Simple French Food Cookbook Dinner

Simple French Food by Richard Olney is in fact, not so simple! He may think his food is simple and while some of his recipes are simple, some are quite detailed and take a long time to prepare. When he writes about “simple” he means simple, rustic, primary flavors. His writing is detailed, opinionated and informative. Reading his book is like reading a blog even though the book was written in 1974. He lets you know that he hates green olives or that if you can’t find the right sweet, herbed black olives, just skip olives altogether. His book reflects his life and love affair with the Provencal area of southern France.

Initially several people did not find many recipes in the book that appealed to them but after our dinner on Saturday, we all walked away (well, after 10 courses, we sort of “waddled”) with several recipes we want to try.

We started the afternoon with a tour of the new Domaine Eden Winery. Jeffrey led us through the cavs underneath the winery’s hospitality center and since the outside temperatures were in the 90’s, it was a welcome cool respite, smelling of oak barrels and aging wines. He shared the history of the winery, originally owned by the Mudd’s (of the Harvey Mudd family). He will soon be bottling his first estate wines from these vineyards! We are all looking forward to tasting the wines from this spectacular winerey and vineyards.

We then went upstairs where Sandi and Bill led us in a white wine aromatic experience, isolating the separate aromas such as grapefruit, lemon, lime, melon, apricot, peach, etc. We tasted a Dry Creek Chenin Blanc and a Mt. Eden Vineyard, Edna Valley Chardonnay and shared our observations, aromas and palates of the two wines. I think everyone learned something new about white wines.

Dinner began with two Vegetable Terrines that Jeffrey made. He served it with one of his own Mt. Eden Vineyard 2005 estate Chardonnays. His first terrine was made from zucchini, cream and cheese and the second was endive with cream, cheese and pancetta. Sandi W. remarked that the zucchini terrine was much better than the one she and Willie just had at a local restaurant. Everyone raved about the endives! It isn’t served cooked very often and its flavors mellowed with the cooking and pancetta added a nice bite of salty flavors to the creamy endive and cheese. It was noted that the French primarily use Gruyere cheese in their cooking. The many other cheeses that are made there are eaten simply with bread and/or fruit.

We then had a Fish Terrine that Annie decided to make because she found some fresh Dover sole. The terrine uses sole, salmon, chopped spinach and an aspic covering. It was beautifully presented as a whole loaf but when sliced, the bright pink of the salmon, nestled in the chopped spinach, all wrapped in a thin layer of Dover Sole was almost too pretty to eat! It was topped with a tomato whipped cream…yes, tomatoes and whipped cream! It was a fabulous garnish that added a light pink, sweet and acidic note to the terrine. It tasted as good as it looked and is a dish I am going to try soon! I am showing both photos of the terrine so you can see how it appeared as a whole loaf and then how it was served. Either way, it was a beautiful presentation. If we have any more of the Domaine Baumard 2004 Savennieres to drink with it, it will again be the perfect wine to drink with this dish. This chenin blanc was so different than the other two chenin blancs that we tried. It was dryer but much more complex than the Vouvray or Dry Creek Vineyards.

Next we had Stuffed Mussels that a new cookbook club member, Tina, prepared. It was a very unique cooking process. She first opens the shells to stuff them with spinach and chopped fish and then closes them up again with string to cook. It is served over a bed of chopped onions and tomatoes. She said it was hard to open the mussels and then stuff them and reclose them. However, it was a dish worth the effort. The green-lipped mussels were beautiful against the tomato onion compote. Because they are cooked in the shell, the flavors of the ocean just popped out when we opened the shell to eat the contents! We washed this down with a Rochioli 2004 Sauvignon Blanc. The sauvignon blanc had enough acid to enhance the spinach and tomatoes in the dish and enough fruit to complement the mussels and onions.

Although slated to be the first dish, Willie’s Onion Bread Soup, was up next. Bill paired it with a Goulaine 2007 Vouvray, a dry chenin blanc that we compared to the Dry Creek Vineyard 2006 Chenin Blanc that we had during the tasting event. It was a nice pairing because the Onion Bread soup was redolent with caramelized onions and gruyere and parmesan cheeses. He used Acme sour batard bread that he left out for 4 days before chopping up for the soup. Many onion soups use a beef broth to make the base of the soup with a crouton covered with melted cheese to serve. This was really more of a bread soup flavored with caramelized onions. No watery soup here! The soup was heavily textured and more like a very moist bread pudding. The caramelized onion flavor dominated the simplicity (there’s that word again!) of the dish. Another dish I want to try once the weather starts getting chilly!

