The reward for the work we got done out in the yard and garden this week was a fine lunch in a restaurant yesterday. We drove over to Montrichard and went back to the place where we had a good meal back in March. It's called La Villa. The restaurant already has its outdoor seating area set up for the summer, but we ate indoors.
This time we didn't have hamburgers. We had the restaurant's nicest menu, which is priced at 26€ and includes three courses: entrée, plat principal, et dessert. In French, the entrée is the first course, which in the U.S. we might call the starter or the hors-d'oeuvre. Mine was a Burgundian specialty called œufs en meurette.
We joked that the egg dish might aptly be called œuf bourguignon, because the meurette sauce is the same as the sauce that is served with that other Burgundian specialty, bœuf bourguignon: red wine, mushrooms, onions, and the chunks of smoked bacon called lardons.
Meanwhile, one of the main courses was a suprême de pintade — a guinea hen breast/wing piece. The pintade was served with cabbage leaves stuffed with chopped cabbage and lardons, along with some steamed potatoes and cherry tomatoes. Our friend Nick had that, and his wife Jean had a seafood brochette (below) with shrimp, salmon, and other fish, served with nice vegetables.
As our main course, Walt and I both had a slow-cooked souris d'agneau — literally, a "mouse of lamb" — which is what we call lamb shank. It's called a souris because of its plump, round shape. Problem is, in the excitement of it all I forgot to take a photo. It was falling-off-the-bone tender, and tasty. I'll have to go back and have it again sometime, and maybe get a picture.
Finally, above is one of the desserts, a tarte tatin served with a glass of crème à la vanille and a good squirt of whipped cream. Tarte tatin is a caramelized upside-down apple pie. With drinks, wine, and coffee the price of the meal was about 35€ per person. Here's a post about a lunch we had at La Villa with a group of Australian friends back in May 2012.
Another reataurant we'll have to go to when I'm in Touraine in four to six weeks. I'll have to try the [b]œuf bourguignon to see if it is better than my own œuf en meurette.+
ReplyDeleteJ'ai trouvé les œufs en meurette de La Villa vraiment délicieux. J'ai une nouvelle idée pour faire ma propre version de la recette à la maison. C'est d'utiliser les plats en inox que tu nous a donnés. Faire chauffer et même bouillir la sauce dans un des plats, et puis casser les œufs dedans. Comme ça, les blancs vont cuire dans la sauce meurette, mais les jaunes resteront moelleux comme à La Villa. J'ai demandé à la patronne du restau si elle fait des œufs en meurette tous les jours, et elle m'a répondu : Disons très souvent.
ReplyDeleteOui, c'est une excellente idée. J'ai consulté plusieurs recettes sur la Toile, et c'est ce qu'ils disent de faire. Je n'ai jamais essayé. Je poche mes œufs séparément.
DeleteMaybe it would be safer in some sort of double boiler?
DeleteI think the sauce needs to be very hot -- hotter than it would be in a double boiler -- so that the egg whites will cook quickly before the yolks start to get hard. I may be wrong. I have everything I need to try it this week. But I want to make eggs for two and I don't have two double boilers.
DeleteI've never tasted oeuf en meurette. I think I will give them a try. I have a stainless steel dish sort of like what you see in Chinese restaurants- would that work? La Villa is one of my favorite places for a virtual meal, everything looks so tasty.
ReplyDeleteHi Evelyn. The first time I had œufs en meurette was at that diner with you, Lewis, Ken, Marie and your friend at the Fontaine de Mars several years ago. Since then I tried go replicate that dish with mixed success! But I'm happy with my own version.
DeleteI remember that dinner well! Claude was the other friend, a nice person that I see on Good Reads still. Maybe poaching the eggs would be the best plan.
DeleteWasn't Linda O. there too?
DeleteAt La Villa, as you can see in my photo, the eggs en meurette were served in a frying pan that was burning hot when it was brought to the table. That's why I think the eggs were broken into a pan of hot sauce as it simmered on the stove. I'm going to try to do the same thing with the stainless steel bowls we have, thanks to CHM. The skillets we have are just too big.
DeletePut that on the list for when i'll be visiting. Can't wait!
Deleteis the crème à la vanille a "vanilla milk?" or is it really cream? like heavy cream? i love a tarte tatin. yay!
ReplyDeleteor is it a custard to eat and not something to drink?
Delete:-)
The liquid in the glass was not thick and not very sweet. It was like half and half wih some vanilla and just a little bit of sugar in it. Walt used it as a light sauce on the apple pie. i don't know if he drank what was left in the glass. i had a different dessert.
DeleteLooks yummy! I love this typically French presentation--aesthetic and careful, but not over the top.
ReplyDeleteIt was very nice. Bacon and eggs with red wine and mushrooms. What more could one ask for?
DeleteCarrots?
DeleteLOL! and onions.
DeleteLove the linden trees in the first shot (I assume that's what they are). Everything looks wonderful. MY vot is also for the oefs en meurette; I'd never evn heard of it.
ReplyDeleteLast April I took three friends to the Loire Valley and then Paris. We rented a wonderful airbnb in Faverolles-sur-Cher
ReplyDeleteand had hamburgers at La Villa. We returned the car to Orly and took a taxi to Fontaine de Mars where we picked
up the key to our next airbnb rental - two floors up. We dropped our bags and went downstairs to have a wonderful
meal at the restaurant. Small world isn't it?
After all the garden work as shown in your earlier photos, you certainly earned that lovely meal. It looks so good.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about oeuf en meurette, either, but it seems like something quite doable at home. Perhaps Evelyn will give a report?