Cornish game hens stuffed with apples, tarragon and Comté cheese

                                                   8 portions

Ingredients:

4 Cornish game hens

5 slices country bread, crust removed

2 apples (Golden Delicious or other baking apples)

1⁄4 C mix of fresh herbs (tarragon, chives, parsley)

2 T olive oil

1⁄4 C water

Optional egg yolk

3⁄4 C grated Comté or Gruyère

Salt and pepper

Procedure:

• Debone hens, heat a wide casserole, coat with oil and brown bones 20 minutes with 1 onion, 1 carrot, and 1 celerystick, browning without any burning. Cover with water, add some bay leaf and thyme, and simmer down over 2 hours till about 1 cup liquid remaining.
• Remove bones, strain and simmer with 1/3 cup cream. Add any leftover filling from the following step. Season to taste and serve as sauce.
• For stuffing: finely dice all ingredients and mix. Should just stick together, otherwise add a little more water, egg yolk or olive oil, but be careful not to make a soggy stuffing, which will be too heavy after cooking.
• Season to taste and place a large rounded tablespoon of stuffing in pre-seasoned half bird, between leg and breast. Optionally remove upper thighbone from hen as well, in order to have more space for stuffing.
• Fold breast over thigh, or try squeezing into a smallish cooking dish in order to prevent birds from opening up while cooking. (Saves the trouble of having to tie them up with butcher twine. Preheat oven to 400 F(200 C.)
• If possible, use top broiler heat but place hens on lower rack of oven. After 10 minutes, lower heat to 350 F (175 C), baste skin of hens with pastry brush and continue roasting about 10-15 minutes, or until golden, crispy, and knife inserted into joint between leg and breast does not render pink juices.

Wine Suggestion:

Brouilly, Saumur-Champigny, Sancerre rouge ou blanc, Coteaux-de-Languedoc rouge, Rully white, Limoux white, Condrieu white, Chablis, Pouilly-fume

 

 

Chorizo Basquaise poached egg and olive oil crouton

Courtesy of Monica Bhide

                                                   Portions 6

Ingredients:

6 eggs

8 peppers red or yellow

3 onions

1 big chunk of chorizo

Olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic

bread

Procedure:

• First, cut the peppers into 2 pieces and scoop out the seeds and the white part, slice them in julienne (cut into long thin strips). Slice the onions and cut the chorizo into dices.
• Cook the onions in a saucepan with some olive oil, when they are soft, add the peppers, the chorizo, thyme, and garlic. Cover the pot and let it cook slowly.
•  In a saucepan pour half water & half vinegar and bring that to the boil. 
• For the poached egg technique, please see this link  
• http://www.monicabhide.com/2012/04/egg-in-a-bag.html
• Cut some thin slices of bread roast them in the oven with some olive oil and ground pepper on top.           
• Place the basquaise in the middle of the plate, then on top the egg and on the side serve it with the bread and some green salad.

Monkfish medallions encrusted with capers and orange zest

                                             6 - 8 Portions

Ingredients:

2 lbs Monkfish tail, after filleting 

2 T Olive oil 

1 small bottle capers 

1⁄2 T. piment d'Espelette

Pinch saffron 

Zest from 2 oranges

Procedure:

• Rinse reserved fish bones, cover with about 2 liters of cold water in a wide pot, add 1 bay leaf and 2 sprigs fresh thyme, 1 C. dry white wine, bringing to boil. 
• Skim the floating scum, and simmer till fish stock reduces to about 1 C. liquid. Discard bones, strain, and add 1 C. heavy cream. Simmer and reduce till thick enough to coat back of spoon.
• If using capers in vinegar, drain and rinse lightly reserve. If using capers in olive oil, drain but reserve oil to thin paste after mixing. 
• Place all other ingredients besides oil in a mortar and grind up, or use bowl and hand mixer. If necessary, substitute piment d'Espelette with 1⁄2 T. paprika and a pinch of ground cayenne pepper. 
• Stir in olive oil to make a paste. Pat dry the whole monkfish filets and cover all sides of fish with seasonings.
• Place in baking dish and bake in 160 C/ 350 F oven for 15-­25 minutes, till white liquid coagulates at bottom of fish and filets are firm to the touch in center. (25 minutes for thicker filets.) 
• Remove, add cooking liquids left in pan to cream sauce, heat, season and mix well with hand mixer. Sprinkle fish evenly with salt, and slice into fine medallions with very sharp knife after cooling 3-­4 minutes. 
• Optionally, dress a few greens like arugula or watercress with a bit of olive oil as a garnish.

