Qu'est que c'est que Jamie aime?

It's been difficult getting my manicured hands dirty in the kitchen with so many fun holiday parties. I like parties. And I like champagne. And recently I've really enjoyed vodka gimlets. I've been delinquent about blogging in the past month, but in case someone does read this, I thought I'd write a posting about the restaurants I like in France. Yes, unusual, considering I only write about my own delicious creations because I'm so super duper in the kitchen, but I can be unpredictable. I also want to jot this down before I forget some must must go to places. The French basically only eat French food. And why shouldn't they when their cuisine is pretty much based on butter sauces and cream and truffles. There's an abundance of French restaurants, but most of them are crap. I kid you not. However, if you are reading this, you are in luck. Because I have great insight into the best restaurants, mostly in the Paris region, and I have great taste in what's good. The list below reflects my subjective opinion, but once again, I have great taste in what's good. Especially when it comes to good food.

Alain Ducasse at Hotel Plaza-Athenee

Prices are steep, but the whole experience was amazing. I worked here too, so compared to the amount of work that goes into the food, I'd say the menu is underpriced. I was pleasantly surprised by the lightness of the food and then they gave me a tour of the wine cellar. And they gave me homemade caramel to take home cause I loved it so much. The poulet de Bresse with albufera sauce was one of the best things ever and I could eat it every meal. Probably even for breakfast.

L'Ambroisie

I would think prices are steep, but I didn't pay for it so I don't know the exact damage it would do. Inside a beautiful old aristocratic urban mansion, the food was very traditional French and the service was impeccable. I give a 20 out of 10 for service. I dropped my napkin on the floor without knowing and someone came and picked it up with a fork and spoon, chopstick style and replaced it with a fresh new one. That's some service. He probably wasn't French. Anyhow, the fois gras mousse with morel mushrooms are their signature appetizer they've served for the past 25 years and I could probably eat it for breakfast. It was so yummy.

Michel Guerard at Les Pres d'Eugenie

This place is way in rural France near bordeaux. But worth the trip in my not so humble opinion. The chef still works in the kitchen and he's 78! Everything is wonderful wonderful wonderful. I'd imagine this place is what heaven is like. His signature dish is this one called the soft pillow of mushrooms and its this delicate ravioli with mushrooms and truffle with an amazing cream sauce with more morels and chanterelles and truffles. It really looks like a soft pillow and I would like to sleep in the sauce every night. This is probably my #1 pick among the gastronomic restaurants.

Auberge le Quincy

I stumbled upon this by accident cause a friend wanted to meet near the ghetto parts of Paris. I rarely travel to 2 digit arrondissement's, but I can't always be selfish or I'd have no friends. And it was soooooooo good! The place is open only 4 days a week. Tues-Fri and it's only cash or check. 2 senior citizens own the place and they are hilarious! Everything on the menu was so to my liking! It's really important to order the ice cream cause they bring you either a whole bottle of grand marnier or rum and you can drink the whole bottle for all they care. The food is more midi-pyrenees style. Could be heavy for the untrained stomach. I always take alka-seltzer afterwards and whip out my fat pants for the next week, but it is soooooooooo worth it. It was listed in a recent article in the now obliterated Gourmet magazine. The article was written by Ruth Reichl and I total gave her respek as editor in cheif after that. Booyakasha!

Evasion

Maybe one of the best bistro's ever. It's sort of in the business district so not many people know of it. It's bistro food, refined. And they might just serve the best Paris-Brest after this one pastry shop in the 7th. This place is just really really good.

Pizza Chic

They serve pretty decent pizza, but the place is just so cute and chic and the clientele is so chic and fab. I like chic and I like fabulous. I don't like pizza so much though. But still, the food is really good.

Il Corte

I once read or heard somewhere that this little italian joint was on the favorites list of 2008 chef of the year Yannick Alleno. I could be hallucinating. But it's really really quaint. It's on the same street at Hotel Costes somewhere. You enter into a very average looking Haussmanian style building and then there's a very pretty courtyard where you'd like to bring out a couple cases of champagne and have a picnic. And then you see the restaurant. The food was very traditional italian I think. Italian food isn't one of my favorites...but I do not dislike it. 

Le Comptoir de Relais Christine

I prefer going on weekends when they have the regular a la carte menu cause sometimes they serve things I'm not too fond of on the weekday prix fix. And I like to have variety and I like making my own decisions, rather than having my menu planned out for me. I also love this place cause now they have opened this place next door called Avant Comptoir so you can get little nibbles and drinks as you wait for your table. And Avant Comptoir makes these lip smacking cherry pickles. It sounds gross, but it was truly lip smackingly good. Just make sure you don't get the crazy head waitress with short hair and glasses. She's disagreable and she stresses me out everytime I see her and when she talks, she spits all over the table. It's a true French experience.

