Legally Eating

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So, today is Bastille Day. AND, more importantly (but don’t tell the French), the début (obvious tribute to the Frenchies) of the Legally Eating video blog, which can also be seen on my YouTube channel. As I mentioned in the vlog, I spent the fall studying in Paris at the Sorbonne, and I, uhh, loved it. A lot. I spent all my time browsing the local groceries for weird things, like canned cassoulet or refrigerated panna cotta à la American.. pudding, to.. utterly delicious wine that cost a grand total of 3€. Point being, I loved France, I love France, and I love a reason to celebrate and make a massive feast.

Bastille Day is a reason to celebrate and make a massive feast.

I couldn’t help but make something totally French, but American, at the same time. The grand menu? An entrée (Tricky thing here.. In France, the entrée is basically the.. appetizer. The “plat” is the.. entrée.. in America. Trippy.) of vichyssoise, a chilled potato and leek soup, followed by my mom’s Americanized crab quiche, to which I added mushrooms, with a small salad with authentic vinaigrette à la moutarde. Finally? Crêpes filled with vanilla ice cream, topped with a chocolate sauce that’s delicious warm but that hardens a bit over anything cold. Have I mentioned how much I appreciate hard chocolate shell stuff? Guilty, guilty pleasure.

On to the food!

Leeks and stuff:

Chopped leeks and green onions simmering:

All cooked and puréed and chilled:

Vinaigrette all mixed:

On the salad:

Quiche and salad plated:

WINE.

Crêpe a-cookin’:

Crêpe a-chillin’ stuffed with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce:

Started with the vichyssoise, since you’ve gotta heat it all up and then it needs a while to chill. The whole recipe is based off of leeks, Yukon gold potatoes, green onions, butter, and chicken stock. I’d never made it before, but oh mama, it was good. I got the recipe almost straight from PaulaG’s recipe.

Chilled Potato and Leek Soup, AKA Vichyssoise
Ingredients:
4 leeks, white part only, well cleaned, chopped
4 large green onions, white part only, chopped, with green tops reserved
3 cups chicken stock
1 lb Yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan, over medium-high heat, combine the leeks, green onions and 1 cup of the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and cook until the vegetables have wilted and begin to soften, approximately 8 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and remaining 2 1/2 cups chicken stock, replace the cover and cook until vegetables are very soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover and allow the soup to stand for 15 minutes to cool slightly; stir in the butter.

Very carefully transfer the hot vegetable mixture to blender container, puree until very smooth and in several batches if needed. Season with salt and pepper; allow the soup to cool to room temperature before placing in the refrigerator.

When cool, cover and place in refrigerate until well chilled, 3 to 4 hours or serve at room temperature; adjusting seasoning if needed. To serve, divide into individual serving bowls and garnish with some of the reserved green onion tops that have been thinly sliced.

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The vinaigrette was straight from a French recipe and was delicious. I used white wine vinegar, but you could use tarragon vinegar, balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, whatever.

French Vinagaigrette à la Moutarde:
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 level teaspoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Combine vinegar, dijon mustard, and salt and pepper until smooth. Add in olive oil and combine with a fork until smooth.

***

The quiche is something my mother’s been making for a long time.. not terribly authentic, but I figured it’d be a crowd-pleaser in this here household, and ohh was it. I added a small can of mushrooms, but you could really do anything you want with this recipe. Very simple, very delicious.

Crab and Mushroom Quiche
Ingredients:
Pie crust for 9″ pie (I use store-bought, what of it? They’re flaky enough and very decent for an everyday dinner)
1/2 C mayonnaise
2 T flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 C milk
1 6 oz. can crab meat
1 small can mushrooms, drained of juice
2 C shredded Swiss cheese
1/3 C chopped green onion

Directions:
Line a 9″ pie pan with pastry and trim off excess around edge of pan. Place a piece of buttered aluminum foil, buttered side down, over pastry. Gently press into pastry shell.. this keeps the sides of the shell from collapsing. Cover foil with a layer of dried peas or bans and bake at 400º for 10 minutes. Remove foil and peas. Prick the shell and bake 3-5 more minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.

Combine mayonnaise, flour, eggs, and milk, then mix thoroughly. Stir in crab meat, cheese, onion, and mayonnaise. Spoon into shell and bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until firm in center.

***

I’ve been making these crêpes for a million thousand years. This chocolate sauce? Only about three, but it’s phenomenal. It’s straight from Toadflax’s recipe. Deeeelicious.

Dessert Crêpes with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce (Video for crêpes included!)
Dessert Crêpes Ingredients:
1 C flour
1 1/2 C milk
2 eggs
1 t vegetable oil
1/4 t salt
1 T sugar

Directions:
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Chill for at least an hour.

Heat medium skillet over medium heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and spoon on 1/4 C of batter, or enough to coat pan after tilting pan to thinly cover the whole surface. Once edges are translucent and kinda crispy, flip over with spatula. After a little bit longer, slide off crêpe onto a plate. Place sheets of wax paper in between layers of crêpes.

Chocolate Sauce Ingredients
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 lb. butter
1/4 C vegetable oil

Directions:
Melt all ingredients together till smooth and blended. This can be done over low heat in a saucepan, in the microwave or double boiler.

Directions for Ice Cream Filled Crêpes with Chocolate Sauce:
Place two scoops of ice cream in the along the center of an open crêpe. Fold sides in and roll over. Top with warm chocolate sauce and garnish with finely grated chocolate.