While I was in Paris, I was determined to get my hands of some cannelés. I'd never seen any in the Bay Area and I was intrigued by these little cake-like treats that were cooked in very expensive copper molds (yes, I know you can buy silicon molds, but they don't caramelize the outer shell of the pastry).

Thankfully, in Paris, cannelés are not in short supply. You can get them at almost any patisserie, including the famous shops, like Pierre Hermé and Ladurée. While I samples cannelés all over Paris, some of the best I had were at tiny hole-in-the-wall pastry shops, where the baked goods were fresh and the patissier beamed proudly over their work.

Still, though, I wanted more. I asked the ladies at Librairie Gourmande where I should go to sample some of the city's best cannelés, and she sent me to Baillardran a chain shop that supposedly sells real Bordeaux cannelés throughout France. As luck would have it, there was a Baillardran just east of Paris, in a little suburb that I could easily access by the Metro. So I made an afternoon of it.

I walked into Baillardran and surveyed the goods. There were cannelés everywhere -- piled into mountains, arranged in circles, and patiently waiting in baking trays. They come in three sizes -- small, medium and large -- and you can also buy them at varying levels of "doneness," similar to a steak. I liked the variety, which I wasn't expecting to find in a shop that sells only a single kind of pastry, but the options were exciting. I bought a few cannelés in the "medium" style, browned but not burnt, and then indulged in a handful of aluminum-lined copper cannelé molds, which they were selling for surprisingly cheap.

I sat down and took a bite. The texture was what I expected: firm and gently smoky on the outside, tender and luscious on the inside, like little caramelized nuggets of soft bread pudding. These cannelés were more rummy-tasting than the others I'd had, adding a liquory tang to each bite. I ate one, then another, and then the final one that I'd expected to save until the next day. Alas, they were just too good to hold onto for more than a few minutes!

Baillardran
Address: Map‬
‪2 Boulevard Jean Jaurès‬
‪92100 Boulogne-Billancourt‬
‪France +33 1 55 60 90 07
Phone: 05 56 99 13 75

It's no secret that I'm a fan of sweets, and macarons are at the top of that list. I've written about macarons extensively on my blog, and made hundreds of them while testing recipes for a macaron cookbook. I've eaten them at every location in San Francisco that I learned made them, and it's not uncommon for me to BART over to SF just to visit Paulette.

I was in Paris this week, and the very first adventure I went on was to go find the two most famous pastry shops in town and try their macarons. That's right -- I went on a macaron pilgrimage, visiting both Pierre Hermé and Ladurée in the same day. I bought a couple in each location and put them to the test to see who had the better pastry.

Ed note: You'll notice I used the term "pastry" instead of "cookie." That's because every time I called macarons "cookies" in Paris, I was corrected. According to the Parisians I talked to, macarons are most definitely not cookies. Lesson learned!

After a little digging, I learned that both Ladurée and Hermé had locations on Rue Bonaparte, not far from the Seine River. Headed to a perfectly central location on the left bank, I planned my day: I would buy a handful of macarons at each bakery, then enjoy them in the sunshine while sitting along the river. The weather was topping out at 72 degrees that day, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend my afternoon than nibbling gourmet goodies in the Parisian sun.

My first stop was Ladurée, where the scent of pure sugar wafted out the door and down the street to greet me at the corner, beckoning me to the shopfront. I was immediately swept away by an incredible assortment of pastries in all sizes and colors, including a selection of ten or so flavors of macarons and a handful of larger macarons that were three times the normal size. The decor was delightfully, classically "French," or at least what this American girl thinks of when she dreams of French pastry from thousands of miles away in California. Think rich greens, blues and browns, pinstripes, and matching seafoam-green ribbons on every box. I felt like I was walking into a Parisian pastry fairy tale.

The line was out the door, but no worry; that gave me plenty of time to gawk without looking like a loafer. After staring in awe at their selection of sweets, I chose two flavors of macarons -- salted caramel and chocolate orange -- and headed out the door to visit Pierre Hermé's shop down the street.

