Bastille Day 2015

Most of you by now realize that I default to French themed cooking when I am without other inspiration, but Bastille Day requires that nothing else even be considered!  For those that might have missed last year's dinner, you can find it here.  For those who just want to see what this year brought, keep reading!

I still had a bunch of duck and french salumi from a previous D'Artagnan order, so I popped over to Whole Foods for a few other items and then was ready to go.

Charcuterie plate

The first course was a charcuterie comprising French cheese and salumi as well as sliced fresh baguette.  We enjoyed this course with a little bit of Champagne.

Broiled mussels

 For the next bit of fun, I did baked mussels that were topped with chopped garlic & Jambon de Bayonne (French prosciutto) and then finished off with some thin slices of cheese.  Into the broiler the mussels went along with two pieces of baguette that had been brushed with melted butter.  Once the cheese had gotten nice and crispy I pulled out the mussels and plated with the baguette (cut in half and served standing).

Duck three ways (crispy skin, poached egg and confit) with garlic white bean puree)

For this next course I had a little fun with one of my favorites, duck!  First I used the Vitamix to blend warm white beans and garlic into a puree, setting aside.  I started a pot of water boiling, with a little white vinegar, so I would have a poaching bath.  Next I took a confit leg and carefully removed the skin and the large chunks of visible fat.  I then sliced the large meat portion of the leg from the bone so that I could cut it into strips.  I also cut thick strips of the skin.  I heated a saute pan and then tossed in some of the duck fat, allowing it to melt down before putting the skin into the pan (fat side down) to cook like bacon.  Once flipped I added the chunks of meat to warm as well.  At this point 2 duck eggs went into the poaching bath and then I began plating the rest of the dish.  As I finished plating it was time for the eggs to come out and I added them to the dish and it was ready for consumption.

Lavender ribeye w/ mashers, roasted garlic and ratatouille

The final course in this dinner was centered around a Shell's find ... Lavender ribeye (source & recipe here)!  This required finding thick-cut bone in ribeye steaks as well as dried lavender.  Luckily for me, Whole Foods had both ... although I did substitute dry aged boneless ribeye and it took a bit to find the lavender (it's by the bulk foods if you are looking for it).  It was well worth the hunt for lavender though as the steak had a very unique flavor that made the steak taste lighter than a grilled ribeye normally does.  I served the steak over whipped mashed potatoes with a ratatouille of fresh Farmer's market veggies and a baked garlic bulb.  I highly recommend trying this one, you'll enjoy!