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.
