Mis en Bouche

[rox]

Mis en Bouch is like a littly tiny appetiser. We are making the party round with a group of our friends, all olvie farmers, and it was our turn to host.

I bought these cute little "spoons" as they say in French. You use these spoons for preparing Mis en Bouches. Now normally at a restaurant you will get one spoon, it is called an amusement for the mouth. Not really a full appatizer just a small amusement.

I knew at the store when I saw them that they would be perfect for my husband, for his "style." He wasn't to happy when I brought them home because we really don't have money laying around but I knew in my heart once he had them int he house he would'nt ask me to return them and I was right! ha-ha, do I know the man or what? Pictures are of our friends and the mis en bouches and dinner.

He prepared these mis en bouches

1. Fresh muscles pulled out of their shells and prepared with breadcrumbs and garlic butter
2. Fresh oyseters on a bed of cooked spinach with finley chopped onions and a white cheese sauce
3. cooked salmon with the white cheese sauce and fresh basil
4. Sushi
5. fois gras with a cherry sauce (from our cherries) on toast
6. shrimp in a little cup with homemade coctail sauce

I think that is it for the Mis en Bouches
Dinner was very simple, in the wine glasses on the plates, gazpacho soup with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream, pecan coated chicken breasts, a pastry cup with finely really finly cut slivers of carrots and zuchini and our personal serving of cream sauce in the little cups. Desert was homemade bread pussing topped with our own cherry sauce a dollop of vanilla icecream ont he side and a home made chocolte truffle, I didn't take a picture fo that. By our standards this was not a gourmet meal but simply a nice little simple dinner party.

On the dinner table picture Andre is holding up a bottle of "Provence Rosé" wine produced in Texas. A frined of ours visited and borugh us that to try. The whole table was most eager to try it, they were all excited and even Yvonne. Yvonne never drinks not ever on doctors orders becaue of medication she is on. She said, "Pour me some I want to try it" I couldn't beleive it when Yvonne wanted some. Sadly the Texas made "Provence Rosé" wine was not a hit. Everyone was very very polite, very polite, however nobody asked for any more. And the wine showing in the bottle in the picture was still there at the end of the meal. They all said ti was to sweet and the best thing we could do was to chill it really really cold and serve it for an aperitife. Seceretly I think they were happy it was not near as good as the worst real Provence Rosé produced here. They were very excited and open to try it I don't think they approached it with any bias at all, quite the contrary. So it seems like Texas has a ways to go in producing Provence Rosé wine.

One item of note is the picture of Lucien. He is one of our best freinds. Look at the guy he is over 70 years old. Their farm is a bit in the countryside and they live in town. Each morning they get up at 5am and she works with him every day at the farm. She stand on her feet all day picking out the bad fruit from the good fruit. His main crop is apricots, he grows several American varitals of Apricots, cherries, apples, Olvies and some grapes.

Jean Arnaud is a very rich farmer. After WWI he got in a program offered by the Americans and was sent to a farm in Ohio as a young man. He speaks pretty good English and absolutly loves America and Americans. All our French family and freinds and stangers have a high opinion of Americans. In 1956 he was back in France after having studied farming int he Unted Staes and he started farming. Ther was a big freeze in 1956 and many fo the farmers were destiture and lsot their whole income for a year and gave up and took factory jobs which were booming. Jean Arnaud only ever wanted to be a farmer so he picked up acers and acers of land dirt cheap. He survived the big freeze and afterwards capitalized on it (if that isn't the Americna way I don't know what is). Today he is a very rich farmer and you should see his house it's unbelievable. Jean's wife was a 3 & 4th grade teacher in Pelissanne a little village next to our city. She taught every kid int hat village and when the discussion is about so and so she remembers the kids and how they were in her class. She knows all the good fmailies and allt he bad families in the village. Paulette talks about when they were first married the bathroom for the apartment building was four floors down and how during the big freeze it was so cold that she would wash her clothes and then Jean would have to take the wet clothes over to his aunts to rinse them My hsuband says in the old days the lower priced washing machines (which you ran by hand) didn't have a rinse basin in them.

