Eat Drink Laugh Love

We interrupt this Paris adventure to get some recipes that friends have requested out to the masses.  Last weekend I got together with my dear high school friends for an evening at one of their homes to celebrate our milestone birthday year.  It was a wonderful time, and it never ceases to amaze me that I can fall back into easy conversation with someone that in some cases I haven’t talked to in over a year. 

Anyhoo, I volunteered to cook because 1. I love to cook, and 2. I’m not drinking and I thought it would be a nice way to let everyone relax and sit and enjoy their wine (they are all hard-working moms).   I put together a quick and easy menu that is always a crowd pleaser:

Grilled marinated steak
Smashed potato salad
Griled asparagus
Tomato and cucumber salad
Homemade strawberry shortcake

The smashed potato salad and the marinade I made for the steaks were both a bit hit and I got several requests for the recipes.  I’m being very industrious and writing a Web post, getting my friends to read my blog, and getting the recipes out!

Everyone enjoy the holiday weekend.  Here in NE the sun is on strike.  We’re hoping to see it tomorrow.

We had a lot planned for Sunday, starting with Mass at Notre Dame at 10:00am.  That meant getting up and out by 8:30am, so that we could get down there with time to spare.  We were unsure how busy it would get and wanted to avoid waiting in line.  Of course we got down there with plenty of time to spare, but that gave us a chance to have breakfast at a new cafe right by the cathedral.

After we ate, we headed into the church.  Right as we started walking around, the Lauds service started. I’m not really sure what this meant, but there was beautiful singing while we looked around the outer portion of the cathedral.  We moved into the nave about 15 minutes before Mass started.  Mass in French is a lot harder to follow than I thought. 

With our holy obligation fulfilled, we back over to the Right Bank past the Hotel de Ville (French equivalent of Capitol Building) towards the Pompidou Centre.  The Pompidou is the modern art museum and is like nothing else in Paris that I saw.

Pompidou Centre

From the Pompidou we headed into the Marais District.  This is, as Monique’s friend Chris described it, ”the Gay, Jewish part of Paris”.   This is the city’s old Jewish quarter with small winding streets and old mansions.  We walked over to the Picasso Museum, but didn’t walk through.  We were ready for our next meal, though, and decided to take the advice of the tour guide book we had.  The writer said that if your in the Marais for lunch go to L’As du Falafel on rue des Rosiers.  Well, rue des Rosiers must be the falafel capital of Paris because there had to have been four different falafel restaurants in one small block. We found our place with no problem and had what had to the best falafel sandwich I’ve ever had.  Never mind the fries. They were awesome, and I think I ate the entire “side” myself. Andreas got a falafel platter that was wonderful as well. 

After lunch we wandered through Marais for a bit until we got to Place des Vosges - Paris’s oldest square famous for its perfect symmetry.  There we stopped at a chi chi cafe for a gelato for me and wine for Andreas. The server was not happy that we were not ordering anything else - this was by far the most snobby and expensive place we went.  My two scoops of gelato cost more than my falafel sandwich. 

Place des Vosges

By this time, I was ready for a rest, so we made our way back to the hotel for a break.  We had a big night planned, and I wanted to make sure I was ready to go!

After our very busy day we went back to our hotel.  We were actually in a really central spot with a bunch of cool little restaurants within a short walk.   Andreas and I both spotted this place at different times and decided this is where we were going.   It was a bit back off the street, with a lovely outdoor seating area.

When we stopped by to make a reservation we took a picture of the menu so that we could do some translations back in the hotel room.  It was not as easy as it sounded and we did not have very good luck.  We threw caution to the wind and figured we could ask for help if we really needed it.  Turns out that all that research was for naught. They gave us an English version of the menu.

Our "guide"

The restaurant is owned by four friends and all of the staff were young guys.   The menu was really interesting and a nice change from the bistro’s.  For our first course, Andreas ordered the Tartine de camembert au caramel de cidre sur un lit de salade verte (Camembert Tartine, cider caramel on a bed of green salad) and I ordered the La cassolette italienne de la mamam d’Etienne (notre chef) accompagnee d’une salade de roquette (Etienne’s – Our chef – Italian Cassolette with rocket salad).  Of course this also came with wonderful bread.  For our Saturday night in Paris, I decided to allow myself one glass of wine.  Andreas picked a wonderful Bourdeaux that was really a treat.

