Cuisine traditionnelle et gastronomique

Our lesson and subsequent lunch was as follows:

Foie gras de canard poele, mangues et emulsionde patates douces aux 4

epices

(sauteed duck liver foie with a mango emulsion and a sweet potato foam with cinnamon, clove, ginger, and garlic)

Filet d'agneau en croute de pommes de terre, Meli-melo de primeurs et confiture de tomates cerises au balsamique

(lamb fillet with a potato crust, seasonal mixed vegetables over a cherry tomato jam and

a touch of balsamic)

Ananas roti, Creme brulee au lait de coco, Sirop d'epices douces et Sorbet exotique

(coconut creme brulee covered in a cider vinegar, vanilla, star-anis, and cinnamon syrup over a pineapple round along side a passion fruit/banana/raspberry

sorbet)

L'Oree Des Bois

Our first stop of the day brought us to L'Oree des Bois, the home of wonder-chef, Eric Bichon. I love the translation of the restaurant...it means "edge of the woods"

Chef Eric had an unfortunate kitchen fire a little while ago...but he took a crappy situation and turned it around by replacing all his old kitchen equipment with the most insane set of cooking toys around! His new playground includes a paco-jet (sick!), a cryovac machine, and two combi ovens (I can't even begin to explain this thing...it's kind of like Chef Eric is playing an XBOX 360 in 1988 while all his friends are playing the original Nintendo).

After meeting Chef Eric and his apprentice, Matthew, we were immediately prepping for our 5 hr lesson. The next post will get into the actual dishes, but I need to take a moment to give props to Chef Eric for his unbelievable garnishing skills. As you'll see in the picture above, he flawlessly knocked out champignon tournes each one more symmetrical than the next. For those unfamiliar with the delicate touch required for a proper tourne, it's a bitch...here was my effort:

Sleeping quarters

My room was the bomb, yo!

I was kickin it 19th century style in a gorgeous bedroom with a queen-sized bed and lots of antique"y" French furniture and paintings.

Le Petit Dejeuner

Le Moulin Bregeon's le petit dejeuner c'est magnifique!

Every morning we were greeted with fresh crossiants, pain au chocolat, fresh local fruit, blueberry & apricot jam that Bernard prepared, strong coffee, and my new favorite yogurt called la lilette with a lil fresh granola on-top...delish!

Wake-Up Call

You wanna know why those geese and I have such a beef??? Maybe it's because they felt it was their obligation to wake me up at 6AM with their incessant quacking!

I tried to quiet them by opening my window and giving them a death stare...then I told them to shut up (stupid me, I forgot that they're french geese, so they probably didn't even understand me.)

Oh, you silly geese...you're messing with the wrong dude...keep it up and you'll be foie gras!