Saturday evening, we prepared and served a French dinner for
six at our home. The dinner was the “prize” won by a couple at the Tri-County
Office on Aging’s Meals on Wheels live auction last fall.
Ellen is very involved with Meals on Wheels (MOW). She
delivers meals and she serves on the MOW fundraising board. For the past two
years, we have offered a French dinner and a week at our apartment in Vaison la
Romaine. Luckily for MOW, the items have been popular and we have been able to
generate more funds for MOW. Since retiring, I have taken over most of the
cooking and have learned a lot. The dinner was a chance to share what I have
learned in the kitchen – both here and in France .
The couple that won the bid for the dinner knew what to
expect. They had won the bid the previous year and had enjoyed the evening
enough to make sure that they won the bid again.
We invited Steve and Re’Shane to come to an “apéro” to plan the menu. I had prepared a
list of options for each course and had included several items directly from
the menu at La Lyriste in Vaison la Romaine. (Chef Benoit had asked me
to translate the menu into English.) They chose the menu including a dish for
the main course that I had never prepared before. A quick “m’aidez” note to
Benoit to get instructions on how to prepare the dish followed. Benoit wrote
back and included detailed instructions and photos.
The menu*
Hors d’oeuvre: Gougère,
Purée de pois chiches au cumin à tartiner, Clairette de Die
Gruyère cheese puffs,
hummus on toasts, sparkling wine
Entrée: Soupe de tomate au
basilique, croustillants de parmesan, chardonnay
Tomato-basil soup
served with parmesan crisps, French unoaked chardonnay
 |
| The bowl that I served myself... (not attractive enough for the table) |
Plat: Nage de gambas et
cabillaud dans son jus de crustacé, ratatouille, riz brun, Vouvray
Jumbo shrimp and cod
poached in shellfish stock, ratatouille and brown rice, Vouvray
Fromages: brie triple crème,
morbier, chèvre (avec confiture de piment)Bordeaux rouge
Cheeses: triple cream
brie, morbier and goat cheese (with hot jalapeno jelly) red Bordeaux
Dessert: Baravois aux
fraises, vin doux
Strawberries served
with Bavarian cream, fortified red sweet wine
Café et chocolat
*the
vegetables for the soup and the ratatouille came from my garden!
