Beyond Tapenade, and Better

A couple of posts ago, I talked about the new trend in France, l'apéro dinatoire. And darned if our first invite in Beaune wasn’t for that very thing. Our second one too, actually. I think I’ll have one next—and three’s a trend!

We already seem to have an active social life in Beaune (4 weeks in!), mostly due to the kindness of our new friend François, whom we had the good luck to meet the first week. François is the sort of elegant, worldly, man-about-town that you can imagine would flâner the boulevards of Beaune. He seems to know everyone and everything about the city. He taught us the correct way to do the Saturday market (very early), who to buy from, and showed us the bistro where tout le monde takes their Saturday café creme. Then he introduced us round to some of his friends, chez lui, at an apéro dinatoire.

We were dazzled by his chic flat right in le centre, and charmed by his warm hospitality. Since I have promised you some apéro dinatoire ideas, it was a timely invite, as he made all the beautiful offerings from scratch.

So here are some ideas to steal: François served spinach and ricotta wrapped in phyllo pastry and baked, which was marvelous. He spread rocquefort thinly on slices of dark bread and topped it with smoked salmon. There were fresh figs on toast with slices of camembert, and walnuts. He slipped a luscious dip into endive leaves. There were crudités, and a charcuterie plate. Later he brought out a tiered tray of little fruit kebobs, with berries and kiwi and melon. Perfect.

Drinks at our (former!) neighbors Marion and Jean-Marie's house often morph into a dinatoire. Sitting on their terrace for drinks a while back, she brought out a very interesting jar of something to put on crackers. I'd never seen or tasted anything quite like it. "Just chopped veggies," she said, but it wasn't' just veggies' at all. I couldn't quit eating it, it was so salty and complex and delicious. Jean-Marie put his finger on it: "Call it a tapenade de legumes" he said. Voila! That was it. I adore tapenade, especially if it's homemade. And this was a very different version, and just as tasty.

I raved so much that about it that she sent me home with the rest of the jar, just to shut me up. During the week I added it to tuna empanadas filling, and mixed some into creme fraiche to make a dipping sauce for roasted baby artichokes. Or you could tuck it into an omelet–It's quite versatile. She just packs hers into a jar and chills it.I don't know how long it will last in the frigde, but I'm not likely to find out–it disappears too fast!

Chill the champagne, we are all ready to turn out our own apéro dînatoire!

RECIPE: Marions's Tapenade de Legumes

No measuring! Just chop everything very fine, mix well, put in a jar. "Taste it as you go," Marion says. "It won't always taste the same, that's OK. Make it, and after a short time it becomes your own. Put whatever you have in the fridge in it. Leftover green beans? Allez-hop, into the bowl!

"I don't normally put olive oil in it, but you can,  It will keep a very long time if you top it off with a little olive oil."

She typically adds these veggies, all chopped fine:

• good quality black olives
• Cornichons (tiny dill pickles). If they come with tiny onions or mustard seeds, throw those in too
• red onions
• garlic
• sun-dried tomatoes
• fresh tomatoes, but just a little
• roasted red peppers
• fresh bell pepper, green or yellow for color
• fresh thyme
• salt and pepper

For those of you who like a more structured recipe, here is the only one that was close which I could find online. Or you might just use it for a general idea of proportions  (This one is much heavier on the olives). It looks good, I like the idea of adding capers and artichokes. This is from a blog called The Unprocessed Home.

RECIPE: Vegetable Olive Tapenade

• 2 Tablespoons capers, rinsed
• 1 cup Kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 cup green olives, chopped
• 1 cup black olives, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup artichokes, chopped
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
• 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoons fresh Thyme, chopped
• 1 teaspoons fresh oregano, chopped

RECIPE: Tuna Empanadas

This one's easy. Drain a can of white tuna packed in olive oil, but leave a bit of the oil. Mix in some of Marions's Tapenade de Legumes. Cut a sheet of frozen puff pastry into squares, put some filling on each square, fold it over and crimp edges (in France, use pâte feuilletée). Bake at 400F (200C), until golden brown–start checking after 10 minutes.

In the COMMENTS: I was touched and overwhelmed by so many kind comments about our move and our "new life".  Many, many thanks and I hope you'll follow along!

Your inspiration for the day: Natalia sent along a lovely, thought provoking post from Maria Shriver's blog, called The Sunday Papers. Be sure to check it out.

Our fellow blogger Karen McCann is going on a Mediterranean Comfort Food Tour, so you may want to join in at her blog, Enjoy Living Abroad.