Bite Me!

People are always asking me what I eat for Christmas dinner - well, maybe not always, but fairly often around Christmas time!  So here's the answer for this year - roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas, honey & mustard parsnips, stuffing and veggie gravy.  OK, so it's not the most sophisticated-looking plate of food, but it's reeeaaalllly good.  And (ssh!) surprisingly healthy.

I'm especially proud of the vegetarian gravy, which has a really intense flavour and is very easy to make.  You will need:

boiling water

marigold vegetable stock

Marmite

Tabasco

red wine or sherry

Worcestershire sauce

soy sauce

porcini (optional)

Method

 Very easy - simply mix a dollop of everything together in a saucepan and gently reduce down for about ten minutes.   I haven't put amounts down since I just chuck everything in and then see how it tastes.  If using the porcini, soak them in a mug of warm water for ten minutes before you start, and then add both the mushrooms and the water to the saucepan.  Sieve the mushrooms out before serving.  If you want thicker gravy rather than a jus, add a little flour or cornflour to the mixture and whisk to get rid of lumps. 

This is so good my sister even prefers it to normal gravy...

Wanting to start my Paris trip off with a bang, we decided to start off our culinary adventures with a lunch at Les Bouquinistes, a lovely restaurant on the banks of the Seine.  It is run by celebrity chef Guy Savoy (think a French Gordon Ramsey), who holds three Michelin stars for his main restaurant, also situated in Paris. 

Les Bouquinistes is a more modest establishment, with equally modest prices - the set lunch menu was a mere €29 for three courses, plus a glass of wine and coffee.  The restaurant itself is contemporary yet comfortable, with artfully exposed brickwork and modern artwork on the walls.  The ground floor, where we ate, was filled with light from windows on two sides of the room, making it an excellent choice for a lunch venue (there's nothing more depressing than being shown into a basement for lunch on a lovely sunny afternoon).

On to the food. For the starter I chose a tartine of tomatoes and green beans with goat's cheese, served beautifully in a Martini glass.

This was absolutely sublime.  The tartine itself was a subtle compound of the finely chopped tomatoes, tiny new green beans, chives and olive oil, topped with croutons for a bit of bite and surrounded by the fresh goat's cheese, which had the texture of yoghurt and a fabulous tangy taste.

 For the next course, I had to order off-menu, as none of the options were vegetarian.  I was a little nervous about this, given that vegetarianism is still uncommon in France, but I needn't have worried.  They said that they would put something together, and this is what I got:

A plate of young broad beans, carrots, mushrooms, cauliflower, preserved lemons and grilled aubergines, simply but perfectly cooked.  The sauce was a lemon froth, which was buttery and rich yet light, so as not to overpower the delicate flavour of the spring vegetables.  I was very impressed.

I'm not sure why, but I went for an English classic for pudding - apple crumble. The apple, as I was coming to expect, was perfectly cooked, tender but still retaining its shape. The crumble itself was a little too hard for my taste, but the custard couldn't be faulted, and the coconut ice-cream on the top added an interesting twist to an old favourite.

As you may have gathered by now, I loved this restaurant.  The service was swift and friendly: the staff tolerated my halting French and we tolerated the fact that they kept trying to give us each others' meals.  And the location is perfect - after lunch we strolled down to the Seine and lazed in the sun for a while, feeling very contented. 

I will definitely be going back.

Les Bouquinistes, 53 Quai des grands Augustins, 75006 Paris.  For reservations call 0033 143 254 594 or book online here