Chocolate fondant

(Photo@TheFoodTraveller.com - Nikon D200)
Chocolate fondant ... one of the tastier and simpler cake to make for a dinner. When I say simple, I mean extremely simple. Just do not get worried when you see it rising and falling, or getting strange cracks and shapes ... simple accept the shape it gets and enjoy it. It is lovely alone or with some orange jam (with orange peel in it).

Serves: 8
FlexiPoints: 8

Ingredients:
- 250g 70% bitter chocolate
- 200g butter
- 4 eggs
- ½ tbsp oil
- ½ tbsp rum
- 100g extra fine sugar

How-to:
1. Break the chocolate in pieces and melt it a baign-marie (in a metallic bowl over boiling/simmering water). While still a baigne-marie stir in the oil, cubed butter and, one spoon at a time, the sugar. Work the mix until homogeneous.
2. Let cool down. Work in the eggs one at a time. Add the rum.
3. Greasy a baking tray with some margarine and pour in the chocolate mix.
4. Bake in an hot oven for 30' at 180. Let cool down for 15' int he oven and serve at room temperature.

Back in Reims, back in Le Foch

It is a time with many travels. Some are for work and some are for pleasure. Last week-end we decided to take our annual break to Reims for visiting our favourite Champagne producer Boulard and ... why not ... stop at the restaurant Le Foch*. We had a very good memory and our visit last saturday simply confirmed what of good and bad we remembered.

Let's start from the negative remarks. Service is fast until the cheese tray, when it slows down. We all felt we had too many dishes in a hour and were relieved when the simply slowed really down. The place is a bit crowded and on the decor is not our taste. The host ... well, she is a not friendly at all. Almost arrogant ... but we dealt with her only for the cheese. So, fair enough.

Let's talk about food and wine. Wine first ... impressive list of champagnes. We are in the area and we expected that. Price-wise, the list is not too bad. Between 100% to 50% mark-up on prices is much better than many other places (where we speak about 3 times ...). We choose the same of last time (different year): a Charles Heidsiek brut mis en cave 2001. One of my favourite among the big names.

Food was not only extremely tasty but extremely well presented. When you go there, do not be fooled by the menu as you will never understand how the names relate to what you get. The meal started with few amuse (parmesan frico, tuna & potato sushi, beet-root gaspaccio, foie gras foam with port gelee) of great taste. The foam was particularly remarkable for its lightness. As starter we went for foie gras ... well, what we got was a sort of foie gras pudding with wild sauteed mushrooms. The scent was amazing, the taste delicate, light and unforgettable. I will try and replicate this superb dish at home. After a silly mystery drink (an orangina and coconut beer-like drink), we got as main dish the turbot. Well, it was turbot but with a big crab ravioli, a tempura of squash flower and a light foam of crayfish. Sensational, the foam and the ravioli were simply perfect. Cheese was ok, but rather small. As dessert, a perfectly baked souffle flavored with Grand Marnier and oranges served with Grand Marnier and oranges wedges marinated in coriander. Nothing memorable, but nice.

All in all, the meal lasted quite a bit, even if the cheese and dessert took as much time as the rest. Price is fair. Even the coffee is a nice experience as you get a menu of various coffees to choose from (we went for the Guatemala ... really good). The Michelin star is deserved. It needs some more polishing in the service, but we will go back (when we are in the area).

Baked stuffed potatoes

This recipe is yet again something we took from the Belgian Libelle magazine. I have been continuously surprised by the consistent good quality of the recipes in this magazine. And I am not judging the taste, which is always personal, but the correctness of quantities and procedure. This one is a kind of jacked potatoes filled something that reminds the "flambe" sauce of Dominos ... yes, I am not joking! We liked it ... despite being very rich (we took double portion)!

Serves: 4 as main dish
FlexiPoints: 12

Suggested wine: red and with fruit power. An Australian shiraz would be perfect.

Ingredients:
- 4 large potatoes
- 200g lightly smokes bacon
- 1 onion
- 100g grated Gouda cheese
- 4 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tbsp oil

How-to:
1. Clean the potatoes (do not peel). Boil them in slightly salted water. Drain them well and let them cool down completely.
2. Cut away lengthwise 1/3 part of the potatoes and remove a good portion of the inside with a spoon without breaking them.
3. Chop the bacon in small cubes. Chop finely the onion. Stir fry in the oil together for 5'. Remove from the heat and add the cream and cheese.
4. Fill the potatoes with the cream mix and bake in an hot oven at 200C for 15'.
5. Serve warm with a salad.

Poche'-grille' quails with honey & mustard dressing

I will be gone till next week to Italy ... but before leaving I will post the recipe of what we prepared last saturday. The recipe is from Gordon Ramsay's Secret book ... even if as usual I had to slightly change it. First of all, his recipes are always wrong in terms of cooking time. Furthermore, this one (I felt) had a problem with the sauce. Too dry his version. The overall dish is really tasty and the honey works really well with the quail. The Poche-grille technique is also extremely good!

Serves: 2 as main dish or five as a starter
FlexiPoints: 10 or 5

Suggested wines: Champagne works! Of this I am sure. Get a Boulard's Petrea if you can.

Ingredients:
- 5 oven-ready quails
- 10 sprig of thyme
- 5 small sprig of rosemary
- the zest of one lemon (in stripes)
- 6 tbsp of honey
- 2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp of soy sauce
- 1 tbsp of mustard seeds
- 1 liter of light chicken stock
- 600g new potatoes
- Salt, pepper and oil as needed

How-to:
1. Tie the legs of the quail together. Put them in the chicken stock with the thyme. Bring to boil and simmer for 5'.
2. Remove the birds. Pat them dry and distribute the rosemary and lemon zest among their cavities.
3. Chop the potatoes coarsely. Put them in a metallic oven tray with abundant oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake at 180C for 30'. By then the quails should be ready.
4. Whisk together the honey, soy sauce, mustard, mustard seeds and 3 tbsp of olive oil till uniform. Set aside.
5. Warm-up a cast iron grill (or equivalent). Brush the birds with some oil. Grill the quails for 10'-15' till desired texture. Turn often to avoid the meat to burn and get dry. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Put the birds and the sauce in a warm bowl. Stir well and let marinate for 5'-10'. Untie the birds and remove the stuffing.
7. Serve the quails on top of the potatoes distributing the remaining sauce on top.