Pierre Hermé was less classically decorated than Ladurée, and was instead very sleek and stylish. The place was decked out in glass and dark teak-looking wood, rounded out with black accents. Here, the desserts provided all the color to the joint, and I suspect that was the whole point. In the dark environment, each little treat glowed like it was Louis XV's crown jewels.

Here I selected two more macarons -- passion fruit and vanilla olive oil (!!) -- and made my way to the Seine River to put these little jewels of egg white and sugar to the test.

The Test
Visually, both shop's macarons were gorgeous. Their colors were bright and they flaunted themselves, unashamed, in the Parisian spring sunshine. The first thing I noticed, though, was that Ladurée's macarons were a little lacking in the filling department, and their shells were a little cracked, while Hermé's macarons were literally bubbling over with filling and the shells were perfectly in-tact, with not a crack to be seen. Upon the first bite, though, it turned out that one of Hermé's macarons -- the passionfruit -- had soaked up the moisture in the filling, making the shell soggy. Also, the passionfruit was really, really tart, and almost made me turn my face inside out. While I did like the flavor, it was a little shocking considering the fluffy texture of the buttercream filling.

Here it's important to note that both bakeries use the Italian meringue method for making macarons, since it yields a more stable batter (anyone who's made macarons knows how volatile the process can be) and a somewhat denser finished product. While Ladurée's macarons had less filling to boast and the shells were a little worse for wear, they both displayed consistency in quality -- the shells were crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, and had a lovely little crunch when bitten into. Hermé's on the other hand, were softer and lighter, floating on your tongue like little sugary clouds, like the very first bite of cotton candy you tried when you were four years old.

Flavor-wise, both were lovely, but I felt that while Ladurée's macarons were more consistently better, Hermé's flavors were more creative. The vanilla olive oil variety was particular unique, and incredibly satisfying, but the passion fruit was a little too much of a sock in the face for me to enjoy it. Ladurée's chocolate orange was smooth and creamy, and the salted caramel divine, but they were flavors I'd expect to see in a macaron, and therefore didn't stand out beyond their high quality of overall flavor.

The Verdict
If I had to pick a winner (and I guess I do, given the title of this post), I'd say that the Macaron Oscar goes to Pierre Hermé, with his vanilla olive oil variety. Hermé also packed in the filling, which made for a better visual experience and a more satisfying first bite, making the overall package a sheer dream. That said, Ladurée certainly held their own in the battle; their macarons were more consistently good, but the shortage of filling and the cracked shells were kind of a bummer.

My final word? Visit both. If you're in the left bank area, the two shops are only like three blocks apart, so stage your own battle!

Pierre Hermé
72, rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris, France
Tel : +33 (1) 43 54 47 77
Near the Saint-Germain des Prés Paris Metro station

Ladurée
21, Rue Bonaparte
75006 Paris, France
Tel : +33 (1) 44 07 64 87 ‎
Near the Saint Sulpice Metro station

You won't see any cupcakes here. No whoopie pies. Heck, not even any American pies. In Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker's excellent documentary Kings of Pastry, what you will see is a peek into the competitive high-level French competition for membership in the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (or MOF), an exclusive group of pastry chefs distinguished by "the collar" they receive as winners. The film begins at a time when seventy contestants have been narrowed to sixteen finalists and each man (apparently no woman has ever competed) spends four years preparing for the intense three-day competition.

At first, it may sound like a film you'd only be into if you appreciated French pastry or cooking competitions. But Hegedus and Pennebaker manage to draw you in quickly and don't let go until the very end. Like most good documentaries, you connect with the characters and begin to understand each man's motivation for competing as you get a glimpse into their home and work life. In this sense, you become invested in the outcome of the competition just like the competitor's own spouses or children. In addition to rooting for each contestant, you'll find yourself puzzling over the level of commitment it takes to prepare. There is so much to give up: time with family and kids, being fully present at work, and a normal social life. One of the contestants insists that when he and his wife were remodeling their home, they had to add a pastry workshop in the basement for him to practice and prepare for the competition.

