eG Foodblog: bleudauvergne

[Pan]

Good Morning!  I am just now beginning to freak out.[...]

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Hi, Lucy. What are you freaking out about?

[Adam Balic]

It snowed last night and the morning sun was melting it away.  The air was damp but thankfully there was not a breath of wind.  It seemed balmy and warm in comparison to the cold biting wind that's been sweeping down the Rhone Valley.  I went to the market concentrating on keeping tucked in and alert, calm, still.  Looking for pretty things for the table.  The market is smaller and more intimate on Friday mornings.

Hi Lucy - this image brings back happy memories from my first trip to Europe in '96. I have a photgraph taken from a similar angle in my album. This one of the first European markets I visited.

I am very impressed by the chicken in a bladder, as although I have read about this I have assumed that it was a semi-mythical preparation that some chefs prepare occassionally!

Everything looks wonderful and I must say that if I had your handwriting, I would keep a journal too.

[jackal10]

When are you going to publish your journals? They would make a wonderful book...

[bleudauvergne]

Good Morning!  I am just now beginning to freak out.[...]

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Hi, Lucy. What are you freaking out about?

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Hi Pan, I am freaking out about foie gras raviolis and pie. I know I should just get my ass in gear and make them.

Thank you for your nice comments, Adam. I'm glad my photo could bring back memories for you. The poulet was something this butcher prepares regularly and I had always wondered what it tasted like, it also had a kind of mythical place in my mind. I saw this dish in a photo on the France forum and I wanted to try it. Now I have.

Jack, I would like to ask you the same thing about all those great eGCI courses --

[bleudauvergne]

The dough has arrived from the boulangerie! Top left - Viennoise, Top right - Pain aux noix, Bottom Left - Baguette a l'ancienne, Bottom Right - Pain des Champs.

The Baguette, Pain aux noix, and Pain des Champs will be formed into multi bread cloverleaf rolls to serve hot with the cheese course.

The Viennoise will be simple foldovers and served earlier in the meal.

Loic has fixed the wine list and is poking around downstairs. He found Pecans and Bourbon so we will have

Sam's Pie! Yay Loic! He got the turkey. Free range but pretty nice looking bird and he still has the neck skin for the Oyster stuffing. Loic's getting the oysters at Les Halles this afternoon. I don't like him fooling around with the oyster knife to open them at this critical time so we get them pre-cut at Les Halles just for this meal.

I'm thinking of changing cameras for the rest of the day, to cut down on the fussiness quotient.

[bleudauvergne]

Question - is evaporated milk the same as condensed milk? Thank you for your kind advice.

[prasantrin]

Condensed milk is sweetened evaporated milk. It's much thicker than evaporated milk, and of course much sweeter. They're not interchangeable, so if you're planning to substitute--don't do it!

[SusieQ]

Question - is evaporated milk the same as condensed milk?  Thank you for your kind advice. 

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Hi Lucy. As far as I know, evaporated milk has no sugar and can be diluted with water to make regular milk, while condensed milk is very thick and sweetened quite a bit.

I love your blog, your photos, your recipes, your style -- you seem so composed! (I don't post too much, so just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you're doing. I especially love the photos from the markets. I used to live in Germany in 1964 and shopped every day in the local markets.)

SusieQ

[Lori in PA]

In America, evaporated and condensed milk are two very different birds. Condensed is extremely sweet and thick, much less liquid than pancake syrup. Evaporated milk is canned milk that has, I think, about 2 times the concentrated of fresh milk. If you are contemplating pumpkin pie and want evaporated milk, you can substitute light cream or half and half with good results. Somewhere online there is a recipe for homemade condensed milk.

[Lori in PA]

Giggle -- did those three quick replies help?

[bleudauvergne]

Super. Thank you all very much. I will use cream.

EDIT! Loic found evaporated milk~

Edited November 26, 2005 by bleudauvergne (log)

[Lori in PA]

When I woke up this morning, one of the errant questions I mentioned last night floated back into my head. About serving cheese -- I noticed you mentioned a few times on your blogs about The cheese plate. Do you literally have one plate on which you both store and serve the cheese? Do you re-wrap each cheese individually after the meal before storing it or do you just cover the whole plate? Any other tips about making a cheese plate part of one's life? (These questions are for after your panic and your Thanksgiving celebration are over.)

I hope you enjoy your day as much as I've been enjoying your writing and photos.

[bleudauvergne]

Hi Lori, I'll be putting the cheese plate together this afternoon and show you what I do. We do have a cheese plate going at all times, and we normally just serve whatever is on the plate. Some cheeses need to be wrapped each time, but for all intents and purposes we normally leave the cheese on the plate. We have a special shelf at the top of the fridge (where it is warmest) where we keep our cheeses. We don't eat cheese with every meal, it depends on what we're having.

For this meal, I got all new cheeses because, well, it's an excuse to get all of the really nice expensive seasonal cheeses I normally don't get all of the time, and if you're gonna get fancy, you might as well serve a nice cheese plate! I choose them carefully, most cheese has seasons, like vegetables. Only some are in season right now and I don't want to choose something just because I like that kind of cheese if it's not at its peak this time of year.

[bleudauvergne]

Pre-cooking the casseroles so they can just go in a hot oven to heat up when the Turkey's done. This is creamed chestnuts with bacon, a favorite for Thanksgiving. It is based on a dish I had once in a Hunan Style restaurant in Beijing. One year I actually peeled the chestnuts and that, my friends, I vow never to do again. It was hell.

