“Old friends
Winter companions
The old men
Lost in their overcoats
Waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city
Sifting through the trees
Settle like dust
On the shoulders
Of the old friends”
Simon & Garfunkel 1968
Luxembourg city was showing itself from its prettiest side on a Saturday morning where we were again invited behind the curtains of our favourite local restaurant, the pride of the city – Restaurant Clairefontaine. Parking below the market, I just had time to shoot a few shots of one of the greatest thing city life has to offer – Saturday markets.
The Saturday market at Place Guillaume
Say Cheese !
The Cathedral
And below the square, the morning sun on Clairefontaine.
So – old friends gathered at 10 am, greeted by Arnaud and William, waiting to see what there was expecting us today. Input had been given but apart from that we really do not know what awaits us on these cooking sessions. Catherine, Susanne, Morten, Torben, Klaus, Gijs and I were so ready and happy to be back.
As it turned out today – we were gonna make
Frog legs Parisienne – classic but deconstructed with Carrot mash, Parsley and Garlic
Scallops Parmentier with smoke
Sweetbreads of Veal with Morilles
Grand Marnier Soufflé
Lets start with some frog legs ….not my favourite by far – but hey we are here for the fun and to learn.
Legs all lined up,….
Torben doing a Man´s Job.
William showing us how to prepare the other ingredients…
The girls chatting…
Legs in the pan…
The parsley creme almost finished. WHAT A COLOUR !!!
Table 8 almost ready to go….
Frog legs, classic but deconstructed…
I was really happy to see the trick with the foam, the parsley creme was amazing in taste and colour, and I am sure I am gonna reproduce for some of my dishes. Frog legs as such remain something I would never order in a restaurant.
Next up was a favourite of most of my friends. Scallops.
Arnaud learned us how to read and understand the label.
Morten looked and acted like he had never done anything else. Respect.
Taking out the delicate piece…
– and voila.
Scallops in the pan
Gijs checking the reduction..
Come together 1
Come together 2
– 3
Table 8 ready ….
Result -
Scallops on leek, with potato creme and potato chip – truffles and a beef reduction.
This was a brilliant dish, and great to see Arnaud cooking the scallops to perfection, see the smoke canon in use, seeing the wonderful potato creme done from scratch with a secret ingredient…hey we are not giving it all away 
Next up was the sweetbreads, who some of my friends had a slight “issue” with.
Cleaning the ris de veau…
Cooking them for 10 min. on one side only.
make them look a lot nicer and taste stunning.
Arranging the “risotto” with morilles -
Adding the morilles sauce and wauw.
Ris de Veau with Morilles
In the end all tasted the result and I think I speak for all when I say that this is a pearler of a dish. I have never had a better sauce in my life I think. Well at least this morilles sauce is as good as it gets. The sweetbread cooked to perfection.
As for dessert, Arnaud and William showed us quickly how to make the souffle. The result was perfect, great taste. lovely presentation. Not a dessert man – me – but still I was amazed of what you can do with basically just an egg and alcohol.
Grand Marnier Souffle.
There was a certain vibe in the room today. I think everybody enjoyed being back, Torben joked around, Gijs took notes on his mobile, Klaus served the wine in the kitchen and we all enjoyed the fact that by now – Arnaud and William are pretty confident in letting us participate when we want to, but also letting it be when not – like me. After seeing another friend of mind – Claus – struggling with the scallops a few weeks ago, I felt no need to fight these.
We all had our favourite dish today I think, for some it was the frog legs, some the scallops and some the sweetbread. But in the end we again learned a little something in a few hours. Something we can reproduce, develop or use in other dishes. We also learned tha we have to have two or three more applicanses in our kitchen. And Christmas is far away.
Well the 16th of March was Christmas in some fashion. Thank you Arnaud and William for inviting us again. Thanks to my friends for coming along on this train. And yes – maybe next time we should work on presenting a menu for our hosts. I think that sounds like a plan. Also thank you Julien. Again you succeeded in great wine matches to the dishes. You are one heck of a sommelier and friend.
What a great day it was. Old friends.
Another beautiful review by the master Bo Dellgreen. Like your pictures from the market – it completes what Luxembourg can offer.