Recipes

Gratin of green chard

Posted on March 13, 2023

Late winter-early spring is a lean time at the farmer’s market (wow, hearing myself say that, it is hard to believe that it is already turning toward spring!). The last of the fall harvest – winter squashes, pears, apples, onions, garlic – are getting old and a little rough looking. Spring veggies are still just a pleasant daydream. Most of what is still coming from the March fields are winter-over veggies like leeks, cabbage, cauliflower and chard. The limited variety makes it challenging to keep winter meals interesting.

This week, I opted for green chard, looking very colorful on the dull winter farm tables, all fat, juicy stems and smallish leaves. With the exception of Nice, (where the green part is used in ravioli fillings, dumplings and even in sweet tarts with raisons and pine nuts), the French consider the stems the best part of the chard plant, and use it in soups, sautés, in stews and, especially in gratins.

With 24 hours of rain expected, a warm, bubbly gratin seemed somehow just right. I served it with a pan sauteed pork flank steak, which French butchers call the “grillade”. Continue reading →

Tagged Gratins, Vegetables | Leave a comment

Breads | Recipes

Buttermilk biscuits à la Café Septième

Posted on December 17, 2022

Recipes | Savory Dishes

Confit de canard – preserved duck legs

Posted on January 25, 2021

Confit de canard, or preserved duck, is an indispensable dish of southwestern France and a warm, comforting dish on a cold winter evening. Its origin lies in the culture of duck farming that has shaped the entire region, from the Pays Basque in far southwest, north to Gascony and east to the area around Toulouse. On my first visit to the southwest, it struck me as odd that so much of the land was dedicated to growing field corn, since corn figures very little in the local cuisine. Corn, it turns out, is the starting point for the raising of ducks for foie gras, and foie gras production is king here.

Confit developed from the thrifty farm ethos of whole animal eating. In foie gras duck terms, that means making use of the rest the large framed Moulard duck after the sumptuous liver has been removed. The thick, meaty breasts (or magrets) are usually seared on a plancha grill and served like a steak, or marinated with salt and spices then smoked, thinly sliced and enjoyed cold like best quality cured ham. The fat of the carcass is rendered for use in cooking, representing the the third pillar in the French pantheon of cooking fats (Butter in the north, olive oil in the southeast and duck or pork fat in the southwest).

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Tagged Confit, Duck, duck fat, Foie gras, Southwest France | Leave a comment

Savory Dishes

Pigeon cooked two ways, roasted breast and legs simmered with red wine

Posted on May 14, 2019

Cafe Presse | Recipes

Bringing back the Salmis

Posted on February 10, 2019

Salmis de canard au cremant de Loire: Pekin duck braised with sparkling rosé from the Loire valley and rich duck stock, with roasted turnips and Brussels sprout

The February Chef’s Dinner at Cafe Presse is all about sparkling wine from the French countryside. Although many people think of sparkling wine for a toast, it can often be a struggle to find a place for bubbles during the actual meal. With that in mind, I wanted to design a menu that highlights all the different roles that sparkling wine can play by including dishes that, at first blush, don’t seem like intuitive matches….like duck for example.

With this in mind, I reached back into the classical lexicon of duck dishes for an idea that is both seasonal and I think has great potential to pair well with bubbles, salmis de canard.

In his Le Guide Culinaire, Escoffier describes a salmis as a game dish in which the bird is first roasted at high heat until golden on the outside but still rare inside. The legs and breasts are then removed, and the carcass, still nearly rare, is used to make a rich jus. The breasts and legs are then simmered in this jus until tender and delicious, then served on a crouton spread with a mousse made from the birds giblets.

(Note, in his recipe for Salmis de faison, Escoffier warns that “this recipe has literally been spoiled by the haphazard manner in which it has been applied right and left to game”. That’s Escoffier for you, always a little tense. But it does point out how far this dish has fallen from fashion as compared to his epoch when he found it overly common. I remember cooking salmis when I was in culinary school and while working in Paris, but that was nearly 30 years ago).

Duck trial feb 2019 2

I have always found duck and cabernet franc to be a very good pairing (or duck and pinot noir or duck and gamay…maybe I just like duck!). With that in mind, I decided to construct my salmis using a Cremant from the Loire valley that is a mix of tcab franc with chenin and chardonnay. To increase the impact of the wine, I decided to modify the salmis recipe slightly by marinating the duck pieces in Cremant overnight.

First step in the process was breaking down the duck into what is known as “fricasse”, which basically just means semi-boneless breasts and legs, each cut into 2 pieces.

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