Bordeaux

Friday is always a welcome day to me because it means I have the whole weekend to discover Paris and eat great food without cooking it myself!  Today we made a regional menu from Bordeaux, which is where Chef is from so he was quite excited about it and kept saying how everything from Bordeaux was "ze best in ze world."  I certainly agree with him that the last wine we tasted today, a 1997 Margaux, is indeed one of the best wines in the world.  It was awesome and we all lingered over it until about 3 pm this afternoon when reality set in that we had an entire kitchen to clean (what a buzz kill).

Prepping the meal

My dish was razor clams.  Here they are in salt water.  Notice the one in the very back.

See how it jumped up and over?  They kept doing that.  It was crazy! See video at end of post for more crazy clam jumping.

I have to admit that taking the clams out of the shell was a bit of a downer considering they were still squirming around, and I swear I heard one of them say, "Stop.  Don't kill me and eat me, please."

Some razor clams were rolled in bacon.

Others were lightly breaded.

Plating the razor clams.

Isabelle, who Chef has lovingly nicknamed "Catastrophe," was solo today on her dessert mission.

Estee smiling with the bird she has to gut and pluck.

Estee realizing she has to do just that.

Estee doing just that.

Estee running away from the bird in disgust after finding its stomach full.  Apparently, the bird had just eaten before the hunter shot it and the bird dog fetched it.  Estee was not a fan of this scenario.

Partridges in a rosemary branch.  (Just not as catchy as Partridge in a Pear Tree, is it?).

Someone got caught with her hand in the culinary cookie jar that is mushrooms.

Enjoying the meal

Bring on the food!

Fricasse de Cepes (the best mushroom in the world).  Remember an earlier post about the cepe with the worm in it?  Here's to hoping that the ones I ate today were worm free!  That is, unless it happened to be a tape worm which at this point (when my pants are fitting quite snug) would be welcomed wholeheartedly.

Declinasion de Couteaux aux Concombres (Razor Clams with cucumbers).  Prepared three ways: wrapped in bacon and sauteed, breaded and pan-fried with a yogurt cucumber sauce, clam tartare.

At the risk of sounding like the ultimate wine snob, I must say that this wine, a 2006 Graves, was way too young to drink.  It needed to stay in the bottle much longer to be good.  I have to admit that after a couple sips, I threw mine down the drain. 

Sandre Sauce Bordelaise (a river fish with a bordelaise sauce).  The sauce was amazing.  I could have just had it alone in a soup bowl.  Well, maybe, with a baguette to dip in it too.  Yum!

The delicious red wine that made my run around Luxembourg Gardens so hard this afternoon.

Perdreaux (Partridge) with cabbage, girolles and chicken liver pate on toast. Needless to say, Estee didn't eat her partridge and to be honest, I didn't eat much of it either.  Seeing the stomach contents of an animal doesn't necessarily make you want to eat it, FYI.

Unless, apparently, you are from Bordeaux like Chef, who is enjoying the partridge down to the bone.

Canneles (a bit too brown, but still delicious) and Lillet Sorbet. 

A quick video of the clams jumping around.