Restaurant at Hotel Amour
This place is another Costes brother enterprise. Hence the food is always consistently pretty good. But this made it to my fav list because the place is just so much fun! The clientele is a great mix of snobs and hipsters and they have a super fun menu. The only place in Paris where they serve a bacon cheeseburger with real american style bacon. And just the thought of the hotel itself is fun. If you suddenly feel the urge for some sexy time, you can go rent a room by the hour.

Ferdi
A really tiny tiny place but so fab. The clientele is an amazing mix of hipsters, artists and fashion people. The food is pretty excellent. The burger here is also good. And the ambiance is just so much fun. I once witnessed the owner kicking out some American girl for her impudence. She had no idea what was going on and I wanted to help her but I was chicken and didn't want to be the next one getting the boot. So I watched. Another fun French experience.

Le Voltaire
The food here is quite perfect. Except for the price. But I know a little secret. Just order the Oeuf Mayonnaise appetizer and some tap water. Total bill = 90 centimes. Yes. You read that right. 90 cents in euro terms or I guess its like $1.35 to be exact. You get this ginormous platter of salad with one hard boiled egg covered in mayonnaise. It really is a meal in itself. But you know if you did that, the French will get all up in your ass and swear at you in their beautiful French language, which will sound like someone's singing anyways. So don't do that. But if someone does, please let me know. I was too chicken, so got the steak tartar and it was dam good. I think it's because they used Heinz ketchup instead of the usual gross Amora brand. The food here is really quite good, but it's not one of my favorites. It only made it to my favorites list because of the Oeuf Mayonnaise. Oeuf Mayonnaise is my ultimate favorite appetizer of choice!

I'll try to do some more cooking in the next year. Happy new years and a bientot!

Great American Past Times Made Better

I once worked at Alain Ducasse in Paris and everyone in the kitchen took turns cooking dinner for the chefs. My specialty is complicated french sauces with delicately filleted white fish, but the chef told me i must make something from 'chez toi.' What the hell does that mean, right? America is just one big collection of everything else that exists in the world. Anyways, I didn't argue and question the chef. Mostly because I couldn't phrase my words in French. All the frog's in the kitchen asked if I were making hamburgers. Jerks. So I told them hotdogs. I really couldn't think of something that was typical American other than Heinz ketchup. I love love love ketchup but the French despise it. Or at least they pretend to be disgusted by it. On the big day, I said I'll be making pain de beouf, or a loaf of meat. Nobody could imagine what this weird American thing was because they were only used to eating steak frites and croque monsieurs. As I was prepping and making my meatloaf I could feel everybody lingering to watch me fail. They kept wanting to help by adding some chicken stock in the pan with the meat and rubbing some butter or oil on the loaf. The kitchen staff were even more confused when I said the loaf was served with a ketchup sauce. They asked why I wouldn't use mustard. Weirdo's. It's obvious that meatloaf wouldn't be meatloaf without ketchup. It's be a gross disgusting meatloaf. I like meatloaf because it's another excuse for me to douse my food in ketchup and not look like a complete freak. I was sweating balls by the time I finished my creation but I was confident. I'm super Jamie! Goddess of the kitchen! And also because when I asked for some beef and veal, they brought me beef and veal tenderloin. How could a meatloaf not taste good. It'd be good raw! Well, most times, meatloaf can look like spam, but I have my secrets, which I shall reveal below. In conclusion, the chef's loved it! They said they were pleasantly surprised and the sauce was amamazing. Obviously. And then everyone else wanted in on the leftovers. Here is my meatloaf I made the other day. The sauce should have gone on perpendicular to the length of the loaf...but oh well...hindsight.


Close up of the interior. I like close ups.

 

Jamie's Fantastic Meatloaf

It's really important to make tons of ketchup sauce cause everybody's going to want to drink it and also its what goes inside the loaf to season it to perfection.

FOR 8 (6 for hogs)

INGREDIENTS:
For the Loaf:
1lb ground veal
1lb ground pork
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
2 small celery ribs, finely chopped
4 sliced of white bread, cut into small cubes
2 cups of whole milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
1/2 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves
For the Sauce:
4 cups of Heinz Ketchup
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper (or 2 small), finely chopped
1 overflowing tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
Freshly ground pepper

PREPARATION:
Make the sauce. Saute the onions and peppers in oil until soft. About 5 minutes. Add all the ketchup, bay leaves and pepper. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick, add a little bit of water. Let cool.

