Last practical class!

We had our last practical class today :-( We made the duck a l'orange from yesterday's demo and Parisian-style gnocchi from last Monday's demo.

Turned apples for lunch...

By far, the worst meal I've had in Paris... it's probably a good thing that I don't remember the name of the restaurant. At least Quinn's cheeseburger was tasty!

Lesson #29, seaweed butter

It's my last week of classes before our final exam, and I took Quinn in to one of my demo classes so he could see what it's all about. We made magret de canard a l'orange, ratatouille, pike perch with Maderia jus, and escargot & wild mushroom tartlettes.

Ratatouille!



Snails in a can...

We did some window shopping at Au Bon Marche and picked up some goodies for a picnic at La Grand Epicerie (including seaweed butter!).

We grabbed some drinks and a late dinner at Bianco, the Italian restaurant down the street. When we ordered beer at Bianco, we were trying to compare how the two different sizes (25cl and 50cl) would compare to fluid ounces. Later, we bought a 6-pack of 25cl and they're tiny, just over 8 ounces!

Lesson #28, making macaroons

Today's demo class...

Warm goat cheese salad with bacon and a vinaigrette dressing

Stuffed chicken legs, Madeira jus with caramelized apples

Chocolate and orange mousse with an orange salad

Trying to get in my veggie intake for the day...

For our demo class, we made the stuffed chicken legs, Madeira jus, and caramelized apples. There were only 5 of us so it was a little quieter than usual, and since the recipe wasn't complicated, we finished in 2 hours. It was also blistering hot so Chef made us a grenadine and water concoction to cool down.

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The best way to make French food into Asian food... make fried rice out of it!

Making macaroons... Take 2 - Success! I got feet!

Sewer tour, crepes, macaroons

I'm not quite sure how Quinn convinced me to go to the Sewer Tour with him... I was okay up until the point that the self guided tour led us to an area where the floors were grates and below us was the sewer... the actual, real, stinky sewer. I did, however, learn a couple of things. I found out that the Seine River doesn't just look polluted with sewer water but it actually is. Waste used to be dumped into the Seine, and even now, when there is a risk for flooding, the sewers are pumped into the Seine.

Crepes for lunch!

It turned from spring into summer overnight. It was 85+ degrees today (although it felt like 100 degrees with all the humidity!), and I could hardly stand the heat! On our walk home, we stopped by the park next to the Louvre for a nap in the shade.

I finally decided to try making macaroons. I went shopping for ingredients, aged the egg whites, and thought I was all set. When I opened the package for the "sucre en poudre," I discovered that it wasn't powdered sugar but regular granulated sugar. Oops! Since it was Sunday and all the markets were closed, I was out of luck... and so I made what I'll call "almond meringue cookies," which were pretty much macaroons with one subsituted ingredient. I made a chocolate ganache filling, and they tasted pretty darn good even if they didn't look like the macaroons in all the window fronts.

Viennoiserie, Thai Vien

I have never eaten so many croissants in one day...

We took a viennoiserie class at Le Cordon Bleu where we learned how to make croissants, pain au chocolat, and brioche from start to finish.

Kouign amman: This viennoiserie is made with the same dough used for croissants. When "turning" the dough, sugar is used instead of flour. Then, the dough is rolled, sliced, and placed into molds. When baked, they are sweet and buttery with a caramel crisp.

We had boxes of goodies that we took home with us (croissant overload!)

Cold buffet lunch

Verrine with mashed avocado with parsley, shrimp, cream sauce, diced avocado, paprika

For dinner, we headed to the 13th for Thai, Laotian, and Chinese food at Thai Vien. This place is a hidden gem. It was like King of Thai but... better!!!!