Smoked Salmon Sandwich on a French Baguette

On an Air France flight from Paris to Marseilles several years ago we were served a smoked salmon sandwich on a French baguette for lunch. It was a very simple looking sandwich that the flight attendant passed out to passengers that day, but after one bite I had to know what made that simple sandwich so tasty and flavorful.

I knew France was known for their baguettes and deservedly so. The French absolutely do make the best baguettes in the world and the one on this sandwich certainly lived up to the reputation. But there was something else that set that sandwich apart from the sandwiches I make at home. What could it be?

So I opened my sandwich to have a peek inside to see what the mystery ingredient was that brought such incredible flavor to this seemly simple sandwich. Hmm, thinly sliced smoked salmon seasoned with a bit of cracked black pepper and a few greens sprinkled about? No, that’s not what I’m looking for.

Then I saw it – smooth creamy butter spread on both side of the baguette. I had an “ah ha” moment. Of course it’s the butter. European-style butters have much more flavor compared to American butter.

I should have guessed it was the European butter to begin with. In the Bahamas European butters were available in even in the smallest of mom and pop stores throughout the islands. In fact, because of the duty and stamp tax, imported American made butters were more expensive than their European cousins, so we began to buy the European ones. Their rich and creamy flavor almost reminded me of a really good cheese. We quickly became spoiled by the European butters and never looked back.

Enter Presidents European style butter. I was offered the opportunity to try their butter and they sent three butters – stick, whipped, and whipped with sea salt. I made several different compound butters with the stick butter recently, see post here.

For this sandwich, I used Presidents whipped butter with the sea salt and it is fabulous on this smoked salmon sandwich. President Butter is France’s #1 selling butter, where people consume more butter than anywhere else in the world. It is made cultured cream in the European tradition with no added oils. President Premium butter is available in many supermarkets in the US, including Publix stores. We found President Butter to be rich and creamy and highly recommend it. In fact Meakin made the comment "this is killer butter." That's high praise.

To assemble this sandwich, slice a crusty French baguette lengthwise, open it and spread some butter, preferably European butter, on both sides of the bread. Top the bottom half of the sandwich with a sprinkling of fresh arugula or spring mix, top with slices of smoked salmon. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and salt if you wish. Slice into individual servings and enjoy. This is a great sandwich for a picnic. To make it portable, wrap the bottom half (or the entire sandwich for that matter) with parchment paper and tie with a ribbon or a piece of raffia.

Bon Appétit.

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Weekend Bites at Simple Recipes.    

Have a great week everyone.

Disclosure: We were given free samples of President's butter to try. The opinions here are ours. We did not receive compensation neither for this post nor for our opinion.

5 Course Dinner at the Chef’s Table at Rezaz featuring the Foods of Provence

Recently we discovered that Rezaz, a Mediterranean restaurant and one of our favorites, in Asheville, North Carolina offers the opportunity to dine at the Chef’s table in their kitchen. It’s something we’ve always dreamed of doing, so several weeks ago when we were having lunch at the restaurant, Meakin inquired about it and learned that Rezaz offers a 5 course tasting menu for up to 12 people. The menu is personally created for you by Chef Reza himself and can be coordinated to your personal taste. You know our love of France and in particular the Provence region, so I’m sure it doesn’t come as as a surprise to you that we requested a menu designed around the foods of Provence.

We invited two other couples to join us for the evening – Meakin’s brother Stuart and his wife Sandy and friends David and Penny, of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen, who is one of my favorite food bloggers. I know many of you follow Penny’s blog. Penny and David have visited Provence numerous times as have we and we all both know and love the food of that region.

Photo of Chef Reza Selayesh courtesy of Rezaz website

The concept of the Chef’s Table came about from the fact that chefs work long hours and also want to see their friends and families, so they would often feed them in the kitchen as they prepared meals for the other guests of the restaurant. The Chef’s table gives you an opportunity to be part of the family as you dine beside the “line” and under the “Pandelier,” photo below, a very interesting & unusual large metal sculpture that was created from Chef Reza’s original sauté pans that he used during the restaurant’s first decade.

