On my way to a friend’s house in Newport Beach on Monday, I snuck in a visit to our favorite nursery: Roger’s Gardens. In honor of the Season, they’ve got all sorts of holiday lights up. They also have a lot of fake Christmas trees. ???

OK, I won’t judge.

While I was there, I picked up some more lettuce, so… the aging arugula in the vegetable box has got to go. Sorry, rugie, I still love you. I’ll buy more of you next time I visit Roger’s. Then I’ll have Barry plant you.

What did I think I was going to do with a bunch of aging arugula, leftover prosciutto and an old shallot? I stared blankly at Barry for while, the same way our dog confusingly stares at me when I sing:

Pay no attention to the cardboard in her mouth… or the debris of toy by-products on the floor. When it was evident that Barry wasn’t going to let me interrupt his morning latte / crossword puzzle / Sudoku routine, I looked back at my dog until I won the staring contest. Then I figured I’d start breakfast.

Enter the RGB omelet: egg + deli meat + leafy green + bulb + cheese.

Omelets are just supposed to be sleeping bags for refrigerator has-beens. Lucky you, the formal recipe is pretty good. Lucky me,  I found a way to use the arugula I just yanked. Just know that chard, spinach, beet greens, pancetta, bacon, chevre, parmesan, feta, cheddar, triple cream, brie, mushrooms, sausage, bell peppers, tomatoes, etc. all work great too, if that’s what you have.

Breakfast was good. Our omelets were enhanced with a tangerine per person and a glass of orange juice. Who needs Vitamin C tablets?! Unfortunately, now I get to balk at the calories I just consumed. Are we really talkin’ 22g of fat in one omelet?

Time to go plant more lettuce. [K]

 Click here to view a printable version of this recipe.

Arugula, Prosciutto and Gruyere Omelet

Serves 2

~

~ Ingredients ~

• ½ tbsp. olive oil
• 2 oz. arugula, rinsed clean
• 1 ½ oz. gruyere
• 1 shallot
• 1 oz. chopped prosciutto
• 2 eggs
• ¼ tbsp. butter
• Optional: 1 tsp. herbs (e.g. chive, oregano, parsley, thyme, scallions)
• Optional: 1 tsp. sour cream

~ Preparation ~

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

1. Chop shallot and set aside.
2. Finely grate gruyere and set aside. Larger grate won’t melt in time.
3. Chop prosciutto and set aside.
4. Light beat 2 eggs with a fork in a prep bowl (adding herbs, if using); set aside.
5. Heat 7” non-stick skillet. Sauté shallot for about 5 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add arugula and cook another 3 minutes, until shiny and wilted. Throw in prosciutto to warm up; then place into prep bowl.
6. In same non-stick skillet, heat up half of the butter, and then add in half of the beat egg mixture. With a wooden spoon, swirl the egg around for a couple of seconds until the egg begins to set; then stop touching it. When the omelet begins to set, shake it loose and add in half of the gruyere cheese in a strip in the middle of the omelet. Then add half of the sautéed arugula mixture on top of that strip. Using a spatula, fold over a third of the omelet. Then slide it onto the plate while folding it a second time to make a tri-fold. Set the omelet with the seam-side down. Serve immediately. Plate immediately.

7. Repeat step # 6 for second omelet; serve immediately.

Nutrition content per serving: 264 calories, 3g carbs, 16g protein, 22g fat, 0g fiber

Cost per serving: $1.76

Source: Rustic Garden Bistro

Are you willing to spend 20 minutes on breakfast?

Voici une réflexion qui me fut faite quant au fait que je ne porte pas de laine….

“mais pourquoi ne pas utiliser de laine ? Elle ne fait pas de mal aux moutons non ? Puisqu’on ne fait “que” les tondre…”

Voici un bout de réponse

done

Le mérinos est le mouton que l’on élève le plus couramment pour sa laine. Il a été sélectionné génétiquement pour présenter un maximum de plis de peau et donc de laine. Les plis contre-nature de sa peau et l’épaisseur excessive de la laine l’épuisent à cause de la chaleur. De plus, les plis retiennent l’urine et l’humidité ce qui attire les mouches. Celles-ci y pondent leurs oeufs et les moutons sont attaqués par les larves.

