Steak Tartare

Paul has wanted to eat steak tartare ever since we arrived in Paris. Since I was never a willing participant, he needed someone just as enthusiastic as himself to help get it done. Enter Bruno. We can always count on Tina and Bruno to be up for a good meal, and when Paul told Bruno he wanted to try tartare, I think I might have even seen a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

Tina and Bruno came over one Sunday with tartare ingredients in hand. Tina and I were to eat this chicken salad, while the boys feasted on huge plates of tartare. Bruno and Paul prepared the toppings while the ladies enjoyed a glass of wine, so I can't necessarily tell you how it was done, but once we were ready to eat, here was what was on the table:

1 white onion, chopped
3-4 Tbsp cornichons, chopped
3-4 Tbsp capers, drained and chopped
1 lemon, cut in half
dijon mustard
mayonnaise
Tabasco sauce
sea salt
black pepper
olive oil
balsamic vinegar

These condiments are to be mixed into the cold steak haché at your discretion. (Use about 500 grams ground beef for 2 people, bought freshly ground, from a reputable source). I tasted Paul's concoction once he had mixed everything together. It was Tina who said the texture resembled tuna salad or something like that (since it is savory, creamy and cold) and I have to agree. I'm afraid I had to put the fact that it was raw beef out of my mind while I chewed, but for a few moments, I really liked it. It was rich, but that flavor was cut by the sharp pickles, onion, lemon, capers and a bit of a spicy kick from the hot sauce. I can see why so many people are passionate about their tartare.

It's funny to taste something that goes so against your sensibilities, though. For people who've grown up in an area with nothing but well-done hamburgers, dry cooked eggs, and cities that want to ban fois gras, it takes some getting used to. And steak tartare is just about the most harmless "weird" thing you can eat here. (Brain pâté, anyone?)

Now, I don't think I could eat a whole plate of tartare myself. I think Paul may have been struggling by the end...just a little. But, neither of us got sick (which I wasn't actually worried about) and we loved the experience, so score un for France and a big fat zero to food-fearing American ideals. We shouldn't live in fear of what millions of people around the world put in their mouths everyday. After all, I think there is something to the old phrase: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, no?

Lemon Roasted Potatoes and Lamb Chops

The heat wave has passed and Fall seems to have started. Okay, maybe not quite, but it has been really cool here lately! Dare I say chilly? (Sorry to everyone who's sweating as they read this!) I've finally felt spunky enough to get in the kitchen and use the stove. And the oven. And all of our cutting boards. And knives. In short, I made a few things I'd been meaning to try.

I marinated some lamb chops, roasted lemon potatoes and baked mini-papillotes d'aubergines. I'll post about les papillotes later. Anyway, each one was a new recipe for me, which meant I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen, although none of the recipes were very complicated. This was my first experience cooking lamb chops and I was really happy with their flavor. Plus, they take no time at all to cook.

These roasted potatoes with lemon might seem to be a strange pairing at first glance, but I know that once you try them, they will become a staple for you! I knew I could trust this recipe from Ivonne, at Cream Puffs in Venice. She raves about these potatoes on her beautiful blog and now that I've made them I can't believe I waited so long to try them! Don't make the same mistake I did; make these tonight!

Lemon Roasted Potatoes
(recipe from Cream Puffs in Venice and Cook This, by Amy Rosen)

4 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and quartered
juice of 1-2 lemons (about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup)
½ tsp lemon zest
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
¾ tsp sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup water

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Rinse the potatoes with cold water. Peel the potatoes if you like, but it’s not necessary. Slice the potatoes in half lengthwise and cut each half in half, or maybe fourths for a larger potato. Mix the potato wedges, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, oregano, salt and pepper in a baking pan. Once the potatoes are evenly coated and spread out in the pan, pour the water over them. Bake, uncovered, for 50 minutes or until golden brown and tender.

I used the juice of one lemon and felt there could have been more. There should be a bit of lemony syrup in the bottom of the pan, but mine was completely evaporated, so don’t skimp on the lemon juice! I would also toss in a bit more oregano next time. I’ll be making these again and again! These were great with lamb, but would easily accompany any meat you choose. Serves 4.