The afternoon of the dinner Penny and David invited us to visit them at Lake Lure for the afternoon of hors d’oeuvres and wine and a boat ride around the lake. Penny prepared a wonderful selection of delicious appetizers including leek and sweet pepper mini French quiches, a simple platter of peppered dry-aged salami with hot house cucumbers, and a creamy red pepper cheese cake accompanied with crackers and grapes that I absolutely fell in love with. David poured a French Rose wine that kept the French theme going. Here’s a link to Penny’s blog with pictures and recipes.

On our arrival at the restaurant Chef Reza warmly greeted each of us personally as we entered his kitchen to welcome us and shook our hand before we were seated at his Chef’s table. Our waiter explained that the chef runs a quiet kitchen (unlike what one might think from the reality cooking shows seen on television today), and he went on to say that of course we were free to talk and have all the fun we wanted. I found the quiet kitchen interesting as Jacques Pepin recently shared his thoughts about the reality cooking shows on television in an article in The Daily Meal titled “How Reality Shows Get It Wrong” link here. This is a direct quote from Jacques in the article: “The so-called “reality” cooking shows are, if anything, totally unreal. A real, well-run professional kitchen has dignity and order. If cameras went into Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York, Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkeley, or Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago, they would see a kitchen that is well organized, with a contented, dedicated, hard-working staff.” 

At dinner we sat across from our respective spouses – from bottom left to bottom right – moi, Meakin’s brother Stuart, Penny & David, Stuart’s wife Sandy, and Meakin.

Here are some shots of the kitchen at work at Rezaz. Notice how important mis en place is in a professional kitchen in the first photo. Julia Child used to say you have to be happy to cook when you cook for the food to be good. Notice how happy everyone seems to be working together in the kitchen.

Rezaz’s Chef’s Table 

5 course Tasting Menu 

Featuring the Foods of Provence

Smoked salmon rillette

Trout & crab galantine

Moule Curry

Pan seared sashimi grade cobia a la Provençal

Sautéed French gnocchi

Seared scallops with Rezaz’s signature arugula pesto

Summer vegetables ratatouille

Duck leg confit topped with sautéed spinach

& crispy fried shallots 

With a cherry gastrique sauce

Roasted Yukon gold potatoes

Grilled lamb chop

Lamb Naverin

Gigot d’agneau with French thyme and wild rosemary

Summer berry clafoutis

Lemon & berry sorbet garnished with touile cookie

Notice the attention to detail and how generous the portions are. Any one of these could have been my main meal.

We began the meal with smoked salmon rillette, trout & crab galantine & a moule curry.

Pan seared sashimi grade cobia a la Provençal sautéed French gnocchi, seared scallops served over a summer vegetable ratatouille.

Duck leg confit topped with sautéed spinach & crispy fried shallots with a cherry gastrique sauce, accompanied by roasted Yukon gold potatoes tucked under the duck breast.

Three different lamb dishes - a grilled lamb chop, lamb Naverin & gigot d’agneau with French thyme and wild rosemary served with Rezaz’s signature arugula pesto.

A summer berry clafoutis and a lemon & berry sorbet garnished with a crispy touile cookie. When we last dined at Rezaz, we met the pastry chef. She was trained in several various Le Cordon Bleu locations before settling in Asheville. As you can see, she is quite talented.

It was a fabulous evening and one I think we will all savor and remember for a long time. The servings were generous, the staff very attentive, and the food quite remarkable. Chef Reza is a very talented and highly dedicated to quality and customer service. I would highly recommend Rezaz for lunch or dinner or a private party when you are in the area. Also don’t miss taking a tour of the Biltmore Estate & Gardens when you are in Asheville. Rezaz is located very near the Biltmore Estate. I wrote about our visit there a couple of years ago, link here. You won’t want to miss it.

Rezaz Restaurant & Wine Bar is located in Biltmore Village at 28 Hendersonville -Road, Asheville, North Carolina. For reservations phone 828-277-1510.  Here’s a link to their website where you can obtain additional information, have a look at their menus and read about Chef Reza. Rezaz can also be found on Facebook and Chef Reza writes a Journal featuring various menus here.

Penny is also writing about the dinner and I highly recommend that you stop by her blog as well. We coordinated our posts to coincide to enable our readers to see each other's pictures and read about the dinner and the evening from two points of view. Here’s a link to Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen.