La chèvre, le chameau domestique, le lapin, le lama, l’alpaga, et d’autres espèce encore sont exploitées pour leur laine.

Une fois que l’animal n’est plus assez rentable, il finit à l’abattoir. Ce qui nous montre, encore une fois, que toutes les formes d’exploitations sont liées.

Et c’est sans triop détailler la pratique des plus inhumaines et scandaleuses qu’est le museling… (voir la source 2)

Le museling se définit comme une pratique visant à éviter les infections parasitaires; l’agriculteur découpe donc la chaire du mouton, qui se trouve autour de la partie génitale. Bien sûr… sans anesthésie… pour ajouter à l’horreur de cette pratique dont chaque année des milliers de jeunes moutons sont victimes.

SI (ne rêvons pas trop tout de même, hein ?) les moutons finissaient leurs jours dans un pré verdoyant, le port de la laine resterait tout de même éthiquement injustifiable.

Pourquoi ? Parce que l’exploitation sans mise à mort implique que l’animal est toujours vu comme la propriété de l’être humain, qu’il est élevé de façon massive (avec toutes les pratiques que cela sous-tend, comme la castration, la coupe de la queue, souvent sans anesthésie, etc)

(extraits du site suisse Véganplanète avec quelques éditions et ajouts ici et là, de mon cru et un passage sur le museling )

Et quelques sources

1. Un article très complet ici sur le site ecovégan

2. Un autre sur une pratique des plus ignobles (les mots me manquent tant mon coeur se soulève) “le museling” décrit ici sur ce site

3. La vidéo de PeTA sur le sujet

Soyez végétariens : sauvez des vies

Aujourd’hui, petite variante de la quiche sans pâte, j’ai rajouté des brocolis pour mettre une pointe de verdure en cette fin novembre.

INGREDIENTS:

. 3 oeufs

. 40 cl de crème liquide

. 100 g de farine

. 100 g de gruyère

. 2 petits fromages de chèvre

. Une poignée de brocolis (frais ou surgelés)

. Sel, poivre

Faire cuire les brocolis en les passant quelques minutes à la vapeur ou en les plongeant dans de l’eau bouillante. Les piquer avec une fourchette pour vérifier la cuisson.

Battre les oeufs dans un saladier avec le sel et le poivre.

Ajouter la crème liquide petit à petit puis la farine. Bien mélanger.

Ajouter le gruyère et les brocolis coupés en petits morceaux.

Verser la pâte dans un moule à tarte.

Couper les fromages de chèvre en petits morceaux et les répartir de façon homogène sur la tarte.

Enfourner 40 minutes à 220°C.

Servir chaud ou froid.

Bon appétit!!

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, voici en exclusivité le prochain sac à dos Kanye West en authentique cuir de chèvre, collection 2010, dispo au shop Louis Vuitton de Dakar.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, la conscience professionnelle de cette voyageuse qui se fond littéralement dans la ligne 13 du métro parisien mérite toute votre attention. Surtout si vous êtes fan des personnages de SNK.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, voici en exclusivité le protoype de caddie chinois testé actuellement à Pékin. Une version deux places de 35 cm de large est également en cours de développement.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, Pascal aussi a le droit à son moment de gloire et de répit. Même si ça le distrait et que deux petits sont en train de s’embrouiller derrière lui sans qu’il s’en aperçoive.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, voici en exclusivité la publicité censurée du jeu vidéo “Alone In The Dark“, jugée raciste. Je vois pas pourquoi, mais bon.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, j’ai voulu rendre hommage aux hommes de l’ombre, en l’occurrence au cuisinier personnel de Mariah Carey, que lui avait suggéré Eminem à l’époque. Un orfèvre de la cuisson comme on en fait plus.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, voici en exclusivité la prochaine veste King Kong par A Bathing Ape, collection 2010, dispo au Marché des Voleurs de Hong Kong.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, les gâteaux d’anniversaire de la petite Brenda, 3 ans, fan inconditionnelle de Paris Hilton qui pousse le mimétisme jusqu’à adorer elle aussi les chevaux, méritent largement (et longuement) leur place.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, voici en exclusivité les images de la sextape du frère jumeau de Chris Brown, qui date d’avant son régime protéiné qui lui a fait perdre 45kg. Ouh, sexy.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, j’en profite pour vous faire découvrir ce pyjama Bob l’Eponge, que j’ai trouvé super mignon.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, voici en exclusivité la grande gagnante du “Concours International des Fans des Simpsons – Edition 2009“, couronnée pour son amour inconditionnel de la série. Bravo mademoiselle.

