I asked J various questions. Do you have a Cuisinart? No. Do you have a blender? No. Do you have a stick blender? Yes. Is it charged? No. Ok, I’ll run to the store, I’ll bring my stick blender, and you chill the tomatoes. An hour or so of chopping later, accompanied by a glass of champagne, we dined on some darn good gazpacho soup, much to my amazement, relief and delight. I hadn’t made it in literally years, maybe a decade (?!?!), so I was quite nervous but thanks to some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes and a lot of love, it was a hit. I showed some restraint in the chopped garlic area — vampires, be damned — but had I not, it would have overpowered, so go with 2 cloves, not the 4 that I originally intended. One jalepeno and we were sufficiently spicy.

J served the soup with a crisp rose, Domaine de Beaurenard, from the Cotes du Rhone and we toasted (our one minimal use of the oven) some thick country bread and rubbed it with a garlic clove and a roma tomato cut in half as they do in Spain. A little garnish of basil chiffonade and we were good to go…

Cold Gazpacho Soup

Ingredients:
1 large can (20-something oz) whole peeled + 3 – 14 oz cans Progresso diced tomatoes + juice
2-3 heirloom tomatoes (diced, save juice and add to bowl)
1 basket small orange baby tomatoes (cut in half across the equator)
1/4 – 1/2 cup white wine or champagne vinegar (depending on consistency & taste)
1 red pepper (cut out ribs, seeds & dice)
1 yellow pepper (cut out ribs, seeds & dice)
1 jalepeno pepper (cut out ribs, seeds & dice)
1 avocado (half for the soup, half for the garnish)
2 large shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ribs celery, diced
1 english cucumber (cut off most of the green, leave a little for color, scoop out seeds, dice)
juice of 1 lime
sea salt, fresh ground pepper

Preparation:
1. Save a few tablespoons of the baby tomatoes, red pepper, yellow pepper, cucumber, celery, half the avocado, and 1/2 tbsp of diced jalepeno for the garnish.

2. Put everything but the avocado in a small bowl, add a swirl of olive oil, some sea salt, fresh ground pepper and stir. Add the avocado and stir gently. Set aside.

3. If using a stick blender, combine all the vegetables + lime juice in a large glass (or non-reactive) bowl along with half the vinegar and blend. I like mine a bit chunky, not super smooth, so I blended in pulses moving the stick blender along the outside of the bowl. If using a cuisinart, just pour it all in and pulse until you get the consistency you’d like. Add more liquid (vinegar, stock, water) if you want a thinner consistency. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as you’d like.

4. Mine didn’t not come out a bright red as you might imagine because I added the avocado but I like the creamy consistency it gives the soup. I topped each bowl with a tbsp or two of the vegetable brunoise garnish, a few ribbons of basil, a drizzle of good olive oil and a few drops of really good balsamic vinegar.

Bon appetit and stay cool!

I could have saved $40,000 and 6 months, endless cuts and burns, bad hair days, bruised egos, fashion disasters, gas that could peel the paint off the side of a barn, and having cats follow me home because I smelled like a mackerel! If I’d only waited 5 years…

Y’all have heard me prattle on about cooking school and know that I attended the full time 6-month culinary program at the FCI a few years ago (and yes I experienced all of the above… in abundance!) so when I saw this book come out, I had to buy it. Like James Peterson’s Sauces, this book too could ballast a boat – all 500 pages! – but it is also a veritable treasure chest, a culinary Fort Knox if you will, of all things cooking. If Techniques is the only cookbook you ever purchase, you’d be set.

Techniques is almost verbatim our first quarter (6 week) curriculum. Really! Word for word, gram for gram, ingredient for ingredient. I even pulled out my notebook and compared the Sauces section. Exactly the same. Our first quarter was spent learning these 250 techniques. I had to learn all 250 since before I went to cooking school I burned water! I still do, just less often… But I digress… We then spent the next 3 quarters refining and practicing and expanding on all these techniques. So if you don’t want to sacrifice 6 months and $40,000 and the above mentioned humiliations to attend cooking school, then buy this book and cook every recipe over and over and you will become an excellent cook. If you master all the skills and techniques in the book, you can walk into any kitchen (even in France!) and hold your own as this is the foundation of classic cooking and the language of the kitchen.

Hints and tips from the Deans and Chef Instructors pepper the book in every technique with tidbits such as “…cook beans at a constant low temperature and cool them in their cooking liquid. ~Dean Alain Sailhac” or “Do not cover a chicken after roasting or it will steam and make the meat taste reheated.” ~Dean Jacques Pepin”. It’s like getting a personal cooking lesson from some of the world’s the greatest chefs. A few that I’m not sure made it into the book that will I will never for include, “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean ~Chef Henri Viain” and “What you put in the pot, you get out of the pot. ~Chef Pascal Beric” and God love them both for their dedication to their students.

Techniques teaches the 250 classic foundation techniques including stocks, sauces, soups, salads, eggs, potatoes, poultry, game, beef, veal, lamb, pork, fish, shellfish, marinades, stuffings, organ meats (my least favorite day in cooking school!), pastry dough, creams & custards, crepes, brioche, frozen desserts, meringues, mousses, and soufflés (my favorite day in cooking school! :) As I flipped the pages, 6 months of my life flashed before my eyes, intermittently cringing while remembering slicing off the tip of my thumb on the mandoline or burning my wrist on the convection oven and laughing out loud picturing the over-whipped genoise, splattered pommes anna, and over-salted Poulet Rôti Grand-mère.

