“Two months ago, I cooked a dinner for a Vestry meeting and I was asked to provide some recipes. I’d like to share with you the recipe for the black pepper sauce I made to go over the meat. The best cuts to use with this sauce are either New York steak or filet mignon....” Have a look at the full Steak Au Poivre recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website.

“I recently cooked a dinner for a Vestry meeting and I was asked to provide the recipes for a couple of the dishes I served. I’m starting with the Parmesan potatoes this month and next month plan to provide a pepper steak recipe....” Have a look at the full Parmesan Potato recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“Last night I had some left over rice and couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Eventually, the idea of fried rice came to me. So I thought I would share this recipe with you. With its humble beginnings in China, fried rice is more than just a dish- it’s a story of culinary adaptation and cultural fusion….” Have a look at the full Fried Rice recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“Elizabeth and I were in New Orleans a couple of years ago for the New Orleans Jazz Fest and I enjoyed trying to create some of the dishes we sampled there. On Friday, we served Jambalaya, the recipe for which is here….” Have a look at the full Jambalaya recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“…When I was younger, my favorite dessert was bread pudding. I often went to the boulangerie/patisserie (bakery) to buy it. When I started my second restaurant, the Bistro Parisien in Almaden, my bread pudding with bourbon sauce was a real favorite with my customers….” Have a look at the full Bread Pudding recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“Recently a friend of mine asked me to teach her how to make Lobster Bisque soup…. The first step, of course, is getting the lobster…. if you go to one of the Asian markets in our area, you can buy a whole live lobster pretty inexpensively or you can buy frozen tails.” Have a look at the full Lobster Bisque recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“Growing up, soup was a staple for my family at this time of year. France does not really celebrate Halloween, but they have 2 different kinds of squashes that are like a pumpkin. One is a citrouille (the traditional American pumpkin) and the other is a potiron, both of which translate into English as “pumpkin”….” Have a look at the full Pumpkin Soup with Chanterelles recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“I took another fishing trip to Alaska with my son, Kyle, and 2 of his friends…Each day, the guides cleaned the fish and threw the fish carcasses aside. Then beautiful bald eagles would swoop in to eat the remains. We caught salmon, halibut, and cod…this month, I thought I would share a simple hailibut recipe.….” Have a look at the full Halibut Piccata recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“I’d like to share the recipe of one of my most popular dishes when I had my restaurant, Le Bistro Parisien, here in Almaden…Braised Lamb Shanks…I prefer to get these from Lunardi's, around 13 ounces each….” Have a look at the full recipe in the ‘Tales from the Kitchen’ community blog by Chef Alain on our website :)

“My son Kyle and his wife, Lindsay, recently took a trip to Italy where they attended a cooking class and learned to make homemade pasta. If you look closely, you can see Kyle at the back of the picture, on the left, with Lindsay next to him at the end on the right. They received this recipe at the class…” Enjoy this base recipe that you can adapt as you like!

“…travel(ed) the Scottish whisky trail to learn more about (and to taste!) some good Scottish whisky. I did learn a lot; for one thing I discovered I really don’t like the “peaty” tasting whiskys--they are too smoky for me….I think Scotland also has more sheep than people. So I thought I would combine lamb and whisky into an interesting dish….”

“…We used to finish working by around 11 pm, then it was time to go have fun! So with friends we’d go dancing, having fun in the city of Paris and by 1 or 2 am it was time to have the traditional french onion soup to end the evening….”

At our recent fellowship party, several people asked me to post the recipe for the Chicken Fricassee we served. Chicken Fricassee is a traditional French chicken stew made with browned chicken pieces braised in a creamy white mushroom sauce. This is a rustic family-style meal that is easy to prepare and serve….

At our recent Oktoberfest dinner, a few people asked me for my sauerkraut recipe, so I thought I would share it here.
This dish reminds me of the time I spent in Donaueschingen Germany (in the Black Forest), where I served my compulsory service with the French army. I was the chef in the officers’ mess. I’m not very fond of the “sour” part of this dish, so I created this version….

This month I thought I’d share a recipe I created myself. We’ve served it at our house a number of times and it has been a big hit every time. Personally, I’m not to fond of salmon- but I do like it prepared this way. And it’s fresh and healthy! Choose small, French (of course!), green lentils if possible since they stay together better.

Charcuterie boards have become all the rage for wine tastings at vineyards, so I thought I’d talk a little bit about charcuterie- and how to make one of the staples of such boards- a country pate.