First Dinner (Theme: French Bistro)

The first dinner went great. Here are the photos...

Mussels and Pate with a French Baguette

Course 1 (Light/was Course 2 but since it was hot, we started with this first):

Louis Roederer Champagne paired with the Mussels.

Mussels with slices of bread to soak up the sauce.

Pate with bread awaits.

Mussels.

A toast to friends and food...and wine (and champagne)...and...

Pate. Some of us love pate too much.

Seared Scallops in a Lemon Butter Sauce over Belgian Endives

Course 2 (Light/was Course 1):

Scallops.

Wine Pairing: Side Yard Rielsing

Excellent colors.

Herbed Steak Frites in a Mustard-Wine Sauce

Course 3 (Main):

Fries served on top.

Wine Pairing: James Cole Malbec.

Fries on the side.

Lemon Tart (Sabayon method) with a Blood Orange Sorbet and Candied Orange Peels

Course 4 (Dessert):

The whole tart! Looks very French!

Fabulicious tart with sorbet.

Inniskillin Sparkling Ice Wine paired with dessert.

An excellent way to end the dinner!

Chicken Liver Pate

Chicken Liver Pate on a Baguette.

One of my favorite things to eat is pate with crackers or toasted bread with some wine. I also love it in Banh Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich). To me, that’s one of the elements that makes that so unique and tasty. Anyway, in the past, I’ve usually had a few store –bought pates, either from a specialty store or from Safeway. But more recently, I’ve seen how it was made, and it didn’t seem too difficult. So when I had the chance to try it for our French Bistro theme, I jumped at the opportunity.

So we bought chicken livers from two different places: Whole Foods and Najiya Market. The ones from the Najiya Market were free range chickens at $3.99/lb. The texture, as I was deveining, seemed a little tougher than the ones from Whole Foods, which were $2.99/lb. But the Najiya ones had less veins for me to remove. I suppose chickens that actually run around probably have a little tougher texture to their meat.

I forgot to pick up Brandy when I was out, and this being the last night before the group dinner, I had to make do. So I dug around in our “cellar,” or closet, and got a cognac. This was a better cognac, so hopefully it’ll taste extra good. I also started a second batch for our group dinner, since the pate would need to sit and chill in the refrigerator, and I would need to seal it with some sort of gelatin to stop the pate from oxidizing prior. So I worked in tandem on two sets of pates, with the latter substituting Scotch Whisky for the missing Brandy.

After processing the mixtures in the food processor, I put the still liquid, but viscous meat sauce into a few bowls to settle. I then made a chicken broth gelatin and poured it on top of the pates to seal them in. As of this writing, I haven’t yet tried the pates as they should taste (chilled), but I did try some in liquid form as I was seasoning. They’re in the refrigerator now solidifying, and I’ll give them a taste tomorrow afternoon prior to our first group dinner.

I’m curious as to how the Scotch will taste versus the Cognac. Also, a note: the Cognac one was cooked more medium, whereas the Scotch one was cooked with a little more caramelizing on the onions as well as more searing on the livers for a more “grilled” taste, I think. We shall see tomorrow.

The ingredients.

Adding scotch to the livers. The other batch was cognac.

The livers bathing in scotch. Some consider this a dream!

Adding the livers to the onions.

After straining out the cognac, we save it for later.

Adding thyme to the livers and onions.

The livers are browning.

Adding the cognac back into the mix.

Into the food processor after the mixture cools.

Adding cream to the food processor.

Finished processing!

Packaging the pate into a container.

The day after, with a chicken broth gelatin seal.

Steak au Poivre: Saucy!

Eating Steak with Herbed Frites.

We picked up a few New York steaks from Costco in preparation for this dish. While the steaks were being made, I was focused on making the fries, which I have already made a post about.

This post... is about steak! Anyway, prior to our trial, we had seen Andrew and Yurah's posting and I noticed in their photos, their sauce was yellowish. We had very different results.

As per the recipe, we tried tor crush whole peppercorns. We didn't get the green ones, but instead used mixed black and white peppercorns. I think here, we didn't really know how fine to crush them. Since crushing was fairly difficult without a mortar and pestal (or without a vice!), we left them fairly rough.

