Tag: French

Baked Flounder with Black Trumpet Mushroom Beurre Blanc Sauce

Baked Flounder with Black Trumpet Mushroom Beurre Blanc Sauce

In a scene in the movie Julie & Julia , the actress playing Julia Child, Meryl Streep, describes to her visiting sister how white wine and vinegar are reduced and massive quantities of butter are whipped into submission. In French beurre blanc, translated literally, means “white butter.” The sauce is butter whipped to a frothy, tangy, heavenly sensation. That’s the best way I can describe it. And when I opened a small Ziploc bag containing dried black trumpet mushrooms and inhaled the intensly earthy, almost truffle-like aroma, I knew they were destined for beurre blanc.

May 10, 2010 | 0 Comments More
Trout Meunière — An Oregonian's Ode to La Belle France and Julia Child

Trout Meunière — An Oregonian’s Ode to La Belle France and Julia Child

I thought about our trip to Paris last weekend when Charles and I were fishing at Mt. Hebo Lake and Charles was reeling in his first 12-inch rainbow trout. It wasn’t that the fishing adventure reminded me in any way of our trip. Instead, it made me think of the seafood in Paris and the passage in Julia Child’s book “My Life in France”, where she eats her first French meal in Rouen at Restaurant La Couronne and has sole meunière. She describes the buttery sole melting in her mouth, and I thought…trout meunière.

April 22, 2010 | 4 Comments More
Duck Legs Braised in Pinot Noir with Roasted Pears and Cipollini Onions

Duck Legs Braised in Pinot Noir with Roasted Pears and Cipollini Onions

“Tonight: Pinot Noir Braised Duck Legs with Roasted Pears and Onions” I wrote in my status quote on Facebook. Friends as far away as Texas declared they could be here by dinner time. Jane Owen, oboist with the Fort Worth Symphony and frequent spokesperson for the duck in Peter and the Wolf, sounded ready to make the trek if only her orchestra schedule would allow. Gail Cook, arts aficionado and book reviewer, was nursing an injured foot and requested special pampering in the form of room service. Would that I could! Alas, in the next few hours 23 commentators had joined the trail.

November 11, 2009 | 6 Comments More
Hard Work, but Worth the Effort — Periwinkles

Hard Work, but Worth the Effort — Periwinkles

When you get adventurous with food, sometimes you just want to drag your friends along, whether or not they know what they’re getting into. Lately I’ve been having this craving for something from my childhood in Thailand—Periwinkle snails—and I was thrilled to finally find that I could get some at Om Seafood in Portland and […]

October 27, 2009 | 7 Comments More
The Joys of Julie & Julia, and Oregon

The Joys of Julie & Julia, and Oregon

  My partner and co-author of this blog, Charles Price, and I last weekend joined the throngs of Baby Boomers at the theater to watch Julie & Julia and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Of course, Charles owns both volumes of “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” He notes that he scored both of them at used […]

August 13, 2009 | 5 Comments More