Sarah
Last week Connor and I cooked a delectable filet mignon meal. What fun to have company in the kitchen, especially such fun company! Connor and I (and Joshua) spent a few hours on Saturday shopping for our ingredients and baking the Baba au Rhum cake.
The filet mignon was cooked superbly with a little help from my brother Craig, aka, the master of meat. Charmaigne made the kitchen sparkle while we waited
hours for the sauce to reduce, but the end result was worth the wait. The garlic mashed potatoes were rich and lucious thanks to copious amounts of garlicky olive oil. I can't say any of us were impressed by the French String beans, but they served their purpose. The Baba au Rhum was a bit of a disappointment. It did not soak up the rum syrup and so was dry,
but, as my Dad said - the coarseness of the cake was a great contrast against the silkiness of the whipped cream. And it was! I will try the Baba au Rhum again if I can get my hands on a 5 or 6 cup bundt pan.
Everyone agreed that the next meal should be a little lighter, so I will cook Provencal Vegetable Soup, Croque Monsieur, and Chocolate Truffles.
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Sarah
Filet of Beef au Poivre
French String Beans
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Dessert: Baba au Rhum
Connor and I have arranged a delicious menu for Sunday night! Please RSVP as soon as you can (or by Saturday night). Love to you all!
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Sarah
Amy put in a special request for dinner this week - Seafood Stew. It's supposed to be rainy and cold on Tuesday, so it might have been a stroke of genius!
Starter: Cheese Puffs
Seafood Stew
Toasted Baguette Slices buttered and rubbed with garlic
Dessert: Chocolate Orange Mousse
Tuesday, January 19
6 spaces available
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Sarah
Our first French feast was a wonderfully fun night with lots of family and lots of food. After cooking most of the day, what a delight to sit down with people I love and enjoy some delicious food. Amy created a beautiful, glittering, glowing table filled with lots of candles, flowers and tablecloths - gorgeous!
A Few Observations on French Cooking based on "Barefoot in Paris"
EGGS - I used more than 15 eggs, I knew French food had a lot of butter, but eggs (especially yolks!)?
EGGS Part 2 - Meringue? I have never seen so many recipes with meringue, a true love affair with the light fluff, or are the French just thrifty?
LIQUOR - Must be very useful for adding flavor. A full bottle of wine in the garlic chicken! Plus cognac!
What Ina Forgot to Include in "Barefoot in Paris'
Lemon filling is so HARD to make! It slid and seeped out of the tart after it was cut.
Don't add sugar too fast to meringue when you whip it, whip it good!
Gruyere cheese requires serious shoulder and arm muscles to grate, but also puffs up and gives a satisfyingly large pile of grated cheese when done.
Not advisable to use a box grater to zest lemons, the longest 1/4 cup of zesting in my life! (plus nicks!)
I CAN cut a bone in chicken breast in half, just whacka, whacka and voila!
Until next time...
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Sarah
Today I went shopping for the ingredients for tomorrow night's big dinner. There weren't a lot of things on my list, but I bought a lot of each thing including 8 cloves of garlic, 5 bunches of asparagus, 2 heads of cauliflower, 7.5 lbs of chicken and LOTS of cheese! I was kind of skeptical about whether the commissary would have gruyere cheese (I've never noticed it there!) but they had 2 different kinds and even a few substitutes. I triple checked my list, so hopefully I won't have any last minute trips to the store tomorrow.
I'm starting to get nervous! Maybe 5 items was a bit ambitious for my first try? Plus I have to double most of my recipes to accomodate 10 people so I'm not sure how that will work out (will everything fit in my pots?). Thank God that Amy didn't specify that the food had to "look like the pictures in the book" or "taste like a little bit of Paris". I plan to start cooking tomorrow morning...
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Sarah
Where to find a tart pan? My first task in preparing for dinner on Tuesday has been a challenging one. I've been to 3 retail stores and 1 restaurant supply store and am still tart-less. Later today I'll up my ante and head to Williams & Sonoma where I will officially enter the world of the discriminating gourmet. How could I even think of making the lemon meringe tart in a pie dish?! What is a tart without the fluted golden brown crust?
Also in search of a pastry bag and tips...
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Sarah
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Sarah
After a careful review of Amy's selections I've decided on a menu for my first dinner:
Starter: Cheese Straws
Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic
Asparagus with Hollandaise
Cauliflower Gratin
Dessert: Lemon Meringue Tart
All family and friends who want to come RSVP by Saturday night 1/10. No more than 10 so RSVP right away!
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Sarah
On Christmas night a formal wager was made between my older sister Amy and I. I will cook each recipe she selects from "Barefoot in Paris" for her at least once, and then I may assume ownership of her new cookbook. No exceptions for food quality or mistakes! She did not drive a hard bargain.
On New Year's Eve, Amy marked all of the recipes in the book for me to cook. More than 40, but I say, bring on the challenge! I've always wanted to learn how to cook French food and though Ina Garten is no Julia Child the food will be delicious.
In my corner: EVERYONE! Let's face it - everyone wants me to win this one. Their mouths started watering at the first mention of veal chops and loin of pork. But I will be the ultimate winner! New skills, new cookbook, and lots of fun dinners with everyone I love. Who could ask for more?
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