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How to Make Galette Bretonne -- Here's a Photo Demo from Paris’ Street Market

 

 

Ever wonder how to make a Galette?  The master galette-maker in one of Paris’ best street markets works four griddles at a time.  It’s really quite the show!

 

Traditionally from Brittany & Normandy, Galette Bretonne is a basically a buckwheat crêpe cooked on one side only, and filled with egg, jambon (ham) and Emmental cheese -- it’s what the French call galette complète (a complete galette).

 

Here’s a step-by-step photo demo from the galette master of le Marché du President Wilson, Paris, France:

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Recipe for Galette Bretonne

 

A galette is not a crêpe.  Crêpes are filled with sweet ingredients and made with white wheat flour; while galettes are made with buckwheat flour and have savory fillings.  Originally from Brittany & Normandy, Galette Bretonne is traditionally cooked on one side only, and its most popular filling is egg, jambon (ham) and Emmental or Gruyere -- that’s what the French call galette complète (a complete galette).  Fillings are only limited to your imagination.  Have you heard of galette saucisse from Rennes?  It’s a hot sausage rolled up in a galette.  (Like a fancy hot dog.)

 

What Women Want for Valentine’s Day

 

 

Men hate Valentine’s Day.  It’s true.  In my profession, I spend most holidays in restaurant kitchens, Valentine’s included, so the occasion has never really been a big deal for me.  I had no idea that men hated this day in particular, until last year.  

 

I was thoroughly educated by my fellow chefs (4 men, various ages & situations) of the intense pressure this day brings to every man they know, themselves included.  Apparently, the expectation to somehow create, in setting and substance, a perfect, romantic gesture for the likely-to-be-disappointed woman in their life, drives men crazy.  For some, to the point of physical illness every February 14th.  Huh.

 

The answer?  That’s even more impossible to decode than resolving the issue that “life is short.”  However, by using the far-stretched notion that “life is short, melt some cheese” (aka, food fixes all things), it might be interesting to look at it a different way.  To decipher what women want, let’s first nix what they don’t want.

 

Spicy Shrimp & Dirty Grits with Chateau Ste. Michelle 2007 Eroica Riesling

After hours of shrimp ‘n grits research and recipe testing, I decided I likes ‘em like my men -- spicy, smoky and dirty.  There’s a zillion variations of this Low-Country dish, and quite honestly, I haven’t figured out the original.  From what I can tell, if shrimp, bell peppers, Tabasco, and some type of smoky, fat-rendering pork product are included, it’s a fairly genuine nod to tradition.

Creamy Meyer Lemon & Chive Grits

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Deliciously creamy & lightly lemoned, these grits make an elegant side dish to grilled fish, roasted chicken or fried green tomatoes.

Creamy Meyer Lemon & Chive Grits

Based on The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

Makes 3 cups

1 cup stone ground grits

3-1/2 cups water, plus more to float the chaff

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

Pinch freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1 Tablespoon buttermilk, or more to taste

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon

1/4 cup snipped chives

Broiled Grits with Smoky Bacon & Sharp Cheddar

Broiled grits is an excellent dinner party dish.  Made and topped in advance, this method lets you focus on your guests, not your grits.  When it’s time to serve, place them under the broiler for a few minutes to heat the grits and melt the cheese.  It’s also a great way to use up leftovers.

For an authentic touch, stir the grease from the bacon right into the grits at the end to dirty them up -- just don't tell your cardiologist.  If you don’t want the extra step of cooking bacon, a little chopped Kentucky ham is a delicious substitution.  

Slow Weekend: Antinori, Fries & Coltrane

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Not much beats a slow weekend in the kitchen.  Pots simmering, chocolate things baking, crispy things frying, corks popping, spices wafting.  By yourself or with someone you love, slow weekend cooking is pleasurable.  Don’t forget to turn on a little Coltrane -- anything is gratifying with Coltrane.  Even sweeping is hot with John Coltrane.

The Fries:

This weekend, might I suggest French fries.  Deep-fried potatoes are delicious and good for your soul -- don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  Deep-frying is actually quite easy to master.  Once you do, you’ll be deep-frying everything, trust me.  All you need is a heavy-bottomed pot, peanut or canola oil, a deep fat frying thermometer, a few potatoes and salt.  I defer to Anthony Bourdain for the perfect French fry instructions (recipe below).

Convivial Dinner Party: Boudoir Picnic (Not Just for Valentine's Day)

Ooooh, Valentine’s Day -- sexy food, sexy wine, sexy talk, and (God willing, wink-wink) sexy sex.  Now, if you want to fight traffic, curse parking, and really shell-out the cash, go for it.  But, the pressure & obligation of unattainable aspirations never end well.

Hows about a Boudoir Picnic?  Easy prep, easy presentation, easy bites & easy cleanup make an easy lover -- one that has the energy, time and mind-space to focus on more important things.

The Boudoir Picnic

A successful picnic in bed requires plenty of good wine and delicious food that is easy to eat (no cutting, not messy, no dishes) and very satisfying (without being heavy).  Don’t forget a corkscrew, napkins and wine goblets.  Definitely some great mood music; maybe a dvd.  (But, with only two hands, whoever is most limber might need to get creative to control the remote.)

Champagne Food

Begin with Champagne or have various bottles throughout the evening.  Sushi goes really well with Champagne, and so does smoked salmon, oysters, French fries, potato chips, Chinese take-out, popcorn and strawberries (all which happen to fit within the boundaries of easy boudoir cuisine).

Red Wine Food

A serious bottle of red deserves to be the star, complement it simply with fabulous cheeses & a hand-torn baguette, crostini with various spreads, pizza, or kabobs, and then dark chocolate truffles.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Braised Rosemary Chicken with Green Olives, Raisins & Capers

Braising is insanely easy and tastes even better the second day, which makes it an ideal dinner party dish.  A good braise depends on a flavorful braising liquid and a long, low simmer in the oven or on the stove top.  

Braising variations are almost endless -- experiment with different aromatic vegetables, herbs and spices, red or white wines, spirits, stock, and meat.  Side dishes are also numerous -- polenta, risotto, noodles, potatoes or other root vegetables, sauteed greens.

Braised Rosemary Chicken with Green Olives, Raisins & Capers

serves 4

Potato Latkes

I was enamored with Jewish traditions in my early twenties.  Admittedly, the fascination was mostly food oriented, luring me into every Jewish cookbook I could find.  But, since mine was a Gramma, not a Bubbe, there were no secret latke recipes passed down the family tree.  Luckily, the blogosphere brings a wealth of useful information, and with it, the perfect latke recipe.