Then the mustard was added to one side of the steaks while the cast iron was heating up. We weren't sure which side went down, the mustard side or the bottom side. But we figured, it must be the mustard side to get it into the pan. As the mustard touched down on the fiery black metal, the mustard seems to burn up. We let it cook for 3 minutes, then flipped it. We questioned whether we should have added mustard to both sides, and after some discussion, we added mustard on the bare side, now facing the top. Then, into the oven the cast iron went with its temporary inhabitants.

Once done, the steaks were put out on plates to rest, and the cut shallots were tossed into the pan with the remnants of seared meat crust, crispened mustard, and near whole, but somewhat softened peppercorns. Then the wine was poured in. Anything's better with wine. Especially red wine.

The wine reduced a bit and an interesting sauce was born. We scooped the red-gray concoction onto the steak, and we were done. But our sauce didn't look too appetizing. The mixture of mustard yellow with maroon-red wine resulted in a muddy looking sauce that sat between us and our medium-rare protein.

Frites dropped by, on a plate asking to accompany our steaks. We obliged and dug in. However unappealing the sauce looked, it actually tasted pretty good. I would eat this again, but maybe figure out how to make it look better. In fact, I thought, it'll look better with some fries on top... and voila... Steak Frites!! Anyway, Kirk and Ei-lun's photos of the steaks looked awesome, and inspired us to step up our presentation. So check out our Scallop and Endives photo! =P

New York steaks from Costco.

Crushing peppercorns and prepping the herbs for the fries.

Putting Dijon on the steaks.

Steaks are ready to go into the cast iron.

Let the searing begins.

Shallots with wine. Where'd the mustard go?

Adding the red wine/mustard sauce on top of the steaks.

Steak with sauce.

Frites + Steak = Steak Frites!

Frites: Mandolin makes it easy.

Steak Frites w/o the Steak

I couldn’t find Idaho Potatoes while we were shopping for supplies at Whole Foods, so I sub’d in Yukon ones. Since our dinner was for two, we only used two potatoes instead of four as the recipe had called for. I used a mandolin to get a consistent matchstick sized cut on each fry. Then when we were about 5 minutes out from the finishing of the steak, I dumped about half of the fries into the deep fryer at 350 degrees. After 5 minutes , I took the fries out, but they were a little limp. Lee suggested to go at a higher temp, and I had just noticed on the roto-fryer that it recommended fries at 370 degrees, so I up’d the temperature. Also, Lee had noticed there was a “steam” coming out from the vents, and that might be causing the sogginess of the fries. So we kept the lid open to get all the steam out.

The second round yielded much more crispy fries. But since we changed two elements, I’m not sure what fixed the problem (the higher temp or the opening of the lid to keep steam out). We added in the herbs and salted the fries. We also tried a few deep fried sage leaves like we've seen at Cesar in North Berkeley. The result of the second batch were much better and had a better crunchy texture. I put some on top of the steaks like they do at Bistro Jeanty. It made the steaks looks more dramatic, in my opinion, and hide the sauce which didn't look so appealing.

Using the mandolin to make fry cuts in a matter of minutes.

Cut potatoes.

Submerged!

Coming out of the deep fryer.

Tarte Au Citron et Sorbet D'Oranges Sanguines

This lemon tart recipe uses a sabayon method, in which the eggs are first cooked with the lemon juice and sugar over hot water, then the butter is gradually incorporated—an easy method that results in a consistently good lemon custard or curd.

The rich, tart sabayon is housed in a pine nut crust, then topped with a clean and refreshing blood orange sorbet, which, in turn, is topped by candied citrus peel.

Suggested Pairings: Sauternes, Muscat, Alsace Riesling, Alsace Gewurztraminer

Tarte Au Citron:
Serving Size: Eight

Butter and flour for the tart pan
1/3 recipe Pine Nut Crust (optional)
Lemon Sabayon

• 2 large eggs, cold
• 2 large egg yolks, cold
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 6 tbsp. (3 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

For the Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter and flour a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and refrigerate it while the oven preheats.

Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator. Use your fingertips to press the chilled pine nut dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim off any excess dough.

Bake the crust for 10 to 15 minutes, then rotate it and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling. (There may be some cracks in the crust; they will not affect the finished tart.)

For the Sabayon:
Bring about 1 1/2 inches of water to a boil in a pot that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl you will be using for the sabayon. Meanwhile, in a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is smooth.

