Peaceable plugs away and completes #8

I made the onion soup from menu 8 on Friday night, a fairly straight-up recipe. It was pretty, though... well, not so much dull as very delicate. I think the onion needed to be sauteed a bit longer, and we needed better cheese. But the soup had great potential and didn't break the points budget. It was definitely an example of what The Bride observed in an earlier thread--many of these recipes are ways of serving plain foods in fancy ways. Onion, bread, wine, cheese. What could be simpler?

Tonight, I made the Truite aux amandes, although, alas, in the end it turned into Truite sans amandes because I remembered the almonds only after we sat down to eat. The little bag of almonds sitting in the ingredients pile next to the butter, parsley and lemons might as well have been left in the shopping cart at Lunds. Oddly, I remembered the slice of lemon. I remembered the parsley garnish. Evidently my subconscious was stunned enough at the prospect of sauting almonds in 10 TBL of butter that it just drew a blank. In addition to forgetting the butter-sauted almonds, I reduced the fat content of the recipe by using butter-flavored canola spray instead of 3 Tbl of butter plus 1 Tbl of oil. I'm sure that the flavor would have been much richer with butter and nuts, but it was good without it too.

Arthritic, hobbled Hobbes was like a cat-possessed. The trout seemed to put a spirit of youth in him. He performed acrobatic feats to reach the counter where I was preparing the trout. When I stood up to get the salt, he moved like a flash and almost got some off my plate.

We served the trout with the pommes à l'Anglaise, roast asparagus and delicious baguette made from "artisan bread in five minutes a day." I had a French white, and Tom had a red.

Lesson 10: Sautés

Crème Vichyssoise
(Chilled Cream of Potato and Leek Soup)

Poulet Sauté Basquaise
(Chicken, Basque Style)

Riz Pilaf
(Rice Pilaf)

Tarte aux Pommes
(Apple Tart)

Cooked about January 27, 2008
(Lesson 9 has been postponed until spring)

Soup: Though Vichy is a city in central France, this chilled leek and potato soup is said to be the creation of a French chef working in the United States in the early years of this century. It has since returned to France, where the term vichyssoise is occasionally applied to cold soups in general. At Le Cordon Bleu, only the whites of the leeks are used in making the soup and they are mixed with only a small amount of potato to produce a creamy texture and refreshing taste.

Chicken and Pilaf: Dishes in the Basque style typically contain bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and ham -- and this one is no exception. Basque dishes can also be quite spicy (especially when they are seasoned with a local chili called piment d'espelette instead of pepper). At Le Cordon Bleu, a French version of the classic Turkish pilav (pilaf in French) accompanies the sauté.

Apple Tart: An apple tart can be as simple or as complicated as you like. At home in France, it is often made by layering thin-sliced apples over pie dough, dotting them with butter, sprinkling with sugar, and baking -- that's it. This Cordon Bleu apple tart is slightly more elaborate, but baking the dough blind and giving it an egg glaze before garnishing it ensures that the crust will never be soggy.