Pics from France

[DCMark]

In the interests of livening up the board, here are some pictures from my easter trip to France. As those who attended the Sette meet-up know, my wife is French and we go back there as often as we can.

My in-laws live in Grenoble but most of the trip was spent at their country place near Voiron (Isere). We went for a weekend trip to St. Bonnet-le-Froid (lived up to its name with 8 inches of snow on Easter) to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday.

St. Bonnet is a culinary destination town with a 2 star restaurant and is famous for jambonnet, which is ham creation (not sure of the content) wrapped in string and boiled. Thankfully, its also a mushroom town and in the spring/fall has tons of mushroom outings. Our hotel had mushrooms in every meal which is fine with me!

St. Bonnet:

Cheese Shop

I meant to take pictures of our meals but generally forgot (too much wine?). I did manage to snap this dessert (the mini milk bottle holds chevre ice cream) and the 'chariot de formage':

For you Morel hunters out there (Mark!) these were found within an hours time. Went great with pigeon than night.

Edited April 22, 2004 by DCMark (log)

[naguere]

In the interests of livening up the board, here are some pictures from my easter trip to France.

Charming pictures, they livened my day.

[DonRocks]

St. Bonnet is a culinary destination town with a 2 star restaurant

Calling the Auberge et Clos des Cimes two stars may be correct, but in name only: this is one of the finest restaurants in all of France, and fully merits a third Michelin star.

This post inspired me to dig out the menu that was offered when I was there in September, 2002. The chef (Régis Marcon) had gotten up at 5 AM and hunted the mushrooms which he prepared for dinner that evening. Nine courses, twelve different species of mushrooms (mousserons, lactaires délicieux, cèpes, two types of chanterelles (cibarius et tubaeformis), oxalis, craterelles, tanaisie, sparassis crépus, pieds de mouton, etc), three very strong stars in my book. A subtle reminder for me to maintain perspective whenever I start raving about a place such as Maestro.

Cheers!

Rocks.

[hillvalley]

You are a cruel, cruel man.

There is drool all over my keyboard.

[DCMark]

St. Bonnet is a culinary destination town with a 2 star restaurant

Calling the Auberge et Clos des Cimes two stars may be correct, but in name only: this is one of the finest restaurants in all of France, and fully merits a third Michelin star.

This post inspired me to dig out the menu that was offered when I was there in September, 2002. The chef (Régis Marcon) had gotten up at 5 AM and hunted the mushrooms which he prepared for dinner that evening. Nine courses, twelve different species of mushrooms (mousserons, lactaires délicieux, cèpes, two types of chanterelles (cibarius et tubaeformis), oxalis, craterelles, tanaisie, sparassis crépus, pieds de mouton, etc), three very strong stars in my book. A subtle reminder for me to maintain perspective whenever I start raving about a place such as Maestro.

Cheers!

Rocks.

You must mean:

FYI: We did not eat there.

[DCMark]

Looks like this got moved (duplicated) over here. Good day~!

[raisab]

Those pictures brought a smile to my face as did Roc's comment. I also live in DC and when I compare the Inn and others to some of the restaurants in France it humbles me. I go to Paris every week (I am A flight attendant with AA) and have made it my mission to try every restaurant I can.

[sequim]

I swear between your pics and Bleu's blog, I'm going crazy over France this week.

[brioboy]

You bastard.

[bleudauvergne]

Hey! Psst! Where'd ya find the morels? That must have been so much fun.

Whoooaa that's a lot of cheese on the table at home. What's that big cooked one on the top right?

-Lucy

[DCMark]

Hey! Psst! Where'd ya find the morels? That must have been so much fun.

Whoooaa that's a lot of cheese on the table at home. What's that big cooked one on the top right?

-Lucy

The Morels? Right behind the house....sike!

The cheese tray is from the Fort du Pre in St. Bonnet, not at home

[bleudauvergne]

Hey!  Psst!  Where'd ya find the morels? That must have been so much fun. 

Whoooaa that's a lot of cheese on the table at home.  What's that big cooked one on the top right? 

-Lucy

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?

[DCMark]

My mother in law cooked them. We had pigeon that evening and they were served in the sauce. We also had a Morel omelet earlier.

I am hoping to find some in Virginia this weekend.

[bleudauvergne]

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. .."

Edited April 26, 2004 by bleudauvergne (log)