2 Rhones of interest

This is an open invitation/request for suggestions/comments/etc. The first draft of the menu for the evening when my son joins us is: Starter: Foie gras with brioche toasts; wine, Sauternes/Barsac/Loupiac Main course: Confit of duck, pommes sarladaises, plum gravy, English runner beans, braised Florence fennel; wine, either Ch. Musar (88 or

I want the dinner to go smoothly from one course to another. I want the wines to complement the food but also move effortlessly to the next one without any clashes of taste. As I said, ideas/comments/suggestions will be welcome but I don't particularly want to rewrite the whole thing! Regards, John

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So, I'll restrain myself :)

Actually looks nice. Given choices, I'd say: Go with the Loupiac for first course. It's a waste going with a good Sauternes/Barsac with as an appetizer. Loupiac is still sweet, but usually lighter/less complex.

As to main course wine., which Usseglio (P or R)?. In any case, I'd go for the CdP over Musar with duck.

HTH! Dale

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Thanks for that. I need to work within my abilities and also the limitations of a primitive cooking system. 8-) I'm also having regard for what we like as family supper food (apart from the foie gras).

The ridiculous thing is that I have Sauternes and Barsac in the cellar, so will have to pick up a Loupiac from a (spit) supermarket.

Raymond. We usually (as in "always so far") pick up a couple or more cases of his Cdp at the Macon wine fair. Regards, John

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Salut/Hi Sojourner,

I hope you'll forgive me if I air a particular prejudice of mine.

le/on Thu, 04 Sep 2003 00:26:33 +0100, tu disais/you said:-

I find that Foie gras with a sweet wine at the beginning of a meal tends to stifle your appetite for the rest. So, my suggestion would be to start the meal with another starter, something very lignt - I use a consommé for this often, making one from home made stock simmered with dried cepes, goes wonderfully with a sercial madeira (doesn't it Michael?)

Then I'd go on with the duck by all means - I have a very slight reservation over the pommes sarladaises, delightful though they are and traditional though they are in the Périgord, as making quite a heavy course. Whet we do is to cut potatoes into little cubes, blanch and refresh and then cook in the oven 45 mins (hot). I'll give you my recipe in detail if you like, also Daguin's recommended method of treating confit to reduce the richness. I like the idea of Ch Musar, would go well. Here, we'd serve a good mature Cahors or Madiran.

THEN comes the foie gras as what used to be called a "cold roast" - with the sweet wine, which goes very well with cheese (especially blue) and carries smoothly on to your summer pudding, a delightfully light end to a meal.

If you are determined to start with foie gras then drink a not too acid dry white with it, it goes better than you might think.

I accept that. It's simply that I look for any excuse to enjoy it.

I'll think more on that...

Both of which will be welcome - thanks. Again, I accept what you say, but again, I'd justify it simply because I like them. My recipe comes from Lillian Bell in the Périgord. I believe you know her (Alistair Sawday?)

Well, I have some Madiran but felt that the Musar would go well with the duck, bearing in mind that I intend to serve a plum sauce with it. My short-list was Musar or CdP but the residual sugar in Musar (or, at least, the impression of it) caused me to think it would be the better of the two.

Roquefort and sweet white is another love.

Yes, it's a delight. I had toyed with the idea of sorbet, either at the end or part way through, but decided to make the most of summer pudding before the fruits are out of season.

Tucking it in after the entré seems a useful suggestion. Thanks for that. I'll look out for your recipes in due course (and let you know the final version). Regards, John

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Personally, I can handle foie gras and Sauternes at any time of the meal.

Hell - come to think of it, I'd be game to try it for breakfast!

Bill (who is working up to another foie feed - it also goes very well with some Alsatian VT wines)

Salut/Hi Bill Spohn,

le/on 04 Sep 2003 16:50:59 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Breakfast is a GOOD time for foie gras and Sauternes!

And we all know your entirely immoderate gluttony for the stuff. When are you next coming over to France to try the delights of the real stuff "Mi-cuit" with a top monbazillac?

Agreed, and better, IMO if one _must_ serve it to start the meal.

I too could eat foie gras any time of the day. I agree with Ian that eating a goodly amount of it tends to squash one's appetite for whatever is served thereafter. Once when visiting the Dordogne area I ate so much I became dizzy.

Its great for Breakfast. Eggs and Foie Gras is also great. Just don't check cholestrol for 2 weeks.

yup

Ahh - not soon enough!

