Lots to catch up on

It's such an overused phrase...."time is passing so quickly"....and, of course, it's overused because it holds so much truth! I can't believe it's been a month already since my last post. When such gaps do occur, it's only for a good reason, however: it means I'm busy at work. I do hope you will stick with me during such slow periods on this blog.

Let me try to catch up a bit with some highlights. And I promise to post a recipe soon.

Rendez-vous Dimanche: I've been collaborating with the great Terrance Gelenter on this new event, a "stylish supper club" for up to 20 guests who will enjoy meeting the guest speaker of the night, Alan Riding. We're looking forward to kicking off this 1st event on Sunday April 18th. There's been lots of planning work involved to make sure we're ready & organized! If you hadn't guessed, I'll be preparing the menu...

Cinnamon Swirl Roll Experiment -- Sadly a "Non": Remember back in February when I was so absolutely thrilled with the buttermilk dinner roll recipe (from Ruhlman's blog)? Well, I had the thought to tweak the recipe into a great cinnamon roll. I added more sugar to the dough itself & then loaded it with butter & cinnamon-sugar.....but alas, I was disappointed in the result. The texture was not nearly as light & fluffy as before. Was it just that batch I made? Or are there simply better recipes? Who knows?! If anyone else tries this, please let me what happens for you. ( I don't even think that a sugar glaze on top could have saved these...!)

Rino Restaurant -- a definite "Oui": This new little "micro-bistro" just opened in 2010 by Giovanni Passerini, 2nd who worked under Petter Nilssen of La Gazetta. We went for lunch. The choices are very limited: a choice of 2 entrees, a choice of 2 main courses, and dessert. This might put a few people off, but for me, it's perfectly OK to put my trust in the chef. The food was delicious, inventive & very fresh. The cost for all three courses was 22 euros - quite a good value, in my book.

Chocolate soufflee and soufflee soirees -- no more please!!: I think I would call March the month of soufflees for me. I made more souffles last month than I think I have in my entire life!! That's a lot of soufflees. Suddenly they were everywhere in my cooking classes -- with cheese, or with spinach, with Grand Marnier, with chocolate....etc, etc....we did them all - savory and sweet. As much as I love soufflees, even I have my limits!! Variety is the spice of life you know...

Pappa al pomodoro -- can I have some more please!!: During a private wine-food pairing event for 14 people, I was asked to make something called pappa al pomodoro....It was an Italian wine tasting and the goal was to challenge the chianti tasting with lots of tomatoes, hence pappa al pomodoro (but don't ask me what the pappa meas...). This turned out to be a favorite of not only mine, but of those at the event....and then those at two different cooking lessons that I subsequently gave. It was unanimous -- this is hearty comfort food; the kind that sticks to your ribs & makes you feel all warm inside. And it's simple to prepare with only four ingredients: bread, tomatoes, olive oil & basil. A glass of red wine is required. I hope to post this recipe soon while there is still a chill in the air...

Macaron madness!! If I wasn't making soufflees, I was making macarons. Strawberry & chocolate, pistachio, caramel au beurre sale, white chocolate with rasberry, double chocolate....for private lessons, for group lessons, or batches made for my own events.....I'm up to my eyeballs in macarons! I still find them to be finicky things -- especially when making them on humid days. I still love them. Macarons are the "new cupcake". There's been lots of interest by Americans. It will be interesting to see how this evolves back in the US.

That's all for now!

/dma

Langoustines Epicées , Mousseline de Carottes, Sauce Coriandre

Spiced Langoustines, Carrot Mousse & Cilantro Sauce.
It's been a while since I've posted anything food-related. The search for a restaurant around town has taken up lots of my time. That's not to say I haven't been in the kitchen lately. Au contraire! I've also been cooking up a storm over the past few feeks. And I simply have to post this. It's one very, very deliciously exceptionally good dish. It's a take off of something I learned a couple of years ago while working at Hélène Darroze (2-michelin star restaurant in the 6ème) . When I was at the restaurant, I always prepared the langoustines (Norwegian lobsters), cooked them & made the sauce. Somebody else on the vegetable station always prepared the carrots. And yet somebody else put all the pieces together on the plate (usually the Second, 2nd in charge). All of that was before the server could rush it out to the customer while still piping hot. Wonder no more why such restaurants can cost an arm & a leg....it's all that attention to detail & perfection...!

The languostines taste just like lobster, maybe better, if that's even possible. (When they are as fresh as the ones we had, as in still hyper-actively moving around when we bought them at the outdoor fish market, then I guess it's possible! Being that exceptionally fresh & alive did, however, make it really, really difficult to deal with back at home. I'll spare you the details. Let's just say that Eric had to leave the kitchen.)

Chef Héléne Darroze has posted this recipe in several public, free magazines & you can find it on line if you're looking for the authentic deal, including exact proportions. Here, below, is my adaptation. In english, but without any specific quantities! (Only because I didn't keep track of them.)

