Our Quarterly Chef’s Dinner took place at Cafe Presse last evening and frankly it was a blast. The theme for February’s dinner was  “Celebrate Sparkles” and  it offered a great opportunity both to try some of the lesser-known sparking wine of the French countryside and to also see how well these wines pair with food (all year long, but they seem to really lend themselves to a winter menu!).

Here are some photos of the dishes we served at last night’s event – Enjoy!

The February Chef’s Dinner at Cafe Presse is all about sparkling wine from the French countryside. Although many people think of sparkling wine for a toast, it can often be a struggle to find a place for bubbles during the actual meal.  With that in mind, I wanted to design a menu that highlights all the different roles that sparkling wine can play by including dishes that, at first blush, don’t seem like intuitive matches….like duck for example.

With this in mind, I reached back into the classical lexicon of duck dishes for an idea that is both seasonal and I think has great potential to pair well with bubbles,  salmis de canard.

In his Le Guide Culinaire, Escoffier describes a salmis as a game dish in which the bird is first roasted at high heat until golden on the outside but still rare inside.  The legs and breasts are then removed, and the carcass, still nearly rare, is used to make a rich jus. The breasts and legs are then simmered in this jus until tender and delicious, then served on a crouton spread with a mousse made from the birds giblets.

(Note, in his recipe for Salmis de faison, Escoffier warns that “this recipe has literally been spoiled by the haphazard manner in which it has been  applied right and left to game”. That’s Escoffier for you, always a little tense. But it does point out how far this dish has fallen from fashion as compared to his epoch when he found it overly common. I remember cooking salmis when I was in culinary school and while working in Paris, but that was nearly 30 years ago).

I have always found duck and cabernet franc to be a very good pairing (or duck and pinot noir or duck and gamay…maybe I just like duck!).  With that in mind, I decided to construct my salmis using a Cremant from the Loire valley that is a mix of tcab franc with chenin and chardonnay. To increase the impact of the wine, I decided to modify the salmis recipe slightly by marinating the duck pieces in Cremant overnight.

First step in the process was breaking down the duck into what is known as “fricasse”, which basically just means semi-boneless breasts and legs, each cut into 2 pieces.

The duck breasts and legs are marinated overnight in the refrigerator with the other ingredients that will go into the salmis:  sparkling rosé, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and dried orange peel

The carcasses and giblets are used to make a rich duck stock. This stock, which will give depth and flavor to our duck stew, should be made the day ahead also if possible to allow for long slow cooking to get every bit of flavor from the carcasses.   First step is to brown them in the oven.

To the roasting pan, I add onions, garlic and trim left over from turning the turnips that will accompany the finished duck (more on that later).  The mixture is drizzled with a little vegetable oil, tossed well and then roasted in a hot oven until very brown.

Every part of a duck has some culinary use so I make sure to throw nothing away. While the duck carcasses are roasting, I render the fat from the duck skin. This is most easily accomplished by covering the skins with cold water, bringing to a boil, then cooking hard until all the water has evaporated. Starting with water,  helps avoid scorching the fat, which gives it a bitter flavor.

When all the fat has rendered and the remaining skin is crispy, I strain the fat and cool. Stored in the freezer, duck fat will last for months and can be used for sautéing, making confits and rillettes and much more. The crispy duck cracklin’s are a bonus left over from the process…I like them tossed with sea salt and Tabasco.

By now, the bones are almost done roasting and golden brown. For the last 30 minutes of  roasting, tomato paste is added to the roasting pan so that it can caramelize.

After the roasted bones are moved to a stock pot and the fat removed from the roasting pan, it is de-glazed with wine, vinegar or alcohol. Here I used red wine vinegar from our barrel at Le Pichet and also house made green walnut wine. Scraping up all the browned roasty bits will add flavor to the stock. This is added to the bones.

Water is added to the stockpot to just cover the bones, the whole is brought to a boil, skimmed well to remove any fat, then the heat is reduced to very low simmer and left cook at least 3 hours, overnight is better.