Wine Suggestion:

Medium dry whites: Sancerre, Pouilly-fumé, Chablis, Muscadet sur lie, Picpoul de Pinet or dry Rosés from the Mediterranean

A Champagne day in the city of Reims with Cook'n with Class

Take a day trip from Paris and discover the enchanting city of Reims famed for its world-class champagnes and impressive heritage!

Preston our young and talented sommelier will take you on a fun, informative day-trip to two champagnes houses and to the historical Brasserie Boulingrin for lunch.

 

The day will start at 8.45am in Paris where the TGV train will take you (at 350 KM/hour) to the center of the city of Reims in about 45 mins.

Croissants and hot beverages will be provided on the train.

After receiving some info about the Champagne making process, you will take the tramway for a few minutes to go to your first Champagne house visit.

You will have a guided tour in English of ''the Crayeres'' and the private caves, where they will explain and show you all about their personal philosophy on wine making, followed by your first two glasses of Champagne of the day, a tasting of the most famous Champagne of the House. We usually go to Mumm or Veuve Cliquot for the first tasting so you get to see the most prestigious houses.

Following this tour you have plenty of time to visit and explore the Cathedral de Reims, one of the most famous French Cathedrals where the kings of France were once crowned.

At 1pm, Rendez vous at the Brasserie Boulingrin for your Lunch.

A typical French 3 course menu and a glass of Champagne awaits you.

Then at 2.30pm, it’s time for another visit and more Champagne, our 2nd visit will be for a more artisanal Champagne house. You will discover that Champagne can be less well known and still very enjoyable from a smaller wine maker.

Following that visit at 4.30pm, Preston will return with you to the train station after visiting a Gourmet shop where you can taste some of the local pink biscuits named Biscuits de Reims (Made with Rose water).

The train will arrive back at 6pm just in time for a relaxing evening in Paris. 

Available now

Please contact info@cooknwithclass.com for reservations.

We look forward to sharing more of French culture with you! 

Chef Eric’s Fresh Chanterelle Salad

Hooray it's Spring-time and as the days are getting brighter in Paris, we are lingering a bit longer at the market to check out the new colorful produce. The markets are bursting with wild mushrooms such as the famous morels, chanterelles, girolles.  Our recipe today shows you how to make a lovely salad with warm seasonal chanterelle mushrooms and Eric's grandmother's vinaigrette!

Ingredients:
1 Pound Chanterelle Mushrooms (other fresh mushrooms will also work)
1 TBS Shallots (finely chopped)
1 TBS Parsley and tarragon (finely chopped)
1 Tomato (peeled and diced)
2 TBS Sunflower oil (to sautée the Mushrooms)
3 Black Mission Figs (fresh) (Ripe pear cut in fine slices can be used too)
Salt and pepper
Vinaigrette (see below)
1 bag Green leaves (Not Arugula, it will be too strong, use Lamb lettuce if possible)
 
Vinaigrette:
1 TBS Dijon Mustard
2 TBS Good sherry vinegar
4 TBS Sunflower oil
Salt and pepper,
2 TBS Cold water
Mix it all with a whisk.

Procedure:
1. Clean the chanterelles (cut the foot off and if needed pass them quickly under cold water, drain well, using paper towel).
2. In a large bowl, add the vinaigrette and minced shallots, tarragon and parsley, the figs cut in quarters, diced tomato, stir.
3. Sautée the chanterelles very quickly with 2 TBS of sunflower oil on high heat. (Around 4 to 6 minutes), until the water is gone…
4. Add them on top of preparation number 2, stir gently, add the green leaves and serve immediately.

Chocolate Guinness Goodness

(photo by: Lara Ferroni)

"What if you combined a dark chocolate pudding and Guinness, topped it with whipped cream lightly flavored with Guinness, and then put it in a glass to make it look just like a pint of the black?"

Ingredients:

8 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

One 14.9-ounce can Guinness Draught

3 cups heavy cream

7 ounces high-quality bittersweet (70 to 72% cacao) chocolate, finely chopped

Special equipment: Six 8-ounce old-fashioned glasses

Preparation:

In large nonreactive mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar.  Open can of Guinness and slowly pour into 4-cup measuring cup, pouring down side of cup to reduce foaming. Pour half of Guinness (about 7/8 cup) into heavy-bottomed 3-quart saucepan. Add 2 1/4 cups cream and whisk to combine. Set over medium heat and heat, whisking occasionally, until bubbles just begin to form at edges. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and whisk until smooth. 

