Paris Bistro Meal

Yes, these are the same lentils from earlier in the week.  We reduced chicken broth with white wine, then added the leftover lentils.  Simmered for about 15 minutes.   Served with creme fraiche.

The boys are dubious about tonight's five courses.

The cool daddy!  French fry heaven.

Not waiting for the rest of us.

Steak Frites:  Sear 40 oz of steak(s) in 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter.  Remove and keep warm.  Pour off all but 1 tbsp fat.  Remove from heat.  Add 5 tbsp cognac.  Turn heat back on.  Add 1/4 cup cream and 1 1 /2 tbsp dijon mustard.  Cook until the sauce comes together, about 1 minutes.  Turn heat off again.  Add 1 tbsp cognac and 1 tbsp minced parsley and serve.  (This was from the Nov 2010 issue of Saveur)   The french fries were cut 1/4 inch thick (peeled idahos).  Soaked in water for a couple of hours, changing water a couple of time.  Then we "parfried" them at 340 degrees.  We put them in the fridge for a couple of hours.  (We have made fries many times.  This is the first time we refrigerated them between frying.  They were dramatically better than any other batch.)  We fried them again at 375 degrees til golden brown, then salt to taste.

Farmer's market greens, heirloom tomatoes, and house vinaigrette.

Loving the salad.  Or hating the salad.

Cheese course:  fresh goat, triple cream that we forgot the name, roqueforte.  Sideways, even though it is pinot noir in the glass.

Vanilla ice cream.

Plus apple tart

+ sauternes = delicious

French Cookbooks

We found two French cookbooks at the library that we like so much we wanted to recommend them.  The first is "French Feasts" by Stephane Reynaud.  The other is the remake of a 1930s cookbook called "I know how to cook" by Ginette Mathiot

2 more French meals, then on to Vietnam

I am really excited for our last two French meals.  Tonight we have a five course bistro style meal: lentil soup with creme fraiche; steak and fries with a brandy-mustard sauce; celery root salad; cheese; apple tart.  We'll have a Chablis to start, and a Sauternes to finish, and the red for the middle is as yet undecided...either a merlot based Bordeaux, or mourvedre based Bandol.

Tomorrow night we are having a variation on a Provencal "grand aioli". We are going to roast on the grill a pork roast that has been marinating in olive oil, garlic, and herbes de Provence.  We are going to serve it with a bunch of blanched veggies, and of course aioli.  Now that I think about it, it makes more sense to drink the Bandol with this meal than with the steak.

France has been awesome, but I think something of a cop-out.  Everything is really familiar...foods, and techniques.  We haven't gotten around to things that most people think of as challenging, like making pate.  But we make pate(s) at the restaurant, and Jill and I aren't scared.  Maybe we will make the pate for our Bahn Mi sandwiches.

Jill will load photos and recipes later.

Next up,Vietnam

We are reluctant to end France.  We could probably cook these foods forever.  So, we decided to ease our way out by cooking Vietnamese food next.  Looking forward to recipes that include curry and a baguette.  We will return to France at the end of the year, since we have cooked cassoulet for Christmas dinner the past 13 years.

Making it up to the kids (french hamburgers to make up for last night's pig pie)

This is basically the same recipe (from Mastering the Art of French Cooking) as the bifteck hache a la lyonnaise.   It is Bitokes a la Russe (Hamburgers with Cream Sauce):  The patties are made with one pound ground beef, 3/4 cup minced onion sauted in 2 tbsp butter for 10 minutes, 1 1/2 tsp salt, ground pepper, 1/4 tsp dried thyme, and one egg. ( I left out the extra 2 tbsp butter.  I think my beef was fatty enough)  Make 4 patties and dredge in flour.  Cook patties in 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil until med rare.  Keep warm.  Pour fat off of pan.  Add 1/4 beef broth and boil until syrupy.  Add 2/3 cup cream and boil.  Add salt, pepper, pinch of nutmeg and a couple drops of lemon juice.  Turn heat off.  Swirl in 2-3 tbsp butter 1/2 tbsp at a time.  (We stopped at 1 tbsp)  Stir in 2 tbsp minced parsley.  We served it with olive oil mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. 

