Love her hair below..
Love her hair below
Friday, February 11, 2011
Fashion for your Friday
A little bit of fashion for your weekend from one of my favorite blogs. http://carolinesmode.com/stockholmstreetstyle/?p=2
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Beautiful Crab Millefeuille with Edible Flowers
One dish that I did just use them for was a Crab Millefeuille-crab, tomato avocado topped with microgreens (otherwise known as a Crab Tower). I finished my millefeuille of course with some edible flowers which i purchased for way too much at le Bon Marche http://www.lagrandeepicerie.fr/(9 euro). PS if your coming to Paris you pretty much HAVE TO stop at the Grand Epercerie. It is a food site to be seen.
This dish is so light ,crisp, refined and beautiful. It really has such a soft and nice flavor and my guest throughly enjoyed it.
How good do these crab towers look below? Adding mango, or substituting ahi for crab and adding plantain chips or asian ingredients could be nice ideas as well. I love, love the deconstructed ahi tartare that Michael Minna makes as well which is the last photo.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
French Bastille Market & Home Cooked Sunday Brunch
The Rue Richard Lenoir market is known for having hundreds of food stalls and the Rue Richard Lenoir market is very highly acclaimed as it is filled with french gourmet products in over a kilometer of space. I thoroughly enjoyed finding live langoustines, to be able to snack on some lebanese mini sandwiches, choose from over 500 different types of cheese and just do some solid people watching at this little Sunday gem.
After the market, it was time to make some brunch. As most of my American expat friends miss Mexican food daily they decided to make a typical Tex-Mex egg dish consisting of green and red peppers, homemade green chili spicy sauce, slow roasted eggs with fresh cheese from the market and yellow baby tomatoes. This complimented with lots of Sunday wine and cheese left us happy, full and a bit drunk. A perfect little Sunday funday!
The egg dish a friend made chez lui after the market!
A "Chic" Supper Bowl Sunday Menu
1) Pork Cheek and Black Eyed Pea Chili-http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/pork-cheek-and-black-eyed-pea-chili. I mean pork cheek..yumm you can't really go wrong. Also a slow roasted homemade chili that fills the house with a smell of warm smokey flavor is a Yes.
2) Honey Chili Chicken wings topped with fresh scallions-I'm not a big fan of the typical average boring wing. Yet, throw some honey, rice vinegar, larger sized wings, big slivers of chili and scallions and you have me excited. http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/honey-chile-chicken-wings
3) Burger Bar- I think you can't go wrong with various sliders on a mneu. Might be a bit tricky to keep them warm but undercook them a bit and keep them in the oven at 200 (still lightly cooking and warm until guest arrive). Then top them with buns and voila! I would say 3 great options would be:
Mini Kobe beef with heirloom tomatoes, sauteed onions and truffle oil
Mini Buffalo with artisanal cheddar, jalapeno ketcup and a brioche bun
Ahi Tuna Burgers with brioche buns, racer thing sliced cucomber and lemon-wasabi olive oil
4) 4 Cheese Mac and Cheese in small glass jars with a touch of white truffle oil, small diced apples and bread crumbs. These are pictured without the topping but really nothing goes together like gorgonzola and the acidity and bite of an apple. Might sound like a weird combo but it's great. Also little latch jars are adorable and make anything look chic and tasty.
Served in jars like this...
5) Mini Tarte Tatin & Opera cakes with Bi-Rite Salted Carmel icecream and Brown Sugar with Ginger Caramel icecream. You can't ever go wrong with finishing with french desserts. After all they know what they're doing. These 2 are a bit complicated to make and they should be done in advance but would be a yummy ending for sure.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Ahi Tuna Brown Rice Bowls
This dish reminds me of SF and is so healthy, flavorful, bright and yummy. It is the perfect lunch and a great saturday meal after a morning of Yoga. The presentation is clean and colorful and should 'wow' your guests a bit :)
The inspiration comes from Pacific Catch. A great little resto which has a few locations in San Francisco, ca. http://www.pacificcatch.com/. If you go, you should get a brown rice bowl, sweet potato fries and the artichoke with aioli. I'm trying out a new cleaner way of posting recipes so it might look a bit different below. Hope you like it.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Perfect Sunday Day Trip from Paris
Little Champagne Village on the Mt de Reims
Oh Sunday's in France. Traffic is light, stores have the "fermée" signs blanketing their doors and the non-stop action packed days which are the usual norm routine of a tourist (you know days where you walk so much you're left with sore aching feet, tight hip flexors and nonstop motivation). Well, these days all of a sudden come to screeching halt as your realize, wait, everything is closed in France on Sundays?! What, oh what to do on such a day? I have an idea about how to solve the French Sunday Blues or the le cafard du dimanche.
