Happy New Year! Bonne Année!
As the book comes out in January, built on a Sustainable and Seasonal model of cooking and eating, I am pleased to make menu suggestions, one per month, for your plaisir de dégustation !
These menus are built around products, foods, meats that are in season. This should be your golden rule and guide.
Flamiche aux Poireaux
500 g of pâte brisée (2 disks of pie crust), 1,5 kg of poireaux, 30 g de beurre, 3 jaunes d’oeufs, 1 oeuf
You can of course buy your pastry ready made.
Preheat oven to 250°C.
In a pan, melt the butter and cook slowly the poireaux for about 20 minutes. Beat the yolks in a bowl and, off the flame, mix them in with the poireaux. Season or rectify and put the mixture into the pie crust. Cover with the second pie crust and pinch the borders to seal them. Draw some designs in the middle to create a chimney. Beat an egg in a bowl and brush the top crust .
Put in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Serve with a salad and white wine.
Magret de Canard aux Oignons et aux Petits pois
Ingrédients : 2 magrets de canard, 600 g d’oignons, 50 g de beurre, 400 g de petits pois, 3 c.à soupe crème fraîche, 1 verre à cognac ou armagnac, qq branches d’estragon haché, sel et poivre.
Duck is absolutely delightful in this Winter season and is on Christmas and New Year’s menus.
Make several incisions into the duck skin, salt and pepper.
Peel and dice the onions, melt the butter in a pot, mix in the oignons, butter, salt and pepper and add in a half a cup of water, cover , simmer for 20 minutes.
Heat up a pan and put in the magrets with skin side down and brown 10 minutes without turning. Put them aside to rest in aluminium foil. Take off the skin and set them aside, to fry up with the onions before serving.
Cook the peas in 2 cups of water, drain them and mix them with the rest of the butter, keeping them warm on low heat.
To make the sauce, use the jus from the duck, your choice of liqueur (I prefer armagnac) and add the crème fraîche; adjusting the seasoning.
Serve with a purée maison.
Plateau de fromages : on my cheese board for this menu, I would recommend :
Mont d’Or : this cheese is present on all the Christmas/New Year’s table. It is from the Jura, it is a raw milk cheese, made from Montbéliard cow’s milk, AOC in 1981, AOP in 1996. Enjoy hot or cold.
Beaufort : I love this mountain cheese from the Savoy region, from whole raw milk from Tarine and Abondance cows and is AOP.
Choose a light bread, like a baguette, for these rich cheeses.
For this menu, here are my wine recommendations :
Entrée : Bourgogne or Bordeaux blanc, Quincy or Reuilly (Loire)
Plat : Pomerol , Minervois, Côte du Rhône
Fromage : Beaufort (Roussette de Savoie, Savoie et Bugey)
Sustainable & Seasonal Cuisine
Vignes et Mets