This is a delicious, unusual and quick brunch that I made for my friend Pat Smith visiting from Ann Arbor, MI. I like the balance between sweet, salt and tart tastes, as did Pat. French toast is something I knew in France as pain perdu or lost bread, I never had it for breakfast until I came to this country. There, it is always served as a dessert and mostly to use up stale bread. My batter is pretty simple and the secret is in the bread: I use good french sourdough country bread. The duck bacon is of course from d’Artagnan, it’s slight gaminess reveals itself only after the pleasant tartness of the fresh rhubarb. There is no need for extra maple syrup as I sweeten the rhubarb compote with it.
Rhubarb compote
4 cups of peeled and cut up fresh rhubarb
1/2 cup maple syrup
a few spoons of water
Put all the ingredients in a sauce pan, cook slowly until the rhubarb falls apart. Put aside
French Toast Batter
2 egg
1/2 cup of milk
a pinch of cinnamon (Ariane, Cathie you can skip that part)
Fry the duck bacon in a skillet, keep warm. Save and cook the toasts in the dripping (yum!)
This rabbit recipe is quick, easy and tasty. I buy rabbits from d’Artagnan at the Park Slope Food Coop, you can get the same product on line, click here for details and order. D’Artagnan offers either whole rabbits or a choice of cuts. At the Park Slope Food Coop no choice, the rabbits come as whole, above is my rabbit cut in 5 pieces, though I ended up cutting the saddle into two pieces later on.
Voilà la recipe:
Preheat oven 350º
1 rabbit- cut into 5/6 pieces
1 big onion-slivered
1 apple -diced
1 cup of apple ice wine — it is an alcohol made from frozen apples, I am not a big fan of it as a drink but love to use it in cooking. Can be substituted for Calvados or any other apple brandy .
2 cups dry white wine
3 Tbsp duck fat —you can substitute for olive oil and a dollop of butter or lard or drippings.
1 cup heavy cream
Sauté onions in a skillet coated with duck fat until golden—
Remove onions and brown the rabbit, add some fat if needed. Flambé the rabbit with apple ice wine, or other brandy.
Return onions to the pan, add apple and combine with the rabbit.
Salt & fresh ground pepper to taste.
Add the white wine, stir and, either cook slowly on top of the stove covered or, as I prefer it, cook into preheated oven for about 40 minutes, the skillet should be covered.
Once the rabbit is cook take out the skillet out of the oven, remove the pieces of rabbit from the pan, keep them warm. Meanwhile pour the heavy cream into the skillet and yes! Do keep the onions, apples & juices in the pan and bring it to a boil.
Reduce the sauce until it thickens; stir frequently with a wooden spoon and when the sauce coats the back of the spoon it is a good indication the sauce has the perfect consistency. Adjust seasoning if necessary, return rabbit into the sauce, garnish with fennel sprigs, serve with homemade french fries or chips and a green salad with thinly sliced fennel bulb. Enjoy!
Concert CD release of: “Whisk! Don’t Churn!” Nicole Peyrafitte
(voice, video, electronics, whisk & sweets!) Michael Bisio
(double bass)
&
with guest poet & producer Pierre Joris
$8 Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
(212) 614-0505
CD Details: here
Read reviews: here
Get the CD: here (though if you come to the release party Saturday the CD will be available on donation)
A few weeks ago I raved about the Jean-Louis Cheese from Bobolink Dairy but didn’t get to take pictures. For my grand joy, I reconnected with Jonathan White, cheese maker and owner of Bobolink Dairy at the D’Artagnan Duckathlon. Jonathan was leading the cheese challenge; the contestants had to rank the cheeses by age, and for that he brought a selection of Baudolinos: “The “Brie of Barbarossa”, this soft-ripened wheel celebrates the pasture. Strong, fruity, and yeasty, this cheese is profoundly satisfying”.
