Bistro 2 Génies in Biarritz, France

Bistro 2 Génies on 10 av. de la Marne 64200 Biarritz, France is an authentic French bistro with impeccable detail to flavors and the art of food presentation. Located in the heart of Biarritz near the main beach, it's an easy walk from your hotel.

On this very late summer night, my friend and I decided on the: Starter - Main course - Dessert priced at 34€ per person which is very reasonable for Biarritz. Wine was not included, but it was very reasonably priced and we received excellent recommendations from the wife of the chef.  



After ordering our three dishes, we were greeted promptly with our wine and a complementary parmesan crème brulee dish. Beautifully light, savory dish and such a better option than bread. The dish is well framed on their blue linen tablecloths.



Starter: Foie gras de canard mi-cuit à l’armagnac, chutney de figues (supplement 2€ extra for this dish).  Genuine French fresh cuisine.  A treat to have now that it's illegal in California.

Translation: Foie Gras of Canard with Armagnac, a distinctive brandy produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France, and fig chutney



Main course: Magret de canard à la plancha, aux poivres de Chechuan, charlottes sautées au thym

In a nutshell, this is the best duck dish I've ever had and I will fly back to Biarritz to experience these amazing flavors again and again... and again. The duck cooked to perfection with no fatty pieces. Plat de résistance!

Translation: Duck a la plancha (grilled with metal plate) with szechuan peppercorns, pot of charlotte potatoes with fried thyme.



The atmosphere is pleasingly relaxing, stylish with tasteful beauty.

" From savory to sweet, everything is made ​​from fresh ingredients from the best local producers."


This photo of Bistrot2Genies is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Dessert: le flottante aux amandes grillées, crème anglaise, caramel beurre salé

Translation: the floating roasted almonds, custard, salted butter caramel

I forgot to take a photo of the dessert. It was lovely and just perfect with our wine selection. It's nice to visit a restaurant that uses proper stemware with a heavy hand with each pour.

Chard & Crimini Mushroom Ravioli in Butter Walnut Sage Sauce Homemade Pasta

I've always wanted to make my own ravioli and my own filling, however always heard it was a labor intensive process and required lots of pasta making tools. I have to be honest, it was a lot of work. This is not a 'fast' food and it will take a few hours from start to finish. The most time consuming part of making ravioli is the assembly. Yikes! Make sure you have wine! The good news is ravioli making wasn't as difficult as I always imagined. Give it a try on a rainy afternoon. Call over some friends and open a bottle of wine!



Tools?! I have a wood chopping board, a really nice rolling pin, fork and a glass. That's about all you really need to make ravioli. William-Sanoma has a lot of amazing tools for pasta making, but I'm a fan of my 'free' tools.



Ingredients for the ravioli:

2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1/2 lb. crimini mushrooms, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems
8 large leaves swiss chard, trimmed from stems
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated




Ingredients for the pasta:

1 1/2 cups Farina di Semolina flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 large free range eggs
1 tablespoon Salt




Ingredients for the Sage Walnut Sauce:

Handful Walnuts - chopped
Tablespoon or more minced sage
Butter



Start with the dough.
In a big bowl mix the dry flour first. Make a volcano or a well in the flour for the eggs.

Ravioli Maker (Google Affiliate Ad)



Add all six eggs and knead with your hands until you have proper dough. The mix will stick to your hands at first, but keep kneading.



Once completely kneaded, make a ball

Eppicotispai Ravioli Triangle Stamp (Google Affiliate Ad)



Cut dough into fours and cover with a damp cloth or kitchen towel. Let it sit for one hour.



While the dough is resting, start on your filling. Chop everything and measure out all the ingredients.



In a 12 inch fry pan add olive oil, onions, garlic, and thyme. Cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes.

All-Clad Stainless Steel Skillet with Lid, 12" (Google Affiliate Ad) 



Next add the mushrooms and continue to stir. If needed, add more olive oil and cook for about 4 to 5 more minutes.



Your kitchen is now smelling really good!



Add the minced rainbow chard and continue to stir for another 5 minutes.



Turn the heat off and add the 1/2 cup mascarpone and 1/2 cup Parmesan. The fry pan should still be very warm and will melt the cheese without burning it. Let it sit for 10 minutes or more to cool.

All-Clad Stainless Steel Skillet with Lid, 12" (Google Affiliate Ad)




Time to roll it out! Use a bunch of flour on your chopping board so the dough will not stick. With the rolling pin, roll it out!



I used a glass to cut my ravioli and I believe it worked very well. After I cut the circles, I re-knead and rolled out the leftover dough to cut more circles.