Torte of Potatoes and Pigs' Feet

This is from saveur magazine November 1998.  The original recipe calls for pig snouts, but I neglected to soak them overnight.  I decided to make this at the last minute, so dinner didn't make it to the table until 11:00.  Cover 5 pounds of pigs' feet with cold salted water and bring to a boil.  When it starts to foam, drain and rinse feet.  Clean pan.  Put back into pan.  Whisk 2 tbsp flour in 1 cup dry white wine until smooth.  Pour over feet.  Add one onion studded with 2 cloves, 2 mashed garlic cloves, 1 carrot peeled and halved, 1 celery stalk, 1 leek and bouquet garni (thyme, leek, bay leaf and parsley).  Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer partially covered for 4-5 hours.  Remove meat from pot and let cool.  Pull meat off of bone and put in a large bowl.

Melt 2 tbsp butter and saute 1 large chopped shallot and 4 chopped garlic cloves until softened.  Add onion mixture, 1 1/2 tbsp dijon, 1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 2 tbsp chopped chervil, 2 tbsp chopped parsley and salt and pepper to meat mixture.

Boil 5 waxy potatoes.  Then peel and slice.

Roll out 2 sheets puff pastry. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a souffle dish (ours was 7 x 3) (buttered and floured) with the pastry.  Alternate layers of potato and meat mixture.  Cover with the other sheet of puff pastry.  Make a small parchment paper tube and put in middle to vent torte.  Whisk one egg with a little water and brush pastry top.  Place pan on parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake 40 minutes.  Let rest 20 minutes before slicing.

The feet didn't have a lot of meat.  It was mostly cartilage, fat and skin.   It left a kind of sticky goo on our lips.  But the flavor and richness was good.  We are thinking we would use ham hock in place of the feet to get a little more meat and mix it with sausage.

I'm proud of the boys for eating pigs' feet pie!

Mexican for lunch

Found a recipe for flour tortillas, the boys favorite, from Homesicktexan.blogspot.com

Mix 2 cups all purpose flour (can substitute 1 cup whole wheat), 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tsp canola oil.  Slowly add 3/4 cup warm milk (we used skim and they were still good).  Mix, then knead 2 minutes.  Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.  Then divide dough into 8 sections and roll into balls.  Cover and let rest 10 minutes.  Flatten dough ball into 4 inch disc, then roll out to about 8 inches in diameter.  Heat an iron skillet.  Cook about 30-60 seconds on each side, it will start to puff when it's done.

We haven't finished France yet.  We just needed to satisfy a burrito fix.  Trotters are simmering for tonight's dinner, which won't be ready until 10.  Oops, didn't read the whole recipe!

Alsatian meal

The original recipe from La Cuisine was quite boring.  We started by brining a 1 1/2 pound pork shoulder, then boiling it for 5 minutes.  (It seems odd to boil it, instead of browning, but I followed the recipe.)  Then boil 1/2 green lentils for 20 minutes.  Drain.  In saucepan, combine pork, lentils, 1 peeled and halved carrot, one onion stuck with one clove, 1 crushed garlic clove and dried parsley, thyme and a bay leaf.  Cook for 1 1/2 hours, seasoning with salt and pepper halfway through.  There really was very little flavor to the lentils.  So for the lentils we took about a tbsp bacon fat and sauteed chopped carrots, celery, onion, garlic and zucchini.  Cook until soft.  Add lentils back to pot.  Puree.  Add a little butter to taste.  Season with salt and pepper.  For the pork, we put it in the oven at 350 with some white wine in the bottom and cooked for 45 minutes.  This gave the pork some texture.  For the creamy leeks (from the joy of cooking) melt 2 1/2 tbsp butter.  Add 4 cups sliced leeks.  Cook 2-3 minutes.  Add 1 cup chicken stock and one sprig of thyme.  Cover and simmer about 5 minutes.  Turn heat to med high.  Add 1/4 cup white wine.    Boil until liquid reduced by half, about 10 minutes.  Add 2 tbsp heavy cream and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.  Serve with chopped parsley.  Serve pork with baguette and grainy mustard.  We forgot the bottle of alsatian white wine at the restaurant, so we served it with the German beer in the picture.  As you can see, Sanford is very excited about this combination.  This was one of our favorite combinations!

Champs-Élysées Party

Pork Rillettes:  Simmer a couple of pounds of pork neck bones for about 4 hours with roughly chopped carrots, celery, bay leaf, onions.  (I used neck bones because we had them, they weren't in the actual recipe.)   Strain and cool.  Pull meat off of the neck bones.  The next day, chop 1 1/2 pounds of pork roast and 1/3 pound pork belly, one large onion.  Saute in 1 cup rendered pork fat for about 6 hours on low heat.  Add pork from neck bones about halfway through.  At this point, the meat should be spreadable.  Pack it in little mason jars.  (should fill 6 or 7).  (The recipe then calls to render another cup of pork fat and pour over top of rillettes to create a seal for storing.  We didn't do this because we served the whole thing at a party).  These make a great sandwich when spread on warm bread with slices of tomato and grainy mustard.  It's lite too.

