Papilles en éveil (or Awakened Tastebuds)

Some of you may remember that Anna joined a lunch group called Papilles en éveil  through AVF.  The idea was to meet in a member’s home to prepare and then enjoy eating a lunch.  The members took turns hosting and coming up with a recipe for entrée (appetizer), plat (main dish), or dessert (no translation needed there!). 

So last Monday we were at it again!  Seven ladies met at the home of Brigitte (our organizer) to prepare and feast on a wonderful three-course lunch.  (A side note about Brigitte…She is definitely a force of nature!  Always full of energy and ideas and wearing a big smile.  We know we will have a great time at these lunches due, in no small part, to Brigitte!)

Brigitte’s kitchen is a bit unusual - especially for France.  Having a “cuisine Américaine” (kitchen with full-sized oven, separate microwave, full sized-cooktop, dishwasher  and lots of room for prep) here is still not the norm and warrants special mention in house and apartment ads.  Well, Brigitte loves to cook and designed a kitchen to meet her needs:  two full-sized ovens (with convection), two sinks, a large induction cook top, lots of counter space, and every appliance and kitchen implement imaginable.  Any cook’s dream!

Here are some pictures of  our group:


Doing prep work together



Posing in the kitchen.  That's Brigitte on the right.

 

Relaxing in the living room between cooking and eating

 So what was on the menu?   

For the entrée :  Le caviar de courgettes (chopped, cooked zucchini prepared with spices and presented in an amazing sauce made up mostly of a mixture of cream and melted  parmesan.)

 

For the plat:  Râbles de lapin aux myrtilles (saddle of rabbit that has been marinated for at least 24 hours in a liter of red wine, chopped carrots, celery, and onion, along with some olive oil, spices, and a splash of cognac for good measure and then cooked and topped with a blueberry sauce).  Every part of this dish was cooked and eaten!  We boned and cooked the rabbit pieces, the vegetables in the marinade were cooked and served, and the liquid was the base for the blueberry sauce.  This was served with potatoes au gratin and spinach.

 

Then Brigitte brought out the obligatory cheese course. 

For the dessert:  Pana Cotta aux pêches et aux amandes caramélisées (a sort of custard with peaches and topped with caramelized almonds)

Then, of course, coffee.

 

And, here we are enjoying our lunch!

Now you know why a proper French lunch lasts two hours !  It was all absolutely delicious, of course!  (I'll be happy to share the recipes if you don't mind having them in French.)