Yes time flies and I just realized that this is my 300th post! I completely forgot the 100th and 200th…

I knew when I ordered a new washing machine and dryer that something was going to happen and something did happen…today’s delivery has been canceled because they were in back order. So I have to keep running the dryer six cycles to have the clothes dry. I bet PG&E are thrilled and my mom to lift me up, told me “you don’t need a dryer, it ruins all the clothes”. Very few people have a dryer in Europe, so for most Europeans it’s an unnecessary item…let’s not put all Europeans in the same basket, let’s just say for my mom…but I don’t know anyone who has a dryer among my friends and family.

I was somehow disappointed and bummed, and not in the mood for cooking long and complicated meals…and since I had all the ingredients without rushing to my Greek grocery store, there was no question, I was going to make this soup. I used to make it quite often, then for whatever unexplained reason, it stopped appearing on my table…let’s go back to old recipes, sometimes you forget how great they are. This soup is filled with vegetables and is absolutely a, and 100% vegan. The tofu croutons do add this chewy/crunchy texture that blends beautifully with a spoonful of fragrant creamy soup. You can serve this with a tapenade tartine, so the leftover tapenade from yesterday came in handy. The olives complement the flavors of the soup to perfection. For the broth quantities, you will have to adjust it to your tastes, some people like their soup thicker, some people prefer it thinner, so you will have to play around with it.

Ingredients for 4

• 1 eggplant, sliced crosswise
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 zucchini, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and sliced
• 4 tomatoes, peeled and seedless
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbs oregano
• 1 tbs olive oil
• vegetable broth
• extra firm tofu
• flour
• fleur de sel
• pepper

Preparation

Grill bell pepper under broiler until the skin get charred. Peel and remove seeds. Cut in slices.

Place all the remaining vegetables in a tray, sprinkle with fleur de sel, pepper and olive oil and broil under broiler. Turn the vegetables both sides to grill them.

Mix bell peppers with the rest of the vegetables, add broth garlic, oregano and using a hand blender, mix to obtain a smooth purée.

For the tofu croutons, cut tofu in small cubes, coat them with flour, remove excess flour. Heat olive oil in a pan saute tofu at high temperature until both sides turn golden brown. Serve in bowls, add tofu croutons in the middle and drizzle with olive oil and extra oregano.

This soup can be eaten lukewarm or hot. If you like it hot, just heat it up on the stove for a few minutes before adding tofu.

After a sunny and perfect weekend, not too much breeze, not too hot, just perfect day of hanging out with a friend, I realized that when people drop by, I never have snacks to offer them. I rarely snack or buy snacks, so when you have nothing to offer people other than wine, or apéritif, they tend to get buzzed a little too fast. So having little bites would be something to think about.

As every Sunday, I speak with my mom who keeps me updated on what is going on over there. So she had guests and made mini savory olive madeleines in her fancy silicon molds. I don’t know why I never of think of making those. They are perfect for an apéritif, snack or whatever, you can even even freeze them…so I figured I would make some too, and if no guests show up, I will give them to my neighbor. Which is what happened.

They’re fun to make and they don’t have to be the regular boring ones. In France, savory madeleines are common, it’s somehow trendy, and they’re great to nibble on. Not that I particularly love to follow a trend, because sometimes they don’t make any sense, but if you taste those, a lot of sense is in there. I can assure you.

Here is for the little story….Madeleines de Commercy are born in Lorraine that’s why I am bringing this up (yes again, it’s a rainy region, but lots of stuff happened there! and Commercy is a small town – when it’s rainy, people stay inside, and lots of stuff happen in rainy regions). In 1755, King Stanislas (he was a Polish King who was a also Duke of Lorraine and ruled it for years; we have a gorgeous square called Place Stanislas with all Golden painted doors with the statue of the King in the middle) had an argument with his pastry chef, who quit “il a rendu son tablier“, he gave his apron back! Soon after, the King with his sweet tooth, got introduced to a pretty young lady whose name was Madeleine Paulmier, a servant at some marquise estate. She made those beautiful little bites for the King who became addicted to them and probably to her too, since he was known to like the ladies. She then became his personal supplier. Those little oval golden nuggets with the shape of a shell were then named after our pretty baker. Since then, Commercy has been famous for its madeleine fabrication.

