Andouillette

Ingredients :
The andouillette is spicy sausage from the Troyes region, just 150 Km southeast of Paris, in the Champagne Region. It is made of pig colon and stomach, cured and spiced. Its quality is garantied by the AAAAA, l'Association Amical des Amateurs d'Authentiques Andouillettes (friendly association of real andouillettes connoisseurs).
This andouillette recipe is a traditional recipe from the Lyon region where it is traditionaly made with veal honeycomb and pig stomach.
Andouillette Lyonnaise style for 2 :

2 Andouillettes
1 large spanish onion
A nob of butter
A tablespoon of lard
2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

Direction :
Prick your sausage with a fork on all their lenght.
In a frying pan melt down the butter add the onion finely sliced. Season well and allow to cook gently. Do not let them take any color.
Panfry your sausages until they reach a nice golden color all over. Then add the onions and 3 minutes later the vinegar (some would add a drop of white wine too).

Serve your andouillettes piping hot with a sprinkle of finely chopped flat parsley.
I suggest you serve some nice boulangere potatoe, alongside your andouillettes.

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Chicken Kebabs

Ingredients :
Procedure to make chicken kebabs,
The best way to make chicken kebabs is to cut some chicken breasts into cubes 3/4 of an inch thick.

The ideal is to marinade your chicken pieces for 24 hours before cooking them.
To do this there are some examples of marinades: soy sauce, honey, curcuma, salt, pepper and grappes seed oil.
Before grilling them, you can alternate your chicken dices with for example:

Direction :
- Chicken, red peppers, onions, courgettes (zucchini)
- Chicken, babycorn, cocktail sausages, pitted black olives
- Chicken button mushrooms, smoked pork belly, cherry tomatoes
- Chicken, candied lemons, dices of courgettes (zucchinis)

Note that these kebabs can be made with guinea fowl meat (cook a little less) or diced breast of turkey.

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Glazed Loin of Lamb

Ingredients :
Loin of lamb, glazed with red Martini. Recipe for 8 people:
8 pieces of loin of lamb of about 120g each (about 4.5 Oz)
For the vegetable stock:
1 leek, thoroughly washed.
200g carrots peeled and roughly chopped.
200g onions, roughly chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
a small bunch of thyme
1 baie leaf
4g cracked pepper
7g rock salt

Accompaniments:
500g of ceps (fresh, tinned or frozen)
400g Jerusalem artichokes, cut in small dices
2 finely chopped shallots
3 egg yolks
10 cc double cream
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Red Martini caramel:
20g caster sugar
5 cc red wine vinegar
10 cc red Martini
10g butter
1/2l veal stock

Direction :
Take a cast iron pot, place all the ingredients for the vegetable stock in, cover with some cold water. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Place your pieces of loin of lamb into the stock. Make sure that they remain covered at all time. If necessary add in a little bit of water. Cover and cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes. When done Take the lamb out and set aside on a rack.
Heat up a frying pan with a bit of cooking oil (duck fat, would be even better). Stir-fry the ceps (cut in medium size dices) until they reach a nice golden color. Season well, then add the shallots. Cook for a further 2 minutes, then strain the mushrooms and set aside.
Cook the Jerusalem artichoke in the same way.
In a salad bowl, mix the egg yolks and the cream together with some salt and pepper (you could add a little bit of cooked foie gras if you happen to have some in your fridge. It would be divine!).
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Centigrade (gas mark6 or 350F)
Take 8 medium size, individual, oven dishes and pour a bit of the egg-cream mixture. Put a layer of cooked cep, then a layer of cooked Jerusalem artichokes. Repeat the operation until te dishes are 2/3 full. Then, top up with more egg mix. Cook in the oven in a bain-marie (double boiler) for 25 minutes at a constant temperature.
Lets prepare our red Martini caramel. In a pot, place the sugar and the vinegar. Cook this mixture until it reaches the point of caramelization (until it starts to become slightly golden). Then, add in the Martini, reduce down for 2 minutes. Add the veal stock and allow to reduce for a further 2 minutes. Take your pot off the heat and whick in the butter in parcels. Keep warm in a double boiler.
Place your cooked pieces of lamb and put them on an oven tray. Increase the temperature of your oven to 210 degrees centigrade (gas mark7, 410F).
Using a small ladle, coat each pieces of lamb with a little bit of the caramel sauce. Put in the oven. Repeat the coating operation every 5 minutes for another 30 minutes. You will be able to see the lamb gradualy take a nice caramel like coloration. Note that you should have about half of the caramel sauce left over at the end of the glazing operations.
Arrangement: Take 8 nice plates (preferably white) and place one piece of glazed lamb to one side. Then, take out of its mold a cep and Jerusalem artichoke "gateau" and place it on the opposite side of the plate, put a small sprig of tarragon on the top of it. Pour a ribbon of the caramel sauce all around the inside of each plattes.
Serve with a steak knife, sit and listen to the silence in the room as everybody enjoy their red Martini glazed loin of lamb...

