A French Menu

I made a french dinner last night and wanted to capture it. My biggest challenge is keeping the food warm and serving it all at the same time. This menu was inspired by Julia Child and it was delicious!

The balsamic vinaigrette is to die for – it gets thick when it cools but you can use it like a spread. It’s my new favorite glaze – I want to try it over other vegetables and with other dishes. It’s quite easy to make. I overcooked the artichokes so I didn’t pan sear them or they’d have fallen apart – I just drizzled the vinaigrette over them. I could’ve made double the amount of vinaigrette also.

Starter (I know this is not traditional – the cheese usually comes in the middle)

Bread with selection of cheese and with the balsamic glaze leftovers (recipe below). Garnished with red grapes, dried apricots and nuts. Served with sparkling juice. I also had some chocolate pieces.

Main Course

Chicken Cordon Bleu (taken from this web page and this one for the marinade)

This is a pan cooked version and doesn’t have bread crumbs – I now prefer it to the traditional recipes I’ve made before that have you bake this in the oven.

First, marinate the chicken a few hours to overnight:

Wash off the chicken breasts.  Then cut the thicker pieces in half and pound the chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/2 inch thickness and put in a ziplock bag with:

1 T (kosher if you have it) salt,
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. black pepper
Add 2 cloves minced garlic,  and 1/2 tsp. baking powder.
Toss well. Place the chicken in a large bowl or a sealable zip-top bag. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons of white wine (or water) and olive oil. When time to use rinse off and pat dry with paper towels.

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 slices Swiss cheese
6 slices ham
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream
chopped basil, for garnish (optional)

1. Pound chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks. Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.

2. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides. Add the wine of broth and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

3. Remove the toothpicks, and transfer the breasts to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.

Pan Seared Artichoke with Balsamic Glaze (from this web site)

Ingredients

Yields: 4 servings

2 whole jumbo artichokes
2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Parmesan

Vinaigrette (this is amazing)

1 teaspoon superfine sugar (I used regular)
1 tablespoon raw honey (I used regular)
1 teaspoon honey Dijon Mustard (I used regular)
¼ cup aged balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons avocado oil (I used olive oil for all of the oil)
3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon fleur de sel (salt)
¼ teaspoon white peppercorns, freshly ground (I used regular)
1 teaspoon fried onions (I omitted)

Preparation

Place a bucket filled with water in the sink. Swirl each artichoke upside down in the water. Make sure there is no dirt trapped between the leaves. Remove and discard the tough outer leaves. Cut the stems and trim the top a little. Cut the thorns from the leaves using a pair of scissors. This step is optional but it’s always unpleasant to be “stabbed” by an artichoke leaf.

Bring the water to a boil in a steamer. Throw the cut leaves and stems into the water of the steamer. Place the artichokes in the steamer, cover and cook for about 30 to 40 minutes until the bottoms of the vegetables are tender. A good way to check is to poke the choke with a pairing knife.

Remove from the steamer and let it stand for about 5 minutes. Slice it in two, length wise using a chef knife.

In a large pan, heat up some olive oil, get the garlic slightly golden then add the halved artichokes face down for about 2 minutes. Remove the artichokes. Pour the balsamic vinegar, then place the artichokes back so the balsamic glaze coats each one fully.

Plate the artichokes. Garnish with parsley and freshly shaved parseman cheese. Serve with the vinaigrette.

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For the vinaigrette:

Pour more balsamic vinegar in the pan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and let it reduce until you have about more than a tablespoon of the balsamic syrup. Remove from the heat. Dissolve the sugar and honey then add the mustard and oils. Whisk the vinaigrette so that the mixture emulsifies. Add the fried onions. Season with fleur de sel and white peppercorns. Add chopped curly parsley.

Tips

For this recipe, I like jumbo-size artichokes because the bigger the artichoke, the bigger the heart. I like to pick them with dense, thightly packed leaves and sharp thorns. The stem should be still moist with a fresh light color, to check the freshness.

Cooked artichokes do not refrigerate well.

For the vinaigrette, it’s important that you emulsify all the ingredients while the vinegar syrup is still hot. It’ll just make the process easier.

Carottes Vichy (find the original here)

Ingredients

Yields: 8

4 lbs carrots
6 cups seltzer water (or carbonated water)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 stick butter, (8 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon light molasses (I didn’t have any so I just added another tsp. of brown sugar)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons curly parlsey, finely chopped (I used dry)

Preparation

Peel and cut the carrots on the bias into 2-inch slices. In a pot, heat the olive oil. Add the carrots. Sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and molasses, salt, 6 tablespoons of butter and the carbonated water. Bring to a boil. Cover with a lid. Reduce to medium-heat and cook for about 40 minutes (until fork tender).

Drain the extra liquid (if any).

When you’re ready to serve, add the remaining butter and sprinkle some curly parsley.

So pretty and so yummy!

Serve crepes for desert – I used this belgium waffle mix which is my favorite mix of all time. You can make crepe batter with it. This mix is amazing but I cannot find it locally now so I have to order it online on Amazon where it got 5/5 stars from all but 1 reviewer. I put Nutella and/or mixed berries and creme for the filling. I used a frying pan to cook them.