Parce qu’il n’y a pas que les cainris connus qui méritent leur Yellow Carpet, je n’ai pas pu résister à l’envie de vous faire partager le tournage de l’émission Spéciale Afrique de “Pascal le Grand Frère”, sur lequel TF1 m’avait invité en tant que Grand Consultant en Stylisme et Expert en Sapologie Européenne. Habituellement, j’aime pas me vanter mais bon, une fois n’est pas costume.

so, i had some spinach i’d been needing to use. i usually don’t cook spinach… i’ll just eat it plain by the handful or something. but maybe because of the cold lately, i felt like cooking it today.

i started with some butter and garlic powder in a pan over medium heat. once the butter was bubbling, i threw in all the spinach and some salt. i let this cook down, stirring occasionally. once the volume of the spinach had gone down a lot, i poured in some cream and added parmesan cheese, pepper, and chevre (soft goat cheese). i stirred this over medium heat until the liquid had reduced to a nice thick-ish consistency and the spinach looked fully cooked.

in the meantime, i toasted some bread and made an over-easy egg in a separate pan. (i seem to be mastering the technique of flipping an over easy egg by flicking the pan, one handed, no spatula… it’s pretty fun, even if i’ve broken a few yolks in the learning process)

then just spoon the spinach mix on top of the toast, top with an egg… a pretty quick and easy breakfast with a sophisticated twist.

La chèvre de Monsieur Seguin, conte d’Alphonse Daudet
mis en musique par Olivier Penard

Je ne vous apprends rien si je vous dis que j’ai des enfants. Comme tous les enfants, ils vont à l’école (oui oui, même les miens). Et comme tous les enfants qui vont à l’école, ils ont des sorties culturelles. Et comme je suis une gentille maman, j’accompagne souvent les enfants (en fait, c’est pour assouvir mes besoins d’autoritarisme et de tyrannie en me servant des mioches pour me soulager mais chut, faut pas le dire). La semaine dernière, c’était vers une salle polyvalente de la banlieue d’Avignon que la sortie culturelle nous a emmenés. Super top glamour. Et pour aller voir la Chèvre de Monsieur Seguin… top glam too.

En bref : Tout le monde connait la chèvre de Monsieur Seguin… non ? Mais si ! Vous savez, cette andouille qui croit que la liberté n’a pas de prix, pas même celui de sa vie. Qui va quémander puis obtenir une sortie dans les alpages sous réserve de rentrer au son de la trompe, qu’elle n’entendra bientôt plus grisée qu’elle est par l’herbe douce et la brise fraiche… L’histoire de cette abrutie qui va de ce fait rencontrer le loup à la tombée de la nuit, puis perdre poils et suée dans une lutte acharnée qui la verra mourir au petit matin, avec pour seul contentement celui d’avoir tenu peut être aussi longtemps que la chèvre écervelée qui l’avait précédée. Ayé ? remis ? Ben voilà, ce conte a été adapté en musique, il y a une dizaine d’années.

Le plus : C’est beau. Vibrant, vivant, poétique et dramatique. J’ai beaucoup aimé, et tout particulièrement cette envolée lorsque la chèvre découvre la prairie, c’était magique. L’orchestre était de toute beauté, la musique vraiment bien écrite, et les explications de l’utilisation des instruments pour tel ou tel protagoniste ou émotion à faire passer, au début de la pièce, bien trouvée : le chef d’orchestre a su faire passer les informations avec humour et patience. Un bon moment. Et pis le compositeur est pas mal du tout, en plus d’être ouvert et sympa…

Le moins : Faut pas aller écouter un conte qui parle d’une mise à mort sur fond de musique classique avec des enfants. Je ne sais combien de classes de je ne sais combien d’écoles, forcément, ça en fait des “chuuuut”, “rassieds-toi”, arrête de bouger”, “tais-toi”, “tu te retiens c’est bientôt fini”, “mais tu vas la fermer ta grande gueule oui !”, bref… sans les mômes, lesquels pour la plupart, à la fin de la représentation, nous ont informées (nous les instits et mamans) qu’ils s’étaient royalement ennuyés… ça aurait été plus sympa ! Oui, SMIP un jour, SMIP toujours !

