The French Riviera
Wednesday July 30, 2008Amuse Bouche
Savory Cheese ProfiteroleFirst Course ~ Appetizer
Vichyssoise ~ Chilled Potato Leek SoupSecond Course
Green Salad with Roquefort ToastsThird Course ~ Entr’acte
Honey & Lavender SorbetFourth Course ~ Entrées
Beef Entrée - Ragout of Lamb with Southern French Vegetables & Herbs
Poultry Entrée - Grilled Chicken with Mustard & Red Pepper
Seafood Entrée - Pan Sautéed Snapper with Almonds
Vegetarian Entrée - Socca (Chickpea Flour Crepes) with Seasoned French Lentils & VegetablesAccompaniments (served with all entrees)
Savory Bread Pudding with Gruyere & Fresh Herbs
Baked Provençal Vegetables with Pearl Onions, Peas, Shallots, & ParsnipsFifth Course ~ Desserts
White Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Coulis
Lemon Tart
The crew for this month's Last Wednesday meal was myself, mrs. sd, lm, am, evg, and, attending their first Last Wednesday, b & ma. Mrs. sd was drinking the house Riesling. I joined her in a glass of that before moving on to the house Cabernet and a glass of dessert wine with... dessert, oddly enough. I'm not sure what people further down the table were drinking, except that ma was drinking water as she's pregnant and am was drinking coffee. They have pretty good coffee at Josephine's.
Until last night I wasn't sure what a profiterole was. Apparently, it's a small, thick pancake - about the size of the silver dollar variety. It came with a small dollop of homemade ranch dressing. The profiterole was good. Not particularly cheesy for me, but tasty nonetheless. Everyone else around the table was making approving "mmm" noises so I think it went down well.
The vichyssoise was very tasty. Simple and straightforward (potatoes, leeks, broth, maybe some cream, a little salt & pepper and a few chives to garnish) this was a welcome cooling dish on a hot July night. Add the heat outside to the fact that the kitchen is literally right next to the dining room and it can get pretty hot in there in the summer.
Again the salad course was simple. Some greens and a few just-steamed green beans (haricots verts, perhaps?) with a nice vinegary dressing. The roquefort toasts were very good. Roquefort is a cheese that I haven't had a lot but the creamy sheep's milk goodness and the tang of the bleu mold warrant a more frequent appearance on my plate.
The sorbet was one of two winners on the night. We'll get to the other in a moment. Despite honey coming first in the name, lavender was the main flavor of this little jewel. That's a good thing, though. There was just enough honey to keep the lavender from being too vegetal and kept it more floral.1 Too much honey and it would have been cloying. As it was it was damn good.
As is my wont I got the lamb. The ragout seemed a little thin. I don't know if they're supposed to be thin or if this one could have benefited from some more simmering. In my mind ragout = stew, stew = thick, therefore ragout = thick. This wasn't the case last night. Despite that this dish was very good. The chunks of lamb were super tender and tasty. I can't remember exactly what the veggies were in the ragout, other than carrots. It was all in a tomato base. Mrs. sd had the chicken. She got the mustard sauce on the side as she's not a fan of mustard. That way if it was too mustardy then she could just have the chicken. That gave me an opportunity to taste the sauce by itself and with the chicken. The first thing I thought when I tasted it was "egg nog."2 But then the cream and mustard came through. It was good but it was even better when paired with the chicken. The grilled chicken provided a good flavor base and the bell pepper cut through the richness of the sauce. As b & ma are both vegetarians they both got the socca and proclaimed it very good. I wanted to try a little bit but the portion was a little on the small side so I didn't want to steal any of their food. Evg had the fish and was also pleased. It was during the entrée that the night's second winner showed up: the bread pudding. Oh. My. FSM! This was probably the best bread pudding I've ever had. Moist, savory, and delicious. I probably could have eaten a whole pan of the stuff. Gotta see if I can get my hands on that recipe...
The white chocolate mousse was good. The raspberry coulis was nice and flavorful. I'm somewhat of a purist, so I have trouble calling white chocolate chocolate.3 Quibbling aside, this was a good dessert. The lemon tart, on the other hand, was outstanding. I'm not normally one for pie crusts (unless they're of the "crumb" variety, e.g. graham cracker, chocolate wafer, etc) but this one was very good. I don't know the proper term for the filling of the pie (I'll go with a lemon curd or lemon custard until I find out the correct term) but whatever it's called I'm a sucker for these kind of desserts. I like sweet desserts if I have a glass of milk or coffee to cut the sweetness, but I prefer fruit-based desserts or ones like this that are sweet-tart. Overall a very good dish.
That's it for this month's review of the Last Wednesday meal. Check back in 30 (or sooner if you're so inclined) for the next installment.