Many if not all of the recipes in my humble little blog, such as a Christmas Menu and Magret de Canard aux Figues de Vendée, are based on the foundation and techniques I learned in cooking school. Techniques also explains in great detail terms in a kitchen, names of equipment and pots and pans (and the difference between stainless steel and aluminum, cast iron, non-stick and the benefits and pit falls of each), food safety, knifes and knife skills, and professional kitchen management.

If you want to become an great home chef or are considering or about to attend cooking school, I implore you to devour (pun intended) this book. If you learn all the techniques, or at least become familiar with them, then you will be leaps and bounds ahead of the game. Bon courage et bon appetit!

Michael, Beverly, Michele, and me proudly displaying our Poulet Rôti Grand-mère

Poulet Rôti Grand-mère — Grandmother’s Roast Chicken
Serves 4
Estimated time: 1-1/2 hours

Ingredients
For the chicken:
• 3-1/2 lb (1.5 kg) roasting chicken (including neck, gizzards, heart)
• coarse salt, fresh ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons (30 gr) unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
• 3-1/2 ounces (100 gr) carrots, mirepoix (rough chopped)
• 3-1/2 ounces (100 gr) onions, mirepoix (rough chopped)

For the garnish:
• 14 ounces (400 gr) russet potatoes, peeled
• 3-1/2 ounces (100 gr) slab bacon
• 4-1/2 ounces (125 gr) button mushrooms, cleaned
• coarse salt, fresh ground pepper
• 2-1/2 ounces (70 gr) pearl onions
• 3 tablespoons (40 gr) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon (7 gr) sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons (10 gr) flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

For the gravy:
• 3-1/2 tablespoons (50 ml) dry white wine
• 2 cups + 2 tablespoons (500 ml) brown veal stock
• coarse salt, fresh ground pepper to taste (optional)

Equipment:
• Chef’s Knife
• Trussing twine
• Trussing needle (optional)
• Heavy-bottomed roasting pan or poêle
• Instant read thermometer (if necessary)
• Paring knife
• Large shallow saucepan
• Strainer
• Small, sharp knife
• Sauté pan
• Slotted spoon
• Paper towels
• Stainless steel bowl
• Sautoir or russe
• Parchment paper
• Ovenproof poêle
• Heatproof bowl
• Wire rack
• Baking pan
• Wooden spoon
• Boning knife
• Large metal spoon
• 4 warm dinner plates (I will never ever ever forget Chef Henri admonishing us with “Hot food, hot plate. Cold food, cold plate!”)

Preparation
1. Prepare your mise en place.

2. Preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C)

3. Remove and reserve the gizzard, neck and heart from the chicken; set the liver aside for another use. Using a chef’s knife, carefully trim the chicken of excess fat. Season and truss the chicken.

4. Heat the butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan or poêle over medium heat. Add the chicken and sear, turning frequently without pricking the skin, for about 10 minutes or until the thighs and legs are well-browned and the breast is just lightly browned.

5. When all sides have browned, turn the chicken on its back and add the gizzard, neck and heart to the pan. Place the pan in the oven and roast for 10 minutes.

6. Add the mirepoix vegetables and toss to coat with a bit of fat.

7. Continue to roast, basting frequently, for about 40 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and the juices run clear from a hole poked in the thigh or when the internal temperature measured between the breast and thigh registers 60°C to 66°C (140°F to 150°F).

8. While the chicken is roasting, prepare the garnish.

9. Using a paring knife, turn the potatoes into 5-centimeter (2-inch) cocottes (small football shapes with 7 sides). Place the potatoes in a single layer in a large shallow sauce pan with cold water to just barely cover over high heat. Bring to a simmer. Immediately remove from heat, drain well without refreshing, and set aside to air dry.

10. Cut the bacon into 1/2-inch (1.3-centimeter) thick slices and then into strips about 1/2-inch (1.3-centimeter) wide to form lardons.

11. Place the bacon in a sauté pan over medium-high heat and sauté for about 5 minutes or until the bacon has rendered its; fat but has not browned. sing a slotted spoon, transfer the lardons to paper towels to drain, leaving the rendered fat in the sauté pan.

12. If the mushrooms are small, leave them whole; if large, cut them into quarters. Add the mushrooms to the rendered bacon fat. Place the pan over medium heat, season the mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste, and sauté for about 5 minutes or until just lightly browned on the edges. Set aside.

13. Place the onions in a stainless steel bowl with hot water to cover. Soak for about 3 minutes or until the skins have loosened. Drain well and, using your fingertips, push off the skins.

14. Place onions in a single layer in a sautoir or russe just large enough to accommodate them over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon (15 gr) of the butter, the sugar, and just enough water to barely cover the bottom of the pan. Salt to taste. Cover with a piece of parchment cut to the exact size of the pan opening to make a loose lid and glacer à brun (cook until a golden brown). (Take care not to use too much water, as the onions will steam and overcook rather than brown. They should begin to brown in the remaining butter after the water has evaporated.) Taste, and if necessary, add seasoning. Set aside and keep warm until ready to serve.

15. About 10 minutes before the chicken is ready to come out of the oven, heat an ovenproof poêle over medium heat. When hot but not smoking, add the oil. Add the potatoes, keeping them in a single layer. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until all of the potatoes are evenly browned. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons (25 gr) of butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Please the potatoes in the oven and roast for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and tender when pierced with the point of a small, sharp knife.

16. When all the garnish items have been cooked, combine them in a heatproof bowl. Toss to blend, then sprinkle with parsley. Set aside and keep warm for service.