Then there is Andre. Andre is rather like us. Made his money earlier and is moving onto a second life in olive farming. Andre owned a very large car dealership in the big city of Aix en Provence. Andre ahs 2 partners a dentist and an attorney and they bough 50 acres of virgin land and converted it to an olive farm. Andre is trying to talk us into farming organic and we are litening. We are still so new to what we are doing that we are not ready to pull the trigger yet but we are listening. Andre goes to a mill that produces only Fruite Noir Olive Oil which is a kind of musty tasting oil. He finally admitted to me recently that only the old people like Fruite Noir and allt he young ones like fruite vert oil, whihc is what we produce. I am sure it took a lot for him to say that. Andre has 4,000 olive trees and we only have like 1,400 so he is a bit bigger than us but he has to split 3 ways because he has partners. He is a really nice guy, divorced with adult children liekt he rest of us in our little olive farming group.
Then the handsome guy you see wearing a Finlandia Vodka T-ahirt is my hubby. We ahve every kinf of liquor T-shirt made as he got them form the liquor distributors when he owned his restaurants.

it was a nice little party and everyone had a good time. Next up will be Andre but chances are we won't go to his house he takes us out to a restaurant for his turn, which is fine.

Pictures are-
Checkerd shirt is Lucien followed by his wife
The Jean Arnau seated at the patio table followed by his wife
Andre with the patterend shirt
My hsuband

 

[billbill1]

Rox, it is very interesting to me to hear of your culture and your neighbors. The dinner sounds like it was very good (except for the oysters, I only like the mountain variety) Thank you for sharing the event with us, as always-a very good explanation.

 

[dmccarty]

Rox,

Can WE be neighbors! I would like to sample that "simple" dinner.

It looked very, good.

We are in somewhat of a small town. With our kids playing sports, going to local schools, and being members of a pool we are running into people we know all over the place. There are only two grocery stores in town. We recognized must of the people working there and are on a first name basis with one lady. Its very nice to actually know people you see around town. Our oldest just started a school that she will attened until she graduates. that is VERY unusual and something I never could do. In the town and county we used to live in there is all sorts of turmoil over schools. You just don't know where your kids will go to school. Its a mess.

Where we are now it looks like we can put down some roots. The place is going to grow and get bigger. No way to stop it but for now its good.

Wine is funny. I don't really like most wines I have tried. There are lots of beer I like to drink but only one wine we like. We buy a case every half decade or so. I like Port and Sherry. NC before Prohibition was the largest wine producer east of the Mississippi. The wine in NC were from the native grapes. The native grape wine I have had is very sweet.

Just need a neighbor who can have through one of Rox's Simple Dinner Partys.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

Rox, the dinner looked great, but I'm not too sure about your guests' opinions of wine. Or maybe I should say their "taste" in wine. We used to live a couple of doors from good friends, whose tastes are certainly different from mine. He was retired from the U.S. Army and his wife was French (married when he was stationed in Europe, of course). I have tried several different French wines that she liked and never found one that I'd carry home if it was free. And not only did I not care for the flavor, but she wanted wine at room temperature. I guess I'm just not a connoisseur. I don't care what kind of wine it is, I figure the colder the better.

 

[curly]

Rox, that looks great. I wonder if all the other folks prepare such a wonderful meal when it's their turn.

A friend of mine was telling me that he and his wife joined a group of 4 other couples who would each prepare a meal through the week (not on the week-end) and deliver the meal to the other 4 couples. That way they each only had to prepare one meal a week.

He said his wife was very self conscious when it was her turn and prepared a very elaborate meal, much more so than when she just prepared for their family. But then this one couple would just bring a bowl of wennies in a blanket...they would get so ticked off.

 

[rox]

Rox, that looks great. I wonder if all the other folks prepare such a wonderful meal when it's their turn.

A friend of mine was telling me that he and his wife joined a group of 4 other couples who would each prepare a meal through the week (not on the week-end) and deliver the meal to the other 4 couples. That way they each only had to prepare one meal a week.

He said his wife was very self conscious when it was her turn and prepared a very elaborate meal, much more so than when she just prepared for their family. But then this one couple would just bring a bowl of wennies in a blanket...they would get so ticked off.

Geesh- I thought this thread was a dud, not many people responded (I thought BillBill1 was a sympathy post as no one else responded ) and then I though perhaps it wasn't a good topic over here. But shore 'nough up comes Curly and DMCCARTY and Bird to put a smile on my face.

DMCCARTY- You kind of remind me of Mister Rodgers (God Bless his soul) "Can we be neighbors" These meals come sporatic and are highly dependent on the weather. If it is rainly you are apt to get a fantastic meal at our home and if it is cool and dry (good working weather) not so much. We jsut hit a good spot where everyone seems to have their work done for the year waiting for the grape and olive harvest.

Bird- "I have tried several different French wines that she liked and never found one that I'd carry home if it was free. And not only did I not care for the flavor, but she wanted wine at room temperature. I guess I'm just not a connoisseur. I don't care what kind of wine it is, I figure the colder the better. "

I will say you know yourself very well, trust me you are not a wine connoisseur, you hit the nail on the head.

