Picnic like the French with a perfectly ripe Camembert, some garlicky sausage and a fresh, crusty baguette – eh voila! No need to go outside for a picnic, if the weather is inclement; enjoy a picnic in your kitchen at the kitchen table, or use the cheese platter as a centrepiece for parties, fêtes, cocktails or social gatherings! Lay a tartan rug on the table and use wicker baskets or a hamper if you wish………..be as “rustique” or as “chic” as you want to be! Great for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year, as well as for a summer picnics of course!
This salad is so attractive sitting by each place. You can vary the filling to suit your taste – make it hotter, add a dressing, salt & pepper it etc.
My mother used to make endive salad (witlof salade) in different ways; I thought I share them with you. She used to use mayonnaise but I usually use the sour cream. I would think you can use your own favorite dressing on this but I would suggest you make it a creamy one. Use as much dressing on this as you like, the 3 tablespoons are just a guide line. I sometimes cheat and buy the beets in a jar! The amount of this salad depends on the size of the endive and the beets.
Who knew salad ingredients would taste so good grilled? A simple and elegant accompaniment to any dish. This can be prepared on the outdoor grill or easily made up on a stove top grill pan.
A classic French way of serving radishes, simple and yet so good; crunchy radishes are simply served with fresh butter and sea salt. I like to serve mine with Fleur de Sel, which is the caviar of French sea salts. You will be offered this in most French homes as an aperitif snack or as an appetiser before a meal. All that is needed is some traditional French bread to accompany it for a light lunch or supper dish. Table salt is fine if you cannot source Fleur de Sel or a good sea salt. (Information on Fleur de Sel: Many consider fleur de sel, which means “flower of salt” in French, the finest type of sea salt available. Its price reflects its high quality, as it costs about 10 times more than your average sea salt and 100 times more than table salt. The delicacy with which it is hand-harvested accounts for much of the expense. Fleur de sel floats on the surface of shallow salt water marshes and is scraped off with a special rake called a lousse à de fleur. The raking must be done carefully by hand to prevent mixing the fleur de sel with the coarse gray salt beneath it. France harvests most of the world’s fleur de sel, with the town of Guérande possibly being the most famous producer. Fleur de sel has a higher mineral content than table salt, a natural greyish hue, a moist texture and a violet-like fragrance. Sprinkle it on food before serving to enliven flavours.)
