Chez Christine

Cooking Together is Always Fun

Teaching people how to cook always amazes me because no two classes are ever the same: different menus, different ingredients, different tastes, different personalities, different skill levels, always interesting.

When people email me about what kind of classes I teach, I always respond that I teach whatever you want to cook and eat. Although I'm trained in classical French cuisine, my years as a recipe tester with both Cook's Illustrated and now with CHOW.com have given me the opportunity to explore all kinds of cuisines and recipes. The only thing people tend to forget is that these lessons have to be in San Francisco Bay Area, sorry Boston! (not unless you'd like to foot the bill for me to travel to where you are!)

Here are some menus from a few recent private cooking classes in people's homes, they were yummy and fun!

Braised Pork Chops and Fennel
sweet onions, vermouth, crème fraîche, lemon, served with baguette

Sautéed Green Beans and Bacon
shallots, parsley vinaigrette

Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart
brandied whipped cream

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Asparagus à la Vinaigrette
lemon zest, toasted almonds, garlic

Gratin Dauphinois
garlic, gruyère cheese

 

 

 

 

 

Seared Hanger Steaks
brandy, mustard, tarragon

Madeleines

 

 

 

 

 

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Handmade Pappardelle
herbed tomato sauce, parmesan

Roasted Broccolini
garlic, balsamic,olive oil

Chicken Marsala
cremini mushrooms, pancetta

Cannoli
homemade ricotta cheese

 

Bon Appétit!

Chinese Wok Class

I forgot how much I like teaching...been teaching a few private classes this past month to a wide range of teens, adults, and non-cooks. It's always fun to see what people learn and their general enthusiasm for food, whether they just like to cook or they want to learn skills to cook for their children.

Tonight was fun, with two adults and three teens doing a Chinese wok class. Forgot to take photos, but here's what we made!

• Manila Clams with Homemade Black Bean-Garlic Sauce
• Stir Fried Beef with Snap Peas, Carrots, and Ginger
• Cantonese Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage
• Fresh Mango Pudding

Here's to more classes and more fun! I have some photos from a class earlier this month, hopefully will post along with menu soon.

Bon Appétit!

The French Laundry - Finally

Many apologies for this so-overdue-it's-not-even-funny post! I hope you understand that I grocery shop, cook, and write recipes full-time for another website, and finding the time to post here seems to require a Herculean effort and spare time that I never seem able to muster.

But here it is, and I'm a little glad I didn't put it together sooner - reminiscing made me realize what parts of this monumental meal were memorable and what parts weren't.

Some background - on a whim, I put myself on the waiting list at The French Laundry for the first weekend in November last year. Why then, you may ask? I honestly didn't know what came over me. Maybe I was looking to celebrate landing my first job in years that truly made me happy, maybe it was a strangely extravagant way to mark our half-year marriage anniversary. I figured we only live 45 minutes away, why shouldn't we go? Go before a mortgage, children, or more adult responsibilities would never allow for such an indulgence.

The phone call came the Friday before: a spot had opened for lunch, were we interested? The menu would be exactly the same as dinner. After frantic phone calls with H, we took the plunge. Eating at lunch actually suited us - a long tasting menu followed immediately with bed time is never a good idea (channel Guy Savoy). The other bonus was that we would be able to see the gardens in daylight and have natural light for photos.

To sum it up, I had an amazing time. Perfect, knowledgeable, unobtrusive service and a restrained sensibility that was different from other restaurant tastings we'd had. It was a marathon meal - probably 3 1/2 hours from when we sat down to when we concluded our kitchen tour (and tried not to gawk at Chef Keller as we walked in). While technique was decidedly French, the ingredients and combinations astounded us.

Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I still have yet to experience the "oysters and pearls," although I could always pull out the cookbook and immerse myself in the recipe on a weekend afternoon. I went into the meal hoping that the hype would not exceed the experience and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. Things were technically perfect and the precision was evident on the plates.

Was it worth the cost? While I am clearly raving about my lunch, it was really hard to justify the cost. I know the high costs of pristine ingredients and living wages for those preparing and serving the food, but it's still hard to think of how much high-quality, local, organic food I could buy for the same price.

So come with me on the journey: Bon Appétit!
 

