Paris Fridays: Au Levain D' Antan

Every year there is a baking competition across France for the top baguette in the country. The bakery that wins this distinction is able to provide their baguettes to the French government for a year! We trekked out to Au Levain D' Antan in Montemartre to try the 2011 winner and boy was it worth the trip. 

The baguette was perfectly crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy in the center. We were so delighted with our first baguette that we returned to purchase another to take back to our place for a midday snack with cheese. If you can imagine the little mouse from the movie, Ratatouille, holding the baguette and listening for the delicate crackle of the crust, that was us outside of the adorable little bakery. 

Have a fun-filled weekend! 

Paris Fridays: La Pistacherie

If you ever find yourself in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, this would be a great location to purchase gifts for loved ones at home. La Pistacherie is a beautiful little shop offers a delectable assortment of roasted and flavored nuts. The flavors range from cheese and chocolate covered to curry and spicy seasonings. They allow you to sample all of the nuts so you can have a little fun tasting everything.

What actually drew our taste buds was the case of beautiful ice cream filled mochi in a wide range of flavors such as mango, pistachio, lychee, raspberry, chocolate, etc. They also allowed us to sample these delicious flavors and we walked away with several to eat along our walk around the neighborhood. 

What are your favorite gifts to purchase for friends and family while traveling? 

Happy weekend everyone! 

Paris Fridays: L' Auberge du Louvre

escargot

pâté

beef bourguignon

sorry, i don't remember what this was

In our week in Paris, we found that many of the bistros or brasseries offered affordable and delicious Prix Fixe menus. We spent a long day walking around the Louvre and stumbled upon L' Auberge du Louvre on our walk home. The location was packed with both locals and tourists in addition to offering some warmth from the evening chill. The menu was hearty and filling, perfect for warming the toes and the taste buds. 

The pâté was delicious and so was the beef bourguignon. The Husband's entree was something very creamy and cheesy with vegetables and meat inside. It was good, but somewhat too heavy for the type of meal we were having. All in all a decent experience for an "off guidebook" meal and good value for the price. 

Hope you have an adventurous weekend! 

Dining in Raleigh, NC - Waraji

fun and interactive sushi chefs

fried squid appetizer

chirashi bowl

young hamachi and toro nigiri, spider roll

nabeyaki udon

The Husband would be Japanese if he had a choice and could survive on a diet of only sashimi and rice. Therefore we are always on an unending search for the freshest and tastiest Japanese restaurants in any city. Unfortunately, we had been very disappointed by the Japanese restaurants in the area. None of them seemed to offer sashimi that was fresh enough and prepared the traditional way. 

We are happy to announce that our search may have ended with our recent trip to Waraji. This restaurant has a great selection of sashimi, sushi, and non-raw offerings. The Husband had the Chirashi, which he described as fresh and quite filling. He also ordered young hamachi and toro nigiri, both of which were also quite good. The appetizer and my nabeyaki udon were also so flavorful and delicious. We will definitely be making our way back here again and again (... and again). 

Happy July 4th and hope you spend it with people you love! 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Our neighbors have a thriving garden with tomatoes and zucchinis, which they graciously share with us once various items ripen. We were lucky to receive 2 zucchinis from them a few days ago, which prompted me to try this recipe. (I thought there was vanilla in the recipe, hence its inclusion in the picture, but there wasn't!) 

This recipe was tweeted by the Food Network and it was only until later did I realize it was Paula Deen recipe. This often means two things: too much sugar and too much fat. However, since this recipe did not have butter (her usual poison), I decided to give it a try. (I included the parchment paper lining suggestion because both of my loafs got stuck on the bottom despite using non-stick spray.)

When I attempt new baking recipes, I usually try to follow it exactly to see if it is worth making and then proceed to make substitutions for health reasons for future attempts. I will definitely be cutting the sugar and making some substitutions for the oil in the future with this recipe. However, I must say that this recipe is quite good. The result was moist and tender bread that conveniently hid the fact that it was vegetable based. The Husband made 2 slices disappear within minutes, so I guess he liked it too! 

* If you read the 842 reviews, you'll find many suggestions for substitutions for sugar and oil. 

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups grated zucchini

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans or chocolate chips 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prep 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, and line bottom of pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. 

3. Mix wet ingredients into dry, but don't over mix. Add nuts/chocolate chips and fold in. 

4. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick/skewer comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.

5. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 20 minutes. Then remove from pan and cool completely. 

Hope you have a great Monday!