There is a saying in that it is not the destination but the journey of how you get there, which is the most important. This also applies to this weeks Cordon Bleu dish. OK the final dish is pretty simplistic -I am going to be up front now... but more of that later. What made this week's journey invigorating and exciting was because of two unrelated events - a visit to a bookshop and a gift of eggs.
The best second hand bookshop in the country can be found in Kennedy road in Napier - "The Little Bookshop". It is packed full of books with great prices to boot. Eldest daughter and I took the opportunity for a visit to tank up the book supply for the school holidays. I gravitated to the cooking section and "yeeha" I found this bloggers equivalent of a goldmine. There on the shelf was "My life in France" a book by Julia Child that includes a number of linked autobiographical stories, including a chapter dedicated to Le Cordon Bleu. I can't wait to sink my literacy teeth into it. Nestled close by there was "Recipes form the French Kitchen Garden" a steal at $7 and then not one but two books of "Julie and Julia" the book that became the motion picture of which became an inspiration for many (including moi). Problem - there was the slightly worn copy which had the movie pic of Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and then the "looks like new" copy ... I couldn't decide so I brought both!
The second part of this journey was the gift of 6 duck eggs. I was excited as I had never cooked duck eggs before. I searched through the Cordon Bleu cookery course and found series 28. This provided "40 ways of cooking eggs for all occasions". I was spoilt for choice - there was coddled, deep fat fried, French poached, stuffed hard boiled, cold soft boiled, shirred and soufflé. One problem - I had limited time and with work commitments over the weekend I resorted to where one goes when under pressure and of need of a higher order - the convent. Convent eggs are baked eggs. Eggs are simply put into a buttered cocette (is that what you call them!), seasoned, with cream spooned over the top. They are cooked in the oven for about 8 minutes. With a little additional salt just before consuming the result was magnificent! Although I am not sure about the Spanish saying that the editor of the Cordon Bleu quotes "an egg without salt is like a kiss without a moustache" - lost in translation perhaps! Now with a little time on my hands ... where is that book...
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| Caroline in "The Little Bookshop" |
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| THE BEST second hand bookshop |
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| The convent egg |
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