paul o' vendange

Have really missed squab, so straight from TFL, indulged in foie as well, son has had neither squab nor foie gras, opportune time. Seared breast, red chard and dried black mission figs, foie gras, squab sauce. Terrible plate wipe was not from TFL. Just wanted to clear that up. Neither is the sauce soup. My family likes sauce, esp. my MIL. Good idea I provide it.

I am holding off on a long story about an even longer night, brutal WI farm winter overnight low and outdoor brewing a decoction mash intended as a light (« helles ») bock, a failed lauter screen.... -and a beer my wife ultimately named Hellundback Bock.

Wow, that looks delicious, Patti.

Thanks Heidi!

Ditto on all counts. Was just going to ask as well - what a cool technique and the first I’ve come across it, using the pickling liquid to retard amylases. (!) An Algerian baker friend of mine vastly prefers rye to wheat, whereas I’m the opposite - mostly because I just don’t have a feel for working within the biochemical constraints of the grain. My wife is Estonian, rye is their flesh, and it would be awesome to learn more of this.

Whoops, spaced this one, sorry. I hear you on him. I can’t quite pin it but somehow his masterly blending of the rustic and the refined gets me. His atelier and flavors of France especially have been really rewarding for me personally. I am guessing the Grand Livre will likely never be used, which kills me since I am pathetic in thinking any book, even pretty pictures, sure looks swell in my stacks. Likely not at that price, and not in this lifetime with Alba truffles, caviar, and endless mounds of foie. (bummed face). Thanks on the book ideas. I’ve got Astrance on my cart but can’t seem to find it anywhere but the stratospheric Amazon thing ($609? Do I hear $3103.69? $1423? ), but very much hope to get it at some point. Ironically your post came back to memory as I received Alexandre Gauthier’s book, which I’d had high hopes for. Pretty disappointed. Aside from the fact it isn’t a hardcover in any way I’ve ever seen (exposed binding? Is that a “cover board” or something like that? Really a collection of gorgeous food and idyllic country, very spare on writing. Just not my style. Saw a reviewer who felt the same, and he or she recommended Astrance very highly, which triggered me in remembering your post. Thanks again for the rec’s and thoughts. Eyes opened....! At the end of the day, I should just admit and accept I’m a terminal classicist, with limited gifts - merely an eternal longing for mastery, not invention. Good god...just got “Les Fastes de la Cuisine Française” today. In my heart, I’d be no happier than learning at the feet of Carême... edit: Thanks on the Alleno, too. Know almost nothing about him so was grateful for the suggestion. A bit steep there too for the moment, but eyes peeled.

Man I wish there were a dozen or so more emoticons....YIKES. YUMMMMM.

That’s so cool it’s in her book. Been a long time since I’ve visited Julia, about time I say hello again. (« Julie and Julia » doesn’t count, I know!). No false modesty here, Heidi, but you and so many here are the inspirations. I’m really grateful all you all have done to keep this community thriving.

Same dough day later, some palmiers. I’m hoping this isn’t just a one off, but even after an additional turn this morning (to coat dough in sugar before final rollout), and using 100% bread flour (11.7% protein), this dough was a real pleasure to work with. Now, of course, there is that $10K yearly Beurre d’Isigny or Echire budget I have to work out with the family.🥳

Very cool. Never made them but quick look sure looks like them!

Thanks Heidi. The filling is really nothing more than a pastry cream with a microplane zest of a whole lemon. The starch is 100% cornstarch, which is interesting to me. Way too rubbery on it’s own, I think it works great as a filling here.

I’ve actually never made inverse puff pastry before. Idea from the Ferrandi Patisserie book using lemon crème bichon, with inverse puff from Chef Lindsey Farr. Have to say, it’s been a long time, but from memory, this method beats out traditional puff for me. Eager to play with the stuff. Calling them “clamshell lemon turnovers.”

Um, baker’s 10?😆 That would be 37% WW. I think. Give me a second, I only have a dozen fingers to count on.

I go with Central Milling, usually their organic line, for my white flour and whole wheat in fine and medium. I originally tried their « Beehive, » which comes in at 10.7% protein. Great baguettes and levain, as long as hydration isn’t high on either. My base from them is their Baker’s choice Plus, clocking in at 11.7%. Performs beautifully. Interesting ng the whole wheat they sell is listed as « Hi-Pro,” in three milling grades. They tout a gentle milling process that significantly lessens shearing. I’ve made 100% WW Hi-Pro (fine) with spring and openness approaching straight white flour levains. My go-to is my best emulation of a traditional French pain au levain, with 63% Baker’s Choice and 27% Hi-Pro fine. I like it a lot.

Oh god, I didn’t about Floyd and Aaron. Fatima’s passing ripped a hole...like you I was smittened by her a great deal. Seeing her so ill and reading some of her final words, knowing she and Padma had become good friends through to her death was all so bittersweet, stings every time to see such a beautiful life gone. In a different way, a hole opens up every time we see Tony Bourdain. God we miss him too, and still don’t fully get it that he’s gone. Such a force of wild nature, who closed the world’s strangeness to itself. Peace to their memories.

