Pictures Of France

Thank you to all the sources for these beutiful pictures! Please, feel free to comment on your favorite picture!

                                                                                                                                                                                              

Mon Ami Gabi & Odd Things

This past weekend I decided that I wanted to go to a French Bistro resturaunt, Mon Ami Gabi. It used to be phenomenal but went down in the past year and a half. We arrived very suprised at how crowded it was. A year ago, it would have been empty- and considering the reccesion and the fancy place it is, I was suprised. So thirty minutes late we arrived at our table. The bread was brought out and it was terrible. It was terrible. It was not nearly as good as   it used to be. It was terrible. It was terrible. Picture below, the street across from Mon Ami Gabi- Very nice.

                

So our waiter brought the bread with a beet mixture which was very tasty. But the butter was too hard and cold. OK, if you remeber my last post (just scroll down if you don't) then you heard about my recipe for hanger steak. Well, I ordered the hanger steak and it was good for the first few bites, but then was bad. My Nana asked me if she thought it was tough and I said, "I don't know..." She gave me a bite of hers and I agreed that mine was also bland and tough. The frites were a bit soggy and tasteless.

I was wanting to do a throwdown with the chef- my steak would win hands down. My Nana got a mashed cauliflower side which was very good actually. The cauliflower had taste. It wasn't terrible. For dessert, my father got peach sorbet. It tasted fine, but a bit artificial if you know what I mean. And my chocoalte flourless cake was good, I guess. But to be honest I do not remember it that much which is not good!

And the *oddest* part of the meal was while waiting impatiently for the valet service to get our car, a racoon scrambled out from somewhere and ran out into the allyway.

Oh yes! This is a Parisian blog, written by an American. I should incorporate this post more with Paris, or shall I say France? So this was a French Resturaunt, right? Well, I am thinking about what to say about that statement. And I must say that I would no tbe that suprised if the executive chef of that resturaunt was Mexican! He should study good French Cuisine better.

*As well, on November third, I went to the mall and "This is It," a Michael Jackson documetary was playing. I guess that the man or women doing the titling on the big board thingy outside the mall never passed third grade. He spell Michael as Micheal. And I know it wasn't just a clumsy misplacement, becasue on the other side where he also posted it, it was spelled Micheal also. Rather odd, also!

One Evening In Paris & Great Parisian Steak

One Evening In Paris ( As a Tourist)

Five p.m.- Leave hotel and go to your pick of gourmet resturaunts

Six- Arrive. In the meantime, the hour without going to your reservation, you could walk in a park, sight see a little... etc.

Eight- Yum! Dinner is Over! Sastify yourself with shopping for anything on one of the popular places to do so in Paris.

By Nine- In your hotel. I know this is early, but you can relax on your balcony that has a good view.

Note~ You should set aside $1, 000 to make this night perfect... or you could buy a cheap travel book for $9. 00!

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The Best Steak!

Yum! This is honestly the best steak ever! You have to try this!!!! The cool thing is that I created it it as I went along, and I think the hint is instead of using my favorite spice, Herb du Provence as it calls for by Barefoot Contessa aka Ina Garten, who it is inspired from, I made my own Provoncal butter. My whole family agrees that this is the best steak ever. We serve it with salad. This is amazing, easy, and the best steak ever, sorry I repeated that... I made up the recipe having very low hopes but it is amazing. The butter is the secret. You must try this!

 

Ingredients For the Steak

 

• 3 meaty pieces of hanger steak, about one foot each

 

• 1 teaspoon of: dried chili powder, salt, course peppercorns (you can smash them lightly with a rolling pin), dried oregano--- you can add some stuff to your likings, but be careful!

 

• 4 tablespoons of olive oil

 

• Salt and pepper For the Sauce…

 

• 1 tablespoon of red wine

 

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

 

• ¾ stick of unsalted butter

 

• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, dried parsley, and dried basil

 

• 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon zest

 

• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme

 

• 1 teaspoon of salt

 

• ½ teaspoon of pepper

 

• A small pinch of chili powder

 

Directions

 

 Mix the chili powder, salt, course peppercorns, and dried oregano together in a small bowl. Let sit while preparing the butter. For the sauce I make butter… Mix everything EXCEPT the red wine and 1 tablespoon of butter together in an electric mixer. Scoop onto a piece of parchment paper and spread out evenly, about ½ an inch. Let refrigerate. For the steak rub each piece with one tablespoon of olive oil. Then sprinkle with salt, pepper and the mixture of spices on both sides. In a pan big enough to hold the hanger steak, put in the wine and 1 tablespoon of plain butter in the pan and melt the butter. (The wine should be reduced to about half already, and should be paler because of the butter). Put the steak in the pan and cook for about 4 minutes on each side for medium rare. Put on a plate. Then, with the wine and drippings left over from the steak, add all of the butter from the fridge. When just about melted, Pour all over the steak and let it sit for twelve minutes. Serve warm and serves three to six, depending on portion size. Bon Appetite!

Some of you may recongnize this from my other Passport To Food Blog, but just incase you didn't make it I published it again!