Ingredients (for 8) - Inspired by Hélène Darroze; adapted recipe

Langoustines ~3-5 per person depending on size
carrots 1 - 1.5 kgs
navel orange ~1 piece
butter/cream (but not if you're watching your cholesterol...humm...)
cilantro 1/2 bunch
spring onions - a couple
demi-glace (veal or chicken)
white wine
favorite spice blend, cajun spice blend, etc.

Method:

1.) This is my version for preparing the carrots & I like how it worked. Steam carrots & section the orange. Purée the cooked carrots in a food processor. Add the orange sections to processor one at at time until you get the flavor just right. Same with the juice. Add until you end up with a nice, fluffy consistency. Not watery from too much orange juice! Season well. Passer au chinois. (Pass through a fine sieve filter.) Can be done ahead & re-heated at low temp in the oven, or used right away while still hot.

2.) Remove shells from langoustines, but leave the tail end for decoration. You could easily use shrimp in place of langoustines. Before pan-frying, dip the langoustines in your favorite spice blend. I used something from Morocco called ras-el-hanoute, a ground spice blend of over 35 spices typically used to make tagines.

3) Sauté the langoustines in duck fat, olive oil, butter, or your preferred fat. To test for doneness, touch the langoustine. (Yes, touching food for doneness happens all the time at restaurants...but don't worry, my finger is clean. ;). They should be firm to touch, but not hard (ie, overcooked). Removed from pan when cooked.

4.) For the sauce, this has been adapted for the home kitchen. The results are just as satisfying. De-glaze the pan with some white wine. Reduce. Add demi-glace (you can buy this at Williams Sonoma's in the states, or G. Detou in Paris, etc). Add chopped spring onions & chopped cilantro. Monter au beurre. (Add a few knobs of cold butter to sauce pan, off the heat, and swirl until melted. This will add a richness to the flavor, give it a nice sheen, & get it to a nice consistency. A real french cooking technique for any sauce! Or skip this step if you are watching your cholesterol....uuurrrghhh....)

5) Assemble: Put a few spoonfuls of carrot purée on your plate. Top with langoustine or shrimp. Spoon some sauce all around. Don't forget to season with salt & pepper.

Voilà. Fine dining at home.....let me know if anyone tries this out. If not, just call me & I'd be happy to private chef it for you in Paris! Or, for the real deal, head straight to Restaurant Hélène Darroze. I highly recommend it. And believe me, I can't say that about every place I've worked at!

Address:
Restaurant Hélène Darroze
4, rue D'Assas
75006 Paris
http://www.relaischateaux.com/darroze

/dma

Le Versance Restaurant - Paris 75002

We made a great discovery today: a restaurant called Le Versance. Before even going, I was expecting it to be good based on it's web-site. And it didn't disappoint. Le Versance has all the elements I like in a restaurant: a modern touch, elegance, a place where you can actually enjoy a private conversation, decent seating space (where you're not crammed side-by-side with your neighbors...), refined & creative dishes, and a good quality-to-price ratio. Wow, that's a lot to ask for in a restaurant! Well, not really. It's just kind of rare to find the combination all in one place.

I arrived a good 10 minutes early - it took less time to walk from our apartment than I anticipated. I was seated in the salon, a kind of waiting area with nice seats & tables. The other two "muskateers" arrived and it is here that we ordered our lunch and were offered an amuse bouche (a little something to whet the appetite):

Velouté de panais, écume d'orange (cream of parsnip soup, orange froth)

We then moved to a nicely decorated table. I had ordered the prix fixe menu, or simply menu (the proposed menu of the day at a set price, a very common thing to do in France), as opposed to 'à la carte'. The choices offered for the menu sounded good to me. I skipped dessert, knowing there was a creme brulée waiting at home, "needing" to be eaten! Here's what I tried that day:

Rouleau de poulet, salade verte (Rolled chicken, green salad with vinaigrette)

This was a really nice first course - a salad, actually, with chicken. The chicken was served just at room temperature - not hot, as I imagined. I wasn't into the skin, however. It was as opposite of crispy as it can get. The salad was perfectly stacked (I can assure you this is not a natural or easy thing to do...! You need volume, people, volume! If I heard that once at school, I heard it a million times. Now I only think of that when I see a salad. Funny, eh? BTW, the vinaigrette was excellent.

Filet du mulet, pois, risotto de parmesan (mullet, snap peas & parmesan risotto)

My main course was nicely prepared & nicely presented. I liked the idea of putting the ribbon of cucumber around the risotto and I'll have to remember that. The sauce was a little thin, but so was the sauce of my friend's dish (seared scallops), so we suspected this was done by design. It also probably means it was made with much less butter than normal. The flavor was very good & in fact, with the rich risotto, it was a nice complement. It would have been too rich otherwise. So, bravo to the chef!

All in all, I would go back. Definitely. I know my limited experience does not make this a review, but that's not what this is supposed to be anyway! I just wanted to share a new discovery. Let me know if you go there & what you think.

Le Versance
16 rue Feydeau
75002 Paris
Tél: 01 45 08 00 08
www.leversance.fr

lunch menu 32 € (first course, main course and glass of wine)
;)