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eG Foodblog: bleudauvergne


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Well, to start with, a little candied ginger.... Sorry! Bad joke! Though actually I'm not convinced the ginger is a mistake - my gut tells me that while it may not work in the dish, it might be good as an accompaniment to the dish. Though I think I agree with Pan that it would pair better with pork. I can see where a bit of ginger - or ginger marmalade - alongside a heavy-flavored pork or lamb dish, might serve the same palate-balancing purpose as the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving.

My mother and I have made cranberry sauce with crystallized ginger, lemon zest, lemon juice, and orange puree (if I remember all the ingredients correctly), and it was good.

Sorry that sort of pilafy thing didn't work, Lucy.

You work in a school?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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Lucy,

I just wanted to chime in too with accolades for your blog - your photos are exceptional, and your meals look wonderful...even the "failure!"

thank you so much for sharing with us - it's always amazing to see how other egulleteers relate to food, but somehow it feels like you're truly sharing your lifestyle with us.

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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I'm with balmagowry--I would cook the wheat on the side, and serve the lamb over it, rather than cooking it altogether. Tje curry sounds good, or you could make a kind of pseudo tagine with stock, morroccan spices, carrots and add the peas at the end.

Fred Bramhall

A professor is one who talk's in someone else's sleep

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bleudauvergne - wonderful blog and the best photos on egullet ever! Am getting quite dizzy from reading the blog though - I can't stop scrolling up and down the page to look and re-look at the gorgeous photos while reading each post that refers to them ... and there are many such posts :raz:!

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Thank you, and good morning. It is a brand new day!

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This mug is from the one time I went to McDonalds with my Husband, in the year 2001. We went because there was a big sign that said "cadeau" in huge letters which you were to receive along with your drive through meal. We were in one of those weekend home improvement excursions, searching for something, and things had not been going well. So there was something attractive in the idea of this cadeau that drew us into the drive through. :smile:

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It is a beautiful gorgeous sunny day, the clouds and rain have passed through. Luckily my foul mood has gone with them, and my mind and heart are clear. Loïc packed his overnight bag this morning, he is going to Copenhagen to give a speech. I will be cooking for one this evening.

As I left the house today, and walked out into the streets, where the sun was shining on the building facades everywhere and making them glow like lace, thoughts of the chocolate strawberries were with me. Last night was the first time I had used crème fraiche to thicken the chocolate, and the texture was silky, creamy, and rich, like the filling of a truffle. Since it was my first time, it was rather messy. But next time I will pipe it in to the fruit. An added thought might be to dip the filled berries into white chocolate, to give them a coating, and to use other berries. I feel also that this would be the ideal filling for a chocolate lover’s birthday cake. Aude’s birthday (Loïc’s sister) is coming up next week and as usual, we will give the family party at our house. I will be making the cake. She loves strawberries and chocolate. It is decided.

I went to visit with a colleague this morning and she was delighted to show me what she has growing outside of her office window. A patch of wild strawberries, des fraises des bois. They are flowering now, and soon the fruits can be harvested. She has instructed the groundskeepers not to touch them.

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This also reminds me of the trip I took to St. Petersburg a couple of summers ago, where I saw a woman who had gathered wild strawberries and was selling them outside of their equivalent to Les Halles. She and the berries were very beautiful. I will add a photo of that to this post when I get home.

i5764.jpg I regretfully say that the woman was not documented. How could I have been so naive? She is most predominantly in my mind. It is what I remember the most, and also reclined in the room of our b&b in the afternoon feeding myself one by one these marvelous berries and thinking of the forest, the history, the magnificence of these fraises des bois.

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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My mother and I have made cranberry sauce with crystallized ginger, lemon zest, lemon juice, and orange puree (if I remember all the ingredients correctly), and it was good.

A sauce, like a condiment. Of course. Would you mind asking your mother for the exact proportions? It would be worthwhile to have them. :smile:

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I'm with balmagowry--I would cook the wheat on the side, and serve the lamb over it, rather than cooking it altogether. Tje curry sounds good, or you could make a kind of pseudo tagine with stock, morroccan spices, carrots and add the peas at the end.

