Tartine Tuesday: Foie Gras and Fleur de Sel Tartines

This was my 2nd Christmas in a row that I've celebrated in France. The first time, I had the unfortunate luck of coming down with the flu, and was bedridden most of the week of Christmas. I even slept right through Christmas dinner. That being said, this year was much much better. 

Christmas Eve, as is the usual, is spent at Quentin's parent's home. They celebrate with a big family dinner the night before Christmas and open the gifts that night. Who doesn't love opening presents early?

Christmas Eve dinner is a little different here than it is in the States. Back home I imagine a perfectly spiral-cut honey glazed ham with buttery mashed potatoes and my Dad's pumpkin pie. In the Isackson home, we started with the aperitif; bowls full of mini boudin noir and boudin blanc, green olives(my favorite), and salty pistachios which were all washed down with a few glasses of foamy eggnog (a little American tradition was inserted here and there). 

Dinner started with a typically French Christmas specialty: Foie Gras. Foie gras is the liver of a fattened goose or duck. The way foie gras is made is not the most ethical. I won't go into detail, but one basically force-feeds the animal to make it delectably plump. It is however, absolutely delicious. It has that devilishly creamy and you know it's not good for you taste... like butter, only meatier. So we started with toasted bread, topped with slices of foie gras, and quickly moved on to the main dish... Le Chapon de Cyrano de Bergerac: capon or castrated rooster stuffed with (more) foie gras and chestnuts. Delicious. Following that was of course lots of cheese and then 3 different desserts... I hadn't been full like that since I was in the States. My stomach hurt so good.

So for my last Tartine Tuesday of 2010 I give you something simple and straight from France...

Foie Gras and Fleur de Sel Tartines

8 slices of foie gras

8 slices of baguette or toast

fleur de sel

Toast slices of baguette until brown and crispy. Top with the slices of foie gras and sprinkle fleur de sel on top. Serves 2.

Cooking Thanksgiving Dinner for 14 in a Parisian Kitchen

It can be done. I hope. 

Tomorrow, I will be putting my tiny little oven (and cooking skills) to the test. I originally planned to have a 6-8 person Thanksgiving dinner in our little Parisian apartment. The head count is now at a staggering 14 with a possible 2 more. You can do it Katrina. Just breathe. 

Luckily, without the stresses of a full time job, I have been working on my Thanksgiving dinner game plan for the past week or so. Not only am I trying to have an American Thanksgiving in Paris, but I'm trying to work with what France has to offer. Sure, I could just get everything at the American grocery store, actually called Thanksgiving... but I want a challenge. I will admit I cheated a teeeny tiny bit (I bought a bag of fresh cranberries and cornmeal from Thanksgiving, but other than that, everything is via the local grocery stores and markets.

 

The key to pulling off a successful dinner party of any quantity is to plan your meals smartly. Don't cook all your dishes in the oven. Don't cook everything the day of the dinner. Don't do all of the cooking yourself! These are the three rules I'm sticking to like peanut brittle in your teeth (white on rice was just too obvious... hehe).

Originally, I was planning on baking a small mountain of turkey cutlets (escalopes de dinde) since the whole turkeys at Thanksgiving were going for 13 euros a kilo (with a 3 kilo minimum), and escalopes are fairly cheap. No way I was going to pay 13 euros a kilo to feed 14 people (I love you guys, but I'm not made of money). Amazingly as I was making my 2nd wave of food shopping (I went to certain grocery stores for certain items) I passed the meat counter to find whole turkeys! At only 4.30 euros a kilo! They weren't nearly as large as the American turkeys (which kind of creep me out anyways... I mean, who really wants to cook a 30lb turkey?!!) weighing in at only 5.5lbs each... I bought 2, praying to the turkey gods that they would both fit in my oven at the same time. 

The gods were on my side this year... :)

So here's my Thanksgiving Prep Breakdown:

 YESTERDAY

-Make the huckleberry cinnamon cranberry sauce - DONE

TODAY

-French cut the green beans - DONE

-Blanch the green beans - DONE

-Make the pie dough - DONE

-Refrigerate pie dough - DONE

-Roll out pie dough and form to pan

 

-Prep the turkeys - DONE

THANKSGIVING DAY

-Prep/bake sour cream apple pie

-Roast turkeys

-Finish prepping/bake green bean casserole

-Prep/bake mini corn muffins

  

Quentin is in charge of the mashed potatoes. Alice is making the appetizers and Jules is bringing a second dessert.

Since the turkeys are pretty small (2.5 kilos each)... ok really small...  I'm going to attempt to cook them both at the same time (cross your fingers for me!!) This is not the first time I've made the turkey at Thanksgiving... but it is the first time I'll be cooking two at the same time. It's going to be interesting. I'll be watching them like a hawk with my meat thermometer in hand. 

While the turkeys are resting it will give me enough time to pop in the green bean casseroles and the mini corn muffins. Then I will pop in the apple pie. I have most of my list checked off for today, with the only last thing to do being to roll out the apple pie dough and forming it to the pan. Whew.

Wish me luck guys!