meat

I had a craving for meat the other day  so we had some friends over for a real carnivore’s dream,  a sort of Argentine/French meal.

We had an herbed roast beef with a couple of lamb chops…

I got a nice roast, wrapped in fat from the butcher.  I pierced it all over with a knife and planted some garlic slivers into it, then added olive oil, kosher salt, coarse ground pepper and fresh rosemary.  This was a pretty small roast, so I only cooked it for 30 minutes,

I say 15 min a pound + 10 minutes for rare meat.

Tim brought over the magic. A super fresh boudin noir and fresh chorizo he brought from Spain.

the chorizo we fried up in a deep pan filled with 1knuckle of olive oil….the boudin noir I simply pan cooked until it began to explode……I usually don’t go crazy for blood sausage, but a fresh boudin is really a whole different thing, It is so rich and delicate…and healthy!

Tim also made some chimichurri…here’s the recipe from epicurious.com:

1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

just blend it all together, and add a little extra red pepper for extra jazz.

I made a simple potato salad with potatoes, onions, capers and olive oil,

THE MAIN EVENT:

and a classic strawberries and whipped cream dessert…..

I won’t even mention how many bottles of what red wine we drank….too many…..

a big rosé discovery

My friend Tim brought over this Corbières rosé the other day…….it was really like no other wine I’ve ever had to be honest.

Though I never insisit on slurring on about what kind of fruit wine tastes like, this one really tases like cranberry. It is really direct, short and almost fizzy.

And really really good. Weird, but good. And I thought the pink cork was a nice touch….

CHEERS.

a quickie

Hi, this is a quickie and will really make everyone freak out.  Really, there is no particular story to tell. At times, a good onion tart is all you need to hear about. Plus I can think of a million ways you can reinterpret this onion tart  and style it and make it your own, so I will limit my influence.

1. Get a premade pie crust, preferrably a pate feuillité, but really you can be basic about it and use whatever you have lying around the house…or make one, but that’s a real pain if you’ve only got time for a quickie.

2. Butter a removable bottom tart pan, and place the dough inside.  Cover with parchment paper, then fill with rice or beans or pebbles, and pop in the oven (hot oven, like at 375/temp 7) and cook for about 10 minutes. or until it seems to have turned opaque white and remove from oven

3. Slice 4 onions and sautee in a bit of olive oil with salt, pepper, some fennel seeds, and my secret favorite ingredient, a cube of bouillon….i like the KubOr from knorr.  Let that go, stirring until the onions become nice and browned, about 15-20 minutes

4. Fill the pie crust (obviously after having removed the pebbles) with the onions…..beat up 2 or 3 eggs, with a bit of heavy cream, and pour over the onions.  

5. NOW add some cheese. Here i would, and did,  use morbier (my cheese of the moment) or some mountainy thing like a tomme, or a gruyère.

6. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the tart is gorgeous and bubbly.

This tart really packs a punch.  

I served it with some steamed asparagus with boiled eggs, olive oil and salt.

BRAVO!

We drank a bottle of Bouzeron, a white burgundy aligoté that is really BEYOND……….

 

sunday dinner

So it was passover this weekend, and I was actually left out of all the fun this year as everyone is in Toulouse while i’m alone with the dog in Paris….so I was deprived of the very major blog event of the sephardic seder….next year.

Here in Paris, on a chill, rainy sunday I decided to roast a chicken with some fresh sage and spring vegetables.  I have a lot of onions on hand these days, so I thought roasting onions and leeks with the chicken would make a really nice rich compliment.  Asparagus, and a bright spicy watercress salad gave the meal a crisp greeness that we’re craving in spring, and a fat slice of morbier, a firm, subtle cheese from the Jura, with a signature stripe of blue down the center wrapped it up nicely.

French chickens are really the best. A Poulet de Landes or a Poulet de Bresse are really good choices, and obviously free range organic, etc….I tend to go with small-ish birds since I think they taste better, so if I have more people, I roast more chickens. This one was 1,6kg or about 3.5 lbs, really good for 2 or 3 people.