Mais comme je suis aussi maman sous mon costume de SMIP, je profite du billet pour souhaiter un superbe anniversaire à mon grand qui a neuf ans aujourd’hui, qui faisait partie de la charrette de la sortie, et qui a apprécié ce qu’il est allé voir, lui (ça c’est bien mon fils !).

Et parce qu’il aime vraiment beaucoup :

Last week, the Martha Stewart show aired an episode focused entirely on cheese — cheese from Vermont, to be precise. Emeril has been to Vermont recently as well. We’re tickled to see the celebrities discover what we discovered ages ago (you know, way back in August) … namely, that Vermont makes some damn good cheese. So much so that I wore myself out recapping my Vermont road trip and never got around to posting the final installment of my travelogue, our visit to Fat Toad Farm in Brookfield.

I discovered Fat Toad at the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival; their rich and creamy goats-milk caramel sauces, made in the tradition of Mexican cajeta, provided one of the sweeter complements to the many samples of cheese on display. Their fresh chevre was refreshingly pure and tangy. As I chatted with Fat Toad’s Josey Hastings, she mentioned that they were located not far off of I-89, our planned route back south to New York. Because of our rush to get to the festival on Sunday (after driving from Virginia to Albany, via Queens, on Saturday) we hadn’t built in much time to visit any farms but hoped to at least stop by one before leaving the state.

Judith Irving and her goat greeters

The next day, we decided to spend some time enjoying Lake Champlain and got a later start back on the road than anticipated. I called the farm and was cautioned that they were beginning evening chores, but would try to give us a quick tour. As we navigated the country roads to the farm, we passed rolling hillside meadows full of dairy cows, including those of Neighborly Farms. It was the sunniest day yet of our road trip and a perfect day to take in the Vermont countryside. When we arrived, Josey had extracted herself from putting up zucchini and graciously gave us the full tour. The quaint farm didn’t take long to navigate, as they are a small, family-run operation with about 40 Alpine and Saanen dairy goats. It was milking time, so we missed out on seeing the goats frolicking in the meadows but got to visit with them as they awaited their turn in the milking chamber.

kissing goats @ Fat Toad Farm

Josey and her family produce most of their own food on their property, including a few pigs (who are fed excess whey, naturally) and fresh produce. The maple for their maple chevre comes from a neighbor. They’ve been making cheese commercially for only about two years, and have clearly developed a winning formula for high quality fresh chevre. The mild cheese can be used as a dip or spread (try on bagels in place of cream cheese), or in recipes like their Fat Toaders’ Caramel Goat Cheese Swirl Brownies.

The caramel sauces come in several flavors, coffee bean, cinnamon, vanilla bean, and original — and if you’re like me and can’t pick just one, you can order a gift box of all four. I bought several for holiday gifts and already gave one away to our hosts in New York; the jury is still out on whether the others will actually be gifted or remain tucked away in my pantry. (Perhaps I’d better order another set to be safe.)

the self-serve farm store

Incidentally, my new secret to the best BLT sandwich you will ever have? A generous schmear of Fat Toad Farm maple chevre in place of mayonnaise.  Pure bliss.

Thank you to Josey and family for allowing us to poke around the farm. We hope to make it back again soon!

Fat Toad Farm
787 Kibbee Rd
Brookfield, VT
802.279.0098 — call now for holiday orders
www.fattoadfarm.com

Save the Date: The 2010 Vermont Cheesemakers Festival will be held in July, Sunday the 25th, back at Shelburne Farms.