The Signature French Laundry Clothespin

There was the regular tasting menu and the vegetable (but not necessarily vegetarian) tasting menu. We opted for the regular with a few supplements, making sure not to order the same thing when given the choice for a course. Our marriage works well because we are sharers!

Gougères

Warm gougères appeared as we sipped our glasses of champagne and perused the menu. Good, but not mind-blowing.

Salmon "Cornets"
Crème Fraîche, Sweet Red Onion

The famous salmon cornets arrived in their delicate holders and were amazing. Crispy, briny, creamy, and toasty all in one bite.

Cauliflower "Panna Cotta"
with Island Creek Oyster Glaze and California Sturgeon Caviar

The earthiness of cauliflower always works well when combined with cream, and there was a nice texture contrast form the oyster and caviar. Island Creeks are from Massachusetts, and a discussion with our server revealed that they preferred East Coast oysters for their flavor and size.

Salad of French Laundry Garden Beets
Blood Orange, Sunchokes, Tarragon and Red Ribbon Sorrel

One of the misses of the meal. While the flavors were fresh and bright, the portion was miniscule, even for a tasting. Three tiny bites of food were on the plate and made it difficult to share, especially given this was served at the same time as the foie gras. There was almost too much acidity on the plate, it needed something different to balance it out.

Moulard Duck "Foie Gras en Terrine"
Cranberries, Pecans, Belgian Endive,
Celery Branch and Toasted Brioche

Why, oh why, is foie gras so good? I've had my share of foie gras terrines, and this had a texture that was perfectly smooth and melted immediately in the mouth. The cranberries were a nice touch to cut through the fattiness, and when is toasted brioche ever a bad idea? H ate his half of this dish first, and when we switched, our server magically appeared with a freshly-toasted slice of brioche for me- outstanding! I wish he would appear by my bed with the same thing every morning!

Sautéed Japanese Bluefin Tuna
Fennel Bulb, Pine Nuts, Niçoise Olive, Arugula, and Spanish Saffron

One of the dishes I can't seem to recall having an opinion about.

Florida Everglades Frog's Legs
Thumbelina Carrots, Tokyo Turnips, French Laundry Garden
Sugar Snap Peas, Sweet Garlic Pudding and "Buerre Rouge"

I'm always a sucker for frog's legs, probably because they are always served with strong flavors like garlic and parsley. This preparation didn't disappoint, with the careful frenching of the meat to make it easier to eat and the rich red wine-and-butter sauce to drag it all through.

New Bedford Sea Scallop "Poêlée"
Caramelized Brussels Sprouts, Chestnuts,
Caraway Melba and Dijon Mustard

Another East Coast transplant, the scallop was beautifully cooked and seared, with an interesting depth from the chestnuts. I feared chestnuts and scallops would be too sweet together, but the mustard and the melba helped to cut through it.

Pasta, Browned Butter, Parmesan, and White Truffles

There was a huge supplement for this additional course, but we jumped on it because it was white truffle season and decided since we were here to go all out. (Don't even want to think about much it cost per bite!)

This course warrants three photos: the first was the pasta which arrived by itself. Rich, eggy, buttery, cheesy pasta whose smell was driving me crazy. Photo two is the server shaving an insane pile of truffles over it all (and me locked into the whole process), truffles that came from a beautiful lacquered box carrying a king's ransom worth of the beauties. Photo three is the completed dish, finished by yet another server holding a little saucier full of hot browned butter that when drizzled over it all, released more of that heady scent into my face. I DREAM of this. This is perfection.

I hate truffle oil and truffles used merely to "fancy" a dish up. This was the right way to treat a truffle.

Four Story Hill Farm Milk-Fed "Poularde"
Hobbs' Bacon, Akita Komahi Rice, Yuzu, Matsutake Mushrooms, Mizuna and Kanzuri

Perfectly moist chicken with crisp skin, some nice Asian influences in the garnish. Loved the rice.

"Chateaubriand" of Marcho Farms Veal
Sweetbread Peirogi, Port Onions, Arrowleaf Spinach, and Truffle Crème Fraîche

I think the highlight of this was the peirogi, but I'm a sucker for dumplings. The veal was as good as veal can be, but sometimes roasted sliced meats hold little appeal for me as there is no flavor development from added ingredients.

