A Spirited Dinner in Celebration of Café Degas’ 25th Anniversary

 Join our friends at Cafe Degas in celebrating their 25th Anniversary with a food and specialty cocktails pairing menu featuring the fine spirits of Pierre Ferrand Cognac, Citadelle and Mathilde Liqueurs. Enjoy a 6 course dinner prepared by chef Laurent Rochereux assisted by sous-chef Joe Pedroza and hosted by Hugo Chambon Rothlisberger director of sales for Cognac Ferrand.  Hope we see you there!

Date: March 22, 2011
Location: Café Degas 3127 Esplanade Avenue
Time: 6:30 PM Promptly
RSVP: 504-945-5635 or www.cafedegas.com
Price: $75.00 all inclusive

 

Amuse
Oysters on the half shell served with aged whisky gelee 
Cocktail: French 75
Prepared with Citadelle, (a Botanical recipe dating back 450 years) Sparkling Wine, Lemon and Sugar

Appetizer
Terrine of Traditional Foie Gras served with Fleur de Sel and miniature Brioche
Cocktail: Pierre Ferrand Pineau des Charentes Aperitif

Seafood Course
Coquille St. Jacques; pan seared scallop,served in an artichoke heart with red curry & coconut sauce
Cocktail: Street Car
Prepared with Citadelle, Mathilde Pear Liqueur and Lemon Juice

Sorbet
Fennel and mint sorbet garnished with Citadelle

Entree
Roasted Duck, served with a braised celery gratin, fingerling potatoes, and a peach gastric
Cocktail: Vieux Carré
Prepared with Pierre Ferrand Ambre, Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth, Simple Syrup 

& Peychaud’s Bitters

Dessert
Baba au Rhum

Cocktail: Plantation Fish House Punch

Prepared with Plantation 5 year Grande Reserve Barbados Rum, Pierre Ferrand Ambre, Mathilde Peach, Lemon juice
   

Space is limited!!
All recipes for cocktails and special pricing on all ingredients will be available for purchase

Cafe Degas' Infamous La Gratinee d'Oignon

I've been wanting this recipe for a long time, but thinking that something tasting this good would not be easily had, I never asked.  However, as I browsed the newly released Cafe Degas Cookbook, quickly looking through the soup section, there it was, their infamous La Gratinee d'Oignon.  Many nights I've sat at the small bar feasting on this hearty rich soup, savoring those soft delicious onions, chewing on the stringy melted gruyere, never wanting to get to the bottom of the bowl....

And the cookbook itself is really wonderful.  Starting with some of their signature cocktails, to amuse bouche and entrees and dessert, you'll see your favorite recipes accompanied by great photos from Sara Essex Bradley that really capture the essence and character of the place.  The cookbooks are available at the restaurant and they are having a book signing party at Cafe Degas on Wednesday February 16th.  Call Cafe Degas for more details, but in the meantime, make yourself some delicious French Onion Soup!


La Gratinee d'Oignon
from The Cafe Degas Cookbook


2 slices bacon
1 T butter
2 cloves garlic
3 medium onions
1 cup white wine
1 small bouquet garni
1 bay leaf
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup beef stock
1 T thyme
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
Toasted baguette slices
Grated Gruyere cheese

In a large pot over low heat render bacon in butter allowing fat to coat the bottom of the pot.  Add garlic and simmer lightly.  Add 1/4 of the onions and cook stirring lightly until browned.  Deglaze with white wine. Add remaining onions, bouquet garni, bay leaf, stock and cook stirring occasionally for 1 hour. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 3 hours or until onions are very soft. To serve place one slice of toasted baguette on top of each bowl of soup and the drizzle a generous amount of cheese to cover. If desired broil for one minute to melt and brown cheese.

Cafe Degas

3127 Esplanade Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70119
(504) 945-5635  

www.cafedegas.com/

Savory Bites

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The Best Gimlet in Town 

During the busy holiday season when 12 hour work days are the norm you can often find Kerry and me sitting at the bar at Cafe Degas sipping on a cocktail and resting our feet.  Nick, the sometimes cranky but always entertaining bartender, knows what we want before we even sit down, his perfectly mixed Vodka Gimlet.  So refreshing with the tart lime combined with just a touch a sweetness, it is the perfect end to a long hard day.

