19.9.11

FALL IS COMING !

LA BLANQUETTE DE VEAU

INGREDIENTS
For meat and vegetables
2 3/4 pound veal breast (bone in)
1 pound boneless veal shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 1/2 quarts water
6 fresh parsley sprigs
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf (not California)
4 black peppercorns
2 onions, halved
4 carrots, quartered crosswise
1 leek (white and pale green parts only), halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 pounds mushrooms, quartered

For sauce
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons crème fraîche
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

PREPARATION
Stew meat and vegetables
Cut meat away from veal breastbone, reserving bone, and cut meat into 2-inch pieces.
Bring veal breast and shoulder, veal bone, and water to a boil over moderate heat in a 7- to 8-quart heavy pot, skimming froth. While water is heating, wrap parsley, thyme, bay leaf, and peppercorns in a small square of cheesecloth and tie into a bundle to make a bouquet. Add bouquet garni and onions to pot and simmer, uncovered, until veal is tender, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Transfer veal with a slotted spoon to a heatproof serving dish and keep warm in oven, covered with foil.
Discard veal bone, onions, and bouquet garni, then pour stock through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Return stock to cleaned pot, add carrots and leek, and simmer until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer vegetables to serving dish. Boil stock until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.
While stock is reducing, heat butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook mushrooms, stirring, until just tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to serving dish and season veal and vegetables with salt and pepper. Keep warm in oven.


Make sauce
Melt butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then stir in flour. Cook roux, stirring, 3 minutes (do not let brown). Whisk in reduced stock and simmer, uncovered, whisking occasionally, 15 minutes. Whisk together yolks and crème fraîche in a small bowl, then whisk in 1 cup sauce. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining sauce with lemon juice, then cook over moderately low heat (do not let boil), stirring constantly, until it reaches 160°F on an instant-read thermometer and coats back of a wooden spoon.
Season sauce with salt and pepper and pour over veal and vegetables.

11.9.11

MONA LISA



Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting remixed into 140 perfectly spaced dots for the Twitter generation.

10.9.11

MADAME PIQUEDRU

Lucie avait perdu ses mouchoirs et un tablier.
Il lui sembla les apercevoir sur la colline ; elle s'engagea alors sur le sentier.

Au bout du sentier, il y avait une porte derrière laquelle quelqu'un chantait.
Lucie frappa et entra.

A l'intérieur se tenait une courte personne avec un petit nez noir, des yeux pétillants...
et des piquants !

C'était Madame Piquedru la blanchisseuse.
Elle était occupée à repasser le linge de tous les animaux.

- Il y a un de mes mouchoirs et mon tablier ! dit Lucie
La gentille Madame Piquedru les avait repassés.

Après une tasse de thé, 
Lucie aida Madam Piquedru à distribuer les vêtements à leur propriétaires.

A la fin, il ne restait plus que la baluchon de Lucie.
Elle le prit et dit au revoir à Madame Piquedru.

Lucie la regarda remonter la colline en courant.
- Je crois bien que Madam Piquedru est un hérisson ! dit Lucie.

LOOKING FOR SOLWEIG



5.9.11

THE COLOR OF...

 This is a system created to find out the colour of anything, by querying and aggregating image data from Flickr (...).” The color of

MON ONCLE


For once in my life I have someone who needs me
Someone I've needed so long
For once, unafraid, I can go where life leads me
And somehow I know I'll be strong

For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of
Long before I knew
Someone warm like you
Would make my dreams come true

For once in my life I won't let sorrow hurt me
Not like it's hurt me before
For once, I have something I know won't desert me
I'm not alone anymore

For once, I can say, this is mine, you can't take it
As long as I know I have love, I can make it
For once in my life, I have someone who needs me