Let’s go to France!
Bonjour! If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that France holds a very special place in my heart because my Grandpapa was born and raised there. He loves France, but that’s honestly a massive understatement. I’m a self professed francophile (a person who is fond of or greatly admires France or the French), and will take any chance I get to create something that would make my Grandpapa proud. Which, if we’re being honest, is just about anything, ha!
This next bit is in my first blog post, but I’m just going to drop it right here for you to read again, or for the first time!
“My European background and exposure to many cultures as a child and adult continues today. It influences the way I combine ingredients and experiment with not only the flavors of the food, but also in how I present it to others. I want it to entice your palate but to also invite the other senses to partake--the smells and memories food evoke, the sounds food make during preparation, the combined textures that create a magical alchemy inside your mouth, and finally, the visual display, which creates the springboard from which to “dive in” and let the magic of the moment create new memories.”
“Dive in” is exactly what we did to that charcuterie board! For the first time in almost three months, I had two of my best friends over for a little girl time. We managed to plow our way through the charcuterie board and still have room for Coq au Vin later in the evening. I included a few of my favorite cheeses, including P’tit Basque. It’s a cheese from sheep milk and it is delicious. Funny story, I once told someone about it and they said “Cheap cheese? Why is it so good if it’s so cheap?”. I still think that’s so funny. We also had camembert, smoked gouda, goat cheese, gruyere, and a baby breakfast brie. I think I could eat cheese, bread, and meat any day of the week, for any meal, and be totally happy. Oh, can’t forget the wine… there’s always wine, of course. We started off with a light Rosé and ended with Beaujolais, my favorite!
Have you had Coq au Vin before? It means Chicken in Wine. It’s a traditional French meal, and my Mama used to make it around the holidays when I was a kid. This was my first time making it, and I’m actually pretty proud of myself! The flavors were delicious and the chicken was done perfectly. It’s basically chicken, mushrooms, carrots, pearl onions, and WINE! I used a wine from burgundy but I don’t remember which one it was. It’s a fairly simple meal that just takes a little time to put together.
I made another batch of French baguettes, because duh, it’s delicious! I still need to work on my bread game and perfecting the look of them, but the texture and taste was great!
I’ve been home from work the past two days because I’ve had vertigo.. have you ever experienced it? It’s absolutely awful feeling constantly dizzy. I can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow, I miss it! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!
x,
Jess