I found myself rooting for Jacquy Pfeiffer, an Alsace-born, Chicago-based chef who has both determination and drive but also humility and perspective. While working on an elaborate wedding cake, he smiles and says "If you whistle it works better." While he may not be as piercingly intense as the other contestants, Pfeiffer is obviously immensely talented and confident that he's a sure contender. Here he is shaping his chocolate sculpture:

As you can probably imagine, not all goes as planned at the competition. To avoid any misteps, each contestant does a three-day trial run to try and work out the kinks. Sugar flower work for eight hours at a time without stopping for food or much drink? Check. Putting the finishing touches on an elaborate sugar sculpture only to break it when making an adjustment? Check. The stakes are obviously high. No amount of practice can prepare each man for how he'll perform on any given day. And the judges, having each gone through the same competition at one point in their lives, relate and sympathize with this pressure. When reading the name of the winners, the judge is obviously shaken and has difficulty saying the names out loud. By this point, they've witnessed sixteen sure winners, so it must be unimaginably difficult to announce that three years of one's life have been spent without anything to take back to show for it. One gentleman in the film is competing for his fourth time: sixteen years of constant preparation!

As the head of the jury says "Your mind has to work as hard as your hands." And this is, I think, at the crux of the fascination with this film: it's difficult for many of us to imagine this kind of focused and relentlessly enduring determination towards any one thing for years upon years. It's not just an interest, a hobby, or a passion. It seems to be more of a fire--something each finalist feels like they must do. And by the end of the film, you'll be surprised at who earns the "collar" and who is ultimately sent home to consider competing again or throwing in the towel. It's a touching, emotional, and thought-provoking film. Whether you're interested in food films or not, the topic at hand isn't really what this movie is about. It's really about heart. And that's where we all meet at the same table.

Image Credit: Film Forum

Last week I promised more Dorie and her heart-warming stories of life in France and cooking with Pierre Herme, Daniel Boulud and Julia Child. Voila....!

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!

Part I of II

The support and endless encouragement of accomplished women in the culinary industry is in a word or two, profoundly inspiring. Whenever I am lost, down on myself, confused, pity party for 1 please, I know I can zip an email off to Jerry DiVecchio (Sunset Magazine), Linda Carucci (Cooking School Secret for Real World Cooks), Emily Luchetti (Farallon) or Dorie Greenspan (Bon Appetit, Baking with Julia and now Baking from My Home to Yours), confident they will respond with kindness and encouragement or a kick in derriere to get out and get going. It's more meaningful, more touching, more inspiring than I can describe.

What does the Dalai Lama say - it's not the destination that's important, it's the journey - or something like that? If not for these generous, funny, thoughtful trailblazers, the journey of discouraged, searching cooks like me would resemble a pinball bouncing back and forth across this culinary world, eyes skyward pleading for direction. They are beyond generous with their time, their knowledge, their experiences and profoundly excited to see other women coming up the ranks succeeding, happy to share the stage and pass the torch.

Some of my most treasured memories in Paris are of time spent over a chocolate chaud or a vin chaud or an impromptu walk around the 6th with Dorie Greenspan. She knows everyone. Really. Everyone. It's amazing. And very fun. I try to stay in her wake, hoping some of her magical fairy dust will float back onto me. She tells me stories after stories after stories of the richest, most delightful experiences, experiences with some of the industry luminaries. Over a delicious lunch at Le Comptoir this week, Dorie shared more of her fascinating life with me. I can't begin to convey them with the humor and joy that she did but I hope they at least bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your heart as they did to mine...

I first talked with Dorie about her new, just-launched, uber-cool blog aptly named "In the Kitchen and on the Road with Dorie". Dorie was so inspired after her most recent book tour for Baking From My Home To Yours that she decided to create a blog to stay in touch and continue the dialogue with all these people that she'd met along the many stops criss-crossing the country last year as well as to connect with new people who shared her passion for baking and continue the culinary conversation.

What was your funniest cooking moment?

