Formal Dinner Party

For our last evening together, Lydie threw a dinner party.  We began with the Chateau Mont-Redon Cotes-du-Rhone Village Rose that I bought yesterday and the little potato bread wedges we made at lunch.

  

Then we moved out into the garden to enjoy the tomato-olive-gruyere tart that we also made earlier.  Lydie told us that she created this recipe for a dinner she hosted for Julia Child and named it Tart Nyonssaise after her village.


 

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Sarah's husband John also joined us for dinner this evening along with another American couple, whom bought a house in town and were in Nyons for the month before returning toCalifornia.

 

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Tonight, Lydie set out place cards with assigned seating and created a formal atmosphere.  We dined on a truly spectacular bouillabaisse. Tonight, I learned that the soup base for a true Bouillabaisse can only be made with very specific fish; Rascasse in particular as well as John Dory, Virelle and Bouboeuf.  Each of these fish live close to the rocks in the LACE w:st="on">MediterraneanLACE> and fishermen can only catch them in good weather (as they will not fish so close to the rocks in storms).


 

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For dessert, we made a Galette Aux Pommes-Pate Feuilletee, otherwise known as an apple galette.  I was glad to make this dessert because I have made it at home many times and did know what the correct dough was.  I previously used piecrust dough, but it came out too dense.  Lydie taught us how to create a mock-puff pastry that we used as the base.  We then sliced the apples paper-thin on the mandolin, swirled them inside the round pastry, folded the edges over and brushed the whole thing with warm jam.

 

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I will be sorry to leave this beautiful place tomorrow and treasure my last night here.

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