"Manchego"
Quince Membrillo, English Walnuts, Frisée and Aged Sherry Vinegar

The sherry vinegar was a nice touch - sometimes the expected jams or honeys are boring, and an acidic contrast is always welcome with cheese, but it has to be paired well for it to work.

Bartlett Pear Sorbet
with Roasted Jacobsen's Farm Pears and Chai Tea Sablé

Pears are so good and refreshing, a perfect pre-dessert.

"Gâteau Saint Nizier au Manjari"
Mango-Chili Relish, Valrhona Cocoa Nibs, Lime Foam and Coconut Milk Sorbet

Chocolate and lime is one of our favorite flavor combinations, from the lime caramels from Patrick Roger to the chocolate-lime truffles we made as favors for our wedding. This was a rich, dense, brownie-like cake with just enough tartness from the garnishes to make it finger-licking good.

Bakewell Tart
Huckleberries, Marcona Almonds and Andante Dairy Yogurt Sherbet

I remember this being good but not outstanding. It was nice to see Andante Dairy appearing on the table again, as we had been slathering the unsalted butter they make on our bread throughout the meal. (There was also salted butter from Vermont.)

Caramel Macadamia Nuts

So good I asked them to take the extras home,which they gladly bagged up for me to enjoy at my leisure. The thin coat of burned caramel just took these to the next level.

Mignardises

Presentation-wise, it was amazing. Who doesn't like a tower of treats and a tray of chocolate? Unfortunately, my stomach was starting to groan so I nibbled on the treats in the box and the server wisely packed up chocolate for us to take home.

Gardens and Sunset

Throughout our meal, we periodically got up to use the restroom and stroll through the picturesque garden, reveling in the sunshine and beautiful Napa weather. After we finished, we crossed the street to the kitchen gardens and walked through the rows of squash, eggplant, and the last bits of summer produce. It makes me long for space and land when I see things like this, a desire to try to grow my own food.

I have no regrets about my meal at The French Laundry and am glad that we brought along a camera to capture it all. I hope you enjoyed your journey with me and hope that you will be able to experience your own one day!


The French Laundry
6640 Washington St.
Yountville, CA 94599
(800) 944-1224

Tasting menu: $240 per person for prix fixe (service included)
Supplements for foie gras and white truffle pasta course
Wine not included

Bon Appétit!

Brassica

You. Me. Brassica.

What is brassica, you might ask?  Come find out on Saturday at our CHOW CUESA demo.

Free for all, 11:45 under the eaves in the front of the Ferry Building.

Bon Appétit!

French Laundry in 17 hours and counting...

On a whim, I called the French Laundry for a reservation a few months ago.  The reason?  Getting my first full-time job in 3 years, the fact that we've been married for exactly 6 months, and well, cuz I've been eying it lustfully for years.  No luck getting in, but would I want to be placed on the wait list?  But of course.

Didn't think much of it until this past Thursday, when the reservationist called and said they had an opening for Sunday at lunch.  Did I still want to go?  YES!

I'm actually glad to be going for lunch rather than dinner.  Our last big blowout meal with this many courses was 3 years ago at Guy Savoy in Paris.  We ate there for lunch and then proceeded to waddle around for the next 10 hours not wanting to see another morsel of food.  I can't imagine eating that much food for dinner and then trying to go to bed.  Plus, I always love a dining room filled with natural light, and the opportunity to get up between courses and enjoy the gardens is something you just can't do in the evening.

Tomorrow we'll be making the short drive up to Napa, having what I hope will be a revelationary meal, and then wandering around the little towns before trying to muster up the energy to make the drive back.

For some reason we've made this a celebratory weekend - we've decided to open up a Châteauneuf-du-Pape we picked up while we were students in France to have with dinner, then we'll follow up with Paulette macarons (passion fruit) that we had on our wedding cake.  We've officially started SIT (stomach-in-training), intending to fully line and stretch our stomachs in anticipation of the big meal tomorrow.  This is the best kind of training, no?

Bon Appétit!

Public Demo

Sorry for being absent, I guess that's what happens when you go back to a full-time job!  Feels good, although sometimes I miss typing away in my pajamas at the kitchen table.

