbs tahini
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) heavy cream

In a heatproof bowl, melt the chocolate and tahini together over a water bath. Let it cool to room temperature.

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Add the cooled chocolate into the cream and fold together until smooth. Work quickly and make sure not to over fold it over the mousse will break. Transfer the mousse to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip and fill the tart mold, or simple spoon the mousse into the mold.

Chill the tart for 30 minutes and serve.

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There Is Always Chocolate In The Summer

Summer is usually all about fruit for me. Peaches, apricots, cherries, melon, and a array of sweet and tart berries. I turn them into tarts, muffins, sorbets and ice cream... Sometimes even into savory dishes. But one can only stay away from chocolate for so long. I try, believe me -- with no result.



I spent a lot of time at home last week working on the finishing touches of the manuscript. "What is new?" you might be wondering. So does everyone else in my life.

"Maybe you should get some fresh air?" my mom tells me everyday over the phone. "Go for a walk and get some fresh air" I'm counting down the days when I get to do that with her.

One more week and I will be back home.



I have been revisiting some of the recipes in the book. Baking them over and over again and seeing that they work every time gives me a sense of peace. I can get very obsessive about details and when I think of a recipe that was tested a while ago, I tend to think "What if it doesn't work!". I panic. Then I jump into the kitchen.

Last week there were many chocolate recipes. I craved them. The intensity and richness.



I made my favorite dark chocolate and hazelnut cake. Very moist... almost the texture of a brownie. It works every time.

I also made chocolate pots de creme with raspberries and currants. You can find a similar recipe here. And with leftover chocolate tart dough, I made a chocolate, black and red raspberry, and currant galette.

I certainly got my fix.



In a few more days, I will be done. My manuscript will be in the hands of my editor and there will be a big sigh of relief (mine, of course). Then we will be off to the Basque Country for some quiet family time, food, and another Robin Food show.

But for now. I must return to my book.... with a slice of chocolate cake right next to me.

continue for recipes...

A Summer Lunch For Two

When I was a little girl, I loved day trips. Sometimes it was the beach, other times the countryside. I loved packing lunches and even then, I expected to have multiple courses and snacks to munch on throughout the day. In retrospect, I think food was actually the thing I looked forward to the most, more so than the destination itself.



A few days ago, as I was completely submerged in writing, I looked up at my computer screen. "It is 4 o'clock and I have not left the house all day!" I thought. Seems to happen often these days.

Kids arrived home shortly after. They craved my attention, but my mind was elsewhere. It is hard to come out of your head when you have been in it for so many hours, isn't it? I asked the babysitter to stay a bit longer and I decided to go for a run to clear my head.

I thought of those day trips and the outdoor lunches in the summer heat. Sometimes even on the side of the road, close to a stream, or under an oak tree. I remembered my dad cutting melon slices for all of us while my mom finished her lunch. An array of small plates and nibbles always followed by a tart or shortbread we took from our family's pastry shop.



The following day, I woke up knowing I still had lots of work to do, but thought it would be fun to prepare a quick meal Miren and I could eat outside. Partly for her, but mostly for me. Just to get a break and some fresh air.

We had ripe heirloom tomatoes that I blended into a gazpacho with cucumber, scallions, fresh herbs, and a drizzle of avocado oil. Toasted gluten-free bread, rubbed juicy tomato all over it, and topped it with shaved Idiazabal. Miren's favorite.

We also enjoyed a simple salad with greens, berries, and pan seared salmon. And for dessert, plum and currant crumble.

"One for you, one for me."





Chilled Heirloom Tomato Soup

Serves 2

3 medium heirloom tomatoes, stem removed and diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
3 scallions, diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
small bunch of oregano
2 sprigs thyme
salt pepper
avocado oil, to garnish
2 slices toasted bread
Idiazabal or Manchego cheese, shaved

Puree all ingredients in the blender and chill for 1 hour.

Serve with toasted bread rubbed with tomato and shaved Manchego cheese.

Salmon and Berry Salad

Serves 2

8 ounces wild-caught salmon (mine was Coho)
2 cup mixed greens (frisee, baby romaine, watercress, arugula, parsley...)
1/4 cup yellow raspberries
1/4 cup blackberries
1/4 cup red currants
1 scallion, sliced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for salmon
salt and pepper

In a small saute pan, cook the salmon for 2 minutes (depending on the thickness) with 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Flip over and finish cooking for another 2 minutes. Set aside.

In a bowl, toss together the greens and all the berries.

In a small bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Drizzle the vinaigrette over salad. Season with salt. Toss to combine and top with seared salmon pieces.

Red Plum, Currant, and Almond Crumble

Serves 4

1/2 cup (70 grams) superfine brown rice flour
3/4 cup (70 grams) almond meal
1/3 cup (70 grams) natural cane sugar
5 Tbs (70 grams) cold unsalted butter, diced
6 red plums, pit removed and sliced
1/4 cup red currants
1/4 cup white currants
1 Tbs natural cane sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400F (220C).

In the food processor, combine the first four ingredients and pulse until it forms a crumbly sand. Transfer to a bowl and chill until ready to use.

Toss the rest of ingredients in a bowl. Divide amongst 4 (8-ounce) bowls. Top with crumble.

Bake for 30 minutes until filling bubbling and crumble is golden.

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