Tuna Bread Lettuce
Gaby bought gourmet tuna packed in olive oil! I didn’t know you could even buy it like that! I’ve only seen the stuff in the US grocery stores packed in water and oil. I always assumed it was fish oil. Gaby said the tuna she used came from the German grocery store in a glass jar packed with the finest gourmet olive oil. Wow. What a difference it made! I have a lot to learn! The link I found isn’t what she bought, but you get the idea.
Present Miele Victory
Speaking of Paris, Gaby was just saying she wants to go to Paris next month and rent a cheap apartment for a week and look for a place for us to stay. 1BR, 15th arondissment starting in Dec for at least one year. Not TOO expensive (that’s a laugh..we’re going to Paris. EVERYTHING is expensive!).
Bouchon
OFF TOPIC NOTE: I figured out how to get the special characters on the mac keyboard but I find its way faster to google for a word and copy/paste from someone typing the word in!
Oh oh. Ground control, this is Major Tom. I think we have a problem
The aïoli recipe is in French. Gulp. OK. You know what? I’m not going to try to translate it. It’s from J. B. Reboul’s “La Cuisinière Provençale” on page 88. I’ll have to get Gaby to write this down in English everyone. It was a YUMMY recipe but pretty much Greek to me at the moment. I’ll build a page holder for the recipe anyway as it’s a good one.
Antwerp
Antwerp Cathedral
As it turns out, it’s also Gaby’s father’s 81st birthday on Saturday so we have two reasons to celebrate the day. I hope I can make 81 too. Seems possible doesn’t it?
Gaby’s making more of the Brownies with Pecan Nuts right now to take with us tomorrow. No one up there has tasted this sinful recipe. It’s just SOO good (can you tell I like it?)
Gaby’s still cooking so I’m going to wrap this post up and start getting ready to travel tomorrow. More from Antwerp!
Tom
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Tom, My wife, Barbara, has been pretty critical of my French cooking (learning) efforts, however she declared Gaby’s brownies “wonderful.” I marked the printed recipe, “OK to make again.” Tomorrow I’m making Gaby’s Biscuit du chocolat (or whatever). Thanks for all the good ideas and help., peace and love, Will Cleek
Hi Will,
Remember Barbara that this recipe was NOT mine: it was Philippe Conticini’s recipe from his book: “Sensations”.
By the way: I made it again tonight. I added some rum in the melted chocolat. And then I’ve spread some Ancho Chili Pepper on top of the Streusel. I should have added mixed into the streusel . It does give it a zzing.
When are you coming to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris?
Gaby
Hi Will,
I asked Gaby about written recipes and she said it’s hard to write them down as she changes them all of the time. I think it helps to get a good feeling of what different ingredients do to the overall flavor. I’m just parroting back what Gaby said… I’m about as scary in PhotoShop as I am in the kitchen! So take what I say with a grain of salt.
I think it would be interesting for Gaby to put a few guidelines of how she makes her adjustments.
The point is it’s not easy so take your time. Experiment and see how different things change the flavor. It’s a journey.. enjoy the trip!
Tom
You need a pan with cold water next to you when your egg yolks don’t have the time to absorb the butter you’re feeding them, so you have to “cool” them down a bit.
An bit of cold water added to the mixture might help too.
But when the sauce breaks, there is one more thing you can do: mix a spoon of lemon juice with a bit of your broken sauce), whisk it well and then poor slowly the broken sauce into it.
If you overcook the egg yolks, your dead. And try again.