17. When the chicken is done, remove it from the oven, drain off and reserve the fat, and transfer the bird to a wire rack placed over a baking pan to rest. While the chicken is resting, make the gravy (jus de rôti)

18. If the pan drippings have not caramelized during roasting, place the pan on the stovetop over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil just until the drippings caramelize; take care that they do not burn. Carefully drain off the fat. Lower the heat and add the white wine to the pan, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to lift up the sucs and deglaze the pan. Add the stock and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook at a bare simmer, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes or until the mixture is slightly reduced and fall-flavored. Taste, and if necessary, season with salt and pepper. Strain. Keep warm until ready for service.

19. Using a boning knife, remove the breasts and the thighs from the chicken. Manchonner the ends of the drumsticks (cut off the big joint at the end of the drumstick) and the wings. Cut each breast half into two pieces on the bias. Cut the legs in half at the joint. Remove the thigh bones and any cartilage. You should now have 8 pieces

20. Assemble one leg piece with one breast piece on each of the four warm dinner plates, taking care that only one of the pieces on each plate has a bone.

21. Garnish each plate with an equal portion of the warm vegetables. Spoon the gravy around the chicken pieces. Serve remaining gravy on the side.

WHEW! All that for a roast chicken!
Bon appetit!

PS: Don’t miss Michael Procopio’s interview with FCI President, Dorothy Cann Hamilton where they discuss her PBS show “Chef’s Story,” her tenure as Chairman of the James Beard House and her day job running the FCI.

One of my favorite parts of cooking school was our time in the bread kitchen. There is something so tactile, immediate and rewarding about making bread. All your senses are activated alerting you that you are about to consume something so simple yet so profound. Alice Waters visited the French Culinary Institute and I was fortunate enough to abscond with a few minutes of her time. My one question to her was simply: “What am I going to do with my life?” She said, “What do you want to do?” “I want to go to France!” “Well then go to France!” So I did…. but first I asked her to recommend restaurants where I should work. I shared with her my love of bread baking in cooking school and she recommended contacting Poilane Bakery here on the Left Bank. So I did…. When Alice Waters give you culinary advice, take it, whether it’s moving to another country or visiting a bakery!

I immediately wrote to Poilane, asking for an internship and received the most gracious rejection letter ever, which I will frame should I ever have an office again, saying they were unable to accommodate interns but invited me for a tour. A few months later I spent a glorious, flour-showered morning in their 17th century bread kitchen, formerly a convent, on rue Cherche-Midi in the heart of the Left Bank mesmerized by the baker and his methodical yet maternal handling of the dough. I can picture him now gently pressing his hand on top of each loaf, just before he slid the perfectly shaped dough cut with his signature “P” into the wood-burning oven. It is one of four original wood-burning ovens in all of Paris. I emerged 2 hours later coated in a thin layer of flour from head to toe.

A room of the small shop is covered floor to ceiling with paintings of bread. Mr. Poilane was a friend to the artists, many of whom lived in the neighborhood. When they couldn’t afford bread, they would exchange a painting for a loaf or two of bread. The Poilane art collection now includes stunning works by Chagall, Picasso, Monet, Dali, etc. His friend Dali once asked him to bake a bedroom set for him, bed, dresser, lamp, et al. Rather than laughing it on, Poilane accepted this challenge and in honor of his accomplishment, they hand a bread chandelier in their store at all time. When it finally crumbles beyond repair, they bake another one!

While I was there, a book delivery arrived that caused great excitement amongst the staff. Mr. Poilane’s daughter, Apollonia who is in her early 20s and is now running the enterprise (while juggling Harvard Business School) since the tragic death of her parents a few years ago, had just published a book, Supplique au Pape, of Mr. Poilane’s writings on his quest to change the name of one of the seven deadly sins. It is a fascinating story that adds yet another layer of wonder to this man. As it goes, one of the seven deadly sins, gluttony, in French was translated as "gourmandise" and this very much upset Mr. Poilane. He discussed this with philosophers, doctors, scientists, chefs, priests, statesmen, writers, professors, business executives, and actresses and he wrote a very long letter to the Pope (Pape) asking for and explaining why the word should be changed from "gourmandise" to the true French word for gluttony which I believe translates to "glutton" pronounced glue-TON. So this book is his letter to the Pope, along with all his writings, notes and discussions on this subject. I wish I had better command of the language so that I could read it and truly appreciate his endeavor and his prose. Until then, i’ll just keep eating his spectacular bread.

No fancy hi-tech equipment here, just good old-fashioned bread baking!

Feeding the beast – the oven in the basement of a former convent.

Rising…

And ready to eat!

—————–
Poilane
8, rue Cherche-Midi
Paris 75005
www.poilane.fr/

In New York in early May, I found myself on a Thursday evening with cancelled plans. Thank goodness for Dorie Greenspan. She immediately invited me to her sit-down interview with Patricia Wells that evening at the Alliance Francaise. Patricia was in town promoting her new book, Vegetable Harvest. Dorie and Patricia are such good friends that you did feel like you were in their living room having a chat by the fireplace. Many of Patricia’s former students were there, nodding knowingly as she talked about the markets of Paris and Provence.

Q: What are your favorite market in Paris?
A: “Boulevard Raspail market. It is the only all-organic farmers market in Paris. Create relationships, forge friendships with the farmers, learn about where they come from, how they grow their produce, ask about their children. This is what makes the markets so special.”

Q: Do you have any advice for people who shop at Safeway (or other huge supermarket) and don’t have a farmers market across the street?
A: Speaking to her New York audience, she recommended going the few extra blocks or subway stops to get to a market or a store that carries the freshest product, organic if possible. The quality and flavor and contribution to sustainability makes it worth it.

