While The Chieftains played softly in the background, chef Martin Gagne moved about the kitchen of his nearly 300-year-old home in Coventryville, preparing a traditional French country supper.
“I’m just getting my tart shells in the oven, and I have some nougat that I’m working on,” he said as his dog Hercules headed upstairs, where Gagne and his wife live.
La Maison (Un Resto des Amis), which means “the home, a restaurant of friends,” occupies the first floor “much the same that you would find in rural France.”
On July 14 from the countryside to the cities, France celebrates Bastille Day, commemorating the start of the French revolution. What better time to try a new French recipe?
“Don’t be afraid of cooking French food,” stressed chef Peter Gilmore, program director for culinary arts at Delaware County Community College. “A lot people are just intimidated by the thought of French food. They think it’s very difficult, and it really isn’t.”
He suggests coq au vin.”It’s just basically chicken stewed in red wine. It may sound fancy in French – coq au vin. It’s very simple. It’s very classic,” said Gilmore, formerly of Philadelphia’s Le Bec-Fin and Gilmore’s Restaurant in West Chester.
His latest endeavor: private cooking classes, which begin in September.
“Hands-down my favorite food,” revealed Gilmore, “foie gras.”
For chef Catherine Seisson of La Baguette Magique, a French bakery in West Chester, it’s brioche.
“You can have it with jam, or chocolate, or honey, or whatever you want,” she said, breaking off a piece and savoring it. “The only hydration of the brioche is eggs and butter. That’s all. It’s soft. It’s rich. You cannot get tired of it.”
After 23 years in the pharmaceutical industry, the Lyon native returned to school and pursued her passion for baking. Her brother is a chef, and so was her father.
“The formulas all come from France,” Seisson noted. “Everything is coming from my culture” like the creme au chocolat that she first enjoyed as a child.
“What I love about it was my grandmother was doing it for me,” she recalled with a warm smile. “It’s just something easy to do. It’s not too sugary – light, tasty. Everyone likes it. All you need is a pan and a whisk.”
Gagne’s croissants au pignons (pine nuts) also translate well for home cooks.
“It’s a very, very, old, old recipe from Provence. I usually serve them with pots de creme a l’orange,” he said. “It’s delicious. Everyone seems to go crazy when I do that.”
Back in the kitchen, Gagne, who started “in the late ’60s working with the old French masters,” folded hazelnuts, pistachios, candied orange and candied ginger into the nougat and reviewed his menu for the evening.
“The French approach has always been very systematic, very organic, very respectful,” he described.
“Given the fact that I’ve been doing this for close to 50 years now,” Gagne said with a laugh, “I tell people it’s just like politicians, buildings and old whores. You do this long enough, you just might get good at it.”
Coq au VinService for 8Ingredients
2 chickens, 2 pounds 8 ounces to 3 pounds each
Flour, as needed for dredgingSalt and pepper
2 ounces blended oil4 ounces brandy
Bouquet garni: 1 carrot stick, 4 inches
1 leek, split, 4 inches1 sprig fresh thyme
1 bay leaf6 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
24 ounces dry red wine16 ounces chicken stock
4 ounces bacon lardons18 pearl onions, peeled
10 mushrooms, medium, quartered
Beurre manie (thick paste made of equal parts soft butter and flour), as needed
InstructionsCut each chicken into eight pieces and dredge in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch braiser; brown the chicken in two or three batches. When browned, remove from pan and set aside. Remove oil from pan.
Add the brandy and ignite. When the flame dies, add the bouquet garni, garlic, wine, stock and chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover the pan and simmer until the chicken is tender, approximately 40 minutes.
In a separate pan, saute the bacon until it is slightly crispy. Remove bacon and set aside, leaving fat in pan. Add the onions and saute until they begin to brown. Leaving fat in pan, remove the onions and set aside with the bacon. In the same pan, saute the mushrooms and cook them until browned.
Remove mushrooms; place in a bowl with the bacon and onions. Remove the chicken from the pan and adjust the sauce’s consistency with the beurre manie. Strain the sauce through a china cap and adjust the seasonings. Add chicken and garnish to finished sauce to rewarm.
Recipe courtesy of chef Peter Gilmore
Creme au ChocolatIngredients125 grams (41/2 ounces) dark chocolate
500 grams (18 ounces) milk2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons starch15 grams (1 tablespoon) butter
InstructionsMix in a cup a small portion of milk with the starch. In a pan, bring to a boil the chocolate, sugar, butter, milk mixture and remaining milk. Whisk until it boils. Remove and allow to cool while whisking from time to time. Pour in serving cups. Store in fridge before enjoying.
Recipe courtesy of chef Catherine Seisson
Croissants au PignonsIngredients
21/2 cups ground almonds1 cup + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of kosher salt3 egg whites
2 cups whole pine nuts1 beaten egg
InstructionsIn a stand mixer using a paddle, combine the first three ingredients thoroughly, then add the egg whites continuing to mix at a low speed for about a minute, or so. Refrigerate the mixture for at least an hour.
Have a shallow bowl with your beaten egg and another with your pine nuts ready along with a baking sheet lined with a Silpat, parchment paper or simply greased with butter and dusted with flour at the ready.
Form the nut mixture into balls about the size of small walnuts and drop them into the bowl to coat with the beaten egg. From the egg mixture, place a ball into the bowl with the pine nuts and roll each ball back and forth generously collecting the pine nuts while shaping the ball into a small sausage shape. Form the now pine nut-encased, sausage-shaped creation into a crescent shape and place on to the baking sheet until you’ve filled the sheet.
Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 to 16 minutes until the pine nuts are a golden brown color. Allow the cookies to cool before removing from the baking sheet.
Recipe courtesy of chef Martin Gagne
Free food and fun on Bastille Day
Wave a French flag, listen to an organ grinder, break bread and sample pastries this Bastille Day during the official grand opening of La Baguette Magique, a French bakery in West Chester.
“It’s a way to thank everyone. We won’t be selling. Just celebrating and saying ‘thank you,'” explained chef and owner Catherine Seisson.
Enjoy complimentary treats on Tuesday, July 14 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at La Baguette Magique, 202 W. Market St.
