The Run Around: Bastille Day Dinner and Fantasy French Cycling

To further celebrate Bastille Day, Chad and I invited Kate and Ken to join us for a 'French' dinner and to watch the Tour. They follow the Tour de France as much as we do (if not more). One of the things I have been working on is cooking...trying new recipes, learning about techniques that I've never tried before, and just general knowledge about where food is from and local preparations. I knew Kate and Ken would be forgiving if I botched dinner, so I tried three completely new recipes out on them. The menu is in the picture (click on it to enlarge).

Since French food typically brings to mind butter, foie gras, lamb, and other rich and fatty delights, my goal was to maintain a healthy balance of healthy ingredients while incorporating French ingredients as much as possible. The salad contained mache (lamb's lettuce) in its blend of baby lettuces and I used the French sheep's milk cheese Petit Agour to go along with the dried sour cherries and honey vinaigrette. I didn't get a picture of the salad, but it was pretty and delicious.

Here are some pics and an explanation of the rest of the food.

Cooking the Tarte Tatin - Traditionally French! I prepared this before anything because it was the most labor intensive item on the menu and required advance cooking time.

Peeled, cored and evenly sliced apples in concentric circles, butter and sugar coating the pan.

Baking in the oven with a puff pastry topping...whoa, I didn't realize it would 'puff' that much!

I expected better caramelization of the apples, but it was still very yummy. Next time I know to cook longer on the stove top, then longer in the oven before adding the pastry. Also, the puff pastry settled nicely and when I flipped the tart, it came out easily and in the right size to fit the pastry bottom.

We had real French Champagne (from Reims, where we went for a day trip on our honeymoon). Also, the stage tour finished in Issoudun, just on the southern edge of the Loire wine region (see map below and look in the lower right portion for the green blob Reuilly). Our wine with our main course was from Reuilly (Sauvignon Blanc) and was lovely. Reuilly is just 16km north of the Tour's stage finish town of Issoudun.

The main course was Salmon en Papillote (balloon) which is the technique of packaging your food in parchment paper and baking. With the heat added during the cooking process, the food's natural juices are released as steam and puff the parchment into the 'balloon' and marries all of the flavors together into a delicious, quick meal. Our papillote contained thinly sliced red potatoes on the bottom layer, haricot verts (oui, French), salmon, thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts), flat parsley, and lemons. Ken helped me fold and seal each packet tightly and it baked for 10-12 minutes in a 400 degree oven. Quick and easy.

I forgot to take a picture of the papillote during the assembly process or coming out of the oven...boo! The packets are served sealed and cut open at the table to allow the fragrant steam to become part of the experience of each diner. It was yummy...light and flavorful and perfect with the wine. Here's a shot of a half-eaten papillote. It was much prettier when initially cut open.

Mmmm....there is parsley in my teeth :)

After dinner, we gathered around the TV to watch the tour. We played 'Fantasy French Cycling' in honor of Bastille Day, a day where French cyclists traditionally try the breakaway and hope to survive for a French win. On Monday afternoon, we selected one of four randomly-selected teams of all of the French cyclists on the tour to be our 'Fantasy French Cycling Team'. Throughout the stage our riders could earn points at the intermediate sprints and category climbs (giving points advantage to the breakaway riders) and then more points for overall finish place based on the top 100 riders. The point system for the top 100 finishers was made up, but is similar to how the Green Jersey competition is scored during the Tour. Click on the picture of the score sheet to see how it all worked.

The prize (definitely cycling related)- You can see barely on our coffee table...the 'Fantasy French Cycling Cup' was a Mellow Johnny's Pint Glass with a Mellow Johnny's magnet and a $10 gift card to Mellow Johnny's...intended for a treat at the Juan Pelota cafe there at the store.

Here we are competing.

Here is my sheet below (click to enlarge)...Kate, Chad and I all had riders from our team in the breakaway, so we had fun watching the intermediate sprints and climbs...our riders scored us lots of points. Poor Ken didn't have a rider in the breakaway:(. Chad had the lead going into the finish. Ken came from behind with two riders in the top 10 overall stage finishers to overtake me for the lead, despite me having the highest placing French rider on my team. I'm glad Ken won because he didn't get to enjoy the intermediate sprints and climbing points as much as the rest of us did. Now after a long run one of these Saturdays, Kate and Ken can enjoy some Juan Pelota goodies to refuel.