Smoked pork and homemade roasted chili verde get married to combine a heart warming sure to spice things up! Check out the recipe!
Submitted by Megan Link
The Housewife in Training Files
Potluck: Smoked pork chili verde
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Daily Archives: October 16, 2013
Foie gras cuit au torchon – L’Epigramme
Duck liver cooked “in a towel” (usually shaped into a log shape using cheesecloth or plastic wrap), watermelon gelee, sprouts (+3€ supplemental). Entree/Plat/Dessert option 28€
L’Epigramme, Paris FR
Like I said in a previous post, this was our favorite meal/restaurant during our trip. The place is actually really small without any sidewalk tables, but I think they can seat a few people outside in their adjacent patio. There seemed to be 5 people working here – an older man and woman along with a younger lady worked the front, and two guys worked the small kitchen which was visible from the small dining room.
The woman (probably in her 40’s?) was our waitress and she was amazing! She knew just a little more English than we knew French (which is barely anything), but she did a great job explaining all the menu items through gestures and broken English phrases, bless her! There were no paper menus, but a 3-foot tall dry erase board that she brought to the table for us to look at. Later, she had to grab the other dry erase board hanging outside the front door because there were more tables ordering. It thought that was charming. 🙂
I’m sorry to all the animal activists, but I had to order foie gras since it’s banned in California. Ok, I’m not actually sorry, hehe. I love this stuff! What I do feel bad about was having to eat this entire thing on my own because my dining partner doesn’t like foie gras. But I was NOT about to let a good thing go to waste! It was absolutely delicious, but way too much for just one person. I thought the presentation was beautiful and the little watermelon gelee logs were super cute.
Arc de Triomphe, Place Charles de Gaulle. This triumphal arch commemorates the soldiers from the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It’s a pretty magnificent sight to see!
Kir cocktail – L’Arganier
Creme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped with white wine. 4€
L’Arganier, Paris FR
We stopped by this place to grab some quick drinks before dinner. We sat outside at a table on the narrow sidewalk, awkwardly positioned to avoid passersby. Our waitress was hoot! Her English wasn’t the best, but she was SO friendly and accommodating with our lack of French. That’s one thing I appreciated about our Paris trip – everyone was SO nice and we didn’t get any flack for not knowing the language. But then again, we’re fairly well-traveled and try not to be the quintessential loud, annoying Americans everyone. Lol! 😉
Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis church, rue Saint Antoine, Marais. This beautiful Roman Catholic church was around the corner from our hotel and near the Saint Paul Metro station.
Falafel sandwich – L’As du Fallafel
Pita stuffed with chickpea fritters, hummus, lightly pickled red cabbage, salted cucumbers, fried eggplant, tahini, harissa. 5,50€
L’As du Fallafel, Paris FR
This place is a MUST visit when in Paris! It’s supposedly the best falafel in the city and some would argue the best in most of Europe. Those are some strong words that I’ve read on other sites, lol! I will say that this falafel was absolutely delicious. I didn’t try another falafel in Paris for comparison, but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment I felt from eating this one or how tasty it was.
L’As du Fallafel sits on the Rue des Rosiers which was relatively near our hotel. It’s a really cool section of the Marais that boasts an unexpected Jewish neighborhood complete with synagogues, kosher butchers and bakeries. It’s quite surprising to first walk into the area and feel completely transported to another city. It’s somehow starkly delineated from the surrounding neighborhood by the people, stores, and general vibe – quite exciting actually.
There’s always a line for this place because everyone seems to know about it, but it goes fairly quickly. A guy works the line and gets your order and payment before giving you a “claim check” for your order to turn in at the window. I feel bad, but we were standing in line talking when this random guy came up and started asking us something that we couldn’t understand. I mistook him for some street person trying to sell us something so I think I responded in a rudish kinda way. I immediately realized my error and apologized for not being about to speak French, lol! I’m such a dork!
We both ordered our falafels “hot” so they came with extra harissa. These “sandwiches” were HUGE! We didn’t want to sit in what limited indoor seating they offered so we just found a curb nearby and sat with everyone else. I think it took me 15 minutes or so to eats this monster! And it messy and fun! I would take little nibbles and immediately reach for napkins to wipe off my saucy mouth. The tahini-based sauce and harissa are a killer combination. Besides the perfectly cooked falafel, the eggplants were one of my favorite components. NOMS!
I think I’ll always remember that simple meal, sitting on the dirty curb alongside other tourists, watching people pass by while trying to fend off a throng of expert pigeons, and reveling in our communal enjoyment of a special piece of Paris.
View of Notre Dame Cathedral from Pont de la Tournelle bridge.
Vittle Monster 