This Weekend's Menu

When we'd have a lot of company at my grandmother's house often our dinner parties turned into three day weekends of non-stop eating with the day's offerings always written on an antique bistro chalkboard similar to this one (minus prices of course).

I thought about wandering around my favourite flea market in the world (and rightly so) Les Puces in Saint-Ouen north of Paris (which is still the biggest flea market in Europe), but then I realised where would I put it?

I want a chalkboard wall. Like this one to write my menus on...

It looks pretty cool right?

Thursday

Appertif/Nibbles

Fougasse aux herbs Provencal de La Maisonette des Mots*

Traditional Provencal bread with herbs from the region, special house recipe blend

Olives farcies aux anchois, saucisse de sanglier de Corse, et un assortiment de fromages régionaux

Olives stuffed with anchovies, Corsican wild boar sausage, and an assortment of local cheeses

Vin rosé - La Cave d'Augustin Florent

Rosé wine

Entrée

Velouté d'asperges garni avec huile de truffe blanche servi frais

Chilled asparagus soup garnished with white truffle oil

Plat

Gigot d'agneau rôti servi avec du miel de romarin et sauce à l'ail croustillant, pommes de terre soufflées, et la ratatouille de Juliette (la recette de ma grand-mère de Juliette)

Roasted leg of lamb with rosemary honey sauce and crispy garlic, puffed potatoes, and ratatouille (made with my grandmother Juliette's secret recipe)

Vin rouge - Chateauneuf du Pape Louis Jadot

Red wine - Chateauneuf du Pape Louis Jadot

Dessert

Clafloutis aux cerises et crème glacée à la vanille et du porto

Clafoutis with black cherries served with vanilla ice cream and aged Porto wine

If you notice I'm not serving a separate wine with the first course and it's not because I'm cheap or lazy. The reason why is because this chilled soup is meant to cleanse the palate before I serve the lamb and the wine. Chateauneuf du Pape is probably my favourite appelation of French red wines and it's meant to be served with lamb, it just is. So if someone counsels you to take a Bordeaux ask them if they have a Chateauneuf du Pape and the Louis Jadot specifically. It's a bit cheaper than a Bordeaux of the same quality and I don't think you could find the same quality Bordeaux for the price of the Jadot Chateauneuf du Pape either (though I am willing to be corrected on this).

There two more days of cooking after this massive welcome meal (whose leftovers will be packed up for a picnic) that will feature Cajun cooking and Korean BBQ. By Sunday I will most likely pass out from exhaustion, but for friends like ones who are willing to come from so far just to visit, the effort will be worth it.