Cassoulet

As I was poking around this blog, looking for stew recipes, I realized that over the years I had written not one, but four different recipes for cassoulet. Go look at other popular blogs and tell me how many cassoulet recipes they include--I'll wait here.

Ok, back? I think you probably found a lot of variations of what we think of as a classic cassoulet, a combination of duck, fatty pork, and beans. Food writer J. Kenji Lopez-Alt referred to it as Southern French Beanee Weenees. "What?!" you say, aghast. "Cassoulet is some fancy-ass dish that Julia Childs might make! Please don't compare it to all-Amurican hot dogs and beans!" Wrong! For one thing, it's Julia Child. No S. For another, cassoulet is just a casserole of beans and meat--oftentimes sausage, but also other fatty cuts of pork--with whatever other meat that happens to be around. It's a hearty peasant dish that requires a few slow hours of cooking time and is perfect for the dark winter season. 

While the French use white beans, fatty pork, and game birds in their cassoulet, there's absolutely no reason not to make substitutions. Yes, there is a Cassoulet Academy in France that will tell you there are three official variants of the dish, a Holy Trinity of sorts: the original, or father, recipe for cassoulet de Castelnaudary; the cassoulet de Carcassonne, thought of as the son; and the cassoulet de Toulouse, or the Holy Spirit. There are subtle variations between the three, in the types of pork products and other meats used as well as in cooking method (on stovetop or in oven), but they are essentially the same dish much as bourbon, rye, and scotch are all whiskeys. 

I do enjoy a cassoulet made with duck, but chicken thighs are just as tasty and much easier to find. I'm  not picky about beans, either, and am quite content to use canned cannellinis rather than tracking down the traditional tarbais beans. (However, I have purchased tarbais from Rancho Gordo, purveyor of all sorts of delicious bean varieties.) The pork element is also pot luck. I usually use some kind of sausage, even chicken sausage, and have not made a bad cassoulet yet.  

it's totally possible that these Chinese plates have lead in the glaze, which may explain some things

Chinese Cassoulet - duck legs, Chinese sausage, and canned beans make a tasty cassoulet.

Deconstructed Cassoulet is definitely fancy pork and beans with some duck on top.

Jerk Chicken Cassoulet - seems like a stretch, but works really well!

Southwest Cassoulet involves soaking black beans, but you could use canned beans and skip adding them to the chicken mixture until the last 20 minutes of cooking.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats. Amazon links earn me $! Please buy!
Posted on Minxeats.com.

Sweet Potato Spaetzle

I recently bought a potato ricer that was highly rated by America's Test Kitchen. It came with two plates with differently sized holes; the larger one seemed perfect for spaetzle. I had never made them before, so why not try? The first time we went to Birroteca, almost exactly two years ago, we tried a dish of Parmesan spaetzle with snails. It was unusual and delicious and the memory of it stuck with me. We had a can of snails in the cupboard, so that was that.

We also had a plethora of veg hanging around from a recent CSA delivery: fennel, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, a lone sweet potato, cherry tomatoes. I couldn't quite imagine a spaetzle dish that used all of those veg AND snails, but I thought maybe I could mash the potato and add it to the batter. The cauliflower was the most neutral of the ingredients left, so I figured I could work that in somehow, too.

I looked up spaetzle recipes on the 'net. It seemed simple enough: eggs, flour, milk. One of my favorite bloggers, Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen, determined that an egg-rich batter made the lightest noodles. I hoped that adding a cup of mashed sweet potato would contribute enough moisture that I wouldn't have to add as many eggs to my batter as she did (seven!). I put in three eggs as a compromise, as many recipes I found called for just two.

Now that I had the dish figured out (after a run to the store for parsley and smoked Gouda), I was ready to commence cooking. Little did I know that I'd be using three pots, a colander, a potato masher, a baking pan, and multiple bowls for this project. I think I washed more dishes (without a dish washer) than I cooked actual food! The batter is sticky and made a mess, and the spaetzle never dried out completely so they had to spend quite a bit of time in the saute pan to get even a little crusty, but in the end, it was all worth it. So worth it. The noodles were tender, the cauliflower added a bit of crisp texture, and all of the flavors went together wonderfully.

Mr Minx said it was restaurant quality. I thought so to. Would definitely do it again, especially now that I have a batch of already cooked spaetzle in the freezer.

Sweet Potato Spaetzle
Read the whole recipe before proceeding, please!

