Cooler Weather Calls For Pot Au Feu

Man it got cold real quick this past few weeks. It was really cold at my home last night, I even lite the fireplace last night it was so cold. Cold weather brings my mind back to some of my favorite dishes. Most of my friends know of my love for cassoulet, I have another favorite French cold weather dish, pot au feu.

Pot au feu is a regional French dish consisting pretty much of various tough cuts of beef simmered in liquid with vegetables and seasonings. The stewing vegetables are then removed and replaced with hearty root vegetables. I have my own personal twist which comes from my Alsatian heritage which adds fresh bacon to the dish. I have some bacon in my fridge that I cured for a month, so it is ready for the pot.

Pot au feu Recipe

Ingredients

4 medium leeks, white part only
8 carrots, peeled and halved crosswise
8 stalks celery, halved crosswise
1 large onion, quartered
2 pounds beef top round, trussed
2 pounds oxtail
2 pounds brisket, trussed
2 lb slab bacon, (in one solid piece) trussed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 small turnips, peeled and large diced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and large diced
1 lb fingerling potatoes

1. In a large stockpot place 4 leeks, 4 carrots, 4 celery stalks and onion, place meat on top of vegetables along with dried thyme, bay leaves, salt and peppercorns. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for 3 hours, skimming any foam which forms on the top.

2. Strain the broth and discard the cooking vegetables. Return the broth and meats to the pot and add remaining vegetables except the potatoes. Bring the broth to a simmer and cook, partially covered, for 1 hour, adding the potatoes after a half hour.

3. Remove the meat from the broth and discard the trussing strings. Carefully remove the vegetables from the broth, place them on a large serving platter, and moisten with some broth. Cover and keep warm.

4. Carve the meat and place on the serving platter with the vegetables.

Chez Pierre Restaurant

In my last blog I talked about being impressed by a restaurant that has been open for over 30 years, but the results of the meal were not hot. Yesterday though, I went to a restaurant in Ganesvorrt, NY just outside of Saratoga Springs that has been open for 44 years and I had one a meal that showed the positive side of 44 years of experience.

Chez Pierre is a classical French restaurant that certainly makes no apoligies for being old-school French. The dishes remind one of French cuisine promoted in Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire. If you want to remember the haute cuisine that I love, you must go here.

Located off of route 9 in Ganesvoort, NY Chez Pierre is an easy restaurant to get to. For some it may be too far out of Saratoga, but on the Friday night I went in, it was obvious that the location was not an issue to many as after 7 pm the place was packed. The restaurant is located in a cute mid-size building with a small Eiffel tower outside to let the diners know where to stop when driving by.

The dining room was quaint, nothing ultra modern, kinda plain maybe a little dated but perhaps some might say the cuisine is as well but I also love that about this place. It screams "local French bistro." Make sure you watch out for the floor when you walk in, there are multiple levels that could trip you up as it did to me.

The dining room was covered in white linen with pink cloth napkins and antique -type etched crystal water glasses. The bar seemed very classic French, one might think that Van Gogh was going to come sit next to you with a bottle of Absinthe. Sadly, the bar did not have any Pastis, which is the modern legal version of Absinthe, just without the wormwood.

As mentioned, the menu is very old-school French. Escargots with garlic and herbs, Beef Wellington, Veal Oscar, Tournados Henri IV, Chateaubriand, Steak Diane, Frogs Legs Provencal, Couquille Saint Jacques, Supreme De Poulet "Valdostana", Paupiette de Veau, Filet of Sole Marguery, and I could continue with dishes that excited me.

With our bread was delivered a nice slice of Pate Grand Mere. A nice pork terrine with liver added to it. It had a good texture to it and a wonderful flavor. The bread seemed a bit "white breadish, not very classical baguette in my opinion. The accompaniment of packaged crackers detracted from the quality of the bread course to me as well.

It was really hard for me to choose what to order. I wanted frog's legs and escargot, but my dining companion didn't want either, so I we got the Couquille Saint Jacques and the escargot, both were by-God amazing. The escargot came in these small ceramic mock snail shells and the Couquille was served in an actual scallop shell with some beautiful swiss cheese browned on top.

For entree, I went with the Paupiette de Veau, (veal pounded out thin and rolled with cheese and ham). Cooked perfectly and served with a beautiful sauce. A bit heavy for a summer night, as were most items on the menu, but one does not goto this restaurant to eat seasonally, you dine here to eat the food of La Varenne, Antoine Careme and Escoffier. The sides were orange glazed carrots which were perfectly cooked until soft and Potato Dauphinoise. Both sides were very flavorful.

