Flavorful Chicken and Potato Salad

Life in France is obviously different from life in the United States.  One of the most frustrating things to adapt to has been store hours.  Everything is closed on holidays, Sunday, and even often at lunch time.  This entails a little more meal planning than I am used to.  Back home, it does not matter if it is Thanksgiving Day and I run out of butter; all I have to do is run to the 24 hour grocery store, no sweat.  But here, things are trickier.  This little difference has caused me to think about my next meal even more than I normally would have, and to come up with recipes and meals that are make-ahead, portable and made with shelf-stable ingredients.  

Maisons Lafitte

A week or two ago I headed ten minutes from my house to Maisons-Lafitte for the day and knew that a pack-able, make-ahead meal would be necessary to take with me for lunch.  The grocery stores were already closed for the night, because they close at 8, and I had to work with what I already had on hand.  Thus, my new favorite potato salad was born.

You can make as much or as little as you like.  Eat it warm or store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  You will notice that none of my measurements are exact because each time I make it to taste.  

Ingredients

-potatoes

-chicken breasts

 -shallots, sliced (or onions)

-garlic, minced
-Dijon/Ancienne mustard

-mayonnaise

-salt

-pepper

-oregano

-paprika

-cumin

1. Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces and boil until cooked through.  Meanwhile, poach the chicken breasts in a pot of water seasoned with bay leaves, spices, salt, lemon etc.

2. Shred cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss it in a bowl with the potatoes.

3. Add remaining ingredients to taste and enjoy!

Chocolate Truffles (Truffes au Chocolat)

Since arriving in France, I have been missing working with chocolate.  Naturally, I enjoy eating the creations of renowned Parisian chocolatiers, but there is something special about eating delicious bonbons made with your own two hands.

Last weekend, with the help of my now photographer boyfriend, I whipped up a batch of simple chocolate truffles.  I made a trip to Déco Relief next to St. Eustache to pick up some Mexican Cacao Barry chocolate and a new spatula.   

These truffles are a great place to start if you are new to the world of chocolate making.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Chocolate Truffles
-300g chocolate
-165g heavy cream
-20g honey
-30g salted butter

-tempered chocolate (for dipping)
-cocoa powder (for rolling)

First, you will measure all of your ingredients.

Melt your chocolate very slowly in the microwave or over a pot of simmering water.  Stir often.

Add the warmed cream and honey in 5 or 6 stages.  Stir vigorously.  The ganache will look split at first, but fear not, it will come together.

When all of the liquid is incorporated, add the butter and use an immersion blender to mix.

Leave the ganache in a covered bowl overnight or in the refrigerator for a few hours, until it is firm.

Roll pieces of the set ganache into spheres and temper your chocolate.

Put some cocoa powder in a shallow container.  Dip each piece of ganache in the tempered chocolate and cover it in cocoa powder.  When the chocolate has set, sieve and set aside.

  

Enjoy!

Bonus Outtake:

Déco Relief

Kitchen equipment store specializing in cake and chocolate decorating supplies.

6 Rue Montmartre 75001

Metro: Les Halles/Chatelet

The Jacques Genin Experience

You are visiting Paris.  You have 20 or 30€ left in your wallet.  The weather has just taken a turn for the gray and you have a hankering for a pick-me-up.  Of course, you could go to Le Bon Marche to hide from the rain, find some gifts to take home, and have a bite to eat.  It also wouldn't be a bad idea to head over to Shakespeare and Company  or Pont Neuf for a boat ride.  But, if you really want to spend your time and those last few euros wisely, you really ought to make your way to Jacques Genin.  

This perfect boutique and tea room is located in a tastefully updated old building on Rue de Turenne.  Chocolates and confections are expertly displayed and a serene tea room is set up on one side of the shop with fresh flowers on each table and a spiral staircase to heaven/the pastry kitchen     

I have visited this special place many times now and have grown to have a great respect for Chef Jacques Genin and the quality he manages to maintain day in and day out.  The chef himself seems truly to be present in his kitchen.  During one of my visits, he descended inconspicuously to place bags of perfectly baked madeleines on the sales counter.  My companions and I saw him strolling outside with an interviewer and he later returned to go back to his kitchen.  My mom, who was visiting from the US, told him how exquisite her experience was and he humbly thanked her like a real professional.  

Each front-of-the-house employee is dressed in refined black clothes and they all at least speak French and English.  If you can, visit around the time of a holiday to see the elegant chocolate displays and take one home with you to enjoy that evening. Because let's be real, no matter how beautiful it is you are not going to be able to resist having a taste.  If you are lucky enough to visit when the chef himself descends with a limited amount of some special treat he has whipped up, snatch a bag without hesitation.  They will not last long and are worth the price.  

The chocolates at Jacques Genin are mostly decorated with acetate cocoa butter transfer sheets.  Genin chooses minimalist designs that allow the rich tones of the dark and milk chocolate to shine through.  This master works with Valrhona chocolate and he knows how to add flavor to this perfect product without compromising the taste of the chocolate itself.  Many of his offerings are delicately infused with spices and herbs while others are filled with classic praline mixes that never disappoint.

