Theme "Du Jour"
Updated: Oct 28, 2020
Ben and I love having people over, especially when we can pull together a fun themed dinner. Our first theme night we hosted in our home involved 4 of our close friends and featured a few of our favorite French dishes and drinks. When you're hosting a themed dinner, go for it! Get your playlist ready, your menu conceptualized, your wine and cocktails prepared, your table decorated and set, and don't forget a good costume goes a long way!!
Our menu consisted of:
Featured Cocktail: French 75
Featured Wines: Bordeaux, Côtes du Rhône, & Cru Borgeois
Appetizer: Charcuterie board made of French Cheeses
First Course: Homemade French Onion Soup.
Main Course: A Whole Roasted Chicken served with Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans & Stewed Vegetables (commonly known as Ratatouille but it's actually a Provencial dish called a Tian)
Dessert: Crème brûlée made with Madagascar Vanilla Beans (Ina Garten would be proud)
RECIPES:
French Onion Soup (courtesy of Fine Cooking)
Ingredients:
2 oz. (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, more for the baking sheet
4 medium-large yellow onions (about 2 lb.), thinly sliced (8 cups)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 small baguette (1/2 lb.), cut into 1/2-inch slices
2 quarts Roasted Beef Broth or lower-salt canned beef or chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 cups grated Gruyère
Melt the butter in a 4-quart pot over medium heat. Stir in the onions and season with 1 tsp salt and a few grinds of fresh cracked pepper.
Reduce the heat to low. Press a piece of foil onto the onions to cover them completely, cover the pot with a lid, and cook, stirring occasionally (you will have to lift the foil), until the onions are very soft but not falling apart, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove the lid and foil, raise the heat to medium high, and stir in the sugar. Cook, stirring often, until very deeply browned, 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the croûtes (baguette toasts), position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a rimmed baking sheet and arrange the baguette slices on the sheet in a single layer. Bake until the bread is crisp and lightly browned, turning once, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.
Add the broth and bay leaf to the caramelized onions and bring the soup to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Discard the bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, position a rack 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler to high. Put 6 to 8 broiler-proof soup bowls or crocks (mine are from World Market, linked here) on a baking sheet. Put 2 or 3 croûtes in each bowl and ladle the hot soup on top. Sprinkle with the cheese and broil until the top is browned and bubbly, 2 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Note- you can make the soup, and the croûtes separately and store in an air tight container for up to 2 days prior to serving.
French 75
Ingredients:
1 ounce gin
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
3 ounces Champagne or other sparkling wine
Garnish: lemon twist
Add all the ingredients except the Champagne into a shaker (here is a link to a super cute one!) with ice and shake well.
Strain into a Champagne flute or Coupe Glass.
Top with the Champagne.
Garnish with a lemon twist.
Roasted Chicken with buttery breadcrumbs (courtesy of Bon Appetit):
Ingredients:
1 3.5-4lb chicken
1 tbsp kosher salt
3 sticks butter (1.5 cups) unsalted, room temperature, divided
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp chopped thyme
1 cup coarse breadcrumbs (recommend challah or brioche)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1 cup water
Preheat oven to 375 degrees; Mix 1 cup butter, salt, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and thyme in a medium bowl.
Transfer mixture to a pastry bag (you can also use a ziploc bag, just snip off the corner to pipe the mixture)
Remove all of the giblets and neck from the chicken
Starting around the neck of the chicken, slide your fingers between the breast and the skin to loosen the skin. Continue this onto the thigh and legs to separate skin from the meat with out tearing.
Pipe the butter mixture under the skin on top of the breasts and use your hands to work it down over the thighs, drumsticks, wings, etc. so that everything is covered evenly with the butter rub.
Rub the outside of the skin with the remaining 1/2 cup of butter and season all over with salt and pepper.
Tie legs together with kitchen twine, transfer chicken to a wire rack and set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Place chicken in over and pour 1/2 cup of water into the baking sheet. This prevents the drippings from scorching.
Roast until the skin is a dark golden brown or when a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees in the thickest part of the thigh (approx. 45-55 min).
Rest on cutting board for at least 10 minutes before carving. Serve- Enjoy!
Ratatouille/Tian Courtesy of Chef de Home
Ingredients:
Ratatouille
1-2 cups of good quality tomato basil sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 thyme sprigs
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 egg plant
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1red bell pepper
2-3 potatoes (or sweet potatoes)
Salt/Pepper
Oil Spray
Béchamel Sauce
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Tools:
Mandolin- to evenly slice your veggies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Slice red potatoes and drop in water, boil for 3-4 minutes or until par cooked. While potatoes are cooking/cooling slice the rest of the veggies using your mandolin.
To make your Béchamel sauce warm up 1 cup of milk in sauce pan or microwave. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a sauce pan. Add 1 tbsp of flour and cook until raw flavor of flour goes away (1-2 minutes). Slowly add your warm milk (1/4 cup at a time) to the butter and flour and stir well to avoid lumps. Add all of the milk and cook until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg and set aside.
Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and spread a layer of 1 cup tomato sauce, minced garlic, thyme, red chili flakes, salt, and olive oil. Mix well and leave mixture well spread. Drizzle the Béchamel sauce on top of the red sauce and swirl it in.
Layer the sliced vegetables on top of the sauce mixture. You can layer them however you like and design your pan however you like. I prefer to swirl mine like the movie, Ratatouille! Make sure to alternate veggies so each bite is even. For quick layering you can stack them to the side and them place them in the pan.
Cover with parchment paper and bake for 55-60 min or until all the veggies are tender. The tomato sauce should bubble on the sides.
Let cool for 5 minutes and serve! Goes great with a crusty baguette to scoop the sauce.
Crème brûlée (courtesy of Martha Stewart)
Ingredients
4 cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup sugar + 2 tbsps, divided
7 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water
Kitchen Torch
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp, and 3/4 cup of sugar into a medium saucepan set over medium heat, stirring occasionally until bubbles start to form on the edge of the pan. Do not boil. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside.
Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl; while whisking constantly, slowly add hot cream mixture to egg yolks. Continue whisking until smooth. Strain custard mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large liquid measuring cup; discard solids.
Place six shallow 7-ounce ramekins in a roasting pan; transfer roasting pan to oven. Fill each ramekin to the top with custard mixture. Add enough hot water to baking pan so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until custard is set and trembles slightly when shaken, about 40 minutes.
Remove ramekins from water bath and transfer to a wire rack; let cool for 30 minutes. Transfer ramekins to refrigerator and let chill for at least 4 hours and up to 3 day
To serve, sprinkle each ramekin of custard with 1 tablespoon remaining granulated sugar. Using a kitchen torch held 4 to 5 inches from the surface, melt sugar using a slow and even motion, until sugar is caramelized. Serve immediately.
What will you next theme night be?
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