Our first courses were delicious.  Mine was basically a ceramic pot with ham and sundried tomatoes covered in melted cheese.  I can’t even describe how good it was to dip my bread in the oil that was at the bottom.  Andreas didn’t talk for the entire time he ate his, so I’m assuming he enjoyed it.

For the main course, Andreas was eyeing the Argentian rib eye and I was very curious about something called Catherine’s headless birds.  After spending 20 minute trying to translate the description, we found out from the english menu that this was basically stuffed veal rolled with bacon served over rice pilaf with some sort of sauce. Sounded like something I would love.  Imagine my disappointment when I found out they weren’t offering it that night.   The rest of menu looked good, but nothing was really calling out to me but the rib eye.  I think I’ve mentioned our rule about not ordering the same thing, so this was a problem. However, it was easily solved when Andreas suggested we get the Cote d’bouef pour deux.  This was an piece of steak grilled served with homemade french fries and a green salad.  It sounded perfect.  We were more than a little embarrassed when this came out, though:

Meat for two...

This is after we’ve already each eaten a bit.  I think the restaurant was happy we ordered it because the people sitting next to us ordered it after they saw it come out.  The stuff in the little bowl?  Marrow.  It was good, but I couldn’t have a lot of it.  The steak was delicious.  It wasn’t the best cut of meat (basically it was like a piece of prime rib), but it was expertly prepared with these awesome chunks of salt on top.  The fries were to die for and the salad made me feel less guilty about everything else.  This paired with my contraband glass of wine was a little piece of heaven.

After we made considerable progress on this, I didn’t think I could even fit dessert.  Silly me.  Andreas ordered the chefs dessert plate and I ordered buttered swiss toffee, not really knowing what I would get.  Well, out comes a small ramekin of the toffee served with what I can only describe as fresh sour cream. Two scoops of it.  I was a bit put off until I took a little of the toffee on my spoon and then a little of the cream.  Oh my.  What a good idea!  The sweetness of the toffee totally counteracted the sourness of the cream and made for quite a happy taste for the mouth.

All in all our first real dinner in Paris was a success!  After we ate, we walked around Boulevard Montmatre and watched all of the people (it was 10:30 on a Saturday night in Paris - there was a lot of people watching to be done). 

Next up:  Sunday…

We woke up Saturday morning to the sun streaming into the hotel room.  This was a welcome change for Andreas, who had been in Paris through 4 days of rain.  After breakfast we took the Metro to Concorde Place and started our walk from there.  Our route took us through Jardin de Tuileries to the Jardin du Carrousel (and the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel) straight to Musee du Louvre.  I can’t believe how big the Louvre is.  We didn’t go inside because we only had a limited amount of time and people told us you could easily spend two days just at the Louvre.  The grounds were beautiful, and the IM Pei addition is really cool.

A good view of the old and new of the Louvre

After taking about 35 pictures of this, we moved on, across the Seine to Ile de la Cite, home of Notre Dame.   This is an amazing structure!  It’s impressive from the front, but as you make your way around it is downright amazing. The gargoyles and flying butresses are wonderful.

Buttresses and gargoyles, oh my!

Andreas and his salad

Jardin du Luxumbourg

We continued through the Latin Quarter and got to this really cool little area near the Universite.  We sat at one cafe and got some drinks and then walked a bit further to this square with a fountain in the middle and little shops and restaurants all around it.  There we found our gelato stand.  It was wonderful and just what I needed to finish off the day.

They make it look pretty!

I am back from Paris, and in love! What a city!  It totally exceeded my expectations. It’s beautiful, and inviting, and fun.  I was only there for three days, so I really needed to squeeze a lot into a small amount of time.  We did a great job - I think I saw all of the highlights - but fit in plenty of time to sit at a sidewalk cafe and just watch the city pass us by.

