Now that the table set up is done, the lights are dim down, candles are lit, and Hoa is playing French classic music in the back ground in the hope to create an atmosphere that should transport our friends to France... All the details were planned to give the feeling that we are dinning in a nice atmosphere in a French restaurant somewhere in Provence...

So close your eyes for a minute....open them up, set your mind and pretend that we are in France....Let's start.

For starters I am serving a lobster croquette with tomato confit (6 hours in the oven) and fried sage served together with a piece of Frog's leg à la Provençale.

In the middle of the plate is a sprig of lavender representing Provence and it also make the dish looks really fancy and appealing .

Originally, I planned to serve a brandade de morue but I could not find any cod so I had to switch to lobster croquettes. The croquettes turned out to be amazingly good so it was a perfect thing that I could not find cod.

Course 2- Pork Trotters with arugula & sauce gribiche (Pieds de cochon et roquette avec sauce gribiche)

How often do you see pig's feet on the menu in the US? I have not unless you are going to an Asian restaurant.

Well, In looking for a recipe for this dinner I wanted to use trotters, which are some of the most succulent and tender bits on the animal if cooked properly, I turned to Thomas Keller's Bouchon cookbook. A tome that is the inspiration for this dinner. His recipe for trotters makes an elegant dish by combining the tender meat of the hocks with the gelatinous texture of the skin. Sliced, coated, and pan-fried in panko crumbs, the dish is set on top of sauce gribiche, a pleasantly tart mixture that counters the richness of the pork.

Very time consuming to make but worth all the effort! I enjoyed the pork trotters and I also like the texture of it.

Moules marinières is a simple and classic way to cook fresh mussels with white wine and cream. Moules marinières is a very popular dish and in France, Belgium and the Netherlands they are typically served with French fries or sliced baguette and a good beer. I opted to serve the Moules marinières with a good glass of wine and bread to soak up the delicious sauce.

I added clams because a few of our guests prefers clams vs. mussels. I was fortunate to find really plump and juicy mussels for this dish.

The fresh sweet trout with lemony brown butter and crunchy almonds has become one of my favorite dish, very simple but yet so flavorful.

The trout is pan seared with the skin and head on, though the head can be removed after cooking. This dish is traditionally served only in bistros that had access to freshwater fish, in rivers coming down off the Alps but now that we go global ingredients are flown in fresh within a day so trout are available pretty much every where.

I love the sauce made simply made with brown butter, parsley and a squeeze of lemon. As soon as the lemon juice hit the pan, the butter will foam. I served the trout with haricots verts and crunchy almonds... so yummy and so simple!

This dish is great for entertaining because it is made in advance and all I need to do is to re-heat and serve. However, it takes 3 days to prepare includes marinating the beef for a day. Day 2 = cooking the beef in wine, let it cool down, and refrigerate. Day 3 = removing the grease that are formed on top and cooking it again and serve. So it is little wonder that when the Daube is served it is full of flavors. Leftovers on the second day, were just as good as the first day, if not better.

A French Bistro meal is not complete without epi (stalk of wheat in French) bread! Epi bread is not available in our area so one of our friends volunteered to drive to San Francisco just to pick up 10 loaves for the dinner party!

Epi bread is a type of artisan bread often made at French-style bakeries. I love to serve this bread because the loaf consists of a series of rolls which are interconnected to look like a stalk of wheat. Epi bread is great because when you are serving you don't have to cut the bread, all you need to do is to pull each stalk off without making a mess of the loaf and everyone get their one personal roll!

For dessert I served a coffee custard with whipped cream. It is a light dessert which is a perfect after a copious meal!

The second dessert I served was the traditional tarte tatin made with caramelized apples with puff pastry crust!

I served the tarte tatin just the way it is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (à la mode).

We managed to drink during the meal, 5 red wine, 2 white wine, and a rosé champagne for a party of 15!

Mumm Napa "Dvx Rosé" Napa Valley 2005

Click on LINK to all the community tasting history of this champagne

Click on LINK to all the community tasting history.

At the end of the meal I asked my friends if the atmosphere and the food make them feel like they were eating in France and in unison they said: OUI, OUI...

Mumm Napa "Dvx Rosé" Napa Valley 2005

On the left ins a 2006 Philippe Leclerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers

2007 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown

2010 Neyers Vineyards Chardonnay Carneros District