Dish du Jour
is a wonderful little cooking school located in the back lane ways of Prahran and run by French chef Sebastien Piel. This little cooking school is where I spent my Saturday (along with a girlfriend of mine, the cooking whizz Miss A), whipping up some delicious French dishes whilst sipping champagne and listening to the dulcet tones of our very own French chef.
If you've read my blog before, you know that I'm a huge lover of French food. I love it's simplicity, its flavours and the addition of French chef to show us hands on how to cook it.....Oh la la!
Arriving at the venue I was instantly inspired. The kitchen is located within an amazing warehouse (a place where beautiful wooden pieces of furniture and kitchen accessories are created during the day) and dotted with gorgeous pieces of bric-a-brac, including vintage miss-matched plates and cutlery. I was in love! What an amazing venue to work in every day.
Our chef, Sebastien was a delight. Sometimes hard to understand with his heavy French accent, but loads of fun, down to earth, and very willing to pass on helpful tips he'd learnt throughout his years cooking in France, London and here in Australia.
A bit of cutie too, don't you think?
And for the menu - I have to admit that when he first explained what we'd be cooking, I had no idea what he'd said. I actually thought I heard the word 'tart' for our entree, however it turns out that he'd said 'trout' and I was one very happy girl. In fact our entree ended up being -
fresh trout wrapped in puff pastry and stuffed with mushroom and spinach, served with a mussel sauce
.
Oh my, what a dish! The trout was so juicy and full of flavour, and a mouthful of this fish with the buttery puff pastry - perfection. Such an amazing way to cook fish as the pastry kept everything contained and moist, and really quite simple to put together. It might not look or sound it but believe me, it was. Just a few simple ingredients cooked correctly was all it took to create a real wow factor.
Now when Sebastien was telling us the menu for the day, I didn't hear the word 'mussel' either
(and I want to live in France someday???)
As mentioned above, I had no idea what he was saying, I was just happy to go along for the ride, but when he pulled the bowl of mussels out of the fridge, my eyes (and taste buds) nearly popped out of my head - this day was getting better and better.
The only thing I can say about the mussel sauce is that I could have eaten it all on its own!
I can happily say that I did understand him when he spoke about our main - Lamb. Spring lamb. Rack of
Spring lamb with a herb and mustard crust served with pommes fondante sand green vegetables to be exact
...oh my!
And then there was dessert -
Raspberry creme brulée.
I think that's all I need to say on that subject.
If you're a lover of French food like me and/or perhaps looking for ways to impress your friends at your next dinner party, then I can highly recommend Sebastien and the
. Miss A and I had a wonderful day, albeit ending a few kilo's heavier than when we started, but filled with loads of general cooking tips, French cooking tips and recipes and loads of inspiration.
Thanks Sebastien for an wonderful day!