Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook–I’m glad you’ve taken time out of your day to join me.
In Tuesday’s post, I mentioned that Mr. Stone Soup and I love to travel around France and we’ve been to Paris enough times to have “favorite” restaurants that we go back to again and again when we visit. One restaurant that we’ve been going to for years is a darling, small place run by a charming family. We’ve been going to it for so long that we have actually watched the son grow up and take over the restaurant from his parents. Since we visit only every few years, I don’t expect the owners to recognize us from visit to visit. However, the last time we went (about 5 years ago), the son did a double take when he saw us come through the door and left what he was doing to come over to greet us, saying “I do know you two, don’t I?” We laughed and said “yes! we’ve been coming here for probably 25 years and we’ve watched you grow up!” He gave us both the bises, and with a bit of mock shyness, looked at Mr. Stone Soup and said “it is ok that I kiss your wife? yes?” We were both completely charmed, and the food was as good as ever–simple, well-made with top-quality ingredients. Such is the hallmark of so many restaurants in France, and indeed, just the food in France in general: simple, well-prepared with fresh, high-quality ingredients.
This week (and probably next), I’m featuring some French food basics–mostly bistro-type food. On Monday, I shared a recipe for an omelette:
On Tuesday, I featured roast chicken:
And today, I’m featuring steak, prepared two ways. First, this bistro steak with red wine reduction sauce and oven-roasted potatoes:
I always use a cast iron skillet to sear steaks. The red-wine reduction sauce for this recipe is dead simple–just five ingredients made in the cast iron pan you seared your steak in, while the steak is resting. Be advised: make sure you are making the reduction sauce in a WELL SEASONED cast iron skillet, as the acid in the red wine will strip the seasoning off a lightly seasoned piece of cast iron.
Another lovely French preparation of steak is steak au poivre, or steak with pepper crust. This one is a little fancier, but worth the extra effort for a special dinner for someone you love. This is the dinner I usually make for one of my best friends for his birthday dinner–and trust me–it’s dinner AND a show because part of the preparation involves lighting cognac on fire! Whee!!
Serve it with hasselback potatoes or, as pictured, with zucchini boats and enjoy with a great, big, spicy zinfandel from northern California, like the ones from Ridge Vineyards.
Tune in tomorrow for another French bistro favorite–until then,
Peace, love and good food!
Keri
