I originally made this recipe about 8 years ago for a Pig Roast I did for Potrero Nuevo Farm in Pescadero and now here I am making it again for a backyard Fourth of July Party with two kids in tow. Oh how life has changed since my Farm-to-Table days.

Tangy green tomatoes make such a great starter. Feel free to batter up zucchini sticks too – the cornmeal crust slips off a little bit but they are still pretty darned snack-able. And if you can’t find fine cornmeal you can use a medium grind but they will be extra crunchy…

I love dunking fried green tomatoes into homemade ranch. But feel free to double up the sauces, remoulade is also great with this. I also make a killer Anchovy Remoulade Sauce that adds a little umami flavor.

Pictured below is Chef Valentin prepping 60 fry baskets for the Pig Roast many years ago…

Finding green tomatoes can be a little challenging if you don’t grow them yourself. The Green Zebra variety is actually ripe when green and too juicy for this recipe. If your market doesn’t stock green tomatoes as a specialty item have a look in the colorful heirloom pile. I often find green ones thrown into the mix or stop by your local farmer’s market and ask.

Here is a link to my original post many years ago…

http://www.amyglaze.com/cornmeal-crusted-fried-green-tomatoes-with-homemade-ranch-dressing/

The post Fried Green Tomatoes first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I didn’t want to leave you hanging with that last saffron cherry rice dish (albaloo polo). I know you were like: What do we serve with it lady?!?

Our fav is saffron chicken kabobs. As Layla’s Mama Bozorg (Grandma) always says, “you can never have enough saffron!” Whether cooking thigh meat or breast over a charcoal barbecue (preferably), jujeh kabobs are a staple in Persian cooking.

What makes jujeh kabobs so special and so incredibly delicious? The magical vibrant look and taste of saffron for one, but also the simple onion marinade and the onion juice that is brushed over towards the end of cooking. And there’s just something extra macho-feeling about cooking two-foot long kabobs!

Persians like variety. In our family, we rarely serve just one type of kabob. Normally we’ll serve koubideh alongside our jujeh kabobs. And there’s a reason for this. Koubideh kabob is made of ground beef, sometimes mixed with lamb too, and grated onion that has been wrung out in cheesecloth to remove the juice. The juice from the onion can be used for the chicken kabobs and the pulp for the beef kabobs. Making koubideh is an art form in itself and I’ll tackle that mountain soon – it’s not easy to get the meat onto the actual stakes correctly.

There are two types of jujeh kabob recipes. One is with yogurt (which is the way my Mother-in-Law makes them) or without yogurt which is how we make them at Faz’s restaurants. In the yogurt version the saffron is mixed in with the yogurt marinade, in the Faz version, saffron-onion juice is brushed over the kabob while cooking and not added to the marinade. I will put both versions down below for you to choose from. They are both delicious, I really don’t have a preference. The yogurt marinade does make the chicken a little more tender.

Saffron. Yeah, that little plastic jar that contains 3 threads is cute. That’s not going to cut it Persian cooking. Do not buy your saffron from a normal super market. It’s a rip off. Go online or go to a Persian or Middle Eastern market for saffron. They will sell it in a big package so you can use it properly. The best way to make use of it, is to grind it all up in a burr grinder and keep it in an air tight container.

Here’s a funny little trick on how to “bloom” saffron before mixing it into marinades or adding it to rice that my Mother-in-Law uses: sprinkle the saffron over ice cubes and let it melt to room temperature. Don’t use hot water. The reason? You don’t want to dilute the flavor or aroma or “cook” it twice. It also preserves the beautiful orange-yellow color.

What to serve with Saffron Chicken Kabobs? Saffron rice of course! Or Saffron Sour Cherry rice. We normally pair them with grilled Tomatoes, Shirazi salad and I could never eat kabobs without mast-o-khiar which is a lebneh cucumber dip.

The post Persian Saffron Chicken Kabobs: Jujeh Kabobs first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Neither my Husband or my daughter, Layla, like chicken. My husband might be tempted if it’s slowly stewed in a thick sauce of pomegranate and ground walnuts or marinated in saffron and onion juice and cooked on long skewers over a charcoal fire, but neither daughter or hubby get excited about a roasted chicken or a baked breast. I can’t really blame them actually, once you’ve tasted Fesenjoon or Jujeh kabob, it’s hard to go back. But fried chicken, on the other hand,  disappears quickly.

I originally created this spice rub for Faz Restaurasnt for our Persian popcorn chicken appetizer. It flew out the door to say the least. The spices are a mixture of Persian sun dried lime, toasted cumin, tumeric, smoked paprika and salt. Sun dried limes (dried whole Persian Bearss limes) give an awesome sour kick. These limes are mostly used in stews like Gormeh Sabzi (meat stew with sun dried limes and braised green fresh herbs) where they are added whole and simmered slowly with other ingredients. But here, for this spice blend, I just toss them into the Vitamix along with the other spices and whirr away.

Sumac is another interesting spice that adds a pleasing sour pucker. My husband likes to spoon sumac over his saffron rice and on top of meat too. I find here, that it gives ripe, sweet peaches a little extra zing. Sumac is not a spice-y spice in terms of heat. It’s quite mild and, like sundried lime, is on the tart side.

Sabzi means ‘greens’ in farsi and refers to green herbs in recipes. No Persian meal is truly complete without a sabzi platter consisting of lemon basil, tarragon (the kind with fat leaves), mint and scallions. It’s a healthy antioxidant mixture often served alongside peeled walnuts and feta. The sabzi mixture gets rolled up in barbari bread or lavash with feta and eaten as an appetizer or added alongside the other various dishes being served for the meal.

Oh and Persians love raw onions! My husband would eat them like apples if I let him – which I don’t – for the obvious reasons! He shoves whole scallions in sandwiches along with all the other sabzi herbs and munches happily away. Me, not so much. My daughter, she likes onions too. Must be in the genes!

I just can’t seem to plate a protein without some sort of swoop these days. This one is an easy saffron aioli! You can cheat and add ground saffron to your mayo if you’re in a hurry. I won’t tell anyone. And, if I wasn’t mostly-gluten-free this whole meal would really be great as a sandwich on a brioche bun.

Salamati!

The post Persian Fried Chicken, Sumac Peaches, Sabzi Salad first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Chermoula Roasted Salmon with Dill-Lebni Sauce

Lebni or Labneh is like Greek yogurt in flavor but thickened with a different culture and strained. It’s almost considered a soft cheese in some parts of the world. We buy it in bulk from a Persian purveyor, but it can be bought in Whole Foods too or you can just use Greek Yogurt.

The post Chermoula Roasted Salmon with Saffron Pearl Cous Cous and Dill-Lebni Sauce first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Or if September is just too far away come join me for the Chef Series at Pie Ranch July 19th for my…

I Dip, You Dip, We Dip Class: This is a professional knife skills & kitchen tools course cleverly disguised as just an ordinary chips n’ dip kinda class! We will hone our skills while preparing a completely seasonal Pie Ranch sourced menu showcasing the amazing and wonderful ways dips can be used from stand alone appetizers to fabulous main course garnishes & sauces. At the end of class we will debrief on our dip-tastic recipes & skills learned, enjoy the beautiful surroundings, and dig in to our feast! And yes, wine will be provided to enjoy with our meal.

Sample Menu: Crudité with Caramelized Onion Dip (this ain’t your Lipton soup mix!), cornmeal crusted zucchini sticks with herbed ranch dip, Watermelon gazpacho with Dungeness crab, Coriander spiced chicken thighs with rhubarb & cucumber salsa, Shrimp with roasted cherry tomato salsa, braised greens with fundido sauce. For dessert: homemade vanilla ice cream sundaes (made from a crème anglais base) with strawberry and/or chocolate sauce, shortbread cookies, whipped cream.

July 19th, 1Pm- 5PM, at Pie Ranch, $95/person (class limit at 20 people) and there is a barn dance in the evening!

Pie Ranch is a beautiful bucolic coastal farm right off of Highway 1 about 20 minutes North of Santa Cruz and 30 minutes South of Half Moon Bay. Come cook with me! Sign up the OLD FASHIONED WAY by picking up the phone and calling Kelly or Alexandra at Pie Ranch at (650) 879-0995. Or you can RSVP to kelly@pieranch.org

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

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Lollo Rosso, Red Romaine, Red Leaf, Shaved Fennel, Mint, Orange, and Sour Grass Flowers

My idea of sour grass as an edible plant changed to it being a really bad weed.

Much later as a young married adult in my very first house, I had an incredible garden. In my SF Mission garden I planted 5 fruit trees, annuals, perennials, roses, herbs, strawberries, vegetables – it was magical and a lot of work. That little sour grass plant tried several times to sneak its wild ways into my carefully crafted-to-look-whimsical garden. But I stamped it out quickly and mercilessly…

Sour Grass and Mustard Flower Fields Forever

Now my commute from San Francisco to Pescadero winds south along Highway 1. The freeway divides the rugged cliffs & ocean from the verdant mountains splashed with flourescent yellow. Mixed in with mustard flowers, the neon sour grass is untamed and glorious. I cannot get over how beautiful it is this Spring – truly breathtaking. Who would have thought?

Speaking of glorious, the lettuce in Pescadero right now is gorgeous. This salad is a mixture of ruffly red Lollo Rosso & deep purple Red Romaine from Del Sur farm and beautiful red leaf lettuce from Pie Ranch. I always love shaved fennel (Blue House Farm) with orange & mint. Navel oranges are at their peak and they’re inexpensive right now – even the organic ones.

Sour grass flowers just adds a little color and a little imagination. They do contain oxalic acid (as do turnip leaves) so I wouldn’t advise eating bushels of them, but they are hardly the weed I once thought them to be…

The post Purple Lettuces with Fennel, Orange, Mint & Sour Grass first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The post Video Recipes first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Savory
Choux Pastry: Shrimp in Puff Boats
Beignet Batter: Oysters
Yorkshire Pudding: Herb Crusted Standing Rib Roast
Brioche
Phyllo Dough
Crepes
Quiche Lorraine
Croisssants (see video on Puff Pastry below)
Sweet Corn Mini Madeleines with Smoked Salmon
Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Tart with Parmesan Black Pepper Crus
Pumpkin Sage Buttermilk Biscuits

Sweet
Persian Saffron Orange Cake
Beignets Stuffed with Meyer Lemon Curd
Bread Pudding with Pears and Currants
How To Make Puff Pastry + Video
Polenta Cake with Rhubarb Compote & Ribbons
Gâteau Chocolat
Tarte Aux Noix
Tarte Aux Nectarine et Mûres
Wild Blackberry Pie
Tarte au Poire et Cardamon Crème Anglais
Tarte Aux Pommes
Tarte Fine Aux Pommes
Tarte Au Frambois
Tarte Aux Figues
Cherry Clafouti
Macarons

The post Pasta, Pastry & Desserts first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Langoustines, Shrimp, Clams & Mussels
Citizen Cake Clam Chowder
Shrimp Brochettes with Pineapple Salsa and Avocado Coconut Cream
Paella!
Thai Curry
Shrimp Salad In Choux Pastry Puff Boats
Couscous with Shrimp & Vanilla Oil

Lobster
Lobster Risotto

Oysters
How To Shuck ‘Em Video
Oysters Beignet with Video

Scallops
Bay Scallop Ceviche with Watermelong Gazpacho
Proscuitto Wrapped Scallops & Saffron Sweet Potato Purée
Tempura Zucchini flowers stuffed with Scallops, Lemon, & Basil
Grapefruit Glazed Scallops with Roasted Beets and Thyme
Artichoke Bottoms with Scallops and Bacon
Scallops Cooked in Phyllo Pastry

The post Fish & Shellfish first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The post Lamb first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Beef
Beef Short Rib Shortcakes with Cherry Balsamic Sauce
Braised Beef Shank with Rosemary Polenta
Herb Crusted Standing Rib Roast
Warm Steak Salad With Spicy Watercress
Bistro Style Fried Brains with Lemon, Garlic, Parsley Sauce
Tongue with Bistro Herb Vinaigrette
Adobada Grilled Steak

The post Beef & Veal first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The post Pork first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Thanksgiving Turkey Tips

The post Poultry first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Artichokes
Artichoke Bottoms with Scallops
Artichokes Deep Fried

Basil
Basil Pesto

Beets
Roasted Red & Yellow Beets

Brussel Sprouts
Brussel Sprouts with Prime Rib

Carrots
Heirloom Carrot Salad with Oyster Vinaigrette

Cauliflower
Cauliflower Porcini Soup with Thyme

Corn
Crispy Corn Fritters
Fresh Corn & Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts and Cilantro
Tomato, Fava Bean, Corn Warm Salad
Sweet White Corn Soup

Cucumber
Cool Cucumber Salad with Radish
Quinoa Greek Salad

Green Beans
Tempura Green Beans

Kale
Kale and Fuyu Persimmon salad, blue cheese beignets

Onions
Creamed Onions Chanterelles & Pancetta

Peppers & Chile Peppers
Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Tart with Parmesan Black Pepper Crust
Poblano Chile Cappuccino with Wild Mushrooms
Padron Pepper Appetizer

Potatoes
Vichyssoise Soup: Potato & Leek

Rhubarb
Rhubarb Celery Chutney with Grilled Pork Chops

Sweet Peas
Sweet Pea Gnocchi

Sweet Potatoes
Saffron Sweet Potato Purée with Proscuitto Wrapped Scallops
Sweet Potato Hash

Squash
Spiced Butternut Squash Risotto with Dandelion Greens
Roasted Sweet Dumpling Squash with Frisée & Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
Pumpkin White Truffle Soup
Butternut Squash Soup
Pumpkin Sage Buttermilk Biscuits

Tomato
Fried Green Zebra Tomatoes with Poached Egg & Basil
Roasted Red & Yellow Tomato Soup
Shrimp in Puff Boats with Tomato Coulis
Tomato Gazpacho
Quinoa Greek Salad

Turnips
Turnips Fried in Bacon Fat!

