Back in Colorado

We arrived back in the US on Wednesday. Sorry about not being able to update, but I have lots of pictures to go along with the updates I hope to get posted in the next couple of days. It's been kind of a struggle to get back into the swing of things here. I adjusted really well going to France, but coming back...Right, let's just say it's 3pm for me at 7am. Didn't sleep much. ^_^

Pictures will hit Picasa and Facebook (facebook will take a little longer).

Samedi, Mai 2

Today is the first day that Chef Olivier is also working with us. He is a pastry chef, also very, very skilled. We did two desserts to get a little more out of his being there. He owns a restaurant called Food and Mets, it has the best burgers ever. No joke, you can’t come close to it for less than $20 in the states. And he was shocked and very flattered to hear it. (Oh, and he does remember you, Rama. He was very happy that you liked his food so much)

Amuse/entrée-”Fleur de courgette, souffle au foie gras”
Squash blossom stuffed with seared fois gras and chicken mousseline (which was probably one of the most awesome things I’ve ever tasted), sautéed squash tops, red wine reduction

Poisson-”St. Pierre (John Dory fish) en troncon et creueux de langoustines galette croustillante de celeri”
Seared John Dory, celeri root pancake, langoustine froth/bisque, seared langoustine tail (Chef also cooked the head for presentation)

Viande-”Ris de veau braise aux morilles”
Seared sweetbreads, braised morels in a cream sauce, braised mini carrots

Dessert 1-”Quenelle au chocolat au lait, caramel et carambar”
Quenelle of ganache with caramel and carambar crisps (carambar is a caramel candy, popular here)

Dessert 2-”Vert”
Literally means “green”. The whole dessert was green for a monochromatic feel. Financier (cake), matcha ice cream, verveine gelee, verveine whipped cream, manzanar gelee, manzanar citrus marinated apples

Vendredi, Mai 1

Vendredi, Mai 1
Today is the first day that we are working in the kitchen at the University of Wine, so the menu will be interesting. I’ll post the menu quoted (cuz it’s in French) and explain what it is.

Amuse-”Declineison d’asperge”
Asparagus three ways, white asparagus cooked in milk with green onion, white asparagus puree with chives, white asparagus sautéed in butter

Entrée (second dish, usually veg)-”Mitonee de legumes du moment”
Braised carrot, squash blossom stuffed with green part of chard, sautéed green onion, sautéed fava beans, braised artichokes, sautéed pencil asparagus

Poisson (Fish)-”Petite bouille de roche et rouge barbet”
Seared red mullet, toast with rouille (spicy mustard/mayonnaise), rockfish bouille (not quite a real bouillebaise)

Viande (Meat)-”Bateau de pigeon, jambonnette de sa cuisse et blette au blat”
Seared squab breast, white chard and parmesan square, squab leg lollipop (the jambonnette), quenelle of liver/heart/shallots pan fried, pan sauce from squab bones

Dessert-”Harmonie de fraises du basilic”
Butterscotch cookie, basil citrus sorbet, macerated strawberries with citrus, glucose/starch/orange “crisp”, sugared basil

Pain (Bread)-”Anis, campagne, pain brioche”

I worked on the squab, which is surprisingly tasty. Really, you need to see the pictures, cuz words just don’t do these dished justice.
Oh, and by the way Chef Jean Michel, who is our chef here, is amazing. He makes up recipes just from walking around and looking at food quality, he plates on the fly, he’s bloody brilliant. He’s probably the most amazing chef I’ve ever seen. I love France.

Hooray for internet.

Miercoles, Avril 29

Today was…interesting. Consisted of getting off the plane from our eleven-ish hour flight, waiting three hours to get on the bullet train because apparently it takes from 7am to 11am to cross the terminal, and rididng the train for another three hours. Luckily I got to sleep on the train since I didn’t on the plane. Then we got to the apartment and settled and such. I got the smallest room, but it has a wall against the back of the bed so I’m good with that. We grabbed a little bit to eat at that point, I got a sammich that I’d had the last time I was in France. It was a soft cheese inside the bread and a harder cheese melted on top, and I’m fully aware that my mother will kill me for eating her favorite sammich. Then we went to eat at Numero 75, Chef Brunel’s restaurant and the place I will be staging at. It was very cool. I have pictures, they’re dark, but there. Ummm….I’ll figure out the picture situation somehow too, that may be a little problematic until I get home.

Numero 75

Black olive tapenade-salty, olive chunks, good texture and variety

Yellow olive tapenade-slightly sweet, didn’t like as much, similar texture

Dried tomato pesto-salty, sweet, indicative of sun dried tomato

Mint crème brulee-like a very buttery custard, almost a sweet mint compound butter brulee

Coconut panna cotta with berries-Mild, creamy, not overpowering in flavor, smooth

Chocolate tart-Bitter layer, followed by a caramely crunchy layer, and a sweet fluffy one, with a creamy caramel sauce (high cream content?)

Apple crumble-Made with duck fat instead of butter, creamy and crunchy/soft

Oh, and I slept like the dead. I was completely out. Need more sleep.

Jeudi, Avril 30

Went to a market this morning. It was awesome. I love those little markets. We got cured meats, cheese, baguette, fruit, gummies (If you know me, you know the significance of this), and a couple rotisserie quails. Which are very cool. One of our classmates bit the head off his quail. We did a walking tour of the city, and had a kind of tasting lunch at Les Halles, which you WILL get a picture of, it’s a vertical garden on the outside. It had tons of meats, cheeses, olives, oysters, breads, etc. It was very cool. Very good wine too. Oh, and I got a bottle of wine at the grocery store for 1€85. Be jealous, all of you. ^_^ Then there’s a wine tasting at the Pope’s Palace.

Kay.

I do not have internet connections at my apartment, so updates will be REALLY sporadic for a while. I'm gonna do what I can, but the general format will probably be a three or four day update all at once. On days that we have a menu, I'll list it and then list what we actually did, since there's a little confusion on it. Thanks for your patience.