If you have the time to sit in the tea room and order a pastry, you will leave Paris feeling that you have had a true French experience.  You will have the choice of several beverages to accompany your freshly made pastry.  You will be presented with your coffee, I recommend the café crème, a glass of water, a small plate of chocolates and/or pâtes de fruits, and your flawless pastry.  Even if you are trying to resist the tourist itch of taking photos of everything you eat, you will not be able to resist documenting these wonders.  

Paris-Brest

The Paris-Brest is a pastry that was created in the early 1900s by Louis Durand in honor of a bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris.  It consists of a pâte à choux ring, meant to symbolize a bicycle tire, sprinkled with sliced almonds, baked, and filled with rich praline cream.  It is often adorned with a dusting of confectioner's sugar.

Jacques Genin makes the minor change of swapping the almonds for chopped hazelnuts because the praline paste he uses savors primarily of hazelnut.  

Tart au Chocolat (Chocolate Tart)

Normally, a chocolate tart is a simple pate a sucree shell filled with a ganache of dark chocolate.

Chez Jacques Genin does not deviate from the original.  It is a smooth and crunchy morsel of deliciousness.

Saint-Honoré

The Saint-Honoré is named for the patron saint of bakers.  This wonder mixes a few of the most delicious components in French pastry.  A base of puff pastry is adorned with a ring of pâte à choux, and cream puffs with caramelized sugar.  The cake is filled with crème chiboust and topped with crème chantilly.  

Traditionally, this pastry is in the form of a circle.  Genin updated its format by beginning with a rectangle and omitting the piped pâte à choux.  His version still includes the cream puffs.

Fraisier

Perfect for springtime, the Fraisier is a strikingly beautiful and classic cake.  Genoise, or buttery sponge cake, sandwiches a generous layer of vanilla cream bejeweled with fresh strawberries.  The entremet is finished with a thin layer of almond paste or marzipan.

The marzipan layer is often artificially colored green, but at Jacques Genin you will not find any fake colors in your almond paste.

Forêt Noire (Black Forest Cake)

This well-known cake originated in Germany, but that does not stop other nations from making it.  You will find layers of chocolate sponge cake and whipped cream highlighted with boozy cherries and chocolate shavings.

The version at Jacques Genin is modern and sophisticated.  Chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse, and whipped envelop whole cherries and a shard of tempered chocolate sticks like a piece of fancy jewelry to the side of each slice.  

Well, internet, now you know my obsession with Jacques Genin.  If you want to see the man in action, but cannot visit the shop, check the links below for a few short videos.

Video by David Lebovitz 

Video by Mind of a Chef 

Jacques Genin

http://jacquesgenin.fr/fr/

Perfect bonbons, refined tea room, and perfect ambiance.  

133 Rue de Turenne

75003, Paris

Metro: Republique

27 Rue de Varenne

75007, Paris

Metro: Varenne or Rue du Bac

Life in Paris

The perks of living in Paris are many, so I'm sure that halfway through writing this post I will become annoyed at my inability to express my love for this place.  But I'll do my best, dear readers.

Food

It's a given that I'm truly here for the food.  As I sit down to write this post, I'm munching on chocolate and thinking about my next meal.

Cooking starts with the ingredients and Parisians care about their ingredients.  Fresh markets abound and they always seem to be busy.  In addition to markets, the French place importance on specialization.  Sure, you can go to a Carrefour and find everything you need to make a nice dinner, but you can also go to the boucherie for your meat, the fromagerie for your cheese, the boulangerie for your bread, and the épicerie for your produce. The people want to know where their food is coming from and I respect that.

A month or so ago, a man in a truck knocked on our door pedaling crops from a farm in France. My host mom bought loads of carrots, potatoes, shallots, onions, and Asian pears.

If you ever come live in France, do not underestimate the importance of bread.  If you don't bring a baguette home to eat with dinner, you're doing it wrong.  I often find myself on the RER feeling downright Parisian with a tradi sticking out of my bag.

When you buy a loaf of delicious bread, you may as well indulge in a little butter, too.  For butter addicts, the dairy section of a French grocery store is a happy place.  Perhaps for the average butter consumer it could be overwhelming.  I've made it one of my missions to try as many types of butter while here as possible.  You can choose from organic, salted, unsalted, soft, and much more.  It's truly an art here.  Some brands mold or shape their butter into beautiful forms.

Culture

Yarn in France is cheaper than in the US.  For a knitter, this is clearly good news.  Since my arrival I've ordered wool from a popular european provider and purchased some local yarn at a yarn and fabric exposition.  There is a knitted blanket in my future.

  

Art is everywhere.  There are famous establishments like Musee D'Orsay or the Louvre, but also local spots and festivals where anyone can roam around and enjoy someone else's creativity.  It's impossible to be bored in this city.

More soon, readers.  What would you like to hear about?