We went over to Cafe Degas last night to toast the end of the holiday season and I asked Nick if I could have his recipe for this blog.  But like any good bartender or cook, the recipe is not exact as it depends on how juicy or tart the limes are (fresh limes are a must), what type of vodka you use, etc.  So here's his basic Vodka Gimlet recipe, that you can adjust based on how tart or sweet you like your cocktails.  

Cheers!

Vodka Gimlet

    * 2 oz Kettle One Vodka
    * 3/4 oz Lime juice, freshly squeezed
    * 1/4-1/2 oz Simple Syrup

Combine ingredients in a shaker ¾ full of ice. Give it all a good shake, strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a twist of lime, and settle down to enjoy one of life’s tarter pleasures.
 

Dining at Degas

Cafe Degas is one of my favorite places to dine in the city. With a similar philosophy on business and life of delivering quality without pretense and working hard but having fun with something you love, there is an unforced synergy between us. With less than 25' separating our doors, the laissez-faire attitude and relaxed environment of our two businesses seems to create a natural extension of each other's space.

We have planned many events together over the years from community festivals, to fund raisers, after-jazz-fest street parties and dinners, but I find our latest adventure something different and exciting. Our upcoming wine dinner on March 18th will combine traditional Southern French cuisine with elements of molecular cooking (see my post on "The Science of Cooking") with the menu created by Chef Didier Ardoin. To better educated myself on this event, I did an interview with Didier on what inspired him to combine these two very different styles of cooking.

Q: What excites you about our upcoming dinner?
A: That owners Jacques and Jerry and Executive Chef Ryan Hughes trust in me enough to allow me to do something so non-traditional, and that I can apply all of my years of self study and practice in a really special event such as this.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for the menu?
A: From the food and styles I learned while working in Toulouse, France. Being so close to the Pyrenees, there is a lot of Spanish influence in the regional cuisine and the whole molecular cooking movement was first popularized in Spain by Catalan chef Ferran Adria at his El Bulli restaurant. So, it was a natural fit for me to combine the traditional cuisine of Southern France with elements of molecular cooking.

Q: What do you like about molecular cooking?
A: It's fun; it allows the diner to experience familiar things in an unexpected way through altering presentation, texture and deconstruction of ingredients.

Q: Looking at the menu, give us examples of the "unexpected".
A: Let's take "presentation" as an example using the amuse bouche take on a traditional Parisian dish, Poulet au Verjus. Normally it is a simple dish prepared by searing chicken and then simmering it in a tart, green grape juice. For the menu I'm creating a chicken mousseline with a grape gelee and rolled it into a chicken skin cracker and served it with a verjus caramel. You'll experience familiar flavors but in a very different way.

If we use "texture" as an example we can look at the salad course where instead of a traditional red wine dressing, I'm making a frozen granita vinaigrette.

As for "deconstruction", the dessert is a take on a traditional Bananas Foster where scalloped bananas will be coated in a dried caramel and butter powder, seared and then served with rum spheres created by reverse spherification ("cooking" a liquid in a Sodium Alginate bath) and homemade vanilla bean ice cream.


Q: What do you think is the most "unexpected" item on the menu?
A: The entremet which will be served after the entree to prepare your palate for dessert. It is called "liquid popcorn" and it will literally be a shot (non alcoholic) that will take you back to the movies as a kid eating caramel popcorn, but in a liquid form.

Thanks Didier, I can't wait!!

Find all of this intriguing? Join us on Wednesday, March 18th for our Dining at Degas dinner featuring the wine and food of Southern France with a post-modern twist! I'll have the complete menu with wine pairings in my "This Week at Swirl Wines" weekly email on Monday. If you are interested in subscribing to the email you can do so by following this link: swirlinthecity.com.