It's interesting working in a test kitchen again, the smaller kitchen crew feels nice and I feel really connected to all that we're doing.  Plus, I'm learning a lot about photography, food styling, and editorial in general.

In other exciting news, I'll be doing a demo for CHOW.com at the Saturday Ferry Building Farmer's Market on December 5th at 11:45AM.  (I'm stoked, especially since I got married there just about 6 months ago!)  Still narrowing down what recipe we'll be doing, but I hope you join us for some tasty food and a fun recipe.  Mark your calendars!

Bon Appétit!

Soft-Shell Crabs

While my favorite crabs are definitely Dungeness, soft-shell crabs come in a close second.  In fact, I believe I had a small addiction when living in Boston.  Unfortunately, they are more of an East Coast delicacy and I didn't expect to see them much here.   But as luck would have it, the Berkeley Bowl had them a few weeks ago, and live!

They were on the smallish side, so we bought 4, two for the each of us.  Here they are all lined up to be cleaned.  It's always best to get them live and to clean them yourself for freshness, but if you are using them immediately, sometimes your fishmonger will do it for you.

To clean them, first you flip them over and pull the tab at the bottom (called the apron) out.  Cut off with a pair of scissors.

Then you flip them back over and cut off the face.  While it sounds gruesome, it needs to be done.  Then gently lift up one side of the shell and you'll see the lungs, which are long and stringy.  Cut off and repeat on the other side of the shell. 

Rinse and dry thoroughly with paper towels, and your crabs are ready to be cooked!

My favorite cooking method is to fry them until crispy, served on a soft bun with tartar sauce and juicy ripe summer tomato slices.  However, a salad is also a great accompaniment, as the crab is rich and juicy but begging for some acidity.

Soak in milk, then dredge them in a mixture of flour and cornmeal (for crunch). Fry in a nonstick pan - easy cleanup and less likelihood of the flour coming off and burning on the bottom of the pan.  You can't be stingy with the oil here or your crab won't be crisp!

That night, we served our crabs with a green salad and fresh corn pancakes.  Summer on a plate!

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Crispy Soft-Shell Crabs
Serves 2

2 - 4 soft-shell crabs (depending on size), cleaned
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cornmeal
Salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1. Place milk in a shallow bowl and place crabs in the milk while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
2. Combine flour and cornmeal in another shallow bowl.  Season heavily with salt and pepper.
3. Heat vegetable oil and butter in a nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering.  Dip one crab in flour mixture and coat on both sides, pressing to make a thick crust.  Immediately place in hot oil and repeat with other crabs.
4. Cook 2 - 3 minutes on each side until crispy and golden brown.  Place crabs on paper-towel lined dish to drain.  Serve immediately

Bon Appétit!

Studio Cake - The cake of our dreams

Ordering a wedding cake always seemed like it would be the fun part of putting together a wedding.  I mean, you get to taste cakes, frosting, and fillings, right?  What could go wrong?

When H & I were planning our wedding, we had lightly tossed the idea around of a "fake" wedding cake.  Our caterer was known for her lavish dessert buffets, and we felt that most people don't remember the cake anyway.  In fact, we had made a 3-tiered fake wedding cake for my sister last year that fooled everyone (she served cupcakes and had a chocolate fountain instead).  When we got engaged, we received more than one "Are you guys going to make your wedding cake?" (Answer: NO!)

Because we knew we would have a lot of desserts, we opted for a small wedding cake to give people a small taste that would go well with our other selections.  Small cakes look more delicate and less overwhelming, and we cared much more about design than size. 

Then came the difficulties: what should it look like, and who would make it?

Since we met in Paris, we had hoped for a few French elements in the ceremony and food, and my eyes landed on the Pierre Hermé bags that I had squirreled away every time we went for macarons: "How about a macaron cake?"  (Yes, they are so over-hyped nowadays, but I like to think that I became fascinated with them well before the current craze.)

I snapped a few photos of the bag for inspiration and started calling cake designers.  And the fun began.  "We don't do cakes that small."  "Oh, we don't do tastings for cakes that small, you'll just have to pick the flavors."  "We don't deliver cakes that small, but we can send a courier."  "Well, I GUESS I could do a sketch for you."  "Give me an email or a call in a few weeks for a design."  "Our cake person only comes in on weekdays."