AIOLI:  (From Lulu's Provencal table)  In a large pestle, pound large pinch of salt and 3 large cloves of garlic to a smooth paste.  Add 2 egg yolks (at room temperature) and stir briskly with pestle until they lighten in color.  Begin to add 2 cups olive oil slowly while constantly stirring with pestle.    When the aioli is thickened add 1-2 tsp water for desired consistency.  TAPENADE:  (from the lulu cookbook)  Chop and mix 1/2 pound large pitted black olives, 4 anchovies, 3 tbsp capers, 1 large garlic clove (peeled and pounded to a paste with a pinch of coarse salt), small pinch of cayenne, pinch of crumbled dried savory.  Add 4 tbsp olive oil and mix until mixture is homogenous.  RUE DE LEVIS "CAVIAR" (from Patricia Wells at home in Provence):  Finely chop 2 ounces black olives.  Place 4 tbsp softened unsalted butter on plate.  Use a fork to mash the butter.  Sprinkle chopped olives on top.  Sprinkle 1/2 coarse sea salt on olives.  Use fork to carefully incoporate the olives and salt.  CACHAT: Provençal CHEESE SPREAD.  (From Patricia Wells book)  Put 4 oz goat cheese and 1 oz roquefort into food processor.  Add 2 tbsp heavy cream and 1 tsp eau-de-vie.  (We didn't have Marc de Provence, so we used grappa). Lightly blend until slightly chunky.

The platter.  Note red carrots when peeled look like bring little orange carrots.  Bummer.

Andy Werth with his oeufs.

Roz and Mazda brought blinis and caviar.

They also brought roasted salmon and asparagus.

Kurt made bread stuffed with blue cheese and olives

and a tomato salad

and a french sounding bourbon :)

Garlic Roast Chicken

Zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, green beans sauteed slowly in olive oil with garlic.

Sanford made this while I was at work, so I know he tweaked this recipe a bit.  (He can't help it!)  It was very delicious.  The sauce was out of sight!  The original recipe came from The provencal Cookbook.  Preheat oven to 450.  Rinse and dry 3-4 pound chicken.  In a cup combine 1 heaping tbsp fresh herbs (thyme, oregano and rosemary) 1 clove crushed garlic, 1 tsp grated lemon zest and 2 tbsp soft butter, salt and pepper.  Spoon half the mixture into the cavity of the chicken.  Stir 3 tbsp olive oil into the rest and using a pastry brush, smear the oily mixture all over the outside of the chicken.  Salt and pepper.  Place chicken on it's side on a rack in a roasting pan.  Put each head of garlic into a piece of foil (3 total) and drizzle 1-2 tsp olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.  Fold the edges up to make neat little packages.  Add them to the roasting pan.  Roast 10 minutes, then turn it on its other side and roast 10 minutes.  Turn it breast side down and roast 10 more minutes.  Reduce heat to 350.  Turn it breast side up and roast 1 1/4 hours, basting occasionally.  (The bottom of the pan was much drier than expected, so Sanford added white wine to the bottom of the pan.  It still looked a little sketchy so he wiped out the bottom of the pan before proceeding.)  Remove garlic and let cool.  Squeeze out the garlic flesh and put into a cup and reserve.  Empty the cavity of the chicken into the pan (if you are lucky enough to have lovely pan drippings.  we did not).  Remove chicken and cover loosely with foil.  Drain fat off roasting pan (at this point ours is wiped out with a towel.  Sanford added about 1/2 chicken broth for some fluid).  Place over hight heat and add 1/2 cup white wine and 1/2 cup water.   (We also had some beautiful chanterelles, so he added them to the sauce)  Add the reserved garlic and stir.  Add 3 tbsp light cream or half and half.  (I am sure he added closer to 1/2 cup of heavy cream since we didn't have half and half.  The sauce was way too thick, so he added about 1/2 cup skim milk)  Serve with the chicken as soon as possible.