Curly- Therre is always a slacker in every group, isn't that true.

Our friends do prepare good meals but not with the same type of professional twist that my husband prepares. I think by Yvonne & Lucien we had pheseant and by Jean and Paulette we ahd soup pistou
If you like garlic soup pistou is the soup for you. It's is a local southern French dish and everyone loves it.

 

[Bird]

I will say you know yourself very well, trust me you are not a wine connoisseur, you hit the nail on the head.

That's a great response . . . and an accurate one.

Were you familiar with Justin Wilson (The Cajun)? Some folks knew him as a stand up comedian, some knew him for his cooking shows on TV, and his cookbooks, but few knew him for being a safety consultant who also taught in some state police academies.

At any rate, he and I were in perfect agreement when he said, on one of his cooking shows, "The right wine is the one you like."

 

[N80]

Rox, I've always been a closet 'foodie' (and your meal looks fabulous!!) and have always enjoyed a wide variety of foods, but usually tending towards basic regional foods. The American south has a rich culinary history enfluenced by what grows here, African cooking via the slaves who lived here and poverty...which always enhances a regional cuisine. I like 'country French' cooking, regional Italian, 'cajun' and my home southern cuisine.

Only recently have I gotten interested in doing my own cooking...outside of grilling, barbecue and fish frys.

But now I'm making my own pasta and have prepared a few decent meals lately. The most recent success was a salad of arugala and grilled porcini mushrooms dressed with olive oil, followed by fresh fettucine with lemon and pepper sauce and broiled red snapper with lemon segments and olives. This was the first meal to come out 100% good. The others have been mixed. Prior to that I grilled a 3" thick t-bone with fresh (we grow them) Italian spices rubbed on it. It was wonderful. I served it with a fennel and blood orange salad and fresh tortilloni with ricotta and parmigiano stuffing. The tortilloni were a bit tough but the t-bone was tender!

The fresh pasta is causing the most trouble but I recently got a pasta press and fettucine cutter and that has dramatically improved.

I also made a lasagne bolognese that was good. It was made with fresh pasta, homemade ragu with pork and venison (which I cooked for hours) and a homemade besciamella sauce in between the layers. It was also a success.

I will not go into my failures at this point and so far my family have been the only ones to enjoy the successes and suffer through the failures but before too long i may have the guts to serve a meal to guests. You are inspiring me to do so with your example above and your advice on olive oil.

 

[Bird]

Rox, I guess you know that we spent 6 years as full time RVers, traveling all over the USA; got into at least some part of every state except Hawaii and California. And in our travels, we visited a few wineries in different states. They usually have some interesting free tours and free samples of their wines. And, of course, I'd buy a little of their wine to take home. The best tasting wine (for my taste) I found was at the Stewart Vineyards in the state of Washingon, but I understand it's closed down now that the owner (Dr. Stewart) died. The most interesting one was one of the oldest; Taylor Wineries in New York.

But we only found one winery that charged admission and that was just outside Sauk City, Wisconsin. I won't name the winery, but I did see some of their wines in the local supermarket. At any rate, it was the only one that charged a fee for their tour, and then we sampled some of their wines. I told my wife, "Now I know why they charge for admission." They didn't have anything I'd have carried home if it was free, much less anything I'd pay money for it. Horrible tasting stuff.

Who knows? Maybe for you connoisseurs, it was good wine.

 

[RobertN]

Rox, I guess you know that we spent 6 years as full time RVers, traveling all over the USA; got into at least some part of every state except Hawaii and California. And in our travels, we visited a few wineries in different states. They usually have some interesting free tours and free samples of their wines.

Bird,
There is the whole problem. California has some exceptional wines. The area I am in, there are about 65 small mom/pop type wineries withing an hour radius. Oh my! We do not have to go to Napa(Napa is for auto parts anyways...) or Sonoma. Just follow H-49 through the Gold Country.

 

[Egon]

Here I sit eatin supper, kraft dinner with a couple of wieners, and then I see these pictures of food and well, nuf said!

 

[jinman]

Geesh- I thought this thread was a dud, not many people responded (I thought BillBill1 was a sympathy post as no one else responded ) and then I though perhaps it wasn't a good topic over here. But shore 'nough up comes Curly and DMCCARTY and Bird to put a smile on my face.

Rox, I sure looked at your post and was more intimidated by it than I care to admit. You said it was a simple meal, but I found it astounding. I always wonder how food like that is prepared ahead of the gathering, what order it is served, and at what temperature everything is served. It just has to be impossible for everything to be hot at one time, or there is some magic I'm missing.

