Oysters and Tartines

In between translating and cups of coffee, there hasn't been much going on here for days. Very sorry about that. We took a quick tour of the market before I got back to work. The sun was coming in a really nice angle which made me remember why even if I don't love having limited pickings during late autumn, I love the light. It seemed like the energy of the people at the market today seemed to offset what was missing in color and variety. Still, new things come out every week, and there are plenty of good things that will be great to have again, one of them being wild chickory, which I adore because it tastes like it must be so good for me.

I will make a chickory slaw to go with the stuffed quail tomorrow.

What did we quickly gather? Poultry parts for soup, gizzards, two quails, a dozen oysters, sage, parsley and chives, potatoes, eggplant, chicory and other bitter greens, celery root, black radish, grey chanterelles, champignons de Paris, onions, brussel sprouts, shallots, a chunk of young parmesan (18 month) and a rose from the man in the wheelchair.

I minced up some shallots, onions, slivered a couple of small potatoes, cleaned the chanterelles and sliced up the champignons de Paris in a fine julienne, cut 8 sage leaves into chiffonade, slivered up half a celery root, and cubed an eggplant. Cooking the hard things first, then the muchrooms seperately, I put together what will be the base of an oyster stuffing for the quail for Sunday dinner.



Quails are little itty bitty birds, so I'll only need a couple of oysters for their stuffing. We decided to go ahead and open all but two of our oysters and enjoy them for lunch today, plus a smattering of what he had going in the kitchen on two tartines. In addition to the stuffing base, I seared some quick sliced confit duck gizzards, and then topped that with a bit of the cheese I bought today.



Translating culinary terms is very inspiring. I wish I wish I had more time to cook today. Alas, a quick lunch of oysters and cool reisling followed by tartines, and then Loic was off to the wine fair with his list in hand, and me, back to the grind.