Mousse de foies de volaille

My spiritual French mother Sylvie introduced me to chicken liver mousse a long time ago. It was once when foie gras was not available. This mousse is less expensive, easier to prepare, and it can be an alternative for those concerned with the purported cruelty of force-feeding. Her version is more ménagère than mine, but no…

Truite à la syrah

Cornas is a small area by the Rhone river close to Valence. All wines are syrah per AOC rules. Cornas wines typically fill the mouth and feel substantial. They are good for cellaring and will develop scents of roasting or grilling meats and olives. The west coast has met a windy rainstorm this week, and…

Bouillabaisse

Provençale cuisine is one of my favourites when the weather turns grey. Bouillabaisse to me is synonymous to Marseille, and as quintessential to it as the morning fish market in the old port. It is an elaborated fish soup. The fish and the soup are traditionally served separately, and perhaps as two courses. It is…

Celeriac

It’s quite distressing to be suffering from digestive problems. This started some months ago and the medical profession can only attribute it to me getting old. I found that avoiding meat, dairy, grease, and gassy vegetables is helpful. Of course I still cook normal food for others, but I can’t eat it and it’s annoying…

Bo Kho bourguignon

  I am trying something new for Sunday dinner. I enjoy Vietnamese cuisine from time to time. It is the exotic and perfumed side I find so appealing. I am dining with an old friend who loved when I made bo kho. Today I revisit this with adding red wine, tomato, and chicken stock. I…

Baba

Baba This cake started off as a variant of a kouglof. That’s a brioche elaborated with raisins and baked into a crown shaped mould with a layer of almonds. It is imbibed in kirsch and dusted with icing sugar. It’s a traditional Christmas cake and the shape is supposed to be a turban; an allusion…

Vin chaud and “canelé”

Choose a light red wine with less tannin, type gamay noir. Today I use a Bourgogne. The honey should be fragrant. I use wild organic New Zealand honey. Vin chaud – 1 bottle of light red wine (gamay noir, pinot noir) – zest from 2 oranges – 5 g freshly ground cinnamon – honey Zest…

April in Vancouver – the days of wine and roses are back!

It is so nice, it’s almost better than April in Paris. Zephyrus is fully upon us, and he has brought with him Italian days and the singing of birds. And many a birds are flying by, dropping off 2015’s shipment of whites and rosés, how exciting! Every year it is like falling in love for…

Canard aux agrumes

I use kumquats for a variation on this French classic and a personal favourite – canard aux agrumes. I used navel oranges and kumquats from California, and the duck is from Lac Brome in Québec. Though these oranges had darker flesh, visually it’s still nice. For the wine, pinot noir is often proposed against a…

Pain au chocolat

Pain au chocolat or chocolatine is a viennoiserie. Viennoiserie is a category of yeast raised breads enriched with dairy, sugar, eggs, some kind of fat, and other ingredients that usually gives its namesake (raisins, chocolate, nuts, seeds, buttermilk, etc.), they come from a boulangerie rather than a pâtisserie. Like all yeast raised breads, it takes…

Alcohol in the kitchen – White Wines

The gourmet’s pantry is stocked with an array of wines and spirits. These ingredients add dimension to the dish; they are like accessories on one’s outfit, and it can be fun to compose them into the cooking. As with accessories, there are a few rules and guidelines to follow. First of all, the alcohol must…

White and dark, a fricassée of chicken

Fricassée is described as a dish of poultry or veal, or even lamb. The meat is cut in pieces which are seared without coloration. They are then braised in a creamy liquid thickened with flour. Aromatic garnishes are small glazed onions and poached mushrooms. According to the Larousse quoting La Varenne, it used to be…