Sweet (and savory) memories

I've been MIA from my dear sweet blog. January brought the passing of my mom's dear sweet husband and that of my dear sweet father-in-law. I still catch myself not believing that they are gone from us. February brought a three-day trip to Washington, DC and the usual whirlwind of classes, lesson plans and the like and the serious last minute preparations for the annual France Trip with my eighth graders. And now, that has come and gone as well. Thus the cartoon. In this post, I am going to focus on the delicious aspects of that trip. I hope you are hungry!

The 2018 Paris Delicious List

#1 Goat cheese crème brûlée eaten in a little restaurant near the Panthéon (listed on the menu as crème brûlée de chèvre cendré, oignons confits); the goat cheese salad I also had was noteworthy.

#2  Steak-frites and the "sauce" Charmélcia at Bistro Régent, our last dinner, near the Gare St. Lazare train station (all you can eat fries and bibb lettuce-vinaigrette salad included with your steak, duck or salmon- the only entrées on the menu)

#3  Hachis parmentier (think Shepard's Pie) served at Odile's apartment- we ate at the homes of Parisians through VizEat. Odile also gives cooking lessons in her home. The butternut squash soup with crème fraîche and riz au lait she served for dessert were also amazing.

#4  My darling Pierre Hermé's creations- I tried a take on the Paris-Brest dessert from his new shop 86 Champs (a joint venture on the Champs-Élysées with L'Occitane but as much as I love that shop I only had eyes for Pierre)

I also had (at least one) macaron...

#5  German-style hot dog from  Le Stube- I would never have found this one on my own. Leave it to Bertrand Tour Guide to take us here. We got our dogs to go and ate them in the park at Palais Royal. Pique-nique!

#6  Rillettes de canard in a small café near the Marché d'Aligre-- AP, my co-chaperone wouldn't agree, but I love rillettes- slow-cooked meat similar to pâté- this one made from duck, eaten on bread with little cornichons. Another Bertrand find.

#7  My cheese plate (I often eat cheese instead of dessert) from the cafeteria/restaurant on the top floor of Galeries Lafayette; we sat next to the ladies from the Chanel counter in their cute t-shirts; the view of Paris (not of the Chanel ladies) was pretty spectacular too-- la Tour Eiffel and le Grand Palais

Okay, full disclosure here-- AP and I later opted for (and shared) an éclair made by Christophe Adam- after we shopped and before we took off on more walking adventures--we needed our strength, you know. The "food court" in the Galeries Lafayette Maison building is pretty spectacular as well. Pierre Hermé has a spot here, too.

#8  My daily half baguette spread with demi-sel butter and jam at our hotel- nothing fancy, but what a great way to start the day. They have a fancy coffee machine now- no more little pots of strong coffee and warm milk- but the coffee is really good and it's much easier on the women who take such good care of us at breakfast.

#9  Mint tea and pastries at the Grand Mosquée de Paris- oui, another Bertrand idea. We took the kiddos to the Jardin des Plantes (zoo, dinosaurs, park) and as our little afternoon pause-café we ducked into the tea room for a treat; a first for me! The glass of sweet mint tea was amazing.

#10  Galette (savory crêpe made with buckwheat flour) of ham, cheese and an egg in the Marais for lunch- a lovely Sunday morning treat

We had eating adventures outside of Paris-- Normandy, Senlis, Versailles-- but I will leave that for another day. Today's project is to try to duplicate the goat cheese crème brûlée. I have already made the hachis parmentier. It was not as good as Odile's... but I will keep trying. The Ex-Ex and Niece liked it and gave it a thumb's up.

Hachis Parmentier 
recipe from Genius Kitchen

SC's notes: I did not use instant potatoes (quelle horreur!) nor did I add tomatoes. Odile said she used a bit of tomato paste so I did the same. She added mascarpone to her potatoes (I should have) and most importantly, she used leftover beef stew for the meat. I didn't happen to have any in my refrigerator (beef stew doesn't last long here) so I substituted the best ground beef I could find. I will keep working on the recipe, but this is a good base. Garlic mashed potatoes would be good as well. I sprinkled some gruyère cheese on the top of the potatoes before putting it in the oven. I think that next time I will bake it 15 minutes longer.