Zucchini
Tempura Zucchini flowers stuffed with Scallops, Lemon, & Basil
Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
Beignet Zucchini Flowers
Cold Zucchini Soup

The post Vegetables first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Blackberries
Arugula Salad with Nastursiums and Blackberries
Blackberry Kir Royal
Wild Blackberry Pie

Cherries
Cherry Clafouti

Figs
Tart Aux Figues

Grapefruit
Grapefruit Glazed Scallops

Nectarines
Nectarine and Blackberry Tart

Orange
Braised Radicchio with Smoked Duck & Orange

Persimmon
Kale & Persimmon salad, Blue Cheese Beignets, Buddha’s Hand Vinaigrette

Pears
Poire Rôti Avec Syrop de Vin Rouge
Pear Tart

Pineapple
Pineapple Raviolis with Goat Cheese

Raspberries
Raspberry Almond Cream Tart

Rhubarb
Polenta Cake With Rhubarb Ribbons

Strawberries
Strawberry Basil Gaspacho with Polenta & Shrimp
Beet Leaf Salad with Strawberry Viniagrette & Melon

Watermelon
Watermelon Gazpacho with Cuban Bay Scallop Ceviche

The post Fruit first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The post Eggs first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

After I finished deep frying my oysters, I then when onto to experiment with other ingredients: tangerine slices, frozen chocolate truffles, and spoonfuls of the batter dropped in like doughnuts. No complaints here!

This video is a continuation from “How To Shuck ‘Em” so I do not give a detailed explanation again on how to pry apart oysters. However, I felt it only appropriate to stick in another Britney Spears song (Gimme More) just to carry along the previous theme.

I’m kinda vibing with ol’ Britney Spears lately, maybe because she always seems to be in situations where she has to prove herself.

Not all beignet batter uses yeast or beer. If you want a batter that is more bread-like, compressed fresh yeast or active dry yeast will give it that texture and a nutty flavor. (I used active dry yeast in video).

However, if yeast intimates you, using a mixture of baking powder, cornstarch, and flour can be substituted. It will not have the exact same bread-like flavor or texture, but it provides a nice tempura-like crunch with a quick bread taste and it is much faster to prepare. (works extremely well for vegetables, shrimp, and oysters). I’ve included both recipes at the end.

When it comes to deep frying I always use peanut oil because it is neutral in taste and has a high smoke point. You can turn up the heat under your oil without billowing black noxious smoke taking over your house (or flames for that matter).

It’s important to maintain a temperature of 180˚C or 360˚F. This insures that the surface of the food you’re frying, will quickly form a protective barrier preventing the oil from soaking into the main ingredient and making it greasy and inedible. Inversely, if the oil is too hot, then the batter will burn before the inner ingredients gets a chance to cook indirectly. Always monitor the temperature if not using a professional deep fryer or one with a built in thermometer.

Britney fan or not, this batter is versatile for sweet and savory dishes. Whether you want to make plain beignets coated with sugar or turn seafood and vegetables into something unrecognizable yet delicious, it’s a safe bet.

Turn up the music and have some fun!

Technorati Tags: beer batter, beignet, oysters

Beignet Beer Batter

4 egg yolks
5 g fresh compressed yeast or if using dry active yeast dissolve in warm milk or water first
200 ml beer
250 g flour
25 g sugar
5 g salt
4 egg whites beat stiff

Instructions
1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl (flour, salt, sugar). If using compressed yeast add to dry ingredients and leave out the salt until the wet ingredients are incorporated. Salt stops the yeast fermentation process so it’s better to add at the end if not pre-dissolved.
2. Mix all wet ingredients together in a separate mixing bowl (beer, egg yoks, and dissolved dry active yeast•).
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and let rest while beating egg whites stiff.
4. After beating egg whites stiff fold them into batter.
5. Dip whatever main ingredient you are using into batter and deep fry at 180˚C or 360˚F until the batter is golden brown on each side.
6. Remove and let drain a little on paper towels before serving.
• follow the instructions on the packet of active dry yeast to dissolve. Normally this means heating water or milk until warm (70˚C or 140˚F) add yeast and stir gently. Then let sit a minute until the yeast becomes foamy. Once foamy, you can add to wet ingredients.

Beinget Batter (without yeast)

90g flour
60g cornstarch
15g baking powder
75 ml whipping cream
1 egg
125 warm water water (60˚C or 120˚F)

Instructions
1. Mix cornstarch, flour, egg, and salt.
2. Whisk warm water and cream together and then add baking powder.
3. Pour liquid over flour mixture and stir with whisk
4. Cover batter with film and let rise for 4-5 minutes before using.

The post Oysters Beignet first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

David Lebovitz worked for Chez Panisse as a pastry chef for fifteen years and now resides here in Paris. His blog is spirited, funny, and warm chronicling his food adventures in Paris. His six cookbooks fall nothing short of fabulous with the same beautiful photography of his blog paired with his extensive knowledge of all things sweet. Published by Ten Speed Press.

My mother gave me this cookbook when I started working the viande station at Guy Savoy. She thought the nicely illustrated diagrams would help me to figure out the difference between American and French cuts of meat and they did. This is for the carnivores and bone suckers in your family. Includes tasty game recipes too.

Suite Française is one of those books that caught me in Shakepeare & Co. and I just couldn’t walk away without buying it. It’s not a charming little ex-pat story, it’s a stunning poignant novel written during World War II in France that was just recently discovered and translated. The author Irène Némirovsky, a Russian jew by birth, was prevented from publishing this novel when the Germans occupied France. She moved to Issy-l’Evêque with her family during the war (German occupied) and died in Auschwitz. A must read.

Fires written by Nick Antosca is an edgy fiction book printed by the upcoming hip publishing company Impetus Press. Nick’s style of writing is difficult to resist and the author draws you into the dark lives of three Yale college students as they struggle to come to terms with their childhoods and futures amidst fires both real and imagined that threaten to turn their dreams to ashes. I read this book in one day. I just couldn’t put it down. This book contains some graphic language and images.

4 Seasons À La Table N˚5 can only be ordered from the Amazon French store and it’s worth the extra bucks. It was recently mentioned in the December issue of Gourmet magazine. The book was co-authored with one of Hotel Meurice’s regular clients Kazuko Masui, who always dines at table number five. The recipes cover four seasons of food and are the executive chef, Yannick Alleno’s contributions to 3-star cuisine. This is some of the most beautiful food in Paris if not the world. The recipes are written in French and are not practical for the home chef, but the pictures and ideas are stunning. I can’t express enough how beautiful this coffee table book is. A very special and unique gift for the foodie in your family.

Technorati Tags: books, cookbooks, tag

The post Holiday Help first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Today’s lesson boys and girls is on the French white bread with a thick dense spongy crumb called Pain de Mie. In the United States we call this sandwich bread. But here in France, we call it: addictive. Uh-dic-tive. Good.

(Children, this is too expensive for pain de mie in France. It should cost no more than 2 euros)

I would like you to write a short essay on Pain de Mie and post it below. I will give you an example from a previous student, Billy, who used his creativity to share with the class on why he likes Pain de Mie so very, very much:

“My mommy buys me pain de mie. She cuts off the crusts and then slices it for toast. I like it when she puts jam and butter on top. But what I really wish she would do is make a bed for me out of pain de mie so that I could squish into its soft crumb and fall asleep. I would like to take my nap on a pain de mie mattress because I don’t think I would have anymore nightmares. I want her to make me two pain de mie pillows too, so I can smell the bread as I am going to sleep. My mommy would be the best mommy in the world if she would do this for me.”

See? Wasn’t that lovely?

Lesson for tomorrow is on why Ms. Glaze is fat. Ms. Glaze is fat because she can’t stop eating French bread. Ms. Glaze needs to stop eating French bread or she will be as big as a house and no one will want to play with her anymore because she won’t be able to squeeze through her tiny Paris apartment doorway.

For a recipe you can try at home check out: Pain de Mie recette
For more about bread baking check outt: Bread Baking in Conzieu

Technorati Tags: pain de mie, sandwich bread, white bread

The post Pain de Mie first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Yes, we’ve had some really good times together, but my new man has me on this demanding schedule and I just don’t have any extra time. What schedule? It’s a macaron schedule, he’s coming out with new flavors all the time now and I have to be there when he does. No, I’m not crazy! Why do you always say I’m crazy? I hate it when you say that! See, this is why we can’t be together. Because you always put down the things that are important to me. Macarons are really really important to me, why can’t you understand that?

I can love a man for his macarons if I want to. And I certainly don’t have to justify my feelings to you. Well let’s see you make a silvery sexy truffe blanche macaron made of orgasmic earthy white truffle cream sandwiched in between two handsome Italian hazlenut biscuits that dust your fingertips with edible glitter on each luscious bite.

Not impressed? Then how about whipping up his huile d’olive macaron with vanilla and chopped green olive cream. With each taste I close my eyes and think of warm sun tanned skin drenched in virgin olive oil and sprinkled with glistening vanilla sugar. Let’s see you do that!

All your good for is opening a can of beans.

It’s not just a cookie! How can you say that?!?!?! MACARONS ARE NOT JUST COOKIES! And I do not have a fetish problem. That’s it! We’re done. I am NOT a fetish freak and don’t ever call me that again. In fact, don’t call, don’t write, don’t text. We’re over. O-V-E-R!!!! It’s just me and Pierre now.

Forever.

For more fetish macarons from his fétiche desserts visit Pierre:

Pierre Herme
72 rue Bonaparte
Paris 75006.
Telephone: 01 43 54 47 77.
For more locations and information, see www.pierreherme.com.

Technorati Tags: fetiche, fetish, macaron, Pierre Herme, Pierre Hermé, truffe blanche

The post Pierre Hermé Fetish Macarons first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

This dish is low-cal, high taste, little preparation, and packs a lot of energy. If you signed up for my Chef’s Challenge, it will fuel your next work-out! It’s raining here in Paris, so I’m afraid my stats aren’t so great (excuses, excuses). Cooking the salmon on a cedar plank adds smokiness and dries the outside flesh leaving the inside moist. I brushed a little olive oil over the top for magpie appeal and added a sprinkle of fleur de sel, but that’s it!

For the vegetables, it’s a one pot dish that can cook while the salmon is grilling. It’s best to use baby vegetables and trim the tops of the baby turnips and carrots leaving 1/2″ of the stem for that almost-country look. The veggies are simmered in a water, wine, and fresh herb combination. When they’re done cooking, the veggies are separated and the liquid reduced. Swirl in some butter – et voilà! – you’ve got a very tasty glaze to pour over the vegetables. The cooking liquid becomes a tasty broth while simmering all those root vegetables and the flavor concentrates after reduction. It’s subtle but tastes fancy!