 

The first thing you do is rinse and pat dry.  I then reach in and separate the skin from the breast with my hand…..be gentle so not to break the skin here.

This photo is blurry, since I took it while I had one hand in the bird, but this is basically what I mean about lifting the skin off the meat….gently.

Take some unsalted butter, and slice it into pieces. Put the butter under the skin of the bird. Salt lightly. Next i put about 3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced under the skin and between the wings and thighs. 

I’ve got a nice sage plant on my windowsill, so I added some fresh leaves under the skin, between the wings and thighs, and a bit in the cavity.  Using kitchen string, tie up the thighs and wings, so the bird is nice and compact.

Then rub the bird down with olive oil, salt and pepper it, and put it in the roasting pan.

I sliced onions and leeks and placed them all around the bird, olive oiled them, and gave the whole dish a good sprinkle of fennel seeds.

ready to go…….put the chicken in an oven preheated to 180/350 degrees, and roast for about 1 hour, or until the juices from inside the thigh run clear. I generally baste the chicken a few times and flip the onions while roasting. 

The onions and leeks caramelized so beautifully, and became tender and sweet.

Now, remove the chicken and the vegetables from the pan, and place the pan with all the juices and fat on the stove to deglaze.  I deglaze this simple “jus” with a bit of broth though white wine is nice too.  Add a bit of broth to the pan, and over med. heat, stir, with a fork, and dissolve all the brown crusty bits around the edges and bottom of the pan. The jus should turn a nice rich brown, reduce a bit, and serve with the chicken.

I served this chicken with the caramelized leeks and onions obviously, and with some fresh asparagus.  Which i simply boiled in some salty water with a splash of olive oil for about 10 minutes,

 or until just tender….

 

 

 

We matched it with a Côtes du Rhône of no great pedigree, but which perfectly complimented the rich, savory bird.

A watercress salad is the best way to finish after a roast chicken, always.  I serve mine with nothing but olive oil and a little salt. Watercress is a rebellious green that is unruly on a fork, and spicy to taste.

 

and dessert……….fromage!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it’s rosé time again….

i decided it was rosé drinking weather again today, i actually copied the woman ahead of me in the wine store and changed my mind at the last minute, like she did, to abandon a bottle of some dark wood paneled red and opt for the 2€ bottle of rosé de la cîté de carcassonne. it’s going down smooth and chill right now on this somewhat spring like evening. a good, light, crisp rosé is such a positively matter of fact wine, and when matched with fresh air,  is perfectly intoxicating.

if you notice carefully, behind the smudgy glass lies a wonderful new array of fantastic plants that were just recently transported from a garden in the suburbs to my windowsill.

 

paris perking up…..

things are definitely perking up over here…look at this amazing blue flowering bush.  it’s called a ceanothus or a california lilac……this one is in the square du temple, and it is mind blowing, i ate a sandwich next to it today…..a lot of the fun of spring is getting up and going to where the action is. the japanese have been doing it for centuries, watching the cherry blossoms.  i’m planning a ceanothus watching party right now.

 

    

 

 

and the pink explosion below needs no comment….the colors are insane.

 

enjoy!

 

brebis

this morning i had sheep’s milk cheese on toast with honey for my breakfast….if you dip it in coffee it’s even better….

ancient chinese secret

well, there seems to be a big flu epidemic here in paris that has gone out of control, and even i fell prey to its wicked fever. what better reason to throw a dinner party than to celebrate the end of a good rough spring flu!

last night i invited some of my friends, all recently recovered from this heinous disease, over to share in a major everything ginger feast to finally rid ourselves of any devious foreign body that may have been lingering in the wings….and to drink the first beer in over a week!!

a real cure all……

 

as i live in a very asian neighborhood here, it is super easy for me to get really great fresh asian groceries just up the block…..the store is called Paris Store,

we call it paris hilton, which isn’t so funny unless a french person says it.

