La Rotisserie du Beaujolais

I have a new favorite restaurant in Paris. True, I have yet to have a bad meal in Paris whether it has been at the Brasserie down the street, a cafe around the corner, the famous Cafe Marly across from the Louvre, or the little Chinese traiteurs that sprinkle the city with cheap Chinese food to go.

This past Sunday, me and three of my friends (and one husband!) met up at the famous Shakespeare and Co. bookstore to hear David Simon, the creator of The Wire and Treme as well as other famous shows, speak. I am a big fan of The Wire and have just started watching Treme (one of the main characters is a woman chef who I think looks a lot like Helene Darroze, so with New Orleans and the music and the female chef, I am drawn into the show), so I was pumped to go see David Simon.

Coincidentally, there was also a video of him speaking in 2008 that a Facebook-friend posted last week and I had watched. So, I was all in David Simon mode.

(Shakespeare and Co is too small for everyone to fit inside, so we had to stand outside and listen to the speakers)

Afterwards, we went to dinner. Except for the past two days (Monday and Tuesday) it has been non-stop raining and cold in Paris this past week. So, we were ready for a dinner that was warm and comforting. One of my friends has been talking nearly incessantly about one of her favorite restaurants, La Rotisserie du Beaujolais, so we all agreed it was time for the rest of us to go.

Now, I know why. You walk in to the restaurant out of the cold, windy weather and are immediately comforted by the warm rotisserie in the back and the open kitchen. We all ordered half a chicken which comes with mashed potatoes that are just perfect- most likely in Joel Robuchon style (aka 1:1 ratio of potato and butter). I also ordered the Terrine du Chef (I have become a big terrine fan- and will recommend it to anyone traveling through France to order) as an appetizer while others ordered creamed leeks or the escargot. Everyone was beyond impressed. The accompanying wine also turned out to be delicious.

During the course of the meal, as four culinary students dining in front of an open kitchen, we were constantly drawn to what was going on in that kitchen. We were even comparing the burns we noticed on the chefs hands and arms to our own!

Finally, the husband and only non-culinary student, almost in exasperation of our constant kitchen and chef chatter asked the waiter if we, culinary students could all go into the kitchen and take a picture with the chef. They said of course!

(the waiter also jumped in though we couldn't get him to look at the camera! Our smiles are so big because instead of saying "Cheese!" we say "Oui, Chef!")

So, with the combination of the amazing service, the great food, and the cozy atmosphere, I am sold on La Rotisserie du Beaujolais. If you find yourself in Paris, especially in the winter, I am telling you now- you must go!

http://www.larotisseriedubeaujolais.com/

http://www.zagat.com/r/rotisserie-du-beaujolais-la-paris-france

Turning and tiny kitchens

As mentioned in my last post, about Boeuf Bourgiugnon, I have been practicing "turning" vegetables for class. The idea behind the turned vegetable is that, once turned, it can cook evenly and is attractive. The other reasons being that it is extra work, somewhat wasteful, and traditional and this is French cuisine.

This past Thursday, we even held a "turning party." Yes, we wild culinary students know how to get down. We all six of us met up at a friends apartment (she has the largest apartment, so it makes the most sense to go to her) and practiced turning carrots, zucchini, potatoes, and mushrooms while drinking wine, eating pastries, and chatting/gossiping. Some ladies knit, others scrapbook. We use our knives.

We decided that turning artichokes and trussing chicken would be the theme of our next party.

We took pictures of us sitting there with our mounds of vegetables and knives, but not on my phone, so I do not have any of them with me.

The end result looked liked this:

(I did not rub them in lemon immediately, so they have "grayed"- This is about 1/5 of what I have in my refrigerator)

Potato:

Zucchini:

Mushroom:

I ate all of my turned carrots before I even left the party, so no pictures, but they essentially look the same as the potatoes and zucchini.

However fun this has all been, I now have one large tupperware and two ziplock bags full of turned vegetables in my refrigerator. So, I made a veggie pasta tonight for dinner!

It's a super simple recipe, the basis of which I made up forever ago, but using my kitchen in general is a work of art. It is just too tiny. So, easy recipes like pasta or reheating what I make at school is generally all I attempt. Otherwise, I just get too frustrated. 