Next day, the stock is strained and the solids discarded. The stock is skimmed careful and cooled. There will likely be more stock than needed for the salmis;  It makes great soups and sauces and can be frozen if not needed right away.

Now it is finally time to start construction of the actual salmis.  The pieces of duck breast and leg are drained, saving the wine and veggies from the marinade.  The duck is then seared in a dutch oven until golden brown. I have a really big pan so can do it all in one batch but if using a smaller dutch oven, sear in batches so that they really get nice color.

Next, the veggies from the marinade are sweated off in the same pan.  When they start to get tender, I add a little flour to give the finished salmis sauce body.  This is cooked like a roux until all the fat is incorporated, then the duck is returned to the pan, and the marinade wine and duck stock added to just cover.

Once the liquid comes to a boil, it should be skimmed very well to remove any fat, then covered and cooked in a  slow oven (say 275 degrees) until the duck is tender. Depending on the size of the pieces and the age of the duck, figure about 45 minutes to 1 h 15 minutes.

Now all that is left is to prepare the garnishes to go with the stew, which for me means it is time to open the bottle and have an apéro.  Although it is not always possible, serving the dish with the same wine used to prepare it nearly guarantees a happy rapport between dish and wine. But lets be realistic,  if you are planning to serve a treasured old bottle, no one is going to suggest that you pour half the bottle into the salmis (well, maybe our friend Escoffier).

Turnips are a classic accompaniment to duck and navets glacés a brun (turned turnips, sautéed with a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper and butter) is the classic way to cook them.  Note that a glass of sparkling wine while turning vegetables should only be attempted by seasoned professionals.

Here is the finished dish, with the duck served on grilled country bread spread with duck liver mousse, accompanied by the turnips, Brussels sprouts and the rich salmis sauce.

 Menu

Les amuse bouches
Mimolette and bacon gougères warm from the oven
Black cod tartare, pink grapefruit, chervil, shallots on house-made buckwheat baguette

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Potage aux légumes d’hiver et son consommé aux crevettes
Shellfish consommé with leeks, spinach and celery root, smoked prawns and Brittany sea-salt butter

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Salmis de canard au Cremant rosé de Loire
Muscovy duck simmered with rosé Cremant de Loire, roasted turnips and greens, brown bread trencher spread with duck liver mousse

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Tomme de Laqueuille au bleu, biscottis salées au thym et noisettes torréfiées
Cow’s milk bleu cheese from Auvergne served with savory biscotti scented with thyme and toasted hazelnuts

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Financier au citron et son sabayon au Cremant
Lemon financier cake served with Meyer lemon-Cremant sorbet and Cremant sabayon

For reservations, please call Café Presse at 206.709.7674

It’s the middle of February, it’s Seattle grey outside and months remain before we can expect any sunshine. Time for some sparkles!  The country side of France produces the best sparkling wines in the world and they are also amazingly adaptable and complimentary with food. Please join us for a dinner highlighting the range of French sparkling wines as selected by Wine Director Joanne Herron.

What:   5-course family-style dinner
When:  Tuesday February 26, 2019, 6:30pm sharp
Where: The back room at Café Presse
Cost:   Dinner including  beverage* $80
*your choice of paired sparkling wines or non-alcoholic beverages

Visit our website at www.cafepresseseattle.com for details and menu

For this special dinner, NO SUBSTITUTIONS please
For reservations,  telephone 206.709.7674

The August 2018 Quarterly Dinner at Cafe Presse featured a celebration of the food and festivals of the region of the Languedoc-Roussillon.  The dinner kicked off with a tapas and sangria reception featuring live Spanish guitar from local musician Jon Yerby. Tapas were followed by a 3 course menu of regional specialties.  If you missed this sold-out event, check out some photos below:

Tuesday August 28, 2018, $60 per person

 Buffet de tapas à la Feria
A selection of small bites from the Languedoc-Roussillon:
Anchovies stuffed with green olives
Fougasse, rustic bread made with olive oil, black olives and rosemary
Fromage du Languedoc
Boles de Picolet, pork-dried porcini meatballs simmered in spiced tomato sauce
Grilled mussel-baby artichoke skewers

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La fameuse tielle à la sétoise et sa salade aux courgettes
Tourte filled with octopus-tomato ragoût, with a salad of bitter summer greens, raw summer squash and lemon-parsley vinaigrette

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Gardianne de taureau au vin rouge
Shoulder of bull simmered with red wine, onions, sweet peppers and orange peel, served with brown rice

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Sorbet de melon et ses rousquilles aux graines d’anis
Anise-scented cookies from Roussillon, melon sorbet and basil-melon salad

Visit our website for full event details

Reservations by phone only at 206 709-7674

Ingredients subject to change due to seasonal availability

Feria en Languedoc-Roussillon!

In the south of France, Feria is the word used for the summer festivals that bring together everyone in town to celebrate the season, good food and the sweetness of being alive.  The menu for our August 2018 Quarterly Chef’s Dinner is inspired by a traditional Feria from the region of the Languedoc-Roussillon, a land that stretches from Provence to Catalonia.  Join us as we celebrate Feria!

What:   Tapas reception followed by a 3-course family-style Feria dinner

When:  Tuesday, August 28, 2018, 6:30pm sharp

Where: The back room at Café Presse

Cost:    Dinner including  beverage* $60
*your choice of paired wines or non-alcoholic beverages

Visit our website at www.cafepresseseattle.com for details and menu

For this special dinner, NO SUBSTITUTIONS please

For reservations, telephone Café Presse at 206.709.7674  

Last Wednesday June 6th, for our June Quarterly Dinner at Café Presse we celebrated the cuisine of the region of the Béarn. If you didn’t have the chance to attend, here are a few photos of the dishes served. Note we in the kitchen got a little too busy to photograph every course.  But you can check out the entire menu from an earlier post.

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In preparation for the upcoming June Chef’s Dinner at Cafe Presse, I recently put together  a Poule au Pot trial run using a chicken from Hungry Hollow Farms.

Here are some photos of the process:

Here is the chicken as received from Hungry Hollow Farms and delivered by owner/farmer Grant Jones.  GMO free, pasture raised and left free to hunt lots of bugs and worms, these birds develop a different body shape than intensively farmed chickens:  the breast is smaller, the legs larger and firmer and overall there is less fat.  The smell and flavor of the flesh is much earthier, slightly gamey, just plain more chicken-y. They remind me quite a lot of poulet fermier that we buy at the weekly farmer’s market in Orthez.

The traditional stuffing for a Poule au Pot is a mixture of ground pork and bread.  For my version, I added ground bacon, spinach and thyme.

The stuff bird, trussed and ready for the pot.

The stuffed chicken goes into a pot of chicken broth to poach gently for about 90 minutes.

Cooking finished, the chicken is ready to eat and the rich broth that remains is ready to be used for a soup course.

If you want to see the final dish,  with the chicken and its stuffing carved and presented, you’ll have to book you place for the Quarterly Chef’s Dinner!

Reservations at 206.709.7674

For our June 2018 Quarterly Chef’s Dinnner at Café Presse, we will be preparing a traditional Poule au pot, featuring free-range, pasture raised farm chickens from Hungry Hollow Farms near Shelton WA.

THIS JUST IN:  Artisan farmer/owner of Hungry Hollow Farms Grant Jones will be on hand to talk about how he works and to answer your questions.  Says Grant of how he farms:  “We’re putting animals back on the grass where they belong. When we raise animals outside on grass, they forage for greens and bugs. This natural diet produces meat and eggs with richer flavor and a superior nutritional profile.”

Don’t miss this opportunity to meet one of the local heroes who are working to put healthy food on our tables.

There are only a few remaining seats for this event.
Rerservations by telephone only 206.709.7674