For better viewing – click photos to enlarge

How to Make Compound Butter

Simply put compound butter is a combination of seasonings and a bit of acid mixed with softened butter and allowed to get cold in the refrigerator to set. Probably the most famous of compound butters is a French butter by the name of Maitre d’Hotel butter. Every graduate of Le Cordon Bleu quickly learns that any meal can be enhanced by using compound butters.

Don’t let the fancy French name fool you. Maitre d’Hotel butter and any of the other members of the compound butter family are easy to make at home. You simply whip flavorings such as aromatics, seasonings and acid such as citrus or wine into soft butter with a rubber spatula, roll it into a log, cover, and refrigerate it until you are ready to use it. It can be made in advance and holds well in the freezer for several months. Compound butter is probably the easiest way to make a quick sauce and is excellent with grilled meats, chicken and fish, used as a sandwich spread, or to finish various sauces. The next time you fry an egg in butter, try Maitre d'Hotel butter in place of your normal butter. You'll really appreciate the taste difference.

My two favorite compound butters are Maitre d’Hotel butter, which is soften butter mixed fresh herbs and lemon juice, and a red wine flavored compound butter with minced shallots, fresh herbs, and dry red wine that we enjoy on grilled steak.

However, after searching the internet recently for compound butter recipes, I realized that the only limit to the flavorings you use in compound butter is your imagination. I found dozens and dozens of fantastic & unusual flavor combinations. I tried two exciting new compound butters that I found on the internet and there are others that I will tell you more about at the end of the post.

Today I’ve featured 3 compound butters – Maitre d’Hotel on the left, chipotle butter in the center and a curry butter with cilantro and mint on the right. If you would like to come up with your own flavorful combination , Michael Rulman, best-selling author, cooking authority and good buddy of Anthony Bourdain, suggests that you “think of it as you would a sauce – seasoning the butter with salt and pepper, adding an acidic component for balance and contrast (citrus or wine for instance) and appropriate aromatics – fresh herbs and shallots are most common.”   For more on compound butter from Michael Rulman, here’s a link to his blog.

I was offered an opportunity to try President premium European butter, made in the Normandy region of France, and that is the butter I’ve used in these recipes. President Butter is France’s #1 selling butter, where people consume more butter than anywhere else in the world. It is made cultured cream in the European tradition. President Premium butter is available in many supermarkets in the US, including Publix stores. We were anxious to taste French butter, because we were spoiled with the wonderful imported European butters available in the Bahamas when we lived there. We found President Butter to be rich and creamy and would highly recommend it.

The people at President sent three different butters to test – stick, spreadable, and a spreadable one with sea salt. I used stick butter in making the compound butters in this post. I will post more about the spreadable one next week.

Maitre d’Hotel Butter
Adapted from The New York Times Cookbook
Printable Recipe

1 stick best quality butter, softened to room temperature
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 - 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Using a rubber spatula, cream the butter and mix with remaining ingredients, adding lemon juice a little at a time and stirring until well blended. Turn the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form a log about 4” long, wrap closely in the plastic wrap and refrigerate for a least an hour. Slice into discs when ready to serve. Can be wrapped and frozen for several months. Great on steak or other grilled meat.

Chipotle Compound Butter
From Austin Food Lovers
Printable Recipe

1 stick best quality unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro
Zest and juice of 1 small lime
½ teaspoon sea salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spatula until well mixed. Turn mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form a log about 4 inches long. Wrap closely in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a least 1 hour or until firm. Slice into ½ inch discs when ready to use. Can be wrapped and frozen for several months. Great on any grilled meat, especially pork

Curry Compound Butter with Mint & Cilantro 
Adapted from Celebration Generation
Printable Recipe

Cilantro & mint may sound like a strange combination, but the mint takes away some of the bite from the cilantro without tasting sweet. Give it a try.

1 stick best quality unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon best quality curry powder (I like Madras)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir with a spatula until well mixed. Turn mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap and form into a log about 4 inches long. Wrap closely in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a least 1 hour or until firm. Slice into ½ inch discs when ready to use. Can be wrapped and frozen for several months. Great on vegetables such as asparagus and green beans.

There is a world of mindboggling combinations of flavored compound butter recipes on the internet. I was particularly impressed with the creative ideas that I found on Celebration Generation. Just to name a few savory combinations - mushroom and rosemary,  jalapeno, cilantro, lime & a splash of tequila, basil pesto (she says is great on popcorn), & caramelized onions with dried mushrooms. There is also has an impressive number of ideas for sweet compound butters including cinnamon or maple syrup and brown sugar, pureed fruit, whiskey raisins, Grand Marnier & dried cranberries. I could go on and on, but click here to see for yourself.