PS. I’m cooking at a Chateau in Lyon this week, I’ll be back next week hopefully with some neat pics and stories about “roughing” it in the paysanne.

For recipe click on “Continue Reading…”

Cèdre Saumon Grillée avec Navets à la Nivernaise

4 people

Ingredients
4 filets of wild salmon, size depends on hunger and price. I figure about 7oz each
1 cedar plank, soaked in water for at least 20 minutes
1 bunch baby carrots peeled and stems trimmed to 1/2″
1 bunch baby turnips, stems trimmed to 1/2″
8 small yellow pototatoes like Yukon Gold, halved
12 small pearl onions peeled
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 cups water (or enough to almost cover veggies)
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 springs of fresh thyme
2 Tablespoons of butter

Instructions
1. Trim and peel veggies as instructed. Place them in a medium wide-based pot on the stove top and cover with the herbs, water, wine, and sugar. When ready to grill the salmon, put the lid on the veggies and simmer gently until done. About 12-15 minutes.
2. Once veggies are cooked (but not mushy) remove them to a serving dish and keep warm. Bring liquid to a boil and reduce it to 1/4 cup. Take liquid off heat and swirl in butter while it’s still hot. Pour over vegetables and serve. Season veggies with a sprinkle of fleur de sel and pepper.
3. For cedar smoked salmon, follow the instructions of your cedar plank. Normally this means soaking the plank for at least 20 minutes ahead of time so it doesn’t catch on fire! Arrange the fish on the soaked plank and grill over a covered gas or charcoal grill until a cooking thermometer reads 125-130˚F. I like my salmon raw but warm in the middle so it remains moist. Brush with olive oil when finished and serve alongside veggies

Tricks of the trade
1. Don’t over season the vegetables while cooking because the liquid will concentrate when it’s reduced and so will the salt! It’s better to season at the end.
2. Swirling in the butter into the liquid off direct heat insures that it won’t boil and separate.
3. If baby vegetables aren’t available use adult ones and trim them to size

The post Saumons Parfumés Aux Cèdre, Navets à la Nivernaise first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Wanna talk some trash? Be my guest, let’s see what you’re made of. If you’re so hot to trot then prove it!

I’ve only posted this one day and I’m already loosing. I better get out there while there’s still some daylight. Whaddabout you?!?!?!? Think you can beat that hotshot who’s already logged 18km? She can’t possibly keep that up the whole week. The challenge lasts one month so join in anytime.

Technorati Tags: ipod, nike, run

The post Chef’s challenge first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Pink Champagne sorbet is festive, ridiculously easy to prepare, and a nice refreshing way to end a heavy meal. The only special equipment needed is an ice cream maker. Add a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds and an almond tuille cookie for presentation.

I sometimes use Proseco because it’s cheaper than champagne. However, it’s also sweeter so I cut out about 1/4 cup of sugar. Start with half a cup of sugar and then taste the result before adding more. Remember, it’s sorbet so it needs to be sweet, but the champagne should be taste-able (not just feel-able) as well.

Recipe:
2 cups pink champagne or regular
1 cup sugar
Splash of orange juice

Instructions: whisk champagne and sugar together until sugar dissolves. Add the orange juice or not. Dump it into the ice cream machine without drinking half first. Let it do it’s thing and then serve it up!

Note: to make this non-alcoholic either purchase a non-alcoholic sparkling wine or simmer the champagne on the stove (start with 1/2 cup extra) and then flambé it to burn off alcohol. Make sure to cool down the liquid before putting into the ice cream machine.

Technorati Tags: champagne, desserts, pink, sherbert, sorbet

The post Pink Champagne Sorbet first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I often roll in chopped fresh herbs into the crust before baking to add a little je ne sais quoi to the flavor. For this one I rolled in some minced rosemary and it worked heavenly against the mouth puckering wild blackberries and sweet nectarines.

Depending on what I’m in the mood for and how hard I’m willing to work, I fill my tart shells with different fillings. Sometimes it’s a simple baked almond cream other times I whip up a flavored cream cheese (like for this one). If I’m really pressed for time I’ll just smear some jam across the bottom and if I’ve got loads of energy I’ll make pastry cream.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s really hard to mess up a tart! Once you’ve got the pastry shell down you can have fun with the rest.

Technorati Tags: blackberry, pastry, tart, tarte

Tarte Aux Nectarines et Mûres

Ingedients

Tart Shell:
Sweet Short Pastry
240g All Purpose flour
125g butter
pinch of salt
20g sugar
5 ml water
1 egg
2 big pinches vanilla powder (optional)
Minced rosemary or thyme (optional)

Filling:
200g cream cheese
Zest of 1/2 orange (optional)
30ml orange liqueur or orange juice (optional)
60 ml sugar

Fruit:
(Your Choice!!! Use something seasonal)
2 baskets wild blackberries
4 nectarines peeled (or not peeled, it’s up to you)
1 lemon

Instructions
1. Whisk salt, sugar, vanilla powder into flour. Sablé or cut in butter until dough resembles fine sand with fingertips or in a Cuisinart using on and off turns. Add egg and water and mix until ball forms (only a few seconds if using a cuisinart). Knead dough lightly (2-3 times) inside of bowl to make sure ingredients are well mixed. Form into a flattened disk, cover with saranwrap, refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 200˚C / 400˚F. Roll out tart shell 3mm thick to fit size of desired pan: a 9-10″ tart ring or a 28 x 10cm / 11 x 4″ rectangular tin. Fit dough to pan and flute pastry edges.
3. Prick the pastry all over with tines of a fork. Line the pastry case with foil and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and back for another 6-10 minutes until shell is browned. Leave to cool before adding cream cheese filling.
4. For filling put cream cheese, orange zest and liqueur, and sugar in a bowl and mix with a handmixer until smooth. Spread into cooled tart shell
5. Arrange fruit over top. Sometimes I like to squeeze a little lemon juice over the top to keep fruit from browning. Also, if the fruit isn’t sweet enough you can dust with a little sugar.

The post Tarte Aux Nectarines et Mûres first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The first petit salad was made up of a fan of nectarines and black prince tomatoes with a tiny herb salad next to it and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. Then there was the nastursium, blackberry, and arugula salad which I’ve pictured above. And last… I can’t remember… I know I was making three tiny salads all with similar colors and flavor profiles (whatever a ‘flavor profile’ is?) plated on a long white rectangular dish. It was elegant, fresh tasting, simple and colorful. If only I could remember the third one…

I was first introduced to nasturtiums by my Godmother who grew them in between her other garden vegetables. The forest behind her house was filled with tart juicy sweet wild blackberries and she would often send us kids out to pick berries and flowers until we couldn’t carry anymore. Then she put everything into one salad bowl be it sweet, bitter, spicy, or sour. I always thought nasturtiums were just good for gardening – they keep pests away from other vegetables – until I tried one. They are sweet with a little bitterness to them, like blackberries. And they’re so beautiful. Add some super spicy arugula and you’ve got a very interesting refreshing salad.

A nasturtium is a South American trailing plant with round leaves and bright orange, yellow, or red edible flowers. The origin of the name is Old English, from Latin, apparently from naris ‘nose’ + torquere ‘to twist’. They don’t last too long when picked, so make sure to put the stems in cold water until ready to use.

The recipe is simple: A bagful of spicy wild arugula, some ripe black prince tomatoes, a handful of freshly picked nasturtiums, 5-6 wild blackberries per person, some chopped fresh herbs (chives, basil, parsley, and even a little tarragon) and a red-wine vinaigrette made from 1 part vinegar and 3 parts olive oil. Sprinkle some fleur de sel over top to finish! I always dress my lettuce separate from delicate fruits and veggies so the colors don’t mix up before plating.

Technorati Tags: blackberry, nasturtium, salad

The post Salade d’Arugula, Nasturce, et Mûre, first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I prefer to buy whole chickens for many reasons: they are more sanitary and have had less contact with bacteria from packing facilities, I can make up to 8 servings and cut fancier sections for presentation, it’s easy to make chicken stock from the carcass, it costs less per pound, and it takes five minutes extra of my time.

For this recipe the chicken was simply slapped on the grill with a little olive oil, salt & pepper, and some dried thyme. I like barbecue sauces, rubs, and marinades but I don’t always think they’re necessary if the product is great to begin with. My chicken was exceptional (mais oui, c’est français) and you can tell by the color of the yellow skin that it had a corn diet.

Different regions in France feed their chickens different diets and they are quite proud and protective of their particular poulet product. It is the French emblem afterall – Le Coq!!! France is probably most famous for it’s Bresse chicken which is the only poulet in France to have it’s own Appelation Origine Controlée (A.O.C.). This means there are strict laws governing how and where these birds are raised. After thirty-five days exactly, the birds are range fed in a grassy area. This diet is supplemented with cereals and skimmed milk. The last phase of production is completed in ventilated wooden cages that are in a quiet and low-lit location in order to keep the chickens happy and calm.

I chose a yellow corn fed chicken from Landes, France for my recipe because they are hearty in texture (but juicy) and will stand up better to the smoke flavor from the barbecue. I find that chickens from Landes pair nicely with bacon, blue cheese, and other intensely flavored foods. I would never in a million years pair the delicacy of a Bresse chicken with anything so overwhelming in flavor as bacon or the value of the milk diet would be lost – quel horreur! However, poulet de Bresse does pair well with some rich foods including foie gras and truffles.

At the time I filmed this video new potatoes, chanterelle (girolle) mushrooms, and apricots were just hitting the farmer’s market stalls in Paris. The grilled vegetable salad with mustard seed vinaigrette was a tribute to what started out as a promising hot summer. Oh well, at least we got a little sun in the beginning of the season! The apricots are simply brushed with a honey-basalmic glaze and grilled for a few minutes each side.

I think this video is pretty funny. I’m a total dork in it, so have a few laughs at my expense….

Technorati Tags: apricots, barbeque, butcher, chicken, Paris, poulet, video

The post Paris On The Terrace: BBQ Chicken first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

One of the perks of being an old teacher is getting invited over to students’ houses for yummy meals. Now most of my students are in college, but their parents still seem to remember me and invite me over when I’m in town. The bruschetta above is Sharon’s recipe. Made with tomatoes sun ripened from her garden. Lightly rub crostini with a garlic clove, top with with a melange of tomatoes and sea salt, broil with a little fresh mozzarella, and sprinkle freshly chopped basil over the top. Voilà!

Not wanting to show up empty handed I brought a Greek treat. It’s a combo of watermelon and mansouria cheese with a squeeze of lime juice over top and a sprinkle of thinly sliced fresh basil. You get the whole salty, sweet, sour combo which I find refreshing on hot summer nights.

It’s funny seeing old students. When I think of them and all the good times we had putting on musicals and plays or cooking recipes from around the world, I see them as teenagers. But when I come home and meet up with them in person I am reminded that they are now adults. (triple sigh!)

…and that they will soon be of legal drinking age which scares the bejeezus out of me! Maybe I am glad I’m leaving to Paris tomorrow…

Technorati Tags: appetizers, bruschetta, greek, tomato, watermelon

The post Hors d’Oeuvres d’Été first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The one time I found and purchased fresh corn at my local Parisian farmer’s market, the vendor gave me four kisses on the cheek instead of the normal two. He was overjoyed that some one was actually buying it. I did notice many raised eyebrows in the line behind me along with a few whispers. Oh well, I’m American, I seem to stir up trouble no matter what I do…

Since I’m home in San Francisco for this month I’ve been gorging myself on fresh local produce because we don’t see a lot of it in Paris. Most of the farmer’s markets in Paris are not farmer’s selling their fruits and vegetables, but resellers buying the produce from Rungis (the largest super market in the world) and selling it at a premium price. It’s even difficult for restaurants to get direct produce deliveries from farmers.

I picked up all my salad ingredients straight from the coastal farms around Pescadero plus a flat of the jucy strawberries and a bag of sugary sweet peas. I left a trail of pea pods and strawberry tops over the mountain and through La Honda just in case I got lost and needed to find my way back.

Fava beans, although a little labor intensive to prep, are worth the effort. They are cheery in color, high in nutritional value, flavorful, and the pods add nitrogen to your compost pile. Farmer’s often grow fava beans as rotation crops to boost their soil.

Arguably Italians really have the best recipes for Fava beans, but there are a few traditional French recipes including puree of fava bean soup. I prefer to leave the bean whole because I think their shape is really cute. I like the fatness of the bean with it’s little hip curves. Fava beans got back baby!