But if I do, I'll get in touch so we can 'chew the fat"!

Hello Ian. I'm new to the group and obviously don't know many of the members. I've noticed that many of your posts describe a gourmet type meal along with your wine selection. I've usually just finished a burger or sausage and then get to drool while reading about your repass.

Without laughing too hard and falling on the floor(breaking wine glass of course ;-), are you:

a) a chef b) someone who eats out a lot at fine dining establishments c) someone who has lots of friends who are good cooks d) someone who has a wife or girlfriend that is a really good cook. e) none of the above

Fire away!

Larry Stumpf, S. Ontario, Canada

Salut/Hi Larry,

le/on Thu, 04 Sep 2003 19:14:15 -0400, tu disais/you said:-

Welcome. I hope you come to be a regular here and find it fun and informative.

Well, unlike many here, I don't often describe meals I've cooked/eaten. That's more the speciality of Dale Williams or Bill Spohn.

reading about your

Chuckle. Don't think we never get to eat a burger, or sausages! I just don't tend to write here about it if I do.

Sort of. I worked as a free-lance chef, cooking in peoples' homes in London for many years, specialising in French Haute Cuisine. One thing led to another and I also worked as a wine consultant. In 1989 we (my wife is an ex-French teacher) moved to the middle of France with the intention of retiring, and a few years later, quite by accident, opened a B&B in the house next door which we had bought mainly because it had a wine cellar, and we were silly enough not to have thought of such matters when we bought our house here.

"A lot" is hard to quantify. When we visit my brother back in the UK, he tends to have racked up 4 or 5 places that he's been waiting for us to come back to visit. That's about once a year. When we're here, we don't often eat out during the holiday season as I'm too busy cooking for my guests here. However, during spring and autumn we do feel it our duty to a) check out new places in the area so we can recommend them to clients if they're good, and warn about them if not and b) make sure that places we know already are keeping up to scratch. While they're not all Michelin starred places, the overall quality is pretty high.

Jacquie is an excellent pastry cook and does vegetables excellently and most other types of cooking very well. But in principle, it's I that does most of the cooking for guests, one way or another. I'd say we complement each other very well.

Bang!!!

Larry, I'll pass on the burger, thanks. Having said that, I hope you won't get the impression that this group is nothing but gourmet gourmands. As the person who started this sub-thread, let me say that I was seeking guidance and comment for something that I want to be a special meal for a son I haven't seen recently, and where I am still in shock at how narrowly he missed death on 9/11. In other words, it's not only a special meal - it's also a thanksgiving and a time of great happiness for us. If I reflect on the various lunch and dinner meals we've had this week, I recall that they included Cassoulet (glorified sausages and beans ), Smoked Haddock Chowder, Chilli Con Carne, Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, Spaghetti Carbonara and Ham and Roquefort Pizza. But, I'd guess that for most of us, most of the time, we don't write about the _ordinary_ meals, the ones where we have nothing more than a sandwich and a glass of water. I've been part of this group for longer than I care to recall. Most of the time, I've been a lurker rather than a writer. That's mainly been because I haven't had time to do anything more than skim through the last week's messages and I'm cut off from newsgroups every time I go across the Channel to France.

Although there is a small core of participants who are frequent writers here, I encourage you to stick with the group, maybe learn from some of the others, but also share your own experiences and ideas. Regards, John

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Thanks John for sharing some of the history of this group. I will have no problem learning things from the members of this group.

Thanks again,

Larry Stumpf, S. Ontario, Canada

John,

Just got around to reading the thread; funny how afw twists around.

I too like the ide aof something other than Sauternes with a bit of foie gras -- which I am not adverse to serving at the beginning of the meal, but rarely take myself in the classic mi-cuit form; I prefer just slightly pan-seared -- and I suppose a Loupiac would be appropriate. But why not something with a little more acid, that you've got in cellar?

e.g. a noble chenin, like a Layon? The palate will recover much more quickly. ;)

As for the confit, I'd pick the CdP to stand up to the fat and salt, but of course that surprises no one. Personally I think the Musar would show less well under those circumstances.

-E

f) Ian is all all of the aboveand more ;-)

Mike

as an on-the-side to this interesting topic, why is it that the foie gras is served with sweeter wines? how would it go with something like a brut champagne at the begining of a meal.. ? ..Chris