Hi Fred, thank you for the advice. Can you or anyone point me in the direction of a good authority on Morrocan spices? Maybe Indian too? BTW, I have received the message that my order for Monica's books has been shipped. They will go to my mother's home and await my arrival there this summer. Thanks.

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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Lunch, School Cafeteria:

Beets, Steak cooked "Saignant" (we have them to order), Spinach, Water, Isle Flotant.

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Here is a recipe for Isle Flotant. I would like to make Oeufs a la Neige some time soon, which is almost the same thing. edited to say I have not tried the recipe above but would love to hear if anyone does or has another recipe for it.

Table conversation included : best way to cook spinach, Fresh versus canned or frozen spinach, isle flotant versus oeufs a la neige, how to decorate the roof of a dollhouse, etc.

Thoughts: Wow that lady eats a lot of fruit, wondering where he's from, did I hear Japan? I should invite Florence to dinner, It's so nice out I have to get out and walk.

I could not finish all of the steak nor the spinach, they always give too much!

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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Wow... I have just read through this thread, and I am awestruck. Is this the general fashion in which most people in France dine? Such elegance from a school cafeteria has left my jaw upon the floor....

What type of school is this at which you teach?

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

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Hi Fred, thank you for the advice.  Can you or anyone point me in the direction of a good authority on Morrocan spices?  Maybe Indian too?  BTW, I have received the message that my order for Monica's books has been shipped.  They will go to my mother's home and await my arrival there this summer.  Thanks.

I can't think of anyone better than Paula Wolfert for learning about Morrocan spicing and cooking from. Her morrocan cookbook is a great starting point. Ideally for a lamb tagine you would be braising the lamb with the other ingredients rather than using already cooked lamb, but you can still create some of the feel and flavor of a tagine with cooked lamb.

I like Madhur Jaffrey for indian cooking, and Julie Sahni has a book that I like a lot also. There are others, maybe someone else will chime in.

Is Loic french? I am thinking not, and I am wondering what brought you to Lyon to live. And are there/were there issues getting permits to work in france?

Fred Bramhall

A professor is one who talk's in someone else's sleep

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i5741.jpg

In 5 minutes I will go down to the bus stop and instead of going straight home I will transfer to the metro and go to the farmers market held on Wednesday evenings near the Perrache train station. This market is very small and features just a few vendors. What makes this market special is that only the direct sale from the producers is allowed. They do not attract the crowds that St. Antoine attracts because the market does not feature a wide enough variety of products. The products there can be rather costly and obscure, with the exception of a few things. At les Halles, Poulets de Bresse can run upwards of 27 Euros a kilo. There are few reliable sources of these particular chickens, but at this market, there is one certified Poulet de Bresse farmer who offers these birds at a much lower price than can be found elsewhere in Lyon. Thus I am on a mission for a poulet de Bresse.

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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Bleu, this is a great blog -- I opened it for the first time today and read it from beginning to (what is currently) the end. I too vote to extend this blog, it's wonderful escapism. How often do we get to read about French cafeteria food? Thanks for sharing all of it with us, the highs AND the lows!

The pictures are just stunning. Have you ever considered a job as a food stylist or photographer?

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Excellent blog. I too would like to see more in the future. Is there any way you could at least do some sort of monthly French cooking adventure with pics?

I've never seen a sexy radish until reading this thread. :wub::wink:

peak performance is predicated on proper pan preparation...

-- A.B.

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I have been to the market. It took a long time because first the bus was in a freak traffic jam, and then they found a suspicious package on the metro. I am only going to share a few photos with you, because I have less that 25 photos left in my image gullet! :shock:

i5745.jpgThere are a lot of artisan cheese producers here. Their cheeses are not AOC anything, but still are in general very good. Depends on the season. They come and go here. The girl I bought some incredible blue sheeps cheese from last time I was here is not here this week.

i5746.jpgThis lady also does St. Antoine on Sundays. She has always got a couple of ducks and geese. She also normally has a selection of specialty eggs at St. Antoine.

i5747.jpgThe price today for the poulets de bresse was €8.60. This is the same price in general for poulet fermier at my butcher. They are both very good product. I'll try and get a photo of these same type chickens at Les Halles.

i5748.jpgI know this guy because I always buy a chicken here when I come. He weighed one bird for me, told me the price, and then said it was too small, so he gave me a bigger bird for the price of the smaller one. :smile:

But this bird is going into the fridge to be stored and thought about for at least one day.

