Here I am again with my Michelin quest, this time in the beautiful city of Bordeaux. Le 7 is the newest member among the eleven Michelin star restaurants in the city. Eleven! Houston doesn’t even have one. Anyhoo…that’s another talk for another time. The Michelin rating system is just so….complicated.
Le 7 Restaurant Panoramique is inside Cite du Vin, which is a marvel in itself as a museum of wine.
Speaking of marvel – the building has no corners; just curves. It is supposed to invoke the swirling of wine onto a glass
On the 7th floor is the restaurant, with its panoramic views of the city. The interior is spacious with really good decor.
The greatest thing about being in this city is that ALL restaurants have marvelous wine menus by-the-glass.
Here’s D with his 2013 MargauxHere’s my Mandarin Imperial – Champagne, Grand Marniere and mandarin juice.Filet Steak “Blonde D’ Aquitaine” – sauce is a Bordeaux wine reductionCuttlefish glazed in Ginger and Lemon Grass – it is set on top of confit pork and wakame seaweed pestoDessert is a chocolate sphere with chocolate gelato and some gold-sprinkled macadamia nuts. I hope I didn’t pay too much for the gold because I cannot taste it.We paired the dessert with this lovely Armagnac then lots of coffee to sober us up.
Surprisingly, Michelin dining here is not atrociously-priced compared to the Michelin restaurants back in the US. The whole meal, with all those drinks, was south of a 100 euros. This emboldens me to try another one tomorrow!
If you don’t barbecue and set off fireworks during 4th of July, are you even an American? I’m just borrowing this catch-phrase for the day that is all over social media. But seriously though, how is this possible when Houston has been seeing rains non-stop? I saw the forecast a couple of days ago so I deferred from buying my tomahawk steaks because I did not want to grill in the rain. I decided to cook lobsters instead.
If you have an Asian store nearby, get your lobsters there. I got mine from Ranch 99 at $10 per pound. The same ones are $14.99 at HEB and much more miserable and sick-looking. I got 4 lobsters even if there’s only 3 of us. The 4th is my back-up.
Being a chef-wanabe, I am cooking it three ways.
First, Steamed Lobster and Corn.
I just realized that I left my big pot in Fredericksburg so I am cooking in two batches.
Have 2 inches of water in a pot, put 2 ears of corn, cover until lobsters are bright red (about 15 minutes). Cover your ears as you will be hearing them scream. I researched this and was comforted by the fact that they don’t have vocal cords. The “screaming” is some sort of gas escaping its cavities. I was comforted knowing that the lobsters were not screaming, just farting. Let that sink in.
Done!!!Take the meat out from the body cavity, brush with butter, do the same with corn. Add some lemon.
Save the claw meat and carcass as you will be needing it for the two other dishes.
Second Dish is Maine-Style Lobster Rolls.
I used Avocado Mayonnaise because Tom Brady said so. Seriously. We have his book, I read it there somewhere so when I saw a jar at Whole Foods, I ditched the regular mayo. In that 2 seconds I placed the jar in my shopping cart, I felt like Giselle Bundchen.
To the mayo, add chopped celery, lemon, salt and pepper, and a bit of chives. Mix in the chopped lobster meat. Assemble in a bed of lettuce on top of a toasted brioche bun.
Third Dish is Lobster Bisque.
Put the lobster shells from tails, claws, knuckles and legs in a big pot and add 5 cups of water. Simmer for 5 minutes then strain.
In a large saucepan sauté half an onion and one stalk of celery until soft. Add half a cup of tomato paste then half a cup of sherry. When bubbling, add 1/3cup of uncooked rice, 1 tsp thyme, salt and pepper, a bay leaf. Add lobster stock. Simmer for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes then transfer to blender. When smooth, add juice of one lemon and a cup of heavy cream.
I still had a lot of left-over lobster meat so I mixed it in.
There was a slight bitter after-taste which I soon found out was caused by a head of one lobster that I thought i discarded. Google told me that I can offset this by adding more lemon. It worked!
So that makes our 4th of July spread. Everything cooked indoors while watching the news of other areas of the city that are starting to flood. Hopefully, the rain will stop soon. For the meantime, we pause and give thanks for being in this great country that made our dreams come true. Happy Independence Day y’all!