READY IN:  40mins	SERVES:  8
UNITS:  US

INGREDIENTSNutrition

• 2onions, chopped
• 3garlic cloves, minced (or pressed)
• 1tablespoon butter
• 2tablespoons olive oil
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1⁄2lbs lean ground beef
• 1tablespoon herbes de provence (or other herbs to your taste)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1egg yolk
• 2tablespoonsparmesan cheese
• 4 -5cups mashed potatoes (instant is fine)
• 3⁄4cup gruyere cheese, grated (can also use emmental or similar)

Bon appétit, mes amis. Please keep reading! I promise to keep blogging, through good times and sad ones. Make good food and feed people. That's a sure way to be have good times.

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large frying pan, cook the onions & garlic in the butter & olive oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, ground beef, herbs, salt & pepper. Cook until the meat is browned thoroughly. Turn off heat & add egg yolk & Parmesan cheese, stirring to mix completely.
2. Spread the meat in the bottom of a lightly oiled oven proof dish (a 9x13 would be perfect). Spread the potatoes on top of the meat mixture. And finish by sprinkling the grated cheese on top.
3. Bake in 400 deg oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted & the potatoes lightly browned.

4.  

126,662 steps / 55.1 miles

These New Balance cross trainers were made for walking…

And that’s just what they did. For six full days in Paris. Wednesday with Ghislaine (21,017 steps, 9.3 miles). It’s no wonder that I have a sore muscle (or something) around my left ankle. No blisters, though, I am happy to report. One sore toenail, but Tom at Posh Nails will fix that. TMI? Probably! I did use the métro sometimes. It was a bit frustrating that the Châtelet station is closed right now and that messed me up while trying to get to the Ritz to have a drink with friends in Bar Hemingway. It would have been faster to walk from my hotel, I think.

It’s a good thing I walked so much because I ate exceptionally well on this trip. Bertrand of My Private Paris made a couple of recommendations and I found a café on Rue Saint Dominique that I’ve wanted to try for a couple of years (it deserves its own blogpost). And ACIS treated us to two great meals, one being the apéritif dînatoire at the Pullman Hotel from the last post and the other, our farewell dinner at Lapérouse, on the Quai des Grands Augustins. Not a place I would go on my own ($$$$) but what a thrill.

From the Mercier champagne to begin–

To the coffee and little coconut and jellied fruit bites to end.

And in between?

Appetizers served on the ground floor of the restaurant, with champagne.

I love the spoon. There were also gougères. And probably other delicious little bites. I always find myself talking too much to taste everything. Quelle surprise. I found Bill who shares my love of Van Gogh. Kristi and Angela and I had a great chat. Jeremy won for best tie (Starry Night). Scott and Cindy and I became fast friends and spent time together on the food tour and at Bar Hemingway, along with Kristi and Angela. Janel, my roommate. Luis from Texas (who shared his Angelina Mont Blanc with us at the hotel afterwards- yes, we ate more). Amber and Eric. Pamela and Phil. Kathy from Nebraska. Laurie and Sean. Jeannie, Morgan, Caroline Ann from ACIS U.S. offices. Claire, Isabelle, and Bouchara from the Paris office. Bertrand.

We were then ushered into a big room upstairs for dinner.

At first, my tablemates and I were a bit confused–

This was served in a rather large bowl. Hmmm. Some new fad in the starter courses, I wondered? But the handsome young man (pictured above first serving champagne) cautioned us to wait because the dish wasn’t finished. And sure enough, in just a few minutes, another waiter came to add to the bowl. Voilà! Velouté d’asperges. Cream of asparagus soup. Very, very good.

The main course was duck. Le canard. I am very fond of duck.

With sweet potato purée.

Dessert was a first for me. Soufflé. Oui, seriously. I’ve never eaten one nor tried to make one. Until this one. Caramel. Served with sorbet.

Heavenly. Fluffy. Airy. Cloud bites of caramel air.

It was a lovely, delicious evening, as always with ACIS. They treat their teachers like royalty.

Some random photos. If you read about the history of this place, you may be a bit shocked but amused as well, I think. There are lots of little rooms and I wasn’t brave enough to poke my head into many of them. Rumor has it that George Clooney has been spotted here. I wouldn’t doubt it.

I really hope to find a tried and true recipe for soufflé. Cindy from California is, from what I heard on the trip, quite a baker, and has promised to send a recipe when she returns home. She and Scott extended their stay until Saturday. They are even luckier than I am.

Bon appétit! I hope that you enjoyed my eating adventure. I think that I need to get out a map of Paris and highlight as many streets as I can that I walked on. Before I forget and my ankle heals! And before the student adventure in March. Eat something good with someone you love! Or eat solo. Or make new friends! Be adventurous!