A French Dinner

Company is coming.  My trip is coming also.  The house is ready- the first fire of the season.

A week from tomorrow I will be on a plane heading for Paris.  Since I usually have family for 

dinner on Sundays- I decided to have French for the mernu.    I dug out my "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child.  I love Vichyssaise but have never made it before.  It has to chill 24 hours before serving-PERFECT, I thought.  Less work on the day company comes!  

I bought Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child soon after it came out in the early sixties.  Several years later I had a chance to meet Julia Child.  I was teaching Foods at Roosevelt Junior High in Glendale, CA .  My principal, Judy White offered to send me to Bristol Farms, a local grocery popular  in SoCal.  Julia would be there to sign her newest book.  I arrived early with my copy of Mastering... in case I got to meet her.  To my delight she was wandering around the gift shop the same as me.

She signed my book!!!

Today I went through it looking for recipes to serve family who were coming to dinner.  

For company tomorrow I choose to make Vichyssoise, a cold potato soup.

The recipe was easy- 2 cups of peeled, sliced potatoes, the whites of 3 leeks, 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to be simmered 40 minutes.  Then the soup is puréed and seasoned.  It is then seasoned and chilled and garnished with chives.  

I am serving it with a sausage quiche and bread which I am making in my bread machine.  

The bread is made with spices and dried cranberries.  

For dessert, I went back to Julia's cookbook and found an apple gratin tart recipe that can be made a day ahead as was the chilled soup.  

The apples are sautéed in butter until lightly browned.  Plum jam mixed with rum is folded into the apples and set aside.  The topping is made from a merengue folded into a batter and folded into a batter and placed over the apple filling.  It is then baked for 25 minutes.  Then it is sprinkled with powdered sugar, returned to the oven for another 25 minutes, and chilled foe 24 hours.  

HOORAY!!!  My appetizer and dessert can both be done the day before the dinner.  Tomorrow I have only a quiche and asparagus to make.  

Blackberry-Lemon Verbena Jam

I opened my newspaper last week and was intrigued by a recipe for Blackberry-Verbena Jam.  Blackberries are in season and I have a Lemon Verbena plant.  How nice this will be for small gifts from the kitchen for the holidays.  I already had a number of empty jars that I brought down from my trip to Mammoth.  So I went to work.

My Lemon Verbena was on my patio with a few other herbs.  It is a favorite for its wonderful aroma.

Blackberry-Lemon Verbena Jam

I picked a few leaves and went to the store for blakcberries.  The recipe was easy to follow.  Plus I had brought down some empty jam jars from Mammoth.

The recipe is easy to follow and tastes wonderful. 

2 pounds blackberries

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Several lemon-verbena leaves

Place blackberries in a food processor and purée.  Leave a few semi-mashed for variety of texture.  Add sugar and lemon juice.  Stir to marry the ingredients. Pour into a large heavy-duty pan.  Chop the verbena leaves and put them directly into the fruit mixture.  Cook over HIGH heat, stirring frequently until set- 20-25 minutes.  Reduce the foam by skimming with a large spoon.   Remove from heat a on as jam sets and pour into clean jars.  

Blackberry-Lemon Verbena Jam