Note that you can cook everything the day before and have it ready "in two shakes of a lamb's tail" on the day of your party . You will just have to re-heat the lamb for 20 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade (gas mark6, 350F) covered in a cast iron pot, in the same oven put the mushroom and Jerusalem "gateaux" left in their dishes in a bain-marie for 10 minutes this time. As for the sauce, heat it up just before serving your main course or you can keep it in a double boiler until serving time.

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Beef Kebab

Ingredients :
To realise these kebabs, it is preferable to choose pieces of striploin. Dice them up and leave them to marinade for several hours before grilling them.

There are some examples of marinade for the beef:
- Red wine, red wine vinegar, chopped shallots, thyme, salt and pepper.
- White wine, cracked pepper, tarragon, bay leaf and salt.
- Grappe seed oil, thyme, bay leaf, garlic, espelette chili and salt.
- Soy sauce, red wine vinegar, coriander, sugar, honey, salt and pepper.

Then, make your kebabs alternating the following ingredients on your skewers (to choose from):

Direction :
- Beef, button mushroom, sweet onions, green and red pepper.
- Beef, chorizo, sweet onion, yellow pepper.
- Beef, onion, cocktail white pudding, green pepper.
- Beef, dice of courgette (zucchini), onion, pitted black olive.
- Beef, red onion, smoked pork belly, bay leaf.

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Pan Roasted Pork Tenderloin with a Blue Cheese and Olive Stuffing

Ingredients :
(Serving for 8)
* 3 pounds whole pork tenderloins
* Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
* 1 cup prepared olive tapenade
* 1/2 cup crumbled bleu cheese
* 3 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
* 4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 3 shallots, minced
* 1 cup dry white wine
* 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
* 2 tablespoons minced parsley

Directions :
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Make a lengthwise cut in each pork tenderloin about 3/4 of the way through. Open each tenderloin, creating a rectangular shape, and place each between two sheets of plastic wrap. Pound each tenderloin into a thin rectangle, about 1/2 to 1/2-inch thick. Remove the plastic wrap, and season each tenderloin to taste with salt and pepper on both sides.
Spread tapenade on 2/3 of each tenderloin sheet, leaving about 1/2 inch of space on the edges. Sprinkle blue cheese and thyme over the tapenade. Starting from the side with the stuffing, roll the meat firmly towards the side without stuffing, being careful not to roll so tightly that you squeeze the stuffing out. Use toothpicks or butcher's twine to secure each roll.
Heat 3 tablespoons canola oil in a large, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Lightly dredge each tenderloin roll in flour, and shake off excess. Sear the tenderloins in hot oil until golden brown on all sides, about 6 minutes.
Roast in preheated oven to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), 20 to 22 minutes. Remove the pork from the skillet, and set aside to rest in a warm place.
Return skillet to stove over medium-high heat. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil, then stir in shallots and cook until translucent, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in white wine, and boil until reduced by half, scraping the caramelized bits off of the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the Dijon mustard, honey, and lemon juice until smooth. Remove pan from the heat, and rapidly whisk in butter cubes until dissolved. Stir in minced parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, remove toothpicks or twine from the pork, and slice into 1/2-inch medallions. Serve the pork slices ladled with sauce.

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