Saturday, January 2, 2010

Bonne anée 2010!

Just like in the States, the French celebrate the holidays with the mistletoe or gui, although they use it on New Years, not Christmas. It's purpose is universal though - it's still an excuse for guys to get abundant kisses.

Oysters and clams to start. I think my cholesterol has spiked this past week.
An aperitif to start the night. What's better than a bottle of Champagne?

A magnum of champagne of course!

Foie gras. It's interesting how I have seen foie served this way often in Paris and not pan fried or seared. The French guests at the table balked a bit when I mentioned pan seared foie.

Home made quiche, just like at Christmas but this time I prepped it all myself.

Magnums of red wine for the main course.

Celery and potatoes mashed together. We used celery root and not the green stem that is commonly used. The celery lightened the mash a bit and added a sweetness to it. In addition to adding flavor, its a healthier, lower carb variation to the plain mash potatoes.

Haricot vert with crispy bacon.

Deer meat/Venison/bambi
Venison does not exclusively mean deer meat, it refers to any other hunted animal such as elk and wild boar. Game is very popular in Paris around this time of the year and the Parisians try to get their fill of it before the winter is over. As such, a lot of restaurants will offer boar, deer and hare on their winter menu.

Deer with cranberry and jus

Chocolate cake that we got from Jean Paul Hevin on Rue Saint-Honore
It was a very rich, dense but exquisite chocolate cake. Pricey too but it's so rich that you'd only want a thin slice.

Vanilla ice cream with caramelized apples. Sounds sweet but it was surprisingly very good.
The ice cream was comprised of a layer of vanilla bean ice cream, then caramelized apple and topped with caramel ice cream with chunks of crystallized sugar.

For New Years lunch, we celebrated with more game.

Zucchini gratin; crispy cheese on top of layers of zucchini and cream.

Veal perfectly cooked and pink in the center.

Happy new year, hope you had a feast as well! Hopefully it racked up fewer calories than mine...

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