There aren’t many dishes simpler or more basic than James Beard’s recipe for Chèvre-Tomato Spaghetti. The sauce is a very straightforward marinara, made of tomatoes in puree (he recommends Redpack), sliced onions, fresh black pepper, dried basil and butter. To that, cubed chèvre — goat cheese — and Tabasco sauce are added, and it’s served atop spaghetti. A variation on the recipe suggests using blue cheese and omitting the Tabasco sauce, but we’re using the conventional recipe with chèvre and Tabasco. Try this change from the typical spaghetti and meatballs! It’s a little creamy to be sure, but mostly it’s a walk on the spicy side of pasta.

Le Rove des Garrigues är en färsk getost som fått sitt namn av Rove som är en getras och Garrigue som är en beteckning på en buskig vegetation som  finns i medelhavsområdet där ingående växtarter bland annat är timjan, rosmarin, lavendel. Denna 72 grams lilla pastöriserade getost smakar också väldigt mycket timjan och har även inslag av lavendel. Tyvärr ingen ost som faller mig i smaken då jag får lite av tvålkänsla i munnen på grund av de ganska påträngande smakerna. Bästa säsong skall vara sommar, höst och vår så jag kanske ger den ytterligare en chans framåt vårkanten.

One of my holiday recipes is being featured on AC’s Food & Wine page!

Holiday Cheese Tortes, by Shawn Sisson.  This is the same recipe I donated to the Bike Stop event earlier this year. I am excited!

I woke up this morning with a MAJOR food hangover. This past week I did a little too much eating and drinking and not enough exercise. Today starts a new week for me, and a new beginning. It is time for me to start my GET BACK ON TRACK WEEK. I woke up early this morning with the sunrise and pounded out 4.5 miles. Here are my stats:

• Distance: 4.51 miles
• Time: 40:49
• Average Pace: 9:03/mile
• Mile 1: 9:02
• Mile 2: 9:07
• Mile 3: 9:13
• Mile 4: 9:00
• Last .51 mile: 4:28

As you can tell my run was a bit slow for me, but after my dinner last night (which you will find at the end of this post) it was hard to run fast. When I got back I was craving a green smoothie, but there just was not enough time. I had 2 TBS of liquid chlorophyll in 16oz of water, packed my breakfast and lunch, got ready for work, and hit the road.

I had read in a magazine a while back to put 1-2 TBS of liquid chlorophyll in your water each morning to help revitalize your skin. It acts as an anti-inflammatory so it helps to make your complexion brighter. I had bought this a while ago, but haven’t been drinking it lately, and after all this food and wine this week my skin NEEDED it.

I also found THIS great website, that explains in depth all the health benefits of liquid chlorophyll.

Some other benefits from chlorophyll are:

• It helps to rebuild and replenish red blood cells and boosts our energy
• It helps to cleanse the body, fight infection, heal wounds, and promote the health of the circulatory, digestive, immune, and detoxification systems

You can find so many other benefits on the website as well. It is pretty awesome stuff if you ask me.

Now lets recap this week in food. It was quite a week if you ask me.

BEFORE YOU KEEP READING PLEASE READ THIS! First I should preface by saying that I want to remind you that I am in the wine and food industry. That means you must have an adventurous palate and be prepared to try things you would not normally eat.

I am about to share with you some meals that are not even CLOSE to healthy, but it is about the experience and tasting everything, and enjoying the pairings. The two dinners I attended this week required me to step out of my element and try foods I would have never tasted before. I don’t want anyone to take offense to any of these meals because that is not my intention of posting them. I am posting them because they were exquisite meals prepared by exquisite chefs, and it is important to showcase my experience in this industry.

With that being said my food week started off on Tuesday at the Pascal Maillard Dinner at Michel Richard’s Citronelle. Lots of food, LOTS of wine, and an overall great time. It was very dark in the restaurant so I apologize about the pictures. Also-I didn’t know what some of the foods were so I’ll do my best explaining.

We started out with a wine tasting of some of Pascal’s wines in the ballroom of the hotel.

The wines were so complex and full of layers. I couldn’t wait to try them with food. Even though we tried different wines with our meal, I had an idea of what his wines tasted like, and I couldn’t wait to try them with food. We proceeded upstairs to the private dining area at Citronelle where we were treated like Kings and Queens.