 

Pan fried fish with tarragon cream sauce

I'm not sure how authentic this is, but I needed to get something on the table quick.  I coated 4 tilapia fillets in a mixture of bread crumbs, dried tarragon and parsley, salt and pepper.  Then, I pan fried them in about 1 tbsp olive oil.  Put on rack in oven to keep warm.   Add 1/2 cup white wine and reduce.  Add 1 cup of chopped mushrooms, dried tarragon and cook until soft.  Add 1/2 cup lobster broth.  Simmer about 5-10 minutes.  Add 2 tbsp heavy cream and cook another couple of minutes.  I was going to serve this over the fish, but I had leftover egg noodles from last night, so I tossed them in the sauce.  It was quite tasty.

unsuccessful day in the kitchen

I'm not going to bother with a recipe for these souffles. They tasted way to eggy and were too dense.  I'll try again and post the recipe if I'm successful!

I'm not sure if the problem with this dinner was the recipe or the freakishly large chicken parts we bought.  (recipe from The Paris Cookbook)  The chicken had did have a nice flavor, so it might be worth trying on a regular size bird.  Mix 2 tbsp dijon and 1 tbsp stone ground dijon and rub all over chicken.  Beat 2 eggs.  Dip chicken in egg mixture, cover with bread crumbs.  (I added quartered onions because I love them).  Dot with 3 tbsp butter.  Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.  (Ours took nearly an hour, there wasn't much to baste with.  We ended up pouring white wine in the bottom of the roasting pan.)  Place chicken on rack to crisp.  (also not part of the recipe, we then put the roasting pan on the stove, added chicken broth and white wine to make a sauce for the egg noodles.)

Goat Cheese Gratin

This was pretty good.  The recipe (from Patricia Wells at Home in Provence) says to treat it like a "crustless pizza".  We crumbled goat cheese on the bottom.  Sprinkled with fresh herbs (we used rosemary and oregano).  Cover with tomato sauce and sprinkle with more herbs and sliced olives.  Put on the broiler for 2-3 minutes.  Served with crostini.

Poulet Basquaise

This actually tastes much better than it looks!  Saute 1 1/4 cups of diced bacon or ham (I used both).  Remove with slotted spoon.  Brown 1 cut up chicken.  Remove.  Add 4 sliced onions and 3 minced garlic cloves.  Cook until browned and soft.  Add 2 diced green peppers and 1/4 tsp marjoram.  Cook on low for another 10 minutes.  Add 1 1/4 cups tomatoes (I used fresh cooked with a little olive oil and put through a sieve) and 1 1/4 cups chicken broth.  ( I differed from the recipe here, I think I was paying more attention to the wine than the recipe at this point).  Season with salt and pepper.  Return chicken, bacon and ham to pot.  Cover and cook on low for 45 minutes.  (When it was finished I let it sit on the stove to cool, then skimmed quite a bit of fat off of the top.  I pulled the chicken out, then shredded it.  The chicken was falling off of the bone and had a lot of tiny bones)  Bring the sauce back to a boil and reduce until thicken.  Add chicken back to pot and sprinkle with parsley and serve.  Thanks Brady, it was really good.  Perfect for the last day in the Pyrenees.

Carbonnades a la flamande and Madeleines

Beef and Onions Braised in Beer (from Art of French Cooking):  Preheat oven 325.  Cut a 3 lb piece of roast 1/2 inch thick and 2 x4.  Dry on paper towels.  Brown a few slices at a time in 2-3 tbsp oil.  Remove beef.  Add 6 cups sliced onions and cook until browned, about 10 minutes.  Add to beef.  Add salt, pepper, and 4 minced garlic cloves.  Add 1 cup beef broth to hot pan and deglaze pan.  Put beef and onion mixture into casserole dish.  Pour broth over meat.  Add enough beer to cover meat.  (We used  ).  Add 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp dried parsley and thyme and 1 bay leaf.  Bring to a boil then put in oven and cook for 2-3 hours, until meat is tender.  Remove meat and onions.  Bring to a boil.  Add 2 tbsp white wine vinegar mixed with 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch to fluid and cook another 4-5 minutes.  Pour over meat and serve.

Boiled potatoes with green beans and leeks.

Madeleines (From French Feasts):    Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk 2 eggs with 2/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla until pale and thick.  Add 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp yeast, and the zest of one small lemon.  Mix.  Fill Madeleine pans 2/3 full.  Allow to rest 30 minutes.  Cook for about 10 minutes.  ( Mine took 7 min). 