Tonight I have to cook a rabbit I picked up a couple of days ago from the butcher. A Lapin de Forez. Warning. If you wike wittle wabbits be wery wery carefuw frum now on in this blog.

:biggrin:

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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I do like them, especially on my plate:biggrin:

Those chickens look fantastic.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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I wove wittle wabbits, particularly with olives! :biggrin:

Last night, as I was reaching for some gorgonzola at the market, I veered slightly north and bought the the bleudauvergne in your honor! It was very delicous. I stuffed into a pear and roasted it, served over a salad. Its no wonder that you are fond of it.

Can hardly wait to see the wascaly wabbit. :laugh:

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I was going to do the same thing I've been doing for the last few days with the whole thing and then after it's cut. In fact I specifically asked the butcher not to prepare this one so I could take pics. But I got the rabbit out on the meat board, and saw it's little wild eye, and I could not bring myself to take a photo of the whole rabbit and then cut it up for some reason. I have just cut up the rabbit in privacy.

I will post photos of the process of making Lapin a la moutarde a l'ancienne, my mother in law's recipe from this point on.

Now you may be wondering why I would cook a whole rabbit for just one person. I plan to eat only a small piece of the saddle. But leftover rabbit is almost better than the product cooked that day. And a rabbit sandwich with fresh ground pepper, lettuce, and mayo maison is a fine thing to enjoy on a weekend for supper. :smile:

For those of you with high hopes, I include the head in this dish. So look carefully and you will see it. For those who get the willies, unfocus your eyes and scroll down quickly.

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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Okay, here's my résumé for adoption:

I own about 1,200 books - 400 of which are cookbooks (the rest are history, philosophy, mythology, religious history, and art). More than half of them are first editions. My oldest book is dated 1842 (Sir Walter Scott's Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft. Addressed to J. G. Lockhart ; London John Murray 1830 2nd ed B&W frontis very good, new 3/4 maroon cloth w/original marbled boards 402pp B&W Frontis: "The Bow, Edinburgh-House of Major Weir", engraved by W. H. Lizars.) The cookbooks are of exceptional quality and variety. I brag there there is nothing I can't cook because all the reference material is at my finger tips.

I have a Master's degree in Art (Jewelry and Metalsmithing). I graduated from cooking school. I am musically inclined (having received performance scholarships for the French Horn when I was 15). I like to think that I can write (at least that is what I'm working on now...) I know wine. I know when not to whine.

I can cook, clean, shop, do nasty housework, love pets and am willing to sleep in the cellar. I have a jovial disposition.

BTW, I think we should petition that you get more than your allotted 100 pics in ImageGullet. I'm going to PM somebody on that one.

Please, please adopt me...

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i5759.jpg This recipe is excrutiatingly simple. In fact, Brigitte Durandeau Vanel does not even put mushrooms in hers. Her recipe is as follows:

Mince 2 shallots. Sweat in fat. Brown rabbit pieces. Add 2 T. (mustard with the grains in it) to 1/2 a cup of creme fraiche. Simmer 1 hour. Don't forget salt and pepper.

I have some mushrooms so I am going to cook seperately and add them at the end. Then when it goes into the fridge, I can put them together for a ltitle intermingling but not simmering together for an hour.

Note - I have noticed that I am out of mustard a l'ancienne and all I have is Dijon. I have done this recipe with dijon plain and I love it that way. So that's the way it's going to be tonight. I think the grains would add a little visual effect.

edit - you must include the head because that's what gives the delicious peppery taste.

Edited by bleudauvergne (log)
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