Vday Bday in Paris: Part Une

When your best friend tells you she's coming to Paris for her birthday and would like you to join her, what are you supposed to say, no?  Well I didn't.  So for Valentine's Day/Meredith's birthday weekend, I joined her with my fave former roomie Betsy in Paris for a 4-day weekend!  It's times like these that I'm incredibly thankful to have hard-working successful friends who love and are able to travel, and thankful that I'm super close and European flights are cheap :)

As per usual on my trips, particularly trips with Meredith, this one was allll about the food, drinks, wandering around, being fabulous, and did I mention the food and drinks.  Mere loves planning all kinds of itineraries for any and all trips, so B and I were just along for the ride.  Fine by me!

Side note: this post won't capture the inside jokes, laughter, heart-to-hearts, or funny quotes created throughout the trip.  Many of them are too inappropriate anyway.  But here are some pics!

We all arrived on Saturday afternoon, and despite a wrong train and a mistaken 5-story flight of stairs into a parking garage that I believed was a tube station, I finally made it to our cute hotel in St. Germain  to drink some champagne (sponsored by Molly, thanks girl!) and get ready for an evening out.  We visited the swanky Hotel Costes for a drink, followed by steak frites at Relais de l'Entrecote (one of my favorite places in Paris, even though it's a chain), and then a stop by Prescription Cocktail Club, a dark speak-easy type joint where we made friends with the waitress and received cocktail experiments from the barmen.

Fries on fries on fries!
We also made friends with the New York Jewish/Italian couple next to us - he delivered a couple of memorable quotes about his garment selling business and provided a great deal of information about his children and how well they're doing.  Loves it!

Fancy cocktails!

Photo shoot.

Sunday morning, B and her friend Hannah (who met us there from London) went on a walk around town while Mere and I walked through Rue Cler to pick up some goodies for a morning picnic at the Eiffel Tower!

Shop upon shop carrying fresh food for any occasion!

The fromagerie where we bought TRUFFLE BRIE!  It was the best cheese I've ever eaten and I think the girls agreed.  Worth every expensive euro.

SPOTTED: American girl in a tutu carrying a baguette.

We met B and Hannah at the Tower and set up a picnic with our loot.

Croissants, berries, oranges, crackers...

Sausage, cheese, champagne, orange juice...

Doesn't get much better than that.

We walked off the Truffle Brie along the Seine on our way to l'Orangerie, the beautiful Monet museum in the Tuileries (also featured in Midnight in Paris) that showcases his large water lily paintings in a huge stark gallery. Pretty cool.

Just a pic looking back along the river.

We cabbed it to Le Marais, a happenin' hood in the 3rd and 4th arrondisements that was full of cool shops, fashion houses, and lots of trendy cafes.  Duh.  We ate at the SUPER popular Cafe Charlot, a hot spot that inspired NYC's Pastis!

You do table side guacamole?  We do table side Moet cocktails.  Kir Royale, s'il vous plait!

We wandered around that neighborhood for awhile, popping into stores and getting a lay of the land, and eventually made our way to the top of the Pompidou for drinks on their heated rooftop terrace.

Sunday night dinner was a mix of drinks from various places (La Petit Fer a Cheval, Le Mary Celeste, La Candelaria) and left over picnic snacks from the morning - anti climatic (the dinner part) but incredibly fun and silly and hilarious otherwise!

Alright, more pics from the last day to come.  Bonsoir!

Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie

It's feels like a year since I've done a food post, so let's get back to it!

I'm a fan of making things I've never made before, and if the Irish people can inspire me, all the better.  So...I decided to make this delicious and hearty Cheddar-Topped Shepherd's Pie for this cold season ahead.

In truth, I made this last September.  It was still turning cold though, so it counts!  I geared up to make it early and have it on the table for Drew when he got home, but then I got sidetracked by an old friend who Facebook messaged me while sitting at an airport in the Middle East awaiting his flight home to end his deployment!  I then kept forgetting to upload the pictures and put it on the blog, so I'm doing it now.  I only wish I could make this at the moment...but alas, there's no one here to eat it with me.  So maybe I'll make it in a month when Drew's done working.

Anyway, let's cook!

The Cast of Characters: celery, carrots, ground beef, butter, garlic, red wine, potatoes, onions, sharp cheddar, milk, salt, pepper, thyme, and tomato paste, which I forgot to capture in the picture.  The recipe didn't call for it, but I also added some worcestershire sauce to the mix.

 Scrub and cut your potatoes into large chunks...

Hmm.  These look a little suspect.  But I just bought them! 

And cover them in water.  

Salt those pups and bring it up to a rolling boil to get them nice and tender.

After that, peel and chop up some large carrots.

Now it's time to brown the ground beef!  You know how to do this - hot pan, stir it up until it's not pink, drain it if it needs it, and set it aside.

Done!  Voila.

Chop up some celery...

...and a very large onion.

And add all the veggies to the pot and let 'em cook!

Add your chopped garlic too.

(I always double the amount of garlic the recipe tells me to, because I like it.  Is that bad?  Now people might not want to eat what I make them, knowing this.)

Now add in 1/4 cup flour...

And a tablespoon or two of tomato paste...

...and stir to combine!

The potatoes are done!  Drew came home and took a picture of me with the hot pot.

Weirdo.

 Drain those potatoes, and while they're draining, add the ground beef to the vegetable mixture.

Now it's time for the "large glass of red wine"...

...and 850 ml (about 3.5 cups) of beef stock.

And the worcestershire sauce!  (About 2-3 tablespoons, depending on how you like the flava!)

Oh, and the dried thyme.  (1/2 teaspoon, but I just toss it in there.)

Now for the taters!  Finish draining them, and add in...

...a shit ton of butter...

...a load of sharp cheddar (but save some for the top!)...

...and smoosh them all up! 

Oh man, this stuff is GOOD.  Add some nutmeg to it too if you're feeling nutty.

Look!  My beef and veg mixture has thickened up and it's simmering there in it's heavenly sauce.  Yummmmm.

You can then pour it into your favorite baking dish (though I'll tell you that a square or rectangle one will make for easier cutting/serving/picture-taking).

This is the bottom of my dutch oven.  Disaster.  I always have to go to great lengths to remove this junk.

You'll then top it with your buttery, cheddary mash!

Go ahead and add some more cheese and butter to the top of your masterpiece, to take it to the next level.

Ohhhh baby yeah.

 Bake at 450° for 20-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.  And happy.

Ooooo la la.

See, the picture below doesn't showcase my masterpiece like a perfectly square piece of pie would, but...you get the idea.

It was hearty, it was warm, and above all, it was SCRUMPTIOUS...all week long.  Yay!

As I do, which might bug people, I did my Shepherd's Pie research and actually combined two of the recipes.  One was from Martha Stewart (I know, not very Irish), and one was with the BBC (also not Irish but more so than Martha!)  The BBC recipe had a lot more flavorings (wine, worcestershire, beef stock) than Martha's, but I used the basic method that she described in hers.  So if you feel inclined to make this popular pub dinner (and I feel like most of you should, seeing the weather all over the US SUCKS right now), you can find Martha's recipe here and the BBC recipe here.  

Cheers!