so i ran up and got some fresh spicy things to make a pile off ginger noodles with some steamed greens with , yes, ginger.

this noodle recipe is an adaptation of one i used for my annual chinese new year noodle eating contest back in february…i got it on www.epicurious.com

i cooked the noodles for about 3 minutes in salty water, use flat lo-mein style noodles; i use the pack named appropriately “dried noodle” from the canton noodle factory in HK.

once cooked, i rinsed in fresh water and let cool.

in the meantime, i chopped a ton of ginger, and  i made a sauce with equal parts soy sauce, nouc mam, oyster sauce and a little hot sauce.

i sauteeed the ginger with a little hot red pepper in some olive oil, since i had no sesame or peanut oil……then added the sauce…..then the noodles and let cook for a minute or two.

once the flavors combined, i added a mound of chopped thai scallions and that was it….

as an accompagnement i steamed some bok choi in a chicken broth with a bunch of chopped ginger for not so long at all…..until the bok choi was just wilted.

 

along with several bottles of beer, it made for a speedy recovery for all!

ambiance chinoise….

and there’s where i’ll leave it…..i promised not to publish any images of those present as everyone still looked pretty haggard and pale……

i spoke to my guests this morning, the morning after, and 100% said they had made a complete recovery and actually felt better that they did before ever getting the flu.

ancient chinese secret!

 

 

HICKEY SHIELDS

i finally have designed the new site of our décor company,

hickeyshieldsdesign.com

check it out!

there’s a lot of great images of events we’ve done in new york and beyond.

 

one last fondue before spring…

To celebrate the end of winter, the beginning of spring, and my new blog, I invited a few friends over to enjoy the last fondue of the season. 

A good fondue always seems appropriately ceremonial. My mother makes a great one each time I go to visit, once we had fondue for thanksgiving, this year we ate one for christmas and new year’s……it’s really the most fun thing to have at a dinner with friends.  

Since this pot of boiling cheese occupies such an important role in my life, it is fitting I begin this new blog with its recipe, as, in many ways, its simplicity, richness, and conviviality are the bases of my entire approach to entertaining.  And, though i say it’s the last of the season, I know i’m lying, as I just saw the weather, and it will be cold and rainy for the next 10 days, perfect! 

 

First, we made a little fire in the fireplace to spark up the ambiance…..

 

Please only use a good French baguette.

It is important to cut the bread well in advance so it dries out a bit. Some people do it the day before. 

While that’s happening, I generally go into the styling zone, and make a proper table…..Luckily, I had just found a really nice old plank of wood from a scaffolding around the corner from my apartment and it made for a really perfect centerpiece.  I’m also really obsessed with wine bottle candlesticks, with wax dripped down the sides of the bottles……

I always serve the fondue with cornichons, viande des grisons, and some boiled new potatoes.

Next, grate the cheese. Generally i use 2 cheeses, 250g or 1.5 lb each Gruyère and Emmenthal.  You can also use Beaufort, Appenzeller, Comté, or Vacherin Fribourgeois. Mix 2tbs flour into the grated cheese to coat.

In the fondue pot….

put two cloves of garlic sliced in half with 1 3/4 cups (400ml) dry white wine such as Fendant and reduce to 1 1/3 cups.  Add the cheese, and stir until smooth.  Add 2tbs unsalted butter, and 2tbs heavy cream. Stir.  Add 1tbs Kirsch. Stir. Add fresh ground pepper and serve.

….the end clearly is the best part of the experience.

 

We capped it all off with fresh raspberries and whipped cream……..

 

The important detail I have not yet mentioned is the required wine element to any successful fondue party. We(5 of us)  drank 7 bottles of delicious dry white wine…they seemed to be from all over the place but mostly from the savoie.  Not to mention the booze that is already in the fondue……Needless to say, eveyone left quite rosy, and we all staggered off to the bar for a nightcap!