While the sauce is cooling, prepare the meat loaf. Put the cubes of bread in a big bowl with the milk and let it soak. Saute the onion, carrot and celery until very tender. Squeeze the milk out of the bread and put them n a big mixing bowl, add the sauteed veggies, meat, egg, parsley and a cup of the sauce. Get your hands dirty and mix everything.

On a baking pan, shape the meat into a nice looking loaf, baste with a little bit of the ketchup sauce and put it into a 350 degree oven for one and a half hours. Serve with lots of ketchup sauce.

Best Roasted Chicken Ever

I went spinning for the first time in 4 years a couple days ago. And almost died! But it was so worth it. I walked out at least 3 pounds lighter and was ready for a gluttonous weekend. I was dizzy and starving so I decided to roast a whole chicken for myself and scarf it down. I dropped by the closest whole foods, which is still far, picked up a 3lb chicken and other herbs and tested out my new convection oven. The oven did an okay job. I did an amazing job though. I've roasted poultry before, but this time the color was so perfect, the skin was perfectly crisp and the meat was perfectly cooked and just sooooooo juicy.

Another picture with a juicy morsel of tender breast meat

Best Roast Chicken Ever
Roasted chicken is always a crowd pleaser. But only when it's good. It's just rude to serve bad food. Chicken is one of the easiest things to make, but it's hard to make well. Also because it lacks so much flavor when cooked wrong. But this recipe should be fail proof. The meat was so moist and it was good both hot and cold.

FOR 4

INGREDIENTS:
3lb organic chicken
2 sprigs of rosemary
20 cloves of garlic
1/2 lemon
10 fingerling potatoes
Salt, pepper, butter, oil

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 400 (200 celcius) degrees. Clean, peel and parboil the potatoes for about 5 minutes in salted water. While the potatoes cook, clean the chicken, stuff the cavity with the rosemary, lemon and half the garlic. Tie the chicken with some kitchen string and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drain the potatoes and put it in the baking pan with the remaining garlic. Put the chicken on top of the potatoes and garlic. rub a little bit of butter and oil and pop it in the oven for exactly 1 hour. After about 40 minutes if the chicken gets too dark, cover it with foil and continue cooking.

What do I eat when in Paris?

When I moved to Paris early last year, I read Mark Bittman's NYtimes articles on Steak Frites. He lists 5 different places and I've tried all but 1. One of the venues on the list is Relais de l'Entrocote. I went last year for the first time and the fries were amazing! BUT, they wouldn't give me any ketchup. Dam frog's. The steak was also pretty great. But it comes swimming in this green buttery sauce, which Mark Bittman describes as a tarragon herb butter sauce. Not completely true. It is and herby chicken liver sauce. You can't taste much of the liver, but there's an odd texture and color to it. I didn't like it that first time but I was able to cleanse my palate after with some profiteroles, so that was fine. I was in Paris last week and revisited Relais de l'entrocote. This time, I like the sauce even less. I liked it so little, it actually upset my stomach and I was sick all night. Being sick was awful and so painful, but the best diet EVER! I was back to my svelte body from a decade ago! I couldn't eat anything all next day and by evening time, I was starving. So what do I eat after being sick? A rare bacon cheeseburger from Hotel Amour. But I asked for a salad instead of the fries. And the salad was so delish! The next day, I tried making the salad and was totally successful!
Hotel Amour Salad

INGREDIENTS:
Salad greens (I used baby bibb lettuce type greens)
1 small red onion, sliced thin
1 large bouquet of flat leaf parsley
10 basil leaves
1 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
Using a hand mixer or a food processor, puree all ingredients except the salad greens. Season to taste and toss with red onions and lettuce. Add roughly cut tomatoes if you want. Serve immediately.

I'm never just satisfied with just a salad for dinner. Cause I be a hog. So I also made a fantastic herb, mustard potato salad!
Jamie's Herby Mustard Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS:
3 medium potatoes
1/2 shallot, chopped fine
4 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup EVOO
Pepper

PREPARATION:
Peel the potatoes and boil until soft. While the potatoes cook prepare the herb mustard sauce. In a big bowl, mix all ingredients. When the potatoes are ready, cut them into thick round slices and mix with the mustard sauce. Serve immediately.

Korean Dinner

There are 4 places you can find good Korean food. Korea, obviously. LA LA Land, obviously, and Flushing. But there is only one place in the world where you can find amazing Korean food that's almost orgasmic. In my house, obviously. Because I'm the best cook ever and I have very good taste in good food. Before I left Paris, I invited some friends over and made some of my favorite dishes because I felt like fishing for compliments. I made some japchae, bibimbop and a spicy pork dish. I made a bunch of stuff, but once again was busy eating and forgot to take pictures of some of them.