Set the bowl over the pot and, using a large whisk, whip the mixture while you turn the bowl (for even heating). After about 2 minutes, when the eggs are foamy and have thickened, add one-third of the lemon juice. Continue to whisk vigorously and, when the mixture thickens again, add another one-third of the lemon juice. Whisk until the mixture thickens again, then add the remaining lemon juice. Continue whisking vigorously, still turning the bowl, until the mixture is thickened and light in color and the whisk leaves a trail in the bottom of the bowl. The total cooking time should be 8 to 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the water. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time. The sabayon may loosen slightly, but it will thicken and set as it cools. Pour the warm sabayon into the tart crust and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Preheat the broiler. While the sabayon is still warm, place the tart under the broiler. Leaving the door open, brown the top of the sabayon, rotating the tart if necessary for even color; this will take only a few seconds, so do not leave the oven. Remove the tart from the broiler and let it sit for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Optional Accompaniments:

Pine Nut Crust
Note: Yields three crusts - because this dough uses only one egg, it is difficult to make in a smaller quantity. Freeze the extra dough for another time.

• 10 oz. (2 cups) pine nuts
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 lb. (3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 8 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation:
Place the pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the sugar and flour and continue to pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Add the butter, egg, and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate all the ingredients (the dough can be mixed by hand or in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Divide the dough into three equal parts. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before using. (The extra dough can be frozen, wrapped well, for up to 1 month).

Blood Orange Sorbet
Serving Size: One Quart

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups strained blood orange juice or fresh orange juice (from about 12 oranges)

Preparation:
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer to a medium bowl and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. Add the orange juice and refrigerate until cold.

Transfer to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Candied Citrus Peel
Serving Size: 1 Cup (200 G), Drained

• 4 large lemons or oranges, preferably unsprayed
• 2 cups (500 ml) water
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
• Pinch of salt
  

Preparation:
With a vegetable peeler, remove strips of peel 1 inch (3 cm) wide from the lemons or oranges, cutting lengthwise down the fruit. Remove just the colorful outer peel, leaving behind the bitter white pith. Using a very sharp chef's knife, slice the peel lengthwise into very thin strips no wider than a toothpick.

Put the strips of peel in a small, nonreactive saucepan, add enough water to cover them by a few inches, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain the peel, and rinse with fresh water.

Combine the 2 cups (500 ml) water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in the saucepan. Fit the pan with a candy thermometer and bring to a boil. Add the blanched peel, reduce the heat, and cook at a very low boil for about 25 minutes, until the thermometer reads 230°F (110°C). Turn off the heat and let the peel cool in the syrup.

Once cool, lift the peel out of the syrup with a fork, letting the syrup drain away, and serve atop ice cream or sorbet.

Recipe Sources:
Bouchon, 2004
The Perfect Scoop, 2007

Coquilles St. Jacques à la Fondue d'Endives - Starter

Scallops and endives is a classic bistro pairing. A glass of Sancerre Blanc, Jurançon, or Sauvignon Blanc makes an excellent accompaniment.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup (4 oz/125 g) butter, cut into 1/4-inch (6-mm) slices
4 Belgian endives, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced crosswise
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
12 sea scallops
Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon
1 tablespoon crème fraîche
1/2 bunch chives, chopped, for garnish

Crème fraîche:
Crème fraîche can be found in specialty food stores and some grocery stores. To make crème fraîche at home, mix 2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) heavy cream with 2 tablespoons buttermilk in a mdeium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature overnight or until fairly thick. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. The cream can be kept in the refrigerator for several days.

Preparation:
In a large sauté pan or skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat and add the endives. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté gently for 5 minutes, or until the endives are tender; set aside.

Season the scallops with salth and pepper to taste. In a large sauté pan or skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat and sauté the scallops for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

In a small, heavy saucepan, bring the lemon juice to a boil and whisk in the 1/2 cup (4 oz /125 g) butter one piece at a time. Remove from heat, whisk in the crème fraîche, and season lightly with salt and pepper.

To serve, divide the endive slices among 4 shallow soup bowls or dinner plates. Arrange 5 scallops on top of each serving. Spoon the lemon butter over, sprinkle with the chopped chives, and serve immediately.


Recipe from:
Chez Diane
25, rue Servandoni
75006 Paris