I arrived early Friday morning, fought the Paris commuting traffic and got to my hotel around 9:30am.  Andreas had already left for the office, so I was on my own.  The first thing on my agenda?  Breakfast!

I had a good map, but I decided I would just walk around and see where it took me.  I wandered for about 15 minutes before I couldn’t wait any longer.  I stopped at the next cafe I saw (by this point, I had passed about five - cafes are everywhere in Paris - it’s awesome) and used my very rudimentary French to order my Cafe au lait and Pain au Chocolat.  I sat on the sidewalk and watched the people go by.  It was wonderful. 

There is no point in me building up to what kind of wonderful breakfast I had every morning I was in Paris - it was always cafe au lait and pain au chocolat.  It was my one treat:  I’m five months pregnant, so I was not able to enjoy the wine and cheeses of Paris. I felt I deserved a chocolate croissant as a concession.  Everyday we sat at a different cafe, and enjoyed this delicious treat.

So needless to say, today was a big let down.  What did I have for breakfast?  Oatcakes with cream cheese and strawberries. No cafe au lait, no delicious flaky, chocolatey treat. 

I’m going to Paris!  Tomorrow!  Andreas’ new job does have its upside- he was sent over for business and has to stay the weekend for a meeting in Germany next week.  That means that his company is paying for the hotel and his plane ticket.  So besides my plane ticket, we’re looking at food and in city transportation. Yippee!

I’m going to keep a journal and will have a lot of good Paris eating stories when I get back. Until then, Au Revoir!

Andreas and I headed down to New York City on Saturday to surprise Monique for her birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!).  It was a milestone one, so we couldn’t miss it.  There are some definite pluses to the recession, one being that we were able to stay at the Waldorf Astoria for under $200.00.  It was a beautiful hotel, and in a great location. 

It was a beautiful day in the city and Mick worked with his NY connections to find a great bar and a fantastic restaurant for the night.  We first met everyone at Sweet & Viscious on Spring Street.  What was first an unassuming bar turned into a great outdoor patio!  There were potted flowers everywhere making it a nice little oasis in a very unexpected place.

Even more unexpected was where we went to dinner.  After walking to what seemed the edge of Manhattan, Mick announced we were at our location.  Brown Cafe is part of Green Brown Orange.  It is this tiny little spot on the outskirts of Chinatown.  Orange is the private dining space right next to it, and Green is the catering business.  It serves organically grown local produce, free range meats and fish.  The restaurant part (Brown) had about 6 tables and was really cute.  Mick had arranged beforehand for a set menu. It was a perfect way to do it, since as soon as we sat down, they could start serving food.  None of that 45 minutes of trying to get people to decide what to order.

He did a fantastic job on the menu - everything was delicious.

First Course - charcuterie & cheeses, and a trio of olive oils with toasted bread. 

Second Course - roasted beets served with gorganzola cheese and toasted walnuts.  This was awesome - it was served cold, but the beets were so sweet and the gorganzola really complemented the flavors

Main Course - grass fed flank steak, potato gratin, roasted shallots and roasted sweet water prawns, israeli couscous, brunoise vegetables, roasted asparagus, grape tomatoes.  Again, fantastic.   I could have eaten a plateful of just the potato gratin.  Everything was cooked to perfection, and plated up wonderfully.

Dessert - It took a while for dessert to come out, but it was well worth it when it did.  We could smell the pastry shell baking in the kitchen.  The sampling included:  a warm apple tart topped with blueberries, flourless brownies, banana ice cream with molten chocolate cake, mexican cinnamon ice cream, and lemon gelato.  We were fighting over who would get the last bite of the tart.

For drinks we started out with a nice sparkling wine.  For the first and second course, a local chardonney, and a beaujolais for main course. 

I can’t believe I have never posted about this delicious meal before!  At least, I hope I haven’t.  I did a quick search of my site and didn’t see it.

This is one of those recipes where we almost always have all of the ingredients on hand, especially in the summer where our mint explodes in the garden.  There aren’t many recipes that call for mint, so we never end up using as much as the garden produces. 

