France: Lobster Thermidor, Duck Fat Potatoes and Creamed Spinach

France is probably best known for its iconic landmarks, stylish fashion and romantic notions associated with Paris (its capital city). But the truth is there is far more to France than grand architecture and designer dresses. France is the largest country in Western Europe and the gateway between northern and southern Europe. France is also the agricultural epicentre of Europe. 

 

The broad fertile plains and sprawling wild food forests of France produce wine, cheese and gourmet ingredients that are revered across the World. France is also the  place that chefs dream about visiting, and for good reason. The most influential and ground-breaking chefs of the 20^th century were French and they transformed modern food culture. Which is not surprising as  France has been a global culinary superpower for over 4 centuries.

 

The chefs  of France revolutionised European culinary traditions in the 1600’s by publishing cookbooks that circulated across the royal courts and aristocratic homes of Europe. These early cookbooks took the grand kitchens of  Europe by storm establishing  food standards and  fashions that unified cooking  practices at the ‘high end of town’.  At the same time that they were publishing cookbooks and converting neighbouring European countries to their cuisine the  French were also colonising the World and everywhere they went they introduced their food styles and practices.  

 

Centuries later enduring  French influences can still be seen in the cuisines of Africa, Asia and Oceania. As a result, the French baguette (which is equally at home in Burgundy, Vietnam and Tahiti), is one of the most universally recognised breads in the World and is as much a symbol of France as the Eiffel Tower. And not surprisingly (given its role in developing  European food standards and culture), French cookery methods have been the benchmark for professional culinary education in the Western World since last century.

 

 

Our 

French menu 

included

 Lobster Thermidor

Duck Fat Potatoes 

and

Creamed Spinach

 

 

LOBSTER THERMIDOR (Homard Thermidor)

 

INGREDIENTS for 4 people:

·      2 large fresh cooked lobsters

·      2 tbs butter and 2 more

·      2 French Shallots, diced finely

·      2 tbs plain flour

·      1 tbs cognac/brandy

·      2 tbs white wine

·      ¼ cup fish stock

·      ¾ cup milk

·      pinch nutmeg

·      2 tbs cream

·      salt and white pepper to taste

·      1 tsp Dijon mustard 

·      ¼ cup finely grated parmesan cheese plus  an extra sprinkle

·      1 tbs chopped parsley

·      ½ cup gruyere cheese plus extra ¼  cup

·      sprinkle of dried breadcrumbs

 

METHOD:

1.    Take a large sharp knife and cut lobsters in half lengthwise keeping the shells intact

2.    remove meat, from the shell, devein (and wash in salty water if necessary), then cut into bight sized scallops and put aside

3.    remove ‘rubbish’ from inside the lobster heads, wash shells clean in a clean sink full of salted water then dry carefully with towel/paper towel

4.    Pre heat oven to 180 C

5.    now prepare the sauce

6.    melt 2 tbs butter in a pot and toss shallots through, cooking lightly on low heat without colouring

7.    add cognac and white wine and gently reduce down to almost no liquid stirring often with a wooden spoon

8.    now begin making the roux

9.    melt 2 tbs butter in the pot, add the flour and whisk to combine and cook it a bit on low heat

10.         add the fish stock and whisk to combine

11.         gradually add the milk whisking it to keep it smooth

12.         now cook the sauce for 5-10 mins on low heat, stirring with wooden   

      spoon to ‘cook out’ the flour until its thick 

13.         add cream, salt pepper and bring back to the boil

14.         remove the sauce from the heat and fold in the parmesan, gruyere, 

       mustard, parsley and nutmeg

15.         gently fold the lobster meat scallops into the sauce

16.         lay the lobster shells on a baking tray and if necessary use some 

       scrunched up al foil to keep the shells sitting upright

17.         spoon the sauce coated lobster meat back into the shells

18.         top with extra cheeses and sprinkle with brad crumbs

19.         place the tray in the hot oven for about 15 mins then finish off under 

      the over head grill (salamander) until golden brown and bubbling

20.         Cool on the bench for a bit before serving as it’s going to be hot

 

 

DUCK FAT POTATOES (Pommes De Terre à la Graisse De Canard)

NOTES:

My experience is you can never cook too many Duck Fat Potatoes. I suggest preparing at least 2 large potatoes (or 3 medium), for each person you are expecting for dinner, then add enough potatoes for 2 to 3 more people. Some guests will eat double what you expect, and also you want to ensure there is enough for surprise guests that may turn up. 

 

If hosting a bigger dinner party your greatest challenge to making large quantities of Duck Fat Potatoes is the size of your oven and what other foods might be competing for oven time. If you have a regular oven with 3 racks and are able to have the whole of your oven for 2 hours you can cook 6 kg of potatoes across three 3 oven trays ( for best results swapping them around on the levels to get even golden potatoes). This amount of potatoes should be enough for 20- 24 people – the following recipe for 1 tray  for 6-8 guests is easy to multiply.

 

Back in the day we used to have to cook a duck to get the duck fat for this dish. Thanks to the popularity  of TV celebrity chef shows and competitions it is now quite easy to buy pre-rendered duck fat at bigger supermarkets in Australia. There are two options, fresh duck fat in the chiller section or imported French duck fat in preserving jars on the supermarket shelves. 

