starters (les entrées)

Harira (hearty beef and lentil soup)

September 17th, 2014

chef morgan a table

Harira
(hearty beef and lentil soup)

This soup is a tradition in the Maghreb (North Africa). It was Ramadan when we were in Marrakech, a time when this soup is eaten not only to break the fast after the sun has set but also eaten in the morning before the sun rises. My daughters love lentils and this soup was their favorite. The soup is often thickened with flour or eggs as well as rice or vermicelli. I add none of these. Instead, the soup is thickened with the aide of crushed tomatoes (rather than puréed or strained), more beef, and more lentils. I also add fresh herbs (but we all know how I like my fresh herbs). This is a hearty, perfect soup for autumn and winter. It is wonderful because you can also freeze it for those rainy days when you are short on time.


Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

tuna and roasted beet tartare with lentils

August 29th, 2014

chef morgan a table

obsessions can be wonderful 

“I don’t just like food…I love it”

– Ratatouille 

Sometimes I become obsessed with certain combinations and particular ingredients. When the inspiration comes, I go with it. Sometimes the things you create become favorites that last long beyond the obsession. I think this week’s recipetuna and roasted beet tartare with lentils, is one of those recipes. Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

Salade Niçoise (à ma façon)

May 18th, 2014

nicoise 3
a dream kitchen, a village in Provence, and a favorite salad  

Salade Niçoise (à ma façon)
(salad Niçoise my may)

There was a photograph of a kitchen on Instagram which gathered several “likes” and one person commented, “my dream kitchen.” It made me think. What is my “dream” kitchen?” Do I have one? What would be in it?  The topic is hardly unique. Elizabeth David wrote an article about the same thing but I believe the discussion was prompted by magazine competitions, not an Instagram photo. Times are different but the question is still fun.

Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

green vegetable and lentil soup

January 13th, 2014

chef morgan

New Year, Detox You

green vegetable and lentil soup

This week’s green vegetable and lentil soup, with only 254 healthy calories, is the perfect way to undo the indulgences of the holidays and start 2014 off right. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

carrot soufflé

November 7th, 2013

chef morgan

making carrots count and thank you chef Trotter

recipe: carrot soufflé

This week we bring to the table another side for Thanksgiving: carrot soufflé. I wrote this recipe long ago and have used it for various occasions and events. While it was inspired by a visit to Paris in my twenties, I dedicate it to chef Charlie Trotter who left us this week. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

Belgium endive chopped salad with blue cheese honey dressing

October 28th, 2013

chef morgan chopped salad

“white gold” with autumn accessories  

Belgium endive chopped salad with blue cheese honey dressing

Quoi de Neuf  (What’s happening) this week other than Halloween?

Well, the word on the streets of Paris and Los Angeles are entertaining as they are different. In Paris, the taxi cab drivers are allegedly trying to run Uber out of the City of Light. In turn, there is a petition being circulated to keep Uber in the city. It is all so very French.  Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

quinoa risotto with mushrooms

October 18th, 2013

chef morgan

close to nature: a two-starred Michelin restaurant; a Parisien canary; and a “super food”
quinoa risotto with mushrooms

At summer’s end, when we return from France, there seems to be some sort of an animal dilemma in our Los Angeles de facto farm. Last year it was the mean chicken scenario in the coup and the surprise male rabbit situation which necessitated an immediate trip to the veterinarian for Mister Snowy. 

This summer it was the finch.

Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

panzanella

September 13th, 2013

chef morgan mail

this is farm to table: preparing food in the middle of a farm

panzanella

This week I did something I have never done: I gave a cooking demonstration in the middle of a farm field. McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo, California was the farm.

chef morgan mcgrath family farm

Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

Paris day trip: Versailles and le potage du roi

July 19th, 2013

chef morgan

 

Paris Day Trip: Versailles et Le Potage du Roi

white peach and haricots verts salad with fresh chives  

My quest to see a kitchen garden built for a king and my daughters’ desire to see where Marie Antoinette lived led us to Versailles. We came home with white peaches and our day trip inspired this week’s post and the recipe: white peach and haricots verts salad with fresh chives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
 

summer vegetable tart à la Provençal

July 12th, 2013

 chef morgan 1

a good summer’s day
summer vegetable tart à la Provençal

Some days everything just seems to go right. The weather is perfect. I did not step in a gift from a neighbor’s dog nor did I walk a piece of furniture down the rue to my apartment. The children are not fighting. Beyond the domestic bliss and no more juin gloom, the little things that in France I have come to expect to test my patience actually fell into place. I felt this moment should be recorded. 

chef morgan Read the rest of this entry »

Print Friendly, PDF & Email