(In English below)
je crois que c’est le plus vieux souvenir que j’ai de vrais moments partagés avec mon père: cueillir puis ouvrir, peler et déguster les noix fraîches sur l’arbre… Avec les mûres et les figues (qui commencent à arriver), les noix font toujours les délices de mes fins d’été…
Voici encore une recette que vous pouvez faire avec les enfants. Textures et saveurs s’accordent à merveille et en plus c’est joli comme un tableau de maître:
- Faites mariner de la mozzarella dans de l’huile d’olive avec un peu de jus de citron et d’ail + sel et poivre (du poivre de Sichuan fraîchement moulu serait un vrai plus!) pendant 1 ou 2 heures
- Composez votre assiette comme vous le feriez pour des tomates mozza et ajoutez un peu de menthe fraîche, des noix pelées (ou noisettes, amandes…) et un filet (tout petit filet!!) de miel d’acacia
Le paradis en deux minutes chrono (OK + deux heures de marinade mais quand même…)
Conseil d’ami: La bogue des noix (je ne sais pas si on dit “bogue” pour les noix) noirci les doigts. Rincez-vous les mains à la Javel aussitôt après les avoir décortiqué.
I think this is the earliest memory of any real quality time spent with father: the picking, opening, peeling and eating of the fresh walnuts right off (on and under) the tree… With blackberries and red figs, fresh walnuts are the delight of my late summers…
Here is another recipe that you can do with your kids. Textures and flavors go so well together. It is all so pretty too:
- Marinate mozzarella in olive oil with a little lemon juice and garlic (not too much) + salt and pepper (freshly ground Sichuan pepper would be a real plus!) for 1 or 2 hours
- Compose your plate in layers and add a little fresh mint, fresh walnuts (or hazelnuts, almonds …) without the yellow skin of course and a tiny drop of honey (and I mean tiny!)
Heaven in two minutes (OK + two hours for the marinade but still…)
A word of advice: Rinse your hands with bleach immediately after manipulating the fresh walnuts. The green part of the fresh walnuts will blacken your fingers and they will stay black for days…
MY FRENCH HEAVEN 
Vous vous portez bien, j’espère…
Oui, très bien ma chère Louise. Tout est un peu fou ces temps ci à la maison. Je me remet au blog cette semaine 😉 🙂
belle réorganisation! bravo!
Merci Louise. Je ne sais pas si the theme Vuitton est approprié… On verra ce que les gens disent… 🙂
I’m not sure how I missed this one Stephane?! Such a beautiful dish… those figs look incredible… absolutely mouth-watering!
Bonne journée!
Thanks a lot and sorry for the late answer to your lovely comment!! It’s been wild around here… I will post again soon 🙂
I have never seen white walnuts before. How very interesting! That’s great to have such wonderful memories of your father. The combination does sound great!
Gorgeous as always – your site is such a joy to visit! And thank you for reminding me to gather the walnuts outside!
Thanks Paula! Sorry for the late answer to your comment. Enjoy the fresh walnuts! I know I have 🙂
je suis en plein rêve !
Rêves de sardines Christian? C’est vrai que ça rappelle l’enfance 🙂
Ah, non, les figues! C’est vrai que la saison commence et que c’est le grand bonheur!
Your photos capture what life is all about. Mmm, those figs are perfection!
Des trés belles photos pour un partage trés gourmand 🙂
Merci Joséphine!
If you ever get tired of the B&B business, Stéphane without a doubt you would make it as a food photographer. Your pictures are absolutely mouth watering!
Dear Maggie, you are too kind! I trust you guys made it back OK. I know it’s nice to get away but also wonderful to come home…
There’s no place like home.
😉
I wish it was easier to get figs in my area. I love them but they are few and far between and pricey.
The good thing with this recipe is that you don’t need too many figs. Two per person will be enough for an appetizer 😉
That’s true. It’s funny in a world of global food, this is still a seasonal ingredient.
Don’t want to hit a raw nerve Stephane, but how is the change to your lifestyle going? I am pretty patchy in my reading lately but haven’t seen anything about it and just hoping you are on track. Cheers,
Thanks for asking Julie! I have dropped 8 pounds but I am on a plateau. I am working long hours these days and it is a little hard to focus…
I’m drooling over my keyboard.
