Happy Bastille Day

So Bastille Day has arrived. Bastille Day is quite famous in our family. When I was eight I was involved in a stupid dare that involved a very steep hill, a bike and no helmet. And a tree at the bottom of that very steep hill that I became intimately connected with. My memory of the incident is completely gone but apparently they were quite relieved at the hospital when, despite the apparent head injury, my response to the question "What day is it?" was "Bastille Day." It was in fact, 14 July.

Hopefully the headaches are at a minimum today. I spent last night planning my attack (7 MTAOFC recipes in one hit is no mean feat!) and rose bright and early to peel and marinate pears for the clafouti. Given the fact that it is a Wednesday night, Blairgourmand kindly offered to bring something, so he was assigned entree.

As I walked to work, I mentally organised the order in which I would cook everything and the pots and pans I would need. I stressed over my lack of a 6-8 capacity cooktop proof clafouti pan and decided I would need to modify the recipe. Internet research led me to decide that I would ignore the direction to set a film of clafouti on the cooktop (requiring the cooktop pan) and set it in the oven instead.

I arrived home in time for almost two solid hours of cooking before the guests (and as it turned out, Le Gourmand) arrived. Flicking back and forth between seven recipes in MTAOFC was a challenge involving sticking various kitchen utensils and post it notes in the right place but things went reasonably well, despite having to halt proceedings for entree and Le Gourmand's arrival. Petit Poulet and Blairgourmand arrived, beer and bubbles in hand (as all good guests do).

The menu:

Coquilles San Jacques a la Blairgourmand (Scallops)

Poulet Poêlé À L'Estragon (Casserole Chicken with Tarragon)

Carottes Étuvées Au Beurre (Carrots braised in butter)

Pommes De Terre Sautées (Sauteed potatoes)

Chou-Fleur Blanchi avec Beurre au Citron (Blanched cauliflower with lemon butter sauce)

Haricots Verts À La Provençale (Provencale Green Beans)

Clafouti aux Poires (Pear "flan". My idea of fwhat a flan is and Julia's idea of what a flan is differs slightly, so let's just stick with Clafouti.)

The Verdict:

Scallops were superb! Blairgourmand eschewed the poaching required by Julia and most other recipes for scallops, seared them on one side and laid the seared side down in the shells, covering them with shallots, mornay, cheese and breadcrumbs, then grilling them. We licked our shells!

I hastily returned to the kitchen to put the clafouti in the oven, reheat the vegetables and finish the sauces for the cauliflower and the chicken. The beans and cauliflower appeared to suffer the most from the pause but I suspect this was also Julia's 1950s cooking style.

The carrots were the most familiar recipe - slice and add water, butter, sugar and salt, bring to boil then boil gently for 30-40 minutes. Melt in the mouth!

Somewhat appalled by the butteriness of my lemon butter sauce (lemon juice reduced and butter slowly beaten in) I went off piste with the recipe and instead of adding 3 tablespoons of hot vegetable or seafood stock at the end, I added half a cup of chicken stock and heated it again. The blanched cauliflower were drenched and we could decide for ourselves whether or not to add more of the butter sauce which pooled at the bottom of the bowl. The lemon cut through nicely and balanced the other dishes.

The beans were Blairgourmand's favourite - cook the life out of tomatoes, sweated onions, garlic and herbs wrapped in cheesecloth, then add some partly blanched beans. My theory is that if you add tomato and onion to any green vegetables they will taste good (especially if you sprinkle fetta and toasted pine nuts on top, but that's another day).

I had cheated a little with the potatoes - for evenness of size I had cut some of them in half. As a result they didn't roll around the pan quite as easily in the butter and oil. They also browned a little more than golden in the reheating but Le Gourmand, Blairgourmand and Petit Poulet loved them and thought that the caramelisation was a welcome addition. They were melt in the mouth.

I feared that the chicken, which I diligently browned in the casserole before lying on top of carrots and onion, covering in foil and the Le Creuset lid and adding to the oven, would be overcooked as a jab with the meat thermometer showed we were eating a hot chicken! Instead of port or madeira, I used some marsala and red bubbles in the sauce, which blended beautifully with the tarragon that I had seasoned the chicken with. The meat juices and stock thickened with it beautifully (with the assistance of some cornflour). I sieved it, added some enrichment butter and chopped parsley and voila! I think this probably impressed me the most. The chicken was beautifully tender (lovingly carved by Le Gourmand).

The flavours balanced quite nicely, despite the buttery top notes and the meal was deemed a success!

So we washed the mountain of dishes. The clafoutis had cooked and was sitting in the oven. It was not quite as puffy and brown as I had hoped (probably because I used too many pears and the dish was too big) but when we finally served it with french vanilla ice cream, the pears were a hero. Perhaps all pears should be soaked in wine and sugar for several hours. My favourite thing about the clafoutis? No butter.

Dinner done, we lolled around discussing baby names for little Bruce, who (judging from his little kicks) appeared to have enjoyed the buttery feast.