Oh , l'amour d'une mère , amour que nul n'oublie!
Pain merveilleux qu'un Dieu partage et multiplie!
Table toujours servie au paternel foyer !
Chacun en sa part, et tous l'ont tout entier !"
-Victor Hugo
(Translation
oh, a mother's love, a love that no one forget, a wonderful bread that God shares and multiply, table always served the paternal home, each has his own share and all have a whole)
Last Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day in France. I know we are two weeks late compared to the rest of the world (are we?). And I have absolutely no idea why. So please don't ask me:-). Nonethelless, I was happy that I finally feasted my first mother's day. My husband offered me the two cookbooks I've been salivating for months now (I'll be posting about it probably this week) and I am so excited to start cooking from this book. But the biggest happening last weekend was the dinner party I organized for my mom-in-law. I took that opportunity to show my gratitude to her for all the wonderful things and all the love she's been giving me all this time. I always find it difficult to think what to buy as a gift for special people in our life for most often they already have all the material things they want and needed. And that was the case for my mom-in-law. So I just opted for something different. I concocted a very special dinner for her and I made a short movie of gratefulness (that's the reason I was quite busy the past few days, pardon me for not having a lot of time to drop by at your blog :-) ).
Just to give you an idea of what I served, here is the menu:
Apperitif:
Amuse-bouche of Southern Flavor (mini canapés, mini-croissant and crostini all garnished with flavors of home-made sundried tomatoes, grilled red pepper and sausages) served with Tropical Cocktail (mixture of fresh juices of mango, bananas, pineapple mixed with lychee liquor)
Seared Scallops with Duo Tartar of Mango and Asparagus, accompanied by an organic salad
Main Course
Roasted porc in wild thyme and rosemary served with orange butter sauce, accompanied by millefuille of gratin dauphinois and creme of artichokes
Dessert
Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Chantilly and orange salad in cannelle and mint
(adapted from Pierre Herme)
Dacquoise
90 of hazelnut powder, 100 g of hazelnuts (you can replace this with any nuts you like), 100 g of icing sugar, 3 white eggs, 30 of granulated sugar
Preheat the oven at 165° celsius and grill a lit bit the hazelnuts. Let it cool and chop them evenly. In a separate bowl whisk the egg until it becomes stiff and little by little the granulated sugar. In another bowl combine the hazelnut powder with icing sugar, mix evenly; fold in this mixture into the whisked egg. Spread it over in a parchment paper about 1.5 cm thick . Sprinkle on the top the chopped hazelnuts. Bake it at 150° celsius for 20 to 30 minutes. Let it cool then cut it the shape you want.
Praline
100 g of crepe dentelle (any thin biscuit)
50 g of butter
40 g of chocolate
Crush the crepe dentelle using a rolling pin. Melt the butter and chocolate in bain marie. Mix evenly. Incorporate the crushed biscuit; spread this evenly on the top of the dacquoise. Put them in the fridge.
Chocolate Cream Chantilly
40cl of heavy cream
240 g of chocolate milk (you can use any type of chocolate)
Boil the heavy cream in a casserole. Cut the fire then add the chocolate. Mix evenly then put in the fridge for minimum of three hours. With the aid of electric beater, beat the mixture to make your chantilly. It will normally thicken after about five minutes of constant beating provided that the mixture is very cold. You can add an ice cube to facilitate the task. Spread over the chantilly over the cake.
18 comments:
what a beautiful way to thank your mother-in-law and happy 1st mother's day to you too :)
K&S, thanks :-)
Dhanggit, the last photo really captures the photo well, may I have an espresso with it please?
'Dear' Dhanggit, happy belated 1st Mother's Day too you and how wonderful for your mother-in-law too, you are so sweet :)
Just adore your cake it is crying out for me to take a bite *smile*
Rosie x
Your first Mothers Day. Thats so special. And then you honoryour motherin law with your fabulous food. You are so gifted.
Dhanggit I am drooling here. Reading your menu is sheer torture!:D
Did you take photos of the amuse bouche? I just adore mini everything.:)
BTW, you are a wonderful daughter-in-law.
Beautiful pictures Dhanggit and the menú mmmmmmmmm!! wonderful, I only heard about Pierre hermé I have a Spanish friend that make wonderful treats always talk about him!!! This look lovely.xxxxxI how to know this Hermé!!! (the recipes) Gloria
You can open your own restaurant with the menu and all the divine desserts!
Awesome!
Happy first mother´s Day. What a menu, your mother in law must be love this.I use chocolate cream chantilly to made some kind of sweet terrine I love the combo and the picture is truly elegant
Brilliant! Such a perfect way to say someone you love her, and what a wonderful menu. Happy Mother's day to you. :)
I never knew France celebrated Mothers Day two weeks later! Thanks for the info. Now if I can't get my Mom her gift in time, I'll blame it on the French and tell her she'll have to wait 2 more weeks! ;)
This is Mothers Day fine dining at it's best! The menu looks a...b...s...o...l...u...t...e...l...y beautiful!!!
I'm feeling awfully bad now. We took our mom out to a Thai buffet restaurant!
I always admire your photo presentable skill,very unique.Your menu look good:))
Lovely photos!
Who care when we have Mother's Day, as long as we have it, because mothers ......what more can I say than: "They are so special!"
You have out done yourself with this menu and the sweet treats on your site makes me fat just looking at them.
PeterM, i agree with you this cake is perfect with an expresso :-)
Rosie, thanks, i feel so proud and happy everytime someone greets me !!
Glamah, thanks, i have no other means to express my gratitude to her but through this i guess :-)
Oggi, thanks, nope unfortunately the guests ate them in seconds before i took the photos..but i will redo the recipes and post it :-)
Gloria, I have a book of Pierre Herme, i'll probably post one recipe from him once a month for you :-)
tigerfish, i dont think i have the strength to cook for a lot of people..its gonna be hard but thanks for the compliment
Sylvia, hello sylvia, thanks so much
Suzana, thank you !!
White on rice couple, hahaha im sure your mom loved the thai buffet treat. you can reserved for her bday your big cooking treat ala diane & todd style :-)
Beachlover, thanks , im blushing with all these compliments :-)
Sunshinemom, thanks
Nina's Kitchen, i agree with you, if only we can celebrate mother's day everyday :-)
Not only it looks fantastic and delicious. It's so very well plated. And the whole menu for Mother's day is stunning as well :-) Again BRAVO!!!!
dacquoise is so lovely indeeed!
I am tempted to go at your place and try this yummylicous dacquoise! I am sure when open a resto it would be a success !
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