She collected eggs

She collected eggs:

Through Nadia’s window

“There’s another one!” Lulu told Pam with excitement while holding one egg in each hand. Her small hands were just the right size to hold the feather-covered eggs freshly collected.

“Maman, il est encore chaud !” (Mummy, it still feels warm !) she exclaimed as she turned to show me the eggs. You would have thought she’d just found a rare treasure.

She had, actually.

I loved to watch her. So happy as she stood in front of the henhouse with the chicken. So excited to visit them every morning shortly after breakfast. She’d put on her Wellington boots to follow Pam outside to feed the chicken. Together, they’d collect the new eggs.

Oh the joy of farm eggs!

I remembered how it felt. At her age, whenever I visited my grandmother’s farmhouse, I was also the one allowed to collect the eggs.

Beaming with pride.

Last week, Lulu had a week of vacation. For a while, we imagined that during her school break, we were going to take her to France to learn to ski.

The thing was though that, at the same time, we agreed that we wanted a quiet trip. One that didn’t involve airports, plane rides, puffy eyes and jetlag.

In fact, what we really wanted was to take Lulu on a road trip in the countryside. Tous les trois. I imagined that we’d set on one of these fun trips when the car is so packed that it’s hard to see through the back window.

Right away, we thought of Vermont. And then Montréal.

Because the truth is that we really love it up north.

Despite the fact that it was February and the rolling hills looked brown without pretty flowers in sight, it was just what we wanted to see. Because on the way, we were going to visit Nadia who lives at the top of a beautiful hill in Vermont. And then we’d make a stop to spend a few days with Pam and Josh, old friends of P.’s.

Vermont is undeniably rural. I love it for that.

In Vermont, there are farms at the corner of every road, cheerful-looking red barns that make me want to sing, lots of cows, farm made goat cheese, raw milk and maple syrup to be sampled, and Sissy’s Kitchen for delicious lunches.

In Vermont, there also seems to be horses and chicken at the back of every house. And fresh eggs that appear in numbers. Day after day.

I felt giddy to be in the middle of all of it for a few days.

Snapshots from Nadia’s beautiful home

I had not seen where Nadia lived before. But somehow I knew that I was going to love her space. Oh the pretty colors I saw! The girl has an obvious eye for beautiful things with tons of character.

Walking inside her countryhouse felt as if I was visiting the dreamy pictures posted on her journal-like blog, only that then it was real, and I was actually physically there, surrounded by an amazing sheet of peacefulness.

The calm found at the top of the hill won our hearts.

Nadia was humble about it, but during our stay with her, she really treated us to delicious homemade dishes cooked with love. A few times a day, the five of us gathered around the long farm table for food. We shared plates of roasted root vegetables and chicken and mussels. And while Lulu liked to sit near the large bay window to pet one of Nadia’s cats that basked in the sun, the four of us chatted away. About our lives.

Despite the cold, we took short walks outside between meals. There were horses to be fed. And eggs to be collected.

“Tu veux porter une poule ?” (Do you want to carry a chicken?) Nadia asked Lulu in French while holding a young chicken in her arms.

Lulu stared at the chicken. Her face instantly lit up. I could read a mixture of oh yes pleaaaaaaase, and oh non! in her facial expression. She stood immobile. Without waiting for Lulu’s response, Nadia delicately placed the chicken between her hands.

“Tiens-le bien par là,” (Hold it here), she told her. I was staying near them, watching.

At first, I thought that Lulu was going to drop the chicken all together and run. But instead, she remained still. Extremely quiet. Not moving a tad. A large smile was now eating up her entire face.

She was beaming.

Naturally, we ate a lot of eggs. Which made my small family extremely contended.

At Pam’s, plates of sunny face eggs served with toasted bread and butter welcomed us to breakfast. Nadia prepared omelets with vegetables that she baked in the oven. And she baked banana bread.

The quality of the eggs we ate inspired me. With the deep yellow orange color of the yolk and the thick outer shell, each egg we cracked open looked like the healthiest egg I had seen in a while.

They tasted rich.

Divine.

“Do you want to take some eggs with you?” Pam asked on Thursday morning as we were getting ready to leave for Montréal.

I turned to look at the trunk of the car packed to the roof.

“Are you sure we can?”

“Of course, we have so many of them.”

It was my turn to be beaming while holding a box filled with a dozen of beautiful looking farm fresh eggs colored with hues of blue, green and light beige.

They were the treasure I was taking home.

Nadia inspired my banana bread recipe as well as these delicious baked omelets. At first, I actually didn’t know how to call my egg dish. Baked omelet sounded right though, as it’s what they really are.

I prepared my dishes with the eggs Pam had given to us. Oh how glad I am I did.

We ate the omelets for breakfast on Sunday. We munched on the banana bread during the week, one slice for each one of us a day. To prolong its taste.

It felt like we were celebrating the delicious memory of spending time at Nadia’s and Pam and Josh’s houses.

