French Fare in Fifteen Flat

Actually, this dish probably takes less than that.

I’m talking Scallops Provencal. My recipe is courtesy of the Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten and her rockin’ cookbook, “Barefoot in Paris.”

It’s a simple dish, and the scallops are totally the star or the show. I serve it with basmati rice and a salad of sorts.

When The Husband and I went to Paris almost a year ago (ahhh, nostalgia), I had an amazing scallop dish at Chez Andre. That dish had tomatoes going on in it. The Barefoot’s just has lemon, wine, shallots, garlic and parsley. It is so super yummy.

And I know for many peeps, preparing seafood seems daunting, but this couldn’t be easier. If your scallops have a beard going on – a small tough muscle that peels right off – be sure to remove it when cleaning them.

Scallops Provencal
By Ina Garten
“Barefoot in Paris”
Serves 3

1 pound fresh bay or sea scallops
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, divided
½ cup chopped shallots (2 large),
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 lemon, cut in half

If you’re using bay scallops, keep them whole. If you’re using sea scallops, cut each one in half horizontally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.

In a very large sauté pan, heat 2 Tbsp. of the butter over high heat until sizzling and add the scallops in one layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on one side without moving them, then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should take 3 to 4 minutes, total. Melt the rest of the butter in the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic and parsley and sauté for 2 more minutes, tossing the seasonings with the scallops. Add the wine, cook for 1 minute and taste for seasoning. Serve hot with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Yes, You Can Go to Paris

The Eiffel Tower from the Seine.

An International Woman of Mystery, I am not. But the Jersey Girl likes to get around.

So, how do you travel to foreign lands while dealing with a food allergy?

Very carefully, my friends.

The Husband and moi had the magnifique opportunity to travel to Paris last May.

The Jersey Girl doing what she does, shoe shopping.

Le sigh.

It was beyond amazing, but eating did pose some trials and tribulations for yours truly.

But have no fear! I am here to share with you what we learned while rocking out on the Champs Elysees and other fab places all throughout the City of Lights.

The Husband eating his fav - escargots.

... and chillin' on a boat ride.

... and drinking a beer. A beer??? Where's your wine, Mark?

Here's me - eating and I'm alive.

Woo-hoo! Dang, my hair is short.

In case you’re new to my blog, the Jersey Girl has a life-threatening food allergy to all nuts, peanuts, peanut butter and nut oils. In addition, I also have rockin’ food allergies to: fruits with pits (peaches, plums, cherries, etc.), avocado and some other produce type things that I dig. Ironically, my allergies to the fruits did not happen until I hit my 20s, because seriously, I love me some Jersey peaches and watermelon, and guacamole is really delish, but yeah. I can’t eat that schtuff.

So here’s my non-scientific travel advice when heading to Paris with a food allergy, specifically to nuts and peanuts:

1. Get it in writing. Go immediately to select wisely and order allergy cards in the language you need. My foreign-language speaking skills are non-existent. Yes, I have three years of high school French, one year of high school Italian and four years of college Italian under my belt, and I still suck. Don’t judge me. Keep the cards with you at all times while traveling.

2. Have a well-stocked supply of drugs. Make sure all your meds, inhalers, pills, needles, etc. are renewed. Carry these things with you at all times while you stay on foreign land. You don’t need to tell me twice that this is totally Lindsay Lohan, but you gots to do what you gots to do. I am not a druggie, I swear.

3. Show the cards mentioned above to the server immediately.

4. Ask for menus in English. I know, I know. This has “dumb American” written all over it, but yeah. I am a dumb American, who really doesn’t want to kick the bucket while on vacay. So, just ask for the menu in anglaise, and pretend the snooty French peeps aren’t laughing at you.

5. Have a plan. The Husband and moi love to roam the streets on vacay and just randomly pick a bar or a pub or a bistro or a café to chill and hang and eat at non-touristy, off-the-beaten-path kind of places. This is amazingly fun to do – in countries where English is spoken. But, in Paris our plan to have no plan didn’t really work out. Our Day 1 dinner ended with a sad, hungry, teary-eyed and jet-lagged Susan. The Husband sprung into action and got me to a café stat with a big glass of wine and crepes and ice cream. Eternal happiness.

6. Eat at restaurants where there is an English-speaking person on staff. You can find out just by perusing the menus on the outside of the restaurants or cafes or asking the mater di.

