Saturday, March 14, 2009

Cooking in Paris

Sunday Market on Boulevard de Grenelle

You might think with all the baking I had been doing leading up to my week of vacation and with all the great food to taste in Paris, that I would welcome a break from the kitchen. If that is what you thought, you don't know me as well as you think. Part of the agreement with Romain was that I would cook for him in return for his gracious hospitality.(Even though he warned me I might be disappointed with his kitchen) I brought my measuring glass with me, and a card with a few recipes.

Walking Paris and seeing all the shops selling fresh fruits and vegetables, the cheese shops, the butcheries, just inspired and made me yearn to create a meal with the available ingredients. We visited the Sunday Market before our excursion to Versailles, and I wanted to buy some food stuffs and go back to the apartment to whip up some great meal....but Versailles was waiting.

I did make a nice batch of crepes for our breakfast that morning. The kitchen was tiny and only had a two burner cook top and a toaster oven. I made do with what I had and they turned out delicious. Romain and I had a great time taking turns tossing the crepes into the air to turn them over in the pan. I'm glad to report none landed on the floor.

The basic ingredients

Making Crepes for Breakfast

Just waiting for Nutella and Jam

It was decided Friday evening after dinner at La Porte-pot, that I would cook dinner for Romain, Edouard, and Remi on Tuesday evening. Tuesday morning I took a thorough inspection of the kitchen to see what I was really up against to make a decent dinner for my friends. I formulated my menu and then headed to the local Monoprix to buy the needed provisions. Later in the day I got a message from Romain asking if two more friends could join us? My philosophy has always been the more the merrier, and there was still time to run to the Monoprix to pick up more chicken; so I repsonded, "pas du problem". When Romain arrived home from work he informed me the 2 additional friends had now become 3, no pressure......

I managed to produce a lovely batch of Gougeres from the toaster oven shortly after he arrived home. He then assisted with the assembly of a basic fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil salad.
The main entree was chicken cutlets with lemon and green olives, lightly seasoned with cumin, salt, and pepper and served over rice. For dessert I made Crepes Suzette. I'm pleased to say there were no leftovers and everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. The one mistake I did make, was to not buy some bread. In my American way of thinking, the Gourgeres would have been enough carbs. Ha, carbs?, the French obviously don't care. I was forgiven, but it is a mistake I will never make again.
Gougeres

Caprese Salad

Chicken with Lemon & Green Olives

Crepes Suzette

1 comment:

Rohit Kumar Chemudupati said...

Looks a delicious meal. I'll also remember to always have bread.