MARCO POLO

When we were in London a few weeks ago, a friend introduced me to Marco Polo tea, and this weekend was gracious enough to bring me some for home from her continued travels in France.  We enjoyed a cup of the Mariage Freres brand variety of Marco Polo together.

The tea is wrapped in individually tied french muslin tea bags.  Preparing it feels like you are doing something special and ancient.

We used these Spode mugs to drink from, which were also a gift from a friend.  Spode Blue Italian is classic, practical and elegant.  Perfect for drinking tea named for an Italian explorer.

The tea is strong and black.  It is flavored with Chinese and Tibetan fruits, but manages to avoid tasting too sweet, despite its strong sweet scent, almost like cake.  It's like tasting Venice, Persia, Afghanistan and China together in a cup.... the Silk Road of teas.

POT-AU-FEU

I had some friends over Sunday and decided to break in my new Gourmet (R.I.P.) cookbook.  The day started out cool and rainy, so I thought it would be great to try a Pot-au-Feu.  By the time I went to the butcher, it was sunny and 70 degrees.  So much for autumn stew.  In any event, the dish turned out great... and I added a marrow appetizer, inspired by St. John in London.

Pot-au-Feu

(recipe from the Gourmet Cookbook)

Serves 6-8, with leftovers for the week

5 quarts water

1 cup dry white wine

1 (3 pound) boneless beef chuck roast

3 pounds beef short ribs

Kosher salt

1 celery rib, cut into 4" lengths

1 bunch thyme

1 bunch flat leaf parsley

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon black pepper corns

1 teaspoon cloves

1 medium onion

6 medium leeks, roots left intact

2 pounds large carrots

1 pound parsnips, cut diagonally into 1" pieces

1 pound turnips, cut into 1" wide wedges

freshly ground black pepper

Combine water, wine, chuck roast, short ribs and 2 tablespoons kosher salt in stockpot and bring to a simmer. Skim froth, and reduce heat.  Keep at a bare simmer for 30 minutes.

Wrap celery, thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and pepper corns in a square of cheesecloth and tie into a bundle.  Stick cloves into onion.  Add cheesecloth bouquet and onion to pot and keep at a bare simmer for 1.5 hours.

Slit leeks to within 1.5" inches of the root ends.  Wash well and add to pot along with carrots.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Add parsnips, turnips and continue to simmer uncovered for 30-40 more minutes.

Bone Marrow and Toasts

(from the Gourmet Cookbook)

Serves 6-8

1 baguette, sliced

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 garlic cloves, halved

4 cups water, 4 cups broth from the pot-au-feu

8 pieces cross-cut beef marrow bones

While the Pot-au-Feu nears the end of its cooking, arrange slices of bread, spread with butter and sprinkled with salt and pepper, on a baking sheet.  Toast in oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  Take out of oven and rub underside with garlic.  Set aside.

Bring water and broth taken from Pot-au-Feu to a simmer and place marrow bones in pot.  Add water as necessary too just cover bones.  Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, remove from heat and keep covered in pot to keep warm.

Set the table.  Remove the meat and vegetables from the Pot-au-Feu.  Set chuck on cutting board and let sit, covered with foil, for 20 minutes.  Put short ribs and vegetables on an oven proof platter and cover with foil.  Reduce oven to 250 and put in oven to keep warm.  Pour broth through a sieve twice, then keep over low heat and add salt and pepper to taste.

Horseradish Sauce and Dijon Sauce 

(from the Gourmet Cookbook)

1/2 cup finely grated horseradish

1 8 ounce container sour cream

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and fresh ground pepper

Mix horseradish and sour cream.  Mix mustard, shallots and oil.  Add salt and pepper to each to taste.  Serve with cornichons as an accompaniment.

Serve the marrow bones in a bowl of the reduced broth/ consume with coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley and sea salt, along with the toasts for the marrow.  As the main course, serve the sliced beef chuck roast with vegetables and short ribs, a splash of the broth, and the accompaniments.  Serve with a robust Bordeaux.

PIERRE BERGE AND YSL

A book I purchased at the V&A Museum that has nothing to do with British decorative arts, but is my new favorite possession: The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge by Robert Murphy. Yves Saint Laurent and Berge spent a lifetime curating the 20th century's most impressive collection of paintings, one of a kind furnishings, curios, sculpture and rare books: their own.

After Saint Laurent died, Berge auctioned off the whole lot, wiping the slate of his life clean and at the same time rescuing the faltering high end auction world. The auction in Paris was said to be, literally, the sale of the century.

Everything they collected was special, exceptional and unexpected. The book, with vivid photography by Ivan Terestchenko showcases (some of) their residences: three in Paris, and one each in Normandy, Tangier, and Marrakesh.

Saint Laurent's cabinet of curiosities.

Levels of taste I can only hope to achieve someday.

One small aside... the preface of the book calls Saint Laurent and Berge "friends and business partners," which I am sure they were. They were also husbands who spent their lives building something truly amazing together. Let's call it what it was, please. In a related note, thanks a lot, Maine.

Images by Ivan Terestchenko via art and auction.com, artnet magazine, Harpers, Interview and artinfo.com

PRIORY IN THE LUBERON

The Luberon is not the Cote D'Azur.  Instead of glamour, yachts, and Belle Epoch villas, you get mountains, forests, farmhouses, quiet roads and, in this case, a former monastery turned into a fantastic home for Daniel Vial.  He restored and made livable this 11th and 12th century priory surrounded by the forests of the Aiguebrun Valley.  His summer living room, above, is the former chapel.  This Provence is more my speed.