Oh! yeah! all true and more. I did make several trips to the cheese station, and my reward was to take home of piece of Jean-Louis, which is their star cheese named in memory of chef Jean-Louis Palladin & made from New Jersey raw cow milk . We shared it with our friend Peter Cockelbergh, a writer, scholar and gourmand from Belgium who was blown away. I am telling you again, you can & should try it too! For a list of farmers markets and online sales for Bobolink click here. Jean-Louis Palladin couldn’t have hoped for a better homage; who cares about having a street, a park or a building named after yourself, but cheese of that dimension? That is pungent!
“She is making Cherry Coke Foie Gras!” says Ariane, nodding her head, pursing her lips, and cracking a demi-smile. She looks at my face and quickly adds: “she always wanted to do it“. Ariane Daguin, the Foie Gras goddess and childhood friend, is talking about her daughter Alix. Rose, Ariane’s best friend, and I have just been picked up at the corner of Madison ave. & 52nd street, and the three of us are now en route to Ithaca (N.Y) for the last Underground dinner of the season organized by an independent group of talented and inventive students from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. Alix Daguin is a founding member and one of the main emulator of the smart and energeticUnderground cohort.
So we are excited to attend the Underground #3 dinner installation and the last event of the season. The five hour drive passes very fast despite traffic, weather, anxiety to be late — and all that thanks to Rose & Jacques’ interaction. Jacques is Ariane’s French speaking GPS, who is much better at keeping us entertained than at giving accurate directions!
The premise for tonight’s dinner: six of the Cornell students work on six separate courses mentored by a master chef; each has to create one dish to be served to forty guests (2 servings of 20). The mentor chefs were: Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, Anthony Bourdain, Drew Nieporent, Rick Tramonto, and Francois Payard. The location is the beautiful private home of Ann Druyan and the late Carl Sagan on Cayuga Lake (all dinner proceeds are going to the Carl Sagan Foundation). Cocktails are served outside, overlooking the lake; there we meet Ann Druyan who graced the evening with her generous and caring hospitality —Ann is a writer, and also the founder and chair of the Carl Sagan Foundation. We are now called to dinner. We are taking our seats in the impressive below ground glass veranda. We look down at the kitchen, we look up at the trees, we are in a dreamscape like setting and the Nicolas Feuillate champagne helps!
The level of attention for details and care is very impressive. The chefs and waiters show total command throughout the soiree. The menu is creative, exciting, balanced and imprints my memory with beautiful flavors. I will not give a detailed review of every dish but I do need to return to the Cherry Coke Foie Gras. Yes! The idea is provocative, and I have to admit that for once the evil ingredient made itself discreet and (to me) it is it’s best usage ever! The Cherry Coke is used in the reduction, and acts as a gastrique (If i remember correctly I think that 2 cans are used for 40 servings), then the Cherry Coke demi-glace is spooned out under a perfectly pan seared slice of Foie Gras, accompanied by preserved black cherries, and garnished with a few slivered almond. The combination of the Foie’s silky texture, the fleshy tartness of the cherries and the light crunch of the slivered almond created a subtle balance of flavors and textures. Bravo! Alix, you sure are carrying on the family tradition with style and inventiveness. Bravo! to the entire Underground team, I hope that I will be asked back, I heard that not everybody makes the guest list. For more info read the review in the The Cornell Daily Sun of the Underground Dinner #1 and do not miss the video below. Meanwhile drool while reading the menu! & Thank you Ariane for taking me along.
Menu
Cherry Coke Foie Gras Alix Daguin mentored By Rick Tramonto
Rabbit and Chanterelle Tamales with Mole Trio Nicole Leong and Anna Bauer Mentored By Anthony Bourdain
Finger Lakes Schuyler Cheese filled Ravioli with Green Peppercorn Kevin Relf Mentored By Daniel Boulud
Pan Seared Halibut with Shellfish Emulsion and Spring Vegetables Max Kellman Mentored By Eric Ripert
Beef Tenderloin with Marrow Parmentier and Spring Garnish Peter Roumanis Mentored by Drew Nieporent
Lemon Verbena Sorbet Katherine Kiess
Chocolate Toffee Cake Danielle Tsuzuki Mentored By Francois Payard
