bleudauvergne

Anna N I love your square plates.

Thank you for that lovely meal. It was delicious!

Actually, fresh cream, the subsitution for which would be heavy cream in the U.S., is sometimes in France commonly called "creme fraiche liquid", and this term appears often in contemporary as well as older recipes. If you were translating directly from French... This is not to be confused with or interchangeable with the crème fraîche epaisse that is a fermented product. . It is sometimes called creme liquid, and sometimes called creme fleurette too. All the same thing. So to answer raisab's question about creme frais and liquide, there is no difference between those two products. A cloud of annoying vagueness and translation difficulties also surrounds fresh soft and fresh farm cheeses as well. Fromage frais which is the clotted product you find in pots or have with cream for dessert is nothing like the fromage frais fermier one finds at the market. I can only make a cheesecake that calls for cream cheese from fromage frais fermier. Julia said that a close equivalent to cream cheese would be le p'tit suisse but I know that this is not true, at least not from any source that I know. There are things that are closer. The list goes on and on.

Raisab, we barely ever get to the hypermarches these days but I agree there is a whole lot packed into one place! You and I have something in common, since I have also been known to take coolers of food from one place to another. There's the tasso we found in the bayou on the way to California, and the live crabs I took in a cooler on my lap in China from Dalian to Beijing, to have for dinner that night. Since you are going through CDG quite often and are able to do grocery shopping at La Defense there from time to time, in addition to the cheeses, some other handy things you might consider picking up to take home while at Auchun: -Try the brique, in the same section where you pick up your pate brisee, it compares with phyllo but is not exactly the same thing. -You mentioned rolled feuillitee and brise in another thread, you can also get the blocks of pate feuillitee pur buerre in cube form, to roll out and cut in any form you like. (I'm not sure if this is available there, it varies with the branch) This packs well for travel and freezes well. -Creme fraiche epaisse (hey as long as you've got a cooler...) in the same section as the yougurt by the litre adds a nice touch to a whole lot of things. -Rendered duck and goose fat in jars at reasonable prices. -Lentils de puy - very expensive outside of France you can put these in your suitcase! -Pick up some baking chocolate, which is the one with "dessert" in the name, right now I am in love with lindt dessert 70%. The great thing about this quality /price ratio. -in the spice section - the French bay leaves "Laurier" are more subtle and are wonderful for your stocks and infusions. -sometimes you can find good quality dried already tied bouquet garnis at the hypermarches. (don't get the cubes, eeew) -Fleur de sel - good price -peanut flavored cheetoes - I do not know if these are available in the US I discovered them here in France. -You can often find canned cassoulet & confit de canard which is good to keep in the pantry for a rainy day. Let us know what you get the next time you go through!

Here is Moby's stuffed pasta class. Read it and learn.

It had to have been Suzanne F's dinner guest on the evening of her dinner party gone bad - I once worked for a man who used to eat at the finest restaurants worldwide. Among all of the various tedious tasks I would execute for him daily, I also had to secure his reservations. This guy was a wierd cookie. I distinctly recall one evening when he was not traveling and we were both at a dinner, when he returned a steak because he had ordered it without a garnish and it came with a garnish. When the plate came back, this time with the plain steak and a spare pile of steamed haricots verts on the side. This time he sent it back because he had not requested vegetables with the dish. Next, it was cold. Next, it was overcooked. The worst thing was that he would not speak directly to the waiter, he relayed the message through me. It was a rather traumatizing experience. Screw the bastards who wouldn't even taste your dessert.

Slow cook beans overnight, and chill, for salads.

Paul, do you always split the heads lengthwise (with every kind of fish you use) or only with salmon? Thank you for your kind advice. edited for spelling

By all means, use the heads, Owen. It's what they're for!

croustillants au reblochon and smoked magret de canard (pastis) Lapin en gelee (no artificial gelee used for that baby) The last wilted wild chickory of the season and godiva stuffed mushrooms

Wegmans has their own security staff, don't they?

