My mother attended a holiday potluck and on the table was a delicate, buttery, flakey pastry wrapped salmon stuffed with spinach and mushrooms; there was a warm red pepper sauce on the side for drizzling. It was a smash hit…
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Madeleines are small oval cakes with a pretty shell-shape rib molded on one side. These are made from a savory muffin batter baked in the traditional rectangular French madeleine plaque pan that bakes eight cakes at one time.
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Red wine pan sauce can take even a simple hamburger and make it really special. But here it is paired with a rib-eye, which is basically your standing rib roast, cut into individual portions and deboned. It is tender and tasty, but not as lean as a trimmed fillet.
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Ti Couz (“the old house” in Gaelic) is a popular San Francisco crêperie bretonne conceived, owned, and run by my friend Sylvie Le Mer, who was born and raised in Quimper in Lower Brittany, France. Once a staple in the diet of both the rich and the poor, savory buckwheat crêpes, known as krampouz, are traditional in this area of France.
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Invite anyone from France to dinner and they will be horrified if you take out a bottled dressing for the salad. Ohhh mon dieu! It is part of the dinner preparation ritual to have someone at the counter mixing the vinaigrette.
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Consomme is a clear, strong broth often served as the first course of French-style meals. Consomme is made from meat or poultry bones or even vegetables, but is clarified by straining the stock instead of leaving it full of chunky vegetables like in regular soup. The true process is long, but rewarding, and all true chefs learn to make it. But a lovely mock consomme can be made with tomato juice and canned broth in the slow cooker. This is an unusual, light bodied soup adapted from one of my favorite phamplets called Home for The Holidays by Irena Chalmers’ Potpourri Press (1980). Don’t skip the avocado garnish; it is delicious as it is lovely to look at.
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Every holiday season I make lots of this bright cranberry chutney to serve with turkey and as a spread for sandwiches. I got it from extraordinaire food writer and recipe developer Peggy Fallon, a cranberry lover, who serves it as an accompaniment to a savory cheesecake for winter entertaining. This is one of my all time favorite cooked sauces, one I prepare every year and often give as gifts. Serve it as a condiment, or dabbed on unsalted crackers with soft cheese.
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