Spicy Pork
This was just enough spicy to get some perspiration going and just so nicely caramelized because of the ground pear I added to the sauce. It got nice and sticky like a spicy bbq marinade. And it was just so very slightly sugary to offset the heat. I tried using two different cuts of pork. Shoulder cut and belly. The belly is by far superior. Cause as we all may not know, fat makes food taste exponentially better. But the shoulder cut wasn't so bad cause it's leaner and less greasy. But definitely not as much flavor. The belly has a better texture in the mouth as well with the marriage of the chewy meat and the silky fat with the caramelized outside.

Close up. I like close ups.

 

Bibimbop
I like these when its in the hot stone bowl. But since in Paris, my stove was induction, there was no way I was gona get that fancy. I also like bibimbop with a fried egg. But I was slaving all day and didn't feel like frying 6 eggs last minute. Usually, people just add some gochujang (red pepper paste) and sesame oil. But I like to make my own red pepper paste sauce with a mixture of some of my very own secret ingredients. With my secret sauce, the bibimbop is just one of the most fantastic things you'll have ever experienced.

I'll add some more of my Korean creations in the future. So check back. I haven't listed ingredients and measurements because Korean food is mostly made by guesstimation. And also because if I reveal all my cooking secrets, I won't be very special. But if you really must know my secrets, leave a comment or send me an email!

Canned Fish Can Be Good

One cold winter, the pretty pretty princess went skiing in Courchevel. The princess liked diamonds, so she followed signs to a black diamond slope. It sounded like it would be special. But oh la la la la la la...little did she know. The black diamonds were actually ominous signs! The princess fell and tumbled down the harsh slopes of the French Alps. And all she wanted was to be next to a flaming hot outdoor heater sipping on ice cold rose wine from Provence, maybe even eating a little nibble of some sort. The princess took out her mini magic mirror from her Moncler pocket and asked "magic mirror, where could I find such a place?" And the mirror replied, "a place like this exists next to the helipad my pretty pretty princess. In a wood cabin called Cap..." The princess fell face down and the mirror broke into a million little pieces before it could tell her the name of this place. The princess felt hopeless, but then she heard a loud noise over her head. It was a helicopter! Alas, she was saved. She followed the helicopter with all her might, and what do you know. A wood cabin called Cap Horn was standing right next to the helipad! There was outdoor seating with heaters and the music was pumpin'! The princess was ecstatic! She sat down and demanded immediate service. She was feeling dehydrated and really needed some rose wine. As she was waiting for her beverage, the princess was checking out the crowd and noticed the table next to her eating something from a can with such gratification. She had to know what this delicious canned good was. Because from her experience, there was nothing good coming out of a can. It was canned sardines in oil! Yuck! But she tried it anyways. The sardines came with some toast, chopped shallots, chives and butter. The princess buttered a piece of toast then topped it with a sardine, some shallots and chives. She closed her eyes and popped the dreadful looking thing into her mouth. But what a pleasant surprise this little thing...the melange of tastes were so very delightful. She couldn't stop eating and totally forgot to drink for the rest of the meal. Since then, the princess very much enjoys trying different brands of canned sardines!

Below is a sardine thang I prepared. This skinless, boneless sardine brand is Albert Menes and it was quite good. But so far, I prefer Rodel and Ramon Pena.
FOR 2 (apero)

INGREDIENTS:
1 can of skinless, boneless sardines
1/2 shallot, chopped very fine
1 tablespoon capers
Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION:
Arrange the sardines on a plate to your liking. Top with shallots, capers and pepper. Serve with some toast and good butter.

Cake From a Box

OH, how I love cake from a box! I know everybody secretly lurvs it but won't ever admit it. It's kinda like loving the Backstreet Boys. Everybody loves them, and knows all the lyrics, but pretends to hate em...My ultimate fav has definitely got to be the yellow cake from Betty Crocker. It's by far the most moistest brand with the little pudding sauce they give you to add into the batter. I still haven't been able to replicate that perfectly exquisite moistness. But honestly, do i really care to be able to make a cake that good from scratch? Not really. I mean...for $4 I can buy a pre-mixed cake mix that tastes better than any famous pastry chefs cake. The other day though, I wanted something chocolaty. So I got a box of Duncan Hines cake mix with Betty Crocker frosting. The cake was great but it once again confirmed my strong belief that Betty Crocker cake mix is superior.

Semi Homemade with Jamie Kim!