Now the madeleine has evolved into a savory one and can be fun to make and to eat too. I think I will post more madeleines recipes…don’t even know why I didn’t think about it sooner. So much clutter in my mind lately, too many recipes and too little time.

For those savory madeleines, I used olive oil, the sweet ones need butter. Whenever I can substitute butter with olive oil, I do it. You can use butter too if you prefer in this recipe. My recipes are lenient, when you use the base quantities, you can flavor the rest with your ingredients.

Ingredients for 16 madeleines

• 5.30 oz (or 150 g) flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1. 35 fl oz (or 4 cl) olive oil
• 1 fl oz (or 3 cl) milk
• 1 tbs fresh oregano, chopped
• 2. 16 oz (or 60 g) gruyère cheese, grated
• 2 tbs kalamata olives, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a container, mix flour and baking powder. In another container, mix eggs and milk, then add to the flour. Gradually add olive oil and mix well to obtain a smooth but sticky dough. Add gruyère, oregano, olives, and mix well to combine all ingredients together. Add salt and pepper. I add more salt than I would to a savory dough, I like them to be on the salty side, but you might not. I always taste the dough before adjusting with salt.

Place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Butter madeleine molds, and fill each with with dough but not up to the top, only 3/4 filled. Place in a pre-heated oven at 375F for about 10-15 min, or until the madeleines have risen and became golden.

I love galettes, or pancakes, or anything that has vegetables in it and that looks like a flat crêpe. Spaghetti squash is a great vegetable to prepare yet not very popular. You can make so many different dishes and in so many different ways. Besides, its texture and aspect are very interesting. I used to serve this squash as a vegetable dish, in its shell, then I got tired of it, and figured, it can be prepared like zucchini.

Strangely enough, I have never seen it served in any restaurants…I don’t know why it’s not popular among chefs. Now I am wondering if chefs who own restaurants do come up with menus with specialties they really enjoy preparing or if the completely adapt their menus to the tastes of the local population. Probably a combination of both. Nevertheless, I think that especially in America, where people are more open to new flavors and cuisines due to its melting pot of nationalities, people can easily be “trained” to new flavors and concepts. It is more difficult in Europe, especially France and Italy where everyone is still attached to local traditions and cuisines and are two countries with ancient and reputable culinary history.

Those pancakes have little egg and little flour, so as any vegetable pancake, they tend to be a little soft in the middle, this is not a fritter so don’t expect them to have to consistency and texture of a fried dough. One spaghetti squash will be enough to make about 20 pancakes.

Ingredients for 6 pancakes

• 10.6 oz (or 300 g) spaghetti squash (1/3 of a whole squash)
• 1 egg
• 3 -4 tbs flour
• 3 tbs feta cheese
• 2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/3 tsp chili flakes
• salt and pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil

Preparation

Start cooking spaghetti squash. Cut in half lenghtwise and wrap in aluminum foil, don’t leave any hole, the foil needs to be well sealed. Cook for about 1h30 min in a 400F pre-heated oven. Check once in a while to see the squash is a little soft but not too soft. If you cook the squash too long, it will be filled of water and you won’t be able to get the spaghetti strands out of it, therefore won’t be able to make those pancakes.

When cooked, remove the seeds, and remove the spaghetti-pulp with a fork. Place in a container.

In another mixing bowl, mix egg with flour, salt and pepper, to form a thick dough, if the dough is too liquid, add flour.

Add chili flakes, oregano, salt and pepper to the squash, mix well. Add egg/flour mixture. Mix with well, and at the end add feta cheese. Mix using tip of your fingers not to break the feta, you want to keep some chunks.

Heat olive oil in a pan, and spoon one large tbs of the mixture in pan. Cook on both sides, at medium size heat. You might need to adjust heat not to burn the outside of the pancakes but still brown them and cook them inside.

Serve hot with a salad, or as a side dish.