So much wine, so much time
The wine was flowing in class yesterday. Unfortunately very little of it flowed directly into my mouth. Instead it appeared in dishes such as Cassolette d’Escargots a La Chablisienne (Snails in Cream Sauce, Chablis Style), Oeufs Meurette (Poached Eggs in Red Wine Burgundian Style), and Palerons Braises a La Bourguignonne (Beef in Red Wine).
Phew. It took awhile just to transcribe all those lofty titles. Don’t they sound sexier in French?
We also made something called Tendrons de Veau a L’Orange, which our recipe book called “Veal Riblets With Oranges” in English. My American friend Amy and I kept snorting throughout the day at the fact that we were cooking riblets at the Paris Ritz. Don’t riblets sound like something on the menu at McDonalds, or a sports bar? They didn’t come out that great.
The snails disappointed too. I don’t mind eating weird little creatures, but they need to have some merit beyond just being a vehicle for delicious sauce. I’m not sure that calamari and snails don’t exist solely to be cloaked in garlic and olive oil or tempura batter. In the case of our escargots, the cream sauce was quite salty. I couldn’t do it.
Snails, ham and mushrooms before getting smothered in cream sauce.
Snails smothered in cream sauce and broiled.
But let me tell you what I did love: the Oeufs Meurette and Burgundy Beef. I think that these have been my favorite dishes so far. We learned that the eggs were originally poached in red wine, which gives them this wild appearance:
Not exactly tantalizing, huh? Now they are just poached in water and then covered with a heavenly, velvety red wine sauce that is studded with lardons and mushrooms, and placed atop crisp little toasts. Our recipe helpfully mentioned that “a little pig’s blood” could be added to thicken the sauce. Next time I have a jug of sang de porc monopolizing valuable fridge space, I’ll be sure to remember that.
The Burgundy beef was similarly divine. I’ve had it plenty of times, but not like this. I suspect that part of its superiority had to do with our stock. Most of our dishes start with brown veal stock, which adds meaty depth and a wonderful mahogany color to all our sauces. Unfortunately, brown veal stock takes 9 – 48 hours to make. I haven’t found a cheater source for it yet, but don’t give up on me just yet. I have more research to do.
Oeufs Meurette.
Marinating the beef in red wine overnight.
Flaming with Cognac.
In Wine Class #2, we tasted a Burgundy and two Bordeaux. I preferred the Burgundy; its aroma reminded me exactly of the beautiful blood peaches I buy each day. Here are their names in case you’re a wine freak:
2000 Domaine Alain Coche-Bizouard Monthelie 1er Cru “Les Duresses”
1998 Chateau Les Hauts de Pontet
1998 Chateau Clos des Jacobins Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Wine class can be challenging and demoralizing. Sometimes I taste things that nobody else does, and other times I sniff the glass and think, “Yep, smells like wine.” And then our teacher waxes poetic about cooked fruits and wet wood aromas, and I wonder to myself, “Are we tasting the same wine?”
My pal from Russia summed it up pretty well. The teacher was telling us how she smelled aromas of grilled green peppers when she noticed Anastasia’s face was crumpling.
“What’s wrong, Anastasia? Do you disagree?”
“No,” she wailed. “I am just thinking how stupid I am. I am smelling beef in this wine and you are smelling green peppers!”
“Anastasia, I think you just need to put your nose in the glass.”
True enough. We were sitting right where we had made the burgundy beef a few hours before. The whole place probably reeked of meat, and so did we.
Phew. It took awhile just to transcribe all those lofty titles. Don’t they sound sexier in French?
We also made something called Tendrons de Veau a L’Orange, which our recipe book called “Veal Riblets With Oranges” in English. My American friend Amy and I kept snorting throughout the day at the fact that we were cooking riblets at the Paris Ritz. Don’t riblets sound like something on the menu at McDonalds, or a sports bar? They didn’t come out that great.
The snails disappointed too. I don’t mind eating weird little creatures, but they need to have some merit beyond just being a vehicle for delicious sauce. I’m not sure that calamari and snails don’t exist solely to be cloaked in garlic and olive oil or tempura batter. In the case of our escargots, the cream sauce was quite salty. I couldn’t do it.
But let me tell you what I did love: the Oeufs Meurette and Burgundy Beef. I think that these have been my favorite dishes so far. We learned that the eggs were originally poached in red wine, which gives them this wild appearance:
Not exactly tantalizing, huh? Now they are just poached in water and then covered with a heavenly, velvety red wine sauce that is studded with lardons and mushrooms, and placed atop crisp little toasts. Our recipe helpfully mentioned that “a little pig’s blood” could be added to thicken the sauce. Next time I have a jug of sang de porc monopolizing valuable fridge space, I’ll be sure to remember that.
The Burgundy beef was similarly divine. I’ve had it plenty of times, but not like this. I suspect that part of its superiority had to do with our stock. Most of our dishes start with brown veal stock, which adds meaty depth and a wonderful mahogany color to all our sauces. Unfortunately, brown veal stock takes 9 – 48 hours to make. I haven’t found a cheater source for it yet, but don’t give up on me just yet. I have more research to do.
Oeufs Meurette.
In Wine Class #2, we tasted a Burgundy and two Bordeaux. I preferred the Burgundy; its aroma reminded me exactly of the beautiful blood peaches I buy each day. Here are their names in case you’re a wine freak:
2000 Domaine Alain Coche-Bizouard Monthelie 1er Cru “Les Duresses”
1998 Chateau Les Hauts de Pontet
1998 Chateau Clos des Jacobins Saint-Emilion Grand Cru
Wine class can be challenging and demoralizing. Sometimes I taste things that nobody else does, and other times I sniff the glass and think, “Yep, smells like wine.” And then our teacher waxes poetic about cooked fruits and wet wood aromas, and I wonder to myself, “Are we tasting the same wine?”
My pal from Russia summed it up pretty well. The teacher was telling us how she smelled aromas of grilled green peppers when she noticed Anastasia’s face was crumpling.
“What’s wrong, Anastasia? Do you disagree?”
“No,” she wailed. “I am just thinking how stupid I am. I am smelling beef in this wine and you are smelling green peppers!”
“Anastasia, I think you just need to put your nose in the glass.”
True enough. We were sitting right where we had made the burgundy beef a few hours before. The whole place probably reeked of meat, and so did we.
posted by cindym at 5:09 AM
3 Comments:
Those oeufs meurette are beautiful! That dish was one of my favorite discoveries when my mother and I did a week or so of road-tripping around Burgundy. I tried recreating it once here in Seattle, but I'm a disaster at egg-poaching, so for now I'll just live vicariously through your photo...
Love that 'flaming' photo!
Enjoy every minute of class. Will you do a 'stage' when you finish the course?
Wow those pictures are amazing, the eggs poached in wine particularly. Found your site off of mahnbanlieu blog and will be checking in more often. Thanks for sharing!!
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