For the spaetzle:
1 cup mashed sweet potato
3 eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour

To finish the dish:
1 onion, sliced thinly
Olive oil
Butter
1 cup shredded cauliflower
1 7-oz can escargots
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 ounces smoked Gouda, shredded

To make the spaetzle: Combine the sweet potato, eggs, milk, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the flour. Cover bowl with plastic and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water and set near the stove.

Place the large hole blade into your potato ricer. Fill ricer half full with batter and squeeze gently into the boiling water, shaking the noodles loose as you squeeze. Use a spoon to cut the noodles that refuse to break off on their own, then stir the pot vigorously to keep noodles separate. I got three squeezes of noodles out of one half-full ricer, but your mileage may vary, depending on the size of your ricer. Boil for 2-3 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove noodles to the ice bath. Repeat with remaining batter until it's all gone.

Remove spaetzle from ice bath and place in a colander over a bowl to catch any drainage. Drizzle on a bit of olive oil. Store in the fridge in a tightly covered container until ready to use. This recipe makes quite a bit of spaetzle, so you may want to freeze some. I put about half of it in a zip top bag and spread it out flat so the noodles weren't clumped together and put it in the freezer that way. If you are lucky enough to have a big empty freezer, spread the noodles onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze them individually. When frozen, dump them into a zip top bag and put back in the freezer. This way they stay separate and won't turn into a big lump.

To finish the dish: While the spaetzle batter is resting in the fridge, you can do some of the prep. Cook the onion over medium heat in a mixture of olive oil and butter with a pinch of salt until very soft, brown, and caramelized, about 30 minutes.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large skillet. When it is screaming hot, add the cauliflower and cover the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is tender and browned in areas, about 10 minutes. Remove cauliflower to a bowl and set aside.

Drain the escargots and place in a bowl. Cover with cold water and let them soak for 10 minutes or so. Drain again and cut the escargots into thirds or quarters, depending on size (the ones I had were mammoth). Put a bit of olive oil in a skillet and cook the mushrooms until they give up their juices. Add the escargots and a pat of butter. Turn the heat to low and add the garlic. Cook about 5 minutes until everything is warm and garlic is no longer raw. Remove from heat and set aside.

Once your spaetzle has been cooked and drained thoroughly, heat up a large skillet. Add a bit of olive oil and about half the spaetzle (the rest you can freeze or refrigerate to eat later). Cook, stirring occasionally, until the spaetzle is lightly browned in spots and vaguely crispy, about 15-20 minutes. (If you managed to get them really dry, it might take less time.) Stir in the cooked cauliflower, the cooked mushrooms and escargots, and about half the parsley. Once everything is warmed through, spoon into serving bowls. Garnish with a big spoonful of caramelized onions, the remaining parsley and shredded Gouda.

Serves 4.

Posted on Minxeats.com.

Parisian Gnocchi

I like to read Serious Eats, but can't always find the time, especially when I'm trying to get a book written. So I keep up with the more interesting posts via their various newsletters. One recipe newsletter taunted me with Parisian gnocchi. I *love* gnocchi, and from time to time I make a batch of the easy sort that involves lots of ricotta cheese and a bit of flour. I've made potato gnocchi in the past, too, albeit unsuccessfully, so I haven't attempted those again. But Parisian gnocchi - those are a completely different animal.

I've been meaning to make choux pastry, something I've never attempted, and figured this was my chance. For Parisian gnocchi are essentially gougeres that are boiled rather than baked. And who doesn't like a cheesy, eggy, gougere? 

Kenji Lopez-Alt's recipe calls for chopped parsley, chives, and Parmesan cheese. I had the first two ingredients, but not the third, so I used half a cup of various other bits and bobs of cheese (we always have several varieties of cheese in the house) including Jarlsberg and a tangy English cheese flavored with chives. And rather than using the accompanying topping recipe involving corn and zucchini, I whipped up a little something caponata-like with produce from our garden.

Parisian Gnocchi with Caponata

1 medium or two small eggplant, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 onion, chopped
extra virigin olive oil
2 large or 4 small tomatoes, diced
1 roasted red pepper, diced
pinch red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe Parisian Gnocchi
Meyer or regular lemon zest
Parsley

Place diced eggplant in a colander and toss with salt. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, then rinse and drain thoroughly.

Cook the onion in a bit of olive oil until translucent. Add the rinsed eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers, and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the eggplant is tender. Stir in vinegar and sugar and cook an additional minute or two. If the vegetables seem inordinately juicy, turn up the heat and boil excess liquid off.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper.

