Chef Jacques' August Newsletter

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Greetings,

This month I am happy to announce that L'Auberge Chez Francois has been designated a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. My father has always paid special attention to the grounds here at the restaurant, and we're very proud to have earned the distinction. To celebrate this partnership, I'm hosting a special demonstration and fundraiser for the NWF on September 12 at 11:00am. You can click here to email the NWF for more details or phone (703-438-6231).

I will be posting my fall schedule cooking classes and special events soon. With all the weddings and other private bookings this year, there have not been many dates for me to schedule my regular cooking classes at the restaurant. I'll be hosting some off-site classes in the coming months though, so stay tuned for more details.

If you have not visited the restaurant since we opened the terrace for the season, I highly recommend you pay us a visit. Reservations are not required outside for lunch or dinner, so stop by on any sunny day to eat outside. You will see that we really do have a wildlife habitat here, from the fish pond to Papa's herb garden; there is lots to see outside at this time of year.

The hot weather has been good for growing herbs here on the property, in particular warm-weather loving basil. We've had a bumper crop. Basil as we know it was probably cultivated first in India, and then in ancient Egypt, before being introduced into European cuisine. The herb was originally valued in ancient cultures for its supposed medicinal and spiritual properties, rather than a flavoring in cooking. Basil was used in the embalming process in ancient Egypt and the Greeks added it to bath water to "strengthen the nerves." Basil continues to be part of some Hindu religious traditions and Holy Basil (a specific basil variety) is cultivated around Hindu temples.

Here, at our temple to French cooking, we use basil in our seasonal tomato salad. I've included the recipe below. Local tomatoes are at their peak this time of year. Enjoy.

Love begins in the kitchen,

Chef Jacques

Chef Jacques Recipe of the Month

Alsatian-Style Tomato Salad
Serves 4

4 ripe tomatoes
1 head of Boston or Bibb lettuce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sugar (optional, use it if tomatoes are not fully ripe)
4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
4 tablespoons finely minced scallions
2 teaspoons finely chopped basil
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons prepared vinaigrette

Wash the tomatoes and lettuce, drain both well. Make a bed of lettuce on four individual salad plates. Remove the stems and thinly slice the tomatoes. Fan out the tomatoes over the lettuce.

Season the tomatoes with a pinch of salt and pepper, and sugar, if desired. Top each tomato with 1 tablespoon onion, 1 teaspoon scallions, 1/2 teaspoon basil and 1/2 teaspoon parsley. Pour 1/2 teaspoon vinegar and 1 tablespoon vinaigrette over each serving.