7. Ask your hotel staff for help. We stayed at the fabulous Hotel Residence Foch. It is a very small hotel in the 16th Arrondisement. The hotel staff was made of awesome! Upon returning from our debacle of a dining experience on Day 1, the peeps at our hotel gave us great recommendations. They knew of places that were accommodating for food allergy sufferers. They also pointed us in the direction of places where employees speak English. The hotel employees were so amazing. They really helped me get my French food on.

8. Find the word “olive oil” on your menu. Point to it and tell the waiter, “bon” or good. The Husband and I believe part of our Day 1 disaster occurred because of olive oil being lost in translation. The restaurant staff believed I was allergic to olive oil. But, olive oil is all good in the hood for me. If you are allergic to olive oil, I got nothing for ya.

9. Approach street vendors and bakeries with caution. While I totally enjoyed many sandwiches and tartines from the awesome street vendors, I kept my orders very, very basic: Ham and cheese, tomato. The bakeries have SO MANY amazingly fabulous creations, but I pretty much stuck with a croissant or chocolate croissant and coffee. Tres boring, I KNOW! This goes against everything I believe in, however; being daring with the baked goods in a place where the English is very limited was not worth the risk of going into anaphylactic shock. Seriously. That would be the ultimate buzz kill.

10. Carry a French dictionary. My husband laughed at me for this one, but if there is a word on the menu that you don't know, it's great to look it up to make sure you know what you're eating. This is how I figured out the olive oil thing. See, I'm not entirely hopeless.

11. If you have a great experience at a restaurant, return. The Husband and I ate at a few restaurants and cafes more than once because the service and attention were fantastic. Not to mention the food was amazing. Knowing that the service is good and that your food allergy is not going to be a big old problem makes dining out so much more enjoyable. So, I highly recommend you do this. One restaurant we loved was:

Chez Andre, 12 rue Marbeuf, Phone: 01 47 20 59 57

The host and waitresses remembered each time we returned that I was allergic to nuts. Oo la la. That rocked!

Bon appetit and happy travels!

Paris on the Brain

I love a good night out on the town.

But, sometimes all a girl needs on a dreary Saturday is a little solo time in her crib.

Such was the case this weekend.

The Husband went out to a sports bar or some nonsense on Saturday afternoon with his boys, so The Jersey Girl held it down at home. My day included wrapping Christmas presents, chit-chatting with my sisters and watching reruns of “Sex and the City,” “The Office,” and “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

I’m such a girl.

Of course, my dream day also consisted of major cooking because Mark said adios to the beer, the wings, the camaraderie to be home in time for din. He's so sweet!

I was in a very French mood. So, my menu was Goat Cheese Tart with Winter Squash Soup.

Oooo la la. (You know, they really say that in Paris. Ooooo la la. So funny)

Both recipes are courtesy of Ina Garten a.k.a the Barefoot Contessa a.k.a one of the handful of chefs I can still tolerate on the Food Network. I served the dishes with a side of mesclun salad, dressed simply with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Anyway, the reason I was so reminiscent of the City of Lights is because I’ve recently been scouring our billions of photos from our spring vacay so that we can get prints made and frame them and hang them on our barren walls. (Actually, not all of our walls are empty. We just like to buy really good and/or meanigful art rather than plaster our happy home with generic pictures from Pottery Barn or T.J. Maxx or some other mass-produced art department.)

The Husband has many talents, one of which is taking an amazing photo – or 10,000. You see, when me and Mr. Jersey Girl get out of Dodge and go see the world, The Husband handles the photography. My photos (as you’ve seen from time to time on my blog. Hee!) are tragic. So, drinking and journal writing are usually my two tasks on vacay.

I thought I’d give you a glimmer of Mark’s gorgeous pics.

L'arc de Triomphe

The Eiffel Tower

The Husband and The Jersey Girl at Versailles.

Sacre Coeur

Monet's house in Giverny

 Monet's gardens

Monet's water lillies

Aren't those pics made of awesome!?!?!

In addition, I will share with you the Ina Garten recipes. Both appear in the “Barefoot in Paris” cookbook. I love this cookbook. I cook a lot of things from it.

You will also see pics, shot by my own Paul Child, of the food I rocked out.

