Lady Doctor Lunch at Avert Brasserie

Amy writes:

Snow was falling softly on the sidewalk but it wasn't accumulating. Indeed, it was making things rather picturesque. So New England-y. I had taken a half day off of work for a couple of doctor appointments. The kind of appointments women have to do, and should do, annually. They are not fun appointments, like massages or mani-pedis. But they are necessary. And I am of the opinion that when you have to do something you don't really want to do, you should give yourself a reward. Instead of thinking of it as a chore, think of it as something to celebrate. 

And so I found myself in between the two appointments, which I had purposely scheduled for the same day, with plenty of time to take myself to a beautiful lunch. My second appointment was in the West end of Hartford, and as I am a big fan of classic French cuisine, I decided to (finally!) check out Avert Brasserie on LaSalle Road. My reward. 

The decor certainly evokes the streets of Paris, with charming light fixtures, exposed brick, and a zinc bar including the requisite stand of hard-boiled eggs. The ambience affirmed that I had made the right choice - I felt special here, having a grown-up lunch by myself in the middle of the day (yes, the clock was wrong...). It's the simple things, after all.

I started with a champagne cocktail and my server brought over some thick slices of crusty, chewy baguette with a luxuriously smooth, slightly salted butter. I decided to keep it old-school and chose the onion soup for my appetizer. It was full-bodied and tasty, with lots of caramelized onions beneath a crisp, melted topping of Comte cheese. A perfect start.

I had a much harder time deciding on my entree, as so many classic favorites appear on Avert's lunch menu: Moules Frites? Beef Bourguignon? Coq au Vin? Oh, who was I kidding. I was getting the duck - Duck Leg Confit, to be exact. The very well-balanced plate was served with green lentils and a frisee salad with a warm shallot dressing. The frisee was slightly bitter, but a touch of mustard seed in the dressing brought a pleasant pungency to each bite. The lentils were sweet and smoky, with a hint of spice that I couldn't quite place, but it very well could have been cinnamon. They sat atop a bed of diced green apples which offered a delightful crunch and sweetness. The duck was the star, though. That one perfectly confited duck leg had rich dark meat that was falling off the bone, crispy mahogany-colored skin, and none of the grease or oil that confit often has. I was in heaven, and I ate every bite, leaving nothing but bare bones.

My server suggested that I finish with a pot de creme, and I agreed with him; he's the expert after all. The dense, velvety pudding had deep chocolate flavor that paired so nicely with my last sips of Cote du Rhone. I knew my second appointment was ahead, so I also got a pot of tea, which came with a pale pink strawberry macaron. I ate that, too. I was full, but satisfied and happy with myself. I had another half hour to kill, so I walked around West Hartford Center, window-shopping and breathing in the cold winter air. With a lunch like that as a reward, I almost look forward to next year's appointments. Almost.

Three Day Cassoulet, or "Project Cooking"

In recent weeks, we have not had much free time. Not enough to put our culinary skills to task and make something good and tasty, anyway. Then suddenly we were faced with Snowzilla 2016. Even if we weren't expected to get a whole lot of snow, we decided to take advantage of the situation and cook. Really cook. "Project cooking."

What's project cooking, you wonder? It's when you decide to make a recipe that is really involved. One that takes time. One that has lots of ingredients and lots of steps. One that maybe takes...three days to make? Yep. A recipe that is, in a word, a project. Does it seem daunting at first? Sure! But like any project, with prior planning, pre-shopping and the blessing of some time in your schedule (like one whole weekend with nothing to do but wait for snow that never comes because it all fell on New York and Jersey) you will have accomplished something spectacular.

The perfect project this particular weekend was that something spectacular we call "Three Day Cassoulet." Cassoulet is a slow-cooked casserole that originates in France and traditionally contains beans and meat, usually duck or goose confit and some type of pork.

And it is a project to make. However, in reality, the first two days' work is pretty light, especially if you do a little cheating, as we did. Use prepared stock and buy your duck confit - that will significantly shorten your efforts. Still, on the third day, the care and time spent on this recipe yields a hearty soulful dish, filled with spicy meats and creamy beans and a depth of flavor that is unmatched. So. Worth. It.

Three Day Cassoulet

Serves 6-8

Cooks' Notes: Try your best to find duck stock and duck fat, but if you can't, use chicken stock and unsalted butter instead. D'Artagnan makes an amazing duck confit that we often find at our grocery store for about $5-6 per leg. Finally, you can make this in one pot and serve it, but we like to make them in individual lidded dishes (it's fancier). 

Ingredients:

3/4 pound dry flageolet beans or small white beans

1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns

3 bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

6 stems of thyme

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

1 carrot, peeled and cut in half

2 ounces salt pork

1 quart duck or chicken stock

2 tablespoons duck fat or unsalted butter, divided

1/4 pound andouille sausage, diced

2 legs of duck confit

3-4 cloves garlic confit, smushed with a spoon

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup Panko-style breadcrumbs

1/2 tablespoon dried parsley

Day 1: 

Place beans in a glass bowl and cover with room temperature water; allow to soak overnight. That's it!

Day 2:

Drain beans and discard the water. Place beans in a large soup or stock pot. Place the peppercorns, bay leaves, garlic cloves, and thyme in a cheesecloth and use twine to close it - a bouquet garni. Throw this into the pot, along with the onion, carrot and salt pork. Cover with the stock. The liquid should cover the beans by an inch. If there's not enough stock, add water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer uncovered until beans are tender. This could take up to 2 hours. Allow to cool entirely, then refrigerate the beans and liquid overnight.

