Thanksgiving Part 2

Since we went to Beaucoup on Thanksgiving night, we chose to do Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday night. It was beautiful. We made:

Turkey (stuffed with sausage and wrapped in bacon, which was new to me, but ended up very nicely)
gravy of course
Mashed Potatoes (that we pushed through a drum sieve, so we are talking supah fine potatoes)
Byron Potatoes (mashed potato discs with a béchamel sauce inside)
green beans rolled in garlic and olive oil
brussels sprouts with cashews and raisins soaked in calvados
stuffing with sauteed onion/green pepper/celery, brioche, and raisins soaked in calvados
sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
sweet potato casserole with pecans
rutabaga
cranberry sauce
jalapeno corn muffins

For dessert:
pumpkin pie
Pommes Meringues (or poached apples on brioche covered in italian meringue)

BUT for our entree (or appetizer in America) I made for the first time ever, my Thanksgiving Terrine!

See, since moving to Paris, I have started a minor obsession with terrine. Terrine is similar to pate but less finely ground. It is basically a french meat loaf, but with more fat, served cold and usually has some form of stuffing down the middle.

For my thanksgiving terrine, I would have preferred the use of turkey, but turkey is INCREDIBLY expensive here (like $100 for an 11lbs turkey), so I chose to use duck breast from a foie gras duck and chicken thighs instead. You match that amount of meat with the same about of pork shoulder. Grind that all up. Grind in some lard and sauteed chicken livers, add salt and pepper and some Grand Marnier (orange liqueur- my choice, you can use any type of liqueur) and stuff it.

Here's where most of my innovation came into play. For the stuffing down the middle of the terrine, I made my mother's cranberry sauce (which has orange peel in it) and candied some orange peels. I laid  those down the center, put some more terrine meat stuffing on top. And wrapped it in bacon (because we ran out of lard...whoops! It actually ended up working for the better.)

Then into a water bath and oven for 2 hours.

After you take it out of the oven, it has to sit for a day in the refrigerator with a weight on top of it to compact the loaf into a terrine.

At the final unveiling, I was pretty nervous about how it would turn out. But it did perfectly! And it was delicious! (If anyone wants the exact recipe, send me a message and I will get it to you). But like me, you will have to limit yourself to how often you eat it, otherwise, your arteries may block prematurely.)

Can't wait for Christmas Terrine! I'm thinking goose, chestnuts, poached pears or prunes soaked in armagnac...or something like that!

(Happy Thanksgiving Terrine!)

Beaucoup

 

(The Beaucoup Cocktail to start the night)

One of my good friends from class is from Perth, Australia. Her and her husband both used to be lawyers, he still is- just getting an MBA here in Paris to add to his scope of practice. Before moving here, they made a connection at the local lawyer's bar with another woman who was moving to Paris as well. This friend dates a French chef who had been working in some of the best restaurants in Australia before deciding to return to his home, Paris. She was joining him.

Well, flash forward a couple of months and we are all now good friends. Yay! How fun is that?

The chef's name is Yann and he just opened a new restaurant after being asked by some investors to do so. It is called "Beaucoup".

Here are some links:
http://www.parisbouge.com/mag/articles/beaucoup-le-bistronomique-version-hip-1040
http://beaucoup-resto.com/

On Thanksgiving, we went to the opening. And it was fantastic! Look at the pictures in the first link and you'll see how cool the interior is. Of course, for us, the kitchen was much more exciting and Yann even gave us a tour. The equipment he has in there is state of the art and easily drooled on if you're not careful. Yann got basically full control over how the kitchen was designed and what equipment would go into it.

(two of my friends split this 1.2kg of beef tenderloin- there was talk of some serious beef sweats)

He also gave us a tour of the refrigerators where he keeps some amazing charcuteries, cheeses, and produce, etc. Beaucoup also has a tapas menu/bar (which you can also order with your meal), but it is not just any tapas menu as Yann has imported rare prosciuttos and hams- stuff that only a few thousand of are made each year. So, that was a particular treat to try. We even had some salmon eggs that had been compressed until they looked almost like a piece of prosciutto (without the fat). It was a pretty interesting way to eat fish eggs that you can cut with a knife and layer on a piece of bread.

For dinner, I had the terrine (because I love terrine) and the waygu beef burger. Both were delicious, but I also ordered a side of macaroni gratin (mac 'n cheese) and it was fantastic. You know how mac 'n cheese is so easy to make, but so hard to perfect? This mac is perfected. I have only had two great portions of mac 'n cheese ever and this was one of them.

 

(the burger and mac)

We finished the night with popping a bottle of champagne for all of us to toast. Including the bar, tapas, meal, and champagne, we enjoyed a 5 hour meal.

If you ever find yourself in Paris, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Not just because my friend is the head chef, but because its affordable (for Paris) at about 50euros a person including wine, plate, and either entree or dessert. The food is also superb- classically French, but with Yann's twist and respect for quality ingredients. I can promise you that your meal was made with care and dedication to the dish/flavor/ingredients/structure. Because that's just how Yann does it.