Good luck! This makes me want to take out the volume of Celebrating the Wild Mushroom by Sara Ann Friedman on the bus this week and read it again. I will quote from this entertaining and interesting source of mushroom information: "Morel season lasts for approxiamtely three weeks in the spring. These three weeks fall at different times in different regions of the continent (N. American). They may begin as early as March in Los Angeles and North Carolina and end as late as June or July in Canada. Morels are found in the Rockies as late as August. Part of the attraction of Morels is the mystery that surrounds their location. They are said to grow in old apple orchards, under tulip poplars and near dead elms, on banks and under hedges, under ash, walnut, and in construction sites. ... One New Jersey amateur bought a topographical map of the state and put pins in the areas where he had found morels. All morel areas, he discovered, were rich in limestone. .."

I think we are working up a color scheme here.

Pretty please? I need to see this. You can't bait us with such amazing descriptions and then leave us hanging. Where can I get a copy of the documentary? I'll pay the customs charges!

Yes, Lisa the gateway was really nice. You're good at those things. Gateways, I mean. Convergence, connections, etc. p.s. brown cow was my father's favorite yougurt.

Lisa, I'm reading your beautiful photo-montages loud and clear here in France. I wonder what could be causing the feedback to Toliver & Jinmyo? BTW I LOVE your grocery store photos! Once I got this idea to take pictures in the Carrboro North Carolina Harris Teeter for a friend of mine who was in China and had no access to cheese. They called the cops on me! I was taking pictures, and the manager came. He asked me to stop. I said OK and stopped. Upon leaving the store, THE town policeman was waiting at the door and made a big deal about giving me the 5th degree. No, he didn't want to hear why I was taking photos. I had to give him my date of birth, in front of everyone! It was embarrasing! I didn't realize it was so - so personal for that store. I love what I'm seeing - keep up the wonderful documenting - it's really interesting to me. L

Hmmm. Let me check my high pressure meal notes. One thing is that to plan ahead months in advance can lead to mental meltdown in the days preceding the meal, especially if there's a sudden rupture in stock of a certain ingredient you should normally be able to find, or you find yourself pressed for time. Be prepared to valorize what looks best in the garden, at the market, etc. at the time you are getting ready to prepare this meal. Yes, I totally agree that simple is best, but not necessarily conventional. The unconventional is always welcome at these events, for example, you might try a savory cold melon soup garnished with your yellow tomatoes (edit note: sorry I was thinking about stuffed mushrooms). Research edible flowers and place them in special bar drinks, and in a fresh greens salad. Gaspacho still sounds very nice. Try and prepare some things guests can eat with one hand, i.e. make the lettuce cups mouthful sized, put watermelon and feta on tootpicks, experiment with your phyllo in the weeks preceding the meal, do some dress rehearsals. edited too : I didn't see Jackal10's reference to edible flowers... Dude!

I pay top dollar for fresh fish. edited to say I pay even more for wild fish over the farmed ones.

The Morels? Right behind the house....sike! The cheese tray is from the Fort du Pre in St. Bonnet, not at home It's one of the most massive cheese platters I've ever seen in a restaurant. How did you cook the mushrooms? Just saute them in a little butter, whole? Did you wash the mushrooms or just brush them off?

We knew the cheese circuit in Los Angeles like the back of our hand when we were there, we had no choice. One stop to the Beverly Hills Cheese Shop where the perfectly affined La Rustique runs 23€ a loaf and we habitually found ourselves scrounging the bins of Whole Foods. They seemed to have the art of killing semi soft cheeses down quite well. I once unknowlingly picked up a dead Pont Leveque. Of course it had been completely asphyxiated in wrap and rotting in it's own waste. It was dissapointing, but I learned my lesson. Then again there were other cheeses that they seemed to have a much better handle on, cheeses that support wrapping like chevres. Maybe at that particular branch the chevres had a higher turnover, though. On the whole I can agree though with what you said. They did leave things way past their prime there, and pre-cut way too much. As for the reblochon that smelled of ammonia, did you let it breathe for awhile after you unwrapped it? Sometimes if you let it evacuate the stink for awhile it comes back. If you cook with it that too can make the most of a bad situation.

When I saw fries, and the chive, and the shot you took of the inside of the place, I had strange pangs of homesickness. They really don't exist on this side of the pond. Genuine is a good word. I loved the laminated menu, too. I spent some time this morning thinking of what might have been wrapped up in that baseball mitt of roast beef, and wishing I could have been there to cut into it and take a big solid chewy bite.

Samosas au lapin et reblochon. Crudités du marché. Cervelle des canuts.

It smells fabulous. We'll have some tonight!