I've been feeling real lazy these days and also been trying to get rid of all the dried goods in the cupboards. I had some super delicious artisanal sausages that were begging to be eaten, so I made some divine pork sausage stuffing! Um, um! Just look at that picture. Doesn't it make your mouth water? Could you guess it was semi-homemade? Probably yes, but who cares? Everybody knows Stovetop stuffing be one of the greatest American inventions of the century! Instant stuffing-wise, I really like both Pepperidge Farm and Stove Top. But for this recipe, I was forced to use Stove Top cause I be living in Paris at the moment and that's all we got. You could use either brand really.

Divine Pork Sausage Stuffing
FOR 3 (as a main course and the one and only course)
The package says the stuffing is for 6 people as a side dish. But who are they kidding, right? 2 of us ate the whole thing, with all the extra additions, and it was the perfect amount. But my posse be hogs so to split this as the main course among 3 seems plausible for the untrained stomach.

INGREDIENTS:
1 box of Stove Top stuffing
6 fresh artisanal pork sausage links, casings removed
7 pieces of dried cepe mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 celery ribs, chopped fine
2 carrots, chopped very fine
2 garlic cloved, chopped very fine
1 3/4 cups water
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon of fresh thyme leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION:
Boil the water in a small pot. Then add the dried cepes and set aside till the mushrooms have been resuscitated. While the mushrooms are resting, chop the celery, onion, carrot and garlic. In a saute pan, add 2 tablespoons of butter and cook all the chopped veggies and the thyme on medium/high heat for about 15 minutes. Remove the now moist mushrooms from the water and chop them into little pieces and add to the chopped veggies. Once the mushrooms have been removed from the water, add the remaining 2 tablespoon of butter and bring it back to a boil. In a big bowl, place the stuffing, then pour the buttery mushroom water on top and put a cover on top and let sit. Cook the sausages in a pan until completely cooked through. Cut the sausages into bite size pieces with a wooden spoon while its cooking. Once the stuffing has soaked up the liquid and looks spongy and moist, add all the sauted veggies, sausages and some freshly ground black pepper and mix all the ingredients with a fork. Work gently to keep the stuffing fluffy and serve immediately!

The more edible looking salad

Like i mentioned several times before, i really don't like tomatoes. But I seem to be always receiving heirloom tomatoes. I really haven't cooked anything in a while, so here is another post of a gorgeous salad, which can be eaten all year round but is particularly attractive during the summer because of its light, crisp crunchiness. Very similar to my previous post on The Better Greek Salad, but this is a lot prettier looking. I'd say 2 michelin star pretty!
Below is a more detailed picture. I like pictures. It helps me visualize. Because I have a poor imagination.
FOR 2
1 Kirby cucumber (or Persian cucumber, whatever your store calls it, mine calls it Mini)
1 red heirloom tomato, sliced very thin
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
7 radishes, very thinly mandolined
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION:
Peel the cukes and mandolin them. In a bowl, add the cukes, vinegar, sugar and pepper. Set aside while preparing other ingredients. Slice the tomatoes, mandolin the radishes and prepare the cheese. When everything is ready, start stacking. Arrange the tomatoes on the bottom in a circle, then add the crumbled cheese in the middle and add some radishes. Top with the seasoned cucumbers in a nice pretty circle and serve!

The Better Greek Salad

Haven't posted anything in a while. This is because I've been traveling a ton without my heavy computer. It makes for more comfortable airport security passage. So, here is a salad I made about 3 weeks ago. It's kinda like a Greek salad but BETTER! Why? Because I made it. Just kidding. It's just better for me cause I took out all the things I don't like in a greek salad, like onions and olives. Then I added some stuff I actually like to eat that don't give me dragon breath or make me drink a gallon of water after, such as radicchio and radishes.
Basically, this salad is not really a Greek salad made better. It's just a really delicious crispy and crunchy salad. I didn't even go grocery shopping for any of the ingredients. I basically took whatever was about to go bad in the fridge, mandolined the hell out of them and took a picture. But it was still really very good.

FOR 2 (big portions)

INGREDIENTS:
1 cucumber, peeled and mandolined fine
15 radishes, mandolined fine
1/2 radicchio
1 cup feta cheese (I used those ones already cut into cubes in oil with provence herbs)
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
Freshly ground pepper

PREPARATION:
Prepare the cucumber. In a big mixing bowl, add mandolined cukes with vinegar and sugar. Let sit while you prepare the other ingredients. Add the mandolined radishes to the cukes, then add the roughly chopped radicchio to the mix. crush the feta cheese with a fork and add to the salad. Toss and serve immediately!