A few Sundays ago that is just what I did with 3 clients of Tasy Side to Life Tours http://www.tastysidetolifetours.com. Picking them up in Paris at 10 am we headed on the road.
After a big traditional Alcase lunch of Choucroute (sauerkraut (aromatic pickled cabbage) served hot with sausage, pork or ham) 
It's the perfect day to get out of town for a little day trip. Do you think it's possible that you could find a similar bottle to the Veuve Clicquot you drank last night for 200 euro at Chez L'ami Louis for 25 odd euro in the region it's from?
I think you can and shhhh I know how! All you need to do is hire a chaffeur/ guide and translator to to take you on the 1.5 hr drive out of the standstill of Paris and into the old age beauty of Champagne. Then, as fast as likity split you can be having a Sunday funday filled with lounging in living rooms of small champagne producers while getting a bit tipsy and partaking in the degustation of 5-6 different cuvees, tasting local escargot at a farm, eating some Choucroute at a local Brasserie that won awards for it's microbrew, skipping through a 800 year old breathtaking Cathedral and checking out an old 16th century Chateau for your next visit complete with a tennis court, pool and Grand chef. You can do all of this while tasting at one of 1000's of small producers who most likely sold their liquid gold to the Veuve clicquots of the world who then did some fancy marketing and stuck their pricey price tag on it.
A few Sundays ago that is just what I did with 3 clients of Tasy Side to Life Tours http://www.tastysidetolifetours.com. Picking them up in Paris at 10 am we headed on the road.
In no time and after some great croissants were in their bellies we made it to our first stop. We were Chateau/ hotel viewing in a little town 30 mins from Reims, Courcelles Sur Vesles. My clients wanted to check it out to see if on their next trip they would want to stay the night. We pulled up to the Chateau http://www.chateau-de-courcelles.fr/ on the dirt road that looked to have existed since the Medieval times. We passed the pool, tennis courts and pulled into the parking lot. Immediately we smelled the tantalizing whiff of the kitchen preparing the days meal. We did a quick tour of the rooms, the grounds and talked to the front desk for a little bit. The clients decided to skip the incredible 50 euro grand chef 5 course menu offered here and head into Reims for lunch at a traditional bistro followed by viewing of the Cathedral.
A Beautiful room at Chateau Les Courcelles
washed down with a tasting of the resto's brewed beer (which just won numerous awards) we headed off to the see the Cathedral. It really is a breathtaking site and in my opinion it never gets old. I could tour through it everyday, easily :) After taking in the wonder of the Cathedral we were off to a few tastings.
The 800 year old Cathedral
I'll go through one of the producers we saw during the day. The pictures below are from a small producer Champagne Roger Manceaux. http://www.champagne-roger-manceaux.com/. Each time I choose a producer I make sure he's of top quality. IE that they have won awards or mentioned in the Hachette de Vin. Champagne Roger Manceaux won awards in the GUIDE HACHETTE DES VINS for 2009 & 2010, was also included in the GUIDE EUVRARD GARNIER 2011 and the GUIDE VINS & TERROIRS AUTHENTIQUES HIVER 2010-2011. So, he's got a good thing going on.
His grapes sit on 13 hectares and his terroir is classified as "Premier Cru". Their champagne is made up of 40 % Pinot noir - 35 % Pinot meunier - 25 % Chardonnay. They produce 49,000 bottles a year and their prices range from 11-25 euro a bottle. Not bad, right? His Champagne is smooth and aromatic with notes of raw fruits. He gave us a great tour of his caves, let us taste Champagne straight from the steel barrels and spent a good hour talking with us (of course his conservation was translated for the clients!).
Tasty Side To Life Tours
Attn: Sydney Krueger
15 Rue Conservatoire 75009 Paris France
Email: tastysidetolifetours@gmail.com or sydneykrueger@gmail.com
website: www.Tastysidetolifetours.com
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