Today we moved into the heartland region of France and spoke about Touraine and the surrounding area, including Anjou, Orleans and Poitou…all considered to be part of the Loire Valley. This is a very fertile and picturesque area (well known for its chateaus), often referred to as ‘the garden’ of France (hey, just like New Jersey, the Garden state!). The cuisine from the area is simplistic, honest and unpretentious without being boring…it can also be referred to as peasant food with just a touch of sophistication (that sounds bad, I know…I hope no one from the region is actually reading this). What’s interesting about the region is the lack of dairy that is produced and used. This is because the land is so fertile, it is more worthwhile to use it for cultivating fruits and vegetables as opposed to using it for pasture. However, the region does produce lots of excellent goat cheese. Compared to cows, goats require less land and can live in areas where cows can’t…especially rocky areas that can’t really support agriculture. The Loire River Valley is a well known wine producing region as well, producing three main varieties of grapes…Chenin (used to make perhaps the most famous white wine from the region, Vouvray), Sauvignon Blanc (also used for white wine), and Cabernet Franc (used to make red wine). About 2/3rds of the wine produced from the region is white and it can be really dry and crisp to really sweet…there is a lot of variety among the white wines produced here.
Tarte Au Fromage De Chevre (Goat Cheese Tart):
The tart was layered with cabbage and goat cheese and it was just as good as it sounds. The crust was exceptionally tender too. For those unfamiliar with goat cheese, it is generally tangy, tart, creamy and very smooth. Additionally, it has fewer calories per ounce is also easier to digest than cow’s milk cheese.
Aumoniere de Saumon Aux Poireau Et Asperges (Fresh Salmon, Leeks and Asparagus in ‘Money Purses’):
We seem to make a lot of these ‘money purse’ dishes in school, which always seem to elicit the same unenthusiastic reaction from whomever is assigned to prepare the dish. It does seem like there is a lot of work that goes in to assembling these things…first the batter for the crepes must be prepared so that it has time to sit (which allows for the gluten in the ‘dough’ to relax), then the filling is prepared, then the leeks are prepared, then the crepes are actually cooked, then the purses are assembled, then the beurre blanc sauce is made and finally, drizzled over the purses and served. Seems a bit fussy if you ask me.
Soup Tourangelle:
A basic soup made from cabbage, turnip, chicken stock, bacon and leeks. Almost the exact opposite of the dish above….simple, but also really satisfying.
Salad Aux Fines Herbes (Herbed salad with goat cheese):
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Escarole was used for the greens in the salad and the goat cheese was mixed with finely chopped shallot and thyme.
Fricassee de Poulet a L’Angevine (Chicken Fricassee with Mushrooms and Onions, from Anjou):
Jenni and I joined forces to pull off this feat of culinary engineering. It began with us each butchering a chicken, breaking it down into the standard ’8-cut’ (two breasts, two wings, two thighs, two drumsticks). A fricassee is essentially a braise with one important difference…in a fricassee the meat is not seared (or browned). The recipe called for the chicken pieces to be cooked for just a few minutes per side in a mixture of olive oil and butter. Then the chicken pieces were removed, seasoned, lightly dusted with flour and returned to pot (the exact opposite order that you’d think the steps should be completed). Chicken stock, white wine and pearl onions were added and the chicken was cooked just about all the way through. Then the chicken was removed, the braising liquid was defatted and cooked slowly, skimming the surface every so often in order to remove the floury taste from it (we just wanted the thickening power of the flour, not the starchy, grainy taste). Some mushrooms that had been previously cooked were also added, along with the liquid given off by the mushrooms. Just before service, the braising liquid was enriched with a mixture of creme fraiche and egg yolk, then the chicken was added back to the pot, combined with the now silky and velvety sauce and served with some croutons.
Gateau Anjou de Pomme de Terre (Potato Pie):
Layers of thinly sliced potatoes, encased in a puff pastry crust and cooked until golden brown.
Pain de Carottes a la Tourangelle:
Hmm, yeah, I don’t really know what to call these things. They were basically like little custards, made with grated carrot and finely chopped onion and a few eggs. I can’t really say I cared too much for them.
Poires Belles Angevines Fourrees de Cremets a la Creme Anglaise Parfumee (Pears in White Wine with Cremets and Flavored English Custard):
This was really tasty. The pears were poached in red wine (even though the recipe and the name of the dish would have you think we’d use white wine). Cremets is a filling made from cream cheese, sugar, heavy cream and sour cream and it was piped into the center of pears. It was served with a creme anglaise flavored with pear liquor and also garnished with some of the reduced pear poaching liquid.
So far I can say that I’m enjoying the French classes, although I’m a little concerned about all of the French vocabulary terms that we will have to become familiar with. We’ve only had two weeks of French cooking and in that short time I’d guess that there are at least 70 terms that we have to be familiar with for testing purposes. Over the course of the next few weeks, I expect that number to grow considerably. All I can do is hope that one of the questions won’t be, name a classic French poached pear dessert.
