Paris

We got back a week or so from spending ten days in Paris together.  We ate out a couple of times, but we ended up cooking a lot of our meals in our very tiny apartment (which was, however, on the top level of a beautiful building in the 16th and was positioned to view the top half of the Tour Eiffel).  Some of these meals were just cheese, fruit and bread (and macarons) and some were a little more involved.

Available to us for cooking was a hot plate, a microwave, a 1.5 quart pot and a tiny Teflon pan.  There were a few plates and some silverware, but we had to buy wine glasses and a small all-purpose knife.  We saved up paper bags to use as cutting boards.  Jeremy's assertion: "Yep, I can make just about anything here... It will just take a lot longer."  I think we did pretty well.  We did not buy the live eels that I wanted, however, because the pot was not large enough to fit them.  Next time...

Other culinary highlights included a sushi place near our apartment with very fresh fish, albeit nothing too fancy technically.  We picked up many brioches chinoises au porc grillées (steamed pork-stuffed Chinese dumplings) from Restaurant Wen Zhou (~60 Rue de Belleville).  They are the fluffiest of dumplings with a touch of sweetness in the white dough, a skin formed from steaming, and a crispy browned bottom where they are toasted.  These have always been some of my favorite things to eat and Jeremy considered them--if not the best--among the best of all the things he ate on his trip (pretty good, considering the number of Michelin-starred restaurants he visited).  

We also went to Toraya, a very highly-esteemed Japanese tea house with a shop in Paris known for their amazing confections known as wagashi.  We each had one pot of tea and one wagashi.  This was my favorite of the things we did.

Some excellent pistachio ice cream was also enjoyed from Regis, an ice cream shop nearby on Rue de Passy.  It was the most pistachio of all ice creams and almost had a floral note in addition to its creamy nuttiness.

We thoroughly imbibed as well, perhaps most with Loire wines.  Cheverny Sauvignon Blancs being some of past favorites, we dranks a few of those and were not disappointed. A gamay/cab franc from the same region did not deliver.  Crémants de Loire (sparklies) revealed themselves to be toasty, citrusy and very satisfying. Chinon and Bourgeuil Cab Francs were great. Burgandy Chardonnays and Pinots were all very tasty and all kinds of appellations that we struggle to find in the US were available readily in even the most local of shops in Paris at very good price points.

Livarot and Courgette Constructions

Soft, pungent rind-washed cheese and zucchini

Poulet Fermier with Duxelle and Potato Stack

This was the result of a trip to the market and to a local boucherie.  Our chicken came with head and feathers on, as well as with feet.  It is not in the picture, but we also enjoyed the liver with this meal.  In the picture below, you can see the only knife we had available for cooking (which we also purchased at a market).  The size of the knife made dinner preparations take a little longer than at home.  

• Chicken, chicken liver, butter
• Duxelles: shiitakes, yellow mushrooms, garlic, cream, Cheverny
• Stack: vitelotte potatoes, Livarot cheese, zucchini

Chicken with Oyster Mushroom Fig Gastrique Pasta
More of our farm chicken plus some other fresh market produce.

• Pasta: Whole grain rotini, oyster mushrooms, fig, garlic, sugar, vinegar
• Sides: Haricots verts; sautéed radishes with chive

Le Petit Déjeuner
More recombinations of fresh and tasty things.

• Sunny side up egg, sautéed zucchini and mushrooms with garlic, purple potato chips
• Livarot cheese, crumbled crottin of chèvre 

Légumes Divers

• Haricots verts, red onion, amandine potatoes, garlic, oyster mushrooms, parsley

Canapé

• Radish, chive, butter, fleur de sel, sourdough bread

Eggs and sautéed vegetables

• Vegetables: Amandine potatoes, green beans, radishes, garlic

Boudin Blanc with Potato Salad and Garlic Mushrooms

• Boudin blanc sauce: carrot, garlic, ....?
• Salad: Amandine potatoes, haricots verts, radishes, chives, cream, mustard
• Mushrooms: oyster mushrooms with parsley, garlic, Crémant de Loire

Meals Without Jeremy: Part II

Duck Confit Potstickers with Umeboshi Sauce:
Umeboshi are one of my favorite ingredients.  They are Japanese pickled plums with a very acidic and salty taste profile.  Here I chopped a few up to flavor a sauce and to cut the unctuous confit/cheese mixture (which we had made and frozen a few months ago).

• Potstickers: Wonton wrappers, duck confit w/ gruyère; champagne & ancho oil for cooking
• Sauce: Umeboshi, rice wine vinegar, shoyu soy sauce

Umeboshi Shiitake Soup:

As for most of my Japanese-style soups, I started out by making a basic dashi (boiling kombu seaweed and bonito flakes)--but rather than starting with plain water, I used the liquid from soaking my dried shiitakes in order to add extra umami flavor.  Then I threw in the leftover umeboshi sauce from above to add additional flavor components.

The soup would have benefited (in both taste and apperance) from some fresh vegetables, but unfortunately I did not have any.

• Garnish: Duck confit/gruyère potstickers, chikuwa fu, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms
• Soup Base: Umeboshi sauce (Umeboshi, rice wine vinegar, shoyu soy sauce), shiitake-soaking liquid, kombu, bonito flakes, chili threads

Deconstructed and Revised Inarizushi (Tuna-Stuffed Tofu Pouches with Champagne Cardamom Quinoa and Shiitake Cream Sauce):
This is a take on inarizushi (briefly: sushi in these tofu pouches).  Rather than rice, I used quinoa, and rather than flavoring it with vinegar, I cooked the quinoa with champagne in place of water.  The tuna was canned, but I sautéed it and flavored it with some Cholula.

