France - Our 26th Meal

Bienvenue en France ! (Officially, the French Republic.)

Les chefs

For our hors d'œuvres, we made pissaladière and pâte en croûte. 

pissaladière - attractive but unappetizing 

The pissaladière was (for my palate) quite an unusual concoction of carmelized onions, anchovies (which I don't care for), and black olives cured in oil. Extremely salty and rather fishy. It was not a hit in our family, but I gifted the rest on Buy Nothing, and our neighbor reportedly enjoyed it quite a bit! Shows to go you.

pâte en croûte

Making the pâte en croûte was a labor of love - over 100 steps in this recipe. 

It was also an adventure to find the ingredients, like noix de veau (veal cushion) and pork neck. I object to veal on moral grounds (and had never previously eaten it), but chose to buy it for authenticity's sake. It made me uncomfortable, however, and I wouldn't get it again. I did enjoy my visit to Gartner's Country Meat Market, an excellent local butcher. It reminded me of the many visits my dad and I made to the Madeira meat market when I was growing up.

Unfortunately, no one liked this dish. The pastry crust was good, but the meat filling had an unpleasantly bland/damp mouth feel. I don't know if this was my error, or if it turned out correctly and we just didn't like it. Always the million-dollar question when preparing unfamiliar foods!

For our plat principal (main course), Oma made boeuf bourgignon, which was delicious.

Oma undertook the ultimate pastry challenge - macarons - and they turned out perfectly!! I helped, in a very limited fashion.

macarons with champagne frosting filling (flavored with a champagne reduction)... complètement delicieux

pots de crème au chocolat - very indulgent

fromage - a selection of French cheeses. 

Murray’s Brie Fermier

Guilloteau St. Angel

 Guilloteau  Fromager Affinois avec des Herbes

Murray’s 18-Mois Compte

Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages

Chevalier du Grand Robert Pinot Noir

 playing with baby

Oma and I both studied French, and Oma was also a French teacher for many years, so this was a perfect (and delicious) team-up. 

France is also one of the few countries I have actually visited! A wonderful trip in July 2017, when Noah was living in Lille.

Jambon fromage

La Tour Eiffel

Ma vie Parisienne

When? December 29, 2023

Who cooked? Lauren & Oma

What's for dinner? (Recipe links) 

pissaladière, pâte en croûte, beef bourgignon, baguette et beurre, fromage, macarons with champagne frosting filling, pots de crème au chocolat

France Stats

• Population: 67.97 million (about 1/5 the size of the US)
• GDP: 10th in the world (compared to US #2)
• Life Expectancy: 82.23, 19th in the world (US is a pathetic 59th, at 76.33)
• Founding Date/Age in 2023: 843 / 1180
• Official Language: French
• Rankings:
• Largest indigenous duck meat producer
• Largest exporter of perfume & electricity 
• Largest percentage of nuclear energy in total energy production
• Most tourist visits per year
• Largest Exclusive Economic Zone
• Most time zones (12)

Phillipines - Our 25th Meal

After more than a year, we are finally back on our country date nights!! For our 25th meal, Mark took us to the Phillipines! The Phillipines is an "archipelagic country," comprised of 7,641 (!!) islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Our main course was a delicious chicken adobo. Mark has been making us a fast pork adobo for years, but this slow-cooked version was a very tasty twist. 

These pork lumpia were awesome! They tasted like latkes to me, I guess because they were fried in oil. Soo good! With a sweet chili sauce. Mark said they were time-consuming and very delicate/fiddly to make.

There was also a lovely cucumber salad, similar to one I make, which I would definitely want to have again.

This laing, made of taro leaves, was really not for me. Sort of a sweet dirty earth flavor.

The kutsinta had a very mild, almost custardy taste. I didn't love the gelatinous texture, but this was fun to try. 

The calamansi juice was delicious!! Like a sweet lemonade or limeade kind of flavor. Paired well with tequila!

When? December 3, 2023

Who cooked? Mark

What's for dinner? (Recipe links) 

Chicken adobo, lumpia, kutsinta, laing, cucumber salad, calamansi juice

Phillipines Stats

• Population: 113.9 million (a little more than the 4 most populous US states -- California, Florida, Texas, and New York -- combined)
• GDP: 29th in the world (compared to US #2)
• Life Expectancy: low at 69.27, 135th in the world (US is 59th at 76.33)
• Founding Date/Age in 2023: 1946/77
• Official Language: Filipino, English 
• Rankings:
• Largest producer of 
• Abacá (Manila Hemp)
• Nickel
• Largest archipelagic state without land border in the world by area and population
• Largest papal mass
• Largest indoor arena