waxing poetical

I told robiewankenobie one of the best things right now is the fact that I have my brain back.

I have new toys to play with and I have been looking over the pages of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I have been having lustful thoughts about cassoulet. It is fall and we must turn our thoughts to cozy comfort food.

I am thinking about mushroom soups filled with chanterelles and delicious casseroles.

You can find me in the kitchen.

Housekeeping duties.

Every Fall season I like to begin anew. People may have moved, changed names or lifestyles so it is time to update the ol' address book. I may already have your address but it never hurts to give it again. for I am forgetful and lose things easily. Mr. Jenner can testify to that since I lose my keys on a regular basis. Thank you.


[Poll #593918]


This being a lady of leisure thing takes a lot of work. I am nearly finished with the morning correspondence, I have prepped a few things for dinner, put on a load of dishes, tidied up the kitchen, made the beds and transferred things to another handbag. Mind you I have been up since 4am. I suppose it is time to tackle other irritating tasks.

At some point this week I need to think good thoughts about preparing the guest room. We shall be having a visitor soon for a few days. She will be here for an upcoming wedding. (the last of the season I think) It will be a ton of fun to have her here.

I also need to get to work on a couple of stories.

dinner

A few more things were accomplished today. I can rest.

After having a bit of tea I started perusing the cookbooks. Oh the endless possibilities. I peeled and sliced (very thin) some potatoes and let them soak in ice water this morning with a vague idea of cooking up something involving gratins.

I took a recipe and turned it on its head and hopefully I will have created something delicious. We will find out in a bit.
I also got to use my brand new copper pan. (which by the way is my new favorite thing today)
Preheat your oven to 375 if you want to do this half-assed recipe.
I heated up some butter and melted it. Once it was foamy I tossed in some finely chopped parsley, a bit of oregano and some salt and pepper. Yum right there. I loved how the butter kept its pale yellow color the entire time. I then tossed in some finely chopped shallots and sauteed that gently. I love the scent of shallots cooking. Anthony Bourdain my imaginary cooking boyfriend said the key to sexing up a lot of dishes is all about the butter and shallots. I trust my favorite former speed addict. Then I tossed in some chicken. I had some boneless, skinless thighs that needed to be put to good use and I cut them up into reasonably sized pieces and sauteed those babies. Oh how delicious the kitchen was smelling. THEN while keeping an eye on the chicken and butter you beat in a bowl four eggs, add some cream/milk (whatever you like) and whisk till your arm hurts. Pour that into the pan and whisk whisk whisk. Whisk my friend. I then added some goat cheese. It isn't my favorite goat cheese but it will do in a pinch. It isn't quite fresh I suspect so it does not have that same sharp flavor I like when I buy fresh French chevre. But that is okay. It isn't the main point of the meal. It is kind of a binder. I continued to cook that over medium heat and thought cheerful thoughts about pretty things. I also put a pyrex dish into the oven to warm it up a bit. Once it was warm (takes about five minutes) I removed the pan, threw in a few dots of butter and then placed some of the sliced potatoes in the bottom. Once the chicken/egg mixture had thickened a bit I poured it over the potatoes. I then took the remaining potatoes and put them on top. I grated a bit of cheese over everything and sprinkled some parsley and salt and pepper on top.

You cook that stuff for about 30 minutes and then serve it up.

It is sorta quichey but not exactly.

I am serving it with a spinach salad and a nice white wine. I think it is a wine left over from our wedding. The champagne we had saved was gone when we came home. Some British bastards drank it.
Just sayin'.

I would like to offer thanks to Julia Child for assisting in this recipe.

Oooh Cafe Campagne (one of my favorite French restaurants in Seattle) has a sexy wine dinner for October.

Let me paste the menu for this dinner.

Le Menu
1st course
Brandade de morue (Salt cod, olive oil, garlic and potato gratiné with toast)

2nd course
Tarte de blettes (House-made chard tart)

3rd course
Cassoulet (Southwest French white bean stew with lamb, pork, duck confit, and garlic
sausage)

4th course
Fromage

5th course
House-made truffles

for October’s wine dinner feature; Fenouillèdes, a
sub-region of Roussillon, located in the Pyrénées-Orientales between Occitanie and
Northern Catalonia.
$79 per person - Service non compris.

Lick the monitor.