Foie Gras-ed Out

In the week leading up to the Christmas holiday, I think it is safe to say we were all weary, ready for a break and quite possibly crazy as pigs, literally...

Carletta goofing off in the Garde Manger before service.  We had to crouch down to take this photo so that Chef wouldn't see us "disrespect ze pig ear."

Rolled veal jarrett.

Poaching foie gras in wine.

Wine poached foie gras in the middle, a terrine of foie gras on the left and fried foie gras on the right.

I made a shrimp bisque to go over the pasta I was assigned to make for service.

ThenI  had to put my hand dangerously close to the slicing blade to get ultra thin bacon.  Don't worry, I didn't lose any digits (this time around at least).

Seafood pasta!  Yum.

After service, we tackled some more foie gras for people to have over Christmas.

After slicing it open, we took out all the "nerves."

And seasoned it with Chef's special spice mix.

Finally, it was rolled and ready for sous-vide.  Quite frankly, by this point, I was sick of foie gras, no matter how much it tasted like buttery deliciousness.

What I was not sick of was champagne.  We all toasted the last service before the holiday with a glass of champagne - my favorite way to say Merry Christmas.

Lyon

Friday brought our last regional menu before the holidays, and man was it a FEAST!  We had six courses, every one of them delicious and unique to the Lyon area.  By the end of the meal, I was secretly hoping that Santa's elves would show up to clean the kitchen for us, but I guess they had toys to make because they certainly did not show up.

To the delight of my Louisiana raised heart, I found these creatures trying to escape the kitchen upon my arrival on Friday morning.

They didn't get very far.

This is the story of an 85 Euro chicken.  Yes, you read that correctly - EIGHTY-FIVE EUROS!  It is a Bresse chicken, which as you can assume, is a very prized bird from the Lyon region.  It was my job to break it down and prepare it.  I've never been so nervous with a chicken before in my whole life.  I mean, It costs about 83 Euros more than any normal chicken, so you can see my hesitancy in just hacking into it with abandon.

As you can see by this medal around it's head and the mullet it is rocking, this chicken is definitely worth the price.

After sparing you the photos of burning off the feathers, giving it a "french manicure," and gutting it, I couldn't resist showing you the ridiculous amount of fat in this bird.  Unbelievable.  I guess that is why it tasted so good!

We shaved a truffle.

And then stuck the shavings under the skin of Mr. Fancy Pants Chicken.

Next, the chicken went into a sock.

And got dunked into a stock to cook for a couple hours at a low temperature.

Kyoko made a beautiful brioche.

Chef seems to approve as the brioche comes out of the oven.  Maybe he was really just thinking, "Only a few more hours with these culinary amateurs and I'm outta here for 2 weeks!"

Waiters in training setting up our table.

 Fromage blanc avec herbes.

Saucisson en brioche (a delicious sausage baked in brioche).  Who doesn't love a huge version of a pig in a blanket?

Souffle a champignons et emmenthal.  Cheese and mushroom souffle prepared by Leo.

Quenelles avec ecrivesses.  A fish dumpling in a crawfish bisque.  AWESOME.

Poularde a demi-deuil. (Half mourning chicken).

I'm not sure there is a French translation for chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, but there should be.  It was awesome and was accompanied by vanilla whipped cream and beignets.

Oops.

"Did I do that," asked Kyoko.

Yep, I guess so.  Maybe too much wine, which by the way was all Italian wine since we forgot to order the French stuff.  So, money was pooled, the sous-chef headed down to a neighboring Italian wine shop and voila - we had wine!

See you in 2010, Groupe B.

On Second Thought

Please let it stop snowing.  Besides the fact that I am not a huge fan of 20 degree F weather with a windchill of 9 degrees F (!!!!!), I am really not a fan of having my flight home for Christmas canceled.  So, please let's all say a collective prayer that the weather really lets up, the temperature rises, and my plane takes off on time tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

The first snowfall of the year in Paris was early yesterday morning (when I was walking to school without my rainboots), and it really didn't stop until this afternoon (when I was wearing my rainboots).  It was so exciting to watch the snow fall from the kitchen all day both days - a great contrast to the firey hot stove on which we were cooking.