Be careful Dorothy! 😉
I’m so jealous of your figs, they are beautiful!
I have extremely fond memories of buying my weight in figs from the farmers’ markets in france – scared my partner how much I could eat!
They are very addictive aren’t they?! 🙂
I’m like the others… astonished by the beauty of the pictures; not to mention that the recipe looks delicious!
Thanks! You should try it. Any kind of nuts will do, even dry ones…
I surely will 😉
Many years ago when I lived in Napa, I had a couple of walnut tress. Oh what memories! The taste is like no other. Buttery and sweet. So sweet we had to get out early to pick them so my dogs wouldn’t beat us to them and eat up the ones which had fallen to the ground.
Lucky my dogs don’t touch them. I would have to give them up for adoption 😉
Recette simple mais magnifique! Meme moi je peux y’arriver :p
😉
C’est super. Pourquoi est-ce que les noix si blanc?
Because that is their natural color when they are fresh 🙂
Wow, I never knew that!
Beautiful photos as always. How I miss fresh young walnuts. It’s 18 years since we left our rural property with walnut trees. Do you pickle them? Delicious with sharp cheese!
They are indeed delicious. No I don’t pickle them. I either eat them fresh off the tree or dry in the Winter…
I have been on a fig kick lately. I can’t get enough of them!
🙂
Simplicity is often the most elegant choice. I feel like a broken record here, but those photos are incredibly superb! One gets a sense that you love what you photograph and love photographing it.
Thanks Louise! I am indeed in love with my subjects. Every single one of them 🙂
Such lovely photos as usual!
Thanks Isabel!!
Ah, your photos! Loving the droplets of water (?). Or is that a little honey. The light and colours are just wonderful.
Thanks! They’re actually drops of honey 😉
gorgeous photos as always.
Thanks Michelle!!
I had no idea fresh walnuts were safe to eat. We grow black walnuts. I always thought they needed to sit around for a while. How interesting! My figs are just now ripening so I’ll give this a try.
They are safe to eat. Just make sure you take the yellow skin out and don’t eat too many at one time. Like fresh almonds, they can make you sick…
Got it.
gorgeous pictures of figs 😉
Thanks!!
Stunning photos as usual, Stéphane – I’m drooling!
Thanks June! Try the recipe if you can. It makes for a great appetizer! 😉
Masterpiece…!!
Thank you so much Katerina! It means a lot coming from someone with exquisite taste!
Nothing wrong with simple.
And I didn’t know that walnuts could blacken your fingers from touch. I should put some around my chocolate stash and the next time some of it goes missing, I can now easily find the culprit. 🙂
What a great idea! I shall do the same 🙂
The photo of the figs, the one cut in half, the other with the water droplets, is wonderful!! I just got back from the market myself, although my finds were very different. 🙂
Enjoy the weekend!
janet
Well I hope you still had a wonderful time cooking and eating what you had picked! Are you settled in Chicago yet?
On dit coque ou coquille pour une noix 🙂
Oui pour la partie interne dure. J’ai fais quelques recherches et la partie verte s’utilise en teinture et s’appelle le “brou”
Oh my, that fig looks utterly utterly wondrous. Beautiful autumnal colours & selection of dishes. Really really beautiful
Sent from my iPhone http://indiaalexandraworld.wordpress.com/
Thanks Alex! Are you back from Greece? Your photos were so incredible. The light there is like no other… 🙂
This sounds heavenly! I’ve been seeing images of sacks of green walnuts in markets in Gaziantep, Turkey, and imagining myself there (in more peaceful times, perhaps). Now I can start daydreaming about eating green walnuts in France too…
I’ll take you to my favorite tree! 😉
Sometime I will have the opportunity to eat a walnut freshly picked off the tree…and I will remember to wash my hands with some bleach. Thank you Stéphane!
😉
Stunning stunning photo’s! What a great recipe, simple but stunning ingredients and flavours!
Why thanks! It was really delicious. A first taste of Autumn… 🙂