Odeurs et saveurs

Beauté dans la simplicité (“Beauty in Simplicity”)

July 2008 - I could smell the apples from half a block away – at least, I think it was about half a block. With the meandering streets of a medieval fortified city around me, it could have been a kilometer away and I really wouldn’t know. All I did know, was I had to find Them. And serve Them for lunch.
Maybe with a little fresh cheese.
And maybe some ham? No – sausage.
Both? Yeah. Definitely. With bread.
And wine.
I loved France. The possibilities were endless.
This became part of my ritual for market day in the city of Sarlat: tea and a croissant with whomever I dragged with me 10 k into town at 830 am; ogle at the beautiful butcher boys hawking even more beautiful fresh sausage and terrines; wander through almost visible aromas of tomatoes, roasted beets, raw cheese, dry sausage, and almost-still-flopping Dordogne trout, planning elaborate meals for my 25 fouillers (excavators) at the archeological site I was cooking for. I would head home after stuffing myself full of abovementioned sausage, cheese, fresh bread, French pizza, and whatever else found its way into my stomach, go to sleep, and dream of the meals I’d make with my haul from the market. I never got tired of it, and don’t think I ever would have had I been able to stay for ever.
The meals never turned out as elaborate as I planned in my head (I can still hear the professor in charge of the dig - “You want to spend HOW MUCH of our educational grant money on cheese?!”); I definitely learned the beauty of country-style French cooking. The food is so different from the French dishes I learned in culinary school, but possibly even more beautiful in its simplicity.

Gateau du Pommes et Noix

Apples, sliced/pared 3 each
Butter,melted 2 sticks
Cinnamon and sugar mix 4 Tbsp
AP Flour 2 Cups
Sugar 1 1⁄2 Cups
Baking Powder 2 tsp
Salt 1 tsp
Eggs 2 ea (lg)
Milk 1⁄2 Cup
Honey 1 Cup
Chopped Walnuts 1⁄2 Cup

Spread apple slices on the bottom of a WELL GREASED (as this is a sticky recipe) baking pan (also works with 2 round cake pans if you want one for home and one for work or a hostess gift). Sprinkle with butter and cinnamon-sugar. Mix the other ingredients well (not honey and nuts) and spread on top of the apples. Pour the rest of the butter over the batter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. When cooked and cooled fully, gently remove from pan and flip over (the apples are now the top surface). Pour honey and nuts over the apples and toast under the broiler a little to caramelize the honey.

Servc after dinner with a good French cow’s cheese and some Vin de noix if you can find it; also makes a great sweet weekend breakfast treat for overachievers!