This recipe is versatile and goes with just about anything barbecued – fish, chicken, meat – whatever! It’s bright and cheery and it tastes good.

For recipe click on “continue reading…”

Technorati Tags: cherry, cherry tomatoes, corn, farm, fava beans, fieve, peas, pescadero, recipe, salad, warm

Warm Fava Bean, Corn, and Cherry Tomato Salad
serves 4

Ingredients
2 ears of sweet, sweet corn
1 basket of colorful cherry tomatoes
1 big bag of fava beans (around 10-15 pods)
5 leaves of basil shredded fine
1 1/2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Fleur de sel
Freshly ground pepper
Gros sel or kosher salt

Instructions
1. Place a large pot of water on to boil with 2 Tablespoon gros sel or Kosher salt. While water is heating up shell pods. Prepare an ice water bath for beans.
2. Once water is boiling add beans and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes. Take one bean out after the first minute and dunk in the ice water bath. Peel off outer skin and check for doneness. Bean should be bright green, easy to peel, and firm. NOT mushy. If they are al dente remove beans to ice-water bath with a slotted spoon to stop cooking. If you see the skins starting to come off earllier remove beans to ice-water bath immediately
3. Peel off outer white-ish bean skin and reserve bright green favas.
4. Shuck corn and cut it off the cobb. Reserve.
5. Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Reserve.
6. Shred basil fine.
7. Heat a large skillet with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to medium hot. Make sure oil is hot before cooking! Add corn and flash fry for 1-2 minutes stirring often. Corn should start to brown a little bit. Add 1 more Tablespoon of olive oil and the favas. Toss to heat through. Once beans and corn are cooked to your liking (which I hope is al dente or tender-crisp) remove from heat and add vinegar, basil, cherry tomatoes, a big three finger pinch of fleur de sel, and freshly ground pepper. Stir or toss to incorporate and serve warm!

The post Fève, Maïs, et Tomate Cerise Salade Chaud first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I don’t know how I got from crepes and croissants to garlic fries and pulled pork sandwiches but there are some things in life that take priority over haute cuisine. Namely baseball.

I’m a season’s tickets holder – bleacher section 138, thank you very much – and if you’re anywhere near my row and wearing L.A. colors I suggest you find another place to cheer. Either that or suffer the consequences. The guy next to me gets kicked out regularly for fighting and the woman above me with the “Duck the Fodgers” t-shirt is a trash talking baseball badass who’s a little scary after three pints of Budweiser.

But I’m not going to bore you with the details. This is a French food blog after all. You wouldn’t want to know about the six homerun derby balls that landed within two feet of our seats or the American league beating the National league for the tenth year in a row (boooooo!!!!) or the Dodgers kicking our butts for three straight games (what’s a matter with Lowe? He’s a bum!!!).

The Giants may be cursed and Barry may never hit a home run again but our baseball park is a sight to behold and the cuisine – now we’re talking – the cuisine is worth listening to Dodger’s fans mouth off for at least a few innings.

It’s good to be home…

Technorati Tags: all stars, Barry Bonds, giants, hot dog, At&t park, San Francisco

The post All Stars Cuisine first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Lamb is easy to prepare for a crowd and beautiful presented on plates. The curve of lamb’s small thin bones always adds artistic flare. It can be carved table side for added entertainment or plated secretly in the kitchen. Cooked rare to medium-rare, it’s sure to provide a revolutionary red to the plates.

Everyone wants to try ratatouille thanks to the movie, but sadly most ratatouille is like an overcooked vegetable swamp that tastes as awful as it smells. I prefer a quickly cooked eggplant, zucchini, red pepper, and basil melange served up in a tomato cup and topped with a fried basil flag. It’s fresh tasting and a perfect compliment for lamb. Use any vegetable trimmings from the ratatouille in the jus for an extra whack! Add some crusty ‘cake’ to sop up all the drippings or an elegant baguette.

Although many a beheaded beauty preferred sugary sweet french treats as their dernier dîner, a rich dark chocolate final ending is sure to send guests straight to heaven. The idea is not to weigh down the guests during the meal but to give them just enough hope to carry on. Silky pots de crème will make a lasting impression and are simple to prepare ahead of time without extra fuss during the meal.

Besides, unless you have servants or a hired cook, it is deathly important to keep both eyes on the party. Happy Fête National!

For the rack of lamb recipe click on “continue reading Storm the Bastille…” recipe serves 10 people.

Technorati Tags: bastille day, bastille day menu, carré d’angeau, french menu, rabbit, rack of lamb, ratatouille, recipe

Carré d’Agneau aux Herbes Pesto et Ratatouille
Serves 10

Ingredients
6 racks of lamb frenched, figure 3 chops per person
5 sprigs rosemary
1/2 bunch thyme
6 stalks of basil
1 cup grated parmesan
1 Tablespoon balsamic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cans beef stalk, no salt
1 shallot chopped
1/2 onion chopped

10 medium tomatoes
2 medium zucchinis diced
2 medium firm chinese eggplants diced
2 red peppers diced
2 green peppers diced
4 cloves garlic minced
2 whole shallots diced
5 stalks basil, leaves thinly cut
olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
fleur de sel

Instructions
Pesto Crusted Rack of Lamb
1. Make sure that lamb bones have been frenched properly and that there is no fat on the upper third of the bone. Trim any fat on the surface of lamb that is yellowish in color. There should be no more than 1/8th inch covering of lamb fat for this recipe.
2. Brown meat and cool before applying pesto herb crust. This can be done an hour before guests arrive. In a large skillet heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium high heat. Generously season lamb on all sides with salt and pepper. When olive oil is hot (and I mean hot! Or it won’t sear properly!!!) place one rack fat side down to brown (two racks if the pan is large enough). Brown on all sides and return to a baking dish afterwards to cool. Repeat with all racks of lamb discarding of lamb fat if too much accumulates in skillet.
3. While lamb is cooling, mince all herbs and mix with olive oil, parmesan, and balsamic vinegar. It should resemble a moist paste that is easy to spread. If it needs more olive oil or you prefer one of the herb flavors, adjust to your liking. Reserve the stems from the basil, thyme, and rosemary for the lamb jus.
4. Once the rack of lamb has cooled score the fat side of the lamb lightly in a crisscross pattern. Spread the pesto over and allow to marinate for up to one hour before.
5. Place lamb flat pesto side up in a hot oven at 450˚F for 12 minutes. This might require more than one baking pan. If possible stand racks on end propping up against other racks for remaining 3 minutes. Check lamb for doneness by inserting a meat thermometer into the thickest part. When thermometer registers 140˚F take out for medium-rare chops. Let the temp rise five more degrees to 145˚F if you like chops a little closer to medium. Remember the internal temp will rise at least 5˚ outside the oven. Let the racks rest tented for ten minutes before carving. This is important for lamb in order for the flesh to re-absorb the juices. Rack of lamb tends to dry out and taste leathery if cooked beyond medium.
6. Drain lamb fat from baking pan reserving two tablespoons and place back on a low burner. Sauté onion and shallot in lamb fat until carmelized but not burned. Deglaze with beef stock and scrape up and pan drippings. Add stalks of thyme, rosemary, and basil and any pepper trimmings from the ratatouille. Simmer on low heat. Add any jus from resting lamb rack. Strain and serve. Jus is thin like water it is not a sauce or gravy so there is no need to thicken it.

Ratatouille
1. 1/4 ” dice all vegetables the same exact size. Reserve in separate bowls until ready to sauté.
2. For tomato cups blanch by cutting a shallow ‘X’ in the bottom of tomato and plunging into boiling water for five seconds. Chill immediately in an ice water bath. With a pairing knife peel back skin from the shallow ‘X’. Cut tomatoes in half horizontally. Reserve top half for another purpose, with bottom half remove seeds and drain on a paper towel. Reserve cups for filling of ratatouille.
3. To make ratatouille, heat olive oil on medium high and add garlic and shallots. Do not brown, but cook until translucent. Add egg plant and cook for 3 minutes. Egg plant is funny to cook because it appears dry but after a minute or two will release it’s juices. If necessary add a little more olive oil to pan to keep egg plant from sticking. But not too much because the fruit will suck it all up. Add zucchini and peppers and cook for 3 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Vegetables should be cooked but a little crunchy. Remove from heat and stir in red wine vinegar and fresh basil. Taste and adjust seasoning. Don’t be afraid to add more basil or a little more vinegar if need be.
4. Heat plates hot. Serve tomato cup filled with ratatouille and 3 lamb chops along side. Cover with jus and a sprinkle chops with a little fleur de sel. Serve a some parmesan at the table for guests who might want a little on their ratatouille

Note: I don’t always serve a starch on the diner plate if there are many courses in the meal because it can be too filling and so many people are trying to cut carbs, however mashed potatoes would go nicely with this recipe. I press peeled and boiled potatoes through a drum sieve before whisking in an insane amount of butter and a little milk. Serve a dollop next to the tomato.

The post Storm the Bastille: Carré d’Agneau Mariné Aux Herbes et Ratatouille first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Because my hubby is such a sweetie, I prepared a birthday dinner for him with fruit at the forefront. A fruit-a-licious menu! I love to use fruit in unusual ways. I like to barbecue it, roast it, and bake it with spices or condiments normally reserved for savory dishes. I’m sure I get this from my father who likes to salt everything from cantaloupe to watermelon, “Brings out the flavor!” he always says.

Appertif Kir Royal avec le Syrop de Fraise
Raviole d’Ananas Roti aux Chevre, Salade de Lardon
Rôti de Porc Aux Pruneaux et Des Légumes Rôtis
Fromage Bleu Avec du Pain de Figue
Clafouti Aux Cerise
Après Dîner Cognac

For the roasted ravioli, I sliced paper thin rounds from a whole pineapple. I stuffed two slices with a spoonful of pungent medium-hard goat’s cheese and pressed around the edges to form the pasta. Then I brushed a honey-basalmic glaze over the top. Right before serving the raviolis are broiled to caramelize the glaze and melt the cheese slightly. The salad is comprised of mesculen, crispy lardon, and a vinaigrette of olive oil, sherry vinegar, and the warm run-off juices from the broiled pineapple raviolis.

Nothing could be easier than a pork roast stuffed with prunes. Just stick a long knife or sharp pick through the center of the roast and cram in the prunes. I sear the pork roast on all sides first and then place it in a baking dish with whole new potatoes, sweet potatoes (yes, I’m into pork and sweet potatoes right now!), whole spring onions, and fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme. Roast everything together et Voilà you have a beautiful main course that allows the time to focus on guests.

Clafouti is simple to make and it does not contain a lot of sugar or flour. I like to soak the cherries in kirsch for an hour or two before adding them whole. Traditionally the cherries are not pitted for two reasons: it will turn the batter pink and they taste better baked with the pit in. I do advise warning your guests beforehand so no one looses a tooth. Substitute cherries for blanched apricots if desired. For the clafouti recipe see my old post Cherry Clafouti

The candles didn’t stick to well in the clafouti, so I had to substitute some cakes to hold up those heavy, heavy numbers!

For recipes click on “Continue reading Diner Anniversaire!”

Technorati Tags: birthday menu, cherry, chevre, clafoutis, french, goat cheese, pineapple, porc roasted with rosemary and mustard, porc roti, rabbit, sweet potato

Raviole d’Ananas Roti Aux Chevre Chaud et Petite Salade de Lardon serves 2-4 people

Ingredients
1 medium ripe pineapple
1 log of medium-hard chevre or goat’s cheese
1 bag mixed lettuce or mesculen
3 Slice thick cut bacon or 1/4 cup lardon
4 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions
1. To make pineapple ravioli slice off top and bottom of a whole pineapple with a serrated knife. Place pineapple standing on a cutting board and cut down sides to remove skin. With a mandolin or knife cut paper thin rounds horizontally from the whole pineapple. Careful of your fingers if using a mandoline!
2. Between two rounds of pineapple place 1teaspoon of goat’s cheese. Press down around the top pineapple slice to form a ravioli. Refrigerate until ready to broil.
3. Chop lardon or bacon and fry until slightly crispy but not dry and brittle. Reserve 1 teaspoon of bacon fat for vinaigrette.
4. Whisk sherry vinegar, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon reserved bacon fat together with a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Reserve until ready to serve, but don’t refrigerate or the bacon fat will colagulate.
5. In a separate small bowl mix honey and balsamic vinegar.
5. When ready to plate, place the ravioli on aluminum paper or parchment paper on a baking sheet. Set the oven to broil and move rack up to the top. Brush raviolis with honey-basalmic mixture and broil for only 1-2 minutes with oven door ajar. The raviolis should be hot and carmelized, but the cheese not completely melted or it will ooze out the sides of the raviolis.
6. Serve 3 raviolis per plate. Take warm run-off juice from baking tray and whisk in to vinaigrette then toss quickly with salad and bacon. Serve salad in the center of the 3 raviolis.