Slowly pour hot chocolate mixture into eggs, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. Return mixture to saucepan and set over moderately low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and coats back of spoon, about 15 minutes. (Pudding will look separated.) Pour into blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Divide pudding among glasses, leaving at least 1 inch of space at top of each. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled and set.

Meanwhile, pour remaining Guinness into small saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 1 tablespoon, about 20 minutes. Pour syrup into small bowl and let cool. 

Beat remaining cream until soft peaks form. Add Guinness syrup and beat until combined. Divide cream among 6 glasses of pudding and serve. 

(Developed by Shane Philip Coffey, the chef at Alias restaurant on New York City's Lower East Side.) Epicurious.com

Roasted Leg of Milk Fed Lamb with Glazed Root Vegetables & Best Swiss Chard

                                                 4 Portion

Roasted Leg of Milk Fed Lamb:

Ingredients:

1 bottom quarter of a young milk fed lamb (sirloin, hip, leg and shank together) 

3 onions 

3 cloves garlic 

1 bottle of dry white whine
1 bunch of rosemary 

10 peppercorns 

Salt and pepper 

Canola oil
4 extra lamb bones (or Veal) 

Water

Procedure:

• Take the leg and with a cleaver, chop through the spine bone and the main leg bone (while keeping the leg intact) in 4-5 equal spots. The idea is to chop through the bone when it is raw so that when it is cooked, you can just cut the meat, and the whole piece comes with it. (You can also tell the butcher to do this for you.) 
• Peel the onions and garlic and rough chop.
• Take a large wide roasting pan and heat it on high. Roast the bones in the canola oil until they are golden brown, then remove. Then in the same pan, roast the whole leg on both sides, until it is golden brown on both sides and remove. 
• Add the onions and garlic and “deglaze” with their juices and caramelize. After they are cooked and the pan starts to brown again, add the wine and bring to the boil. Then add the bones, leg and rosemary. 
• Making sure the rosemary is under the leg and the liquid is about 1⁄3-1⁄2 the way up the leg. You can adjust the level with the water.
• Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake on 170C -375F for about 1.5 hours. Basting every 10 mins or so, and turning the leg over at least 4 times in the cooking process. When a fork slides in the meat easily, remove from the oven. Let cool on the side. 
• Then strain out the juices from the pan. Discard the solids, and put the liquid back on the stove and reduce till thick. Here you can add a tablespoon of optional butter or serve it natural.
• Warm the leg and carve it into the pieces already cut from the cleaver, and serve it with the jus.
• If you want to make a stew, just add more vegetables like carrots, parsnips, or turnips and do the same procedure on the stove top in a pot, covering the lamb leg with liquid.

Glazed Root Vegetables & Best Swiss Chard

Ingredients:

5 large carrots 

Or Parsnips, turnips, celery root(1 piece), beets or salsify (The method is the same, you could do all these vegetables separate, then in the end when glazing) 

Salt 

Sugar 

Water 

Butter 

1 Bunch Swiss Chard 

2 Tablespoons butter

Procedure:

• Peel and cut the carrots into 1/2 inch pieces on an angle. Put in a pot and cover them with cold water. 
• Add 3 T ablespoons sugar and 1 T ablespoon salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until tender. 8 min +/-. Put pot in sink and run cold water in pot until the vegetables are cold. Strain and keep on side.
• In a pot, heat 3 tables spoons water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons of cold butter and whisk vigorously until butter is incorporated evenly in the liquid. Add the carrots and cook for 5 mins in glaze until warm. 
• If you run out of liquid and it looks like it will get too dry, add 3 more tablespoons water and bring to a boil. Serve immediately. 
• Swiss Chard Cut the green from the stems. Chop the green into large pieces, and the stems chop into small batons. In a pot put 2 quarts of water and 1/4 cup of salt and bring to a boil. 
• The water should be salty like the sea. Put the stems in for 1 minute, then add the green and cook for 30 seconds.  
• Strain and cool in the strainer with lots of cold water. In a sauté pan, brown 2 tables spoons of butter and add the Swiss chard and heat for 2 minutes, or until hot. Finish with Black pepper and small pinch of salt.