By JOANNA BRADY SCHMIDA Special to The Citizen

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What's not to like about Provence? It's a visually dazzling area in France that evokes images of impressionist paintings by Van Gogh: the sun-drenched fields of rolled freshly mown hay, fields of fragrant lavender, and charming old villages with their cottages of silvery white stone, trimmed with faded blue shutters.

Although I spend part of my summer in the southwest of France and love the rich food here, I frequently want to head down to the sunny French "Midi" area to feast on the healthy "cuisine of the sun." If you include in this, as most do, the coastal riviera cuisine to the immediate south of Provence's interior, with its fresh fish soups like bouilliabaisse and its numerous seafood dishes, it is definitely one of the world's favorite cuisines.

Every time I've gone to Provence, it has been a magical experience. I even love the dinnerware they serve their food on: The pretty ochre-colored dishes reminiscent of sunshine.With its emphasis on good fresh food and healthy salads, it reminds me a bit of Key West, and is probably why when I'm back home in the Keys I cook with Provence in mind whenever possible.

As a Mediterranean cuisine, Provencal cooking is probably more influenced by Greek and Italian cooking than by mainstream French. Easy and uncomplicated, without the distractions of heavy sauces and elaborate preparations you find in the food of Lyons or the cream-based dishes from Normandie, recipes from Provence are usually simple to prepare. They're also healthier to eat, cooked with olive oil rather than butter, goose fat or lard. Dishes are flavored more with tomato, garlic and wine instead of cream and spirits like Calvados in Normandie or the Cognacs and Armagnacs of the southwest

I particularly love their incredible varieties of goat cheese, the tangy olives which are frequently made into tapenade; fresh vegetables like artichokes, eggplant and zucchini that morph into tasty tians and ratatouille; their wonderful herbs; their sun kissed fruits like melons and figs, their plethora of almonds, and their hearty dishes like seafood stews and meaty daubes.

One of my favorite Provencal creations is the versatile crespeau, which can be served any time of day, at any temperature. You'll want a nice tomato coulis or sauce on hand to garnish it.

Here are a few tasty recipes that are popular in Provence.

Provencal Crespeau

A layered omelette dish, made with anywhere from 6 to 18 thin crepe-like open face omelettes, to which have been added foods on hand. The French will use tapenade, sauteed red or green pepper, spinach, pimentos, basil, anchovies, capers, eggplant etc. They vary the colors and flavors, leaving some plain yellow from just the eggs. The crepes are stacked and served in wedges at room temperature as an appetizer or a hot main dish, cold party food or solitary supper. I've usually had crespeau topped with a thin tomato sauce. This suggested recipe will make a 6 omelette crespeau. Feel free to vary the ingredients or add more eggs to make your crespeau higher.

1/2 pound fresh spinach, cooked, squeezed dry and chopped

About 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 small zucchini, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt to taste

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps wiped clean and thinly sliced

18 large eggs

2 anchovy fillets, drained and coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon tapenade

4 pimento peppers, drained, dried and diced

2 tablespoons capers, drained

3 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped

1 tablespoon pesto

Tomato sauce for topping

Prepare spinach and press between paper towels to drain any additional moisture. Set aside. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed 9-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Add the zucchini and garlic, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring constantly, until soft and starting to brown. Transfer to a small bowl.Heat 2 more teaspoons of oil in the pan over medium heat. Add the shiitakes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until soft, then transfer to a small bowl. Wipe the pan clean.

Beat 2 eggs in a medium bowl with salt and pepper to taste. Add the spinach and mix well. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in the sauté pan over medium heat. When it shimmers, add the egg mixture and cook, stirring and lifting to make a puffy, open-faced omelet; the eggs should be set but still a bit moist on top. Slide onto a 10-inch serving plate, moist side up. Continue in this way, adding the ingredients of your choice, stacking the omelettes one on top of the other. Leave some without any fillings for color variation.

You can just cook up a stack of open-face omelets, pile them on a plate as they firm up, then cut the assemblage into wedges to serve hot right away as a brunch item. But you could also stack the omelets and then weight them overnight in the fridge, so that they compress and cling together even more. That way, the contrast among flavors in every layer is more pronounced. (Even if a few of your omelets are a little ragged, it won't matter when they are stacked.) As an hors d'oeuvre, make them ahead and cut into bite-size squares held together with toothpicks.

