Hi, everyone!
Adam here. I am Chef James’ Sous Chef at Mabel Gray (we’ve been working together for 11 years!). I am also, coincidentally, Paulina’s husband. My love of French cuisine started as a young cook in culinary school. The French invented haute cuisine and I was fascinated by mother sauces, disciplined techniques and standards as well as the traditional French Brigade. The quintessential French Brasserie was, in my mind, the absolute perfect restaurant. I visited Paris in January of 2020 and geeked out over dishes such as pot au feu, lapin a la moutarde, steak au poivre, moules frites, braised leeks, and the funkiest sauccison I have ever had. The dishes are burned into my memory, and I love re-creating them in my home kitchen.
Salade Lyonnaise (or Lardon Salad)
This classic salad is featured on many bistro menus throughout France, but originated at Bouchons in Lyon. Simplicity meets heft; this ‘salad’ is a one-plate meal. The recipe is many recipes in one: you perfect your soft poached egg and the vinaigrette is multi-purpose. Leftover dressing is delicious drizzled over blanched asparagus or potatoes.
You will need
4 cups frisée, cleaned and torn into pieces. (Note: if you can’t find frisée, radicchio, escarole, or little gem lettuce will work. Ideally something hearty and bitter to handle the heavy vinaigrette and rich flavors)
4 oz thick-cut bacon (we like Nueske’s), cut into 1/2 inch slices (“batons” or “lardons”)
2 large farm eggs
1 tsp Dijon mustard (I like Maille)
1 shallot, finely diced
1 tbsp aged Sherry vinegar
Distilled white vinegar
1 loaf of crusty bread or baguette
1 lemon, if desired
Olive oil
Kosher salt and cracked pepper
Maldon finishing salt
In a large mixing bowl, throughly rinse and clean your frisée in cold water. If you have one, use a salad spinner to spin and dry. If not, a baking sheet lined with paper towel is fine for air-drying.
Using a heavy-bottomed large skillet (I like to use my Smithey cast iron), start rendering your bacon on low/medium heat. Render it until very crispy, strain the bacon off the fat and reserve the remaining fat for use in the dressing.
Meanwhile, make your croutons
Pre-heat oven to 325° F. Cut your crusty bread into rustic cubes (or, purchase it sliced and tear into rustic pieces with your hands). Combine with a generous drizzle of olive oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Toss, ensuring the bread absorbs the oil. Spread out into a single layer on a baking sheet and pop into the pre-heated oven. Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden and crispy. Let cool slightly.
For the warm vinaigrette
Add the shallot to your reserved bacon fat in your pan and sauté on medium heat until translucent. Add your dijon, sherry vinegar, a couple cracks of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Use a small whisk to combine in the pan. I like to finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Taste it, make sure you love it, add more salt and cracked pepper if desired. Transfer to a pint container, jar or small bowl.
Poaching an egg
Meanwhile, in a small sauce pot, fill 3/4 full with water and a few dashes of white distilled vinegar. Add a few good pinches of salt and bring to a simmer. Taste your poaching liquid - we aren’t pickling eggs, the vinegar is only there to set the white of the egg during the cooking process. Crack your eggs into 2 small soufflé cups if you have them, or even small tea cups work. Once water is simmering, create a whirlpool with a spoon, and gently drop your eggs into the water (see above video). Set a two and a half minute timer. You’re looking for a fully set white exterior (no whispy edges) with a runny, golden yolk.
Assemble your salad
Pile the frisée onto a large platter or shallow bowl. Spoon the warm vinaigrette over the lettuce and sprinkle over your bacon lardon and croutons. After your poached egg timer goes off, using a slotted spoon or spatula, fish out your poached egg and and place it right in the middle of your little frisée nest. Finish the whole thing with a sprinkle of Maldon salt.
Coq au Vin
This is a traditional braised chicken dish with more bacon, mushrooms and of course - wine. It is the sister to Bœuf Bourguignon. I like to cook this in the dead of winter and watch my windows steam up. It’s the one time I can get Paulina to enjoy red wine with dinner.
You will need
1 stick unsalted butter
1 whole chicken - cut into breast, leg, thigh pieces. (Save your wings and freeze them for chicken stock or buffalo wing snacks).
2 ribs of celery, rough chopped
3 carrots, rough chopped
1 onion medium, diced
4 cloves garlic
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 bottle of red wine. Burgundy is traditional but I’ve been known to use an inexpensive Merlot.
6 oz Neuske’s bacon, cut into lardons
1 lb button mushrooms
1 small bag of peeled pearl onions
2 cups of high quality chicken stock or bone broth
1 lemon
Tabasco, salt and black pepper to taste
Start with an overnight marinade
Combine chicken pieces, celery, carrot, onion, garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, bay leaf and the bottle of wine into a large, nonreactive bowl. Cover and set in your fridge for at least 6 hours. Overnight is ideal. After 6 hours, remove chicken and set on baking sheet lined with paper towel to let air dry. Pat skin with paper towel.
The braise
In a large Dutch oven or braiser, start by rendering your bacon over medium low heat. Once your bacon starts to crisp, add your pearl onions and roast slowly until they are tender enough to pierce with the tip of a knife. Remove the bacon and the onion from the pan, and set aside in a separate bowl. Add your button mushrooms to the bacon fat, and slowly roast until cooked, also until knife tender. Remove the mushrooms and combine onion and bacon mix. This will be your garnish.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to your bacon fat and turn heat up to medium high. Place your chicken pieces in the hot fat and start browning the skin. Don’t overcrowd your pan, this will cause an uneven browning. Once all your chicken is evenly browned and set aside, add 1 tbsp flour and toast lightly to make a roux. Strain your vegetables out of your marinade and pour right into the Dutch oven. Start whisking right away to avoid chunks of roux. Add 2 cups of the nicest chicken stock you can find - it’s best to make your own, but that’s a recipe for another day. Bring this to a boil and add all your chicken pieces back into the cooking liquid. Cover the dutch oven with a lid, and turn heat down to low. Simmer your chicken for about 40 minutes. At this point, add your garnish mixture (the bacon, onions & mushrooms) back into the pot and simmer for another 5 minutes, covered. Check your chicken for doneness, and adjust your cooking liquid seasoning if necessary. I like to add a pinch of salt, a dash of Tabasco, and squeeze of half a lemon to finish. Serve right on top of roasted fingerlings and enjoy!
A note: I like to serve mine with roasted fingerling potatoes, but you could also serve with buttermilk whipped potato, egg noodles or a potato gratin instead.
Champs-Élysées Cocktail
This riff on a Sidecar is a Prohibition-era cocktail with illusive origins. Sip slowly as your Coq au Vin braises, or maybe after dinner avec fromage.
2 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
3/4 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker until very cold. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
So…. MGTG Cooking Classes when?