Lisa, another new cookbook club member, brought Braised Stuffed Onions. She tried the dish before with regular sweet onions (like walla walla) but since I had stressed small portions because of the 10 courses, she converted to cipollini onions which turned out to be the perfect size! It was stuffed with bread, bacon and mushrooms. Bill paired this dish with a Merry Edwards 2007 Sauvignon Blanc. The acid in this wine set off the sweetness of the onions perfectly. I think I liked the cipollini onions for their size, shape and sweetness. Cipollinis are more expensive but worth it! Lisa said she thought of this dish as a better version of stuffed mushrooms!

Sandi W.’s dish, Three Mousses, was served with another of Jeffrey’s Mt. Eden Vineyard 2002 Chardonnays…the buttery creaminess of this wine went very well with the 3 different mousses made of chicken, sorrel and tomatoes. Sandi had to first make and reduce a veal stock to get the aspic to gel the mousse layers. The chicken was cooked just enough to make it safe to eat and then pureed with cream and butter. The sorrel was very difficult to find and even when she did find some, she couldn’t get enough. Sorrel is something you need to grow in your backyard if you have the space because it is rarely found in grocery stores….even though several recipes call for it. Jeffrey has some in his backyard and he says that it is extremely easy to grow in the full sun. He rarely waters it and says it’s as simple as growing rosemary! Sandi’s tomato layer did not gel so she used it as a sauce upon which she set the two-layered mousse of chicken and sorrel. Upon reflection, she thinks she should have added a tiny bit of gelatin to the tomato layer to get it to gel, but the rest of us liked the change in texture and using it like a sauce. While the flavors of this dish are simple, the preparation was very time consuming and detailed, another one of Richard Olney’s “simple” creations!

We are finally getting to the end of the savory dishes! I brought the Tripe and Potato Terrine. It was really more of a stew because it was so watery. I had made it once before and didn’t like picking through the multiple bones of the pig’s feet so I tried it with beef tongue this time. It don’t I think it cooked long enough even though the recipe calls for 4 hours of braising in a 275º oven. I tried pairing it with a sweeter wine to cut through the richness of the tongue and tripe but it didn’t work well. The Reinhold Haart 2005 Riesling, Spatlese, while a delicious wine, did not enhance the dish. I added diced tomatoes to cut the fat in this dish and I think it did enhance the flavor. I cut the tripe into smaller pieces and also parboiled it and tossed out the water before doing the combined braising. Since most people don’t like the flavors of the tripe, I thought I’d try to tone it down some but Annie said I should have let the flavors of the tripe come through. I don’t know if I’d make the dish again but it was a good experience for me!

Everyone raved about Marianne’s Almond and Pistachio Loaf dessert that was perfectly paired with a Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1990 Sauternes from Bill’s cellar. The loaf served right out of the oven is more of a soufflé but at room temperature, it was a very moist, dense dessert. She added a few blueberries on the side which added just the right touch with the Japanese plates she chose to present her dessert upon.

Mary brought a Peach Tart that was served with Janis’s Macedoine of Fruits. We drank the Sauternes with these two dishes also. She and Janis decided to serve their two dessert together. They didn’t really complement each other but the evening was wearing on and I think Janis had to leave early. Mary’s peach tart was very simple in flavors with a crust that is shaped more like a pizza crust. She added very little sugar to the peaches which again, created those “simple” flavors that Onley likes. Janis’s fruits--cherries, strawberries, raspberries and peaches--were marinated in a wine from Bandol, a Mouvedre. She enjoyed learning about Bandol wines and went on a scavenger hunt to find some mouvedre wine from Bandol. She found a bottle at K&L Liquors in Menlo Park. This dish too had simple flavors that everyone enjoyed after such a big meal.

Because the dishes were served in appetizer-sized portions, we were able to get through the meal without feeling overfed at the end. We took a short break after the Stuffed Onions to stand on the veranda and enjoy the view from the winery. The vineyards and Santa Clara Valley stretched out before us as well as the San Francisco Bay, East Bay and the Santa Cruz mountains behind us. It was a hot day but there was a nice breeze to keep us all pretty comfortable.

We planned our next three events while gazing out over the great view":

1. Watch the documentary “Fresh” at my home in Cupertino to learn about sustainable farming.
   
2. See a matinee of the film "Julie & Julia" at a local theater with a potluck from Julia’s cookbook, Mastering French Cooking, afterwards. We’ll be joined at this event with cooking club in the East Bay that Tina has.
   
3. A vegetarian dinner from any one of the Green’s Restaurant (in San Francisco) cookbooks sometime late September or early October.
   

Boy, there’s a lota’ cookin’ going on! Stay tuned!