Serve with Parisian gnocchi that have been pan-fried in a combination of butter and extra virgin olive oil until they are lightly browned and crisp on the outside. Serve garnished with the lemon zest and parsley.

Makes 4-6 servings.



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Macaron Giveaway!

Who doesn't like macarons? You know, those pretty little sherbet-hued cakelets made from almond meringue and filled with jam and/or buttercream? Some might call them macaroons. I adore them and buy at least two every time I see them in a shop (one for me and one for Mr Minx, but sometimes two for me).

When the good people from Sucré, a Sweet Boutique in New Orleans asked us to give away a box of their Summer Macaron Collection, we couldn't resist - especially since they sent us a box to sample.

The Collection stars two flavors of macaron: lemon buttercream with blackberry jam infused with balsamic vinegar and cassis, and another with vanilla buttercream and peach marmalade. Both are quite lovely, but I have to say both of us here at Minxeats preferred the peach. (Perhaps because it's baseball season and they're orange, like the Orioles!) They were also packaged beautifully, with much care. Despite coming from humid New Orleans to humid Baltimore, not a cookie was broken, nor were they affected by the weather in any way. Each one was crisp and delicious.

So, if you would like to receive your own pretty box of fifteen macarons from Sucré, leave a comment on this post. Please make sure you use a valid e-mail address or leave some way for us to contact you electronically if you are the winner.

The Fine Print:

Winners must be 18 years of age or older and a resident of the 48 contiguous United States.
A valid e-mail address must be included.
Contest ends July 1, 2013.
Winner will be notified via e-mail.

* Any products in this post that are mentioned by name may have been provided to Minxeats by the manufacturer. However, all opinions belong to Minxeats.

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Cassoulet

When I can find even the slightest coolness in the air, I automatically think to Fall. And when I'm thinking Fall, I automatically start to crave cold-weather food - even if it is still 85F outside. (I'm sure the availability of pumpkin spice lattés at Starbucks in early September has something to do with this.)

Recently I've been feeling like I'm in a food slump, and what better way to get out of it than to try something completely new? Something with a degree of difficulty. Like maybe...cassoulet. I've only eaten the dish once, at B&O American Brasserie, and I was surprised to find how much I liked it. Cassoulet is a hearty and soul-satisfying French peasant dish of fatty meats and white beans topped with crisped bread crumbs. I'm not a huge fan of beans. Well, I like them ok, but they don't like me all that much. Black beans, however, I have no issues with, so I thought why not make a Southwest twist on cassoulet?

More authentic versions of the dish involve confit duck and saucisson à l'ail - two ingredients not found on many local supermarket shelves. If one can find them, they're el mucho expensivo. (Wegman's and Shop Rite both have D'Argtanan duck confit at like $10 per piece.) Since I was already eschewing tradition with the beans, I decided to use el cheapo chicken thighs and relatively inexpensive and available-everywhere chicken sausages.

The results were, if I say so myself, ah-mayz-ing. The chicken was fall-apart tender but the beans still had lots of texture, the sausages added zing, and the crumb topping offered a much-needed crunch. The flavors were subtle, slightly smoky, and perfect on a chilly Summer evening.

Southwest Cassoulet

1 lb black beans, picked over and rinsed
olive oil
6 chicken thighs, bone-in, with skin
6 cups chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chipotle (or 2 teaspoons smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne)
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 lb fully-cooked chipotle-flavored chicken sausage
salt

Crumb topping:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup coarse fresh bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon chipotle powder
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Place beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water by 2 inches. Soak at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. You may also use the quick-soak method: in a large pot, cover beans by 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow beans to soak for one hour. Drain beans well in a colander before using.

In a dutch oven, cook chicken in a bit of olive oil over high heat, turning occasionally, until skin browns and renders its fat. Remove chicken from pot; remove and discard skin. Add sausages to chicken fat/oil in pot and brown on all sides. Remove from heat, cut into 1/2" slices, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Add onions and carrot and a pinch of salt to remaining chicken fat/olive oil in pot and cook over medium heat until onions become translucent. Stir in garlic and spices. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add bay leaf, beans, and chicken stock. Return chicken to pot. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, about one hour.

When the beans are done, remove bay leaf and chicken from pot. Discard bones and break meat up into coarse chunks. Stir chicken and reserved sausage pieces into beans. Add salt to taste.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour bean and meat mixture into a 13 x 9 baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Cassoulet before crumb topping

While beans are baking, make crumb topping. In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat; add bread crumbs, salt and chipotle, and cook, stirring, until crumbs are crisp and golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in cilantro.