“Je veux que Nadia, Pam et Josh viennent dans ma maison,” (I want Nadia, Pam and Josh to come to my house) she told me after school on the Monday following our return.

“Et les poules et les oeufs aussi? ” (And the chicken and eggs too?) I asked, curious to hear more.

“Oui!”

I smiled.

I understood what she meant.

PS: And before I forget, I will share the banana bread recipe soon….

Baked Omelets with asparagus recipe

For 4 people

You need:

• Butter, for the tartlet molds


• 4 large eggs


• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander


• Sea salt and pepper


• 2 tablespoons heavy cream


• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley


• 8 green asparagus, cut in a few pieces each


• 1.5 oz (40 g) young Fontina cheese, cut in small pieces


• Grated Parmesan, to taste

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F and butter four 4-inch tartlet molds; set aside.


• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the coriander. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream and parsley.


• Divide the egg batter between the molds.


• Arrange the asparagus on top with the Fontina cheese.


• Sprinkle with grated Parmesan to taste.


• Bake the omelets for 20 minutes. They will puff up and then deflate a bit. Serve for breakfast.

Le coin français

Petites omelettes au four aux asperges

Pour 4 personnes

Ingrédients :

• Beurre, pour les moules à tartelette


• 4 gros oeufs


• 1/4 càc de coriandre en poudre


• Sel de mer et poivre


• 2 càs de crème fleurette


• 2 càs de persil haché


• 8 asperges vertes, coupées en diagonale en plusieurs bouts


• 40 g de fromage de Fontina jeune, coupé en petits bouts


• Parmesan râpé, selon goût

Etapes :

• Préchauffez le four à 180 C et beurrez 4 moules à tartelette; mettez de côté.


• Dans une jatte, battez les oeufs avec la coriandre. Assaisonnez de sel et de poivre. Ajoutez la crème et le persil.


• Divisez les oeufs entre les 4 moules.


• Arrangez les bouts d’asperge sur les oeufs et ajoutez les bouts de Fontina.


• Parsemez de Parmesan râpé au goût.


• Faites cuire pendant environ 20 minutes. Les petites omelettes vont gonfler puis retomber légèrement. Servez au petit déjeuner.

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Beef and vegetable rolls (Yasai no nikumaki)

Beef and vegetable rolls (Yasai no nikumaki):

Yasai no nikumaki, or vegetables wrapped in thinly sliced meat, (niku means meat and maki means wrap or roll) is a standby item for bentos in Japan see an example here). They are easy to eat, and the cut sides are colorful and pretty. I haven’t given you a recipe for nikumaki so far though on this site because a critical element, very thinly and evenly cut slices of pork (the usual meat used) or beef, is just not easily available in the U.S. or most areas of Europe. If you live near an Asian market you have a better chance of getting a suitable cut - but I know, many readers don’t have easy access to such markets.

Here is a version that uses a cut of beef that you can get more easily, at least in the U.S. - cheesesteak beef. Philly cheesesteak beef is very thinly cut sirloin or similar quality meat, just as is used in Japanese sukiyaki, and that works great for nikumaki. Trader Joe’s sells something called shaved beef steak which works quite well, and is fairly affordable too. Here’s the pack I used to make this recipe. 1.08 pounds for $7.71 is not too bad, considering you get 6 to 8 rolls or portions out of it.

So, let’s make nikumaki!

Recipe: Yasai no Nikumaki (Vegetables wrapped in thinly sliced meat)

Makes 6 to 8 rolls

• 450g / 1 lb very thinly cut beef sirloin such as cheesesteak beef (see notes about meat alternatives)


• thinly sliced strips of vegetables - here I’ve used green, red, yellow and orange bell peppers (see notes about vegetable alternatives)


• salt and pepper


• 4 Tbs. cornstarch (approximate) or plain white flour


• 1 Tbs. cooking oil


• one of the following sauce alternatives

Sauce A: Classic Japanese

• 2 Tbs. dark soy sauce


• 1 Tbs. mirin


• 1 Tbs. sake


• 2 tsp. sugar


• 1 Tbs. water

Sauce B: Soy and pomegranate juice

This is the one I’ve used in the photos. It has a savory-sweet-tart taste.

• 2 Tbs. dark soy sauce


• 3 Tbs. 100% pomegranate juice


• 1 tsp. lemon juice


• 1/2 tsp. sugar

Sauce C: Barbeque-y

• 2 Tbs. ketchup


• 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce


• 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar


• 2 Tbs. water


• a few drops of Tabasco (optional)

Prep the vegetables by cutting them into long, even thin strips. Here I have used multicolored bell peppers. To get long strips out of peppers, try cutting of the tops and bottoms the cutting them in half lengthwise, then turning the halves 90 degrees, flattening them a bit and cutting the strips out in the horizontal direction of the peppers.