We started out with passed appetizers. Smoked salmon, cheese puffs, gourmet chicken nuggets with honey mustard sauce, fried mushroom sandwiches, and a few other things. Here are a few pics of the appetizers, but I tried to save room for the meal.

Then dinner was served. First course: Escargot Tart. This reminded me of a small pizza. I’ve never had snails so this was my first experience, and to be honest-they were not that bad. The crust was crispy, and I loved the flavor of the tomato sauce and greens. The snails almost reminded me of mushrooms. Is that weird?

Second course: Foie Gras Roulade with Sweet Autumn spices. This was probably my most memorable course. I loved the Foie Gras with the harvest vegetables and the sweetness of the jelly around it. Very nice.

My favorite white of the evening was the Maillard Corton Blanc Grand Cru 2006. Such a rich and beautiful wine. MMM MMM.

Third course: Fresh Rockfish with stuffed cabbage in essence of Corton. The fish was caught that very day in Maryland. The sauce was brilliant and bright and just gave the dish the slightest sweet taste, but complimented it well.

Fourth course: Duck with Beaune Sauce, truffle macaroni cube, and seasonal vegetables. The duck was very good, but I loved the cube of macaroni and cheese encrusted in truffles. I mean come on..IT’s TRUFFLES!

Fifth Course: Dessert: La Belle Helene. I have no idea what exactly this was but it had a puree of pear and a small chocolate ganache in the middle with vanilla ice cream on top. It was awesome.

The night ended with some fun pictures. I was even able to get one with Michel Richard himself.

Winemaker Pascal Maillard and Me

Pascal Maillard, Chef Michel Richard, and Me

I also met Bruno Goussault who teaches famous chefs, such and Michel Richard and Daniel Boulud at Daniel, to cook with a technique called sous vide (French for ”under vacuum”).

If you are interested you can read an entire article about him here. Very interesting.

So that concludes my Tuesday Night at Citronelle. The rest of the week was very low keyed until last night, Sunday. We had a staff dinner at Belga Cafe in Washington, DC, and it was NOTHING like I expected. I thought we were going to have a small little staff dinner at some restaurant, and I was completely blown away. First of all my boss picked out certain wines he wanted to have, and he worked with the chef, Bart Vandaele, on preparing the meals around these wines. Let me just tell you Bart pulled out all the stops for this one. This was a SEVEN course meal with absolutely outstanding, expensive, wine list.

We arrived at the restaurant, and I loved how cute and quaint it was. Very cozy, and upscale at the same time. Our table was set nicely with personalized menus and wine glasses. I knew right away this was going to be something special.

We started out with traditional Belgian Frites and of course champagne, Eric Rodez Empreinte de Terroir Pinot Noir 1998. I told you this was a special night. This champagne just became #1 on my champagne list. Already the night was starting to look good.

First Course: Frisee Salad with Croquette of Pig’s Feet.

This was paired with a VERY special bottle of Lamy Pillot Le Montrachet 2000. This bottle retails around $500…just sayin. It was GOOOD.

Second Course: Risotto with red beets, mussels in yellow safron, and velvet black squid sauce.

This dish was paired with the 375th Anniversary Cuvee bottle of Trimbach Riesling. The best Riesling out there in my opinion.

Third Course-Pan Seared Scallop with a Bon Bon of snails. I have to say this was probably one of my favorite dishes of the evening. I loved the sweetness of the red wine reduction with the pan seared scallop. SO good. Again my second encounter with snails this week, and again I really enjoyed them. This Bon Bon of snails was surprisingly outstanding.

Fourth Course:not on menu: Chef Bart’s famous cold smoked Foie Gras. This literally melted in your mouth, and my colleague Carrie said it best “This is the best thing that has ever touched my lips” The sweetness from the cherry jelly on the sides was amazing with the smokiness of the foie gras. A PERFECT pairing with Coteaux du Layon. Absolutely Spectacular!

This is where we switched to red wines, and I can’t remember everything we were drinking because I never got to see the bottles, but I know we had a Casanova di Neri Brunello, a 1983 Bordeaux, a 1984 Caymus Special Select Cabernet, and a Barolo. I was so excited about the 1984 Caymus because that is my birth year. I definitely kept the bottle!