Q: What are your favorite recipes in the book?
A: “Zucchini carpaccio with pistachio oil (pg 214), asparagus braised with fresh rosemary and bay leaves (pg 160), potato salad with spring onions, capers and mint (pg 227), chick pea and basil puree (pg 16), artichoke and white bean dip (pg 19).” Patricia serves these all the time at home and are always a hit with her guests. I can’t imagine anything she cooks not being a hit, bit I digress…

Q: What advice would you give to new culinary students fresh out of cooking school?
A: “Pick ten recipes and perfect them. Have a range of recipes, from appetizers, main course and desserts and cook them over and over until you can make them from memory.”

Q: What was it like working with Joel Robuchon?
A: Patricia beamed. “It was the most amazing experience and I still hear his voice when I’m cooking or at the market.” He always said “It’s easy to be the best, go out and do the best you can do every day.” Other pearls of wisdom he shared include “There is no such thing as perfection but strive for it every day” and “A chef’s job is to make a mushroom taste like a mushroom.”

Q: Who are the most influential people in your career?
A: “Joel Robuchon and Julia Child.”

Q: Are you working on a new book?
A: Patricia’s next book is all about salads as a meal, not everything with lettuce, but dishes with many elements on the plate and focused more on healthy eating. In Patricia’s last two books, she took the pictures herself from the markets of Paris and Provence.

Q: Are you ever going to update The Food Lovers Guide to Paris?
A: Patricia wrote this in 1984. It was a different era in publishing, in information, in access. Now people just Google the information they want, they don’t need to buy a book to plan a trip or find good bakeries or restaurants.

Q: Do you ever eat take out?
A: Never, but when I travel my husband, Walter orders pizza & Ben and Jerry’s ice cream delivered to our apartment in Paris.”

Q: Have you discovered any new products that have captured you attention?
A: “Olive oil from Castelas.”

Castelas is a relatively new olive oil from Provence with a very grassy flavor that hints of artichokes, almonds and a pepperyness and the fabulous Provencal countryside. Produced in the foothills of Les Alpilles, this oil is early hand harvested, immediately custom cold pressed and variety blended, it is unfiltered so a golden hue. It won the Medaille d’Or in 2003. It is not for the faint of heart as 500 ml (17 oz) will set you back anywhere form $35 to $45. This is the best price I could find.

Catherine and Jean-Benoit Hugues, of the Vieux Telegraph family and proprietors of Castelas, spent 15 years in Arizona heat working in the hi-tech industry before following their hearts back to their native Provence. We are glad they did!

——————————-

That evening, Patricia served chickpea and basil puree on toasts. It’s a simple as it gets but delicious.

Chickpea and Basil Puree
Tartinade de Pois Chiches au Basilic

2 cups canned chick peas, drained and rinsed (reserve liquid)
4 garlic cloves, peeled, minced, green germ removed
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 cups loosely packed basil leaves
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a food processor, place the garlic, salt, and basil and process to a paste. With the machine running, slowly pour in the oil. Taste and season (salt and pepper) as needed.

2. Add the chickpeas and puree until smooth, adding some of the reserved chickpea liquid if necessary.

Bon appetit!

Patricia in the center in red and Dorie on the far right

This bar au vin, in true French fashion, has a stellar wine list ranging from a cheap and cheerful Languedoc village wine to a bank-breaking Hermitage, star of the Rhone Valley, and everything in between. My friend Katie from St. Helena, who is a veritable encyclopedia of wine, was in town so off to Le Pre Verre we went. I let her chose the wine :)

Le menu…

Soupe d’oignons doux et chorizo emulsionne – Sweet onion soup with chorizo emulsion

Cochon de lait aux epices et chou croquant Pork in a milk-spice sauce with cabbage

Lieu jaune au bois de cassia, puree fumee – Lieu Jaune cooked in cinnamon with smoked potato puree

Riz au lait, persil et cachuetes – Tapioca with parsley jus, parsley ice cream, and peanuts

Truffade de chocolate, melasse glacee – Chocolate truffle torte, ice cream and creme anglaise

And for the wine…

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru “Petite Chapelle” 2000 Trapet

If you find yourself in France this summer, there is a huge food event, Grand Fooding d’Ete 2007, nicknamed “Le Fooding”, not to be confused with Le Sportsac, with a very disturbing logo of contorted tongues. Held throughout the summer in Toulouse, Vitry sur Seine, Marseille, and Lyon, Le Fooding features top chefs from all over France. Joining Chef Delacourcelle on June 10th in Vitry sur Seine is Alain Passard of L’Arpege and Frederic Anton of Le Pre Catelan. Christine Ferber, of confiture fame, will also be there serving dessert.

Bon appetit!

Le Pre Verre
Chef Philippe Delacourcelle
8 rue Thenard
75005 Paris
+33 (0)1 43 54 59 47
Metro: Maubert Mutualite (#10)
Entree + Plat + Dessert – 25,60 euros or about $35

Mother Nature must be a Jacques Pepin fan because we were treated to some of the most gorgeous views imaginable set against a screaming blue sky. Jacques was in town promoting his latest book, Chez Jacques, which means “at Jacques’ home”. He did a meet and greet for a good hour then had a sit down interview followed by a reception where the Fairmont culinary team treated us to some of Jacques’ recipes from this book. Here are a few of his words of wisdom, snippets, quotes and delightful humor.

• In this book, Jacques focused on recipes from his home, hence the title, recipes that he cooks for himself and his wife or a big group of friends. He states, the point of eating is sharing food with family and friends, with sharing comes conversation, talking around a table. He quotes anthropologist Levi Strauss who claims that cooking food is nature transformed into culture.