The sauce was a wonderful creamy duxelle-style sauce that Jeremy made a while back.  Originally served cold, I heated it here.

• Quinoa: Quinoa, cheap champagne, no-chicken Bouillon paste, cardamom pods
• Zushi: Tofu pouches boiled in soy sauce water, tuna, cholula
• Garnish: Dried chives, shiitake cream sauce, cholula

Tuna, Quinoa and Shiitake Sauce:
Leftovers.  See above for ingredients (minus the tofu pouches).


Garden Chicken Stirfry:
Bok choy, broccoli rabe and green garlic from a friend's garden form the basis for this dish.

• Stir fry: Bok choy, broccoli rabe, green garlic, chicken breast, soy sauce, chenin blanc
• Garnish: Bok choy flowers

Rhubarb Compote:
Just a snack.  You can tell I'm still being rather lazy/unmotivated without Jeremy.

• Rhubarb, turbinado sugar

Ham Sandwich with Garden Vegetables:

• Deli ham, mustard, assorted spring lettuce, dill, radish

Salmon Salad Sandwich:
A good fish or chicken salad should have a pickled component and a tart/fruity component. I particularly like capers for the pickle but my fruity component tends to change.  Here I used grapefruit, which complimented the salmon nicely. I also threw in some fennel which added a nice crispness and an herbal component that brought out the nice aspect of the fishiness.

• Salad: Grilled sockeye salmon, grapefruit, capers, fennel bulb, red pepper mustard
• Bread: from work

Asparagus Tart with Coconut Cornmeal Crust:
Inspired by Heidi Swanson's Turnip Green Tart, I decided to make an asparagus tart with the remnants from making a wonderful chilled asparagus soup for my mom on Mother's Day.

I used noted recipe as a starting point, but substituted coconut flour for the spelt.  The resulting crust was wonderful with a light sweetness and concurrent savoriness.  Both the corn and coconut aromas are present but subtle.  I made a double batch and look forward to using the frozen remnants.  I altered the filling slightly more, but stuck to her general theme.

Jeremy and I got some flowers which we dried before he left, and that is one of them.  Sorry about the nostalgia...

• Crust: AP flour, coconut flour, corn meal, butter, egg
• Filling: Asparagus fiber, chicken stock, egg, red pepper mustard, cream, garlic
• Garnish: Gruyère, Red Pepper Flakes

Citrus Pics and a Tentacle

Meals Without Jeremy: Part I

So far, my diet with Jeremy being in France has not been the best.  What I've actually made so far are two whole-grain pasta dishes: one with a soy sauce grapefruit vinaigrette, and the other with some of that leftover shrimp/goat cheese mixture.

Meals on the Fly

Over the past few weeks we've been eating a hodgepodge of foods, and most of them have been at work or school.  The two of us have since graduated culinary school and Jeremy has left to spend a month traveling and working in France.  We managed to fit in a few meals cooked at home since the last post, and these are them (albeit a bit spotty on the ingredients):


Seafood with Miso and Sushi Rice:

We found this seafood mix (wild mussels, shrimp, calamari, octopus) frozen at a local asian market. 

• Seafood and miso
• Sushi-style rice: Nishiki rice, simple syrup, rice wine vinegar
• Garnish: Umeboshi (pickled plum)

Rice Ball with Eggs and Miso:
A satisfying breakfast.

• Miso, sushi rice ball, sunny-side up eggs and scallion

Seafood Soup:

I can't actually remember what all went into this soup other than the seafood...

Pork chop with Asparagus and Evaporated Milk Truffle Sauce:
This was simply a pork chop seasoned with Jeremy's blackening spice. We were without cream but had an open can of evaporated milk, so we used that as the basis for the sauce. It worked out fairly well, although it did begin to scorch near the end.

• Pork chop, blackening spice
• Asparagus
• Sauce: Evaporated milk, blackening spice, truffle butter...

Sautéed Pasta:

A quick snack.  Dried pasta squares are browned in butter, steamed with wine then finished with cheese.

• Sauce: Vignoles white wine, butter, gruyère
• Pasta (dried): Eggs, flour, salt, olive oil

Shrimpy Goat Cheese Dumplings:
This stuffing was leftover from Valentine's Day--frozen. 

Sprouts, Pâté and Fresh Pasta:

Another creation using up leftovers and odds/ends. Brussel sprouts, chicken-truffle forcemeat, fresh pasta and some other ingredients I cannot remember come together niclely, especially topped with a good gorgonzola.



Shoulder Tender Roulade:
Shoulder tenders were on sale. The rest was using up things around the house.

• Roulade stuffing: Corn, escabeche, tomato...?
• Hash: escabeche, green onion, potato, broccoli stem...?
• Sauce: Soy sauce, meyer lemon juice, garlic, scallion, mint...?

Tenderloin Trim:
There's just no way to make this picture pretty at this point.

Smashed potatoes, asparagus, roasted tomato and beef tenderloin trim in some sort of garlic cream sauce

Shoulder Tender Medallions and Asparagus:

Sautéed and topped with aged gruyère.

Hamburger:

• Burger:1/2 Grazziano's sausage, 1/2 lean ground beef
• Garnishes: tomato, lettuce, gorgonzola, yogurt sauce

Fish, Eggs, Asparagus and Sorrel Mash:

• Filleted mystery fish (picked up frozen at Asian market), egg, asparagus
• Mash: Sorrel, potatoes, butter...