American flags still dot the house and garden, happy little reminders of a great July 4 party, great values, great burgers. Now there’s a French flag in the mix, for two reasons this year. First LES BLEUS made it into the finals of the World Cup! Yay! (It is impossible not to get involved in the hysteria when the café across from the house literally closed the main street as it filled with hundreds of screaming fans and there was yelling, honking, and dancing in the streets until midnight!). And Bastille Day is around the corner.
Bastille Day is an anomaly, culinarily speaking. There is no traditional dish, no set menu, no gastronomic protocol. If there were, I’d know it because every year I take a poll of whomever is around me, and the answer is always the same. No menu. No dish. Bastille Day isn’t about the food. It’s about the fireworks, the drink, the singing, the revelry, and lots, and lots of noise. As if there were a revolution going on.
Through observation, however, I have determined that there actually is a tradition which is, as yet, undocumented by my French compatriots. It involves côte de boeuf. My neighbor Stephan, the best butcher in town, is run ragged this year and cote de boeuf tops his sales. Sausages of every kind are right up there too, but we’re not concerned with those here.
As you plan your menu, I highly recommend you center it around côtes de boeuf. It’s elegant, it’s simple, it’s fast to grill, and it makes everyone happy and tolerant, because they’re happy it’s summer and there is a big côte de boeuf on the grill. All you have to do to grill q perfect version is let the meat come to room temperature while your coals heat up. Once they’re ready, lightly oil the meat and put it on the grill. Sear it, turn it, sear it and you’re done. If you want to cook it longer you may, but the true French style is to serve it juicy and rare.
Once it’s off the grill, season it with a hailstorm of coarse grey salt and pepper. After 10 minutes it’s relaxed and ready to be thinly sliced. It will be vivid red, so juicy, bursting with flavor. (page 127 FRENCH GRILL for details) Miam, miam!
Theoretically, one côte de boeuf feeds eight (my butcher says four, but he’s got a vested interest). What to serve with it? Follow my suggestions and you’ll have the most successful Bastille Day party ever. And if you want to be very, very French, plan fireworks, and then a “bal”for afterwards. That’s what everyone here will be involved in. Watching the incredible fireworks then dancing the night away in town squares throughout the country.
For amuse-bouches, along with the very typical chips and peanuts, I suggest Sweet and Salty Almonds (page 31 FRENCH GRILLl)
Tomates Provençale because beef heart tomatoes are so good now they make you want to cry, and when you season them with herbes de Provence and bread crumbs you will cry (page 52-53 FRENCH GRILL)
Grilled new potatoes (page 196-197 FRENCH GRILL) will accompany the côte de boeuf, which will be followed by a big green salad and a big plateau de fromage, cheese platter.
As for dessert? It might be ice cream, it could be chocolate mousse, it is often a seasonal fruit tart. For me this year, it will be all-American s’mores. I know. I know. It’s a French fête. But when you’re an expat and a cook and have lived with your kids in a French town for a long time, you have a lot of leeway about what you can bring to a party. And since I have a freshly made batch of marshmallows (thanks to David Lebovitz who gave me the recipe) and some chocolate chip cookies I baked entirely on the grill to see if it could be done (it can!), I decided to make my version of s’mores.
I know it’s not traditional. And if anyone asks I’ll mention that it isn’t. But no one will, because they’ll be too busy enjoying this strange and wonderful Franco/American dessert after a luscious French meal.
Tips: to bake the cookies on a gas grill, turn on two burners and heat the grill to 400F. Put the cookies in the grill, making sure the burner under them is turned OFF, and bake for 12 minutes. Easy.
To make s’mores: place baked cookies on a baking sheet, top each with a piece of marshmallow, place in the grill which is still at 400F, and bake for 5 minutes OR until the marshmallows are golden and soft. They won’t dribble like a commercial marshmallow. they just get gorgeous and sticky and soft and yummy.
I will be teaching you, among other things, the finer points of the FRENCH GRILL in my Louviers class in September.
Happy Bastille Day! Happy Independence from Oppression! Happy Grilling to you all!
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