We are going to put the pies in the Tourtieres. One can go right on the bottom of the oven and not use a rack! I am lining them with aluminum foil and parchment before the crust goes in to ease in serving and keep things nice and tidy.

A tip I learned recently in the Pastry and Baking Forum, you can grind up whole vanilla bean to use in your baking. I like the way it tastes in my baked goods, I've done it a few times already. This is to go into the pumpkin cheese pie.

Flour for the Ravioli:

The dough is resting.

Meanwhile, I assemble the pie. I'm afraid the pumkin pie crust is very ugly. Loic felt that the pumpkin pie would be better with a sablee crust, so the Pecan pie got brisee and the Pumpkin got Sablee. I didn't use a recipe for the sablee and I'm not sure if it's going to puddle up on the bottom of the pan. We'll see.

[bleudauvergne]

Photo B. Kern

[therese]

Question - is evaporated milk the same as condensed milk?  Thank you for your kind advice. 

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So this morning I'm standing in our pantry, looking for something, and I notice two cans of sweetened condensed milk. And for a moment there I'm confused, wondering why on earth I've got two cans of sweetened condensed milk that I don't recall purchasing (because I almost never do).

And then I remembered that my husband had gone to the grocery store to buy ingredients for pumpkin pie, and he'd also apparently been confronted with this dilemma. So he got both: two cans of evaporated milk, and two cans of sweetened condensed milk.

Guess I'll be making key lime pie sometime soon.

[bleudauvergne]

Mes beaux-parents have arrived -

pate de coing maison Brigitte Vanel

It's a shame we had these opened for the stuffing and won't have any extra place tonight to have a few...

[bleudauvergne]

Cousin Mathieu is here

The Pumkin and Pecan Pies

[Susan in FL]

Your home is a food wonderland! And all the flowers, and fresh things in the making... I can almost smell the aromas by looking at the photos. It is a dream holiday celebration. I wish Cousin Mathieu was up for adoption.

[Eden]

When are you going to publish your journals?  They would make a wonderful book...

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If nothing else at least make sure they get preserved and handed down in your family. Historians/archeologists of future generations will bless you for passing down your special insight into the daily life of our time.

I am in love with your tortiere!

Have a wonderful day.

[tejon]

Do you want to make this for me? 

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Out of the country pattern making is a bit beyond my scope, but fly me out there and I'd be glad to make it .

Wishing you a smooth and delicious Thanksgiving celebration! It all looks delicious so far. Eagerly awaiting more photographs.

Edited November 26, 2005 by tejon (log)

[Lori in PA]

I just spent far too much time (according to my responsibilities for the day today) finishing your second blog, though it was time well spent. THANK YOU for including a picture of yourself at the end. For some reason, that is important to me -- no, I'm not a stalker or anything -- I just like to see the person and his or her environment because it helps me imagine the life they lead more easily. Also, you have re-proved my assertion that fancy shmancy kitchens are unnecessary to good cooking -- love your closet kitchen.

A personal question: what is your job? I was reading in Blog #2 about how you think of your work as separate from your real life. If one isn't passionate about one's vocation, I think that is a reasonable way to handle it -- much preferable to those who work to the exclusion of having any other life, even if they find little satisfaction in their work.

[JEL]

I just spent far too much time (according to my responsibilities for the day today) finishing your second blog, though it was time well spent.  THANK YOU for including a picture of yourself at the end.  For some reason, that is important to me -- no, I'm not a stalker or anything -- I just like to see the person and his or her environment because it helps me imagine the life they lead more easily.  Also, you have re-proved my assertion that fancy shmancy kitchens are unnecessary to good cooking -- love your closet kitchen.

A personal question:  what is your job?  I was reading in Blog #2 about how you think of your work as separate from your real life.  If one isn't passionate about one's vocation, I think that is a reasonable way to handle it -- much preferable to those who work to the exclusion of having any other life, even if they find little satisfaction in their work.

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just be amazed with the apparent ease and grace...........

she's proof that angels are among us........

simplicity on the near side of complexity.........

[CaliPoutine]

Question - is evaporated milk the same as condensed milk?  Thank you for your kind advice. 

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So this morning I'm standing in our pantry, looking for something, and I notice two cans of sweetened condensed milk. And for a moment there I'm confused, wondering why on earth I've got two cans of sweetened condensed milk that I don't recall purchasing (because I almost never do).

And then I remembered that my husband had gone to the grocery store to buy ingredients for pumpkin pie, and he'd also apparently been confronted with this dilemma. So he got both: two cans of evaporated milk, and two cans of sweetened condensed milk.

Guess I'll be making key lime pie sometime soon.

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You can make a pumpkin pie with sweetened condensed milk too. I made one for thanksgiving.

1 can pumpkin, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 2 eggs, pumpkin pie spice.

It tasted great!!

[bleudauvergne]

Dear all, I am just too pooped to put up more details than the photos this evening. The meal, in short went flawlessly and everything tasted just right. The only thing that went wrong was a pan of burned rolls at the beginning but better the rolls than something else! Whew! Here are some photos.

I'll post the wines tomorrow AM early it there's still time

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I have had a fabulous week!

Kind regards,

L