French Food

After our fabulous honeymoon in France, I was inspired to make a french meal.  All the food we had there was so great.  I don't think mine was quite as good as the real thing, but a good imposter. 

Drink...

 

Bordeaux Wine

With France having such great wines, we were sure to stock up our wine fridge with some of the delicious wines we brought back.  We couldn't believe how inexpensive the quality wines were in France.  We saw the majority of bottles on sale for 3-5 Euros per bottle.  We enjoyed many different wines in France in cafes, brasseries, and on our picnics.  

There's no ingredients or directions for this one.  Just get a good bottle, open, pour, and enjoy!

Dinner...

Boeuf Bourguignon

We wanted to have this dish in France, but never got the opportunity to.  I looked up several different recipes and created a combination of them.  One of the recipes I included portions of was Julia Child's.  However, hers seemed very complicated, took a long time, and had to be cooked in the oven.  So, I combined some ideas from her recipe with another quicker, more streamlined recipe I found.  This one was much simpler, quicker, and cooked on the stove top (which was great because our apartment is already way too hot without the oven on!). 

Ingredients:

(serves 4-5)

• 6 oz. bacon, chopped
• 1 beef sirloin steak or top round steak, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 pound)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/9 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 ounce sliced mushrooms (about 2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves , crushed
• 2 cup fresh or frozen whole baby carrots
• 1 3/4 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup Burgundy or other dry red wine

Directions:

cooked bacon and beef

veggies cooking

1. Simmer the bacon in a large pot or dutch oven until fully cooked.  Remove from the pot.
2. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper.  Coat the pieces with flour.  Cook the beef in the bacon fat until well browned. Remove from the pot.
3. Cook the carrots, onions, garlic, mushrooms, parsley, thyme, and black pepper in the bacon fat.
4. Add the beef stock, wine, cooked beef, and cooked bacon.  
5. Simmer covered for 20 minutes.  If the broth seems too thin, add a little flour and cook a few more minutes.
6. Serve with potatoes, rice, or orzo pasta.

Plat Du Fromage

My favorite food in France was the cheese, and we ate a lot of it!  We even brought some back with us.  The French eat their cheese course at the end of their meal.  We had it this way in France, but I still prefer it before my meal.  I guess I'm just too American!  
For this cheese platter we had a Camembert and another cheese which we aren't quite sure what it was (maybe it was called Auvergne since it says that on the tag??).  The person we bought it from in France didn't speak much English.  We couldn't bring back goat cheese because it was unpasteurized, so he recommended this cheese as a similar one.  
You could have a cheese plate with any variety of cheeses, but typically the ones we had in France included a Brie or Camembert, a goat cheese, a blue cheese, and a hard cheese.

Dessert...

Mousse Au Chocolat

*recipe from FoodNetwork.com
Chocolate mousse has been one of my favorite desserts since I was a kid. Most recipes either have raw egg, or involve using a thermometer to measure the egg temperature.  This was a bit complicated for me, so I went with Alton Brown's simplified recipe.  It tasted delicious, but my texture seemed to be a little off.  I think I might have over beat my whipped cream which caused it to be too stiff and not incorporate smoothly, so be careful not to over-whip!
Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 1 3/4 cups whipping cream
• 12 ounces quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3 ounces espresso or strong coffee
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon flavorless, granulated gelatin

Directions:

1. Chill 1 1/2 cups whipping cream in refrigerator. Chill metal mixing bowl and mixer beaters in freezer.
2. In top of a double boiler, combine chocolate chips, coffee, rum and butter. Melt over barely simmering water, stirring constantly. Remove from heat while a couple of chunks are still visible. Cool, stirring occasionally to just above body temperature.
3. Pour remaining 1/4 cup whipping cream into a metal measuring cup and sprinkle in the gelatin. Allow gelatin to "bloom" for 10 minutes. Then carefully heat by swirling the measuring cup over a low gas flame or candle. Do not boil or gelatin will be damaged. Stir mixture into the cooled chocolate and set aside.
4. In the chilled mixing bowl, beat cream to medium peaks. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whipped cream in two doses. There may be streaks of whipped cream in the chocolate and that is fine. Do not over work the mousse.
5. Spoon into bowls or martini glasses and chill for at least 1 hour. Garnish with fruit and serve.
6. (If mousses are to be refrigerated overnight, chill for one hour and then cover each with plastic wrap)

Healthy & Hearty

Since my wedding is coming up, I am trying to go into super-healthy mode.  However, even though I am trying to eat less and eat healthier, I hate feeling hungry.  I find that a lot of health foods just don't fill me up.  This meal is an exception.  It was not only healthy, but is very low carb and full of fresh ingredients.  And, it filled me up!  I would make these recipes again, even if I wasn't on a diet :)

Drink...

