Soufflé

Julia Child strikes again, this time in France...  After nailing the potato/leek soup, it was time for something with a much higher margin of error... soufflé!

J did a really good job at whipping the egg whites.  A tip from J.C.... you know your egg whites are stiff enough if it can hold the weight of a whole un-cracked egg.

Of course we diligently read the instructions...  Also note that this isn't a real soufflé pan... But I don't think one can fault a twenty-four year old dude for not having one...even in France.  

Voilà! A successful first attempt.  

Watch out Julia Child, you aren't the only American who knows her way around a French kitchen. 

A Series: American Things I Miss

I was going to create one big post about the things I've come to find I really miss in America.  But then I realized that this said list usually depends on my state of mind.  For example, right now my throat is swollen shut and it feels like I'm swallowing burning gasoline... so I could really go for some chicken soup right now... but there is no chicken soup here, no chicken broth... not even bouillon cubes.   Actually, my host-dad told me that he didn't "get" chicken soup.  Uhhm?  ANYWAY... aside from a nice salty bowl of campbell's best... this will be a series about the things that I am missing most about America...First up...

dim. 12 août

I've been in France five days now, and have seen quite a lot!  The first day in the city I did the obligatory visit to Tour L'Eiffel and saw the Place de la Concorde.  The second visit into the city, J, took me to the market in Belleville.....

Le Premier Jour

Je suis ici!  Enfin! Don't want to bore you to tears about my long plane ride and issues with the airline and airport...  How about just some highlights of my first day in France?


-On the air plane I sat next to a man from Togo.  It took me about a wine split and a half to gather up the courage to talk to him... but we had a fun conversation in Franglish with another person sitting near us who was a funny Parisian man.  At one point during the flight I got the hiccups (trop du vin?) and the African man said to me, "sept.. sept.." and motioning for me to drink some water.  "Sept!" I replied,  "Ouais! Je dis la meme!!" Or... "Seven sips of water! Yes, I say the same thing."  I guess I was over taken with surprise that Africans use the same hiccup remedie as me, because the woman in front of me told me to quiet down.  She was American.

-First thing I ate? ... baguette et l'eau.  Apres.. Dorothée (my host mom) bought some salads of carrots, beets, and rice with tuna.  Followed by more bread and camembert.  Miamm!  Miam is French for... yummy!

-Right now my house is being renovated, so pictures to come later, but there is a group of Romanian men working on it... it's funny to try and communicate with them.  Generally our conversations go something like...
-Ca va?
-Oui, ca va...ca va?
-Ca va!

-After lunch and a shower, Dorothée took me out to walk around our neighborhood.  It is quite charming.  She showed me Victor and Alphonse's school, the metro, the library, a park, the mall etc... everything in walking distance!  While walking on the main street, we passed a café with tables outside.  There was one boisterous table that was occupied with three men and a woman drinking, talking loudly, and laughing... next to them at a smaller table was a couple who couldn't keep their hands off each other and kissing.  Dorothée glanced my way and said, "un café vrais français!"

-Dorothée owns and runs a pharmacy right near our house.  We had a petite fête there in the evening to celebrate my coming and to say au revoir to one of her employees.  So we sipped on champagne and rose while eating canapés (the fois gras was my favorite) in the back.  And if you wanted to know, yes, the French do say, "ou la la!"

-Bon.  Mon premier jour en France!  Today I am going to Paris!  Ou la la!

Potage Parmentier

Three reasons to make Julia Child's classic Potage Parmentier...

1) There is a legitimate rainstorm going on, so despite otherwise stroke inducing temperatures, one can feel justified in making such a wintry dish.

2) Your hairdresser left you in a state of despair after hacking off almost, albeit necessary, four inches, and you need something to catch your tears...

3) You are starting your French culinary self-training and following others before you, start with Child's very first recipe in The Art of French Cooking.

A word for the wise... even though you may be having a bad day, don't give the poor girl at the check out a dirty look when she asks you, "are these leeks, or kale?"

For the recipe

Meatballs

I'm not going to toss around the word, "brilliant"... but, I just had a great idea.  The other night I was talking to my French family about cooking and they seemed to be  were enthusiastic about me preparing American dishes for the two boys.

So, here I was, a day or two later sitting on my bed, staring absentmindedly at my computer screen when food popped into my brain (this seems to happen more often than not).  I think the thought process went something like this...

Le Goûter

The French don't snack.  Another thing I need to add to my list entitled "huhh?"

You eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner ...and that's it.  However, there is something known as "le goûter" a snack or small meal you eat around 4pm.  My research has proven different as to who enjoys what I think will be a life saver pour moi.

A frenchman I have been consulting has told me you only eat a goûter if you're under the age of 12.  I think it usually consists of something like a piece of bread with nutella.  Other resources have informed me, that anyone can take part of this late afternoon nosh session.  I would imagine that I will be eating a daily goûter since the French don't eat dinner until about 8pm... That's going about six to maybe eight hours between meals.  Mon Dieu!

The official French stand on snacking is that it's bad for your health... snack food advertisements are required to have a warning (not unlike their cigarette packaging ) that mentions the health risks involved with snacking.

There have been lots of books and articles written about how superior French parenting is to our own.   I believe there is a chapter in "Bringing up Bèbè" that talks about how we Americans are always giving our kids snack*.  Going to the Park?  Better bring a snack.  Taking a long car ride?  Grab a bag of gold fish.  And Jesus, Mary, and Joseph... don't forget the juice cup.  I don't have an opinion on this yet, since I have successfully  used snacks to quiet fussy and cranky children.  And haven't the French heard of food bribery?  Seriously, a kid will do anything for a cupcake.  I even use it myself.  In college, I would reward myself with *three* cheezits for every page of a reading I was supposed to get done. This no snack thing is also in direct conflict with my idea of healthy eating which is basically to eat all day long without ceasing... that way your metabolism doesn't stop.  Right?



*Okay, I haven't read that book yet.  There is like ten holds for it at our library.  

Les Macarons

Before the idea of moving to Paris even entered my mind, it seems like the entire world was going crazy for  les macarons.  Brides were incorporating them in their wedding cakes, books were being published solely about these pretty little cookies.  I was tempted to buy a print of one and I've never even tasted them.  Luckily, I am about to move to the city that is the mecca of macarons:

Bon Appétit!

I just finished "My Life in France" by Julia Child last night.  It is part of the informal "education" I am giving myself before I flit off to Paris.  It was a very interesting and entertaining book, but did not offer much in the way of getting around Paris as an American.  Not that it would matter now; it was set in the 50's and 60's and was about her culinary training and "cookbookery" as she called it.  There are lots of stereotypical French dishes I am dying to try... Croissants and Pain du Chocolat, Les Macarons from Laudrèe, Boeuf au Bourguignon, and Coq au Vin just to name a few... But Child has inspired me to try a few other dishes like Dover Sole à la Meunière.  The Dover Sole can only be found in European waters, and this dish in particular was the first Child had in France, and also it was the dish that changed her life.  The sole is lightly flowered and sautéed in butter and topped with a beurre blanc with lemon and parsley.  I think I can put my poisson-phobia aside for once.