Packaged Food

I had a French theme going on for cooking this weekend. I guess I hadn't had enough fat in my diet lately. LOL. On Saturday I did something that I don't typically do when I cook and that is use packaged food. Of course duck confit, French lentils and jarred anchovies I guess are not your run of the mill packaged food but to me it was just as quick of a meal to cook as hamburger helper might have been.

That was Friday night when I put together a French lentil and duck confit dish along with some anchovy spread that I made and applied to a fresh French baguette purchased at a local French bakery/restaurant. For the lentils and duck all I did was just chop some onions, carrots and celery and sautéed them then added some herbs, red wine, chicken stock and the lentils and cooked for about 25 minutes then I added the duck confit and simmered for a few more minutes.

Last night I made Tarte Flambée and a spinach , beet and orange salad dressed with a French Vinaigrette (homemade). Using another packaged food for the tarte crust was store bought puff pastry (about 150% butter). I opted for the purchased puff pastry because most recipes I found on the internet used a puff pastry and I was not about to spend a half day making fresh puff pastry. The tarte was very good and very rich which makes be think next time I make it I will just make a very thin pizza crust. Too much butter and bacon and then you have the crème fraîche...OMG call 911. I had to make my own crème fraîche because that is not something readily available in a supermarket in a town that doesn't know much about gourmet food. It is quite simple to make. One cup heavy cream and one tablespoon of buttermilk mixed together and set out for about 10-12 hours at which time you will have a wonderful crème fraîche.

I also wanted to mention that a friend of ours just returned home from spending a month in France and she brought back a 3pack sipup of wine. Another packaged food. I am planning to take one of the sipups to work and put in it the refrigerator to see if anyone notices that it is wine. Gotta love it.