Raise oven temperature to 400°F. Remove casserole from oven. Smash some of the beans with the back of a fork to thicken mixture. Top with crumbs. Return and bake until crust is golden, about 10 minutes.

Cassoulet after crumb topping.

Posted by theminx on Minxeats.com.

King Cake

I had only eaten King Cake once before, at a friend's party. After hearing that it was de rigeur for a Mardi Gras celebration, I had it built up in my head as some grand fancy pastry. It was a little disappointing to find that it's actually a ginormous Danish, either braided and plain or filled, in the style of the French galette de rois, with an almond paste, or even a cream cheese mixture. Now that I'm a bread-baking fool, I thought I'd try to make my own version by altering a sweet bread recipe from my current favorite cookbook, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

To the book's basic brioche recipe, which I halved, I added 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg. It's a very sticky dough, so rather than trying to roll it out, I decided to arrange a series of flattened dough blobs in an oval shape on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I then applied a thin layer of pistachio paste (cuz almond is just so done, plus - pistachio!) down the center of the oval, and covered that with the rest of the dough. A whole hazelnut was inserted at random, to stand in for the traditional plastic baby or bean.

After an hour and twenty minutes of rising time, the oval was baked at 350F for 35 minutes, then set on a rack to cool.

When cool, it was frosted with a mixture of powdered sugar, milk, and lemon juice in the form of True Lemon powder, and topped with the traditional purple, green, and gold Mardi Gras colors in the form of coarse sugar.

The verdict? It was good - like a glazed brioche. The pistachio paste was delicious, but it could have used a lot more. (I was afraid to add too much because it might leak out; during the rising, some of it did, but I pinched the dough back in place over the leaks.) A cream cheese filling would have been nice, too.

According to tradition, the one who finds the baby (or in this case, hazelnut) gets to throw the next Mardi Gras party or at least supply the cake. Since I found it in my second slice, I suppose that makes me "it." :)

Easy Apple Galette

In the sloppy, snowy aftermath of "Thundersnowpocalypse 2011," I thought it would be prudent to stay home from work. After I helped Mr Minx dig out our car, I put myself to work in the kitchen, getting rid of sundry leftovers by turning out a batch of Erika Davis' chocolate chip cookies, a pot of mushroom soup, and an apple galette.

The galette was the tastiest treat of the day. Made with a refrigerated pie crust, two apples, and a few pinches of spices, it was terrific topped with some vanilla ice cream.

Easy Apple Galette

2 Granny Smith apples
1 refrigerated pie crust (Pillsbury All-Ready pie crust or its generic equivalent)
1 Tablespoon light brown sugar
ground ginger
ground cinnamon
lemon juice
1 egg yolk
sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Peel and very thinly slice apples. Unroll pie crust and place on a non-stick baking sheet. Place a layer of apples in the center of the crust, leaving a 1.5" border all around. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of cinnamon, a bit of ginger, a few drops of lemon juice, and a bit of the brown sugar. Repeat apple and spice layers until all of the apples are used, finishing with a dusting of cinnamon and brown sugar. Fold the border of the dough up over the filling, pleating it as necessary to keep it flat. Beat egg yolk with a few drops of water and brush onto the pastry. Sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes or so, the remove to a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Eating Out and About

Mr Minx and I have been eating out quite a bit over the past few days. On Saturday, we went up to Bel Air to visit my Dad and shoot some pool. We usually bring food with us, but he said not to worry about it and we'd order pizza. Instead, we went to Wargo's Forest Hills Inn for pit beef sandwiches. Dad and I have always been fans of the stuff, well-done and preferably topped with lots of crunchy carbonized bits. A pit beef sandwich on rye with mayo, smothered in so much horseradish our eyes burned, was always a highlight of the Fells Point Festival.

Wargo's sandwich was a little dry and had none of the requested mayo or horseradish. It was also served on a weird buttery roll. We got some horseradish and used copious squirts from the bbq sauce bottle on the table, which helped a lot. We also had onion rings, which were the standard thick cut variety. They were nicely crispy, but otherwise ordinary.