Watching season 3 as we write. Tre, a strong fave of mine, eliminated last night. My my wife actually worked with Dale at a Chicago spot. He was bartending in a sort of breather. He’d been on the show by then, but couldn’t talk. Trippy to see him on the show.

That’s good to hear. I didn’t agree with the ultimate call, but he’s clearly a gifted chef. King Georges is a fantastic look at the two of them, you’ve probably seen it. Edit: Ripert, sorry. I’d read in some sources that they’d had a falling out as a result of her losing it on elimination. I regret mentioning it as a bit gossipy. I see they’ve been together in interviews and events since.

Oh god, impossible, lol! A lot of them I’m so fond of some of the chefs and so I get bummed when they get eliminated. I also get pissed when one of my faves loses to the wrong chef (imo, of course 😁. Seasons 2 and 11...). Season 11, Nick winning didn’t sit at all well. Soft spot for Stephanie, Nina too. Sad thing is, Nick was chef de cuisine for Georges Perrier at Le Bec-Fin, before it closed. Which brings up a point. I’m so often blown away by the pedigree many of these chefs have, only to cook so poorly on the show. Or tanks a relationship with mentors, e.g. season 8, J’en and Eric Ripert. Yikes! )

Good. Been through each season multiple times and still, on completing, I get deeply bummed. Oh, and: 1. Padma called my bread “beautiful” once, in a tweet. 2. I exchanged with Tom a bit, on the epochal topic of Gilroy garlic. My life is complete.

I have a few by Chef Ducasse - Flavors of France, his first book (Riviera), Atelier, his bistro book, maybe a couple I am forgetting. Let me say at the outset I prefer books that are written with as little adjustment to home limitations as possible. I want to learn the chef’s techniques, equipment and materials, but above all else, I want to try and capture the chef’s mind, see the inner life and how it expresses in her or his cuisine, and that things not be “simplified” or “adapted” for the home kitchen. To that end, on Ducasse, I have long looked at his massive bibles, beginning with his first, the Grande Livre de Cuisine, followed by Desserts and finally on Mediterranean cooking. On the other hand, as they are bloody expensive, I’m loathe to take the plunge if they are basically reference entries, no real techniques, reasoning and/or genesis behind a given recipe, and/or recipes themselves. In a word, ignoring the fact a cuisine stuffed with black and white truffles (especially, as is his wont it seems, the latter), foie, and caviar isn’t something I’ll be working but on rare occasions (like, “My Last Supper” rare, lol), is the book useful as a working and teaching text, from the professional kitchen point of view?

Terrible sucker for sensory allurement. Chocolat?, emergency outing to store for movie fix of crappy chocolate. Babette’s Feast? Off to the races and little sleep. The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover? Don’t ask. Reading through « My Last Supper » (apologies - iPhone stuck on French, no idea why), pg. 126, Martin Picard in a late fall woods. Before my body went on permanent strike, used to be my favorite place to be alone, or stalking deer in vast wilderness tracts with my son. He references a recipe for snipe from the 1984 edition. And I am screwed yet again as I must have it. I prefer to read in French, both to keep alive in the language and because I overwhelmingly prefer to read stuff in its original language (leaving my options to a good French, a middling Spanish and a laughably bad German). I couldn’t find a purely French 1984 (Edited by Robert Courtine). I do see a French-English version, but don’t know if it is faithful to the original. Anyone have it know anything about the bilingual edition? In their contents, are they identical? French-English:

1961 in my eager hands!

I used to get whole moulard in wholesale from Christian Gasset of Au Bon Canard but that was a long time ago and he is more than busy supplying chefs around the country. I really like Muscovy but love moulard. I’m coming up empty on whole moulard. Anyone have any source?

Swan, I’d forgotten! That should be a helluva bbq. Hon, can you pass that giant bird with flames shooting out it’s nostrils? Oh, and the lard pie, with live doves - too much? 😆 You have me thinking (you all do, actually), I should be going backwards in editions, not forwards. In all seriousness, thank you @FlashJack, it’s a perfect idea.

Very interested as well, sounds delicious. Viognier can be such an imp, but the right marriage is wonderful. Funk note is interesting. Love it in farmhouse ciders (Normandy), saison and touches in certain British ales done traditionally and on cask. Can’t say I’ve picked it up in a wine, and it’s presence especially in a viognier would be great interesting. Thanks, @weinoo. @JoNorvelleWalker, very cool. Brewer very interested in traditional methods (British ales). My wife is Estonian and she loves their version of sahtis, runoff in spruce boughs and very open to “good” infections during fermentation. Before Covid, for an anthropology course my son was taking, I helped him put together a best guess on late kingdom Egyptian beer. Mash “brick” is fermented on mash in a clay pot, as well. Would be interesting to follow the thread on the process you describe. So - mad for French (Pinot) burgundies, always on the hunt for the rare price break at better appellations, or solid wines at village or regional cru. Always up for new or undiscovered Willamette Valley as well. Back in 2005 my wife won the national fellowship to attend IPNC - nice. Ample time with Martine Saulnier, Riedel, tons of extraordinary makers, tons of great wine. I ran our restaurant. I’ve never gotten over the jealousy.😂 So if anyone has ideas....🥳