We
traveled to Paris last week: with our hearts, thoughts and prayers.
It was
something of a coincidence that a few days later we journeyed to the City of Light
once more, this time with our stomachs. The “Lunch in Paris” had been in the
works for about a month, the book selected for our fledgling cookbook club
because of my ties to France and with no inkling of events to come… Although work
in the kitchen commenced with a heavy heart, thoughts of the terrors spanning
the globe on the forefront of everyone’s mind, we still gathered for our feast;
it seemed that an evening to honor the culinary flair of the beautiful country of
France would be a fine way to celebrate the resilient spirit of the French. And
if we were doing it, we might as well do it right – with the full seven courses!
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| Photo credit: Heidi Johnson |
Elizabeth
Bard’s love story “Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes” was published in
2010, nearly coinciding with our move to France and resonating with me in the
many aspects of learning the way of life – culinary and otherwise – in a
foreign country. While I appreciated the many anecdotes of American life in
Paris, the recipes went untested; I was too busy learning how to ask for le fromage at the market to navigate the
seemingly complex recipes at the time. Although I’ve added to my culinary repertoire
over the last five years, I still had not found the courage to try any of the
recipes, hence the motivation for choosing this book in particular. A few days
before our dinner all the members had finally made their recipe choices, and when I
realized we had enough for a full seven-course meal I took the liberty of
planning a few aspects of our meal outside
the confines of the novel.
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| Bon appetit, y'all |
The
guests arrived to L’Apéritif of
champagne and tentative conversation in the kitchen while we waited on the last
few stragglers to arrive. When we sat down to the table it was to the entrée of Velouté de Carottes, creamy carrot soup. Such a delicious, yet
simple soup to warm our taste buds to the adventure still to come!
One of
the members had risen to the challenge and prepared poached cod with wilted
leeks and homemade mayonnaise (homemade mayonnaise!), and so we continued our
feast with the fish course. Accompanying the cod were potato and celery root
mash, Purée de Céleri - basically
mashed potatoes but with the undertones of celery root. We compared notes on
the details of these recipes, becoming more and more giddy in the luxury of
uninterrupted conversation with other adults!
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| Fennel salad with lemon, olive oil and pomegranate seeds |
My
contribution to the meal was served next, during what is the main course in a
French dinner, le plat principal. The
Aubergines Farcies au Quinoa (eggplant
stuffed with quinoa) was a personal test; I had never cooked quinoa before
(much less knew how to pronounce it!), nor had I attempted to stuff an
eggplant. The recipe was challenging, as dealing with the eggplant wasn’t as
easy as I had imagined (or described)– “carefully scoop out most of the flesh
without piercing the skin” and “chop the eggplant into small chunks” – was nearly
impossible, but the end result was a hearty vegetarian main course that was
complimented by the delicious sides accompanying it: Mamy Simone’s Tabouleh, Lentilles au Vin Blanc and fennel salad
with lemon, olive oil and pomegranate seeds. By this time we were getting quite
full, and respite came in terms of a cheese course.
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| Eggplant stuffed with quinoa |
Not
quite a baguette, the Swamp Rabbit Café
& Grocery stecca was the bread I chose to accompany our meal. Going against French custom, I had sliced the
loaf (the French tear their baguette
at the table) and we dug in now while sampling the cheese. A mountain cheddar
from Ashe County Cheese, a Normandy brie, and camembert to round out the selection.
Then, it was time for dessert!
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| Yogurt cake |
The
last dish prepared from “Lunch in Paris” was the Gâteau au Yaourt, yogurt cake. We relished our slice(s!), knowing
that the evening was coming to a close. A cup of coffee and quite a bit of
conversation later the time came to say goodbye, and with full stomachs and
recharged batteries everyone headed home to rejoin the chaos. In my case the
chaos came home to me, the boys bubbling over with all they had seen and done
on their ‘boys’ day’ – the adventure of traveling to France and back in one meal providing warmth and light in the darkness of the weeks following the Paris massacre.
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From Lunch
in Paris (by Elizabeth Bard) and the chapter entitled “Dinner Among Friends,”
EGGPLANT STUFFED WITH QUINOA
(Aubergines Farcies au Quinoa) serves 4
4
medium eggplants, 10oz each*
1
tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
1
small red onion, diced
3
cloves garlic, thinly sliced
5 ripe
tomatoes, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon
sugar
1/3
cup white wine
1 1/3
cups chicken broth
1 cup
quinoa
Coarse
sea salt
Freshly
ground black pepper
A
pinch of cinnamon
A
small handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped, plus more for garnish
8
ounces soft goat cheese, sliced into 8 rounds
Choose
eggplants that are firm, shiny, and without blemishes – the smaller and
heavier, the better.
Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Rinse the eggplants and pat them dry.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Prick five or six holes in each
eggplant with a fork to allow steam to escape. Rub the surface of the eggplants
with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Bake for 1 hour, until the flesh is tender.
Meanwhile, in a medium frying pan,
heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté over
medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sugar, and cook for 10
minutes. Add the white wine, lower the heat to medium-low, and cook for a
further 10 minutes. Remove ¾ cup tomato sauce from the pan and set aside.
In a small saucepan, bring the chicken
broth to a boil. Add he quinoa and bring back to a boil. Cover tightly, lower
the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes, until the broth is absorbed. The quinoa
should have the consistency of couscous. Fluff with a fork and leave to cool.
When the eggplants are done, drain any
liquid from the baking sheet and let the eggplants cool slightly. Make a 4-inch
cut in the top of each eggplant and carefully scoop out most of the flesh
without piercing the skin.** Put the eggplant shells in a shallow casserole
dish (you will stuff them later). Put the flesh in a colander, pressing firmly
with the back of a fork (or your hand) to drain any excess liquid. Season the
flesh with salt, pepper, and cinnamon.
Chop the seasoned eggplant flesh into
small chunks*** and add to the tomato sauce in the frying pan, along with a
small handful of cilantro. Heat through. Add the quinoa, stir to combine.
Stuff the eggplant shells with the
quinoa mixture; they should be heaping. Top each eggplant with a spoonful or
two of your reserved tomato sauce. (You can refrigerate the eggplants at this
point. Reheat at 350˚F, tightly covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Proceed as
below.)
Set the oven to broil.
Top each eggplant with 2 slices of
goat cheese. Cook on the middle rack of the over for 3 to 4 minutes, until the
cheese is softened and beginning to color.
Sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Serve
with a large green salad.
* The
eggplants I purchased were slightly larger & the cooking time longer as a
result.
** This
was difficult! I pierced the outer skin in all four eggplants while attempting to empty them, but feel that
the result was just as delicious
***
Since I wasn't able to neatly scoop the flesh out as suggested by the
recipe, it wasn’t cut into recognizable chunks… more like spooned straight into
the bowl!