"Oh! The cake that got me fired!" Dorie describes it in more detail in her book (page 278) but she was fired from her very first job as a pastry chef. Dorie was cooking at a tres chic restaurant in New York City and daily she made a version of Simone Beck's (Julia Child's co-author of Mastering the Art of French Cooking) cake with whiskey-soaked raisins, almonds and chocolate. Bored of cooking the same thing every day, Dorie decided to get creative. She swapped almonds for pecans, prunes for raisins and whisky to armagnac. Sounds reasonable. Unbeknownst to Dorie, this was the restaurant's signature cake and changing it caused a small revolution upstairs in the dining room. She was fired that afternoon for "creative insubordination".

What was your biggest cooking disaster?

"When I burned my parents kitchen down...their just-renovated kitchen!" I remembered reading about the fire in the introduction of Dorie's new book (page xii) but I thought she couldn't possibly mean the entire kitchen. Maybe just a little grease fire? No. According to Dorie, her parents came home from an evening fundraiser, so very dressed up, to find Dorie and her friends sitting on the front step, heads in their hands, with firemen coming in and out of the house behind her. Dorie didn't cook again until she was married. Thankfully for us she was soon married!

What is your favorite recipe? Or is it even possible to choose a favorite recipe?

Dorie laughed and said she thinks the reason she had only one child was so that she'd never have to choose a favorite. But when it comes to the thousands of cookies she's baked over the years, World Peace Cookies get her vote as hands-down favorite. Why? Many reasons. The brilliance in the simplicity of the recipe. The deep chocolate flavor. And Grandmothers for Peace. It seems that World Peace Cookies have taken on a life of their own. Grandmothers for Peace have adopted them as their official cookie and are giving them away and asking people to bake their own and share them with other. Also, people are really responding to the name, especially now. She loved them first as Pierre Herme's chocolate sables, claiming they were as revolutionary as the Toll House cookies. Dorie included them in Paris Sweets named then Korova cookies. However it was Dorie's neighbor that labeled them World Peace Cookies, declaring if everyone ate these daily, we would indeed achieve world peace.

World Peace Cookies
-Reprinted from Baking from My Home to Yours (page 138) with permission from the author

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick + 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa, and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachmenet, ot with a handy mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter in medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugards, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 more minutes.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the dry ingredients, drape a towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from the flying flour and pulse the mixer at a low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek-if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more.; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at a low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough-for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don't be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen for up to 2 months. If you've frozen the dough, you needn't defrost it before baking-just slice the logs into cookies and bake for 1 minute longer.

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Using a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you are cutting them-don't be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes-they won't look done, nor will they be firm, but that's just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

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Please check back next week for Part II where Dorie shares the most heart-warming stories of life in Paris and working with Pierre Herme, Daniel Boulud and Julia Child.

Love is nothing short of a national sport here in France and the French claim to celebrate it every day of the year, not just on February 14th. It is more beloved than soccer or philosophical debate, though love plays heavily into both. All store fronts are bedecked with Valentine's decorations but regardless of the time of year, people are always kissing.

Sometimes it's charming, like this couple below I spotted smooching after a long lunch at the Palais Royal; other times you want to hurl, like when the couple in line in front of you at the post office are slobbering on each other so much so you feel like you are in the front row of the dolphin show at Marine World. Anyways, back to Valentine's Day...

I got a bit carried away with the heart theme. I bought heart dessert plates, too many red flowers, big red chargers and little porcelain heart dishes for the amuse bouche. We cut hundreds of hearts from a block of foie gras, roasted beets and country bread. The dessert was heart shaped, the foie gras amuse was heart shaped, as were the sliced beets and croutons that topped the soup. Fortunately, my friend Jeff came over for a few hours in the early afternoon and saved the day. I immediately delegated all heart cutting duties to Jeff as I began dicing the tiny mango and beet brunois (1mm x 1mm dice).