Rôtis de Porc Aux Pruneaux et Des Légumes Rôtis
serves 2-4 people

Ingredients
1 pork roast. Size will depend on how many people you are serving. Figure two finger widths per person down the roast. (I know that’s bizarre, but that’s my method)
1 package prunes (dried plums)
3 new potatoes per person
3 small onions per person
1-2 yams or 1 big sweet potato
2 fresh sprigs of rosemary
4 fresh sprigs of thyme
Olive oil
Fleur de sel
Freshly ground pepper
Kitchen string

Instructions
1. To stuff the roast with prunes take a long knife (preferably a thin carving knife) and cut a hole through center of roast. Take your sharpening rod, if you have one, to widen the hole a little. Stuff the prunes inside. Tie the roast with kitchen string horizontally and vertically to make sure it holds together while roasting.
2. Peel yam or sweet potato and cut into 2″ cubes. Peel small onions. Don’t peel potatoes! Toss all vegetables with olive oil to lightly coat and season with salt and pepper.
3. Season pork with salt and pepper. Place a non-stick skillet on high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When oil is hot sear pork roast on all sides including the ends.
4. Pre-heat oven to 375˚F. Add vegetables to a baking dish with roast in the middle and cook until roast is done, tossing vegetables occasionally to brown on all sides. About 40 minutes depending on size.
5. Remove roast and let rest before removing cooking string and slicing.
6. Plate vegetables with two 1/4″ slices of pork alongside. Pour any jus from the rested pork roast over slices and sprinkle fleur de sel on top!

The post Dîner d’Anniversaire! first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

My hometown has an interesting milk history with so many dairy farms close by, so it’s practically impossible not to be a milk lover. It would be equivalent to trying to find a Frenchman that doesn’t like cheese – or wine for that matter. In fact, Palo Alto still employs one of the last milkmen on earth. (And no, we do not all look the same!)

The other day at my neighborhood parisian cafe, I was so crazy with this flavored milk idea that I ordered lait parfumé à l’orgeat (milk with orgeat) and then another with lait parfumé à fraise (milk with strawberry). I’m sure the waiter thought I was either pregnant or crazy. And then it just hit me: tiny glasses of neopolitan milk with three types of warm cookies!

What could be cuter than that? Strawberry milk with orange-lime zest cookies, rich chocolate milk with cinnamon spice cookies, and cold plain milk with double-chocolate cookies!

Normally when I bake cookies I eat half the dough and then half the cookies when they come out of the oven. I’m worse with brownies. I was so sick from eating cookie dough yesterday I had to take a long nap to sleep off the excess calories. Sugar does that to me; just puts me straight into a sleep coma. I’ve taken an excerpt for the master cookie dough recipe from the cookbook The Secrets of Baking. (indispensable pastry cookbook if you don’t already have it). You’ll have to purchase the book though for all her neat variations!

The flavored milk is straightforward. For the strawberry milk make strawberry syrup: roughly chop a basket of strawberries and place them in a small pot with 1/4 cup of sugar on medium heat. Let them cook down without adding water or anything. Once you see medium sticky bubbles, strain it and reserve the syrup. Then add it to your milk once it’s cooled (or to a glass of champagne – equally delicious!). For the chocolate milk I make hot chocolate with the richest cocoa powder I can find and then chill it.

This recipe was really fun for me, a nice change from the cuisine world. Hope it inspires that inner child!

.

Technorati Tags: biscuit, choclate milk, chocolate, cookies, fraise, strawberries

Master Sugar Cookies
taken from Sherry Yard’s Secrets of Baking Cookbook

Yields: About 3-dozen 3-inch rounds
Special Tools: Standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment (optional), parchment paper

Ingredients
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
13/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

Instructions
1. Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer, cream the butter on medium speed until pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and the paddle or beaters. Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla. Cream on medium speed until it is smooth, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
2. Add the egg and beat on low speed for 15 seconds, or until fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Scrap down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
3. On low speed, add teh flour. Beat until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix on low speed for 15 to 30 seconds, or until you have an even-textured dough.
4. Remove small handfuls of dough from the mixer and plop them down the middle of a sheet of parchment paper, creating a log about 1 1/2 inches wide and 12 inches long. Fold the parchment over, creating a sausage. Chill for at least 1 hour. At this point, the dough will keep nicely, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 1 month. (Thaw dough at room temperature for about 30 minutes, or until you can slice it.)
5. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Adjust the rack to the lower third of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
6. When the dough has chilled, remove it from teh parchment, our the remaining 1/4 cup sugar onto your work surface, and roll the log in the sugar. Using a chef’s knife, slice 1/3-inch-thick rounds off the log. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.
7. Bake one sheet at a time for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges, turning th bbaking sheet front to back halfway through the baking. Remove from the oven.

The post La Trilogie du Lait et du Biscuit first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Before moving to Paris I had never tasted fresh white asparagus. I had only tried it once from a can and it was stringy, wet, limp, and disgusting. Although I had seen it before in markets, I never attempted to try it because of my previous experience. When I arrived in Paris some friends invited me over for a dinner of filet mignon and white asparagus served with hollandaise sauce. I couldn’t believe how sweet the asparagus was and how well it pared with with the creaminess of the sauce. (of course, what doesn’t hollandaise sauce taste good on?). This recipe is inspired from that first meal – Thanks Jenny & Stuart!!!

White asparagus has a very short season from April to May. Although the stalks appear white, it is really green asparagus that has been covered with at least 8 inches of mulch to keep sunlight away from the ripening spears. The spears are harvested before their tips grow through the top of the mulch. The base of the stalks tend to be woodier than green asparagus and need to be peeled with a vegetable peeler. If this step is left out, the eating experience will be not-so-nice as fibrous strings will prove difficult to cut and chew.

Sauce maltaise is just a gussied up hollandaise sauce. I prefer to make this the traditional way over the stove, but it can be made in a blender as well. Instead of thinning the egg yolks with water add reduced orange juice with some finely chopped orange zest (1 Tablespoon per egg yolk). The egg yolk and juice is then whisked over an open bainmarie of water until it has tripled in size, lightened in color, and thickened enough to see the bottom of the bowl. Next, remove from heat and slowly drizzle warm (not hot!!!) clarified butter. Reserve in a warm place (it cannot be reheated!) for up to an hour, but preferably just minutes from serving it.

Veal tends to be a sensitive subject in the U.S. because of the way it is raised. I only buy veal that has been allowed to live life outside in the open as opposed to in a crate inhibiting ability to move or stand. I once viewed a baby calf that was raised this way at a dairy farm in Holland and that memory will forever haunt me when I shop for veal at the supermarket. Veal doesn’t have to be raised inhumanely to taste tender. The herb-orange butter melts over the top of the veal fillets after grilling to give it a beautiful glaze and delicate flavor.

For recipe press continue reading at bottom of the page…

Technorati Tags: asperges, Chef, Food, hollandaise, how to video, maltaise, Ms. Glaze, Paris, Cannes film festival, sauce, veal, video, white asparagus

Veau Grillée et Asperges Sauce Maltaise
serves 4 persons

Ingredients
4 fillets of veal about 150g each, bound with string
16 stalks of white asparagus
2 oranges juiced plus zest of one whole orange chopped (half of zest for herb butter, half for sauce)
325 grams of sweet butter (75g for herb butter, 150g for sauce)
2 egg yolks
Herbs: few sprigs of thyme, chives, and sage leaves
Fleur de sel
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions
1. Prepare white asparagus first. Snap off ends and peel stalks with vegetable peeler. Blanch in boiling water for 6-7 minutes until tender-crisp. Cool in an ice bath to stop cooking. Reserve for barbecue in an aluminum packet with 2 Tablespoons of water to keep moist while grilling.
2. Prepare herb-orange butter. In a mixing bowl add 75g of softened sweet butter plus finely chopped herbs and zest of one half orange. Mix thoroughly with spatula. Add three to four big pinches of fleur to sel and freshly ground pepper. Butter should be salty. Place on a sheet of Saranwrap and roll up into a sausage about 1″ in diameter. Freeze until ready to barbecue veal.
3. For sauce maltaise: reduce juice of two oranges to 1/2 and add the rest of the finely chopped orange zest. Cool. In another small pot melt the rest of the butter on low heat until just melted. To clarify butter pour gently into a paper towel lined strainer into another pot. Place butter back on stove to keep warm (Not hot!!! Very important!!)
4. Prepare an open bainmaire or double boiler by filling a skillet with water and setting it to simmer (not boil!). In a mixing bowl that is safe for placing in the bainmarie, whisk two egg yolks and two Tablespoons of orange juice with zest until frothy. Place egg-juice mixture over simmering bainmarie and whisk constantly. If the bowl feels too hot lift it out of the water and continue whisking. The eggs will triple in volume and lighten in color. When it is finished you will be able to see the bottom of the bowl after each whisk stroke.
5. Remove bowl and set on a dish towel to keep it from rocking. Gently pour in warm clarified butter while stiring the mixture with your whisk. Add fleur de sel to taste. Cover with Saranwrap and keep in a warm place. This sauce cannot be reheated and it is best when made moments before serving. The reduced juice and clarified butter can be made ahead of time so the sauce can be whipped up at the last minute. It should only take a minute or two to make. Keep by the barbecue so it stays warm.
6. To cook veal make a hot barbecue. Place asparagus packet off to a cool part of the grill to re-heat. Season veal generously with fleur de sel and pepper. Cover with olive oil to keep from sticking to the grill. Sear all sides of the veal quickly to lock in juices and create a nice crust. Then cook veal on a cooler part of barbecue for about 2-3 minutes each side for rosé. The accurate cooking time will depend on how long it has taken to the veal to sear. Place a thin slice of herb butter over veal right before removing from grill so it can melt.
7. Serve veal fillets with four asparagus stalks each topped with sauce maltaise. Garnish with extra blanched orange zest and herbs of your choice!

The post Veau Grillée et Asperges Sauce Maltaise first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

This simple recipe, Poisson Provençal, is herb roasted fish with a salsa of tomatoes and olives garnished with the first baby artichokes of the season. The fish is roasted whole so that it stays nice and juicy over the grill without drying out. Included are simple instructions for preparing whole fish from beginning to end and, of course, my quirky ways of getting the job done.

Although I love reading new recipes, I love to learn technique more. There are thousands of recipes in the world and I can never remember any of them past the meal that I’ve just cooked. However, technique enables one to walk through the farmers’ markets and choose what is fresh without fear.

I sincerely hope that in my video series Paris On The Terrace, that I offer more than just a recipe, but technique in food preparation that will aid in exploration!

For recipe click on continue reading…

Technorati Tags: artichokes, baby artichokes, barbeque, fish, french, How to, how to video, Ms. Glaze, video

Poisson Provençal
for two people

Ingredients
1 firm white fish with edible skin like Pageot or Durade
4 ripe but firm tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped
10 pitted greek olives, chopped
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3 sprigs basil chopped
3 springs flat leap parsley chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 whole garlic cloves with skin
4-5 T extra virgin olive oil
Fleur de sel to taste
Fresh pepper to taste

Instructions
1. De-scale, de-fin, and gut fish. Don’t forget to take out eye balls and gills too.
2. Inside the clean fish belly put the rosemary, thyme, and hand-crushed garlic. Also include stalks from the basil and parsley. Refrigerate. Preferably prepare fish an hour or two ahead of time so the herbs have some time to flavor the fish.
3. Chop tomatoes, olives, basil, and parsley. Mix in a bowl with olive oil, lemon, 2-3 big pinches of fleur de sel and fresh ground pepper. Stir and taste. If it’s a little too lemon-y add a little extra salt.
4. Create a medium hot barbecue. Once the coals die down place the whole fish on aluminum paper that is smeared with olive oil to keep the fish from sticking. grill for 3-4 minutes with lid on. To flip the fish place another sheet of oiled aluminum paper on the top of fish, press down around fish (mind the heat!), and flip the fish onto the other side. Of course you can do this with a spatula too. Cook covered for another 3-4 minutes.
5. Remove fish and fillet it. (see video)
6. Serve with provençal salsa over the top and a wedge of lemon along side. Garnish with rice or artichokes or whatever looks good at the market

The post Poisson Provençal first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

This video recipe features St. Jaques or scallops along with instructions on how to shuck them. I love barbecuing scallops because they only take a few minutes to cook and they come with their own little heat safe dishes. Fill a few shells with vegetables to serve alongside the scallops. They make a beautiful presentation on the plate and I guarantee guests will be surprised.