Heat up some water in a pan and toss in the vegetable strips. Blanch them until crisp-tender. For the bell peppers that just takes about 3 minutes. Drain and let cool.

If you’re using the Trader Joe’s ‘shaved beef steak’ or similar, this part is a bit tricky since the bits of beef are rather scraggly.

The key is to lay out the bits of thin beef in a fairly even layer, leaving no gaping holes, so you end up with something that looks like one piece of beef, like so. If you have more uniformly shaped slices just lay down one or two slices.

Sprinkle very lightly with salt and pepper (don’t overdo it - remember you’ll be adding a savory sauce later) then a bit of cornstarch. The cornstarch will help to hold the meat together.

Now, lay some strips of your precooked vegetable on one end.

Start rolling up the beef around the vegetables as tightly as possible, tucking in any straggly ends as you go (a bit tricky, again, with that TJ’s beef, but it can be managed).

Keep rolling tightly…it helps to pull a bit on the unwrapped end of beef with one hand as you wrap with the other.

End the wrapping with the end bits on the bottom. Now, some directions for nikumaki say you should poke the roll through with a toothpick to hold it together, but I don’t find this necessary as long as you manage to wrap the meat quite tightly, and you follow the cooking instructions that follow.

Coat the surface of the roll lightly in more cornstarch. Again, this helps to keep the roll together and also thickens the sauce a bit.

(Not pictured) Mix the sauce mix of your choice in a small bowl, and have ready to go next to your cooktop.

Heat up a frying pan with the cooking oil over medium-high heat. Put the rolls in seam side down This is important - if you start with the seam sides up the rolls will fall apart. Put the rolls in in batches if needed - you should have plenty of space around them so you can turn them easily. (I did mine in 2 batches.) Cook the rolls until the seam side is browned and sealed.

Turn the rolls and brown them on all sides. Looks yummy already!

Add the prepared sauce mix to the pan - careful, the pan may spit at you a bit. Turn the rolls around in the sauce a few times so the sauce coats them. Keep cooking until the moisture in the sauce mix has almost evaporated and the sauce is quite sticky.

Take the rolls out of the pan, and let cool.

You can use the rolls whole like this of course and they still look good.

Or, cut them to reveal the mosaic-like cut surface. My slices here are a bit shaggy (I blame this again on that TJ steak) but not too bad. Allow 1 to 2 rolls per bento.

Tip: Chop up the scraggly end bits of the rolls and hide them under your cut rolls!

Freezing

You can freeze nikumaki very successfully. Wrap each uncut roll in plastic wrap, then put the rolls in a freezer bag or container. They’ll be good in the freezer for a month. Take them out and transfer them to the refrigerator the day before you need them, and slice them through while still half-frozen. That will give you very neat cuts.

Meat alternatives for nikumaki

The meat really has to be paper thin, not escalope-thin.

As mentioned above, you can find very pre-packaged, thinly sliced pork or beef at most Asian (Korean, Japanee, Chinese) grocery stores.

If using beef, you do need to use a quick-cooking cut like sirloin or filet. Ask your butcher if he/she can slice the meat very thinly for you, or try it on your own with a half-frozen piece of meat.

Raw meat is preferred, since thinly sliced precooked meat such as ham may not stick together properly. See ham negimayaki, which is made with very thinly sliced ham. Cured, uncooked ham like proscuitto will work better, though you will have to compensate for the saltiness.

I would not recommend using chicken or turkey meat since these meats may get too dry.

Vegetable alternatives

You can wrap all kinds of vegetables in the meat. The key is to have vegetables that are sliced to the same width, or are already like that, and to make sure the vegetables are tender enough by pre-cooking or slicing very, very thinly before wrapping.

• Thin green asparagus stalks with carrot sliced to the same thickness as the asparagus. Blanch both the carrot and asparagus (start with the carrot, then add the asparagus) until crisp-tender.


• Enoki mushrooms with the root parts cut off can be used as-is.


• Green onion or negi. Slice lengthwise very thinly, and/or blanch lightly before wrapping. Green onion wrapped in beef is a pretty common item on Japanese restaurant menus - you may see it called negimaki or negima for short.

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একাত্তরের অগ্নিঝরা মার্চের ঊর্মিমুখর এদিনে বঙ্গবন্ধু বাঙালির মুক্তির মূলমন্ত্র ঘোষণা দেন

একাত্তরের অগ্নিঝরা মার্চের ঊর্মিমুখর এদিনে বঙ্গবন্ধু বাঙালির মুক্তির মূলমন্ত্র ঘোষণা দেন:

ঐতিহাসিক ৭ মার্চ আজ। বাঙালির মুক্তি সংগ্রামের ইতিহাসের অবিস্মরণীয় একটি দিন। অগ্নিঝরা মার্চের ঊর্মিমুখর এদিনে বঙ্গবন্ধু বাঙালির মুক্তির মূলমন্ত্র ঘোষণা দেন।

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