Tom Collins

I scoured the internet for a low calorie mixed drink.  Let me tell you, they are not easy to find.  Most of the mixed drinks available have a ton of sugar in them, which is precisely what I am trying to avoid.  The mixed drinks I found that didn't have a lot of sugar sounded gross, as they were mostly just straight alcohol or liqueur mixed with water—blah!  Finally, I found one.  It has artificial sweetener in it, which I know some people do not like.  But, I have been using Stevia extract lately.  I think it's a good replacement for sugar because it has no calories and is made from a plant extract, so it isn't full of chemicals.  I am not the biggest gin fan, but this drink was delicious and refreshing.  Plus, based on my calculations it only has 115 calories and no sugar (the only ingredients with calories are the gin and lemon juice).

Ingredients:

•1.5 (3tbsp)oz gin
•1 oz (2tbsp) lemon juice, or more to taste
•1 packet of Splenda or Equal (*I used Stevia*)
•Club soda
•Lemon slice for garnish

Directions:

1. Mix gin, lemon juice, and sweetener in a glass. 
2. Add club soda to taste, and then add ice cubes. 
3. Garnish with lemon slices.

Dinner...

Paleasagna 

*recipe from What Runs Lori
I am obsessed with goat cheese, so when I saw the ingredients included it, I was ready to make it.  When I saw the recipe, I was wondering how it got it's name.  In case you are like me, and have never heard of the Paleolithic Diet (Paleo Diet), you might be wondering the same thing.  According to Wikipedia, this diet is also referred to as the Caveman Diet or the Hunter-Gatherer Diet.  It is based on the idea that humans are genetically adapted to the diet of their Paleolithic ancestors, and we would be healthier if we ate their diet.  The diet consists mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture-raised meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts.  It excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.  I don't know that I agree with this diet and this recipe doesn't conform to it exactly, but I do think it's good to eat fresh foods, low sugar, and low carbs, which this recipe has.  Besides the healthiness, it was quite delicious, filling, and easy to make.  My only suggestion is to add more seasoning than the recipe suggests, because I found it a bit bland.
Ingredients:
(makes 5-6 servings)

• 1/2 white onion, diced
• 1/2 pound of extra lean turkey, or ground sirloin
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes, low sodium
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 tbsp Italian spice blend (*I would add more*)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 pound of zucchini and/or yellow squash, cut into medallion rounds
• 1/2 cup raw goat cheese, shredded
• 1 cups Greek yogurt
• 1 head broccoli, roughly chopped (*I used eggplant since Doug doesn't like broccoli and it was delicious*)
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. In a large skillet or sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the diced onions. Sauté on medium-high until softened, about 3-5 minutes. 
2. Add the ground turkey, canned tomato and tomato paste, spices, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. Continue to cook all ingredients until the turkey is cooked through. Set aside when done.
3. In a medium bowl, combine raw goat cheese, Greek yogurt, broccoli (*eggplant*) pieces, and egg. Mix well.

eggplant mixture

  4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease the bottom of a 13 x 9 Pyrex glass baking dish. Place a layer of zucchini and squash rounds evenly across the bottom, making a sort of liner.

squash & zucchini

   5.  Add a layer of turkey-tomato sauce on top of the zucchini.

meat & tomato layer

  6.  Top that with some of the broccoli and yogurt mixture. 

eggplant, cheese, and yogurt layer

  7.  Continue with this layering process until you have used all of your ingredients.  Top the entire dish with more shredded goat cheese, if desired.

Final Product!

  8.  Bake for 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Dessert...

Chocolate-Coconut Mousse

*recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie

I cannot feel satisfied after a meal until I have dessert.  So, no matter how healthy I am trying to be, dessert is always included.  This dessert is a surprising twist on chocolate mousse and is sugar free! It has a strong coconut flavor, so liking coconut is a must for this one.  I found that it was even better after I left it in a bowl uncovered in the fridge overnight because it got thicker and was more of a mousse texture.  

To make it, you have to use thickened coconut milk.  This is a recent trick I learned, and I am still amazed by it (although it didn't work as well for me as expected).  If you put an unopened can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, the water will separate from it and you will be left with a very thick coconut milk that can be whipped with other ingredients to make things like mousse or whipped cream.  Simply amazing!

Ingredients:

• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup plus 1 T cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• sweetener to taste (I used a little stevia, but any dry sweetener will do.)

Directions:

1. Leave the can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight. (Don’t shake the can before opening.) It should get very, very thick. (If it doesn’t, you’ve gotten a bad can that won’t work for the recipe. I highly recommend Thai Kitchen, or especially Thai Kitchen Organic.) (*My first attempt at this failed.  I think it was because I poured it into a bowl and left it in the fridge.  For the second attempt, which worked much better, I left the can unopened in the fridge and tried the Thai Kitchen brand.  It worked much better.*)

 

1st attempt - fail :(

2nd attempt - success!

  2.  Once thick, transfer to a bowl  (leave out the watery bit at the bottom of the can) and whip in your cocoa, vanilla, and sweetener with a whisk, or even beaters if you want to be fancy.  
  3.  Stored uncovered in the fridge, the mixture gets even thicker.