Technorati Tags: barbeque, bbq, How to, how to video, Ms. Glaze, Paris, petit pois, scallops, St. Jaques, video

The post BBQ Scallops first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

If you are going to London, I suggest buying this month’s Time Out magazine. It contains a treasure hunt that takes you all over the city and it is much more fun than one of those silly tourist buses. For each city section it provides a pub, restaurant, and activity for the kids too. The best tour I’ve ever had of London – and I lived in the city for 3 years!

We made a video of our treasure hunt and the restaurants we ate at. Hope you enjoy it…

As featured in video…

Hotel: Miller’s Residence in Notting Hill. 5 minutes from Hyde Park and 5 minutes from Portobello Road
Restaurants: Ping Pong for Dim Sum, Brown’s Hotel for high tea

Technorati Tags: Easter, high tea, London, London hotels, Ms. Glaze, travel guide, treasure hunt

The post London Treasure Hunt! first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

The French have spent the last 1000 years or so matching the produce of the terroir to regional wine. I think the saying is, “What grows together, goes together.” For intstance Camembert cheese and cider pair perfectly as do trout and Alsatian wine. For this recipe try a dry but fruity Alsatian Riesling or a Alsatian Pinot Gris. It’s used for the jus too, so make sure to buy two bottles just incase!

For an easy but satisfying outdoor dessert serve large strawberries with creme fraiche and brown sugar for dipping. I had forgotten how satisfying this combo was until recently.

Really, sometimes it’s the simple things that are the best are in life. Non?

For trout recipe click on “Continue BBQ…”

Technorati Tags: barbeque, courgette, fish, french wine, mushrooms, trout, truite

Alsatian BBQ Truite
serves 2 hungry people or 4 notso hungry people

Ingredients
1 whole trout filleted, bones removed
5 white mushrooms
1/2 bunch chives
5 sprigs fresh thyme
Huile de truffe (Virgin olive oil with truffle essence)
Dijon or spicy mustard
Baby Vegetables: carrots, zucchini, etc
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
Tinfoil for cooking

Instructions
1. Make a grill-ready tinfoil packet for the baby vegetables. Gently place the veggies inside and drizzle the truffle flavored olive oil over. Season generously with sea salt and pepper. Pour a few splashes of wine into pocket (about 4 Tablespoons) so the steam cooks the veggies. Seal tinfoil pocket so the steam won’t escape over the BBQ.
2. On a large sheet of tinfoil place the two trout fillets. Drizzle truffle olive oil lightly over fish and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Mince chives and thyme and sprinkle over top. Place small teaspoon size dallops of mustard down the center of fish (not too much, you don’t want the spiciness of the mustard to overpower the fish).
3. Trim mushrooms and cut caps into a small square dice. Sprinkle mushrooms on top of trout and all around fillets. The mushrooms will combine with the wine to form a sauce at the end.
4. Heat coals on BBQ. No need for super strong heat. This dish can cook slower for maximum flavor over a long time. When coals have died down to a glowing red, add the veggie packet. Cook covered for 2-3 minutes before adding trout. The veggies will take a little longer.
5. Add trout on tinfoil sheet. Fold up the sides of tinfoil slightly so the juices stay in. Splash about 1/4 cup of Alsatian wine over trout. Cover and cook. Depending on strength of coals, it should take anywhere between 7-15 minutes. When the trout is light pink it is cooked. If the wine evaporates splash on a little more. The wine will combine with the mushrooms and truffle oil to make a light jus for the fish.
6. Serve trout alongside veggies with a large cold glass of Alsatian wine and enjoy!

The post Truite Grillée: BBQ Trout first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Oh, and I didn’t get the Top Chef role, but I was deemed worthy enough to at least receive personal emails from the casting director who is a very nice woman. They’re only taking one person from Guy Savoy and I missed the film crew at the Las Vegas restaurant (I showed up 4 days too late) so they didn’t get to test me. They will be taking Hung, a good friend of mine and very talented chef. The casting director did say that she’s interested in me for next season so we’ll see….

In the meantime I have some recettes deliceux pour vous that I’ve been working on at home. Today’s recipe is simple to prepare and can be on your dinner table in half an hour. The porc tenderloin is quickly seared, then smothered in dijon mustard and freshly chopped rosemary. Next it is roasted with onions and apple slices. Add a little jus at the end et voila! I should also mention that this recipe is low in fat and has no starchy carbs either. Click on the end of the page for the full recipe.

I almost forgot…I’ve also been putting together some interesting videos. So stay tuned for How to Skin a Rabbit. What do you mean this doesn’t interest you?

Technorati Tags: apples, porc roasted with rosemary and mustard, porc roti, porc tenderloin

Porc Fillet Roti
this recipe can be easily expanded to serve more than 4 people!

Ingredients
1 Porc tenderloin for 4 people
4 Tablespoons dijon mustard
3 Sprigs fresh rosemary
2 Golden Delicious apples
3 Medium yellow onions
1 veal stock bullion cube to make 1 cup jus (can substitute chicken stock)
1 Tablespoon canola oil for searing
3 Tablespoons olive oil for roasting
Fresh cracked pepper
Salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400˚F / 200˚C.
2. Generously season porc loin with pepper and salt.
3. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium high heat with 1 T of canola oil. Make sure it is large enough to fit porc tenderloin. Once oil starts to smoke and sizzle sear meat on all sides golden brown (about 1min/side). Remove from pan and let cool quickly on a rack.
4. Slice onions into rings about 1/2″ thick.
5. Smother porc with mustard and pat on chopped rosemary.
6. Place porc in roasting pan with onions around it and drizzle olive oil over onions. Place in oven
7. While porc is cooking slice apples. Add apples to porc after 15 minutes. Cook for 5 more minutes then check porc for doneness. Most tenderloin takes about 20-25 minutes. Meat should be firm to the touch but, just a little squishy and hot all the way through. (I always test meat with a tiny metal rod that I stick into the center and then to my bottom lip. If it’s burning hot, then you’ve over cooked it. It should be hot – but not warm!)
8. Mix bullion cube with one cup of warm water to dissolve.
9. When porc is cooked remove and let sit on rack, tented to rest. If onions and apples aren’t yet carmelized to your liking put under broiler for a few minutes. Once you’ve achieved the color you desire remove roating pan to the stove top and add 1/2 cup of jus into the onions and apples. Simmer for a few minutes. The pectin in the apples should thicken the sauce just enough to give it a gloss. Add more jus depending on how many people you’re serving.
10. Place onions and apples on plate with porc slices over. Spoon jus over the top. Voila!

The post Porc Fillet Roti: Pork Tenderloin Roasted first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than willing to pitch in and give a hand where ever needed, but I’ve already worked at the Paris restaurant for 8 months and I don’t want to start at the beginning again. There are many people working and apprenticing at the Las Vegas restaurant already and the service is slow compared to Paris. I prefer to work in faster environments that get your adrenaline pumping. But, when there’s 49 covers over a 6 hour time span with a staff of 18 chefs it makes the 11 hour work day drip like molasses.

Damien Dulas, the exec. chef from France and my friend too!

Besides getting to spend time with my talented French friend Damien Dulas from the Guy Savoy, Paris restaurant and now the executive chef of the Las Vegas restaurant, the highlight of my visit was working with Hung, one of the sous chef’s and shoe-in for the next Top Chef television program. (yes, I’m still waiting to hear back). He came to visit me in Paris to see how we do things across the Atlantic and invited me to come and check it out in Las Vegas.

Hung has been cooking since he was 9 years old. He began at his parents popular Vietnamese restaurant in Massachusettes. Before moving to Las Vegas he worked at Per Se in New York where he also did fish. I guess you could say he’s a fish expert. He is extremly talented and I’m not too excited to compete against him on national TV if I get the spot. But, I know we each have different cooking backgrounds and we bring our experiences to the table in different ways.

Regardless of the fact that we’re both vying for spots on the TV show, Hung took it upon himself to be my private instructor. We spent two whole days in the fish prep room just working on preparation. It’s my personal philosophy that until you know how to work with an animal you can’t cook it properly. I was surprised to learn that there is a prep cook who prepares most of the fish. Lucky for them – we don’t have that luxury in Paris.

With Hung I learned how to handle sea bass half the size of me, dover sole, scallops, oysters, tuna, and lobster. He took extra care in showing me how to move my knife across the bones so as to not rip the delicate flesh and various ways of preparation and cooking. We experimented with different ways to cook lobster and had lots of fun eating our experiments! Hung is a master.

Because service was so slow I tried to keep the spirits up of the two chefs at the fish station and joke around with them. I helped them here and there, but aside from comic relief, they really didn’t need me and I found myself bored and hot most of the time.

I was scheduled to come into work on Sunday, but since no fish was arriving I decided that Saturday would be my last day. I left two bottles of ’96 Dom for the chefs and a funny card. I know they won’t miss me too much and frankly, I’m looking forward to getting back to the Paris restaurant. I know we might not have everything they have in Vegas – our equipment is older, the kitchen is small and split level, our staff mostly under the age of 20, and the hours outrageously long – but to me it’s my second family and I miss them. Call it glutton for punishment or just old school, but I prefer the original.

There is a reason the Guy Savoy in Paris has 3 stars and I have lots of respect for the young Parisian cooks that make so many personal sacrifices to achieve the best that they can.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot…

I did have a little bit of fun on Sunday night. A friend of mine, Jamie, drove in from Utah and we went out. I mean we went OUT!!!! We started with sushi at Nobu’s and were pleasantly surprised to find our $300 bill comped. (yes, there are some great perks about working in Las Vegas!). After a fabulous dinner of beautifully prepared fish and several bottles of sake, we left the Hard Rock Casino and headed to Palms where we tried our luck at black jack.

I lost and Jamie won. It was her first time gambling, so she had all the beginner’s luck going on. After she won $160 bucks and I lost around the same amount, we headed to another club at the casino called Moon where Jamie promised to buy drinks all night with her newfound wealth.

At Moon the bouncer decided to put us on pedestals to dance way above the crowds. Unfortunately he wouldn’t let us down from the pedestals. But we had a great time on our private stages and enjoyed lording it over the dance floor. The music at Moon started to get strange around 2AM so we carefully climbed down from our perches and drove over to Caesar’s Palace to dance at another club called Pure. Pure was fun and Jamie met a cute boy there. I continued to dance while Jamie snogged her new beau at one of the VIP tables.

Left alone on the dance floor while Jamie was heavily engrossed in her new love, I became bate for just about every unattached man there. Considering that nobody cares whether you’re married or not – the wedding ring factor doesn’t seem to be a deterant – I decided that I would only speak french and make great effort at speaking English. This scared off just about everyone. Funny how people talk louder when they think you don’t understand the language. As if yelling at some one might help with comprehension.

The lights came up at 4AM and everyone filtered out into the casino, but Jamie decided that she wanted to see a strip tease (she’s never seen one before) so we headed to a gentlemen’t club with her new beau in tow. Unfortunately the dancers were amateur and the crowd at 4AM was not very attractive, but we made the best out of it and left an hour later to drive home just as the sun started to break through the mountains.

Good times in Sin City..

Technorati Tags: 3-star restaurant, Guy Savoy, Hung

The post Leaving Las Vegas first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Just like I promised, I sent my video, resumé, and headshot into the Magical Elves (the name of the production company for the TV show Top Chef). Sadly the Magical Elves have not contacted me yet. They start filming in March and I just barely made the cutoff date so it’s possible they’ve already filled their spaces. The application clearly stated to turn it in before the due date because they have a short period of time to cast the show.

