Sputtering along

I have made three of the four recipes from the fourth lesson, distributed over severals days, which, go figure, seems a lot easier than doing a three course meal at one time! On Christmas Eve, we had the main course--Gigot d'agneau and the Gratin de Blettes--but I substituted our traditional oyster stew for the entrée of salmon crêpes.

I was under the impression that I was the only one in our household who liked oyster stew, so, accepting reality uncomplainingly like the saint that I am, I was going to give up on my family tradition--as I had done with fruit cake. I was planning to make the crêpes instead of the stew. But then my son objected. But he LIKES oyster stew! Then my husband also protested that he, too, likes Christmas eve oyster stew. Even my daughter admitted that her particular Christmas tradition involved eating and then complaining about the oyster stew. So we had the oyster stew, and all of us were happy in our own ways.

The method for making the lamb was basically what we have always done--garlic shards embedded, rubbed with oil and seasonings, hot oven. The swiss chard gratin was tasty and straightforward to make. It was even better several days later. The meal was not for the lactose-intolerant.

We had the salmon crêpes for dinner Wednesday night, the day after Christmas. No real challenges there. I used a chunky salmon rather than strips, but it tasted delicious. Since our crêpes pan is in storage, I used a small omelet pan and that worked out okay; My French-learned, crêpes-flipping technique served me well. We used crème fraîche on top. Overall, I thought it was a bit bland, though.