Monday morning we ran/walked up the mountain trails behind PMB. It was about 38⁰. John tried to take pictures of the castle across the valley. Returned to the house and Genevieve had already left for work at her school.
Breakfast consists of 2 eggs fried, French-press coffee, toasted pain du jour with butter and jelly from the “nuns.” If you remember a few years ago Pie
rre-Michel sent us a selection of jellies made by some nuns. We considered importing them to the US, but didn’t pursue. However, they are exceptional, lemon with pieces of ginger, pear with honey. They make an ordinary breakfast special.
We worked in Pierre-Michel’s newly remodeled home office. Such a terrible place, with French doors opening to the front patio that overlooks the valley and the mountain across, total silence except for the birds. Soon our host declared it was time for “light lunch.” PMB has a special oven, a COMBI which uses both convection heat and steam to cook. He had steamed a fish on Saturday with only lemon, salt & pepper, and reheated it for us. It was simple and full of flavor. Fresh bread, a selection of cheeses and of course a small glass of wine completed the meal.
.PMB took us to a nearby supermarket to see the “Cockpit,” a concept developed by George Kronen. George was a chef back in the 70’s who decided to manufacture equipment for the fresh-cut food market in Germany. In the late 1980’s and throughout the 90’s, Bock imported George Krone’s equipment to sell in the US. George sold his business and retired. John really liked George and missed him. But George couldn't sit still and started another company that focused on small equipment for restaurants and small commissaries. The story goes, that he was in a supermarket and saw a new concept; in the middle of the fruit and vegetable area they were cutting vegetables and fruits in front of the customers. George went to the supermarket manager and told him that his company, Kronen, could make a better system…and convinced the manager to order it. So began the “cockpit.” A module unit that is designed to have all the equipment to cut pineapple, melons, crack coconuts, process pate, mayonnaise, cut vegetables for salads , sauces for vegetables, fresh orange juice, fruit juices. These are packaged and displayed around the perimeter of the glassed enclosed work area. The consumer can buy small amounts of the cut product, only what they need and no waste.
So we went to visit one installation near PMB. The grocery store was under renovation and the cockpit was not even there! So disappointing, but we were assured that we would see one before we left.
Genevieve had planned that we would be going out for dinner Monday, and we would be late for our 8 PM reservation if we did not hurry.
At 8 pm, we arrived at Aux Saisons Gourmandes to discover that we were the only patrons that evening. It is a small restaurant that can serve maybe 20 tables. We started with a glass of champagne, a bread basket and long sticks of twisted puff pastry.
After a long time spent discussing the menu we ordered dinner.
Our hostess, probably the owner, presented the “amuse-bouche,” a tiny dish that held perhaps a tablespoonful of soft scrambled eggs with small pieces of truffle mixed in. I can’t remember the last time I had a taste of truffles, but you could smell it before you tasted it.
Three of us had ordered l'entrée (remember in Europe this is the appetizer) ris de veau aux pleurotes, fois gras et truffle. This should have been the main course, as it was incredibly rich and a very generous portion. As Pierre-Michel explained, the ris de veau, is a gland in the neck of the anima which helps it assimilate milk, and fois gras is of course the liver of goose. Incredible! The pieces were lightly sauted with thin slices of truffles. It was an amazing taste.
We enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Traminer, from the Juris region of France. This was followed by my le plat principal, Rable de lapin en brochette, lentils corail, fromage blanc a la graine de moutarde torrefiee. Fillet of rabbit with a white cheese sauce and grains of mustard served over a small cake made from curried lentils, and a slice of fried polenta. With this course we drank a 2008 Crozes Hermitage, a smooth white wine with a mineral taste that was perfect for the food. The restaurant presented a plate of small cookies, meringue and crème puffs. But this was not enough….John and I had desert cheeses, three each from all around France to be followed by a plate of white chocolate mousse cake to share. All this was topped off by espresso and yet another restaurant offering of chocolate truffles with almonds. After this meal, we went home and slept in our little French bedroom. Tomorrow would be a very busy day.
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