I sure it was a lovely meal with a wide variety of tastes and textures. Thanks for posting. I also admit that I enjoyed hearing about your friends and their backgrounds as much as I did the description of the meal. What interesting people.

 

[Bird]

Yep, Robert, I've bought a few California wines; just never got into California in the RV. I did have occasion to fly to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento on business back before I retired, but never got out in the country and never visited any of the wineries. But I've probably drunk more of that old cheap Carlo Rossi wine than any other. And I even like wine that's a bit sweet. I used to add a little 7-Up to Burgandy or Paisano wine, but right now I have a big jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria in the refrigerator out in the "shop" (if you could call it a shop. I have a work bench, tools, air-compressor, etc. out there, but right in the middle of the floor is my pool table.)

You know a number of wineries shut down and went out of business during prohibition, but the Taylor Winery in New York stayed in business. They just quit making wine and kept on selling grape juice with very specific instructions (recipe) on the containers on what to NOT do because you'd be making illegal wine. Someone there was pretty smart.

 

[rox]

Yep, Robert, I've bought a few California wines; just never got into California in the RV. I did have occasion to fly to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento on business back before I retired, but never got out in the country and never visited any of the wineries. But I've probably drunk more of that old cheap Carlo Rossi wine than any other. And I even like wine that's a bit sweet. I used to add a little 7-Up to Burgandy or Paisano wine, but right now I have a big jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria in the refrigerator out in the "shop" (if you could call it a shop. I have a work bench, tools, air-compressor, etc. out there, but right in the middle of the floor is my pool table.)

You know a number of wineries shut down and went out of business during prohibition, but the Taylor Winery in New York stayed in business. They just quit making wine and kept on selling grape juice with very specific instructions (recipe) on the containers on what to NOT do because you'd be making illegal wine. Someone there was pretty smart.

Bird- Ha-ha-ha you are crackiing me up!! UR killing me with your wine stories. You added 7 up to Burgandy???? You are killing me Bird, I'm dying.

Oh and let's not miss this precious quote from another post in this topic
Per Bird- "The best tasting wine (for my taste) I found was at the Stewart Vineyards in the state of Washingon, but I understand it's closed down now that the owner (Dr. Stewart) died."

Earth to Bird! If it was good wine don't you think the Stewart kids would have kept it going? I will agree that the wine in Sauk City Wisconsin, and we know the family, it not top tier but it is drinkable You crack me up. It is nice to knwo that the man about town all knwoing Bird knows about everything does have a vunrability and it has 5 letters w-i-n-e.
All right I'm coming back to the states on Tuesday I'll bring you a good bottle of Provence Rosé wine and mail it to you. I bet you will like this wine. Now oyu know all the other foodies on this thread are going to be downright jealous, oh well...

RoberN is right the California wines are great and also many in Washinton State as you mentioned but not doctor Stewart probably ( I mean if Bird liked it what does that say about the wine. He adds 7 Up to Burgandy) RobertN you are a lucky man to kive where you live.

N80 I am impressed with your cooking. We pick wild porcinno mushrooms around here everybody goes out int he woods with their baskets and picks and then home canns them. What really caught my eye was cooking with Fennel. We have wild fennel that grows around here and we use it in curing olives it makes them so delicious. Wild fennel is a big plant they can get over 6 feet tall. In the next two weeks the fennel should really be coming in. We have some, it loves water, over on a stone wall in the back field. Then my neighbor doesn't miss any that some how disappeared form his yard, he doesn't use it and has plenty of others on his land. I do like fennel in food. Home made sausage with fennel yum-yum. Fennel is used a lot in southern France becaue it just grows naturally around here.

I really hope you continue to enjoy cooking and exploring. To bad it costs so much, right?

Jinman- My husband prepared the muscles and oysters the day before had them in the little "spoons" in the refridgerator and just heated them up right before serving. The same with the pastry cup he served the veggies in made them up during the day and then jsut warmed them in the oven for a minute and dropped in the veggies. The only thing he did when our guests were here was sautee the chicken breastes and sautee the veggies. he already had whipped up the non sweetened cream for the gatzpacho whihc he made the dya before. He always works ahead as all good chefs and cooks will do. I'm glad you enjoyed hearing about our friends and seeing thier pictures, I thought it added to the description of the evening. You know I'm from Wisconsin so this whole eating out on the balcony thing is new to me. The mosquitos in Wisconsin will eat you alive. But I have to say I ahve adapted very well and I love it here. I am sure there are equally beautiful parts of the USA with wonderful weather I just never had the chance to live there is all.

