Egg Tuesday – Three incredible egg preparations and my Egg BLT breakfast sandwich inspired by Laduree in Paris.
We are back in Paris and flying home in a few days. After eating so many different foods all I can think about is some simple comfort food. Nothing is more comforting to me than the incredible egg! Being in Paris I decided I should go to the “Egg Temple” – Laduree.
As you can see from the pictures they put the egg on a pedestal: literally. What I love about the egg is it finds its home in the simplest homes on a budget all the way to the finest establishments in Paris. Its versatility and incredible flavor make it everyone’s favorite. I wont even get started on the incredible array of pastries, cakes and tarts they make. My scrambled eggs 
were like nothing I have seen before. They looked like a bowl of polenta as you can see yet each pearl sized curd was as tender and light as the most perfectly scrambled eggs 
I have ever had. I am fairly confident they are using the authentic French method of whisking the eggs with milk or cream over a baine marie (fancy words for pot of boiling water with a bowl on top). 
Using this indirect heat they are able to whisk/stir the eggs until the become firm yet without drying them. The omelet was thick and without cheese (tender but not so flavorful). The fried eggs were deliciously unique. They fried them in a very small skillet so that the egg would set up very thick. They cook them on a higher heat. As a result the bottom ends up crispy and rich from the sizzling butter, the whites in the middle are tender and perfectly set and the yolks on top are soft and luscious. If you have a very small skillet try it. What excited me the most was a lunch item they had on the menu. A club sandwich with the addition of sliced hard-cooked egg. So simple but I have never done it. (Fried egg, yes). When I get home here is what I am going to try:
Yield: Two breakfast sandwiches
4 slices white bread or bread of choice toasted or grilled
2 large hard-cooked eggs sliced
4 slices bacon cooked as you like
4 large slices of ripe tomato
4 leaves of your favorite lettuce (enough to cover the bread in one layer)
Paprika pickle mayo
Paprika pickle mayo recipe
4 TB mayo or your favorite sandwich spread
1 med size pickle or 6 cornichons (the jarred baby pickles) chopped very small.
2 tsp smoked paprika
Pinch of salt
Mix all together.
Spread the mayo evenly across the four slices of toast.
On two of the slices layer and divide evenly the egg, bacon, lettuce, tomato
Place the other two slices of bread on top and press down. Cut in half and serve.
Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good every day. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.
San Sebastian – when sand meets umami!!
The saltiness of manmade brined green olives with the natural sea salt of perfectly fresh anchovies skewered together with 
a sliver of slightly spicy local green chile was the most incredible first bite of Pintxos (Tapas in the Basque region) (pronounced “Peen Shows”). I literally had to close my eyes to take in every bit of the pleasure. These three ingredients came together to create a new flavor that was unbelievable. The anchovy was mild (un-like the cured ones you may be used to)
but tasted fully of the sea. It melted into the olive and was ignited by the chile creating an incredible sauce in my mouth. We went on from there to try dozens of Pintxos. Each bar has 80% of the same thing but then the other 20% is their own 
unique twist or their signature Tapas. One of my other favorites was a salt cod crostini with thinly fried onions and chiles! The salt cod (bacaloa) is actually not salty at all. The texture is almost creamy with a mild sweet fish flavor. The chiles and onions gave it a touch of richness, the perfect crunch and a cleansing chile bite. Don’t even get me started on the jamon Serrano!! Next blog…
The kids and I finished the day by swimming way out into the bay to mount a floating dock with a high-dive diving board. Watching my kids laugh and fly through the air was as much as I could ask for. Staring back at the crescent-shaped perfectly tan-colored sandy beach 
was almost visual overload. The Neo-classical, Baroque and Gothic architecture wrapping around the promenade and climbing up to two bookend mountains was a stunning site. Amazing place, amazing food, awesome family. I am so grateful. Enjoy the ones you love and eat something tasty!
Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy
Egg Tuesday – Southern France baked eggs
Hello all. I hope you are having a great summer. My family and I are having a great vacation. We have moved from Paris to the South of France in a picturesque village called Biot. We are traveling with our good friends. We rented a little house 
together and spend every day going to markets to gather food and come back to cook together. I am so grateful for the quality family time. This mornings breakfast was baked eggs with perfectly juicy, ripe tomatoes, Merguez sausage, locally made pork sausage, herbs de Provence and some cumin-toasted croutons. I caramelized some onions until dark, 
creamy and 
sweet and layered them on the bottom of a casserole dish. I then added the chopped sausages to the same sauté pan as the onions and sautéed them until golden. I added the chopped tomatoes and herbs and cooked them for just a few minutes until the tomatoes collapsed into a naturally rich, sweet sauce. The juice of the tomatoes mopped the roasted sausage and onions flavor from the bottom of the pan to become one luscious sauce. I added that mixture to the casserole pan. I then broke the eggs over the top and baked the dish (It is a funky oven so it took awhile to cook and the yolks got a little firmer than I prefer but normally it should only take about 8 minutes at 350). The Merguez sausage is usually made with lamb, beef, and paprika (Spain and N. Africa is its origin) and added a full meat flavor creating a “steak and eggs” flavor. The sauce tasted like it cooked for hours due to the perfect tomatoes. The dry herbs re-hydrated and dissolved into the sauce to give it a distinctly French perfume of fields of savory herbs. The croutons gave the dish a crunch as well as a chew and the bread soaked up the sauce. A quick grating of lemon zest and some chopped parsley added a cleansing freshness to the dish. I don’t know what was better enjoying an incredible egg dish or just being with the ones I love around a big table laughing, relaxing and being grateful for everything! Enjoy!
Yield: 8 friends/family!
2 large red onions sliced thin
2 Tb olive oil
3 Cups Merguez sausage sliced into 1” pieces (use any sausage you like)
3 Cups fresh pork sausage
4 perfectly large ripe tomatoes or 1 24 oz. can plum tomatoes in their juice
1 TB herbs de Provence (or any dried herbs you like)
2 tsp salt
8 eggs
Croutons – recipe below
In a large skillet over medium heat add the olive oil. Add the sliced onions and press out thinly. Stir the onions and spread out evenly every few minutes until dark brown, soft and sweet. Transfer to a 12×9 casserole dish and spread out evenly.
In the same pan add the sausages and sauté until golden (about 5 minutes)
Add the tomato, salt and herbs and cook just below a simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to casserole dish. Crack eggs on top. Place in oven and cook until whites are set and yolks are at desired doneness.
Croutons
2 Cups ½” torn bread pieces
2 tsp olive oil
¼ tsp ground cumin
pinch of salt
In a large non-stick skillet over med-high heat add the oil and the cumin.
Add the bread and toss to coat evenly in the oil/cumin mixture. Cook tossing occasionally for 3 minutes until golden.
Garnish
Grated lemon zest and chopped parsley.
Feed the hungry by making a pledge (no cost) to eat good. Do good every day. America’s egg farmers are donating up to one million eggs to feed the hungry.
Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy
All things Pig in Paris…
Tender chunks of trotter 
(meat from the pig’s hoof) fried into a croquette, a thin layer of pork fat from just under the prosciutto skin wrapped around perfectly cooked wild mushrooms and fried until crisp and sweet but without the overwhelming “fried” flavor, shreds of
tender ox tail juicy between lightly toasted bread with a horseradish crème fraiche, sweet chunks of cool crab and avocado suspended in a light gelatinous custard, smoked salmon perched lightly on top of Mache (peppery greens), are the first tastes of Paris after arriving just two hours before from San Francisco! Paris is no exception to the head to tail trend of enjoying every part of the animal. My good friend Serena turned me on to this tiny place that has nothing more than a 10’ stainless steel counter separating you from where all the culinary 
magic happens. As you tilt your head back to enjoy another sip of crisp rose (which goes down like water in the summer heat) you stare at the menu cards hanging down from the ceiling to contemplate your next choice. 