It's hard to describe how magical Paris is when it snows, especially right before Christmas, but just imagine all the beautiful parks and monuments covered in fresh, white snow.  It's downright amazing, and it has put an energy in the air that is palpable.  So much so that the mean cafeteria lady at the school today actually cracked half a smile at me and a random French person on the street actually said "Pardon" when she slammed into me instead of just barrelling forward per usual.  Who knew snow could have that effect?

Here are some pics of the snow, but they just do not do it justice since I couldn't take very many until late in the day yesterday.

Taken through a window in the kitchen at school.

The snow really piled up on Thursday.

A cafe near my apt.

Buildings dusted with snow.

Notre Dame in a haze of snow flurries.

St. Michel Fountain.

And all good things must come to an end.  This is what I like to call nasty pollution snow which now graces the streets of Paris. 

Soaking Up Paris

This past weekend was B's last one in Paris for a while.  So, naturally, we lived it up.

We biked all around the city, on Paris's new "take and leave" bike system, Velib.  I highly endorse it.  The seats were way more comfortable than those in Amsterdam where I walked like John Wayne for two days after riding them.  Plus, it's a cool vantage point of the city.  However, there are a couple negatives.  1 - Paris is not as bike oriented as some other cities in Europe (e.g. many of the bike lanes are also the bus lanes.  Not exactly comforting to hear a huge multi-ton bus rushing up behind you on Boulevard St. Germain).  2 - Velib doesn't accept American credit cards, so unless you have a European card with a chip in it, you are out of luck.  Just another example of the French not taking advantage of the money we are always trying to give them.

Speaking of that, B and I headed to the Hotel de Ville to go ice skating on Saturday.  At Christmas time, the city apparently puts up a temporary ice skating rink.  It was freezing out, but the sky was blue, the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  Perfect weather for ice skating (I should know, because in Texas we have outdoor ice skating rinks year round.  Ok.  So, that's not exactly true and I've never in fact ice skated outside, but it seemed like perfect weather. Ok?).  Anyway, despite the fact that I thought it was a perfect day for the potentially dangerous sport, the city of Paris seemed to think otherwise.  They have the rink all set up, but for some inexplicable reason it is not yet open to the public.  The city undoubtedly missed out on hundreds of people who would have paid a slight fortune to go ice skating on a beautiful December day just before Christmas in front of the Hotel de Ville with its huge Christmas trees.  Of course, this is France, and there is rarely a logical reason for anything so I don't know why I am surprised by the fact that it is not yet open.

Despite the disappointment of the closed ice rink, we had a great weekend.  Here are a few photos of our adventures...

We biked to the 16th arrondisement where you can view the Eiffel Tower from a hill.

We checked out the holiday displays at Le Bon Marche, a famous department store in Paris.

We waited in line in the Marais for...

this bit of awesomeness known as a falafel.

Ignoring the cold, we did what the locals did and ate our falafel right there on the street.

Then we just soaked up all the sights.

And decided to enlighten ourselves with some culture at the gardens of the Rodin Museum.  If you haven't been to the Rodin museum - GO!  The gardens are amazing and only cost 1 euro to access.  There are sculptures throughout, views of Paris, and flowers galore - all are breathtaking.

The Thinker resides in Rodin's garden.

Who needs someone else to take a photo of you in front of The Thinker when you have this handy extension on your camera?  Apparently these two tourists don't.

We also indulged in hot chocolate, coffee and a caramel tart one afternoon, a welcomed break from the freezing cold weather.

And finally, we gave in to our utter need to not eat bread, wine, cheese or anything coated in rich sauce and went to a sushi bar.  It was my first experience eating sushi from a bar with a conveyer belt that brings around different types of sushi that you just grab from the belt.  It was a lot of fun, and I learned one thing: if I ever want to open a sushi restaurant, I need to have a conveyer belt.  Why?  Well, because it's so exciting that customers don't realize how many plates they are really getting until they get the bill!