You ate what??

Oh Hello.  Its been so long since I have been here.  I could use all kinds of excuses, life gets busy; blah blah blah.  Truth is, I have been procrastinating in a big big way. Why you might ask?  I don't know,  to explain would involve me delving into lots of self examination and I am busy procrastinating on that.  That being said, a lot has happened in the last six months.  We went on a European vacation.  There were pool parties, birthday parties, weekend trips to Harrison Hot springs, Lummi Island, hosting Christmas, aaand we did sell and move houses.

None of that is what I want to talk about right now.  A million years ago I did promise to talk about  the food we ate while in France and so... it begins with the eaters.  I will eat everything and anything.  Hamid is willing to try almost anything as well.  Sahara is nine and has always been an adventourous eater, but really went for it in France.  She decided to try everything, the strangest sounding thing on the menu was what she wanted.  Escargot, okay, frog legs, sure, pig trotters, bring it.  There might have also been a slight addiction to Fois gras.

While in France, we ate and ate and ate; you get the idea.  We wanted to try everything, new and old. For the new we went to a very modern restaurant called Es.  Far into the left bank.  The restaurant has 6 tables, everything is white. No music, very very austere.  The food however was gorgeous.
Warm dark bread with cheesy salty butter.  

Corn soup with lime foam topper

white asparagus with a light hollandaise with bayonne ham chunks. edible flowers

fois gras with urchin puree, nastursium leaf, citrus foam

seared cod with olive puree, sorrel puree, sea asparagus, sea grape, asparagus, edible flowers

Sous vide chicken, rocket puree, best baby potatos ever, baby chanterelles, edible flowers

Strawberry compote, homemade ricotta, fresh strawberry custard. Strawberry dehydrated rice paper used as a wrapper. 

Le Dauphin is a wine bar in a less than desirable part of town.  It is also owned by Inaki Aizpitarte, the chef and brains behind Le Chateaubriand, or otherwise known as best restaurant in Paris.  We wanted the same interesting food that the very top restaurant in Paris was putting out,  but a more casual experience. Le Dauphin delivered in spades.  Industry types hanging around the bar. It felt very local. The food is all tapas style.  We ordered the entire menu.  The items that stood out were:

Fish and chips (very thin and crisp dehyrated chips),
brillat savarin cheese, perfectly ripe and oozing everywhere.
gougeres,
brazilian tapioca cheese balls fried,
peas, fava beans w lemon, mint.

For a different experience we decided to eat at a great Spanish restaurant called Fogon.  A glass case at the front reception with a iberico jamon leg rotating lets you know that they take their pig seriously.  Everything was also tapas style.  The dishes that stood out were: padron peppers w potato cheese stuffed and fried,
 sweetbreads w chantrelles, cepes and truffles, shallots w sherry,
 rhubarb creme brulee,
manchego and quince,
and of course iberico jamon sliced very thin.

Then we left Paris and traveled to the Bordeaux region.  We had a lunch in the city.  We knew nothing about the restaurant, but it looked good.  It was a very good call.
negro iberrico jamon sliced very thin,
steak tartare,
Duck breast, w skewer of duck heart and fois cubes seared

We were staying in a chateau just outside a small town called Liburne.  We would go to the market twice a week.  Wandering around in the piles of amazing food trying to decide what to buy was so much fun.
Canneles, fresh troflie pasta,
 duck breast, heirloom tomato, 
huge lobes of fois, hanging jamon,
 live eels, trotters, calf face, 
burrata, olive piles, 
fois gras terrine w forest mushrooms, 
epoisse cheese, 

One of the best lunches we had while at the chateau was a prepared by friends.  They went to the market, gathered fresh seafood, cheeses, pates and we sat and feasted for hours.
Bulot , oysters, prawns, tiny shrimp, obligatory baguette, epoisse cheese, sausicon sausage, pate, fresh salad. How could it possibly get any better?

(All photos are taken by Hamid Attie)

One of the dinners I made at the chateau was a Duck confit w cassoulet.  The duck looked spectacular and smelled great, but was not as tender as I would have liked.  I was expecting a level of confit that did not happen. Its possible that a  large amount of wine was consumed that evening and my focus was not laser sharp.  We chewed for quite a bit.


REDEMPTION DUCK CONFIT:
When we returned home, I decided I had to have a do over on the confit, and so I cooked duck confit at work for a few hundred people.  I have always used the Thomas Keller recipe from Ad Hoc to make confit.

Ingredients

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• GREEN salt (MAKES ABOUT 1/2 CUP)

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• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 2 bay leaves, broken into pieces
• 2 tablesp. Chopped thyme
• 1/4 cup Packed Italian parsley leaves
• 1 teasp. black peppercorns
• 5-6 cups Rendered duck fat, melted
• 6 8-ounce whole Pekin (Long Island) duck legs

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• FOR THE GREEN SALT: Place the salt in a coffee or spice mill or small food processor. Add the bay leaves, thyme, parsley, and peppercorns. (If all the herbs do not fit, start grinding the mixture using only part of the parsley, then add more as the leaves break down.) Process until well combined and a vivid green. Set aside.
• FOR THE DUCK: Rinse the duck legs under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Pull away and discard any excess fat. With scissors, trim excess skin near the bottom of the legs and around the edges, leaving 1/4 inch overhang of skin. The skin and fat can be discarded or rendered. To render the fat, place the trimmed fat and skin in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of water. Heat on a heat diffuser over low heat for several hours, allowing the fat to melt and render, then strain the fat. Use in the confit or save for other uses. Cover and refrigerate.
• Once the legs are trimmed, weigh them so you won't oversalt them. The correct proportion is 2 tablespoons of green salt to 1 pound duck legs, or about 1 tablespoon per leg. Rub the salt over the legs, rubbing a little extra on the thicker parts and around the joint. Place the legs flesh side up in a single layer in a baking dish that holds them comfortably (use two if necessary). Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• FOR THE CONFIT: Place an oven thermometer in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 190°F. It is important to check the heat from time to time while the legs cook to be certain that the oven maintains the proper temperature. Rinse the legs well under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Layer the duck legs (no more than 2 deep) in a 9- to 10 inchwide heavy ovenproof pot with a lid. Pour enough melted duck fat to cover the legs. Place over medium heat just until the fat is warm. Cover, place in the oven, and cook for 10 hours.
• Check a duck leg by carefully lifting it from the fat and piercing it with a paring knife. The meat should be meltingly tender; if necessary, return the duck to the oven for up to 2 hours longer, checking the legs frequently, but keep in mind that if they are cooked for too long, later they may fall apart as they are sauteed. Remove the legs from the oven and cool them in the fat. Once they have cooled enough to handle, gently lift the legs from the fat and place in a container. Strain the fat over the legs, submerging them in fat; transfer them to a smaller container if not completely covered with the fat. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.
• TO USE: When you are ready to use the duck legs, remove the container from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for a few hours in order to soften the fat enough to remove the desired quantity of legs without breaking them.
• NOTE: You can keep confit for months rather than weeks if you remove all meat juices from the fat. To do this, separate the confited duck from the fat and refrigerate the fat. As the fat solidifies, the meat juices will settle to the bottom of the container, where they'll gel. When the fat is sufficiently firm, carefully spoon it off the top, without disturbing the gel. Discard the gel, melt the fat, and pour it over the duck.

(Duck confit photos taken by me on shaky Iphone)

TO REHEAT AND SERVE: Peel all cooled fat carefully of the leg and reheat in the oven at 350 until hot all the way through and the skin is crispy and golden.  Approximately 15 minutes.  Serve with white bean cassoulet or beluga lentils. Enjoy.