Our Culinary Club whips up a French Country dinner in a Poggenpohl kitchen

The Makings of a Delicious,

Authentic French Country Supper--
our Culinary Dinner Club Cooks and Dines
In Eric Ripert's Kitchen at Poggenpohl

Miles chatted and dined with the Poggenpohl ladies who were the sweetest and most helpful, and very gracious!

When I planned our culinary dinner club's May get-together we decided to create a French country meal. There is something special about the French's flair for combining high style with rustic beauty, and most often with a lovely patina.

Channeling a French Country Supper, we created a hot pink colored theme, and friends Irene and Rob made homemade macarons, they were the icing on the cake.  A special note about macarons:  they should never be eaten the day they are made, but rather, spend 24-36 hours in the fridge so the cream filling permeates the shell. Be sure to take them out of the refrigerator at least two hours before eating.

Irene made the most delicious and beautiful handmade pink cookies (yes we all love Laduree, but they were even better).  They were chocolate and raspberry and this color truly wowed!   

I am grateful to German cabinet maker Poggenpohl who generously offered up their showroom at NYC's A&D building as a place to host our upcoming dinner.  Since 1892, Poggenpohl has been creating luxury kitchens with a focus on cabinetry design and custom made in Herford, Germany. Stop into the Poggenpohl showroom at 150 East 58th Street to see their beautiful kitchen displays. There is an award- winning Porsche Design, another kitchen by architect Hadi Teherani and a newly designed kitchen by Eric Ripert, chef of 3--star Michelin rated restaurant Le Bernardin.  With Ripert's newly installed kitchen in place, it was a perfect backdrop for us to come together and share a French inspired dinner.  Appliance company, Miele teams up with Poggenpohl to outfit their kitchens with state of the art appliances.  Miele generously donated the dishware and cutlery for our dinner.  Thank you Poggenpohl and Miele!

I  planned a signature cocktail for the evening, a fragrant French Martini infused with lavender, rosemary and lemon peel and served them up in Mason jars.

with this fourth kitchen installed just days before we utilized the space to create our bar offering a French martini, a variety of wines and champagne.

my husband Randal as bartender

the aesthetics:
I chose bright hot pink peonies as the flower for our evening, not a fancy intricately arranged bouquet but I opted for all one flower and in pink to infuse a sense of spring. The cabinets designed by chef Eric Ripert's kitchen at Poggenpohl are textured in a chocolate brown hue.  The pulls are modern chrome, and the chunky bar is a creamy white Caesar stone, so I chose the pink coloring and juxtaposed it with the mossy pots filled with rosemary and lavender to balance a French country flair 
+A little secret about peonies -- They start out a very vibrant color and as they open they will literally turn another, much more pale color.  These pink peonies opened to a perfect shade of lighter pink with salmon coloring.

Roberta Freymann donated table linens from the Roller Rabbit line in hot pink, white and salmon colored combinations.  I filled my French lantern with a mossy pot of fragrant rosemary as a centerpiece, flanked by two salmon iridescent vases filled with the pink peonies. I recently took an informative cooking class at the CIA with author Alexandra Leaf and her book is filled with favorites from the infamous cafe where Van Gogh lived and spent his last few months of life.  

Additionally, Poggenpohl generously gifted me a copy of  Eric's newly released cookbook Avec Eric which is chock-filled with French-inspired recipes.

the FOOD:

Diana and Enrique's Duck l'orange

Our culinary dinner group is a collaborative effort and each couple prepares and brings a dish they most like to cook, and the host decides upon the menu. 
The duck's richness was balanced with the slow roasted vegetables and citrus.  With all these items in place and the two cookbooks as my guide, we set off to create a spring country meal.  

what we prepared and shared...

a combination of country pate with 

Jan's Farmhouse Crisps, and four different Country Pate: Pate de Campagne, salmon, vegetable and duck foie gras with truffle.  Jan happens to be one of my dearest friend.  These crisps are a perfect accompaniment with cheese.  Each bite promises a sliver of pistachio, raisin or cranberry with a hint of sweet and savory together.   

a French classic -- fresh radishes with sea salt
and there is something about the tangy bite of a fresh spring radish mixed with good salt. Irene and Rob prepared a traditional cheese course, but rather than serve it before dinner,  we ate it after our main course and before dessert - loved this circular slicer, called a girolle. 

notes on the cheeses Irene and Rob chose:

One was Tete des moines, which is swiss, not French. The French version is P'tit Basque and you can serve it the same way on the girolle.  The others were Chabichou du Poitou, Fourme d'Ambert, and morbier.

before dinner:

I seared scallops in my cast iron pan -- with white wine, lemon and mustard reduction sauce, chives and cracked pepper.

For our dinner we shared these dishes:

Gail and Brian prepared a simple fresh pea and onion which perfectly pairs with beef and duck

for my beef bourguignon recipe, I referred to Julia Child's classic recipe because that is how I originally learned to make this dish.  However, over the years I have tweaked it and change it up a little bit each time. 

OUR MENU:
Melissa and Barry's frisee salad lardon *recipe bottom of post Julia Child's beef bourguinon over egg noodles Gail and Brian's French peas with onions
Diana and Enrique's duck l'orange with roasted vegetables homemade herb butter with herbs de provence french bread from Balthazar bakery 
after dinner:
Irene and Rob's a traditional French cheese course
Ed and Susan's almond cake (adapted from the original Cake Bible on page 37).
I was able to find an online link noting the recipe on CrumbsandCookies blog
Ed prepaired a Classic raspberry sauce
and Neoclassical butter cream recipe on page 230 of the "Cake Bible"
Irene and Rob's handmade Macarons with chocolate and raspberry

The Aiellos took a class with legendary Pierre Herme to make these macarons 

 Miles was a good sport - I caught him taking a break as photographer for the evening
All photograph credit to Miles Stephenson for this post

Ed baked the almond cake from the "Cake Bible" - see links above.  Let me first begin by telling you I am not usually a cake fan.  Sometimes too dense, other times too sweet I am a bit picky about cake, however, this was truly one of the most delicious cakes I have ever had.  It was light with just the right amount of almond, and the frosting was divine, and not too sweet.  

A RECIPE SHARE:

Melissa and Barry's  
Frisee Salad with Lardon

Ingredients

For The Vinaigrette

1 shallot, minced

2 tablespoons white-wine vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper   

 For The Salad

2 heads frisee lettuce trimmed

1 head radicchio di Treviso, roughly chopped into bite size pieces

3 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and quartered

 8 ounces thick cut slab bacon, cut into 1/2-by-1-inch pieces

 Directions

Heat fry pan.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and bacon. Cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon and set aside to drain on a paper towel.

vinaigrette: Using a blender, mix together shallot, vinegar, mustard and oil until emulsified.  Season with salt and pepper. Taste and adjust portions of ingredients to suit.

salad: Toss together frisee and radicchio in a large bowl. Add lardons and eggs. Drizzle with vinaigrette, and gently toss to coat.

NOTE: One can also add 1 bunch of chopped chives or 3 tablespoons of chopped tarragon to the salad to give additional flavor. 

please note:  no payment was given for this post