So, I cut up some of my vegetables and made this pasta! It turned out to be a really good use of my leftovers. Though, I had to laugh at the irony of cutting up the vegetables that I spent hours turning...oh, well. C'est la vie!

(My tiny kitchen in the middle of cooking!)

(My pasta!)

#tbt Boeuf Bourguignon

Nothing quite says French cuisine in such an iconic way as Boeuf Bourguignon. Julia Child's recipe has become a famous go-to for anyone attempting to cook a "fancy" French dish. I admit, that I was once one of them. And I encourage anyone else to give it a try.

However, there really is nothing fancy about boeuf bourguignon. It is a simple stew. The first time I made it, I would have disagreed with myself. But, today we made the beef stew in the kitchen and it was actually quite easy.

You can find a boeuf bourguignon recipe very quickly on line or in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 

Here is a link of Julia's show where she actually makes the stew: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA2ys8C-lNk (and no, it's not actually Dan Aykroyd. That can be found here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tnc9_the-french-chef_fun)

Making boeuf bourguignon today, in the professional way, I learned a few things that are not in the recipe books and that I did not know the first time I attempted the stew.

First: It is served with potatoes that MUST be turned. A "turned" potato is a potato that has been peeled into a cylinder-like shape but with 5-7 sides. These potatoes are then just boiled and washed in butter for a shine right serving.

(turned potatoes! This looks easy, but it has taken about 75 potatoes for me to finally get it perfectly.)

Second: You MUST marinate your meat for 5-24 hours in a red wine sauce with mirepoix, garlic, and spices before starting to cook it. Choose recipes that include this marinading process

Third: When the stew comes out of the oven, you must strain it then REDUCE your sauce before adding it back to the beef, mushrooms, glazed onions, and lardon. It should be thick, but not as thick as most sauces. It is still a stew.

Four: Serve your stew with croutons. But these croutons should be cut fairly large- not the little ones that we are used to eating in our salads. To make them, cut large strips (or shapes!) into stale bread. Then, heat up an iron skillet with either clarified butter or oil with butter (add the butter right before-hand). The oil keeps the heat without burning, but the butter gives the flavor. It takes about 15 seconds per side.

Other tips:
-Cook the Boeuf Bourguignon longer for more tender, typical braised meat (2-2.5 hours)
-Always blanch your lardon (bacon) to rid it of impurities
-Make sure to boil and then strain out all impurities from your marinading liquid before adding it back into your meat mixture
-Add a little bit of coarse salt right before you put the stew in the oven- not for taste, but to encourage infusion of flavors while it cooks

Good luck, happy Thursday, and hopefully yours will turn out just like the chef's!

Grades

So, today, I got my grades for the first time since I have been in cooking school. Needless to say, I've been freaking out the past week. Or two weeks...but who's counting??

See, the thing is that I am a nerd who only got one B in high school and it was an 89.3 in Trigonometry and my teacher did not particularly care for me. So, take that B with a grain of salt. And while I have calmed down in grade obsession since high school (and have more friends now too...coincidence?), I was still an Honors Student in college and therefore mildly grade obsessed.

So to be cooking blindly (in terms of grades) for the past month has been a little nerve-wracking. Sure, I can tell myself that I am just here to learn. Let Go, Let Flow. Absorb the knowledge like my veins absorbing the massive amounts of butter.

But, if you know me, then you also know that I rarely let go (unless wine is involved) and find over-analyzing more of a lifestyle than a practice.

Grades here work like this:

-Everything is out of 5 points
-No one ever scores a perfect 5, ever.
-You are graded on many aspects including your appearance, organization, technique. Not just how your food tastes
-you are graded every kitchen practical in all of those aspects
-average is usually about a 3.0

So, I walked into the conference room this afternoon. The chef sat on one side of the table, the translator across from him with me at the head of the table. There was a piece of paper with my name and grade on it placed on the table where I was meant to sit.

Elyssa Kaplan: 3.398

I didn't actually sit down. I just kind of squatted and stared at it open-mouth agape.

"Are you okay? It's out of 5, not 10 points." The translator mis-read my inability to sit.

I have the second highest grade in the class. Granted, because I missed a class on Monday, I will get a zero and that average will drop me down. But, without my stupid mistake, I rate at nearly a 3.4 out of 5.

The chef continued to talk about how I need to work on my trussing of chicken and sauce consistency. For everything else, I am good.

