Gastronomie : le généreux cordon bleu vosgien

And here it is, the Vosgien cordon bleu. The little vegetables, the little chutneys, the little pickles. That's all there is to it. Here is the most generous cordon bleu in the history of cordon bleu. Round, golden like an autumn sun, but especially in its Vosgien version, prepared by the most rock'n'roll of the head chefs of the department, Lorraine Piera. The good cheese that flows there. As you can see, we eat minced meat with lard and in the form of cordon bleu. And we are in the joy, the joy and the most wholehearted beatitude of eating minced meat. Your date tonight? Well, it's dead. With Lorraine, you have to wait for formulas that pop and recipes that arouse. She welcomes us at home on the heights of Remy-Remond, under the prefecture of the department of the Vosges. A recipe made with four hands with Bruno, her butcher. And it starts with a good punch on the table. A good slap to break the fibers and tenderize the chicken fillets. I just finished flattening my chicken fillets, I seasoned a little with salt and pepper. Then you have to break the lard, a central element of local gastronomy. A popular expression would be that if you ask a little Vosgien to choose between his father and his mother, he will always choose lard. And because I never want to choose between my father and my mother, I choose lard. No, but it's good anyway. Frankly, it's not bad. Now I put my cheese inside. Small peculiarity is that we are going to put the lard outside. On a traditional cordon bleu, we will find the ham inside. So we revisit the cordon bleu anyway, which is no longer one completely, since it is Vosgien. So the Vosgien is stubborn, the Vosgien does what he wants, he does the cordon bleu upside down. The risk of this assembly, see the cheese go from one side, the lard from the other. So Lorraine has the solution. Surround the cordon bleu with pork rinds, an elastic membrane that can be found at the butcher's. This is a step if we can bypass it simply by putting a small hour in the freezer. And then it's rigid and it will allow you to put the hat on much more easily. The idea here is that everything holds together and is welded so that it doesn't go wrong when we cook. It is even this constraint that would have given its name to the dish whose origin would be Transalpine. Italian cooks used two blue cordons to keep the stuffing between the slices of chicken. There you see, there, there is material there. There is good baby. This is hard winter. Two ways to know if winter is hard. First, if you put wood, it's over. Second, we know the size of the blue cordon. With this sense of the formula, Lorraine could have embraced a career as a lawyer. But the lawyers, she always preferred them in guacamole rather than equipped with a penal code. It's another form of cooking. I came to the kitchen, I was not at all predestined for this basic job. And then after the law degree, I did all the rest and I decided to do everything in the kitchen. I don't regret it at all. I have a lot of fun. I have an outfit that may not be as beautiful as their dress, but it's nice anyway. And I have just as much right to express myself as the lawyers and lawyers, so no worries. Lorraine has so much fun that she can find the fruits and vegetables she wants five minutes away from home, at Bruno, her farmer. This specialist in blueberries transforms his little berries into sweet citrus jam, pickles, liquor or beer. And his carrots are delicious. Lorraine, it's the end of the season, but there's still some vegetables left for you. We'll be able to work together. I'll do the carrots, I'll leave you the potatoes. It doesn't bother you, it's easier to catch. I'm sure I'm not doing anything stupid. You don't want to get your hands dirty. I like to use all the products anyway, especially when it comes from a producer that we know, who also over time has become a friend. And then we have local products, we're going to have fun. At Bruno's, we also meet goats, geese and chickens, who have just laid a few fresh eggs, essential to our recipe for cordon bleu. Ah, nickel. Come on, put that in there. But listen, we're good. The rest, I'll eat at the restaurant. And then, you'll give me a little hand in the kitchen. It'll do. Come on, let's have fun. A little bath in the egg yolk, a roll in the breadcrumbs, and it's time to move on to the pan. I'll let you put some fat in the pan. And then we'll move on to the cooking of the cordon bleu, which we're going to cook quietly. You put your hand in. If you get burned, it's hot. Typically, we're going to cook this over a low heat, because what we want is for the skin to brown slowly, but for the inside to be cooked to heart's content. If you overcook it, the skin will burn, and inside the cheese will not melt, and the meat will remain a little pink. Which is not to be expected for chicken. It will be difficult to cut the cordon bleu with Lorraine, because she is so good at it. Unfortunately, the recipe comes to an end. To finish, she has prepared a brunoise of carrots and potatoes with a clove of garlic, deglazed with blueberry beer, and a little butter. In case it lacks fat, we can add some. We have some butter left. As I said to my cardio, when you get to a certain age, you shouldn't get attached. But they're crispy, they're beautiful. They speak fat! Well, they cook the same way, man. Presented with a chutney of blueberries, Lorraine's blue cordon bleu finds once again that autumn is not the season of graying, but that of colors. It's a great moment of happiness. No, it's good, we worked well, I think. I particularly find that the carrots are well cooked. Cheers!