If that was not enough, I had to go for dessert, I usually don't go for the basic desserts like chocolate mousse, but if there was a place to get mousse, this was it, it was phenomenal, like airy and rich with chocolate and lacking in graininess. My espresso was served in a percolator, it was disappointing, cold and as such lacking in flavor. The Grand Marnier at the end of the meal made up for the espresso though.

Our server was great, it was obvious she had been working there for some years and knew her stuff. The service was a bit slow at times in the meal as the room was packed and they were a little understaffed, but the timing didn't make me uncomfortable, she preformed well for the issues dealt to her.

If there was to be a restaurant in the area I live in now that I had a standing order for a weekly dining reservation, this would be the place. It made me feel like I was at a local French restaurant that I should know everyone's name as well as their family member's names. I may not be back weekly, but I will certainly be a regular.

Website - http://www.chezpierrerestaurant.com/

Hours - Serving Dinner Tuesday - Friday, 5:30pm - 10:00pm
Saturday, 5:00pm - 10:00pm
and Sunday 5:00pm - 9:00pm
Racing Season Schedule - 7 Days, 5:00pm - 10:00pm

Chez Pierre Restaurant
979 Route 9
Gansevoort NY, 12831
(518) 793-3350 or (800) 672-0666
Email: chezpierre_12831@yahoo.com

Le Guide Culinaire

Georges Auguste Escoffier was surely a genius in his collection of recipes and techniques in Le Guide Culinaire in 1907. His subsequent edits, 3 in total over the next few decades added new techniques and new recipes that would become integral parts of the national French cuisine. My current readings and study of his text however has lead me to believe a number of people have misunderstood his purpose in this text.

It is not only the study of the text itself that has lead me to believe this, but additionally academic readings such as French Food: On the Table, On the Page, and in French Culture by L. Schehr, French Gastronomy by Jean-Robert Pitte and Jody Gladding, Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson, and Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789 by Barbara Ketcham Wheaton have all lead me to believe that this book has been misunderstood by a number of professional chefs for many years.

Many of the chefs I worked for and talked to in the past talked about Le Guide as a reference book for Escoffier's cooks to use in his kitchens. This outlook seems sort of limited when you look at the broad scope of the book itself and then at the advertisements that were done for the text. Le Guide was researched (in Escoffier's and Gilbert's words) in three main ways, research into La Varenne and Careme's works, public domain recipes, and his own personal recipes. If Escoffier was looking to make a cookbook for his employees, wouldn't he just make a book with recipes his kitchen used on a regular basis?

The fact aside of the broad comparison of the text compared to his kitchen offerings, the advertisements for the sale of LE Guide must be addressed. If Escoffier was writing this book for his staff, why would he have promoted Le Guide so heavily in the United States of America. I will tell you why I believe he promoted the book so heavily in the United States. After the American Revolution the French Revolution occurred which caused a large number of French chefs to export themselves to the United States as we had become sympathetic to their plight through the leadership of men like Thomas Jefferson, who himself employed a French chef.

This large group of French chefs who had moved out of the France needed a set of codified recipes to make sure they "stayed French". I fully believe that Escoffier was creating a codified text to promote French cuisine throughout the word, not just in France. It is this belief that has become a large part of my understanding of cuisine. I have come to believe that in order to have a cuisine one must be able to understand the cuisine outside of its own place of origin. That said, us being outside of France must understand what French cuisine is from our shores, not just while we are in France. I believe, as do many other academics, that this is what Escoffier was attempting to accomplish. It is my belief that he was one of the first chefs to properly accomplish this in Le Guide Culinaire and I look to his example for reference.

Gaslight Brasserie du Coin

I shall follow up yesterday's blog with some tidbits on a new restaurant in Boston which I dined at last Sunday called Gaslight Brasserie du coin. The name literally means Gaslight Bar on the Corner. The owner and Chef of the restaurant is Seth Wood of Aquataine fame, so French cuisine is no mystery to him, and with opening this new venture he decided to stay with his strength. For those not in the know, a brasserie is a casual style restaurant concept founded in Alsace, France. They would be what one would think of as a brew pub, selling beer and inexpensive but highly flavorful food. The usual menu for a brasserie contains dishes like charcrute garnie which is a plate of braised sauerkraut along with sausages, hot dogs and a myriad of other tasty meats. Other dishes include the famed steak tar tare, frisee salad au lardons (frisee salad with lardons of bacon and a poached egg on top), steak frittes, coq au vin and many other comfort-style foods of France. I went in that particular night because they serve cassoulet as their special every Sunday. The restaurant has actually only been open since September 24th.

