We just finished cleaning up from a most glorious Sunday lunch. Allow me to tell you about it…
Nearby friends had suggested months ago they wanted to start a “Cookbook Club” and would I be interested in joining? Never heard of such a thing, but here’s the concept. It’s for people who love to cook, eat, and drink and aren’t afraid to go outside their comfort zone a bit. We have established our “Club” as a once-a-month gathering, rotating between members’ homes.
Ready, set, go!
The host picks the theme for the meal—either a cookbook, a chef, or a cuisine—then they prepare two main dishes from said cookbook, chef, or cuisine, and everyone else antes-up to bring a course to add to the meal, sticking to the theme. Each participant also brings a bottle of wine to pair with the meal.
The men holding down the patio furniture…
We stepped up to host the first meeting, the Première Fête, for our group today. There were only seven of us today, but that made a really great group to get things started. Since everyone in the group had some sort of tie to the US and we were all living in France, I chose Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking as the inspiration for the meal.
We started out with a local sparkling wine, La Sauvagine, made in a traditional method, paired with Roquefort Cheese Balls and other nibbles as an apéritif.
The menu.
Lunch consisted of an entrée of Cucumber Soup, garnished with amazing garlic croutons and herbs. I made two main dishes: a Tarragon Stuffed Chicken roasted in a covered cast-iron casserole, with Mushroom Stuffing and a Brown Tarragon Sauce, and Paupiettes de Boeuf, which were thin slices of beef wrapped around veal and pork sausage, braised in a wine stock with bacon and vegetables that created a most amazing sauce in the end, with a little mustard and cream added to the strained liquid.
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- The beef roulades before and after browning.
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- Then you submerge the lil’ darlins’ in a symphony of veggies, bacon, wine, and stock.
These were accompanied by some amazing garlic mashed potatoes and fresh peas á la Française. We enjoyed a delightful 2014 Cháteau Barreyres Cru Bourgeois from the Haut-Medoc region and a 2013 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône. They were different from each other, but both paired lovely with the chicken and the meat.
The ‘spread.’
We finished our gastronomic delights with a fabulous cheese tray and Charlotte aux Pommes, which had an amazingly complex and delicious gooey apple center inside a cakey exterior. Hard to describe and not easy to make, but was out of this world!
We had such a fun time sharing our challenges with the recipes and joking about all of it. And even though each of the cooks had their doubts about their contributions, at the end of the day, the meal was FANTASTIC. We all agreed on that.
Great lunch with friends.
If you are interested in starting such a group in your area and have any questions, just ask. I think it’s such a great concept and is so much fun. It’s a good excuse to stretch your culinary skills, win, lose, or draw!!!
Sounds and looks fantastic in an awesome setting and presentation. As usual, you’ve set the bar pretty high.
Thanks, Paul. You’re always my biggest fan! It was a really fun day and an awesome concept. Next month we explore northern African cuisine and will cook from recipes of the successful London restaurant, Restaurant Moro.
What a great idea and fun. We may have to try it.
You two are already so busy socially, but it IS a lot of fun. The stories that come out of the cooking experiences are hilarious. And hopefully, I will collect some great dishes to cook for you guys on your next visit!!!