All small plates, all delicious with wine to match. Fortunately they had a simple fried chicken dish for my son as well. This may all sound incredibly rich but they understand the balance between fat, acid, sweet and salt. When you get those four things in balance the best flavor of the food comes out and it does not taste too rich. So good! The last time we were in Paris this was our favorite little run down crepe window. It has now become this incredible miniature culinary dream! Thanks Serena.
A quick stop at my favorite chocolate maker Pierre Herme for a lighter than air macaron, a stop to see the most beautiful organ in St. Sulpice and back to the room for a quick two-hour nap before we all pass out. Off to dinner, which was as Parisian as it gets in a six-table restaurant with the woman who owns it and one guy in the kitchen making it all, happen. That is another story…
Every time I come to Paris I fall in love again. I had originally thought it was because it was the first place I had been in Europe and didn’t know better. After traveling to many countries I realize it really is magical and my love is as true for the city as it is for my beautiful wife (who is sleeping soundly right now at 3:00am while my son, daughter and I are wide awake!) I will fall asleep dreaming about my next culinary treat tomorrow…
I hope you are well, eating something great and doing what brings you joy!
Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy
Walla Walla trip: Wine and food pairing, fromagerie, killer cocktails and truly great people.
I am in the air right now flying back from Walla Walla in Washington. I was hired by Click Wine group (amazing people) to do a wine and food pairing presentation to a few hundred wine bloggers from all of the country. First and foremost “cheers!” to all of you amazing wine bloggers that I met. You are passionate, fun, people who are helping the world enjoy wine like never before. Thank you! What a trip! I got off the plane and we went straight to the most incredible fromagerie called Monteilllet. 
Joan, the owner is the greatest combination of farmer, entertainer and mentor. Within moments of meeting her she makes you feel like you are best friends. Her farm is out in the middle of a sea of green and brown. There are wheat fields as far as the eye can see. After petting the goats and meandering through the farm we had the most incredible cheese tasting. Fresh cheeses that were less than 48 hours old as well
as grape ash (imported from France where her husband is from) cheeses, feta style cheese, and marinated cheeses (pink peppercorn). We had a huge lunch under the newly constructed outdoor kitchen/dining room. We then headed into the next town called Waitsburg. A one street “wild west” 
looking town that is over 100 years old. There is a hardware store that looks like it has been there since the beginning. 
The centerpiece is a bar that you would think would be in a big city based on the complexity and brilliance of its owner and bartender Jim German. I had a killer cocktail of Rye Whiskey, Cappellano chinato (a red grape based bitter with a hint of dark chocolate), and Cynar. Sounds funky but totally tasty and perfectly balanced. The day ended at Saffron restaurant where we had an incredible meal. From lamb tartar that was sweet, mild and fresh to an incredible harissa flatbread. The dessert was strawberry flat bread with an Aleppo red chile ice cream. The flatbread was crispy yet chewy, the strawberries were sweet and then the best part was the red chile ice cream.
I would normally raise an eyebrow to such a combination but it was brilliant. The ice cream was not too sweet and filled your mouth with cool cream. As the ice cream melted you were left with the mild heat of the red chile. Truly well balanced and brilliant. Chef Bear
(and his awesome house-grown micro greens)at the hotel where I did the presentation was brilliant. He created ten scrumptious dishes to pair with ten different wines. My favorite was the duck empanada with mole sauce paired with a Malbec. The huge blueberry cream and blackberry fruit of the wine dissolved into the mole sauce to marry with the fruit and chile. Fantastic!!
If you are up for a quick lesson on how to pair food and wine check out my presentation below. I hope this finds you well.
Pairing wine and food
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is what I said the first time I experienced the true “ah ha” of what a perfect wine and food match can do. It was 1990 in a little French restaurant in San Francisco. The kind I always spent my entire nights tips on as a waiter in my endless search for culinary pleasure. It was foie gras and sauterne – not unique, but truly symbolic of what it means to match food and wine. A little table, sip of this newly discovered dessert wine made honey sweet but with perfect acidity due to this magical mold called botrytis. The wine lacquered my tongue with a blanket of honey, and then came a bite of the seared custard like foie gras, cut through the crispy golden top, mild gamey/meaty flavor dissolved into a bone marrow like richness with that unmistakable savory custard-like texture. Another sip of wine and wow!!!! I have caramel and butterscotch in my mouth! Where did that come from? Foie gras politically correct? Sorry, the story is the story.