But, there’s still a chance that the Magical Elves might tip toe into my room at night with their little pointy shoes and striped stockings and whisper in my ear that I’m the next contestant on Top Chef. Or perhaps they are having trouble finding my Paris address? Oh, woe is me.

To complicate matters, I just found out that one of the sous chefs from Guy Savoy, Las Vegas applied for the show too and the Magical Elves went to film him cooking at the restaurant. Oh double woe is me!!! They wouldn’t put two contestants from the same restaurant on the show would they? Not unless they wanted to see a bloodbath. I do meat and he does fish so there’s lots of potential for drama and competition.

However, I really really like the sous chef. He briefly visited our Paris restaurant and we had a ton of fun working together. We joked privately about how different the cooking culture is in Paris compared to the States. I showed him how to de-feather, gut, and fillet wild birds and together we zipped through piles of recently hunted game birds. He was happy to have a break from fish and I was happy to talk with a fellow American and see what’s new in the food world.

We parted ways and he gave me a chef’s jacket from the Guy Savoy, Las Vegas restaurant that has the official logo on it. (We don’t have those in Paris, I’m not quite sure why not)

So guess what, I’m taking my jacket and I’m going to Las Vegas to cook for a few weeks. It’s his turn to teach me what he knows! I’m planning on staying at the Paris hotel. So for anyone that thinks I’m leaving France or that I’m no longer an expat blogger, think again mon cherie! I hear they’ve got an Eiffle Tower and everything!!! I’ll be writing from Paris and cooking in a French restaurant… just… uh… not the one on Rue Troyon a block away from the L’Arc de Triumph.

The other Paris!

This is embarrassing, but here’s my video if you need a good laugh. I look extremely tired (because I am) and I was only allowed 5 minutes of video footage so a lot of good stuff got chopped. It was challenging to film at the restaurant and I owe a lot of thanks to Tse, the newest American stagier who is also blogging about her experiences, because she came in early to tape me. And yes, I know the beginning is cheesy, but I wanted to make sure I had the attention of the Magical Elves. You know how elves are…

Technorati Tags: 3-star restaurant, Chef, top chef, video

The post Top Chef Audition Video first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

To learn how to clean fish check out my How To Fillet a Fish video. Sea bass can be tricky to fillet because they are big and bony. This recipe doesn’t call for fish fumé anyway so there’s no need for fish bones. But it’s nice to know how to clean fish just incase you’re ever cast in an episode of Survivor. The sea bass rests upon a bed of sauteéd wild mushrooms with a simple brunoise (small dice) of ratatouille scattered around.

So what are the chef’s tricks to getting crunchy skin and soft white moist flesh? In a small cast iron or nonstick skillet heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Don’t be afraid to use high heat. Once the olive oil is smoking put the fish skin side down to sear AND DON’T TRY TO MOVE IT. Turn down the heat to medium low after thirty seconds and let it cook for a minute longer. Gently turn the fish over with a spatula and cook for 5-6 minutes longer on low heat until the white flesh is opaque. The skin should puff up and be super crunchy. If the skin is sticking to the bottom of the pan then either the oil wasn’t hot enough (you didn’t wait until it was smoking!!!) or it wasn’t seared long enough.

If preparing fish for a dinner party it is easier to use a baking sheet to finish the cooking. Simply sear the fish ahead of time in a skillet, turn out onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet skin side up, and finish the baking right before serving in the oven at 350˚F for 10 minutes. I don’t recommend doing this too far ahead. Cover with foil until ready to bake.

For the full recipe click continue reading…

Technorati Tags: courgette, fish, mushrooms, recipes, sea bass, zucchini

Crispy Sea Bass with Wild Mushrooms

Ingredients
2 Sea Bass fillets with the skin
2 big handfuls of meaty wild mushrooms of choice (porcini, oyster, etc)
1 small shallot
1 small bunch flat leaf parley
1/2 zucchini
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow pepper
2 slices of stale white bread cubed for croutons
Olive oil
1 T lemon juice

Instructions
1. Brunoise (dice small) the red & yellow pepper and the zucchini. Only use the skin part of the zucc, not the white fleshy part. In a small pot of boiling water blanch veggies for 1 minute. Remove and cook in an ice bath. Put veggies in a small bowl and toss with 2 T of good olive oil, 1T of lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and twist of fresh pepper. Set aside.
2. Clean mushrooms gently in cold water to remove any grit. Cut roughly into 1/2″ size chunks if they are big. Dice shallot. Chop parsley.
3. In a skillet on medium heat 2 T of olive oil. Add shallots and cook until translucent (1 minute). Add mushrooms. Don’t add more olive oil. Mushrooms contain water and once they are heated they will release their juices. Cook until soft. Remove from heat and set aside. Add parsley right before serving (you might need to briefly reheat the mushrooms before serving)
4. In a skillet heat olive oil (or clarified butter if you have it) on medium high and sauté bread croutons until crispy. Remove onto a paper towel to drain oil and set aside.
5. Seaons fish on both sides with salt & pepper. In a skillet just big enough to hold 2 fish fillets, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Heat on high. Once oil is smoking at the fish skin side down to sear. AND DON’T TRY TO MOVE IT.
6. Turn down the heat to medium low after thirty seconds and let it cook for a minute longer. Gently turn the fish over with a spatula and cook for 5-6 minutes longer on low heat until the white flesh is opaque. The skin should puff up and be super crunchy. If the skin is sticking to the bottom of the pan then either the oil wasn’t hot enough (you didn’t wait until it was smoking!!!) or it wasn’t seared long enough.
7. Reheat mushrooms and add parsley. Serve fish on a bed of mushrooms. Garnish with vegetable ratatouille and warm croutons.
NOTE: If preparing fish for a dinner party it is easier to use a baking sheet to finish the cooking. Simply sear the fish ahead of time in a skillet, turn out onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet skin side up, and finish the baking right before serving in the oven at 350˚F for 10 minutes. I don’t recommend doing this too far ahead. Cover with foil until ready to bake.

The post Sea Bass with Wild Mushrooms first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I know that if I was to die and go to hell that I would surely wake up in the kitchen of this restaurant. I continue to battle the heat in the kitchen. I am never comfortable even when I’m wearing the lightest of chef’s jackets. All the boys pour sweat while cooking and I just swell up and turn red – la petite tomate. The heat can rise anywhere from 80˚ to 100˚ during service. Have you ever tried to think in temperatures that hot?

The long hours which start at 8AM and end at 11:30 PM with an hour and half break in the middle leave me constantly fatigued. The devil himself designed this work schedule, because I know the French and their love of the 35 hour work week, did not. Then there’s the twisted idea that one must work 6 days a week to “make up” for vacation time, another sure sign of the devil.

And then there’s the militaristic structure of the restaurant. We come on time dressed and ready to work. We work all day with minimal breaks. We endure being yelled at point blank and answer “Oui monsieur” to anything we might be getting yelled at about. There are no excuses for anything – no one cares – if the executive chef tells you you’re food tastes horrible you answer “Oui monsieur, excusez-moi monsieur” and you redo it. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been cooking for 1 month or 10 years. C’est comme ça.

So what is it that I love about my job? I know you must be thinking that – as I am thinking that too – after reading what I have just written. I have learned how to cook and I mean really cook. Not just read a recipe, not just grasp techniques, not just butcher small woodland creatures or brunoise carrots or peel potatoes. But I have some how managed to make my way to the fire at the heart of this very traditional French kitchen. Where once I stood nervously around the flames of the stove not wanting to appear novice, now I flick on the fire to it’s maximum btu capacity and sizzle away.

When the restaurant is at full capacity and the chef’s are calling out the orders and my boss and I running back and forth to the burners and stoves with legs of lamb, ris de veau, poularde, pigeon, veal, pheasant, and filet de beouf and everyone is doing their job and we are all working together to make beautiful food – then I know that I love my work. It is in these moments, that I understand why all the structure is in place and why it is necessary for us to work together 14 hours a day.

We are a family. Kind of like a dysfunctional Partridge family only we make food and not music. And we do love each other. When one of the young women (the only other woman right now) came in with a black eye – which she swore was an accident – we all vowed to kill her boyfriend if we ever saw him. When François, a beloved and well respected Chef de Parti, left to become an executive chef at another restaurant we drank champagne in his honor and begged him to stay.

And sometimes we do extraordinary things for each other. Like making Cassolet for the entire staff for our last meal together before vacation (a two day process) or eating Bouche de Noel baked special from the pastry kitchen. I will never forget drinking Champagne together as a team after our last service with the Famous Chef that owns the restaurant. These are the moments I treasure.

And whenever I get really hot, really fatigued, really upset, and really tired of my extended familly I think to myself, “You are cooking in a 3-star restaurant, they are letting you cook in a 3-star restaurant, they are letting an American non-French speaking woman cook at a 3-star traditional French restaurant “. Then I feel like a spy who has infiltrated the iron curtain of Gastronomy. And that gives me great pleasure.

Some out-takes on the last day before vacation…

Cleaning:
We didn’t just get to break open the Champagne after our last service. No, we had to clean the whole entire restaurant first and no one could leave or drink champagne until everyone was finished. A huge bummer for me because I started cleaning the day before to ensure that we could leave at a decent hour.

Everything in the restaurant, pots and pans included, are cleaned with the same green colored liquid. I don’t know what exactly it’s supposed to do, but I question it’s ability to truly remove bacteria. So, I brought my own materials: Monsieur Propre (Mr. Clean) and Ajax industrial kitchen cleaner. I used these to clean the meat section of the walk-in refrigerator and all of our small refrigerators, prep areas, and tiled walls.

One of the Executive Chef’s (who i adore) walked into the fridge and was so impressed by the sparkle and clean fresh smell that he told my boss he had never seen it like that before. At first I thought I might get in trouble for bringing in my own supplies, but when he asked to borrow my products I was happily surprised. Needless to say the rest of the kitchen asked to borrow my supplies shortly afterward. The whole kitchen smelled spring fresh and shined. Thank you Monsieur Propre and Ajax cleaning products for getting us our glass of champagne quicker!

Technorati Tags: Chef, Food, french, paris, paris cooking school, Paris restaurants

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We serve this at the restaurant in the biggest pumpkin known to mankind. I’m sure the customers are totally surprised when they see it coming to the table. We add white truffle slices and oil to the soup (just a little bit – it’s strong!) and mix in an egg yolk right before serving to create the ultimate in luxury soup.

The recipe below is just the basic, but feel free to experiment with the truffle oil if you can afford it. I was allowed to try a white truffle slice the other day and it was delicious. This truffle grows mostly in Italy typically several inches below ground near the roots of oak and hazelnut trees. It is the second most expensive food in the world running around $3000 per pound for the very best – I was of course told this before being allowed to swallow my ever so thin sliver of truffle.

What does it taste like? Hmmmm, kind of like soil with yeast and mushrooms with a bit of honey and something kind of gaseous. Sounds delish, eh? The peak season is now so eat up – oh, and don’t kill anyone over them, okay? They’re not that good….

By the way, this soup doesn’t have any cream in it. Typically in France when you see a soup that says crème it means that the vegetable has just been pureed. You can add some cream at the end if desired, but it’s not necessary. Click on “Continue reading Pumpkin Soup” for recipe

Technorati Tags: 3-star restaurant, eggs, paris, pumpkin, soup, truffle, white truffle

Pumpkin Soup: Crème de Citrouille

serves 6-8

30g / 2 T salted butter
1 medium onion chopped
1 shallot chopped
1 potato peeled and chopped
950g / 6 cups cubed pumpkin (about 2 lbs.)
2 litres / 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground white pepper

Additions to experiment with:
1teaspoon white truffle oil
herbs to garnish with
1 egg yolk blended in with hand mixer at the end before serving

Instructions
1. Melt butter in a large saucepan and cook the onions and shallots until softened but not browned. About 3 min.
2. Add potato, pumpkin, and stock to pan. Season. Reduce heat to low and simmer for around 40 minutes. Test pumpkin and potato for doneness with a fork. They should split apart easily.
3. Transfer vegetables to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add some cooking liquid as needed to help purée. Return the purée to the pot and add more seasoning. Mix in some white truffle oil if you’re feeling adventurous and an egg yolk right before serving

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I experimented with different smoked salmons (white from Bretagne and pink from Ireland), procuitto ham, coppa, and comté fromage. The salad is just plain ol’ salad with a basamic vinagrette (1 T vinegar, 3 T olive oil) with diced veggies I found in the fridge. C’est facile, non?

