Made :: Almond Cakes and Green Beans with Snail Butter

Okay, I'm slowly recovering from my "missed meeting David Lebovitz opportunity." Cooking from his new cookbook, My Paris Kitchen, is helping, plus it's a lot of fun. So far I've made Green Beans with Snail Butter (no snails are involved,) Almond cakes with browned butter, Croque-Monsieur, and tonight Individual chocolate cakes with dulce de leche and fleur de sel. gotta share these with the neighbors though, too many sweets in my house is no bueno.
Everything has been delicious. My husband can't stop eating the mini almond cakes. I think I may have browned the butter a little too long, but they really are the perfect little tea or coffee cake.

The green beans though are my favorite... so far. The recipe is simple and can easily be adapted to your liking.

Green Beans with Snail Butter (adapted from My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz)

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1/2 lb. or so of green beans, tips removed

2 Tbsp of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley

3 cloves of minced garlic

1 tsp of kosher salt

ground pepper (fresh if you have it)
any other seasoning you might like, just try not to over season

Put a steamer basket that fits into a saucepan. Add enough water so that it reaches the bottom of the steamer basket. Cover and heat until the water is at a low boil. add beans and steam until tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the beans from the basket and allow them to drain on a kitchen or paper towels.

In a large skillet melt butter over medium to high heat. Add garlic and cook until it begins to brown, 2-3 minutes. Stir in parsley, salt, and pepper. Add green beans and stir until the beans are cooked to your liking (I like mine a little crunchy still, so this part was very quick) and coated with the garlicky butter. Serve and enjoy.

xo, jen
note: according to david the snail butter simply refers to the garlicky butter that is often used when baking snails.

David Lebovitz Was Here... and I Missed Him.

David Lebovitz was in Santa Monica this past weekend and I missed him! totally beyond my control. This was a huge disappointment. Almost two years ago a couple of girlfriends and myself went to Paris and a lot of the eating portion of our trip was planned based on posts read on David's blog. It was amazing. He was spot on. We had so much fun trying to find our way around the city, trying new things, and relishing in every delicious bite. That trip was so special for us and for part of it, we thank David. I'm so sad we missed him.
However, I do take comfort in the fact that I was able to check out his new cookbook, My Paris Kitchen, at one of the local libraries. This is another one that will be bought.

It's a beautiful and fun cookbook. David is a wonderful storyteller. The book is not only filled with mouth watering recipes and some gorgeous photos, it's David telling us a story. The story of his life and adventures with cooking in Paris. He brings the reader to his Paris. This could easily be your night time reading material. I mean who doesn't want to be transported to Paris before they fall asleep. So far I've tried two recipes and will share them here tomorrow.

xo, jen

p.s. if you're in the bay area you're luckier than you know: David will be there this weekend and throughout the week doing book signings and dinners.