I like any restaurant that calls to confirm my reservation, that assures me that I will have my table ready as-well-as it serves as a reminder as I often get busy and forget I was supposed to go out to dinner. The location is off the normal beaten path, but happens to be next to a parking lot where artists sell their wares on the weekends so it seems appropriate in the bohemian style of this type of restaurant, but trust me the restaurant is only bohemian in concept, not in reality. The restaurant is spacious, high ceilings, tile adorned walls with faux aged mirrors which give a sense of age, but the mirrors also make the room larger. The restaurant is actually below street level, but there are huge windows that go above the street level and then some. The lighting is a number of different style with large old-style gaslight street lamps, converted into electric, along with some other antiquated light fixtures. A row of Richard Pastis bottles adorns the upper reaches of the walls on one side. Maybe someone should inform them that Pastis is a liqueur from Provence and not Alsace, no matter. The high ceilings and large room lead to a lot of noise in the room, which is a good thing as this is not intended to be a fine-dining restaurant, but as noted, a casual brasserie.

The bar is very accommodating, however over crowded. With time maybe this will not be an issue, but at the moment, one would have to fight to get to the bar after 7:00pm probably on any night. This is customary to any new restaurant of this sort until the locals and foodies have all gotten their chance to try it and then it becomes part of the "restaurant scene". I was seated at a nice two-top toward the back of the restaurant and waited briefly for my server, who's name I will withhold as not all my words will be kind. Polite, prompt, professional and courteous as he was, my server was lacking a bit in the English department. Some broken sentences and a lack of knowledge of the wine list left me a little uncomfortable. He however knew the menu well and seemed to be trying his hardest. He did bring me a complimentary glass of Champagne to start with, so I can't say too much bad about him.

My server suggested that I start off with their signature cocktail, the Fleur de Lis. A purplish concoction with a Parfait Amour violet liqueur, Mathilde peach, white grape juice and a Champagne float. Not my normal drink, and certainly will not ever become my normal drink, but nonetheless it was a tasty cocktail and an appropriate start to a meal. As any Frenchman will tell you, to start of with Champagne itself is inappropriate, always start with an aperitif. I ordered the escargot for an appetizer, tender, cooked in the traditional cast iron pan with garlic and herbs. I would've loved my bread to have come earlier to dip into the sauce, but my bread came with my salad. I ordered their signature salad "Salade Gaslight" which was haricot verts, frisse, and spring onions, very tasty and I would order it again.

For an entree, you guessed it, I got the cassoulet. It was made in the Toulouse style with similar ingredients as stated in my last post. The confit was served on top as a whole leg as is popular fashion in most restaurants, I suppose it gives the guest perceived value, I'd prefer it baked in. First observations, wonderful aroma, smells just like when I make it, a nice piece of crispy confit on top, good portion size and a bit of liquid in the bottom of the bowl which can tell me two things, either they cook everything and add liquid to moisten it to reheat, or the beans are undercooked. Sadly it was the latter, the beans were very undercooked and very tough. Now I understand many restaurants do not take the three day process that I do, but they can at least cook the beans until very soft and tender and then combine all of the ingredients in the crock which they browned it under the broiler in. There is hope though, as the flavors were excellent and the dish was well seasoned.

I never order dessert, usually cheese, but as the cheese did not sound exciting to me that evening I went for the Baba au Rhum and a glass of Remy Martin VSOP. The dessert was tasty, but needed more soaking time for the liquid, the cake was still a bit dry, but again it was tasty. I would try other items on the list next time. Lastly, the wine list was good, short because of the location, as beer was prevalent as well. The glasses are probably a 4oz glass, which they seem to fill alright, but for 9-12 a glass, I do not like this type of what I call a "banquet" glass. No room for a 12 dollar glass of wine to gather aromas up to the nose, so you are almost better off buying an inexpensive wine from the list.

Conclusions, well the restaurant is very good. The menu is great, the chef I know is great and the restaurant is beautiful. I feel that once the large crowds dissipate, the restaurant will be able to address the small issues. I will certainly return again, I need to try the charcrute as well as their terrine and steak tar tare. For one person with four courses, a cocktail, a glass of wine and a Cognac, my bill came to about $75.00 with tip. Remembering that most of you will not be eating as much as I did, an average check with a 15 dollar entree, 8 dollar app and 9 dollar glass of wine would cost you about $40.00 a person with tip.

The restaurant's website is http://www.gaslight560.com/