Get Your French On...

While I was on vacation last fall, I took three books with me to read.  "Setting The Table" by Danny Meyer, "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain (finally) and one "chick" book, "Julie and Julia" by Julie Powell. Each of these books feature three extremely different personalities however, they all have one thing in common... They were very passionate about perfecting the French technique of cooking. Danny Meyer, is the highly successful entrepreneur with a love of food, Anthony Bourdain "the rebel" who was the former head chef of Les Halles and Julie Powell, amateur cook obsessed with Julia Child who struck gold by blogging and recreating Child's recipes in "Mastering The Art of French Cooking".

 All three of them had a dreamy way of describing about French cuisine. I was intrigued to read their stories of how French cooking  inspired them so I decided to try and find the best French cooking class in NYC.

AG and I had taken a "Some Like It Hot" spicy cooking class at ICE. Not that we particularly had the urge to learn how to cook spicy dishes, it just so happened that the class happen to fall on an evening that was convenient for both of us. The class was was taught by a "happily married couple" who loved to cook. I was horrified when we got to the class that:

A. there were about 30 people in the class. How were we supposed to learn anything?

B. the "happily married" couple that taught the class kept arguing in front of us. It was like being trapped at a friend's house during a sleepover and overhearing their parents fighting... Awkward!

Though, ICE had plenty of options for classes, it was out of the running because I really wanted to learn and didn't feel I could in a huge class.  After doing some research, I discovered the Miette Culinary Studio in Greenwich Village.  What I liked about the class is that it only has12 students in each session and the menu looked divine.  The Saveur class would instruct us on how to make Gougères, Salade des Moines, Poussin Vallée d’Auge, Gratin Dauphinois  and Soufflé au Chocolate. Each student also gets a one year subscription to Saveur and a tote bag.

Chef Paul, who instructed the class, was straight out of a Parisian movie. He was tre French with a dry sense of humor and extra attentive in helping the ladies. I took the class with a girlfriend of mine who doesn't eat red meat and was excited to take a French class with chicken as the entree.  I finally learned how to make gougeres, a Gruyere cheese puff whose versatile dough could also be used for profiteroles.  It's a bit dangerous that I can make these at home, considering how many of these I've eaten in one sitting at Artisanal. Chef Paul was extremely patient and really was adamant about us learning the techniques the right way. For example, adding the eggs one by one into the pate choux  is key and to only use cream and milk (no cheese!) for the Gratin Dauphinois. He would demonstrate a bit and then he would have us do the rest. It was very hands on and we learned so much! I highly recommend taking a class there. I've already been scouring their catalogue to figure out another one to take.

 Below is the recipe for Gratin Dauphinois that is easy and will wow any of your guests at your next dinner party.

Gratin Dauphinois

2 lbs. large russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (preferably with a mandolin)

1 1/4 cups whole milk

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Freshly grated nutmeg (use lots of nutmeg!)

1. Preheat oven to 275°. Arrange potatoes in slightly overlapping layers in an 8-cup gratin or baking dish. Mix together milk and cream in a bowl, then pour over potatoes to just cover. Bake for 1 hour

2. Remove pan from oven and generously season top of potatoes with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Return pan to oven and bake until liquid is thick and bubbling and top os golden brown, 1-1 1/2 hours more.