 

INGREDIENTS:

·      2 kg potatoes

·      150gm duck fat

·      salt 

 

METHOD:

1.    Give yourself 2 hours from the time the potatoes go in the oven  to when you want to put them on the table/plate

2.    Heat your oven to 200 degrees C

3.    As the oven is heating peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 ½ - 3 cm cubes. You can do this by cutting potatoes down the middle first, cutting those pieces in half longways then cutting these pieces into 2 or 3 depending on the size of the potatoes

4.    Put the cut potatoes into a solid large baking tray  

5.    pour the duck fat over the potatoes, generously salt and then use a metal ( not silicon or plastic) egg flip/BBQ slide to toss the potato pieces through the duck fat so it is evenly distributed

6.    When the oven is hot put the tray on the top rack of the oven and turn the heat back to 180 degrees C. 

7.    It is going to take almost 2 hours to get really crispy potatoes

8.    After 30 mins or so take the oven tray out and use the metal egg slice to carefully turn over the potatoes making sure to scrape really close to the oven tray so as not to tear the crisping skin

9.    Repeat this every 20 mins or so to ensure even crispness

10.         NOTE: If you are cooking multiple trays you will need to shuffle the trays around to ensure even cooking

11.         Once all the potatoes are golden really crispy on all sides  – as if they have been in a deep fryer you can get ready to serve – but be careful – they are going to be extremely hot with boiling duck fat so  serve them into a dish and let them cool for at least 10 mins before you serve them or they can burn people’s mouths

12.         Now enjoy J

 

CREAMED SPINACH (Epinards à la Crème)

 

INGREDIENTS:

·      1 kg baby spinach leaves or 2 bunches Swiss Chard (washed)

·      1 ½ tbs butter

·      250 ml full cream

·      pinch freshly grated nutmeg

·      1/8 tsp dry mustard powder

·      salt and white pepper to taste

·      2 kg + of ice cubes

 

METHOD:

1.    This dish takes time so begin 3 hours before you plan serving. If it is ready beforehand it can just sit in the pot and be reheated

2.    First prepare the spinach. If using baby spinach just remove any yellow leaves and stem ends. If using swiss chard you will need to remove the stems altogether. You can use a small knife for this job or pull the leaves off the stem by hand

3.    Pre-prepare a clean sink or large bowl with a bath of half the ice and equal parts cold water – this will be used to rapidly cool down the spinach when it is ‘blanched’. Blanching is an easy way to quickly cook green vegetables in boiling water in order to preserve their colour, flavours and nutrients. 

4.    Put10 cm of salted water in a large pot and bring to the boil

5.    Briefly cook the spinach in batches in the boiling water scooping it out of the water with a slotted/sieve spoon as soon as it turns bright green and floats to the top

6.    As soon you scoop the spinach out of the boiling water plunge it into the  pre-prepared ice water to ensure it keeps its colour and does not over cook

7.    Once each batch of spinach has cooled completely scoop it out of the ice water and put it in a colander to drain

8.    Repeat process till all the spinach is blanched (if you are making creamed Spinach for a large group there could be 6 or more bunches of chard involved and probably 12 rounds of blanching)

9.    NOTE: if the ice bath gets warm and all the ice has melted, discard and refresh it with new ice and cold water to ensure all batches of spinach are equally chilled as needed

10.         Once all the spinach is blanched, chilled and drained it is time to squeeze all the excess moisture out of the leaves. 

11.         You might want to put on kitchen grade thin disposable and biodegradable latex gloves for this as spinach is so high in iron it stains your hands and nails with a tinge of black that lingers on your fingers. (don’t use plastic disposable kitchen gloves as they will make the spinach taste weird like plastic)

12.         Use your hands to take fistfuls of the blanched spinach and squeeze and squeeze over a bowl or sink until all excess moisture has been squeezed out and you have compacted the spinach in your hand to a tight ball

13.         As you go put the spinach balls aside on a large chopping block – this sets you up for the next step of chopping the spinach

14.         To chop the spinach do it one ball at a time. Press them down on the board into a pattie shape and chop in one direction then the other with a large sharp knife until the spinach is in small dice. Repeat for each spinach ball. Don’t be tempted to chop the spinach in a kitchen wizz, blender or similar. It won’t taste right.

15.         Stages 1-14 can be prepared ahead of time and the last stage will take approximately 45 mins to complete

16.         Take a large solid-based pot (a thin pot will burn)

17.         heat the butter in the pot and then gently sauté the spinach for a few mins until  warm

18.         Stir in the cream with a wooden spoon and add the nutmeg, mustard, salt and pepper

19.         bring the pot to the boil then reduce to a simmer and gently cook until cream has almost completely disappeared stirring often with a wooden spoon to stop pot from sticking and burning

20.         Moisture will continue coming out of the spinach for a while so it is essential to keep stirring and cooking until a thick cream sauce has formed and coats the spinach

21.         Adjust seasoning if necessary and at this point the heat can be switched off and spinach can sit in the warm pot with a lid on until ready to serve. If necessary a brief reheat is totally fine.

 

 

These recipes are all Q-Zine originals. 

The key ingredients and methods used are faithful to French Haute Cuisine as codified by Auguste Escoffier (who is widely considered to be the Father of modern French cookery). They can be found in  Le Répertoire de la Cuisine,   a professional reference book  written by Escoffier’s student, Louis Saulnier (originally published  in 1914). For many Chefs who trained in Haute Cuisine in the 20^thcentury Le Répertoire de la Cuisine,  is considered to be the ‘Chef’s Bible’. The measurements of ingredients in  my recipes are based on 40 years  experience as a Chef trained in the French Brigade de cuisine system which was also designed by Escoffier.

 

 

Note: Photo used under Fair Use Laws from: 

https://www.thespruceeats.com/classic-lobster-thermidor-recipe-1300703