"Did you not know that you are doing a good job in the kitchen?"

"No, I guess, I mean...I thought so, but...you know, I just...wasn't really sure...you..." I mumbled in return to the very nice chef (pictured with me in Student Dinner) because even if things feel right, you could be totally wrong. I guess I've been pretty right.

Fact is, this is not a joke. I can do this.
And I will only get better. I am determined.

A Store of Only Cook Books

Here in Paris, they revel in smalls stores that only sell one thing. Like a store that only sells tape. Or a pharmacy that only sells medicine (seriously, what's up with that? Where's my lipbalm? What if I need shampoo? A pack of gum?) Or a store that only sells children's shoes.

The same goes for bookstores. They specialize.

So, of course, I made my way to Librairie Gourmande, the bookstore that only sells books about food and cooking.

They even have a decent English section! I went with two friends from school who just found ourselves in the area where the bookstore is located. An hour later, we left the shop. 

However, in the back of the store, they have an "old books" section. Many do not know this, but I collect old cookbooks. Yes, I know it's weird and don't make me explain why because it makes no logical sense. I just like them. I find them interesting.

So, of course that was where I headed immediately to peruse. And, of course, one of the shop workers had just *happened* to set up her laptop and move-able office in the middle of the shelf making me reach around her to try and find books.

But, it was worth the awkwardness because they were amazing. And seemed decently priced- all about 50-100 euros. Then I found one basically about the Treatment of Obese Foodies from 1907. It had essays and recipes and was just about the coolest thing ever. And only 32euros!

Perfect. And with my student discount of 10%, it would be even less.

I take my prize up to the cash register. First, the old books don't count for the student discount. Second, it's not 32 euros, its 320 euros!! 

Did the King of France write it?!? Did Escoffier himself bless it?!?

Never-mind, Librairie Gourmande. You can keep that one. But I can't wait to go back and more casually and comfortably sort through the old books. Hopefully, I'll find one that can tempt my interest and my wallet.

I'll let you know when I do.

(No pictures of the old book section, the laptop lady worker scared me off. But next time, I will win!)

#tbt Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This week, we had or Lapin à la moutarde Rabbit with Mustard Sauce. It is a classic French dish and required us to decapitate and gut a rabbit (which looks remarkably like a fur-less cat...). The butchering did not bother me, except when I had the eyes staring at me out of my trash/discard bowl. And the heart was especially bloody and difficult to clean.

However, we did have some students who just could not do it and someone even got sick. Rabbit is not quite the same as fish or chicken...

Mine turned out fine: the sauce was a little too liquidy (according to my judging chef, but I think the other chef would have approved...) and I did not cook my organs long enough, but everything else was well cooked and seasoned.

With the rabbit, we also cooked pan friend potatoes. The recipe's ingredients was the exact same as the Garlic Roasted Potatoes that I used to make except I used to roast them instead of pan frying.

So for this #tbt, I'm posting this easy side dish:

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

3 pounds small red or white potatoes

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan and spread out into 1 layer. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking in order to ensure even browning.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, toss with parsley, season to taste, and serve hot.

-----------

The other recipe that we did in class took basically the same recipe, but you must trim the potatoes into cylinders and then slice into 3mm chips (so that the potato "chips" are all even). Make sure to wash them to remove any excess starch.

 You put those potato chips in a iron skillet with peanut oil (not olive)- let it get REALLY hot (to the point of smoking). Then add the potatoes. Let them sit, flip them every once in a while until they are nicely browned.

Add butter. Season with salt. Let cook for a little. Then add garlic (not too much). DO NOT LET THE GARLIC BURN. Right before taking off the heat, add the parsley. Then run it through the chinois to lose any excess oil or butter and serve.

Both recipes are pretty easy and equally tasty to be served with any type of meat! (or correctly cooked rabbit heart...)

Bon chance!

e

Guest Chef

Every two weeks or so, the school invites Guest Chefs to come cook and do a demonstration for students who wish to sign up for a little extra learning and experience.

Yesterday, Chef Philippe Lafargue from Restaurant Philippe in Biarritz, France (Basque Country) made the trip up to Paris to lead one of these guest demonstrations. He had trained under the likes of Alain Ducasse, Joel Robuchon, and Paul Bocuse while working all over the world, so I knew I wanted to go.

