Around the World in 80 Plates: France (cont)

For the next recipe in France I grabbed my copy of The 30 Minute Vegan Taste of Europe by Mark Reinfeld and started flipping through. I quickly stopped for Braised Tempeh with Herbes de Provence (he includes a recipe for the herb mix as well) which I thought would perfectly pair with another of his recipes, Rice Pilaf with Fennel and Saffron, for a supper that would be reminiscent of Provencal cuisine. The tempeh is marinated first then slowly cooked in a rich tomato flavoured veggie broth. The pilaf went together super quick and had a beautiful bright vibrant yellow hue thanks to the saffron and had great flavour from the shallots and fennel. I've recently learned I love fennel so I have been picking it up more often and finding new recipes to try it in. 

Then for the perfect ending to our French meal, how about some Creme Fraiche Truffles? These are a test recipe for Fran Costigan's newest chocolate book project (so I can't share the recipe) and they are out of this world! I am not really a huge chocolate person but I couldn't stop eating these! I very quickly devoured four in a row much to Ryan's surprise (he is the chocoholic around here and isn't used to competition for chocolate goodies!).