The pool has been built below the priory so it doesn't disturb the harmony of the original design.

The kitchen (forgive the crease in the scan) in a newer wing carved into the hillside, is also the winter living room.  I love the idea of using a big, soaring summer room and a low, cozy winter room to alternate living from season to season.  And that fireplace is epic.

Great floor tiles, a Renaissance fireplace surround... and some sketches by da Vinci adorn the study.

The bedroom.

Look at that isolation of the bell tower in the woods.  Nothing better.

Images via WOI

JEAN MICHEL

He may not be from the south of France, but speaking of things French means I have to bring up designer Jean Michel Frank.  If you are familiar with interiors or furniture, you know his work.  If not, he is the original genius behind what nearly all of the last 10-15 years of mainstream high-end interior design owes it's inspiration.  Christian Liaigre, Armani Casa, Peter Marino, Calvin Klein Home, Jed Johnson, Jacques Grange... they all owe Mr. Frank a great, great deal.

This is an interior he did for Marie-Laure de Noailles, a notorious, eccentric client: parchment walls, straw marquetry inlay, bleached leather upholstery, perfect proportion, clean lines, super luxe materials.  How French.

He liked color too, despite what many think.  Here is the apartment he did for the Rockefellers here in New York.

That chair is lined with shagreen, which is made from stingray skin (bad) but was once made from shark skin (worse).  Jean Michel didn't know about design for sustainability.

Exotique!

If you are so inclined, read up (and pay up) here or here.

Images via 2thewalls, Christie's, AD Magazine

CROQUE MONSIEUR AND RADISHES WITH HERBED BUTTER

The food at the wedding was delicious. I bet the food outside the hotel grounds was spectacular too, but I wouldn't know, and I have guilt about it. In light of this, I have decided to try to make up for missing out on the local cuisine of the Cote D'Azur by making a couple of French classics here at home.

Croque Monsieur

(adapted from the Barefoot Contessa in Paris)

Serves 2

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1.5 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup hot milk

1 pinch kosher salt

1 bit of fresh ground pepper

1 bit of ground nutmeg

6 ounces grated Gruyere cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 slices white sandwich bread

Dijon mustard

4 ounces baked Virgina ham

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Melt butter over a low heat in a small pan, then add flour and whisk for 2 minutes. Slowly pour the hot milk into the mix and continue to whisk until thick, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat and add salt, pepper, nutmeg, two handfuls of the Gruyere and all of the Parmesan.

Toast the bread for 3-4 minutes in the oven on a baking sheet. Brush half the bread with mustard, add a slice or two of ham to each and sprinkle with another two handfuls of the Gruyere. Put the sandwich together and slather with the melted cheese sauce, then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake for 5 minutes, then put under the broiler for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned.

Radishes with Herbed Butter

Serves 2-3

1 bunch of radishes with tops on, washed

sea salt

sliced and toasted baguette

1/2 stick room temperature unsalted butter

2 teaspoons minced scallions

2 teaspoons minced dill

2 teaspoons minced parsley

1/2 of a lemon's worth of juice

1 pinch freshly ground pepper

Combine the butter, scallions, dill, parsley, lemon juice, 1 pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl and mix together. Scrape into a small serving dish or ramekin. Place the radishes on a bed of sea salt.

Serve! Enjoy with a good rose, some greens and a friend.

ILE SAINT HONORAT

One place I (sort of) actually visited was the Ile St. Honorat.  We approached by water, and I wish could have toured and spent more time.  Located just off the coast from Cannes, it is the possession of the Cistercian monastic order.  There are several different structures on the island: ruins dating from the 410 AD, when Saint Honoratus established an abbey here, as well as fortifications dating from the 11th century to the 14th centuries.  The fortifications were built to protect against the Saracen invasions.

The waterfront castle is really impressive.  Here is a better look:

Starting in 1635, when the island was captured by the Spanish, the the monk population dwindled.  After the French Revolution, it was taken by the state and sold to an actress, Mademoiselle de Sainval.  She spent summers here for 20 years.  St. Honorat was bought back by the church in 1859.

Looking back at Cap d'Antibes.

Images via Bateau Cannes, klasskleiterp's flickr, and Virtual Tourist (which is fitting, considering...)

GARDENS IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

France was incredible. The weather was great and the wedding was special beyond words. So special, in fact, that I am embarrassed to say we barely left the hotel grounds (I know, terrible). Also, my camera had some technical issues, so there aren't many photos to share. That won't stop me, however, from spending a little time focusing on one of the world's most blessed places: the Cote d'Azur. Above is an image looking out through the pine forests to the town of Antibes beyond.

Here, someone else captures the feeling a little better (my "trusty" G10 is being repaired now. I missed it badly). Watching the boats drift in and out of the harbor through the trees. It was deeply soothing.

There were also huge flower gardens. This part of France is much like Southern California in that you can grow just about anything.

Nearby is the town of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, where the Villa Ephrussi Botanical Gardens are located. Enjoy...

Someday I will go back and actually see the sights. Click here for a more extensive photo tour of the gardens by Nigel Burkitt.

Images that are not mine via Garden Web, moondreamer's flickr