Roast whole chicken with Cauliflower

This recipe was taken from The Bistros , Brasseries and Wine Bars of Paris:  Chez Michel:

Preheat oven to 425.  Clean chicken, dry and let stand at room temperature 20 min.  Smear 5 tablespoons butter under skin and over outside of chicken.  Season with salt and pepper.   Tie legs together and put in roasting pan, breast side up.  Cook 20 minutes.  Wash 1 head cauliflower and separate into florets.  Crush the peeled cloves of one head of garlic. Distribute garlic and 5 quartered shallots around the chicken.  Top with cauliflower and 4 carrots (peeled and sliced).  Drizzle with 1 cup cold water.  Lower temp to 350 and cook basting the bird and veggies with cooking 2-3 times for another 20 minutes.  Scatter 1/2 cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts over the cauliflower and cook for another hour, basting every 10 minutes or so.  Transfer to serving dish.  and let stand 10 minutes.  Surround chicken with veggies.  Pour juices over it, garnish with parsley.

Poulet aux quarante Gousses d'ail

Chicken with forty cloves of garlic (from The best of france)  This is one of our favorites.  Melt 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil in deep skillet.  Brown 8 chicken thighs.   Season with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, blanch 2 heads unpeeled garlic cloves in boiling water for 10 minutes.  Distribute garlic in pan with chicken and add 1/2 tsp dried thyme and a bay leaf.  Cover and cook over med low heat for 34 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.  Transfer chicken and garlic to platter and keep warm.  Discard bay leaf.  Skim and discard fat.  Add 1/2 cup wine.  Reduce by half.  Add 1 cup chicken stock and reduce to 3/4 cup.  Remove from heat.  Add 4 tbsp butter, one at a time.  Pour sauce over chicken and serve with crusty bread.

Cotes de porc a la tomato

Garlicky Pork chops with tomatoes: (from La Cuisine):  Heat 2 tbsp butter.  Brown 4 pork chops.  Add 2 quartered onions and brown. In a separate bowl, whisk 3/4 cup water with 3 tbsp tomato paste.  Add 2 garlic cloves, minced, 1/2 tsp dried thyme and 1/4 tsp dried parsley, one bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.  Add tomato mixture, simmer on low, covered, 20 minutes.  Remove pork chops.   Simmer sauce until it thickens slightly.  (If you use thin pork chops, I would leave them out after browning and put back in when almost finished.  Mine were a little tough.)

Poulet Saute Grand-Mere

This chicken was also freakishly good. (With less butter and no cream)  Taken from "The Best of France": 
Dredge 3 1/2 pounds chicken  parts (patted dry) in flour and season with salt and pepper.  Brown in 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add 1 pound diced onions and 1/2 pound quartered mushrooms.  Saute until onions are golden.  Add 1/2 cup white wine.  Reduce by half.  Add 2 cups chicken stock, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tsp dried tarragon and 1 tsp dried thyme.  Put chicken back in pot, simmer covered 35 minutes, or until warm.  Keep warm.  Reduce sauce until thickened.  Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, blanch 1/4 pound diced bacon in boiling water for 5 minutes.  Strain.  Dry on paper towels.  Melt 1 tbsp butter in a skillet.  Dice 1 pound potatoes.  Cook potatoes in butter until brown and tender.  Put potatoes in serving dish.  Place chicken on top.  Pour sauce over top.  Sprinkle bacon on top.

Bifteck Hache a la lyonnaise

This take hamburgers to a whole new level.  This was adapted the "Mastering the Art of French Cooking":

Cook 3/4 cup minced onions in 2 tbsp butter until soft, but not browned, about 10 minutes.  Mix with 1 pound ground beef, 1 1/2 tbsp softened butter, 1 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1/8 tsp thyme and 1 egg.  Form into patties.  Roll lightly in flour and shake off excess.  Heat 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil.  Cook patties in batches, about 3 minutes each side for med rare.  Keep warm.  (At this point I added one chopped portabella mushroom and sauteed until soft.)  Add 1/2 cup beef stock and reduce until syrupy.  Remove from heat, and stir in 2 tbsp butter.  Yummy!

Monday night: Chicken Fricassee

This was rich and creamy, different from the Spanish version, but just as good.  This was taken from Gourmet, March 2007:  Pat 3-4 pounds chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.  Heat 2 tbsp olive oil until hot.  Saute chicken until brown, about 10 minutes per batch.  Pour off all but 2 tbsp oil and cook 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots, 1 minced garlic clove and one bay leaf, until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup white wine.  Boil.  Stir in 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1 tsp dried tarragon, and return chicken to pan, skin side up.  Simmer, covered, 25 minutes.  Remove chicken and keep warm.  Reduce sauce to thicken.  Stir in 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon and 1/4 tsp lemon juice.  (We added some chopped parsley too.)  Take out bay leaf and pour sauce over chicken.  We served with salad, roasted fingerling potatoes, and green beans sauteed with mushrooms.