• Jacques claims he is egocentric, egocentric to the food he loves. He goes on to explain that this is natural because you can’t escape yourself because you are unique. If you like a restaurant, it is more a reflection of your tastes, aesthetics, preferences, palette, experiences than on the restaurant itself.

• Laura posed the question: “How far should we go to buy our food?” Jacques replied, the best food is always going to be the closest food, similar to the best table in a restaurant being the one closest to a waiter.

• Another question asked about food trends in restaurants such as molecular gastronomy. His response was that chefs are thinking too much, turning it into fashion vs. trend. For example, Il Bulli is breaking new ground but locally no one would know what the dish is. If he took a dish out into the street of the town, no one would be able to identify it. He compares it to a haute couture Parisian fashion show. When you see thee crazy fashions, you think no one would ever wear it but eventually the techniques, such as the foam phenomenon, will trickle down and morph into mainstream dining.

• When asked about the Food Network and how chefs are now superstars, Jacques humbly refutes that chefs shouldn’t take themselves so seriously, that we are all just soup merchants. Most chefs are basically craftsmen and technicians and some have extraordinary talent such as Thomas Keller. Jacques is also concerned with the lack of actual information on the Food Network – 24 hours a day of food shows but not one minute on actual factual information tackling today’s culinary issues such as childhood obesity, diabetes, etc. There is no nutritionist, no investigating, we don’t know anything about anything and the Food Network needs a show such as 60 Minutes that investigates and reports on food issues that are so prevalent in this country.

• An audience member asked Jacques the qualities of a good chef. He immediately fired off the following: hardworking, prompt, always there, attentive, fast, a good technician, and can work and get along with other people. These, he states emphatically, are more important than anything, even creativity. Once a chef is a master technician and if he has talent, then he can become an artist. Only then can he take everything he’s learned, all his knowledge and experience and his own sense of aesthetics and start creating.

• Jacques tests all his own recipes along with his very discerning wife and assistant Norma. If they don’t like it, the recipe doesn’t go in the book! His collaborator on most of his books and shows, Susie Heller, also tests all his recipes in her home kitchen to ensure consistency.

• Jacques’s next project is called The Artist’s Table where he interviews accomplished artists, musicians, etc. to discover how their specific art translates to food and wine. He recently sat down with Itzhak Perlman who discussed the importance of food, using food synonyms to discuss how his music will sound and his love of cooking. When talking about the marriage of art and science, Jacques claims that you can’t reduce a recipe to a scientific formula because every recipe incorporates that one chef’s techniques, imagination, instinct and talent. If he gives the same recipe to 10 different people, he will get 10 different versions of the same dish because each person will naturally incorporate these traits.

• When asked about his favorite memory of Julia Child, Jacques smiled and laughed. The first show they did together had no recipes so it took them 2 years to write the follow-up book because the editors would have to replay the shows over and over to get exactly what they were putting into the dish. Another memory involves a visit to the set by a local sponsor, Kendall-Jackson. The producer Goeff Drummond, before the taping, confirmed with Jacques that they’d pour a glass of wine at the end of the segment. When the time came, Jacques poured himself a glass of wine and offered one to Julia. She graciously declined, declaring that she preferred a beer! The same thing happened when the Land O’Lakes sponsors were on the set. Jacques and Julia were making a pie crust and Jacques took out the butter. Julia announced she was going to make her pie crust with Crisco!

• A poignant ending to the evening came when Jacques talked about how blessed his life is, how he is able to do what he loves for a living and if he could come back in a second life, he would come back as Jacques Pepin. The audience burst into applause in heartfelt agreement.

Bonjour mes amis! Apologies for going AWOL on y’all the past few months. I’ve been contending with some health issues including emergency surgery here in Paris but I’m finally getting my energy back and am ready to cook!

My last Phenomenal Women Dinner was so heartwarming I thought I’d try it on the other side of the ocean so this winter when I was back in San Francisco, I gathered my posse for lunch and toasted to another group of phenomenal women….sans shoe. As I was planning the meal a few days before, I realized I’d left my fabulous chocolate stilleto back in Paris. Quelle horreur! What to do?! I needed something fabulous on the table to salute these fabulous women so rather than print the inspiring Maya Angelou poem, Phenomenal Women, on the back of the menu like I did previously, I decided to buy everyone the single poem book adorned with Paul Gaugin’s “Woman with a Fan”. Thank God for Amazon.com and 2-day delivery!

Of course a meal chez moi isn’t complete without a culinary disaster and this one was no excpetion. The evening before I realized my immersion blender was back in Paris in good company with my chocolate stilleto. AAAAAAAK! How was I going to puree the soup?! I rushed off to the store minutes before it closed. They only had the cordless kind that plugged into the wall to charge. Fine. Whatever. Ring it up. I plugged the blender into the wall and went to sleep.

The next morning as guest arrival time was quickly approaching, we went to blend the soup and my trusty new immersion blender whirred for about 28 seconds then sputtered out. AAAAAAAK! It needed to charge for 24 hours. Damn! I dug out my 10 year old Cuisinart, washed off the inch and a half of dust and grime from 9-1/2 years of sitting in the box, and started blending in batches. Disaster averted. It was still too thick but at least it didn’t look like cat hurl anymore. I topped the soup with a star shaped slice of beet and a drizzle of truffle oil. Et voila!

Dejeuner des Femme Phenomenale!
Phenomenal Woman Lunch!

Piper Champagne Brut Imperial
Gougeres de Comte – Comte Cheese Gougeres

Domaine de Viking, Vouvray 2000
Potage de Panais et Celeriac – Parsnip and Celeriac Soup

(not my plates!)

