Yesterday we had a small party at my office to celebrate my company’s fifth anniversary, and our pendaison de crémaillère, which is French for a housewarming party: une crémaillère is a trammel, the metal adjustable hook that was used to hang pots in the fireplace in the days of yore, and the hanging of this essential piece of equipment in a new house was as good an occasion as any to have a village gathering.

Our new offices are located in the south of the 13th arrondissement, close to the Parc Montsouris and the very nice Butte-aux-Cailles area. The street name happens to be Rue Brillat-Savarin, in reference to Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin*, who’s considered the first food writer/critic in history. Cool, huh?

I had offered to bake a cake for the occasion, and used a trusted recipe for fudgy chocolate cake — gâteau au chocolat fondant in French. It is a very easy recipe that does not require a food processor, and like all dark chocolate cakes, it is best made the day before, or at least in the morning if served for dinner.

Edit: Over the years, my way of making this cake has evolved, and I’ve updated the recipe below to reflect that. I now use 180 g of sugar (instead of the original 250 g) and 4 eggs (instead of the original 5). I bake the cake at 180°C (instead of the original 190°C) for slightly longer (25 instead of 20 minutes), and I sprinkle the surface with fleur de sel, which enhances the chocolate flavor and provides tiny jolts of saltiness here and there.

The cake was suitably wolfed down by my appreciative coworkers. It has a nice thin crust, while the inside is 100% melty gooey chocolate goodness. Needless to say, it is pretty rich, so it is best served with something refreshing — ideally, Marie-Laure and Ludo’s fruit salad, but your own fruit salad, fresh strawberries, ice cream and/or whipped cream will be great too.

* Brillat-Savarin published a treatise on the art of dining called “La Physiologie du goût” (“Physiology of taste”) and he’s the one who said “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es”, translated as “Tell me what you eat, I will tell you who you are” or “You are what you eat”.

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[Cheese Fondue at our Neighbors’ place]

We are lucky enough to be very good friends with our next-door neighbors. Stéphan and Patricia live on our floor, in the apartment to the right of ours. We met on the night of our housewarming party : we had posted a note to apologize in advance for the noise and music, and to invite everybody over for a drink. We were very happy to have several neighbors show up (which was a very favorable omen in regards to the friendly and village-like atmosphere of the building), and among them, Stéphan and Patricia.

We have grown very fond of each other over time, chatting from window to window, plucking from each other’s aromatic garden, having drinks/coffee/cake/dinner at their place or ours, borrowing books, sharing a wireless high-speed connection, bringing back small gifts from our trips, and just generally having a grand time. We all share a pronounced taste for good food, and Stéphan is a passionate cook too, with his own style – pretty different from mine – and a lot of talent.

So Saturday night, when they invited us over for a fondue savoyarde (cheese fondue), we very happily accepted.

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Reading the article on DIY Diner Food over at Digs Magazine put me in the mood for burgers, so that went on the menu for lunch on Sunday.

For the patties, I used 150g (5 1/3 ounces) lean ground beef, in which I mixed a chopped shallot, a large handful of chopped fresh herbs (I had basil and tarragon, both home-grown, as well as flat-leaf parsley), a spoonful of chopped capers, and liberal amounts of ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and black pepper. This I shaped into two patties that were seared in the skillet. After flipping them the first time, I sprinkled salt on them and laid slices of Beaufort on top so they’d have just enough time to melt.

The burgers were then assembled on toasted sesame buns with lettuce leaves, sliced tomatoes, ketchup, and mustard, then served with tomato halves sprinkled with fleur de sel.

Not what I would call a traditional Sunday lunch, but delicious and oh-so-satisfying.

Or : The Return of the Polar Bread Sandwich

I made myself another yummy sandwich on polar bread for lunch today. This time, the filling was this : a can of quality sardines packed in olive oil (drained and patted with paper towels), a shallot – chopped with my friend the chef knife, a handful of flat parsley – chopped with my other friend the mezza-luna, 100 g of cottage cheese, a small spoonful of harissa (this is a red chili garlic paste from Tunisia), salt and pepper. Mash all this together with a fork, spread on one slice of polar bread, top with the other, and cut in halves.

This filling is a variation of the “Mousse de sardine à la harissa” recipe from my cookbook “Moi, je cuisine solo ou duo”. I have made it a few times in the past and people have raved about it. It involves the same ingredients (except a “petit suisse” – a small carton of plain thick yogurt – is used instead of the cottage cheese), but it is mixed in the food processor. I would call it a spread rather than a mousse, really, and it is delicious scooped with crackers or veggie sticks, or as a filling for flaky dough dumplings.