Bon Appetit

"Enjoy your meal" - wonderful words from the ship's chef and maitre d' as we heard the promises of each evening's dinner. The words and the food lived up to expectations. As Julia Childs said "Its so beautifully arranged on the plate, you know someone's fingers have been all over it". Judging from my photos, as much 'sightseeing' was done at the table as in the countryside.
A joy of traveling is enjoying all the culture of a new area, including the food. We especially enjoyed the desserts, they were definately  the 'creme de la creme' (best of the best).

Couronne de Meringue au Fraises et sa Creme Chantilly
meringue crownwith strawberries and Chantilly cream

Fresh Raspberry - Lemon Cake

Hot Grand Marnier Souffle
orange - vanilla sauce

Dark Chocolate Brownie with Pistachio Ice Cream
white chocolate sauce

Austria - Sacher Torte (International Dinner)
classic chocolate cake with apricot marmalade

Hungary - Tokaji Wine Mousse (International Dinner)
with caramelized walnuts (and fig)

Profiteroles
vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate foam sauce
(this was my favorite - and in the shape of a swan!)

Classic Crepe Suzette
Expresso & Orange Panna Cotta
Chocolate Florentine

Traditional Paris-Brest
choux pastry filled with coffee butter cream

A French wish for all: "Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly".

"The French are Magnificent with Fish"

Julia Childs recognized the French cooking affair with fish, proclaiming it "magnificent". An earlier French author - Jean Anthelme Brillan-Savarin (1775-1826), who has been called "possibly the greatest food critic ever", said this about fish - "Fish in the hands of a skilled cook can become an inexhaustible source of gustatory pleasure".
I often order fish when eating out, but seldom cook and serve fish at home. So I enjoyed the many choices of fish on the menus of the Viking River Cruise we recently took through France. USDA's Choose My Plate dietary recommendations include the guideline to eat fish twice a week to help prevent heart disease. After several meals of fish this month, my healthy Omega-3's should be in good order!

Pan Seared Lemon Sole
mascarpone mousseline, broccoli, red wine butter sauce

Taste of Normandy lunch buffet

Crisp Sautéed Strip Bass
ricotta gnocchi, parmesan gremolata, basil sauce

(International Dinner - from Switzerland)
Sautéed Egli Fish Filet
glazed celery and carrots chateau potatoes, white wine sauce

Pan Seared Halibut
leeks, mashed potatoes, mushroom, bacon vinaigrette

Grilled Tiger Prawns, Crab and Saffron Risotto
with tender young greens

Maple-Glazed Fillet of Salmon, Beurre Blanc and Baby Corn

Now that we're home, I'm back to enjoying beef. But I may have to try some of the fish preparations from the inspirations!

French (food) Impressionists

We've been busy this month, traveling - and eating - so blogging has suffered jet lag. But now that we're back from a trip to France, there are lots of blog ideas rolling around in my head. But I've yet to get them organized so I'll start with some random and simple impressions.

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport" - Julia Child

One of the fun parts of traveling is trying new foods. Son-in-law Jay was up for the test, if there was anything on the menu he hadn't had before, he would order it. Thus he tried duck breast & Leg a l' orange, pan roasted frog legs with chive sauce, veal tenderloin, and Tournedo Rossini Grilled Filet Mignon & Pan Sautéed Foie Gras.

Cheese plates were offered at each dinner. We enjoyed them -
would have liked to have them as appetizers instead of at
the end of a filling meal!

Duck Breast & Leg a l'Orange

Frog legs with Chive sauce
Don offered to take Jay frog hunting next time
he comes to the farm

Jay enjoyed the filet mignon - but not so much the
Foie Gras (thats the liver of a duck that is fattened
by force feeding corn)

The evening of the International Dinner menu, when choices were Egli Fish, a vegetable and mushroom medley, or Veal Tenderloin, Sara had flash-back impressions of feeding bucket calves and rejected the veal for an American choice "always available" - Broiled New York Cut Sirloin Steak. To be accompanied by "fresh sautéed vegetables and baked potato". We'd frequently commented that the meals seemed quite short of vegetables. In fact, the best choice of vegetables were served at breakfast - its hard to face steamed broccoli, cauliflower or eggplant in a warming pan at 7:00 a.m. no matter how much we'd wanted a basic veggie. So Sara was set for a juicy remind-me-of-home steak - and vegetable - and baked potato! The meal came, and the steak looked good, but no sides. Sara questioned the waiter, he promptly brought her a large serving of..... spinach. Not even fresh salad spinach, but old-school-lunch type of spinach. Ahh, some things are best eaten at home.

More travels and tastes next blog.

Banana Bread for the Fair

 I usually make Blue - or even Purple ribbon Banana Bread! It is a favorite treat, fresh from the oven or one of the loaves I've tucked away in the freezer. EXCEPT - when trying to bake a loaf to take to the County Fair! Each batch wasn't up to my usual product, so after adding 4 loaves to the stash in the freezer, I just chose one. It turned out to be a Red ribbon, that's 2nd place in Open Class divisions.
Some of the special care I was taking seemed to be working against me, here's some of what I learned...One batch I made with all butter instead of the half butter,  half margarine I usually use. This batch browned much faster - too dark for the fair but good in the freezer! I am always careful not to over oil or spray too much Pam on the pan so the batter won't fry up the sides and make a crisp fried edge. So, I carefully blotted the excess out with a paper towel... too much. The bottom peeled off the first loaf I turned out of the pan - still stuck to the pan... into the freezer!
One tip I did try that was an improvement was to roast the bananas before using them in the batter. My recipe uses 4 bananas, I placed them (whole and unpeeled) on a foil lined baking pan, after pricking the skins with a fork at 1-inch intervals, in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. After they cooled it was simple to cut off one end and squeeze the banana into the batter. Almost like a tube of toothpaste. The flavor is sweeter as the natural sugar in the banana caramelizes. Of course this only works with fresh or slightly aged bananas. Usually I have a supply of previously aged bananas (thats ripened beyond eating stage) that I've peeled, mashed and bagged into 4-banana packets in the freezer. This frozen supply is great for making Banana Bread when bananas aren't setting on your counter. My other successful trick is fresh pecans. Every fall I buy several pounds of pecans from a KSU research farm in SE Kansas that we shell and store in the freezer. They really make a taste difference!
This recipe is the moistest, tastiest I've found. It is from Taste of Home 2008 recipes.

Special Banana Nut Bread

¾ cup butter, softened

1 package (8 0z) cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 medium)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups chopped pecans, divided

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition. Add bananas and vanilla; mix well. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, add to creamed mixture. Fold in 1 cup pecans.

Transfer to two greased 8 inch x 4 inch x 2 inch loaf pans. Sprinkle with remaining pecans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

In a small bowl, whisk the glaze ingredients, drizzle over loaves.