Salade des Coquilles Saint-Jacques, Salade Verte avec Vinaigrette des Framboises – Mixed Green Salad with Sauteed Scallops, Raspberry Vinaigrette

Asperges Vertes et Blanches – White and Green Asparagus

Savigny-Narbantons Premier Cru 2004 – Camus-Bruchon et Fils
Assiette des Fromages – Cheese Plate

Decadence de Chocolat avec Jus de Clementine – Chocolate Decadence with Odwalla Tangerine Reduction

RECIPES……………………….

Seared Scallops on Mixed Greens & Beets with Raspberry Champagne Vinaigrette – serves 4

20 scallops (5 per person)
olive oil
sea salt & fresh ground pepper
4 handfuls of mixed greens
roast beets (small beets quartered, large beets in eighths, 6 pieces per person)
1/2 cup champagne
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/2 cup raspberries, mashed with a fork
1-1/2 cups light flavored olive oil or vegetable oil

1. Make vinaigrette. Combine champagne, raspberries, shallot, salt & pepper. Smoosh raspberries with a fork. Slowly whisk in oil.

2. Heat a pan over medium heat with olive oil. Sauté scallops until golden brown on each side.

3. While scallops are cooking, toss greens and beets separately with vinaigrette. Season greens with sea salt & fresh ground pepper as needed.

4. Place greens and beets on half the plate. Place asparagus spears on the other half of the plate.

5. Place 5 scallops in a circle on greens and serve.

Roasted Asparagus – serves 4

1 bunch asparagus
1 tbsp olive oil
3-4 cloves chopped garlic
zest of 1 lemon
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

1. Heat oven to 400F.

2. Snap off bottoms of asparagus. Peel a few inches up from bottom with harp peeler.

3. Place asparagus on sheet pan with foil. Coat with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, garlic, lemon zest.

4. Roast for approximately 10-15 minutes.

5. Serve warm or let cool and serve at room temperature.

Timeline

1. set table night before
2. chill champagne, water
3. peel, cube and roast celeriac and parsnips
4. saute onions, leeks
5. cook soup
6. make chocolate batter
7. gougeres mis en place (set out all ingredients)
8. prep asparagus
9. reduce mandarin juice
10. prep beets (cut 10 stars, quarter the rest)
11. prep greens
12. prep scallops
13. make vinaigrette
14. make gougeres
(guests arrive. serve champagne, gougeres)
15. roast asparagus
16. warm bowls
17. serve soup
(saute scallops)
18. serve salad
19. serve cheese course
(bake chocolate dessert)
20. serve dessert!

Bon appetit!

One of my all-time-favorite movies is My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I loved when the crazy aunt with the absorbed twin would hoist her shot glass, shout “OPA!” and slam back the ouzo. I want to be doing that at her age! I wanted to do it last week after my first visit to Nopa. I wanted to stand up and cheer, clap and shout “OPA!” I’d heard the buzz all the way across the ocean and when I realized that the Jeff from Nopa was my friend Jeff from *years* ago in our previous lives as accountants, well that was all I needed to hear.

I gathered up a gang of American expat pals that had lived in Paris and were now back in the US to catch up and see how they were assimilating back to Bay Area life. It’s a challenge for me just when I come back for short visits and when I allow such thoughts as moving back to enter my conscious, I immediately start missing my farmers market and my baker and my fishmonger and my butcher and the cobblestone streets and the oh-so-convenient and clean metro and, and, and… So to infuse a little bit of France to this Mediterannean dinner we stuck with French wines. I must say it helped.

Dining at Nopa (which stand for NOrth of the PAnhandle) evokes images of dining alfresco in the Italian countryside with their rustic dishes. Nopa serves what I would call elegant delicious comfort food. Gorgeous creamy polenta, succulet roast chicken with herbs slid inder the skin, a spectacular steelhead that made me want to swim upstream and the vegetables were cooked to a crisp, bright green perfection.

Jeff Hanak, owner and restaurateur extraordinaire

If you didn’t pick upon it earlier, and in full fairness and complete disclosure, I know the owner and he took very good care of us as did our server. My only comment that isn’t off the scale gushing is the noise level which was pretty high when we arrived at 7pm but by 9pm we could talk without shouting :) There is a big communal table when you walk in which I love. In France, and most of southern Europe, the tables are so close you are practically in your neighbor’s lap which at first horrified me but I’ve come to enjoy it and appreciate the interaction it creates. I give it “four snaps in Z formation”. I know, huge nerd…

Voila nos menu…

I love this menu. Simple, elegant, delicious.

JP Dirler “Saering” Grand Cru Muscat 2003, Alsace
Chef EJ Keller picked this perfect start to the evening. A light, crisp, floral Alsatian white wine.

Entrees (Appetizers in French)

Dancer “La Romanee” 1er Cru 2004 Chassagne Montrachet, Burgundy
I’m a sucker for white Burgundy. I have a huge sign on my back whenever I walk into a wine store and an interal radar that shoots the needle to the right when I’m within a hundred feet of this Chardonnay. Light, crisp, earthy, yummy. Can’t describe it very well, it just makes me swoon!

Warm Marinated Olives
Great starter, not too salty and served with lemon confit. Had they brought twice or three times as much, we would have eaten them all.

Warm Goat Cheese, Crostini and Pickled Beets

Hearts of Romaine, Grated Serena and Creamy Herb Vinaigrette

Crispy Duck Confit, Baby Greens, Honey-Balsamic and Toasted Walnuts

Wood Baked Giant White Beans, Feta and Oregano
Apologies but I couldn’t snap fast enough. Delicious and cooked to perfection!