Tertiary – the biggest word I know and don’t ask me to spell it! If I were smart I wouldn’t be in the restaurant business! It is what happens when everything comes together with the right food and wine match and a third; new flavor is created that is better than the food and wine on their own.
Leaving bliss aside for a moment often times the goal is to just not mess up the food or the wine with a bad match right?
I am here in front of you not as an “expert” but as someone who has spent their life as a cook, a restaurateur and all around wine geek enjoying food, wine and the combination of the two. That is what it is all about. You know what tastes good and what doesn’t, right? That should be your guide. Add that to what we are going to cover today and you are equipped to take your enjoyment to the next level.
My goal today is to start by:
1st setting us up by what it means to pair wine and food
2nd talk about some basic “rules” or guidelines that will help you increase the odds of pleasing your palate! We will also talk about the top three “safe bet” wines that are all around heroes. And three “must try” wine/food matches.
Lastly, most importantly, see what questions you have.
Ok, before we get started let’s clarify what Tools are needed: nose, tongue, and love for filling your mouth with brilliant flavor combinations! You must first please the tongue/the gatekeeper with the necessary balance of acid/sweet/salty/alcohol /fat and spice before the nose (the place we really “taste” everything can enjoy the true depth of the wine and food match.
The fist step is to change the way you approach your plate and glass. Approach your food and wine the same way you approach your relationships (the good ones J) Stop and “listen” to your food and wine. Really pay attention to what is in front of you and give the first couple bites/sips your full attention. When you do this you start to notice things. Have you ever finished a meal and not even realized what you ate or drank? Sometimes that makes sense but to get the most enjoyment you want to really pay attention to your food and wine. Lock the tastes and smells into your “flavor database” so that you will be able to recall them in the future. Lose yourself in the dish and the glass for a moment (just make sure to re-surface before your friends think you have issues (it’s already too late for me).
Thanks to Josh Wesson’s book (“Red wine with fish”) most of us have moved far beyond the “red wine with meat and white wine with fish” rule. You probably know that the cooking technique, the sauce, the weather and even your mood are all more important that the protein.
Remember the most important thing about food and wine matches is to trust your mouth. See what is going on inside your mouth as you eat and drink. If it is pleasant you have found a good match. If either the food or the wine taste worse together than they did on their own you know you have discovered a pair that doesn’t work.
I always suggest first taking a sip of the wine and then following it with a bite of food and then one more sip. Repeat until you find the perfect match or are so happy that it doesn’t matter.
In addition to that remember that personal taste is king. Nobody can tell you what to like or dislike (even though there are some waiters out there who would disagree).
I. Pizza and milk anyone?
Who would drink milk with pizza? Of course not. How about an ice-cold coke? That seems obvious because we have all had this combination a million times. There are two lessons here.
Repetition is key. The more you try a certain type of food with a certain type of beverage the more you will learn what works and what doesn’t. To do your homework is to eat and drink as often as possible.Think about why pizza and coke work. Pizza – rich from the cheese. Acidic in from the tomato sauce and a touch of spice. Coke – Slightly bitter/tannic, which offsets the richness of the cheese. Also acidic which balances the acid in the sauce bringing the tomato and topping flavors forward. The underlying raisinated fruit/sweetness in the coke tames any spice in the sauce.
Ketchup and French Fries – Think of wine as an additional “condiment” you are adding to the meal. Ketchup is not so lovely on its own but it is great with fries due to the balance that is created. The sweet of the ketchup balances the salt of the fries. The acidity of the ketchup cleanses the fat of the fries = harmony.
Try to apply those same simple criteria to your food and wine matches. What elements does each contain? Will they play nicely together?
II. The general “rules”
First choose to match or contrast the elements in the food and in the wine.
Contrasting can be riskier due to imbalances.
