So proud
- rosemary
- Oct 6
- 3 min read
Last night we were invited to dinner - yet again - by my younger son. I think it was because David is going into hospital tomorrow for an op, which is certainly well above a one day procedure, but also well below a major operation - brain surgery, open-heart surgery, etc. Serious enough to worry mildly about, but not really serious enough to make a big deal of it.
Anyway in addition to being invited to dinner - usually pizza or pasta, we had an entirely French meal, cooked by my son himself, with no help from the rest of the family even though his wife is an excellent cook, and the children are not bad either.
In a word it was superb - or I should say 'superbe' and it made me so proud - mostly of the thought and care of the whole exercise, but also of the fact that someone basically disinterested in food when he left home at the age of 18, maybe 19, to could produce such a perfectly executed French meal.
He confessed that French cooking was not easy - which is marginally unfair because it can be -like any cuisine. It's just that he chose classics and he chose to make them properly, not in a cheating kind of way.
This will be a brief post because there is not much to say really other than wow and thank you so much Dom - but I couldn't just let it go by without at least a brief mention. So course by course - and honestly I could not say that any one course was better than the others - and with apologies for my terrible photographs. They do not do justice to the food.
French onion soup.
Complete with the toasted bread topped with melted cheese and some thyme. The bread was crisp at the edges, even when dunked in the soup below.
And the soup - to die for. I do not know whose recipe he used for this or anything else. I should have asked, but the onions were perfectly caramelised and the broth was rich. Was there brandy in there? It must have been vegetarian however, because of his oldest daughter.
Bœuf Bourguignon, Gratin Dauphinois and Haricots Verts
Apologies to the haricots verts which I forgot to photograph - they were just perfectly buttery and al dente. Bœuf Bourguinon - magnifique. It had obviously been made with love, with a suce .that was jsut the right consistency. My vegetarian granddaughter had to decline of course, and went for the gratin, the beans, and also, I think - some more soup. Apologies also to the gratin dauphinois photograph, because I forgot to take a photo when it was placed whole on the table, and so it looks a bit messy here. I was too busy going ooh and aah. Again - perfection - potatoes just right, not a mush as mine often are, and just the right touch of garlic in the background. Every component of our main course was perfect including the green salad which I ate, as the French do, after having consumed the rest. It was all so - well French.
By now we were well filled so we all decided to forego the cheese course.
Tarte au citron
I think this is my son's favourite French dessert, and this too was to die for. Sharp, but not too sharp, with pastry that was just right. David was asking me how did he do it on the way home.
The wine was brought by us - the Aldi Loire Valley Cabernet Franc rosé that I wrote about a while ago. Inadvertently we had brought the right wine and a French one at that.
So thank you so much Dom - and also to his family who played their part as waiters, tidiers and souschefs - the latter probably more than we realised. Such a generous and thoughtful thing to do.
So proud.
YEARS GONE BY
October 6
2024 - Those old posts
2023 - A-Z
2020 - Missing
2018 - Rocket
2017 - Mellow yellow
2016 - Hot lavender
Five Star is what the meal deserves, served in a 5 Star house with a 5 Star family. Lucky us! 😍👍
How wonderful for you both 👏👏