Fifth Course: Slow cooked rabbit roulade, young veggies in a prune compote with a crispy bacon Rodenbach ale sauce. This was good, but I’m not a huge fan of rabbit.

Sixth Course: Venison Fillet with pumpkin, baked salsify, blood sausage croquette, pomegranate sauce, and corn waffle speculoos. This was by far my favorite dish of the night. The venison was so incredibly tender, and I loved the touch of pumpkin and pomegranate. The best was getting a piece of the waffle, a piece of the venison, and dipping it in the pomegranate sauce. UNBELIEVABLE! This was a perfect pairing with the Brunello and Caymus Cabernet. Such an outstanding dish. One I will never forget. The salsify was a new root vegetable that I have never tried, and I must find this in the grocery store. It was really good!

Seventh Course: Belgian Cheese Plate with a twist. This was 4 outstanding cheeses with a little fig and fig sauce. My favorite was the one in the middle and the Chevre. I had a little of the Trimbach Riesling with the Chevre..MAGNIFIQUE! I wasn’t able to finish all of this..obviously… but each cheese was different and had a very unique taste. A great way to finish the night!

The whole crew (minus 1 because he was sick) with the chef.

You can tell we had our fair share of food and wine. Now you know exactly why I feel like it is time to get back on track. A great week of food and wine, but a little too much for me to handle. I was happy to get a run in before work today. The week is already starting off on the right track. That concludes my post, and I hope you all have lovely days!

I try to work at least one solid, balls to the walls meal into my schedule every week. This week, it happened to be last Friday, when I had the whole weekend off and a desire to recreate an idea I had at work a couple weeks back. It was a nice dish, with color and pizazz, but it lacked something. I reached into the depths of my psyche and came out with one word: gnocchi. Gnocchi is a dish that is closest to my heart, not most because of the familiar process of working the freshly cooked potato into flour, fat, and herbs, but because of its versatility. These modest potato dumplings can pair with almost any main course, or stand alone as an appetizer. They go with tomato and parmesan as well as they go with salmon and beurre blanc, or venison and port wine demi, depending on the seasoning. A good offset to this Friday night feast, complete with a first time, hands-on strudel making session that turned into Saturday morning’s redemption. Here’s how it all went down:

pork tenderloin,

goat cheese cream,

strudel,

and you get one hell of a productive Friday night… Hand me a homebrew, will ya?

Rosemary Gnocchi

Ingredients:

4 medium sized starchy potatoes
Approximately 2 cups flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg, slightly beaten
A few sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Directions:

Bake potatoes at 200 degrees Celsius (400 F) for about an hour. Put a large pot of water to boil. Halve potatoes and squeeze out potato from skin (use a clean towel to hold the potatoes while you’re squeezing them). Mash potato with oil and salt. Add an amount of flour equal to the amount of potato by volume along with the rosemary and egg. Mix the ingredients until just combined, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. This is the most crucial step: you have to gently knead the mixture into a uniform dough, but if you overwork it, the gnocchi will become too tough when you cook them, and the mixture has to stay warm until the last bit of flour is worked in. It’s a delicate touch; I usually stop just when I feel the mixture begin to stiffen and exhibit a slightly springy texture.

To form the gnocchi; divide the dough into two parts and roll in to a rope about 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut the rope into 1 inch segments. Using your thumb, roll the segments over a gnocchi board (also called garganelli board or butter pat), or any other grooved or ridged surface (a sushi mat works well). Dust with flour and drop into boiling water in batches, cooking the gnocchi until it floats. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a ice water bath to prevent over cooking. At this point, if you’ve made a large batch, you can toss some in oil and store for later use. Lightly pan fry the rest in butter (I use duck fat, recipe to follow…) before serving.

