I seem to be typing up these posts while slightly tipsy lately. It’s hard for two people to drink an entire bottle of wine and not feel a little tipsy. OK, maybe there are some of you out there who can do this and NOT feel effects…but I say that maybe you drink too much. Anyway, I decided to practice with some techniques I learned at my last French cooking class at L’Academie de Cuisine. The class was taught by the school’s founder and owner, Francois Dionot. He taught us how to make Duck a l’Orange, along with Braised Apples and Fennel. He also made French Onion Soup and French Cheesecake, but it’s a weeknight so I was not going that far. And I’ve made fabulous French Onion Soup before….just like Chef Dionot makes it. I had duck breast from Maple Leaf Farms – purchased at Wegman’s – a large fennel bulb, and two Granny Smith apples. I’ve never cooked with fennel at home…..I had to Google how to cut the darn thing up! I’m still in desperate need of a Le Creuset dutch oven, but my All-Clad worked just fine to cook the diced apple and fennel. The instructions Chef Dionot gave us to make the l’Orange sauce were very vague, so I was nervous about it, but boldly drizzled it all over the seared duck breast anyway. I’m nothing if not confident, but with disclaimers, to my family and friends when I cook. The duck was SOOOO perfect, and the fennel/apple side was completely buttery and yummy. This was a perfect combination all the way around. Is it totally wrong to gush over one’s cooking successes?? Anybody out there? Yeah, this was a Top Ten for me. Along with my sea scallops and saffron sauce. And that seared rare tuna I made a few months ago. We washed it all down with a 2008 Ferraton Pere & Fils Cotes du Rhone (why can’t I figure out how to add symbols and accents??). The wine could/should have had more shelf time, but it was quite drinkable right now – decent structure, not too throaty, and very nice with the duck. Honestly, this was a great dinner to make to both impress others AND get dinner on the table quickly. Mmmmm, I’ll be thinking about this for several days to come….
So, I was discussing the professional certification course that L’Academie offers for people like me – day jobs, must take classes at night. It’s expensive and we have no money right now but I really really want to go through this. I think it’s important for my credibility down the road, and I’m so excited about it. It’s a 20-week program so I have to work it in when we don’t have anything else planned. I think I can start putting aside a bit of money each month now so that I have most of the tuition by next January. They offer it twice a year, but there is no way we will be able to swing it when the next session starts up in July. So my goal is January 2011. And I’ve just put that out there for the whole world to see, so I HAVE to stick with it. Maybe I’ll be ready to give public notification of my goal on re-learning French by next posting? We have to move to France now (well, not RIGHT now…Syd stil has to make it through high school…only 4 1/2 years to go!) – the farm that was for sale about 3 miles from our house, and that I might have considered, is no longer for sale. Uhm, yeah, right…in my wildest dreams we could not have afforded that property. It might take me a couple of days to write again…I don’t know if I can get past my success with the duck breast anytime soon.