This recipe is from the apéro section of the cookbook Mes petits plats 100% naturels, by Catherine Mandigon and Patricia Riveccio. In France, apéritif (also called l’apéro) is the general term for the drinks and savory nibbles you offer your guests before dinner. It is also a widespread custom to invite people over just for l’apéro, which is a more casual way to entertain than a full-blown dinner invitation. French cookbooks often include a whole section devoted to that mini-meal. I particularly enjoy making amuse-bouches (or amuse-gueules), something about making a platterful of identical miniature cute bites really appeals to me (my Hello Kitty side, I guess).

Here’s how to make these polenta squares.

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The yogurt maker (yaourtière in French) is often used to illustrate the concept of an appliance that seemed like a good idea at the time of purchase (back in the seventies), but ends up collecting dust in the dark depths of a kitchen cabinet. It strikes me as terribly unfair a way to disparage a perfectly respectable peace of household equipment.

I grew up on the homemade yogurts my mother made using her yaourtière, so much so that she is probably the only individual on the planet who actually had to buy a second one when the first one got so much use it broke down. Homemade yogurts have a taste and texture that make them absolutely perfect for breakfast in my opinion, eaten as is or poured on cereal. I had one every morning for as long as I lived with my parents but had to go without for the two years in the Silicon Valley (where I drank Kefir -fermented milk-, an acceptable substitute).

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Over the last few years, I’ve noticed an increasing number of bakeries and sandwich places in France selling sandwiches made with Pain Polaire. Polar bread, sometimes also called swedish bread, is a round, soft flatbread with dimples. Polar bread sandwiches are made between two of these pancake-like slices, and the whole sandwich is then cut into halves. A popular version of these sandwiches involves smoked salmon, but any filling will work, really.

I love these sandwiches. The bread tastes slightly sweet and its texture is very enjoyable : soft enough so it doesn’t hurt your palate and make your jaw ache like baguette sandwiches do, but not mushy either, and there is no I-don’t-like-the-crust-so-much syndrome like there is with sandwich bread, because well, there is no crust.

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Last night, Maxence and I threw a little dinner party for my two oldest friends, Marie-Laure and Laurence, and their respective boyfriends, Ludovic and Jean-Christophe.

After an apéritif during which we nibbled on sweet potato chips (bought at the African market) down with chilled white wine, we sat down to a first course of Eggplant Rolls with Fresh Cheese and Pine Nuts.

These eggplant rolls are super easy to make: more ingredient assembly than actual cooking. I get frozen eggplant slices that are perfect for this, but you could also go to your local Italian deli, or grill some eggplant yourself.

Such a light and fresh opener! I served three eggplant rolls per guest, with plenty of fresh baguette and some olives that Laurence and Jean-Christophe had brought back from Italy for us.

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