Cranberry-Apple Strudel

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/3 cup room temperature water

6 apples, cored and peeled
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup whole fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Sift together salt and flour into large bowl, making a well in the center. Combine in a small bowl: egg, water and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Pour egg mixture into dry ingrediens and mix quickly into the dry ingredients. Turn out and knead dough onto a lightly floured surface for about ten minutes; the dough should become silky, slightly elastic and not sticky. Form the dough into a ball, brush with melted butter, and place in a covered bowl and rest in a warm place about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200 Celcius (400 F). Cut apples into thin wedges, then chop into 1/2 inch pieces. Toast breadcrumbs in a pan in oven until golden brown. Combine half of the breadcrumbs, hazelnuts. sugar, cranberries, lemon zest and cinnamon in a large bowl, then toss in the apples.

Cover a 30 inch by 30 inch surface with baking paper. On a very lightly floured surface, roll dough as thinly as possible. Transfer dough to baking paper. Carefully begin to stretch the dough by draping it over the back of your hands and stretching it away from the center, working slowly outwards, until the dough is about thirty inches square. Trim the thicker bits off the edges with a pair of sharp scissors; you can patch any holes with the trimmings. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Brush the entire dough with melted butter. Leaving a 3-inch gap on one side, sprinkle the rest of the bread crumbs on one third of the remaining dough. On the same area, distribute the apple filling evenly, and fold the 3-inch section over the filling. Pick up the ends of the baking paper, letting the dough spin itself around the filling. Form the rolled strudel into a horseshoe shape, brush with melted butter, and bake on a greased baking sheet for 20 mins. Take out and brush with more butter, then bake for another 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely on a rack and serve dusted with powdered sugar.

Något av det roligaste som finns är när man provar en ny kombination ingredienser och den visar sig vara riktigt lyckad. Så är det verkligen inte alltid. Men den här blandningen resulterade i riktigt trevliga och lite vuxnare muffins, som passar till en sådan där fika som är en blandning av en vanlig fika och en lite mer seriös måltid. Hemligheten finns som alltid i chokladen – här har jag använt choklad från Valrhona. Valrhonachoklad är något av det finaste Gud skapat och även om den är svindlande dyr så är livet alldeles för kort för att inte äta den så ofta det bara går.

125 gram smör
2 dl socker
2 ägg
1 1/2 dl mjölk
4 1/2 dl vetemjöl
2 tsk bakpulver
2 msk siktat kakao
1 skiva chèvreost
100 gram mörk Valrhonachoklad i bitar
1 dl valnötter

Blanda smör och socker och rör sedan i äggen, ett åt gången. Blanda ner övriga ingredienser (förutom chokladbitarna, valnötterna och osten) och häll smeten i små kakformar. Stick ner fullt med chokladbitar, smulad chèvreost och valnötter i varje muffin. Grädda runt 20 minuter i 175 grader. Ringla eventuellt lite honung över muffinsen innan servering.

Here’s the James Beard Project menu for Week 2:

Monday, Nov. 9 — Curried Mussels (James Beard’s Fish Cookery, p. 334)

Tuesday, Nov. 10 — Chèvre-Tomato Spaghetti (Beard on Pasta, P. 150)

Wednesday, Nov. 11 — Chicken Tetrazzini (Beard on Pasta, p. 110)

Thursday, Nov. 12 — Salmon Sauté Provençal (James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, p. 179)

Friday, Nov. 13 — Cream Puffs with Chocolate Sauce (James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, p. 244)

Saturday, Nov. 14 — Veal Chops Niçoise (James Beard’s Theory and Practice of Good Cooking, p. 136)

I know, that was a LOT of Glenn Beck. Let’s cleanse our palate with a little recap of things I baked and cooked this last weekend.

Friday night I made butternut squash, chevre, and sage ravioli with brown butter sauce:

Butternut Squash Ravioli

Saturday, the baked potato soup and the parmesan breadsticks:

Parmesan Breadsticks

Baked Potato Soup

There – now don’t you fell better?

Décrire une image :

une phrase créée aujourd’hui par nos 10 CE2, et qui leur a plu énormément !

” Dans la montagne, au milieu des buissons, la chèvre de Monsieur Seguin traverse un torrent en sautant joyeusement sur les rochers. “

23/10/09

Étalez votre beurre sur du pain de mie. Ajoutez des morceaux de fromage de chèvre et quelques traits de miel par dessus. Mettez au four pendant 5 minutes.

C’est prêt ! Attention c’est chaud !