Bubbles and my books
I miss Bones when he travels but at least he does bring back good presents. No fancy jewelry (for me at least, Audrey’s another story). My gifts are usually (happily) food-related. Hot sauces, jellies, jams, honeys, spices, salts…and my favorite – cookbooks. Many years ago he took a solo trip to the London Boat Show; I wanted to go too but he claimed he’d be too busy. He spent the trip having oysters and Guinness for breakfast, catching up with old school mates and having a grand old time. I think there was some business in there somewhere.
At least the presents were good. Among my food gifts were Normandy Gastronomique by Jane Sigal, which started us both on a longtime love affair with Calvados. That same trip also brought me The Frenchwoman’s Kitchen by Brigitte Tilleray, providing an education on the food of the French countryside. Both books are now out of print but are available on Amazon in the UK and the US.
The Frenchwoman’s Kitchen is the kind of cookbook I just love. Heavy on story, it’s filled with evocative photographs of French kitchens, the French countryside and the raw ingredients that go into the food. Leafing through the book is like peeking through the kitchen window of a French country farmhouse. It makes me want to pack a bag and catch the next flight headed for France.
The book does assume a certain amount of confidence in the kitchen but there are plenty of dishes that could easily be handled by the novice cook. The recipes are reassuringly traditional with no mention of substitutions for ingredients not available, special diets or calorie counters. This is how we do it in France. The edition I have is from the UK and the measurements are a mix of imperial and metric so some quantity conversion is necessary if you’re used to US measurements. But I’m not really big on measuring so that’s not much of an issue for me.
One of our staples from The Frenchwoman’s Kitchen is this recipe for watercress soup. Most versions of watercress soup I’ve seen are enriched with cream and pureed, perfect for invalids and infants. We prefer a bit of body to our soup, with just a dollop of tangy crème fraiche or plain yogurt to heighten the peppery bite of the watercress. We make a weeknight supper of a bowl of this soup accompanied by some good country bread. Follow with a salad, then some good stinky cheese and cured ham or pâté, and fresh fruit to finish. And wine, always wine. If we can’t be in France at least we can eat like we’re there.
Bones has made different versions of this soup over the years, cleverly adding diced carrots or substituting a light chicken stock for the water. But he’s decided you really can’t improve on the simple perfection of this classic country soup. And I agree.
Watercress Soup
A word about the water: We’re on cistern water supplemented with desalinated “town” water. Its taste would interfere with the flavor of the soup here so Bones uses bottled water for this soup. If the water from your tap is clear and clean with no aftertaste, then by all means use tap water.
2 bunches of watercress (about 12 ounces)
2 large baking potatoes
2-3 medium onions
4 tablespoons butter
2 pints water
1 teaspoon salt
Crème fraiche or plain yogurt to garnish
Wash the watercress and chop the leaves and stems fairly finely. Peel and dice the onions. Peel and dice the potatoes (Bones slices the potatoes about 1/8″ thick on a mandoline and then dices them for a nice thin dice. A hand dice works fine too.) Put the diced potatoes into the water you’re going to use for the soup. This keeps them from turning brown and they release their starch into the water, which will provide a little thickener for the soup.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onions. Cook until the onions have softened and are translucent but don’t let them brown. Add the watercress and stir into the onions. Then add the potatoes, the water they were soaking in, and the salt. Cover the pan and simmer on low heat until the potatoes are softened, about 15-20 minutes. That’s all there is to it. Garnish each portion with a spoonful of crème fraiche or plain yogurt. This makes a nice lunch for 4 or will serve 6 as a starter.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
that cat is so beautiful
He’s my baby!
The soup is also beautiful. It sounds wonderful, Abigail………
Thanks Tinky!
I have just recently found your blog. Enjoy it very much. Going through some older posts, I found ‘The Frenchwoman’s Kitchen’. I buy all of my used books from Alibris Website. Just ordered 1 for $7.34 including shipping. You might want to check it out. Cordially Charles
Thank you Charles! Enjoy the book, it’s a great one.. I’ll have to check out Alibris. I’ve heard of them but never ordered. Sounds like it’s a good resource. Thanks.