When I asked the waiter what Magret meant, he gave me an answer that made me think it was the roasted version of duck confit; however, when I'd eaten my sandwich, he came back and told me that Magret refers to the meat of a force fed duck used to produce foie gras, that very delicious fatty duck liver. So while not politically correct, I ate it and the duck meat melted in my mouth. Apart from the bread, which was crusty baguette, this sandwich came with whole cranberry sauce, apple relish sauce, mild and creamy goat cheese, tomato slices, and lettuce. The cranberry sauce was on top of the tomato slices, and it worked! I couldn't see the apple relish sauce, but I could taste it; it must have been smeared on the baguette slices like butter. The sandwich had some sweetness and fruitiness to it and some tang from the cheese. It came with French fries or green salad, and I chose the salad. I'm glad I did as, apart from the lettuce, it came with green beans, grated carrot, a tomato wedge, a hard boiled egg quarter, and a creamy and tangy dressing.
Location: French Corner Cafe, 72423 Hwy 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: October 31, 2020.
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This crepe was filled with turkey, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It had a pronounced sage flavor, probably from the stuffing, the cranberry sauce was sweet and tangy, the turkey meat was moist, and the crepe itself was cooked to perfection. I would not have said no to a little more cranberry sauce, but I do give this crepe two thumbs up. My two friends and I ate our crepes across the street where there were some tables and chairs, and we brought our own drinks: hard apple cider; apparently, this is one of the drinks of choice when you have crepes in France.
Location: Crepes of Wrath, 31 E Citrus Avenue, Redlands, California. Date: October 12, 2020. Apart from strips of calf's liver, this French salad consisted of goat cheese, tomato, baby greens, mushroom, and a fried egg. The creamy goat cheese and the halved cherry tomatoes added tang, the liver was well done (no blood leaking into the salad), and even though I really like liver, the star of this salad, and what really made it cohesive, was the goat cheese. The mushroom was lightly sauteed champignon slices. The fried egg had a hard yolk, which was initially disappointing, but then I realized that a runny yolk may not have worked as well with the salad. The dressing was creamy and tangy but not at all overpowering. I like including liver in my diet because it's the best source of vitamin B, and even people who don't like liver may enjoy this salad.
Location: French Corner Café, 72423 Highway 111, Palm Desert, California. Date: August 29, 2020. I was looking through Julia Child's book, In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs, for some inspiration, and on page fourteen I came across a recipe for pesto sauce by Italian chef Roberto Donna. Among other things, it was suggested to serve the pesto on fish, beans, boiled potatoes, and egg dishes. A light bulb when on in my head: Niçoise Salad! During this pandemic, I won't go to the store just to buy an ingredient or two for a dish I want to make, but I had all the ingredients for the salad at home; however, I was missing a couple of ingredients for the pesto. Then I discovered a jar of ready made pesto from Italy in my pantry, and that's how this dish came together. It features quality canned tuna, boiled potato slices, fresh tomato slices, slices of hard boiled egg, green beans (canned, I'm afraid, but well rinsed), as well as black olives. Niçoise Salad usually features an olive oil dressing with basil, so why not pesto? This salad can be composed or tossed together, but for me it should definitely be composed; to my mind, this is what makes this salad unique.
Thanks for the inspiration, Roberto and Julia. I purchased the book, by the way, with the late Julia Child present; hence, the autograph made out to me. Location: My home in Desert Hot Springs, California. Date: June 4, 2020. It's obvious when you see it in the display case at the bakery that this is a pastry, not just a flavored custard, so the French lady doesn't see the need to add pastry or tart to the name. This delicious dessert consisted of flaky pastry, custard, glaze, and I'm sure they used fresh apricots, not canned ones. This was not too sweet, and it had some slightly tart notes from the fruit and glaze. It was a hot day today, and this was a refreshing pastry.
Location: Peninsula Pastries, 611 S Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 1, Palm Springs, California. Date: May 16, 2020. While this was the name in the pastry case, it is actually a round of semi-sweet and slightly salty baked yeast dough topped with a thin layer of orange blossom flavored custard. You can smell the aroma of orange blossom, and the flavor comes through nicely. Because it's not very sweet, it's my favorite pastry at this French bakery. When I told the owner that, she responded by saying that you can't get this pastry in France. She probably got to like orange blossom when she got to Southern California, and she told me that her husband invented the pastry. So while I won't be looking for this one in France, I am certainly enjoying it here in the desert.
Location: Peninsula Pastries, 611 S Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 1, Palm Springs, California. Date: May 9, 2020. I was driving past my local French bakery and, because of the pandemic, was surprised to see that it was open for business. The lady who owns the place is from France, and her pastries are the best around. I went in and was disappointed to see the pastry display cases almost empty (though happy for the owner who had almost sold out). I did spy one, and only one, individual size pastry in one of the cases, and so I took it. It was called Pear Tart with Almond Cream, but when I ate it, at a beautiful park in the mountains, I detected almond flavor in the crispy tart shell but not in the cream that was underneath the pear. There was half a sliced pear covered with a tart glaze; the tartness in the glaze was welcome as the pastry was quite sweet. With no choice at all, I still ended up enjoying a fine dessert. Look at my photo and salivate!
Location: Peninsula Pastries, 611 S Palm Canyon Drive, Ste 1, Palm Springs, California. Date: May 2, 2020. Whenever I come across a trio of something in a restaurant, I'm usually tempted to try it. I've already reported on the Demitasse Soup Tasting at the Cork Tree in Palm Desert, and here again at the same restaurant I discover Crème Brûlée Three Ways for dessert. It's a chef's daily selection, and today it was (from left to right) caramel with blackberry garnish, white chocolate with raspberry and mint garnish, and vanilla bean with strawberry garnish. They were classic in style: creamy, not too sweet, and with a thin torched sugar top you cracked with your spoon. I'm not big on dessert, but to see what other flavors and garnishes the chef comes up with, I'll order these again.
Location: Cork Tree Restaurant, 74950 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert, California. Date: May 10, 2018. When you see escargot on the bar menu, you're either dealing old school or upscale; at the Purple Room in Palm Springs, it's definitely old school. This is where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis hung out in the 1960s, both on and off the stage. All three have a saying attributed to them on the purple walls, and live music is still a feature. My escargot came in a ceramic dish with six indentations to hold six snails, minus their shells, with some garlic parsley butter sauce. It came with crusty bread on the side to mop up the delicious sauce. Snails can be a bit rubbery, slimy, and somewhat tasteless, so this dish is really about the bread and the sauce, though I do hold that the earthiness of the snails deepens the flavor of the sauce. In the Purple Room, you can forget about the present and immerse yourself in nostalgia, both musically and culinarily. Location: Club Trinidad Hotel, 1900 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, California. Date: September 26, 2017. After seeing frog legs on the menu at Pomme Frite, and realizing that I couldn't remember ever eating them before, I could not resist. So, do they taste like chicken? Well, yes; however, the meat is more delicate than chicken, the flavor is more delicate than chicken, and the bones are certainly more delicate than chicken. My frog legs came sizzling in a cast iron pan in the same sauce used for escargot, namely butter, garlic, and parsley. I was given crusty French bread to sop us the buttery sauce. To cut through all the richness, I ordered a sour beer, Duchesse de Bourgogne. It just said Belgian Ale on the bottle, but this fiery red beer tasted like a good hard apple cider. It was fruity, smooth, and sour in the best way. (The first time I tasted sour beer was in San Diego, and I honestly thought they'd made a mistake and served me hard apple cider.) The combination of buttery frog legs and sour beer was a culinary delight.
Location: Pomme Frite, 256 South Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: June 18, 2017. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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