Take a circle and fill it with the chard, mushroom, thyme stuffing. With water wet the edge of this circle.



Cover with a second circle and pinch edges together.



With a fork, press the edges together. This extra step is not necessary, but it looks pretty.



Place finished ravioli on parchment paper and let rest for an hour or less.



Bring water, salt and olive oil to a hard boil and add ravioli. I had one or two stick to the bottom of the pot. To avoid this, stir for the first 20 seconds.

Cook for 2.5 minutes for al dente or 3.5 for well done pasta. I like al dente so I cook 2.5 minutes.

Staub Marin Miniature Round Cocotte (Google Affiliate Ad)




On low to med heat saute butter, sage and chopped walnuts for 2 minutes. BAM!



Eat!



I did use this for a batch of ravioli. It's a ravioli press.



Layer of pasta, filling and another layer of pasta dough.



With a rolling pin, roll over the press until you see the metal design.



Here are the pressed ravioli. I like them, but it was very difficult to get the ravioli away from the press. I ended up breaking a few. Next time I'll just use the glass!



I love these mushrooms! Crimini are the best!

Sur La Table Marble Rolling Pin with Handles (Google Affiliate Ad)



Fresh Thyme!





YUM



Last! Freezing fresh, uncooked ravioli. YES! Please do. Do not let the ravioli touch. They keep for a very long time. If cooking a frozen ravioli, cook for 5 minutes.

Roasted Pineapple Ginger Black Cod Fillet On A Tuesday Night

On my lovely cracked Italian ceramic square dish, I present to you: Roasted pineapple ginger black cod with saute kale salad and a side of brown rice. Boun appitito a tutti!!

We finally got some much needed snow in the Sierra Nevada / Lake Tahoe mountains the last couple of days and it's been really cold here in San Francisco as well. Brrr! What to do on a cold Tuesday night. Cook some damn good fish.


Roasted Pineapple Ginger Black Cod Fish on a mid winter night.

With so many of us getting colds or getting sick, adding ginger to our daily diet is a great way to boost the immune system naturally and fight those evil germs and colds.



What you will need:

-- 1/2 pound of the Black Cod (Sable) fillet, wild; $24.00 a pound at Whole Foods
-- Fresh whole pineapple organic
-- Ginger organic
-- Olive Oil

Tools:

-- Staub Rouge Oval Gratin Dish
-- Potato peeler for the ginger
-- Sharp hollow ground knife or santoku (Zwilling J.A. Henckels or Wusthof)
-- Pineapple Corer or slicer (I do not have one)
-- Pre-heat the oven to about 350 degrees


Cut the fresh, whole pineapple.

With a knife, cut the top and bottom off the pineapple. Then cut the sink off the sides. If you have a pineapple corer, use that to get the hard core out of the center of the pineapple. If you don't have one, no worries. Use your knife to cut around the core. By the way, you can eat the core of a pineapple. It's a little hard, but perfectly good to eat.

Snack on the pineapple as you continue to cook, I do. There are lots of health benefits from eating pineapple... such as anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits.



Cut the pineapple into bit size 1/4 inch thick pieces.  I use my Thai soup take-away container to store the unused pieces of pineapple.



In my Staub oval gratin dish, I drizzle a small amount of olive oil to start. Then, cover the bottom of the dish with the 1/4 inch thick pineapple. This doesn't have to be/look perfect, but you want the bottom of the dish completely covered.



Use a potato peeler to peel the skin off the ginger. Slice the ginger into thin pieces and place on top of the black cod.  I use about one tablespoon of ginger (that is a guess) or enough to sprinkle on top of the fillet. If you love the flavor of ginger, place some under the fish with the pineapple and let the flavors mix.



Black Cod, Sablefish or Alaska Black Cod is known for contain up to 50percent more Omega 3 fats (EPA and DHA) than salmon. I've read that it's also referred to as 'butterfish' - just like butter baby! This site is full of awesome information: www.escoffier.com

Place the cod on top of the sliced pineapple and add the ginger atop the cod.



Depending on your oven, cook the cod for about 30 minutes on 350/375 or until the ginger looks toasted. I cooked my fish well-done and it was still 'melt in your mouth' buttery.



You can make a couple of side dishes while waiting on the fish to cook. Tonight I was in the mood for a cup of brown rice and sauted kale with carrot and kalamata olives.


Ohhh...my lovely cracked Italian ceramic square dish. How I love you!

How to make the Saute Kale next week!

I'm off to ski Squaw in some powder!!! Yay for snow!