If you prefer your compound butters whipped instead of in a log, here’s a link to a tasty quartet of whipped compound butters from 101 Cookbooks that includes recipes for smoked paprika butter, dry desert lime butter, raw Serrano, and dehydrated strawberry compound butter.

For a excellent step-by-step photo tutorial on how to make compound butter and a great recipe for herb butter, click here to Brown-Eyed Baker.

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Weekend Bites at Simple Recipes.    

Have a great weekend everyone.

Disclosure: I was given free samples of President's butter to try and I was not compensated for this post or my opinion. The opinions here are mine and mine alone. 

Chocolate Mousse 3 ways – 2 with a Crunch

Can chocolate mousse, that decadent & quintessential creamy French dessert, have a crunch? Why yes it can. For fun Meakin decided to create a light and airy dark chocolate mousse but also one that had a bit of crunch. He started with basic chocolate mousse shown above and used it as a springboard to create two more recipes, each more spectacular than the next.

First, to produce a light and airy mousse rather than a thick and creamy one, he very gently folded in the whipped cream into the basic recipe, which creates a bit of air and makes swirls of whipped cream throughout the chocolate. No one will ever mistake this mousse for pudding.

To achieve a bit of crunch, he’s used two different ideas. The first crunchy mousse has ground bits of dark chocolate coated espresso beans incorporated into the mousse itself, plus a few saved for a garnish on the whipped cream. It’s still light and airy, but you can definitely taste the bit of crunch from the chocolate coated espresso beans. Chocolate covered espresso beans can be found in most supermarkets in the produce section or on line.

The second crunchy mousse goes a step further with ground bits of Toblerone dark chocolate, garnished with Grand Marnier whipped cream, and topped with candied orange peel. Toblerone is a rich Swiss chocolate bar with honey & almond nougats that is available in dark chocolate as well as milk chocolate. It’s available in some supermarkets and on line. To make this mousse’s presentation spectacular, it’s served in a brandy snifter.

We like our chocolate dark so we’ve used bittersweet chocolate, but feel free to substitute semisweet if that’s your preference. No matter which chocolate you choose, you can’t go wrong with chocolate mousse as a dessert. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone say no to chocolate mousse.

Basic Chocolate Mousse
Adapted from The New York Times & How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman – serves 6
Printable Recipe

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (we prefer bittersweet)
3 eggs, separated
¼ cup sugar
½ cup chilled heavy cream
½ teaspoon good vanilla extract

Place a double boiler or small saucepan over low heat and melt butter and chocolate together. Just before chocolate finishes melting, remove pan from the stove and beat chocolate with a wooden spoon until smooth. Transfer chocolate to a bowl and beat in egg yolks with a whisk. Place bowl in the refrigerator while you beat the egg whites.

Beat eggs whites with half the sugar until they hold stiff peaks but are not dry. Set aside while you beat the cream with the remaining sugar and vanilla until the whipped cream holds soft peaks.

Stir a couple of spoonfuls of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it a bit, then fold in remaining whites thoroughly but gently. Fold in the whipped cream very gently to keep the mousse light and airy. You want to see a few swirls of the whipped cream in the mouse. Refrigerate or divide among separate cups. It will chill much faster divided. Serve within a day or two of making.

Crunchy Chocolate Mousse with Chocolate Coated Espresso Bean Bits
From My Carolina Kitchen – serves 6
Printable Recipe

Basic chocolate mousse recipe (see above)
½ cup or so dark chocolate coated espresso beans
1/3 cup chilled heavy cream

Prepare basic chocolate mousse recipe and set aside in refrigerator to chill until you are ready to serve.

Whirl chocolate covered espresso beans in a mini food processor until chopped but not turned to dust, although some dust in inevitable. Stir in most of the processed beans into the chilled chocolate mousse, leaving a few to sprinkle on top of the whipped cream for garnish. Divide mousse into individual servings.

Beat heavy cream until it holds soft peaks. Top mousse with whipped cream and garnish the cream with remaining chopped espresso beans. Serve right away.

