By the time this post appears, we should be on our way to the Loire Valley. Me, husband, V, GG, Mimi & Rufus. The laptop gets a much deserved rest too. I will try to cope with the internet-withdrawal symptoms by drinking their famous wines.
Bonnes Vacances!
There is just something about the hot and heavy weather that makes one not very hungry, yet when the stomach finally growls there is not much time to make anything too elaborate. Nor would anyone really want to anyway, it's too hot!
A few weeks ago, the Minimalist Mark Bittman of the NYTimes shared his 101 recipes for quick summer meals which I noticed stayed in the "Most Popular" list of articles for a rather long time. And... here's mine. Only I am not so clever and can only come up with 11. But it's what we ate and have been eating, not just ideas and suggestions.
Let's go. In order of difficulty and time required:
1. Fruits. These Mirabelle plums are so cute and made for all-day snacking. Apricots, peaches, prunes, dates, all good too. We put a dish of fruits in the middle of the dining table and sometimes we manage to finish it all! If not, it's a good excuse to put it into a buttered dish, sprinkle some juice or liqueur plus a bit of sugar and cover with crumble for dessert- of course this would up the time requirement considerably.

2. Cherries are below the plums in ranking only because one has to yank out the stems in addition to spitting out the seeds. They are one of my favourite fruits and I have been known to down great big bunches of it for dinner. We are also seriously considering whether we need a cherry pitter. I do think that cherries are so much nicer than all the pretty vibrant red berries which call out to me at the market but which I know is too too tart for my palate.
3. Melons. These sweet crunchy Spanish melons are so cheap now, only 2.50 euros. In Singapore I used to fork out $15 ( ~ 7 euros). I know, it is a bit more effort to cut up and de-seed, but they are versatile. Add a couple slices of salty ham and voila, appetisers.
4. My very guilty secret. Eaten cold, it is as quick to assemble as the fruits, but I like to zap them in the microwave for one minute so that the briny juices seep out and mingle with the mustard to make a sauce.
5. Sandwiches. Cold meats are nice. A ripe brie from a stall in Bastille market that specialises in this particular cheese, thanks to a tip from my good friend Sui Mai, makes it even nicer.
6. Fried rice. Excellent if you have leftover rice. Add eggs, onions and vegetables. We opened our stash of bak-kwa and pork floss in the spirit of quick, tasty and just that bit trashy cooking. The soupy thing in the background was actually meant for the dogs, but I thought it was chicken stock because of the aroma and only realised my mistake when I noticed the rice grains and vegetables floating inside. I'm sure Mimi didn't mind sharing.
If it's too hot to fire up the stove, we make rice salad. I like to pour the vinaigrette-type dressing on the hot rice to let the flavours seep in, and then toss the warm rice with the other ingredients (smoked fish is my favourite, leftover fried chicken is fine too, apples are a must, maybe some finely chopped onions too) but not too thoroughly so that there is some clumped up tasty rice to ruminate on. Does not sound appetising I know, but trust me, everyone will enjoy it even if they may initially feel dubious, like my second sister and GG. And husband. Even Vera. Everyone.
7. Bak-kwa comes in piggy shapes. Good for making sandwiches too. Takes 10 seconds to rip the packaging open. This is also the time to eat hams, jellied meats, terrines and pates. Support the bouchers and charcuteriers who keep their store open while everyone else (Pierre Herme, Mariage Freres, Marche des Enfants Rouges, etc etc) deserts the city.
Ditto too for ice creams. And especially for pastries and bread, we should salute these heroes who work with ovens when it is 35 degrees outside.
8. From here on we have to make a bit more effort. Like minced duck keema, using the rempah that my sisters smuggled over from KL. Duck shoulder joints are incredibly cheap in Paris, as cheap as turkey legs, so we always have some in the freezer. It is also quite fatty, and that is good in making curries, meatballs and say, cottage pies, because the fat makes the dish moister and tastier. The dogs love duck. The great thing about curries is that it can feed many people, over quite a few meals and of course, it can be frozen. (If feeling foolhardy, one can attempt to make chapattis to go with the keema. Just make sure to have rice on standby in case the chappatis fail to puff up, like what happened to us.)
9. I don't know about other people, but my salads always taste too healthy and vegetal to me, probably because we are not that liberal with the use of oils and dressings. Instead of salads, when we see the long Romaine lettuces in the market, known as "yau mak" back home, GG and I would immediately think of stir-frying them with fu-yu (fermented bean curd cubes). A quick toss in the wok in the garlicky, salty sauce tempered with a hint of sugar, and we have a plate of healthful tasty greens to go with rice.
10. My friend w made some zucchini fritters the other day and the pictures of it on her flickr site made me salivate. So we rustled up some for ourselves, or rather I googled the recipe and GG fried. We served it Singapore style with chilli sauce, light yet satisfying.
11. When it gets hot, we drink hot soup. It sounds counterintuitive, but makes plenty of sense. Sweating cools the body, and drinking soups is a most pleasurable way of ensuring adequate fluid intake. Instead of the soups that may accompany the other dishes, it is easier to make the soup the main focus. A big pot of soup chockful with vegetables and a bit of meat to go with rice. Soups do not take up too much preparations and time if one considers that they can be left on the stove while we spy on the neighbours or sneak a nap. Like sinigang, which is top of the list in our weekly menu. Or bah kut teh, which goes really well with kway chap sheets (flat rice noodles) easily found in Tang Freres. Tom yam, made with ready made paste but augmented with lemon grass fresh chillies. Kimchi soup with pork, and okay, Spam if you really have to. Miso soup with tofu and cubes of chicken. Etc etc...
Finally, let's not forget too that today is Singapore's National Day. We will certainly toast Majulah Singapura and think of our friends in Singapore when we make the rounds of the chateaux and vineyards. Cheers!
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