What goes better with lemon roasted potatoes than lemon and oregano marinated lamb chops!?

Easy Lemon, Garlic, and Oregano Marinade
(recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger)

4 small lamb loin chops
1 lemon, zested
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons fresh oregano or 2 tsp dried
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground coriander, optional
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine all the ingredients (except the chops) in a small bowl. Place the lamb chops in a plastic bag and pour the marinade over them. Seal the bag and marinate the chops for at least an hour, but no more than 4 hours. Remove the lamb and blot dry with paper towels before cooking. Grill or saute 3-4 minutes per side for medium rare.

Chinatown, Tang Frères and Pork Dumplings

Paul and I had a really fun day recently going to Chinatown, specifically the area south of Place d'Italie. We ate lunch at a little place on Avenue d'Ivry, where we had many good looking restaurants to choose from. Chinatown in Paris isn't really strictly Chinese - you'll find a mix of countries represented at most restaurants. The one we chose had Laotian, Thai and Vietnamese specialties.We sat on the terrasse and drank our Chinese beers while we looked over the menu. Paul settled on a red curry with duck, peppers and pineapple chunks. I chose a rice noodle dish covered with curried beef, onions and some pickled vegetables. It also came with a few crisy egg rolls on the side. Because we were craving nems, or egg rolls, we ordered an appetizer portion as well. They were especially fun to eat rolled with fresh cilantro and mint in a lettuce leaf and dipped in some sauce! Despite my poor chopstick skills, I managed to eat my fill.After lunch, we walked down to the huge grocer called Tang Frères. This place had everything! We purchased 2 huge mangos, 2 big, ripe avocados, some red chilis, good soy sauce, dumpling wrappers, and yellow chives. It was so fun to have access to all these great ingredients missing from normal supermarkets. Oh, the mangos! They were so good! And so cheap!

Exhausted from our exploits, we left the store only to be tempted once more. Outside the market, there was a little stand selling sugar cane juice and coconut milk. We bought a big coconut with a straw in it and sat happily slurping the sweet juice before hopping on the metro to come home. A few nights ago we finally got to use the dumpling wrappers that we bought at Tang Frères. Thanks to our friend Ku, Paul and I learned how to make a mean pork dumpling. We boiled the dumplings until done and dipped them in a spicy soy sauce spiked with garlic and chili. They were out of this world! We also fried/boiled the last batch as you would for potstickers, which I think I preferred. You can also steam them, but I have yet to try that.

Ku's recipe also calls for yellow chives, which I've never seen outside Tang Frères, so I'm sure you could substitute green onion, leek, or shredded cabbage. This is a simple recipe, so use good quality soy sauce and sesame oil, and definitely make the dipping sauce!Ku's Pork Dumplings

1 pkg wonton/dumpling wrappers

Pork Filling:
600 g (1 lb) ground pork
1 cup yellow chives, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
3-4 Tbsp soy sauce
1-2 Tbsp sesame oil
ground black pepper
(I also added 1 Tbsp minced ginger, optional)

Spicy Soy-Garlic Sauce:
2 Tbsp chopped garlic
2-3 small red chilis, thinly sliced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Combine all the ingredients for the filling in the bowl. Mix the pork filling until very smooth. In a separate bowl, combine all the dipping sauce ingredients and set aside.

Fill a small bowl with water. This will be the glue to seal the dumplings. Take one dumpling wrapper, dip one finger into the water and wet the edges of the wrapper completely. Place a tablespoon of pork filling into the middle of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper over the filling in a half moon shape, pressing all of the air out from the middle of the dumpling to the edges. Pleat the edges of the dough firmly to seal it completely. Repeat for each dumpling. You should fill 28-32 dumplings with this amount of filling, serving about 3 people as a main course.

To boil the dumplings,
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the dumplings and stir them so they do not stick together. Bring the water back to a boil.
2. The dumplings will float to the top and when this happens, add 1/2 cup of cold water to the pot. This will slow down the cooking so that the wrapper won't cook before the pork has the chance.
3. Wait for the water to come back to a boil and, once again, add 1/2 cup of cold water.
4. Bring the water back to a boil again and once the dumplings are floating, remove one to check if they are done. If so, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside. If not, add another 1/2 cup water and wait for it to boil again. Repeat with the remaining dumplings.

