Tang, Coquilles and St Julien

I’ve mentioned Resturant Tang before as one of my absolute favorite places in Paris. I know a lot of his dishes, but on my last visit, he surprised me with this scallop and spicy soy sauce recipe. Scallops (Coquilles St Jacques, in French) are in season now here in France. It is rare to find a…

Sidewalk inspirations: alternative foie gras

It happens when he is walking down the street. Who knows what is going through his mind. And then, suddenly, something emerges. Clear. Precise. A mission. Monkfish liver and oysters… It has to do partially with a dish that Antoine Heerah at the Chamarré did for us not long ago, he presented it as ‘foie…

Truffles and Chardonnay @ Le Chassagne

The 2004 Bernard Morey Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Embrazées, was a little disappointing because it was reduced (needed air) and never fully expressed its potential, both of terroir and vintage. Chardonnay, even if disappointing on its own, tends to goes well truffles. This was certainly true of the Embrazés. Chef Stephane Léger of Le…

Haddock and beets @ Le Chassagne

I have a soft spot for chefs who use beets. Surprisingly complex aromatically with an interesting mixture of red fruits and earthiness, beets are an under-rated vegetable. My most recent visit to Le Chassagne, chef Stefane Léger brought out a smoked haddock and beetroot appetizer with not one, but two different preparations of beets. What…

A revelation: Foie gras with raspberries and red bell pepper jelly

How do you make foie gras go with Beaujolais Villages? Start by giving the chef a glass or two. Just so that he can get the creative juices flowing… The young chef at Auberge de Chantemerle came up with an incredibly creative and unique idea that worked beautifully: Foie gras with a jelly of red…

summer bulot sandwich

  I started thinking about it as I was walking through the organic market Marché Bio of Boulevard des Battignolles in the 17th arrondissment in Paris: I wanted to make a bulots sandwich. The more I thought about it, the hungrier I got. I’d never had one before. I had some bulots in the fridge…

Chambertin 1979 Louis Trapet

This old thing was kicking around the cellar for reasons that are long to explain. The Duc thought it might be dead. But it was very much alive.   (the vintage was written by hand because the neck label with the vintage fell off in very damp storage conditions) Well, it had lost all of…

Verget Chassagne Montrachet Pimont 2004

The best white Burgundies of 2004 come from Cote d’Or. Why? Because Cote d’Or had, on average, lower acids and higher alcohols than Chablis or the Maconnais for climactic reasons. Verget harvested very late in Chablis which is why their 2004 Chablis are some of the best Chablis ever produced. Pimont is a village lieu…

What was in the glass to go with these truffles?

    1996 Comptes Lafon Meusault Désirée We needed something that was complex and rich enough to be able to marry well with the truffles. 1996 Comptes Lafon Meusault Désirée More nutty, more evolved than the Clos de la Barre we had several months ago, It went wonderfully with the truffles because the acidity of the 2006…

Brittany Spider Crab and Petit Chablis

  Cooking the crab: Place the crab in a large enough pot (mine was just barely big enough for this bigger than I expected crab!) Fill with cold water amply salted (sea salt is preferred). Do this by taste. It should be like seawater. You don’t want the crabmeat to lose the seawater taste in…

Left-overs call for Margaux

An evening of left-overs. Therefore no photos because I didn’t know it was going to be so good. What it was: Poached salmon with fatty coppa (Italian ham) on top. Salmon and pork go really well together or reasons of texture, inherent fattiness and a certain sweetness. Because of the fattiness, I think a red…

Sardines with coriander seeds: electric combo

Boil the rice in a bouillon scattered with the coriander grains- un-ground. Mix in a large marinated artichoke heart with a little bit of olive oil.  Sautée the fresh sardines with salt and pepper in a very hot frying pan with olive oil. You want to sear the skin to give bitterness to match the…

Exotic risotto with Meursault Clos de La Barre 1996

  At the end of the cooking of the risotto, I added coconut milk and crushed coriander seeds. Then I mixed in some Alaskan King Crab and sautéed mushrooms (cèps, trompettes de la mort). On top I ground some more coriander seeds. The Citronella and coriander gave exotic and unique citric aromas without the acidity….

Margaux Marquis de Terme 2004 Les Gondats (4eme Grand Cru Classée)

Even though the 2004 vintage in Bordeaux was not well reviewed, I have always enjoyed it. A ‘normal vintage’ in between two drought vintages (2003 and 2005-although no one talks about it) most of the 2004s I have tasted have shown a lot of freshness, precision and harmony with very decent concentration. And because it…

Recipes for Port Salt cod fish with baby potatoes, strawberry/beetroot purée and coconut milk with spices

  Saltcod with potatoes, sweet onions and strawberry sauce    I actually OD-ed on Salt Cod while we were in Portugal, but to be true to the Portuguese traditional ingredients, we decided that we had to do at least one recipe that included salt cod, quite literally, their national food stuff. We de-salted the cod (it…

Recipes for Port: Tuna steak with black Italian rice, spices and cherry/beetroot sauce

    We cooked the black rice* with salt and pepper and then incorporated curcuma, cinnamon and mild curry.  Into the rice we also added some cherry/beetroot purée that we had made (just pitted cherries, cooked beetroot and a little water to thin it out). We pan seared the tuna with salt and ample black…

Recipes for Port: Pork bellies (Rillons) and potatoes with strawberry/beetroot sauce and coconut milk

  Rillons are a Loire Valley specialty but resemble some of the pork dishes that the Portuguese seem very fond of.  We bought a cooked (boiled, not fried) chunk (2 inches long, 2 inches tall, 1,5 inches wide) and cut it into small pieces. In retrospect, we thought it would be even better to use lardons-smoked…

Recipes for Port: Boudin Noir with apples and beetroot sautéed with cinnamon and curcuma

  Boudin Noir (also known as black pudding or blood sausage) is very easy to find in any butcher shop in France. We tried it on its own with the port and the combination was already close to perfect. The butchers often automatically put a lot of cinnamon in boudin. In France it is traditional…

Recipes for Port: Pan fried Calves liver with cherry and beetroot sauce

    We pan fried small portions of calves’ liver with salt, pepper and olive oil. We kept the heat high enough to get the outside of the liver crispy (bitterness) on the outside and keep a soft rare center (sweetness). We took the liver out of the pan and deglazed the pan with old…

Recipes for Port: Salad on a spoon: Sardines, melon and cherries

    Sounds wild, I know. But it works like a charm. The sardines are a tribute to Portuguese tradition. (And they do grow a lot of cherries in Portugal, I don’t know about melons…) Fresh sardine fillets cut into 1inch/1 inch squares pan fried with ample amounts of salt and pepper. They should be…