Middle Eastern chicken salad

I have no idea if this is actually Middle Eastern, but with the yogurt, mint, cumin and parsley... sure tasted like it to me!

2-3 cups rotisserie chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pot plain yogurt
1 small tart apple, chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 small handful chopped mint
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Let marinate 2-3 hours before serving.

You can serve it with crackers, as sandwich wraps in tortillas, in pita bread pockets, etc....

Food resource for Americans in France... or Europe

I recently found out that many visitors this site are (not surprisingly, I guess) American expats in Europe. Cool. Me too :)

The recipes on this blog are largely made with ingredients available in France and, when necessary, substitutions for American ingredients. If that sounds like your kitchen, you may also be interested in this blog.

I started writing Lyon Eats in 2007, specifically for Americans in Lyon. But some of the posts could be helpful to expats outside our little corner of France as well.

First: The List. An A to Z listing of ingredients used in American kitchens and where to find them - or their substitutes - here. Grits, country sausage, graham crackers... all on the list.



If you live in a French-speaking country or will be visiting one, these posts may be of interest:

Ordering Starbucks in French

Translating the spice rack

Translating the veggie drawer

Translating the fruit basket

And if by any chance you live in Senegal, West Africa... my newest blog is Dakar Eats. We're moving back to Senegal, so you can expect recipes with an African flair coming soon!

Garlicky sardine and tomato pasta

This recipe is for fish-lovers, like myelf. It is not for people who only like 'fish that doesn't taste like fish'. The sardines, tomato and lemon are beautiful together. And did I mention the sauce is ready in the time it takes pasta to cook?

1 small can sardines in olive oil
5-10 Tbsp tomato paste
4-5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp hot sauce (opt)
green olives (opt)
lemon slices
hot pasta

In a small frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp of the sardine oil over medium heat. Cook the garlic for two minutes, turning down the heat if it starts to brown. Add5 tbsps of tomato paste and turn heat up to med-high. Dilute with 1/4 cup water. Add the sardines and stir gently. Once heated through, taste and add more tomato paste/water if desired. Add hot sauce and/or olives if you want. The squeeze of lemon just before serving is not optional. It's delicious.

Serve over hot pasta.

Baked French toast with PB&B

What could be better than French toast? French toast with peanut butter and banana!

1 loaf going-stale-French-bread
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
ripe bananas
peanut butter (I like natural)
maple syrup

Slice half the bread into rounds. Tear the other half into bite-sized pieces. Place in glass or other heavy baking dish. Bread should almost fill it, but not overflow.

Beat eggs, then add milk, cinnamon and and sugar. Pour over the bread and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Stir every few hours, then let sit overnight.

In the morning, bake at 350° for 35 to 45 minutes or until browned on top and feels spongy (not gooey or crispy) to touch in the center. Serve immediately (as if you could wait!) with sliced bananas and peanut butter. Honey, jam or maple syrup optional.

Roasted vegetables... with radishes

We eat roasted vegetables often, so when I saw this article on roasted radishes, I couldn't resist tossing them in. The end result: the flavor (like cauliflower, I thought) was a nice contrast and I liked it, but not so much that I'd roast the radishes on their own.

4 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 small onions, peeled
4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
8-10 radishes, washed and tips trimmed
8-10 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
lemon slices

Pour the oil into a large ceramic or glass baking dish, then place in oven and heat to 425°.

Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and carrots, cooking 10 minutes once boiling again. Remove carrots and potatoes, then boil the onions and radishes for 5 minutes. Remove onions and radishes.



Carefully remove baking dish from oven. Add potatoes, carrots, onions, radishes and garlic. Stir once or twice to mix vegetables and coat with oil. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until just beginning to soften and brown. Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze lemon juice over top just before serving. (Lemon juice over roasted potatoes - yum.)

Fluffly lemon cake with lemonier glaze

This cake was a total accident (keep reading) that turned out amazing. It is so light and fluffy, yet moist. Just the right amount of lemon in the cake, and then the glaze packs a stronger punch so they compliment each other.

Okay, so about the accident... I started off making lemon cookies (this recipe) but substituted yogurt for the ricotta. By the end it looked more like cake batter, so I went with it. Good call, Kari. Good call.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
3 pots (125g each) of plain, full-fat yogurt
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Glaze
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Cream together butter, eggs, and sugar. Add zest and lemon juice, and yogurt and blend well. Add remaining ingredients and beat until well combined. Pour into a 9x13 non-stick baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven at 350° until light yellow and golden on the edges. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Do not over bake. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan. Drizzle with glaze just before serving.

Fish with tomato, olive and Tuscan lemon sauce

To be completely honest, the lemons don't have to be from Italy. But my friend just came back from a lemon grove in Tuscany and it sounded so much cooler as a title!

2 firm white fish fillets
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 16oz can crushed tomatoes
Pinch of oregano
about 12-15 green olives, cut in half
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice
Hot pasta or rice

Heat one tablespoon of oil in a skillet over med-high and brown one side of fish. Don't cook all the way through - just until over half is white. (You will finish steaming it in the sauce.) Set aside.

Add another tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add onions and garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until translucent. In the same pan add chopped tomato with liquid. Add green olives, oregano, a little salt and pepper. Scrape bottom of pan to get flavorful brown bits mixed into sauce. Place fish fillets on top of sauce, browned side up. Cook over low/medium heat about 10 minutes, or until liquid is reduced by half. Squeeze lemon over top and serve with pasta or rice.

Glazed monkey bread

I made double batch of doughnuts last week and saved half of the dough - punched it down, then double-wrapped in plastic wrap, then froze it. I pulled out the dough on Friday morning and let it thaw in the fridge all day. Made up the bread that night, baked on Saturday for breakfast.

1 batch doughnut dough
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter, melted

glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp milk

Cut the dough into small pieces about the size of walnuts. Combine the butter, sugar and cinnamon. Roll each piece of dough in the mixture - don't worry if it's not even. Pile them all in a greased loaf pan.

Bake ina preheated oven at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until browned. While it bakes, combine the powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle over the bread, then serve hot.