There were of course a few disasters. It wouldn't be a normal day in my kitchen without at least one or two things going wrong. This time one was culinary, the other travel. I am beginning to think my kitchen is haunted and I know I am cursed travelwise. First I roasted the parsnips to make the soup. I didn't have much time so I cubed the parsnips to roast as quickly as possible. I put the oven on 300F but the parsnips on the lowest sheet pan still burned on the bottom. I spent the next hour carefully slicing off the burned bottoms as my blood pressure creeped north. I had not factored in an hour to slice off burned parsnip into my timeline. ARGH!

Then, about midway into my mango brunois-ing my stomach did a flip. I forgot to buy my ticket back to SFO in a week and it expired the previous night! AAACK! I dialed up United and was told my flight from Paris to Frankfurt was still there but the leg from Frankfurt to San Francisco was gone. I took a deep breath and tried not to cry, envisioning Seat 53B next to the bathroom as the last remaining seat. Miraculously my same seats were still available and I bought the ticket right there on the spot. Disaster no.2 avoided and another 20 minutes eaten into my timeline.

For each dinner, I try to cook a different recipe for the main course. I thought about roasting a filet mignon but cooking meat makes me nervous and always involves some sort of drama. This I was desparately trying to avoid. I was flipping through the Canyon Ranch cookbook looking for inspiration when a scallop recipe reminded me of one I made in cooking school.

a recipe from cooking school and my to do list and timeline...

Scallops I can do plus I knew there would be two other cooks at dinner in case things got crazy in the kitchen. I keep forgetting to buy a salad spinner so my dishrack once again saved the day. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say...

I bought rings to stack risotto, then wilted spinach and arugula, topped with sauteed scallops, cut in half crosswise and fanned around in a circle. A drizzle of lemon oil (zest and juice of 3 lemons blended with a cup of olive oil) and some beet and mango brunois on top of the scallops, around the plate and call it a day.

La Fete des Amoureux!
Valentine's Day!
Samedi, 10 Fevrier 2007
chez Laura en Paris

Brut Cuvee Rose, Champagne Veuve Monnier

Pate aux Armignac - Pate with Armignac on Croutons with Cornichons

Endive avec Framboises et Roquefort - Endive with Blue Cheese and Raspberries

Amuse Bouche
Chateau de Rolland Sauterne, Barsac 2000
Petit Coeur de Foie Gras avec Noisettes et Balsamique - Small Heart of Foie Gras with Chopped Roasted Hazelnuts and Balsamic Reduction Drizzle

Pernand-Vergelesses, Bourgogne 2002
Sous le Bois de Noel et les Belles Filles (Under the Christmas Tree and Beautiful Girls)

Potage de Panais avec Couers de Betterave et l'Huile de Truffe - Parsnip Soup with Beet Hearts, Heart Croutons and Truffle Oil Drizzle

Coquille Saint-Jacques, Risotto et Epinard avec l'Huile de Citron - Scallops Stacked with Risotto and Spinach with Lemon Oil Drizzle and Mango and Beet Dice

Domaine de Banneret, Chateauneuf du Pape 2002

Assiette des Fromages - Cheese Plate

Decadence de Chocolat et Glace de la Fruit de Passion Fait Maison - Chocolate Decadence Heart with Homemade Passionfruit Ice Cream with Passionfruit Coulis

Bonne Fete des Amoureaux! Happy Valentine's Day!

Most of my usual posse along with a few new faces... one you might see on the next Top Chef....sssssssh!

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A RED, RED ROSE
by Robert Burns

O my luve's like a red, red rose.
That's newly sprung in June;
O my luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my Dear,
Till a'the seas gang dry.

Till a'the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o'life shall run.

And fare thee weel my only Luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

LOVE ME TENDER
by Elvis Presley

Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so.

Love me tender,
Love me true,
All my dreams fulfilled.
For my darlin I love you,
And I always will.

Love me tender,
Love me long,
Take me to your heart.
For its there that I belong,
And well never part.

Love me tender,
Love me dear,
Tell me you are mine.
Ill be yours through all the years,
Till the end of time.

When at last my dreams come true
Darling this I know
Happiness will follow you
Everywhere you go.