To make potstickers,
1. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to a hot nonstick pan. Place enough dumplings in the pan to form a single layer, but without the dumplings touching.
2. Pour 1/2 cup of water in the pan, cover it, and let them cook (without peeking!) on low for about 10 minutes, or until all the water is gone.
3. The dumplings should be brown and crisp on the bottom, but if not, let them cook a few minutes more.

Restaurant Lao-Lane Xang

105 avenue d'Ivry

75013 Paris

01 45 85 19 23

Tang Frères
48 avenue d'Ivry
75013 Paris
01 45 70 80 00

A few days in Burgundy...

When we heard our good friends Adam and Emily were coming to Paris to visit us, I knew we had to plan a trip to the country. A fun, rent-a-car and take-to-the-open-road trip. Knowing that they enjoy wine as much as we do, we thought exploring Burgundy would be perfect. Paul and I hadn't visited there yet and we were excited to see it.

Renting a car and driving in France is always a good idea. Although the trains are great here, there is so much more to see with a car. Encountering such small villages, charming people and fantastic artisans and winemakers makes for quite a memorable vacation. Besides, the region of Burgundy is incredibly beautiful. We only had 2 nights and 3 days, so we skipped Dijon and headed straight for the Route des Vins, specifically the Route des Grands Crus. Driving south from Dijon, we stopped first in Nuits-Saints-Georges. We continued through Ladoix, Aloxe-Corton and Pernand-Vergelesses before our first day was over.
Burgundy is full of sleepy little villages but this one was surprisingly so. After a few more stops at closed wineries, we finally found a winner on the edge of town. A gregarious old man opened his cellar tasting room for us and as we followed him down, our noses were assaulted by the moldy, fruity smell of the cave. I've visited many caves in various regions of France and there's nothing better than entering that first cave. It smelled old. It smelled of hundred-year-old, wine soaked oak barrels. The proprietor joked with us, asked where we were from and was genuinely delighted to share his wines. We talked about Zizou. (C'est pas juste!) He told us about the wine region by pointing to his plots on an extensive map. We bought a bottle and floated out of our first tasting feeling a bit lighter and so pleased with the start of our adventure.

Before we made it to our chambre d'hote for that night, we visited 3 more wineries. With each one, I felt I had a better handle on the locations, classifications (bourgogne, villages, premier cru, grand cru) and the various vintages. It was amazing to meet the winemakers. They are so proud, so hard working, so generous and so passionate. These are true family businesses; a few of them commented that they hoped their sons would continue the tradition. One claims to have family that has made wine since 1640. I pity the child who breaks that line!

Tasting a young white wine, straight from the barrel...

Continuing south, we stopped in Aloxe-Corton and Ladoix (which along with Pertrand, form a nice triangle around the hills of Aloxe-Corton, where some of the best grand cru grapes are grown) and stayed in the loveliest bed and breakfast in Magny-les-Villers just 10 minutes or so north of Beaune. At just 52 euros per night, including breakfast, La Maison des Abeilles, was a steal.

That night we had the most amazing meal. A recommendation from our chambre d'hote, La Ferme de Rolle, was 30 minutes farther out into the middle of nowhere but was well worth the trip. The scenery was beautiful; rolling hills and lush green fields with the occasional sheep or horse sighting. We didn't even get lost on the twisting one lane roads until finally (quite uncharacteristically, I must say) we saw a sign pointing us to the restaurant. They had a table for 4 ready for us on the terrasse.

We started with an aperitif of white wine with strawberry puree mixed in, which was perfect for a hot night. We all got the 23 euro menu (quite reasonable) with 4 courses. We ended up going for a few pichets de vin rouge which were perfectly adaquate. After all, burgundian wines can be expensive, and having tried great wines throughout the day, our parched palates weren't worthy of spending 30 euro on a bottle with dinner.

