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.
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.)
A Symphony or rather a selection of fresh cream chocolate truffles, this is my basic recipe with a few indulgent added extras…….such as toasted almonds, stem ginger with brandy or rum! These decadent rich truffles are perfect to finish of a dinner party with, especially if you serve them on a Truffle Tree – Recipe #270171 Do try to use very high quality minimum 70% solids chocolate, it really does make such a difference to the taste. They also freeze very well – which means you can make them in advance and at leisure; they only take about 1 hour to defrost at room temperature.
The literal translation of quatre épices is four spices; however, quatre épices rarely contains JUST four spices, but can have anything up to five or six spices in the mixture! This is my own version of quatre épices, a spice mixture that I find invaluable in the French kitchen, especially for charcuterie such as terrines, pates, sausages and rillettes. This spice mix is also that quintessential ingredient when added to deep, dark slow cooked beef and game dishes, especially when they contain wine. There is a school of thought that suggests the need for a “sweet” quatre épices spice mix as well a “savoury” quatre épices spice mix; I have never bothered to deviate from this basic recipe, which is equally delicious in savoury dishes (as mentioned above), and when used with moderation in sweet puddings, rich cakes and biscuits. My recipe contains five spices and will keep for a several weeks in an airtight tin or jar. This spice mix also makes a thoughtful gift for a foodie friend or host and hostess!
This is a very colorful, simple yet tasty salad which would be perfect served with a holiday meal or anytime you have a craving for cranberries! I discovered this recipe in Bon Appetit, 1999.