It seemed like nobody wanted our business.  I was close to just picking a place that wasn't that friendly but begrudgingly said they could do our cake, until my maid-of-honor (who works for Brides magazine in NYC) suggested Studio Cake, which is conveniently located near H's workplace. 

My first email was quickly answered and I fell in love with her website and designs.  They had even recently been featured on Martha Stewart.  Nothing frilly or old-fashioned, but not too wacky either.  Just delicate, classy, carefully crafted cakes that were each unique yet showed a lot uniformity in technique and professionalism.

BethAnn set up the first meeting to talk about concepts and to get a general sense of who we were and what we wanted our wedding to be like.  To our surprise, she sent us home with a box full of cake tastings!  This was even before we signed on, relieving us of the pressure of signing a contract just to taste the cakes.  She was relaxed, fun, and truly wanted to know our ideas.

Our colors were silver and blue, but we knew that the signature Pierre Hermé orange had to be somewhere.  The delicate leaf cut-outs on the bag also sparked her imagination, and she told us that she would send some sketches along for us to get the ball rolling.

I love sketches.  I love being a part of the process.  Below is her sketch, and we ended up choosing the bottom one.  This is one of my treasured souvenirs from the wedding planning process:

 

After a second cake tasting (we must be gluttons), we decided on a ginger cake with passion fruit buttercream.  Light, airy, and a bright burst of fruit.  Studio Cake never freezes their cakes and makes them all from scratch - what more can you ask for?  She also provides cake stands or cake boards if you need them.

I also secretly commissioned her to make a groom's cake, which became the hit of the evening.  The Red Sox fan in my life couldn't believe his eyes, and the children pleaded, "You can't cut it!"  But cut it we did, marveling at how realistic it was and how fun the cakeboard decorated like a base was.

Some things are just meant to be.  If you turn the Pierre Hermé logo upside down, you get our initials, H & C.  When BethAnn shrewdly discovered that, we secretly patted ourselves on our backs at how awesome she was.

Last but not least, I searched high and low for the perfect macarons.  Shipping them from France was out of the question, but luckily, Paulette Macarons had just opened in Hayes Valley.  After pestering them about their spring flavors, we lucked out with the exact color we wanted, bright orange macarons that had just come out for the season.  And guess what, they were passion-fruit flavored!  Sometimes the stars align just for you and you feel blessed.  I love the little silver dots that she put between the macarons that just added a little more subtle sparkle.

Our finished cake was breathtaking, especially with the cake table accented by our florist  I only got a bite of cake that night, but we froze the top layer and are currently enjoying it (we did save a chunk for our anniversary, don't worry!). We were lucky to have Studio Cake & BethAnn as one of our vendors and wouldn't have had it any other way.

*photos taken by Gregory Bartning of Sweet Smile*

Studio Cake
104 Gilbert Ave.
Menlo Park, CA 94025

Bon Appétit!

Thursday Ferry Building Farmers' Market

A Thursday in San Francisco means the new Thursday Farmers' Market at the Ferry Building, 10-2.  If you can, you should go earlier before the lunch crowd takes over.  A few produce stands like Lucero & Dirty Girl, with lots of tomatoes and peaches right now.  Please pardon the amateurish-iPhone pics.

Namu's Korean BBQ Beef Tacos: toasted seaweed, rice, Korean beef, kimchi, and some kind of addictive special sauce.  $2.25/1, $4/2.  They are amazing, could have been a little warmer though.

Pizza Politana's Margherita Pizza, $8: Very thin, crispy crust with loads of flavor.  Made to order in a portable wood-burning oven!

The beef sandwiches from Roli Roti, $6 looked good.  Will have to try next week.  Roasted potatoes are also available there, but no chicken, porchetta, or lamb.  Mexican place called Tacolicious, and some intense sorbets from Scream Sorbet.

And of course, the "only in San Francisco" picture of the day belongs to the guy who parks his pets in Union Square.  Yes, it's a cat with a white rat sitting on top of a dog.  They all seem to get along!

Bon Appétit!

Private Cooking Lessons

Here's some info for those of you in the SF Bay Area interested in private cooking lessons with me!

Bon Appétit!