Several hours and more than a few shots of orangecello later, I wasn't particularly hungry, but Dad wanted to go to Bertucci's for dinner. I haven't been to one of those in a good decade (and it has been a good decade, thank you) and wasn't impressed with it the last time. But there's not much in the way of non-chain food in Bel Air (and so many ugly McMansions with oddly placed sill-less windows, but I digress) and it's good to see Dad eating copiously again (cancer sucks) so I agreed. I ordered eggplant parmigiana, usually a disaster of sogginess in most restaurants, but I felt daring. The eggplant was roasted in the pizza oven and not breaded, thus avoiding the dreaded sog. The accompanying linguine was perfectly al dente. Color me surprised! The meatballs that came with Mr Minx's linguine tasted like real meat, rather than the gristle-textured once-frozen protein pucks that I anticipated. And everyone else at the table (Dad, his gf, MinxBro) seemed happy with their meals as well. Not that I'm going to start frequenting Bertucci's over, say, Sotto Sopra or Boccaccio, but it's good to know if I'm craving Italian and am too lazy to cook (that's pretty lazy), there's an option in Timonium.

We had to move our usual grocery shopping day from Tuesday to Monday this week, and a need for bulk paper towels and peanut butter led us to eating dinner at New Han Dynasty before heading to BJs. New Han Dynasty is a little Chinese restaurant in the shopping center at the hellish confluence of Joppa and Belair Roads, the one with the Weis Market. We've been going there every few months for the last 8 years or so, and the food is always consistently good. They're refurbishing the place at the moment and putting in a sushi bar, but for now the menu is the same as it ever was. They serve some of the best won ton soup around, although recently the won tons have seemed a little undercooked/too firm. Mr Minx felt pedestrian this time and went for their extremely garlicky chicken chow mein, and I chose the triple kung pao. Both came with a pretty decent eggroll and a fried shrimp, plus fried rice. (I prefer the plain white rice but forgot to ask for it.) It's a ton of food for about $10 each, and I'm wishing I brought some of my leftovers for lunch today....

Tuesday night, we took my brother-in-law out for his birthday. Yes, I know his birthday is in February, but this was the first opportunity we had. We chose an old favorite, Petit Louis. I was happy to see that, according to petitlouis.com, their Tuesday plat du jour was skate, and knew in advance that would be my entrée, with the crispy eggplant Napoleon for a starter. The eggplant was delish - a crispy fried round topped a mound of un-breadcrumbed eggplant, tomatoes, goat's cheese, and olives, all in a puddle of pesto. The skate was also very good, lightly floured and sautéed with a caper brown butter sauce and a side of chopped haricots verts.

Mr Minx went for the chicken paillards with gaufrette potatoes (aka fancy potato chips) and a chopped frisée salad. He thought it was all a bit salty, and that was probably the citrus caper vinaigrette over everything. I thought it was well done, and was impressed at the frisée. I'm ordinarily not a fan of the stuff because its prickly texture annoys me, but chopped and lightly dressed it was quite delicious.

MinxBro started with the always capably-done French onion soup (as did Mr Minx), and followed it with the grilled salmon with braised leeks, bacon, and hollandaise. He seemed pleased, and what I tasted of it was very good. Why don't we have braised leeks as a side dish more often? They're delicious.

Finally, my BIL had the skate, but began his meal with the much more daring frog's legs. He wanted to try new things, and he enjoyed both dishes. (I didn't taste the frog's legs because having had them before I knew they'd have the texture of undercooked chicken legs and that's not pleasing to me.)

We washed everything down with a bottle of 2004 vintage Georges Faiveley white Burgundy which was crisp and aromatic and something I must try to find at the local booze emporium.

This coming weekend I'll be in NY, and of course that means I'll probably indulge in decadence...naughty me. :)

Winter Restaurant Week: Brasserie Tatin

Baltimore’s first winter edition of Restaurant Week started yesterday, February 5th, a day that was a veritable food orgy for me. Or could have been. You see, I had lunch with three friends at Ze Mean Bean, a “Slavic fusion” café in Fells Point. Knowing I had a dinner reservation for Brasserie Tatin, I wisely limited myself to a bowl of their excellent borscht and to nibbling on the hriby dip, salad, pierogies, and placki (potato pancakes) ordered by the other ladies. Oh, and the apple pie and chocolate mousse cake too. Ze Mean Bean has a number of interesting things on their menu, besides the Polish/Ukranian foods I grew up with, and I really should get there for dinner sometime.

But back to Restaurant Week. Neal and I have decided to try two places we’ve never been to before. First off was Brasserie Tatin, the French restaurant in the former Jeannier’s space at the Broadview apartments on 39th Street.