Spicy Lamb Flatbread, Red Onions, Sumac and Pinenuts
Delicious! Perfectly thin crust, not overloaded with ingredients, beautiful melding of flavors.

Plats

Mas Julien “Les Etats d’Ame” Grenache-Syrah-Cinsault 2003, Languedoc

Braised Lamb Shank, Creamy Polenta, Rapini and Pinenut Gremolata

Rotisserie Herb Chicken, Wilted Escarole and Rosemary Croutons
Apologies again but I tucked into this as soon as the plate landed with a rousing “Bon Appetit!” and I didn’t want to post a picture of a mangled, half eaten chicken. Image a succulant, juicy rotisserie chicken with herbs lovingly placed under the skin that has since crisped to perfection on top of wilted, but vibrant green, with a bit of a crunch Escarole and big rosemary croutons that soaked up the jus. Watch out Zuni!

Pan Roasted Steelhead, Farro, Asparagus and Tarragon Butter

Creamy Polenta and Parmesan

Desserts

Grenache “Cuvee Parce Freres” Banyuls 2005 La Rectorie

Shaft Blue Cheese, Dates, Walnuts and Honey
Another one I couldn’t snap fast enough.

Espresso Creme Brulee and Cocoa Nib Cookies
I’m not a creme brulee fan but everyone else gave it two thumbs up.

Warm Doughnut Holes and Rum Caramel
My hands down favorite. I had a hard time sharing. Light, airy, sugary dipped in the caramel sauce.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake and Whipped Cream
Absolutely delicious, a toss up between this and the donut holes as my favorite. Moist, beautiful spice that wan’t overpowering, just delicious.

Chocolate Cake and Vanilla-Stout Swirl Ice Cream

Trio of Citrus Sorbets and Vanilla Cookies
Mango, lemon and I can’t remember the third, sorry, but all were smooth, tangy and refreshing, a perfect way to end the meal.

“You’re late!” were the first words growled at us by the manager at Tamarine. We were only about 15-20 minutes late and my friend apologized profusely explaining that they’d been moving all day and lost track of time. We even called saying we were running a bit late. Now mind you our reservation was at 5:45 pm on a Sunday afternoon, not 8pm Friday evening. That’s about the time I’d start thinking about an aperitif but dinner at 5:45pm is more of a Pink Flamingo Retirement Home early bird special. I looked around. It was Sunday evening in the booming metropolis of downtown Palo Alto and this restaurant was about a quarter full. Hmmmm…. This certainly doesn’t warrant that attitude.

“Well we can seat you but you’ll have to leave by 7:30pm.” Gee Toto, I guess we’re not in Paris anymore! The above experience is unheard of in France, if for no other reason that most restaurants don’t open before 8pm. Secondly, and more important, is that you are never rushed out, often having to request the bill a few time, and a long, leisurely 3-hour dinner is nothing short of a God-given right along with freedom of speech and the right to vote. “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite” indeed and to this I add “Manger” (mon-zhay – to eat)!

As the clock ticked toward 7:30pm, we asked our waitress for the check and she graciously offered to move us to another table so we wouldn’t have to rush out. We gratefully took her up on her offer and waited for her to let us know when she needed us to move. Minutes later, the manager swooped in on her broom and cackled that she needed the table and she needed it now! The reservation for our table had arrived and we promised to leave at 7:30pm…. so we left.

The food was good, not great but good, and what could have been a great dinner was bookended by a cranky manager with an attitude. The best part of the meal was the wine, a 1991 Oreno from Tuscany, and the company.

Voila le menu…

Moon Crepes – Turmeric & rice flower crepe served with shrimp, ground pork, jicama, and bean sprouts (These were delicious – our favorite dish – and we were so hungry, we attacked these before I could snap a pic.)

Tamarine Prawns – Jumbo Prawns in signature Tamarine sauce

Clay Pod Cod – Canadian Black Cod caramelized in garlic, fish sauce, & black pepper (I loved this dish, really great caramelized flavors)

Shaking Beef – Cubed filet mignon seared with garlic and onions, served w/ watercress salad

Chili Lime Aubergine – grilled aubergine w/ onion oil, scallions finished in a fish & chili-lime sauce (this was good but tasted like it was steamed, a bit soggy, not roasted, and i love the roasted, caramelized flavor of eggplant.)

Empress Rice – rice, garlic, leeks, ginger and an egg (this was delicious!)

Chocolate Fondant & Chocolate Mousse (average desserts, certainly no crescendo to the evening)

Tamarine
546 University Avenue (between Webster and Cowper)
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Tel: 650.325.8500

It’s hard for me not to gush. I have found this oh so sweet culinary world to be acerbic so when one of the industry luminaries takes a moment to even acknowledge me much less spend time discussing careers, options, and advice, the feeling is near rapture. I’ll try to rein it in to profound gratitude though I have no doubt some gushing will seep through the veneer. So enough about me, on with the fabulous Ms. D.

I asked Dorie about her life in New York versus her life in Paris – how she lives the best of both worlds and her favorite aspect of each.

“I love life in Paris, the rhythm of life, the ease of the city. It’s simple to get together with friends here. Days seem longer, there’s always time for friends. And, unlike when I’m in New York, I always have the urge to be outside here, on the streets, walking, exploring and discovering.” 1971 marks her first visit to Paris with her husband, Michael. Her dream was to be here and the moment Dorie arrived in Paris, she knew she was meant to be here. She immediately decided that she would some day live in paris. Dorie never wavered from her goal and has spent the past 10 years living in both Paris and New York City. “New York is about work, but I find it hard to work in Paris. It’s easier to write in New York but so many of my ideas and creativity originate in Paris. My head explodes with ideas and creativity here in Paris.”