Day 3: 

Drain the beans, reserving the stock, but discarding the vegetables, pork and bouquet garni. Bring the stock to a boil and reduce by half; set the stock aside once it is reduced. Heat 1 tablespoon duck fat in a large skillet and brown the andouille sausage; set aside. Then heat the duck confit in the duck fat so it is warmed through and brown on both sides. Shred the duck with two forks and set it aside with the sausage. Whisk the smushed garlic confit, mustard and butter into the reduced stock. Add the beans, shredded duck and pieces of sausage. The mixture should be moist, so if it isn't, drizzle with additional stock or water. Heat the other tablespoon of duck fat in a clean skillet. Add the breadcrumbs and toast, stirring often, until browned. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Either leave the mixture in one serving pot, or divide into individual dishes, and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for additional 15 minutes until thoroughly hot and golden brown. 

Wordless Weekender: Celebrating Memorial Day with Homemade Strawberry-Basil Macarons

Happy New Year! Happy Bloggaversary! We're celebrating with Brie-Stuffed French Toast!

Happy New Year! And it's our 5th Bloggaversary! Yes, we started this blog on New Year's Day 2008. Wow - tempus fugit indeed. We are winding down the season of gluttony and desperately trying to ignore that pinch around our waistlines where our pants are feeling a tad snug (thanks a lot, cookies, candy and deliciously evil homemade Chex mix!). We suppose we can ignore it for another day, since for one last indulgent hurrah before we go back to school and into the real world of 2013, we came up with a doozie of a breakfast - Brie-Stuffed French Toast. We used good Italian bread, a square log of Trader Joe's "slicing brie," and some wonderfully sweet-tart homemade jam from one of Chris's coworkers (thanks, M!). Adding to the luscious flavor was a zippy Roasted Saigon Cinnamon we spotted on the clearance shelf at our market. Cheers to decadence and may you all have a happy and healthy New Year!

 

Brie-Stuffed French Toast

(makes 4 "sandwiches")

Ingredients:

4 extra-thick slices fresh Italian bread

4 slices brie, rind removed
2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

dash pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup berry jam

Preheat oven to 350. Cut a slit halfway between the slices of Italian bread and place a slice of brie inside it. "Squish" the bread down a little to close it up. Prepare the French toast mixture by whisking together the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Melt the butter on a griddle over medium-high heat. Soak the "sandwiches" in the French toast mixture then place them on the griddle. Cook until golden brown, then flip and brown the other side. Place the griddle with the "sandwiches" on it in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes, to ensure the brie melts. Serve with berry jam.

FFwD: Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart

Last weekend, which was a long weekend, we spent Saturday taking a drive around the southeast corner of Connecticut, picking apples and visiting wineries. In other words, we had a perfect fall day. We'll tell you more about the wineries later, but as far as the apples go, we picked some big beautiful sweet-tart Winesaps and some deep dark maroon Macouns (considered by some to be the finest eating apple there is). Then we saw that this week's French Fridays with Dorie (in which we haven't been able to participate in some time) was "Crispy Crackly Apple Almond Tart," and we were totally psyched. How fortuitous!

The "French Fridays" Bible

A baking recipe, with a guardian angel for the baking-challenged.

Mise en place is fancy for "uncork the (French!) wine and let's get this recipe started"

Yes, it's fall, ya'll. And what says fall in New England better than apples? We have posted plenty of apple recipes over the years: recipes for doughnuts, pies (not one but two!), risotto, and other savory dishes (here and here), have featured apples and/or apple cider. But this fall, we were looking for something new, and Around My French Table (the book members of French Fridays with Dorie cooks from) had just what we needed.

Whisking together almond flour, sugar, egg, vanilla and heavy cream... 

...makes a heavenly almond cream topping for the tart.

Ooh la la - buttered and sugared sheets of phyllo dough!

After the cream is chilled...

it is carefully spread over the delicate phyllo.

While we can't give you the recipe (club rules!), we can tell you that it wasn't particularly difficult, even for the baking-challenged, and even with working with phyllo dough (which seems scary, doesn't it?). Dorie's direction are clear and straight-forward. We followed them strictly (except for using a different type of apple), and the finished product was incredible - both crispy and crackly, with a delightful balance of tart, juicy apple and sweet, nutty almond. The neighbors loved it, we loved it, and it made us that much more comfortable with baking and with using sheets of phyllo - that ever-versatile yet oh-so-elegant ingredient.  

Chris is a slicing wizard

Laying them perfectly over the almond cream.

It almost looks easy!

Some local apple maple jam makes a nice post-baking glaze.

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: buy the book and start making the recipes. From what we can tell, there isn't a bad one in the bunch.

Julia Child's Petit Pots de Creme au Chocolat

Bon anniversaire, Julia Child! Yes, today would have been dear Julia's 100th birthday. To celebrate, we made her Petit Pots de Creme au Chocolat (chocolate cream custards) as the dessert for a small dinner party we are having later for out of town guests. The pots du creme are chilling as we write this, and in about three hours the guests will arrive for grilled ribeyes, corn on the cob and this silky, chocolatey, chilled dessert.

The recipe is from The French Chef Cookbook (Recipes from Julia Child's celebrated first television series), published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1968. It is organized by show number, but there are plenty of indexes to help you find that perfect French recipe you are looking for. There are tons of them, too, for every occasion.

To get you in the celebrating mood while you cook your dinner this evening, click on this - a WGBH-created mash-up of clips from Julia at her best to the tune of Sweet Child O' Mine. What a tribute! And take a look at today's Google logo! Love it!

Rather than publish copyrighted material, we will give you the recipe for the pots de creme via photos. Any one of her books is worth buying, so if you really want the recipe, do the right thing. And, as always, Bon appetit!