We had an 5pm reservation, because we like to eat early (although with my lunch, we could have eaten at 6) and were the first persons in the restaurant. The space, decorated in orange and turquoise, is much livelier and certainly more colorful than the somewhat stuffy and old-fashioned Jeannier’s. We were given the Restaurant Week menu along with the regular menu and wine list, plus a supplementary list of wines available by the glass. We stuck to the RW menu and Neal chose: Carpaccio de Canard (carpaccio of duck breast with orange/vanilla glaze & a warm truffle & frisée salade); Feuilletté de Saumon Grillé (grilled salmon on puff pastry topped with lobster mousse & beurre rouge); and the Marjolaine Le Bec Fin (layers of chocolate mousse, hazelnut buttercream & chocolate ganache). I had the soupe du jour, a crab bisque; the Poulet Rôti & Pommes Frites (roasted chicken served in a rich brown sauce reduction with French Fries & seasonal vegetables); and Tatin’s signature Tarte Tatin, served with caramel sauce, house made green apple sorbet and crème fraiche. We chose a $30 2005 Pinot Noir “Les Vins du Moulin” from Burgundy to accompany the meal.

We entertained ourselves with the bread basket while waiting for the appetizers. Unfortunately, there was only insanely crunchy baguette to be had, impossible to eat without leaving a pile of crumbs on the butter dish, the tablecloth, and oneself. Our appetizers arrived after a short wait. My crab bisque was a dark orange concoction capped with snowy crabmeat. I mentally compared it to the best crab bisque I have ever eaten, that of Fells Point restaurant Louisiana, a decadent delight, full of crab flavor and, I imagine, thickened only with heavy cream. Tatin’s bisque was probably roux-thickened, so it was heartier, and although it had a lovely seafood flavor, I couldn’t swear that it was crab I tasted. The crabmeat garnish was generous, however, and there was the delightful crisp texture of fresh corn kernels in the soup.

Neal’s carpaccio was a Spartan affair: five or six microscopically thin slices of duck breast, seared along the edges and raw in the middle, each no bigger than the top joint of a man’s thumb. The duck was glazed with an interesting orange and vanilla sauce, somewhat like a creamsicle but better than one might think, and topped with a teaspoonful of frisee in a truffle vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was nice, but I didn’t like the texture of the frisee. I think microgreens might have been a better choice, or baby arugula. Frisee is too hard to chew, and too spiky to accompany the extremely delicate duck. I would call this is a real money-making dish for a restaurant. Most places could charge $8 - $9 for what is approximately $0.36 of food. Sliced that thin, a single duck breast could fill 10 – 12 orders, easily.

There was a much longer wait for the entrees. Neal’s salmon, which we figured to be “en croute” proved to be resting on a triangle of puff pastry and garnished by another. It was tender and delicious, with a nice lemony-ness, and the beurre rouge had a somewhat sweet caramelized flavor that reminded Neal of the vanilla orange sauce on the duck. There was also some lobster mousse on the fish that I didn’t get to taste, but apparently it didn’t have all that much flavor. Either that, or the salmon and citrus flavors were too strong to match well.

My chicken dish consisted of three pieces: a small leg, thigh, and partial breast, roasted with herbs under the skin and garnished with haricots verts. The skin was crisp and the breast was perfectly cooked (the other pieces got doggie-bagged). The frites, however, were a bit too dark and crunchy for my tastes, as if they had been thrice rather than twice fried. They came in a separate bowl, which was awkward on the small tables, and our very tall waiter asked if I wanted ketchup or mustard with them. Mustard? Wouldn’t mayo have been more appropriate?

Desserts were impressive. I have loved tarte tatin since I was a little girl. Dad used to buy them from Patisserie Poupon fairly regularly, and I was enamored of their decadent buttery quality and the melting softness of the apples. Tatin’s tatin wasn’t as unctuous as the tartes from my past, but it was lovely: a generous slice, garnished by a pool of homemade caramel sauce, and a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream, rather than the promised apple sorbet, and no crème fraiche. It was also bruleed a bit, as there was a crunchy topcoat to the apples. Overall, there was a fresher, less-caramelized quality to this tatin, different, yet quite delicious. Neal’s marjolaine was equally delicious, the combination of chocolate mousse and hazelnut buttercream reminding me a bit of our wedding cake. My only complaint is that perhaps it was served a bit too cold.

The pinot noir we chose went perfectly with both entrees, and even the dessert course. I was a bit annoyed, however, when I overheard another waitress give a special “19 for $19” wine list to a nearby table. Why we were not offered the same list I do not know. Our waiter, although attentive, seemed a little out of it, and that may have had something to do with it. I have heard that the service at Brasserie Tatin is pretty shaky most of the time. Not an excuse, however, when there are so few customers in the place.

Later this week: True