Adam and Emily proved themselves the more adventurous couple and both ordered les escargots for their first course. Paul and I ordered another traditional dish from Burgundy called Oeufs en Meurette, or eggs poached in a red wine sauce. The snails were absolutely delicious! They were drowned (I picture a glorious death) in butter, garlic and herbs. The presentation is just too cute and the whole experience was fun. We all thought the texture was a bit like oysters. All in all, very tasty.The verdict is still out on the oeufs en meurette. To me, the idea is an appealing one. The poached eggs are served in a red wine sauce that is almost like the sauce for boeuf bourguignon; rich with wine, onions, bacon and carrots. Crunchy croutons were served beside to soak up the sauce. This is one of those dishes where I like all the ingredients but somehow the flavor was just a little disappointing. I wanted more texture and the egg yolks running into the thin wine sauce didn't really do much for me, although it definitely wasn't bad at all.

We all got the same 10 hour braised ham for our main course. Thick, tender slices were served with 3 different sauces and accompanied by potatoes and a few different vegetable purees. I can safely say that it was some of the best ham I've tasted. I couldn't finish my portion for fear of not making it through the last two courses, but I really wanted to do it.

The cheese course was a treat. I was the only one to choose the fromage blanc over the assorted cheeses. I thought it would be lighter, I guess. It came with a bit of fruit coulis and cream. It was fine, but the real star was this cheese board. Shocking is the only word for it. Paul loves stinky, oozing cheeses and even he was a bit intimidated by these local varieties. One cheese was covered in ash. Paul cut into one of them and it errupted on to the plate leaving the rind-shell behind. Incroyable... Dessert was equally massive in proportion. 3 of us ordered ice cream parfaits. Emily's had berry ice cream, fruit sauce and whipped cream, while mine was vanilla ice cream, rum-soaked cherries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Paul's was like mine but with pears, which was great and Adam got the most amazing lemon sorbet drowned in vodka. Once Adam stirred around, it ressembled a vodka slushie. But I don't think he was complaining.

We meandered back to our bed and breakfast the longer way around after dinner but got there nonetheless. It was an unforgettable meal. Stayed tuned for more wine tastings...

A Healthy Chicken Salad

I was contemplating our lunches recently and came to the somewhat obvious conclusion that ours needed some inspiration. Lunches are tough for me. I seem to concentrate so much on dinner and feeding the both of us that when Paul started staying home for lunch, too, I was sort of overwhelmed. Leftovers are fine, but it's nice to have a proper lunch once in a while.

I've been craving a healthy salad of some sort, but I've been bored with our usual greens and dressings. I figured I could make a healthier chicken salad that incorporated more fruits and veggies into our diet. Plus, since it's been SO hot lately, anything make-ahead and chilly that we could eat for a few days sounded great to me. This chicken salad isn't such a revelation, really, but I was very happy with the result. Chunks of chicken are combined with diced apple, toasted pecans, sliced grapes, red onions and dressed with an herby, mustard and mayo dressing that is lightened with yogurt and lemon juice. I ate this piled on some salad greens with a hunk of bread and felt very pleased with myself for eating this instead of, say, bacon and cheese.

Healthier Chicken Salad

Dressing:
1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
juice of one lemon wedge
2 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
2 Tbsp chopped chives
fresh parsley or tarragon, if you have it!
a dash of salt and pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 apple, diced
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced green grapes
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
1/3 cup diced celery, if you have it

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Throw in a tablespoon of salt. Lower the temperature so that the water is barely simmering. It's what Julia Child calls a shiver stage. Add the chicken breasts, cover the pot and let the chicken poach for 10 minutes, maybe 15 depending on the size. Keep the water just at the point where it's beginning to boil and you'll have tender chicken.

Combine the diced fruit, onion, pecans and celery in a mixing bowl. In a seperate bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dressing. Dice the chicken and add to the bowl with the fruit and nuts. Add half of the dressing and toss to coat. Add more dressing as needed, but you might not have to use all of it depending on the amount of chicken you have. I didn't use it all.

Chill for several hours until cold, or make it a day ahead. Serve on some salad greens (spinach leaves are great!) or in a sandwich. Serves 4.

*Note: The chicken breasts found in the USA are larger than those I buy here. You might want to increase the apple, onion, nuts, etc, if you have more chicken. As always, amounts are approximate.