Cooking with Martine

While in Deauville, France we stayed with our family friends. While visiting our family friends their housekeeper Martine always cooked the amazing meals for us. She would make the most delicious mushroom salad, bean and feta salad, salmon pasta, pork chops and much more.

Cauliflower 

Pork chops

Pork chops and the Cauliflower 

 But one of my favorite dishes Martine made was the monkfish with leaks and bacon. Monkfish is a giant fish with white meat that looks some what like a sting ray. You only eat a small section of the fish, which is the tail section. Monkfish tastes almost like lobster but flakier. Martine started off my butchering the monkfish and portioning it out.

 Then she washed and chopped the leaks. 

After that she put the leaks in a pan with some butter and let them cook for about an hour. 

Then I think she put a little bit of white wine into the sauce and added the monkfish. She let it cook for about an hour and then it was ready.

 Usually Martine would add some bacon to the sauce but since my sister is a vegetarian she made the bacon on the side so we could add it ourselves. Personally this dish was amazing and I would definitely try to make my own version of this dish in the future.

Around Deauvillle

When I go to Deauville in Normandy, I have my favorite spots that I would like to show you! One of my favorite spots is the butcher shop, this is because of all the amazing meat they have to offer.

Outside the butcher shop

The inside of the butcher shop

They have kabobs, lamb, pork chops, and the best rotisserie chicken I have ever tasted in my life.

 The meat is super fresh and you know just by looking at it that it is quality meat. Looking inside the counter tops you can see the meat and you start thinking about all of the endless things you can make out of it. Just looking at the pork chops you think about all the endless possibilities of recipes you can use on a pork chop.

My second favorite place in Deauville is the bakery which has the best baguettes and their own special bread called pavet du marche. Pavet du marche is a whole grain bread and it is super airy and delicious! They also have small quiches and other pastries which would be an amazing dessert or meal.

Outside of the bakery with a long line (there always is one).

Inside of the bakery!

In France baguettes have to be 99 cents each because everyone in Frances need to have a baguette even if you are rich of poor. This is because of the french revolution when the people couldn't even get a loaf of bread. This is shown in les miserables when Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread. This bakery is unique because they have a chorizo baguette, a bacon and cheese baguette, and much more.

Last but not least is my favorite place in Deauville. It isn't a place where you buy food to cook it is an actual restaurant. This place is the perfect place to come on a summer morning for a coffee and a croissant. This place is called Dupont, it is a little cafe where you can eat breakfast lunch or dinner.

 I personally enjoy breakfast there, when I go I get a pain au chocolat and a coffee.

The pain au chocolate is super buttery and flaky it melts in your mouth, and the chocolate makes it that much better. Then I get a cafe creme, which is a little bit of coffee and then you add the amount of milk and sugar you want. The coffee is amazing and so are the pain au chocolat and croissant but the macarons are to die for. I didn't take a picture of one but they are filled with creamy filling and a cookie on top that adds a little crunch. Overall Dupont is amazing and so are all of the places in Deauville I just chose my top 3. I hope that these 3 places alone (and the market) makes you want to go a visit Deauville because this town is worth going to!

Deauville Market

Last week my family and I went to France on vacation. While there we went to visit some family friends in Deauville which is in Normandy. Every morning we would go to the market where they had incredible fruits and vegetables and other local cuisine.

Fruit and Vegetable Stand

Since I was lucky enough to know a Deauville local we were able to talk to the people selling the produce and I got a picture with one of the men that sold fruit and vegetables.

The fruits and vegetables were fresh and locally grown, these stands are at the market almost everyday giving you produce that is freshly picked and quality that you could never find in the supermarket. There is also a stand that sells fresh pasta like ravioli, linguini, and other types of pasta which is hard to find since most stores sell only dry pasta.

 There is a meat stand that sells ham, beef ham, saucisson, and other meat products that are delicious and have been smoking or curing for a very long time giving them an amazing flavor.

Local cheeses like pont l'eveque are sold but food isn't the only thing that is sold at the market. Scarves, hand bags, jackets, shoes, are sold and even rainbow loom is sold at the market.

Quilt stand

I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to be able to go to this market everyday and eat and cook with such fresh and amazing items that I would never be able get

in the USA.

Clams Casino

A few weeks ago my mom, my sister, and I went to Boston to meet our family friend. While there we went to amazing restaurants with great seafood. But this one restaurant near Fenway Park had some of the best clams casino I have ever had. They had so much bacon in them and were very buttery and the clams were cooked just right. So today I made my own clams casino because of the inspiration I got from this restaurant. I hope you enjoy my clams casino and comment below for any new recipe ideas or about the clams casino!

Ingredients

12 large clams

4 slices bacon

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup onion

1/4 cup white wine

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon parsley

2 garlic cloves

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon black pepper 

Pre heat the oven to broil, and clean the clams and line them up on a baking sheet.

Put the clams in the oven for about 3-4 minutes or until the clams open. 

Cook the chopped bacon in a frying pan until the bacon is crisp. 

In the bacon fat cook the chopped onions and garlic until the onions are translucent. 

Then put the bacon, onions, and garlic into a bowl and add the breadcrumbs, white wine, and olive oil and combine. To the mixture add the red pepper flakes, parsley, paprika, salt, and black pepper to the mixture and mix together. 

Rip the top shell of the clams off and stuff them with the stuffing and put into a baking dish.

Cook the clams for about 10 minutes our until golden brown then plate with a slice of lemon and enjoy!

Grilled Vegetable Stack

When I go to an italian restaurant I love to order chicken or eggplant parmesan. This is because I love the breaded chicken or eggplant with the gooey cheese and the marinara sauce. But today I made a healthier version of this with grilled vegetable stack with marinara and cheese. I hope you enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients
1 eggplant
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 mozzarella ball
1/4 cup olive oil
favorite marinara sauce (desired amount)
ricotta (desired amount)

The ingredients used in this recipe

First pre heat the oven to 350 degrees and turn on the grill. Cut the eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash into thin rounds.

cut up vegetables

Then brush the vegetables with the olive oil and put onto the grill.

vegetables on the grill

Before you flip them over coat them with the remainder of the olive oil so it doesn't stick to the grill. Then take the vegetables off the grill and let cook for 5 minutes.

grilled vegetables

Then cut the mozzarella and start assembling the stack. First put a little bit of marinara sauce on the bottom, then put some vegetables on to of the sauce. Then but on the ricotta and the mozzarella, and cover with sauce. Then put vegetables on top and cover with marinara and sprinkle with the rest of the mozzarella.

Before the oven

Then put into the oven for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Finished product

Take out of the oven and enjoy!