studying the art of fine French cuisine
These dishes are from Languedoc-Roussillon.
I would have photographed the cassolet, but it was literally just baked beans covered in breadcrumbs in silver pie tin. It wasn’t a very photogenic dish despite being filled with confit duck leg, hand-stuffed sausage and salted pork belly.
If I ever served this dish on my fictitious menu in my hypothetical restaurant, I would have to re-engineer it for presentation of all the hard work that goes into it.
February 20th, 2017
This dish is from Auvergne.
February 20th, 2017
This dish is native to the Rhône Alpes, Savoie, and Dauphiné regions of France.
This side dish is the traditional version of what Americans may know as scalloped potatoes.
February 20th, 2017
These dishes are also from Provence – Côte d’Azur.
This dish features lamb shoulder slices with fingerling potatoes and barigoule-style artichokes.
This dish is supposed to be made with red snapper, but I had to cook with tilapia instead (due to seasonality, perhaps.) It features a base of plum tomatoes, lemon segments, anchovies and other tart garnishes.
February 20th, 2017
This dish is from Provence – Côte d’Azur I
A classic lemon tart dessert, which well well-received by everyone at work:
Here is a second photo for perspective:
The main course of this lesson was a seafood risotto. The arborio rice we used was not my favourite and the timing of the seafood garnishes was tricky to execute, but the product is one I’m proud of.
February 20th, 2017
Last weekend I went on a craft beer, distilled spirits and winery tour of Ottawa! Here’s some photos from this awesome field trip.
February 7th, 2017
Living in Ottawa has given me the opportunity to cross a number of things off my bucket list, including skating on the Rideau Canal, meeting an astronaut and attending Winterlude!
February 7th, 2017
This is the last instalment of my healthy cooking posts because starting tomorrow, I am back to cooking with butter. I have learned to accept that in French cooking, butter is life.
I garnished the plate with lime segments and lime zest, lightly candied in veal gastrique.
February 7th, 2017
This is another healthy dish, considered cuisine légère. There is no butter, cream, or fat in this steamed dish.
This filet of halibut was cooked in two different kinds of papillote. The first is a parchment paper round, and the second is a clear thin sheet of Carta Fata that is tied into a bag.
The dish is enjoyed as a surprise to the customer.
The second puffed up into a steamy bag, and once opened it perfumes a strong bouquet of ginger, mango, lime and coconut.
The sauce also turned out very bright and glossy.
This was easily one of my most favourite dishes this semester.
February 7th, 2017
This dish was very intricate to layer. From top to bottom, this is chiffonade mint topped over a garlic purée quenelle, over thin slices of medium-well lamb slices, roasted plum tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, onions, spinach, and green pepper sauce.
This dish is not from a specific French region as my past several dishes have been. It’s considered “cuisine légère“, or light cooking. There is no butter and very, very little fat used in this dish.
The mint sauce on the side is a apparently the British way to enjoy lamb.
February 7th, 2017
Once in a bleu moon 