For another variation try it as an appetizer served on little blinis. I made variations with goat cheese, comté cheese, blue cheese, cured meats, smoked salmon, figs, and veggies. Really beautiful, colorful, and simple.

Technorati Tags: appetizers, chacuterie, fromage, salmon

The post The Chacuterie Plate first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Needless to say I’ve put on ten pounds. I can tell you’re rolling your eyes – ten pounds big deal, right? But if you think about it, ten pounds is one huge sack of potatoes and that’s a lot of extra weight to be carrying around. Also, I taste things all day at work and eat the two daily staff meals which I’ve come to the conclusion are modeled after the Iowa Football team’s meal plan (corn, meat, potatoes, corn, red meat potatoes, pasta).

I’ve decided that the pounds need to come off before my birthday which is the end of October. I know this is probably unrealistic because I go back to work on Friday and I’ll be eating all day again (8:30AM – 11PM). Hopefully I’ll still be working the meat station so at least I can taste succulent meats and jus instead of creams sauces and buttered vegetables. Doubly difficult because I only have a two hour break in the middle of the day to excersize – which is never on the top of my priorities after a morning of hell.

I found this website called calorie-count.com that allows you to log in your daily caloric intake as well as your activity for the day. You can set weight goals and calculate how many calories you should be eating per day. Can I tell you what a shock it was to see how many calories I actually eat in one day? Like gag me with a serving spoon!

The site provides you with the nutritional information for just about every food product which makes keeping track a snap. Aside from counting calories it also breaks down your calories into what percentage is fat, carbohydrate, and protein. I appreciate this because I like to run and it’s important for me to eat 50%-25%-25% in carbs, protien, and fats.

One of my favorite parts is the activity log. It counts calories for taking a shower, putting on make-up, talking and eating, sitting in an office chair, walking to and from an outhouse (where did this one come from?), and sex. If you have energetic sex for one hour you’re burning 80 calories. Hmmm, food for thought….

http://www.calorie-count.com
Not to be confused with caloriecounter.com

Technorati Tags: calorie, calorie counting, diet, restaurants, weight loss

The post Calorie Counting Chef first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

yogurt vanilla gelato with frozen champagne grapes

I first had this flavor at Amorino’s gelato store in Paris. It was a hot day and I was craving something refreshing and slightly tangy. I was in the mood for a vanilla flavored gelato and not a citrus sorbet, so I chose yogurt. My friend at the time scoffed at my decision, “Yogurt? What are you on a diet?” but after she tried mine, she dumped hers in the trash, got back in the fifteen minute line circling the block, and ordered yogurt gelato for herself.

The recipe is simple and accompanies fresh fruit desserts perfectly. I use greek yogurt because I think the flavor and the consistency work the best for this. The only caveat is you need an ice cream maker.

Click on “Continue reading yogurt gelato” for recipe…

Technorati Tags: gelato, ice cream, recipe, vanilla, yogurt, yogurt gelato

Yogurt Gelato

Ingredients
1 1/4 Cup whole milk
1 3/4 Cup Greek yogurt
3/4 Cup sugar (if yogurt is sweetened, add to your liking)
1 Vanilla bean pod, scraped

Instructions
1. Whisk milk, yogurt together. Add sugar little by little so that you can taste the sweetness and mix to your liking. Some yogurts have more tang and some have added sugar. Mix until sugar is dissolved.
2. Split vanilla bean pod in two and scrape seeds into yogurt mixture with the back of a knife tip. Mix well.
3. Put yogurt mixture into ice cream maker and follow machine instructions.
4. Voila! C’est tres facile, non?

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My own mother – the best cook in the world – who has cooked for me for over thirty years now gets nervous in the kitchen and questions all her decisions. It’s terrible! Some friend’s last night made a fantastic meal for us that obviously took two days to prepare. Our hostess confided that her husband spent hours pouring over cookbooks and wouldn’t let her near the kitchen during prep.

Cooking school teaches you technique. It doesn’t mean that you grow superior taste buds or transform you into the next Guy Savoy. And it certainly doesn’t replace home cooked meals. And cooking in restaurants – even 3-star one’s – gives the repetitive experience of cooking the same things over and over and over. Sure I have the good fortune of watching exciting dishes be created by master chefs, but we also have a staff of thirty-six chefs to pull it all together.

Cooking is an art form and we all have our personal tastes and styles. That is what makes sharing meals so special because they are reflective of our experiences and backgrounds. I’ve had peanut butter balls made by kindergartners that I thought were the best things on earth and fancy shmancy expensive restaurant dinners that I thought were terrible. So there you have it.

The pressure of cooking at home is now more extreme for me than the pressure in the restaurant because everyone is like, “Oh you’re a trained chef, I’m sure this is going to be incredible”. Uh, hello – fear of failure?!?! I would rather be yelled at point blank by the Chef de Cuisine than have that stress hanging overhead.

In France, no one would even dare call themselves a chef with less than fifteen years in the business. So really, most of us cooking school grads now working in restaurants are merely cooks.

As one of my favorite chefs at Le Cordon Bleu used to say, “Food that looks good never tastes good. I’d rather eat a family cooked meal any day of the week” then of course he’d demo a 3-star meal for us and we’d gobble it down. But seriously, I think he’s right.

Sigh…

The post The Chef’s Dilemma first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

Lobster served with a anise cream sauce and zucchini flower stuffed with lobster risotto

Gently untwist the flower at the top and remove the stamen inside. Then fill the flower with risotto with the aid of a pastry bag. Twist the top of flower back again to form a little risotto pouch and sauté in butter for a few minutes each side. Easy!
Risotto recipe to follow…

Technorati Tags: courgette, risotto, zucchini

Lobster Risotto
Ingredients
6 Zucchini flowers, stamens removed
200 g / 1 cup arborio rice
1 shallot chopped
2 T olive oil
3 T white wine
300ml / 1 1/2 cup lobster or chicken stock and extra to add and keep creamy while cooking
2 T Parmesan grated
2 T cream
1/2 cup Lobster meat diced
Instructions
1. Heat olive oil in big skillet and cook shallots and rice over medium high heat until rice is translucent and smells nutty.
2. Deglaze pan with white wine when rice turns translucent (don’t brown onions or rice)
3. Add stock and a little water and keep adding as necessary if risotto gets to dry (should be sticky and creamy)
4. Cook for 18 minutes.
5. Add a little olive oil, parmesan, and lobster meat (diced cooked zucchini too if you want to!) and stir. Keep warm over a water bath (bain marie) until ready to fill a pastry bag.
6. Fill pastry bag and then zucchini flower and twist flower at top to close. Put flower on a baking tray with a little olive oil and heat in oven at 160˚C / 325˚F for 6 minutes or until warmed through. Don’t cook flower too much if you want the bright orange look. Otherwise you can sauté in a skillet with a little olive oil.
7. Serve and enjoy!

The post Zucchini Week: Risotto Stuffed Courgette Flowers first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

My parents are here in town for my graduation from Le Cordon Bleu and we’re sight seeing. My mom is a history-o-holic. She’s probably the only person on earth who’s interested in touring France for it’s Sistercian Abbey’s (not for the wine and cheese). She’s also the only person I know that can correct tour guides on their facts. God, I love her.

My Stepdad is the Catholic. Growing up in a strict Lithuanian Catholic family, he is able to decipher many of the symbols that elude my mom and me. However, I think the church has mixed memories for him and when I asked if he wanted to light a candle for anyone the other day, the answer was a firm “No.” Then he joked and said, “I’d rather buy some indulgences…”

I’m the graveyard obsessed nut. When I was a child if we passed a graveyard on a road trip I would throw a fit until we stopped and walked through it. I had my gravestone picked out by the time I was six. This worried my parents greatly and still continues to mystify my Mom. I’ve always been fascinated with death and burial rituals.

We arrived at St. Denis, the famous final resting place of all the French Kings and Queens, on a cloudy morning . Many of my notorious favorites are buried here including Catherine Medici (who brought artichokes to France) and Marie Antoinette (Let them eat cake). According to my mother, it is also one of the earliest gothic churches, although it was embelished by later peiods, and influenced famous churches like Chartres.

The outside is in bad shape. In fact, we thought we had come to the wrong place. We were surprised once we walked inside to see the vaulted ceilings and beautiful stained glass windows. We headed to the crypt, with morbid curiosity.

During the Revolution most of the tombs were desecrated. Many years later restoration was begun under Napoleon I to consecrate the church as the Imperial burial place. Under his authority the search began for the bones and relics of all those naughty Queens and Kings that had been dumped into two pits outside the church by the revolutionaries. Thankfully, the mausoleums had been preserved underneath the church and were restored above later.

The mausoleums are incredible. Those made after 1285 are lifelike, carved from death masks. Many of these are of King’s and Queen’s together naked on their deathbed showing detailed muscular structure, hair, and features. I was surprised to find out that they had been commissioned this way by the royalty themselves. Above their twisted deathbed statues they are dressed in coronation clothes showing their former decorated selves.

Marie d’Espagne really gave me the heeby-jeebies. I was taking a picture of her when I noticed that she was looking at me. I put my camera down to rub my eyes and make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, and her eyes seemed normal again – a blank marble slate with no pupil or retina or direction. When I went to take another picture, I could swear she was looking at me again. I changed the angle of my camera to see if it was the lighting, but no matter where I moved, there she was peering at me from the corner of her eye. I showed my mom the pics after we left the church and we both got shivers.

Marie Antoinette’s masouleum is saintly. She looks like a perfect little beautiful Queen deep in humble prayer. To betray otherwise, we noticed that her breasts are haflway popping out of her dress (unlike all the other Queens) and they are shiny from people rubbing them. It must be the new buddha-like tradition in St. Denis – rubbing Marie Antoinette’s breasts. Although, I can’t see how that would bring anybody luck. Nonetheless, there is something about her, even her statue, that is intriguing. Can’t wait to see the new film coming out on her. I hope it’s good and not too forgiving of the spoiled Queen.

As we walked out of the church back through the nave, my Stepdad remarked on the incredible architecture, “Imagine, they did all this without a computer or anything, just with their hands. Funny how enlightened we are today and we can’t build anything as beautiful as this.” We all paused to admire the endless archways and heavenly light peering in through the stained glass one last time before heading to the duldrums of metro Line 13.

Where: St. Denis, St. Denis Basilique on Line 13

Technorati Tags: Paris, St. Denis, travel

The post St. Denis: Burial Place of Kings & Queens first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.

I happened to come across an unusual offering at my local Parisian farmer’s market. At my lettuce guy’s stall he had the usual spring bounty: petit pois, tender young carrots, new potatoes, arugula, frisee, small artichokes, red lettuce, etc. But then I spotted a brown bag filled with deep purple leaves. He let me munch one before buying and I was surprised at how sweet the leaves were. Firm texture, almost leathery, with a slightly acidic aftertaste. Who knew you could eat beet leaves!?!

I plated the salad with a strawberry vinaigrette and served ripe melon along side with blended blue cheese covered crostini’s. If you’re wondering if I’ve totally lost my mind, then you have just got to try it! I served my guests this starter and we all were surprised (including myself) at how delicious it was and how well it paired with the champagne. We followed with a little surf and turf of fillet and scallops with mango salsa. Yummy!

Happy May Day!!!
I’ve started to experiment with fruit in unconventional ways. In the past I’ve always assumed that fruit was for dessert or the cheese plate, but lately I’ve been learning how to bring it onto the dinner menu too. Like tandori John Dory with mango & papaya curry or scallops with a salsa of tomato, kiwi, and pineapple.

Recipe to follow…

P.S. No word on my estage at Guy Savoy yet…still waiting…uggh!

Technorati Tags: paris cooking school, recipes, vinaigrette

Strawberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients
Half basket of ripe strawberries
1/4 red wine vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
large pinch of salt (three finger pinch)
large pinch of sugar and more if strawberries aren’t ripe enough
few grinds of white pepper

Instructions
1. Let strawberries macerate in vinegar for at least a half hour.
2. Blend strawberries and vinegar together and drizzle in oils
3. Add big pinch of sugar and salt.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning. This dressing should not taste too sweet.
5. Add some white pepper if desired
6. Strain if you want to get all those little seeds out, but I normally don’t bother.

The post Beet Leaf Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette first appeared on Amy Glaze's Pommes d'Amour.