Daube Provençal

Traditionally in French cuisine a Daube is a slow cooked red meat stew like Boeuf Bourgiunone. This recipe is typical of the Provence region and would be served with pasta and grated gruyere cheese. It involves marinading the meat overnight, so preparing it the day before makes it an ideal dish for company.

4 1/2 pounds stewing beef

2 sliced onions

1/4 pound unsliced smoked bacon

1 bouquet garni, which should include thyme, basil and rosemary

A handful of cepes (wild mushrooms) optional

1/2 pitted black olives, preferably Nicoise (Kalamata also acceptable)

Olive oil

For the marinade (the night before)

1 liter of red wine

3 carrots

1 onion

4 cloves

2 bay leaves

A few slices of leek

Zest of 1 orange, cut into 2 or 3-inch peelings

1/4 cup olive oil

Prepare the marinade. Dice the carrots, slice the onion, and then add to the wine together with the cloves, bay leaves, leek, orange zest and 1/4 cup olive oil. Cut the meat into 2 inch cubes, place in the marinade and leave overnight.

When ready to commence cooking drain the meat, keeping the marinade. Sautee the two sliced onions in the olive oil until soft, then lightly brown the meat and add the smoked bacon cut into matchstick like pieces.

Transfer the meat to a large casserole and add the rest of the olive oil. Bring the marinade to a boil, add 2 cups of water and the bouquet garni, boil for 10 minutes then strain.

Add the strained marinade to the meat, onions and bacon, add the cepes, season to taste. Simmer for at least three hours, or until meat is tender.

After about 2 and one half hours, add the black olives.

Serve with pasta, parmesan or grated gruyere and a good heavy red wine.

Serves 6.

Tarte Tropezienne

Fruit is very often served for dessert in Provence, but pastries are popular for special occasions. This cake contains butter and cream, making it less healthy, but great as a treat for company. The Tropezienne, so the story goes, was a cake first baked especially for screen goddess Brigitte Bardot in St Tropez by a young Polish chef, Alexandre Micka, the caterer on the set of "And God Created Woman," shot in 1955. It was she who gave it the name. The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret, but this recipe for a brioche, cut in half and filled with a light custard closely approximates the original.

For the Brioche Dough

11 ounces of flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 ounce sugar

3 eggs

4 ounces butter

1/2 ounce dry yeast

1 tablespoon lukewarm milk

1 egg yolk (for glazing the top of the brioche)

1 handful of baker's crystallized sugar•

For the Pastry Cream:

2 cups milk

1 teaspoon almond extract (Or if desired, substitute orange juice or Grand Marnier)

1/2 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup flour, packed

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 -1/2 ounces butter

To make the dough, cream the butter to soften it. Put the flour into a mixing bowl and add the salt, sugar, yeast, and the lightly beaten eggs. Mix together and incorporate the butter. Knead for at least 5 minutes. Put the dough in a large mixing bowl, cover it and let it rise for about 2 hours. Then punch down and mold the dough into a large tart pan. Cover and let it rise for one hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the top of the dough with the egg yolk that has been mixed with a few drops of water. Sprinkle the top with the crystallized sugar and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. When cooked, remove from cake pan and set on cooling rack.

To make the pastry cream, pour the milk, almond extract (or Grand Marnier) and the vanilla into a non-reactive saucepan. Bring to a slight boil and remove from the heat. Separate the eggs, and reserve whites for another use. In a mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (5 minutes.). Add the sifted flour, beating lightly until all the flour is incorporated. Add milk to the egg and flour mixture gradually. Wash the milk pan, pour back the mixture and cook on medium heat, stirring continuously to prevent sticking and burning on the bottom until the mixture becomes very thick. Wait for the first bubbles. This should take about 2 minutes. After the pastry cream is cooked, put it into a clean bowl. Before the cream has cooled completely, add butter that has been creamed to soften. Beat the mixture with a mixer for a minute or two. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the final assembly, cut the brioche tart in half horizontally. Spread the pastry cream on the bottom layer. Refrigerate until served.

•Baker's crystallized sugar is a special kind of "puffed" sugar used in French pastries. But you could sprinkle it with any coarse sugar.