This was the second guest demonstration that I have so far attended. The first was led by an older, very accomplished chef who cooked intricate, but rustic Provencal dishes for us to try. We learned a little, but the demonstration was more-so about cooking and plating all three dishes in 2 hours.

Chef Philippe immediately set a different tone. We all file-in to the demonstration classroom wearing our strict uniforms, while Chef Philippe's chef's jacket is more similar to a white button down than the traditional jacket, he is wearing jeans (not houndstooth trousers) and no hair net despite his longer hair!

What is the world coming to?!?

But Chef Philippe turned out to be just as cool and casual as his outfit. He is introduced and begins his lecture by taking a blue dry-erase marker and drawing a smiley face in the middle of a serving plate.

"What makes the perfect plate?" He asks us.

"Fresh Ingredients...?" Someone shyly answers.

"Yes! Product is number 1. There are three parts to a perfect plate, what are the other two?"

After a lot of guessing and probing, we get to all three: Product, Technique, and Seasoning make the perfect plate.

He writes these on the back of the plate: 1, 2, and 3. Then, he goes further, asking us,

"What is the best fish? How do you find the best fish for your product (number 1)?"

A lot of right and wrong guesses finally leads us to these four criteria:

1. Fresh
2. Local
3. Wild (not mass farmed)
4. Line Caught/ The manner in which the animal was killed

These four criteria can also be applied to other meats and produce as well. You should always look to buy the freshest product that has not travelled too far and fits in with your culture. You should buy try to buy meat or produce that has been bred or farmed not in a mass-produce way, but in a more natural environment. And for meat, it is very important to know how your meat was killed. For fish, line caught fish are the best because the large trolling nets cause stress, suffocate, and bruise the flesh of the fish before it is eaten. Line caught fish on the other hand die much more quickly and less stressfully giving their meat a much better taste. The same goes for beef, poultry, pork, etc. If the animal is stressed out before it dies, it will not taste as good. (I knew this already having grown up in the home of a large animal veterinarian).

About an hour into the two hour demonstration, the chef began cooking. WHAT?!? This is unheard of. Usually, it's a mad-dash to finish and he's just chatting about freshness of product.

The Menu consisted of two dishes:

1. Soupe D'orge Safrannee/Seiche (Barley Soup with Saffron and Cuttlefish)
2. Mon Foie Gras D'Automne 2012 (The Chef's Autumn 2012 Foie Gras)

He taught us about how to buy the best foie gras and why he thinks it's completely humane and delicious. He taught students about Barley and Saffron since that was not well known by many (however cuttlefish, the most out-there ingredient in my opinion was pretty universally accepted...) and then made two delicious dishes. He also has some of his recipes online at the restaurant's website.

Midway through the demo, I just casually looked over at the guy sitting next to me's notes. Then I did a double take. They were in Hebrew. So I asked him in Hebrew, "Is that Hebrew? Are you Israeli?" He looked at me like I was an idiot (it was two genius questions) and said "Yes, do you know Hebrew?" So then we had a quick conversation about how I lived in Jerusalem.

About five minutes later, the chef called the Israeli up to the front. Turns out, the Israeli is a superior (the last course before you graduate) student and as he had known a lot of the chef's answers throughout the day, Chef Philippe thought it would be fun to have a "plate-off" of sorts for the Foie Gras.

Here are two pictures of the two different plates. Can you guess which one was the Chef's and which one was the Israelis?

Okay, so it's not that hard. The first picture is the student's and the second is the chef's. But, the chef created the elements of the dish with this plating in mind and he got the better plate to use as well. The Israeli just walked up there, was given ingredients, and went. So, we were all pretty impressed. I was just SO glad they didn't miss the Israeli's chair by one seat and ask me instead.

In the end, Chef Philippe left us with a few pointers about becoming chefs:

"if you are afraid, you will fail"
"cooking is a friendly game"
"pleasure comes from the repetition of eating- not a single bite"
"something new, something that you are tasting for the first time will not satisfy you because you have no memory of it"
and finally:
"you should only eat to satisfaction and satisfaction only comes when you follow the three rules- product, technique, and seasoning."

So, there you have it. And if you ever find yourself in Biarritz, France, I would give Restaurant Philippe a chance. They are only open for dinner.

(There was only one plating of the Barley Soup)