When “matching,” remember that whatever the food has you want the wine to have a little more of that. I.e. sweet dessert then you want a wine that is at LEAST as sweet or sweeter.
We must first master the non-sexy elements of pairing (acid, fat, sweet, salt, alcohol, tannin and spice) before you can enjoy the sexy, deep elements of wine (earthiness, layers of fruit, flowers, leather, tobacco, tar, the list goes on!). If you get the base elements right you are 85% of the way there!
In the food In the wine The result
Match
Acid Acid Acid softens and fruit comes forward
Acid is the “safety net” the “equalizer” in
Food/wine parings. Yogurt brings almost
any match together.
Contrast
Fat Acid Like lemon on fish the fat is cleansed and
the flavors of the food and the wine come come forward
Contrast
Rich protein Tannin Tannin is softened in wine and fruit
(animal fat) comes forward. Think milk in coffee.
Tannin cuts the protein/fat in steak the same way lemon cuts fish oil.
Match
Sweet Sweet Sweetness is tamed and flavors of food
and wine are accentuated. Sweet food
spanks the fruit right out of a dry wine.
Contrast
Salty High alcohol exaggerates the alcohol in the wine. Drink
lower alcohol white wines – champagne
or off dry white wine.
Spicy tannin tannin accelerated. No good. Sweet or
Fruity white :Gwertz/Riesling is safe.
Or red with acidity, barbera with spicy meatballs!! Riskier but amazing when it works.
Nuts tannin tannin is accelerated. No good.
Hazelnut crusted, butter basted fish with a fat Chard!
Cheese – a category in itself. Remember sweet or off dry is safe with almost all cheese. Riesling, Sauterne (amazing with strong cheese), Chenin Blanc.
Creamy Will wipe out tannin in red and leave
wine flat. Drink a sweet white or a white
with firm acidity – sauvignon blanc.
Salty Sweet wine will offset salt. Tannic red
will battle saltines of cheese.
Acidic (goat) Battles tannin in reds. Drink with sweet
Aged Red wine. Age softens acidity in cheese
and brings out nuttiness in cheese which
Accentuates the fruit in the red wine.
Stinky cheese will kill red.
Some of the “tricky” ingredients that can be a challenge with wine. Artichoke, Asparagus, Cilantro. Remember, like everything in life it is about balance. If the ingredient is an element in the dish but not the main ingredient you can find a great match. Think funky with funky – Gruner Veltliner with artichoke is great. Off dry Riesling with Asian cilantro pad Thai. Arneis (crisp white from Italy) or an herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc.
The top three food friendly wines – your “wine to the rescue” when you are not sure.
- Barbera – although red it has a lot of firm acid and bright fruit that will go with a huge range of food.
- Rose – a dry or off dry rose will go well with almost anything. There is enough acid to match the acid in a salad. There is enough fruit to off set a spicy food; there is just enough tannin from the minimal skin contact to stand up to most protein. And it looks so pretty!
- Champagne! As long as it is not overly yeasty the low alcohol, high acidity and mild yeast marry with a huge range of food. You can do different Champagnes to match ever course of a meal from rose, to white to full yeast to bright fruit.
- The top three unforgettable classic wine/food matches. Try them!
- Foie gras and sauterne.
- Sherry (oloroso)and Marcona almonds.
- A rib-eye and malbec.
- More matching info.
- When in doubt go local! IF you are eating Italian, stick with Italian wines. “What grows together goes together”.
- Think about matching the weight of the food with the weight of the wine. Is the food light, medium or heavy based on cooking technique, protein and sauce? If light go with a lighter wine (watery in weight like Muscadet for white or a light Beaujolais for red), if medium go with a wine with more body (milk-like in weight like Viognier for white or Pinto Noir for red), if heavy go with a heavier bodied wine (creamy in weight like Chardonnay for white or Carmenere for red).
Remember, these are the basics that will set you up for success. Just like discovering your own great restaurants off the beaten path on a vacation you will need to eat, drink and experiment with wine and food matches to find your own “off the beaten path” wine and food match.
Enjoy the journey!!
Eat well, Enjoy life, Be happy