The Winter Squash Soup is really dreamy. It makes a TON of soup. I’ve been eating it for like three straight days now. The Goat Cheese and Basil Tart is really awesome. My one complaint is that the recipe makes way too much filling for the tart. So, I ended up ditching the leftover filling. I guess when you’re as fabulous and loaded as Ina Garten, you don’t mind doing these things, but I will definitely be cutting down on the filling the next time I make this tart.

Please read my notes at the end of each recipe. I thought you would like some of my tips and/or variations. For instance, Ina uses a ton of salt, so I totally tone that down.

Bon appetit!

Winter Squash Soup
“Barefoot in Paris”
Ina Garten

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. good olive oil
2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 ½ lbs. butternut squash, peeled and cut in chunks
3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. kosher salt (I cut down on the salt)
1 cup half-and –half
Crème fraiche, grated Gruyere, or croutons for serving.

Heat butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the onions, and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until translucent.

Add pumpkin puree, butternut squash, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for about 20 minutes, until the butternut squash is very tender.

Process the mixture through the medium blade of a food mill.

Return to the pot, add the half-and-half, and heat slowly. If the soup needs more flavor, add another teaspoon of salt. Serve hot with garnishes, if desired.

Please note: The Jersey Girl cut the salt down to a half teaspoon and served the soup with homemade croutons. You can make homemade croutons by cutting up stale bread and tossing in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until toasted brown.


In addition, The Jersey Girl pureed the soup by using an immersion blender. Mine is the SmartStick by Cuisinart. Love it!

Goat Cheese Tart
“Barefoot in Paris”
Ina Garten

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
Kosher salt
13 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, divided
2 to 4 Tbsp. ice water
¾ cup chopped shallots (3 to 4 shallots)
10 ½ ounces garlic-and-herb soft goat cheese, such as Montrachet
1 cup heavy cream
3 extra-large eggs
¼ cup chopped basil leaves
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

For the crust, put the flour and ¼ tsp. salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut 12 Tbsp. (1 ½ sticks) of the butter into large dice, add to the bowl, and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, add the ice water all at once and process until the dough becomes crumbly. Don’t overprocess. Dump the dough out on a floured board, gather it loosely into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough on a well-floured board and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with removable sides, rolling the pin over the top to cut off the excess dough. Butter one side of a square of aluminum foil and fit it, butter side down, into the tart pan. Fill the foil with rice or beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and foil from the tart shell, prick the bottom all over with a fork and bake for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan and sauté the shallots over low heat for 5 minutes or until tender. Place the goat cheese in the bowl of the food processor and process until crumbly. Add the cream, eggs, basil, ¼ tsp. salt and pepper and process until blended.

Scatter the cooked shallots over the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the goat cheese mixture over the shallots to fill the shell (if shell has shrunk, there may be leftover filling). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.

Please note: The Jersey Girl used plain goat cheese in this tart.


There was about a cup of leftover filling.

Product Review: Harney and Sons Fine Tea

Why I love it: This delish tea by Harney and Sons is amazing. It comes in gorgeous silk bags in a variety of flavas. It truly puts other teas to shame. The Paris flavor is my fav.

The back story: I first came across Harney and Sons Tea as a gift from my mother-in-law, natch. She bought me the Le Creuset tea pot in Sonoma green from Williams-Sonoma. So, with it she included some fabulous tea that smelled intoxicating and came wrapped in silk. No joke. The flavor was Hot Cinnamon Spice. We both came across Harney and Sons Tea while out at dinner in Stone Harbor a few years ago. It was there, at Jays on Third, when Harney’s Paris flavor was bestowed upon me. It’s been love ever since. It had me at first sip. Mark/Santa filled my stocking with a tin of the Harney and Sons Paris variety in 2008. It is my absolute favorite, and I’m hoping for a repeat in 2009. Fortunately, I found the Paris flavor at the Marlton, N.J., Williams-Sonoma store this past spring a few weeks before our trip to Paris. I bought three containers. It tastes heavenly. It’s a black tea that is as mesmerizing as the city.

Pros: Tasty, cute tins, great flavors, aromatic, silk satchels.

Cons: Expensive, hard-to-find.

Where to Buy: Harney and Sons

Prices: $8 for 20 tea satchels. Harney also sells loose teas and tea in teabags, so prices vary. They often offer free shipping when your purchase is more than a certain dollar amount.