Bon Appétit: French Cooking

About 35 miles and a ferry ride north of Seattle is a small town on Whidbey Island called Langley. It was the location of a fun French Cooking and B&B weekend.

After exploring the sprawling metropolis of Langley (or rather, a couple square blocks of the town), we rested up in our very pink and very flowery room at the Ashingdon Manor Bed & Breakfast. Later that afternoon, we made our way down to the huge kitchen for the Seasonal French Cooking class with Chef David Amar, a native of Aubenas in Southern France.

Below are some pictures of the incredible food as well as a recipe for one of the most amazing dishes I've ever tasted! I've also included some very cool pictures from the Earth Santuary Nature Reserve we visited during our time on Whidbey Island.

- Pre-Dinner -

Instructions in the kitchen from Chef David Amar:

Prepping the pears for dessert:

- Entrée -

Pétoncles en sauce d'hiver (scallops in winter sauce). Recipe below.

Petites salades oubliées (Pot Herbs Mini Salad).

- Plat secondaire -

Rillettes de Pore (Smooth pâté of pork).

Increbile homemade French bread.

Salade de topenambours en persillade (Sun-Chokes in parsley)

Choux raves à l'étouffée (Braised Kohlrabi)

- Plat Principal -

Daube Provençale (Classic French braised beef, red wine, and winter vegetables)

Gratins Dauphinois (Potato gratin from Dauphiné region of France)

- Dessert - 

Poires pochées auvin rouge et épices (Winter pears poached in wine and spices)

- Recipe -

Pétoncles en sauce d'hiver (scallops in winter sauce)

Ingredients:

4 cups of heavy cream

4 cups of bay scallops

1 cup of button mushrooms

1 cup of diced Bartlett pear

1 cup of smoked ham (black forest ham is best)

1/2 cup of Roquefort (crumbled)

1 tablespoon of chopped garlic

1 bunch of parsley (chopped)

Preperation = 30 min, Difficulty = medium to easy.

In stainless steel with heavy bottom or a cast iron pan, sear the mushrooms, ham and pears. When browning, deglaze with the cream and add the garlic. Reduce for a while at high temperature so the cream gets a nice ochre color then add the blue cheese. Stir a little and keep warm on very low hear.

In another similar pan, sear the scallops at high temperature and really fast, no more than a few seconds, so that the inside remains raw and tender.

Put scallops in a bowl with the parsley ad coat them with it.

Just before serving place the sauce in a ramekin and the scallops on top. This would be great as a main dish with some French bread and red wine or as an appetizer.

Other pictures (not of the menu)

STUFFED beyond belief after dinner:

Our overly pink and flowery B&B room:

Earth Sanctuary Nature Reserve:

View of the soggy sky:

One of the many rock formations:

Bethanne at one of the rock formations: