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Tag Archives: French
bit·ter·sweet (btr-swt)
n.
1. A woody vine of the genus Celastrus, especially the North American species C. scandens and the eastern Asian species C. orbiculata, having small, round, yellow-orange fruits that open at maturity to expose red seeds. Also called staff tree.
2. See bittersweet nightshade.
3. A dark to deep reddish orange.
adj.
1. Bitter and sweet at the same time: bittersweet chocolate.
2. Producing or expressing a mixture of pain and pleasure: a movie with a bittersweet ending.
3. Dark to deep reddish-orange.
There have been a few episodes the past couple of months that have been “bittersweet” for me. This event came at a perfect time.
As well, I am a chocolate addict. I would eat it everyday of the week if I could. The darker and the deeper the chocolate the better. No semi-sweet, milk chocolate for me!! It is like a bad drug. For this event which was hosted by Apartment Therapy The Kitchen, I choose a bittersweet chocolate tart – I love it because it is incredibly bitter (70% chocolate) and just a little sweet (hardly any sugar). I love to have it drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, or a drizzle of cream, or maybe a ripe red raspberry; but, this time around, the slight bite of the chocolate and the slight sweetness of the crust went incredibly well with a deep dark espresso! Pure sin ….. all things bad turned into one good thing!
Unfortunately, for you the viewers, the photos are terrible. As it was a very last minute decision, I forgot until half way thru the process that I was suppose to take a few photos of the baking process as well a few of the finished process. Because of chilling times, etc.. I missed all the wonderful natural light and had to work with what I had. I can assure you all … this is a fantastic tart and you should definitely make it when you are feeling the need to be a little bad!
Recipe
that is what the past weekend has been all about. Upon arriving back home with a very rainy weekend in store, we decided we should stay as close to home as possible! Every January, we give up alcohol for a month and start eating healthy, again, at least better than we had the past holiday season. This time we decided to take advantage of the terrible rainy weekend and stay in and indulge before the clean living starts up. We definitely fulfilled that sin – lots of good food being cooked, bottles of wine & champagne to be drank, lots of sleep and being lazy in front of a TV (which we never do), some shopping and one incredible dinner out at Delfina.
Tonight we decided to start the clean living with a simple soup – a Provencal vegetable soup with Pistou, served with a crusty loaf of bread and some very creamy blue Roquefort – incredible!!!! Now we are settling in to warm up the evening with a cognac, the last drip of alcohol for the month!
for leaving you stranded in our kitchen for so long! We have had a terrible time, trying to find time to stay home – too busy, since coming back from the Costa Rica. Definitely, dying to get some quality time hunkering down at home – maybe 2008!
We did get a chance to toast the holidays with some friends of ours over the weekend – D., JT, & S. (who is in from Boston). I have been dying to cook a Cassoulet since taking my classes at Tante Marie – what better time than now!
Started the evening with a nice bottle of bubbly wine and Gougere Puffs – I did not have Gruyère cheese so I compromised and added what I had on hand – goat cheese! They came out a little heavier than usual but very tasty, especially with a glass of bubbly! We then moved on to the star attraction, Cassoulet! I was quite happy – the duck fell off the bones, and the flavor was fantastic. Could use a touch more salt but otherwise, very good. For dessert I whipped up a Chocolate Souffle. I had some extra pistachios so I crushed them with sugar in the old food processor and coated the sides of dish before adding the sinful part of the souffle. Not the same as I usually make, more like pudding with a crunchy topping, very rich and sinful. We highly recommend!
Overall, a fantastic evening. Great Friends and good food – the best way to ring in the holidays!
L. left for the La Ruta de los Conquistadores, last night. We have been living and breathing biking for the past 11 months. This was our first Saturday in so long that we could lounge around the house on a Saturday, drink coffee, watch a movie and just enjoy each other company! In honor all of his hard work & to give a guy a decent meal before his trip, I used my skills learned at Tante Marie and made an outstanding dinner!
We started with a mixed green salad with a light French Vinaigrette. I picked up some outrageous Roquefort and forgot the bread, so I crumbled it over the salad. The cheese was fantastic and while good on a salad would had been better with a baguette – live and learn. Despite the raining day and night, we picked up some of these steaks we found a couple weeks ago – by far the best we have had, ever – and tossed them on the grill. Lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. The star attraction with our steak was my new favorite potato – potatoes fried in duck fat and sprinkled with sea salt. OH MY GOD! These morsels with a nice grilled steak and a full bodied red wine are to die for!
We kicked it up a notch for dessert and made crepe Suzette.
The entire evening was fantastic – the food, wine and most of all my hot guy, I am so proud of him!
We were driving over the bay bridge early afternoon and noticed that the bay was very calm … almost eerie, actually. I hate to say it, as I just put L. for a plane, and I would hate to be home alone, but it seems like earthquake weather. Or maybe the eerie is because of the big H. day coming up this week.
Regardless, we decided it was a good reason to pick up some steaks and toss them on the barbie! They were Marin Sun Farmsbeef steaks and they were OUTSTANDING! Really truly OUTSTANDING! Just coated with some olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled them up! Served along side was a warm “french” potato salad, which I learned in my French Cooking class a couple weeks ago. Can not beat a steak and potato dinner served up with a little red wine to wash it all down! Nice meal before putting my man on a plane ….
another late night spinning. Luckily, I had a few minutes before we left to toss together a gratin. So all we had to do was pop it into the oven and Voila, lovely french food for dinner! This was an endive and prosciutto gratin that I learned to make in my French Cooking classes a couple weeks ago. When I started putting it together, I had a feeling L. was going to give it a BIG VETO like he did to the Leek Soup; but, he did not! It was too tasty with all that smokiness of the Prosciutto and cheesy sauce!
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Well, not exactly but the next best thing. Denise of Chez spent the past weekend cooking, eating and tasting wine at Tante Marie .
I took a French Food and Wine Course over the weekend – which I highly recommend. The school is small, intimate and very professional with a casual and laid back feeling all rolled into one fantastic program. Mary Risley, the founder of Tante Marie is very personable and welcoming – as if we all just came to her home! Everyone taking the course was interesting (from all over the country as well as Bay Area) and we all enjoyed the same passion – COOKING and FOOD! The instructors, Jessica Lasky (food) and Shelley Lindgren (wine) are knowledgeable, fun and very personable. I can not say enough pleasant things about my experience – I will definitely go back!
We spent the entire weekend learning about the different regions of France with regards to food and wine as well as getting our hands dirty in the kitchen. We made everything from Pepper Gougeres (can you say super YUM), Salade Lyonnaise, Classic Bouillabaise, Beef Daube, Duck Cassoulet, Quail with Grapes, Celeryroot and Endive Salade, Fig Clafouti, Crepe Suzette, and the list goes on and one!
We tasted and drank wines from Champagne, Alace, Bordeaux, the Rhone and may other wonderful areas in France.
I wish I could give you all a nibble; but, I can’t. You can entice your taste buds here!
This is simply a wonderful way to spend a weekend!
The Purple Box does to me, what the Blue Box does for most women I know!
Our friends E & W just got back from Paris …. when they asked what we wanted all I could think of was a new copy of my beloved Plan de Paris par Arrondissement and French Macaroons.
Much to our surprise we got just that as well as extract goodies! Let me just say this … Salted Caramel, is to die for! Not to mention we were able to relive our holiday thru their memories!
When is the next plane leaving??!!!
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