First lunch in charge

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Déjeuner du jeudi 25 octobre 2007

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Cannelloni de poivron au chèvre,
salade à la vinaigrette de tapenade

Red pepper with goat cheese cannelloni,

olives, capers and anchovies paste seasoning

Lieu « cuit vapeur », sauce à la bisque de crabe,
grosse raviole de légumes croquants au thym citron

Steamed cod, crab bisque sauce,

crunchy vegetables raviolis flavored with thyme and lemon

Bavarois au lait d’amande
et fruits rouges au sirop de verveine

Almond milk bavarois cake

with red fruits and verbena syrup

The lunch must have been good since all the plates came back empty at the kitchen. The Maitre d’hôtel told me that he had seen some guests licking plates but that is unproven up to now... ;-)

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Starter : The goat cheese is rolled in layers of skinned red peppers, wrapped in plastic and twisting at both ends to give it this cannelloni sausage shape.

The tapenade is made of finely chopped black olives, desalted capers, anchovy fillets and garlic emulsified with olive oil.

Recipe for the Vinaigrette (2 to 3 servings) : 1 TBS olive oil, 1 tsp tapenade and 1 TBS Balsamic vinegar.

I also served triangled curved croutons filled with little tapenade. The thinner part of the bread could be used as the tip of a spoon.

Entree : I used my usual recipe of pasta dough (see posts on that specific subject). The filling is a brunoise (1 to 2 mm dices) of carrot, anise, tomato and cucumber, cooked "à l'anglaise" for carrot and anise until crunchy (the only boiling water for cooking the pasta dough wouldn't be long enough). For cucumber and tomato, I poured the dices in a colander with salt to make them dry (otherwise the filling would become watery and would soak the dough which would lead to catastrophe! I experienced it many times. Humid fillings are the enemy of raviolis...). I then briefly cooked them in butter, drops of lemon juice and thyme. The last step was to add breadcrumbs to get a drier filling...

Dessert : The bavarois mixture (appareil in French) is made with almond drink, whipped cream and gelatin. Once set, the solid white bavarois sat on a Quatre quart base. The decorations are golden berry and nougatine (sliced almonds cooked in caramel and flatten quickly with a rolling pin between two sheets of parchment paper (be careful, very hot...).

Tip : the correct quantity of gelatine is usually 12 sheets per liter. Gelatine should soak first in cold water then be added in hot liquid. Once added, it is important to work as quickly as you can since the mixture will set and become unworkable very fast.