What is it like working with The Greats?

I showed Dorie my sheet of questions where I had listed “What is it like to work with Julia Child, Pierre Herme, Daniel Boulud?” Dorie looked at it, hugged her arms and shook her head saying, “It’s hard to believe I worked with these three greats. It’s hard to believe I worked with one of them, but three!”

Dorie spoke about Julia, Pierre and Daniel being natural teachers and mused if perhaps that wasn’t a trait of all the greatest chefs? Not just a necessity of or part of the job of teaching your sous chef and so on down the brigade, but a higher sense of duty, like the doctors Hippocratic oath, compelling them to teach the next generation to preserve this tradition, this history in order to keep the cuisine alive. “Il faut transmettre le savoir faire” as they say, translating literally as “one must transmit the know-how” or carry on the traditions.

What was it like cooking with Julia Child?

I barely had the question out of my mouth when Dorie replied “extraordinary”. “All the cliches are true, she was extraordinary. Her warmth, generosity, incredible intelligence, her curiosity about the world – it was all extraordinary.” Like everyone else who worked with Julia, Dorie discovered that the persona on television was exactly the same person live – full of “warmth, generosity, curiosity and humor. Julia loved learning. She was a born teacher and also a shameless flirt.”

Before Julia moved to Santa Barbara, Dorie, Michael, and their tall, handsome son Joshua visited Julia in Cambridge. As they were headed out to lunch, Julia’s assistant Stephanie Hersh suggested Dorie take Julia’s walker warning Dorie that she wouldn’t want to be responsible if Julia were to fall. Julia overheard this and replied, “When I’m with a young man, I don’t need a walker!” With that she linked her arm around Joshua’s and headed for the car.

Dorie lived in Cambridge for 8 weeks while working on the Baking with Julia cookbook to accompany the series. Geoff Drummond, Julia’s producer, initially recommended her to Julia and Julia immediately concurred, stating, “I like the way Dorie writes recipes. She writes them just like I do.” When Dorie spoke that last sentence, she put her hand over her heart, claiming “What an honor!”

At one point in the tv taping, Julia mentioned that something was wrong with her computer, so Michael and one of the show’s tech guys went to look at it, which was upstairs in her room. Julia came in a few minutes later and, at 85 years old (!!), wanted to know exactly what was wrong and exactly how they had fixed it because if it happened again, she wanted to be able to fix it herself. Even at 85 years old, she was still inquisitive, curious and always learning. And as a testament to her whimsical sense of humor, her screen saver read: “Creme Fraiche”.

I asked Dorie how she met Julia. Dorie gave a cooking demo at Boston University after the release of her first book, Sweet Times. Her demo followed Julia’s demo – “not a place,” according to Dorie, “that any new author wants to be.” At a dinner that evening that included Jacques Pepin, Dorie sat next to Julia. Julia asked her if she’d seen Dan Ackroyd’s Saturday Night Live skit impersonating her. Dorie replied that she was probably the only person in the country who hadn’t seen it so Julia stood up and re-enacted the entire routine for her! With a melancholy smile, Dorie reminisced, “I miss her. I really, really miss her.”

What is it like working with Pierre Herme?

“With Pierre there is an excitement to his teaching, to making others understand and see things that he sees, tastes, and feels in the cuisine. For Pierre, the word “genius” is so overused but Pierre is truly a genius – you see it in his ideas about perceptions of taste and texture and how he thinks about combinations. Pierre would always refer to the Three Ts – taste, texture, temperature. How he creates around these three is truly remarkable.” I would like to humbly add a 4th – visual – because his creations are true works of art and one’s mouth begins watering at the mere sight of them. Dorie claims to have graduated from the “School of Working with Pierre Herme” because he changed her whole way of looking at what makes food a pleasure.

Dorie and Pierre met in 1993 while she was working on a story about chestnuts for the New York Times. Dorie wanted to learn about marrons glace (candied chestnuts) so she arranged for a meeting with Pierre. She brought along her husband Michael thinking it would be a quick interview and that they would then go on their way. Two hours later, Pierre and Dorie decided they were separated at birth while Michael claimed they were “meant to meet.” They had so much to talk about, the hours flew by. After that initial meeting, Dorie and Pierre stayed in touch and visited when Dorie was in Paris or Pierre was in New York. When Baking with Julia was finished and Dorie was looking for her next project, Michael suggested she talk to Pierre about collaborating on a book. She sent him a fax asking if he’d like to work on a book for the American market and he called her back in minutes saying, “I thought we’d already agreed to do this?!”

When it came time for Dorie and Pierre to start work on that book, Pierre invited her to join him and his wife Frederick on their upcoming vacation. Dorie declined, saying of course she wouldn’t dream of interrupting their vacation. Pierre insisted she join them and said it would be the only time he had to work on the project. They drove to the west coast of France, to Arcachon south of Bordeaux, with crates of recipes in the trunk. They set up a very long table, literally on the beach with their toes in the sand, and hooked up a generator behind them to power their laptops. They sat in a row – Dorie, Pierre, Frederick, Michael – looking out on the Atlantic Ocean and the entire book was organized in those few weeks. Every morning they would go to the market then return for coffee. A few hours of work on the book would be followed with lunch. A return trip to the market for dinner would then be followed with Dorie and Pierre working by the light of one lamp until 1:00 am. The delicious results of that “vacation” are Desserts by Pierre Herme.

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I hope you enjoyed this visit with Dorie. She has such a unique and heart-warming way of experiencing Paris, reading her blog is like taking a petite vacation through the cobblestone streets of the Left Bank. Bon appetit!