海角大神

France, it has long been known, has the power to ignite a passion for food.

Julia Child overcame prejudice and disdain for Americans to earn her culinary badge from Paris Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in the 1950s. Her memoir, 鈥�,鈥� details her love affair with the country and its culinary masterpieces. Food writer Amanda Hesser wooed a grumpy peasant caretaker in a聽walled kitchen garden at Chateau du Fey in Burgundy, France,聽and wrote about it in 鈥�.鈥� And even food blogger-turned author Molly Wizenburg of聽聽fame聽traces her food writing epiphany to the streets of France in 鈥�.鈥�

There are countless other Americans who traveled to France and suddenly found a new direction in life centered on food. So revered is French cuisine that its principles are a bedrock in Western culinary schools. In November 2010, French gastronomy was added to UNESCO鈥檚 鈥溾�� world list.

And then there is Ellise Pierce, the Cowgirl Chef, who followed a Frenchman to Paris only to get homesick for Texas. There, in聽the聽romantic culinary capital of the world, the former journalist found herself yearning for cornbread, hot chilis, and even 鈥撀�gasp聽鈥� Milky Way candybars.

Unlike Child who started聽, an聽informal cooking school that taught American expats how to cook French dishes, Ms. Pierce created聽聽and started teaching other homesick expats how to cook Tex-Mex.

鈥淚 taught them the differences between jalape帽os and haba帽eros, and explained the importance of corn in Mexican cuisine,鈥� writes Pierce in her cookbook,聽Cowgirl Chef: Texas cooking with a French accent,聽(Running Press, 2012, 333 pp.). 鈥淲e rolled out flour tortillas, pressed corn tortillas, and made enchiladas. We made guacamole and salsa, too.鈥�

The success and friendship from those classes opened her heart and then her eyes to the possibilities found in neighborhood markets and restaurants. Soon she began to meld Southwest and French traditions into one 鈥� the raucous and large-portioned with the petite and refined. Think: cornbread madeleines and buckwheat crepes.

Pierce has plenty of traditional French recipes, too, but she always manages to stir in just a little bit of home. Her efforts come at an interesting time in Paris, when Parisians are delicately embracing聽,聽and even聽.

Somehow a Texas girl in cowboy boots, plaid shirt, and a carefully draped silk scarf cooking up a storm in a tiny French apartment works. If anything, you鈥檒l feel like a good gal-pal has told you to pull up a chair and eat. You鈥檒l be glad you did.

I decided to try Pierce鈥檚 recipe for Salmon and Lentils. She says they are good anytime, even though in France, lentils 鈥渁re mostly a winter thing.鈥� I loved this dish with its hearty lentils, creamy goat cheese, topped with poached salmon, roasted pine nuts, and cherry tomatoes. If you鈥檝e prepared your lentils ahead of time, it鈥檚 the perfect quick, one-dish meal.

Can I say it? Bon app茅tit, y鈥檃ll!

From 鈥淐owgirl Chef鈥� by Ellise Pierce
(Running Press, 2012)
Reprinted with permission

Salmon and Lentils

Makes 2 servings

I love this dish best in the summer, served at room temperature, but you may also eat this warm.

1/2 cup/120 ml of dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay [editor's note: substitute cooking wine]

2 5-ounce/150 gram salmon fillets

2 pieces of lemon zest, each about 3 inches/7.5 cm long

1 teaspoon of peppercorns

a sprig of fresh basil, plus a few leaves for serving

sea salt

2 cups/ 470 grams of cooked French Lentils (recipe follows)

a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons of fresh goat cheese

a small handful of pine nuts, toasted

balsamic vinegar, for serving (optional)

1. Put your wine, 1/2 cup/115 ml of water, salmon, lemon zest, peppercorns, and basil sprig in a shallow聽skillet with a big pinch of sea salt. Turn the heat to medium and when it starts to simmer, cover and set聽the timer for 5 minutes. Check for doneness and if you need it to go a little bit more, just reset your timer聽for another couple of minutes鈥攖his really doesn鈥檛 take long. When the salmon鈥檚 cooked, remove it from聽the liquid then pop it in the fridge, let cool, until you鈥檙e ready to eat.

2. To serve, get out a couple of soup bowls, and put about a cupful of cold or room temperature lentils in聽each one. Flake your salmon over the lentils, add the cherry tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of goat cheese to聽each bowl, tear up a few basil leaves, and sprinkle on the pine nuts. I usually add a little splash of balsamic聽vinegar too鈥攊t goes really nicely with the lentils.

French Lentils

Makes 6 to 8 servings

olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 carrots, diced

3 cups/720 ml of Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock (recipe follows), or you may use store-bought

1 pound/500 g of lentils du Puy or small green lentils, rinsed

1 bay leaf

a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme

sea salt and pepper

1. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in your heavy stockpot, add the onions and garlic, and turn the heat to medium-low. Let this cook just until the onions become translucent, just a few minutes, then toss in your carrots.聽Stir them around and let them cook for a few minutes, too.

2. Add 4 cups/1 liter of water and your veggie stock along with the lentils, the bay leaf, thyme, and a big聽pinch of salt and pepper. Put the lid on and turn the heat up to medium. When it boils, turn the heat聽back down to a simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy, for about an hour. Taste for聽seasonings and serve hot, cold, or at room temperature.

Save Your Scraps! Veggie Stock

Makes about 4 quarts/4 liters

1 (1 quart/1 liter) plastic bag filled with scraps (carrot peelings, onion skin, celery leaves, zucchini ends, or

whatever you鈥檝e collected)

3 bay leaves

20 peppercorns

a few sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, basil, and parsley

5 quarts/5 liters of water

a big pinch of sea salt

Put everything in a large stockpot and bring this to a boil. Cover, turn the heat down to a simmer, and聽cook for 4 hours. Taste, and add more salt if needed (or you may simply leave out the salt if you鈥檇 rather).

Strain the stock through a piece of cheesecloth placed over a colander on top of a large bowl. Let your聽stock cool completely and either use right away or freeze.

Cowgirl Tip: I like to freeze my stock in 2 cup/1/2 liter and 4 cup/1 liter containers, since those are the聽sizes that I use the most when making soups.