Egon- If it makes you feel any better tonight I just had a ham sandwich topped with some cheese from holland and tomatoes and lettuce on whole grain American bread. Not every night is a Mis en Bouche night you know...

Oh I forgot to mention. The day after I get back to the farm we are having a jounalist ehrre from Milwaukee Magazine they are going to do a story on us. My husband says to me "Let's invite my sister and Roger (her husband) over Rogers cousin , when the reporter is here and I'll do those Mis en Bouches. Let's have a nice dinner when the reporter is over. So in early October it looks like we'll have a repeat. Wonder what he'll make??? See I just could not say NO to those little Mis en Bouche spoons when I saw them in the store, they pulled me back to their shelves they had my hypnotized. I was under a spell when I bought them and you know when you are under a spell nothing can be held against you.

 

[RobertN]

Bird- Ha-ha-ha you are crackiing me up!! UR killing me with your wine stories. You added 7 up to Burgandy???? You are killing me Bird, I'm dying.

RoberN is right the California wines are great and also many in Washinton State as you mentioned but not doctor Stewart probably ( I mean if Bird liked it what does that say about the wine. He adds 7 Up to Burgandy) RobertN you are a lucky man to kive where you live.

We are very luck. El Dorado and Amador counties have some wonderful wineries. Madrona, Jodar, Lava Cap, Boeger, and Windwalker are a few of our favorites. A couple even go back to the Gold Rush.

A lot of the wineries are smaller ones. At some, you may be served by the vintner, grape picker and owner; the same person

Interestingly, western Oregon is a growing wine country. The Willamette Valley south of Portland has some nice wineries. Our's are better, but...

I might have to send Bird a nice El Dorado Cab or Merlot...

 

[Bird]

Rox, the wine I liked so well from the Stewart Vineyards was their Gewurztraminer wine. I've tried several others and while I liked them, they just weren't as good (to my taste) as what I got from the Stewart Vineyards. But I don't know anything about Dr. Stewart's heirs.

In 1991, we were slowly working our way south from Alaska, and on August 11, 1991, we were in Canon Beach, OR. That evening, my wife asked what I wanted her to fix for supper and I told her to just forget it; I had a better idea. We sat out under the awning by the fifth-wheel trailer (we could see the ocean from there), cool enough for her to get a sweater, and had a bottle of Gewurztraminer wine from the Stewart Vineyards (best wine I ever drank), smoked cheddar and pepper jack cheeses from the Tillamook County (Oregon) Cheese factory that we had just visited, a can of Alaskan silver salmon (from what we had canned last year that we caught at Seward, AK), Walla Walla Sweet onion from Walla Walla, WA, and crackers. Of course, Margaret had tortilla chips instead of crackers along with Frito Lay Salsa. It doesn't get much better than that.

The campground there in Canon Beach had a couple of hundred domestic rabbits wandering around the campground, so I was hand feeding one of the black ones bits of cracker while we were eating.

 

[jdbower]

Don't tell Rox, but I read a while ago that Australian wines were outselling French wines. In France! The marketing is very different, French wines all claim to be unique and special so no one knows what to choose whereas Australians are apparently listed as "great with fish" which makes the decision easier.

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird

 

[Bird]

Don't tell Rox, but I read a while ago that Australian wines were outselling French wines. In France! The marketing is very different, French wines all claim to be unique and special so no one knows what to choose whereas Australians are apparently listed as "great with fish" which makes the decision easier.

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird

I learned earlier this year that my pension system has invested in yellow tail wines, so I visited a liquor store and the proprietor told me yellow tail is the biggest selling imported wine in the USA. I bought a couple of bottles and gave them to a daughter and her husband, then later bought a couple of bottles and gave them to some friends; might have to buy some and drink it myself someday.

 

[billbill1]

Bird, isn't Thunderbird one of the better wines? Annie Green Springs and Boones Farm? And what ever happened to Mogan David? Those were the wines of my youth!!

 

[RobertN]

Don't tell Rox, but I read a while ago that Australian wines were outselling French wines. In France! The marketing is very different, French wines all claim to be unique and special so no one knows what to choose whereas Australians are apparently listed as "great with fish" which makes the decision easier.

I'm not sure if they sell many Australians in boxes for Bird

French wines are very particular to region and style. Aussies, and some wineries here in the US are offering more blends and vintners creations; these would not be allowed at wineries in France. We we at a wine tasting a couple years ago. The vintner was a Frenchman, who had moved to the Paso Robles area of California, so he could express himself with wine.

An example would be a nice California sparkling wine. It is just like Champagne, but Champagne is very specific to that area in France...