Crunchy Chocolate Mousse with Toblerone Dark Chocolate Bits, Grand Marnier Whipped Cream, and Candied Orange Peel
From My Carolina Kitchen – serves 6
Printable Recipe

Basic chocolate mousse recipe (see above)
1 - 3.25 ounce bar Toblerone Swiss pyramid shaped dark chocolate bar wedges
2 tablespoons Grand Mariner orange liqueur, divided
1 navel orange
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup chilled heavy cream

Prepare basic chocolate mousse recipe and set aside in refrigerator to chill until you are ready to serve.

Zest orange into strips and add zest and juice from the orange to a small sauce pan with 1 tablespoons Grand Marnier and sugar and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Remove to a bowl and let cool in refrigerator.

While the orange zest cools, process 5 of the 6 wedges of the Toblerone dark chocolate in a mini food processor until chopped but not turned to dust, although some dust in inevitable.

Add 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier to the chilled cream & beat until it holds soft peaks.

When ready to serve, divide the mousse into individual serving dishes or brandy snifters. Gently stir most of the Toblerone chocolate bits into the chilled chocolate mousse, leaving some bits for garnish. Top with whipped cream, then garnish cream with remaining Toblerone bits and candied orange peel. Serve right away.

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes.    

Have a great weekend everyone.

Lobster Bisque

Maine lobsters are a big treat, so why not get the most out of them. After our lobster boil a couple of weeks ago, link to post here, when Meakin had live lobsters flown in from Maine, we saved some of the cooked lobster bodies so we could make lobster bisque.

Seafood bisques are smooth and creamy soups of French origin and are very rich. They are based on crustaceans and can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp, or crayfish. Bisques are perfect for special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays such as Valentine’s Day.

Lobsters can be cooked especially for bisque, but left-over lobster bodies are the most practical to use and work great.  This recipe is from cookbook author & New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman and he says that if you haven’t saved the bodies from a lobster feast, they are available from fish markets, which either give them away or charge minimally. I don’t have any firsthand experience with that, but I am definitely going to look into it when we are in Florida next. Our favorite seafood market is Merrick’s in Cape Coral and they sell live Maine lobsters, so I am going to ask. I know I won’t find lobster bodies at our local market here in the mountains. Do any of you, especially those that live in the Northeast or near the ocean, know if fish markets sell or give away lobster bodies?

Our Ingles market here may not have Maine lobsters, but they make up for it by stocking French baguettes from Nancy Silverton’s Le Brea Bakery in California. Chef and baker Nancy Silverton is credited for sparking the artisan bread renaissance. Talk about a fabulous crusty baguette – ooh, la, la. You would have to travel to France to find a better baguette than the ones from La Brea.

Seafood bisque is traditionally served in a low two-handled cup on a saucer or in a mug. It is very rich and a little bit goes a long way and a crusty French baguette served alongside is a must.

Lobster Bisque
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything - serves 4
Printable Recipe

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 to 8 lobster bodies, cooked or uncooked, with as many other lobster shells as you can scavenge, plus coral, tomalley, and any stray bits of meat you might find*
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup cored, seeded, and chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; and don't bother to drain)
6 cups full flavored chicken stock or store bought fish stock or strained liquid reserved from boiling lobsters
1 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for garnish

Place 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large-deep saucepan or casserole over medium heat. When it melts, add the onion, garlic, carrot, bay leaf, and thyme and cook, stirring, until the onion softens, 5 to 10 minutes.

Add the lobster bodies and, if they are uncooked, cook, stirring, until they turn red, about 10 minutes (if they're already cooked, cook, stirring, about 5 minutes.

Add the wine and tomatoes and turn the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the stock, turn the heat to high, and bring back to a boil. Once again, turn the heat to low and cover; cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Remove the lobster shells, crack them if necessary, and pick off any meat you find. Return the bits of meat to the soup (reserve any large pieces of meat you have for the final addition below).

Pass the soup through a food mill or puree it in a blender or food processor. (You may prepare the soup in advance up to this point. Cover, refrigerate for up to 2 days, and reheat before proceeding.)Return the soup to the pot and bring to a boil. Add the remaining butter, in bits, until it melts. Add the cream and any bits of lobster meat and heat through. Season with salt and pepper, garnish with chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, and serve.

For better viewing, click on photos to enlarge.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farm, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes.    

Have a great weekend everyone.