Fennel Confit

The latest issue of Gourmet is themed Paris. One of the articles is about a restaurant named Le Baratin, owned by an Argentinean woman chef, Raquel Carena. I am enamored with Chef Carena's menu, one dish is photographed and includes the recipe. I rarely follow someone else's recipes, but this one just seemed perfect-and so it is.

Fenouil Confit Aux Amandes, Raisins Secs, et Safran

1 pound fresh fennel, sliced lengthwise

1/2 cup almonds (the recipes specifies Marcona if you can find them-I used what was in the pantry)

1/4 cup evo

10 cloved of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup raisins, I used golden because that's what was in the pantry

2 teaspoons of whole coriander seeds

zest and juice of one orange

pinch of saffron

chopped cilantro

Saute the fennel and garlic in the evo until crisp tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the zest, juice, raisins, saffron, and coriander, contiue to sautee two more minutes.

Serve at room temperature, stirring in the cilantro just before serving.

Peach Salad

The local peaches are spectacular this year. They are huge and juicy. I made this savory salad with them. I sliced the peaches and placed them on arugula, then I topped the peaches with spoonfuls of St Andre triple creme cheese and dressed the salad with lime dressing.

Lime dressing

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon of honey

1/4 cup diced red onion

salt and pepper to your liking

chopped fresh parsley and chives

3/4 cup walnut oil

Combine all of the ingredients in a glass jar and shake well.

Tenderloin with Roasted Garlic Parmesan Butter

Roast a couple heads of garlic by drizzling them with olive oil and wrapping tightly in foil. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 1/2 hour. The cloves of garlic become soft and sweet. When the heads of garlic are roasted, gently squeeze the cloves out of the skins, being careful to try and keep the cloves whole. Stew the roasted and peeled cloves of garlic in 1 cup of butter for about 5 minutes over very low heat.

Grill your steaks to desired doneness and spoon the garlic butter with a few cloves of garlic over the steaks and spoon some freshly grated parmesan over the top. Really simple and delicious. Needless to say this garlic butter is delicious on all sorts of other dishes such as steamed green beans or asparagus or fish fillets. I probably wouldn't use the parmesan cheese on any fish preparations.

Happy Birthday Julia Child

Julia was born August 15, 1912. Lisa at Champaign Taste hosts an annual tribute to Julia. All the bloggers contribute and her influence and importance is hard to underestimate. I chose to showcase chicken crepes with hollandaise. We make these almost every Wednesday for dinner special, and they are always well received. At first they seem sort of old-fashioned and frumpy, but they are actually sort of homey and a bit elegant at the same time. I should also tell you that Wednesdays we discount every wine on the list by $10. The chicken and rich hollandaise sauce really call for wine I think. The recipes for her crepes and hollandaise appear in Mastering the Art volume 1. I didn't use a recipe for the filling just sauteed some chicken breast with some diced onion and fresh spinach.

Visit Lisa's blog to see all the tributes to Julia.