Thursday, October 20, 2005

Cordon Bleu and some Vacherin -- the Swiss kind


So, although I haven't been posting much the last few days, it doesn't mean we haven't been cooking -- or to be more precise, that my personal chef hasn't been cooking up things for me.

He made one of my favorite comfort foods, Chicken Cordon Bleu, with a white wine sauce and asparagus which is totally satisfyingly yummy. It's a pain in the neck to hammer out the chicken breast and then roll it all back up, but as with so many recipes, you're thinking "Man, I will NEVER do this again!" until you taste it. Then you think, "well, um... yeah, I might make it again."

I'll let you in on the secret to the perfect Cordon Bleu crust -- panko crumbs. Nothing better.

Eric is also master Kir maker. What a lovely way to relax after long complicated bizarrely weird days.

Lurking the background of that picture, you can also see a slice of Vacherin Fribourgeois. The Swiss kind. Yeah, yeah, but it's still stinky and quite delicious -- mmmmmm. And wow, who can refuse a cheese that has its own website. It turns out that it tastes rather yummy with the homemade quince paste I made. I'm a little bummed I didn't make more, now that the fifteen seconds that quinces are generally available seems to have passed.

Of course, our hearts remain in France with a Vacherin that has to be held together by a strip of spruce lest it ooze apart. But when are we going to see something like that around here?

Yeah. Not soon enough.

You can also see a sugar pumpkin skulking behind the cheese. When captured and rounded up, it became moist and snack-ready pumpkin muffins. Without the Brown Butter Icing that the recipe called for, but you know what -- that was probably overkill. Or not.

More later when this cold is finally conquered.

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