If you are making this for two, I would half the marinade.  I made the full batch last night and threw a lot away.  I also only made a small amount of the mint salad and the yogurt sauce.  Use your best judgment.  I served this with basmati rice which I also topped with the sauce and salad.  We also had sautéed Swiss chard. I just cooked it in garlic and red pepper and then squeezed fresh lemon juice over it when it was done. That tied it in nicely with the rest of the meal.

The chicken comes out unbelievably juicy and tender.  I wish that I had cooked up more because it would be great as leftovers for sandwiches and salads.

Enjoy!

Chicken Breasts in Spiced Yogurt

It’s been months since I’ve had anything to eat! Yeah, that’s it.  I’ve been fasting, so I haven’t had anything to write about. 

Sounds like a good excuse as any, right?

I really don’t know what happened.  I just stopped.  And then I sort of forgot about it.  But, I’m back, and I’m going to try to maybe post more than once a quarter.

We’re experiencing a great spring here in New England.  Our vegetables went in the ground last week. This year we’re growing three different types of tomatoes:  napa grapes, celebrities (small beefsteaks), and healthkicks (plum); eggplant; hot peppers; peas; green beans; Swiss chard; lettuce; bok choy; and asparagus. We won’t be able to harvest this years aspargus crop, but hopefully next year we’ll be enjoying our own homegrown!

The garden has really filled out - we didn’t have to buy too much this year to fill empty spaces. I’ll take some pictures and post them. 

We’ve been eating remarkably well.  Last night we had out first outdoor get together.  We kept it really simple: homemade guacamole; marinated steaks and fish; pasta salad with lemon and aparagus; and strawberry shortcake.   The pasta salad came from Real S.imple.  I just started to receive this magazine, and I really like it.  I tried to find it online, but I couldn’t. Here it is, courtesy of Real S.imple:

Pasta Salad with Asparagus and lemon:

8oz penne
1 pound asparagus (ends trimmed), cut into one-inch pieces
1/4 cup Parmesan pieces (1 ounce)
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
Kosher salt and pepper

Cook the pasta according to to the package directions and add the asparagus during the last 3.5 minutes (NOTE:  if you like a crisper vegetable, shorten this by a minute).  Drain the pasta and asparagus and rinse under cold water to cool.  Transfer to large bowl

Add the parmesan, oil, lemon juice and zest, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper and toss to combine.

Light and delicious!

I’m off to NYC for a couple of days, but will make a better effort to post.  Hope someone is still reading!

This week took us to Rocco on Harrison Ave in the South End.  Andreas and I went to Rocco last year to check it out, so I knew what I had in store.  They did not disappoint this time either.  There were several choices for all three courses and the four of us who went were all able to get something different.

For the first course I had a wonderful soup made of pureed hearty greens and ricotta cheese.  Christine had the handmade potato gnocchi with golden beets, gorgonzola & pea pistachio pesto.  Mike had the handmade panzotti stuffed with fresh greens, parmigiano & ricotta on a walnut sauce. Jen had insalata tre colore, because she is a very good girl.  We all really enjoyed what we had.

For our main course, we really ran the gamut:  I had the grilled hangar steak with charred peppers, roasted potatoes, green onion-parsley puree in a red wine sauce.  The peppers really definted this dish, and I could have done with a few more potaotes, but the steak was very good.  Christine had the sauteed salted cod with black olives, tomatoes & whole wheat polenta.  Mike had the chicken genoese, roasted with sweet & sour spinach & wild mushrooms.  Jen was really adventurous and had the Buridda:  a Ligurian fish stew with fresh herbs, clams, shrimp, squid & white fish.  Again, there were empty plates all around.

For dessert Mike, Christine, and I couldn’t resist the smashed almond bark with dark chocolate dipping sauce.  This was pretty fanstatic - a generous portion of almond bark with sauce that was good enough to drink.    I couldn’t even finish mine, it was so filling and sweet!  Once again, Jen wins the adventure award:  she got the blood orange semifreddo with pistachio praline & mint.

I have to say that this was one of this year was one of the better restaurant week experiences I’ve had.  Previous years, I’ve often felt rushed and the menu choices have not been as varied as they could be.   This year was a great improvement.  Can’t wait to see what they do in the fall!