Chou Farci

[portsalut]

We've pulled cordon Bleu off the shelf and, considering ourselves to have completed the entrees in the Intermediaire section to the best of our ability, have entered into the final section: Superieure, Professional Touches. First on the menu was a mousseline of white fish with wild mushrooms. We poached a forcemeat of fish with a hidden pocket of chanterelles in a silicone mold and topped it with a garnish of carrot and zucchini. Next, we made the lamb stew with spring vegetables. This stew is a far cry from a humble one pot meal to warm the soul on a cold night. Lamb is simmered with tomato and turned potato is allowed to join partway through the cooking while turnips, carrots, pearl onions, peas and green beans are cooked in separate pots to be "folded in" at the end. The stew was tasty but sometimes the end does not justify the means - perhaps haute cuisine should be content with sauces and puff pastry and let the simple farmhouse fare be just that. A third recipe, chou farci, turned out to sound more complicated than it actually was. Instead of rolling meat and rice inside individual cabbage leaves as for Polish stuffed cabbage, this version makes a sausage and bread stuffing and layers the filling between multiple leaves to reconstruct a full sized cabbage. Bacon is draped over the structure and it is braised in the oven. My Polish side interpreted the sausage component as kielbasa and didn't regret it.

There hasn't been rain since the weekend and the soil seems dry. I snacked on a few ripe blackberries while hiking along the edge of Stearns Pond, which were seedy and quite tart. I brought home a colorful mixture of chanterelles - golden, cinnabar, black and yellow. They made a fabulous dinner in a simple reduced cream sauce with pasta and roast chicken.