Of the following recipes, three are traditional to the region and three are by Jean-Marie Amat. The Amat recipes and the accompanying photos appeared originally in "The Wine Spectator" (15 Dec 1994). Unless otherwise noted, the recipes are designed to serve 4.

Tartare of Salmon
A recipe by Jean-Marie Amat

200 gr. fresh salmon fillets, skinned and cut into small cubes
1 medium tomato, blanched, peeled, seeded and diced
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 Tbsp. capers, chopped
1 Tbsp. chives, chopped
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. chervil (if available), chopped
1/4 cup black olives, with pits removed and choped finely
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
2 Tbsp. light, fruity olive oil
2 medium tomatoes
salt and ppeper to taste
mixed greens to make small salads for 4
any vinaigrette sauce (at the St. James, Amat combines peanut and walnut oils with balsamic and sherry vinegar)

In a ceramic or other non-reactive bowl combine the salmon, tomato, onion, capers, chives, parsley, chervil and black olives. Season to taste with salt, sprinkle over the coriander and moisten with the olive oil. Cover tightly and keep in the refrigerator until needed.

Before serving, blanch the remaining tomatoes in boiling water until the skin splits. Remove, let cool, and then peel and de- seed the tomatoes. In a food processor process the tomatoes until a coarse puree is attained, and then add salt and pepper to taste.

On each of 4 chilled salad plates heap a small pile of the salad on one side and paint a swatch of the tomato puree on the other. In the middle place a 8 cm. diameter round mold and fill it with the tartare. Remove the mold and serve immediately. (Amat suggests that those who have objections to eating raw fish can use very lightly smoked salmon).

Entrecote a la Bordelaise
Entrecote steak with red wine, bone marrow and shallots

60 gr. butter
60 gr. shallots, chopped finely
150 ml. cabernet sauvignon wine
1 small bouquet garni made by tying together
1 sprig each of thyme and parsley and one bay leaf
1 Tbsp. white peppercorns, crushed
1/2 cup veal stock
1 marrow bone (should yield about 200 gr. marrow)
1 entrecote steak
1 Tbsp. peanut oil (can substitute walnut oil)
1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
1 small bunch of watercress, for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Make the sauce by melting half the butter in a saucepan, adding the shallots and cooking gently for 2 minutes. Add the wine, bouquet garni and crushed peppercorns and bring to the boil. Boil until the liquid is reduced by one-third and then add the veal stock. Cook over a low heat for 20 minutes and then remove the bouquet garni. Using a whisk, beat in the remaining butter, season with salt and pepper and set aside to keep hot.

Prepare the marrow: With the back of a meat cleaver crack open the bone encasing the marrow (the butcher can do this for you). Put the marrow in a saucepan with 4 Tbsp. of cold water, bring to the boil, remove from the heat and set aside.

To prepare the steak, brush it with the oil, lightly salt both sides and cook to taste in a heavy skillet or under a very hot grill (about 2 minutes per side for rare). Let the steak rest on a rack for 3 minutes so that the blood does not run out when you serve it.

Cut the steak into 4 diagonal slices and arrange them on two heated serving plates. Drain the marrow and cut it into large cubes and add this to the hot sauce. Immediately pour the sauce over the meat. Sprinkle with parsley and garnish with watercress. Serve immediately. (Serves 2).

Gigot d'Agneau a Notre Facon
Leg of Lamb Cooked Our Way
A traditional Bordeaux recipe as adopted by Chefs Albert and Michel Roux

Notes: This recipe traditionally calls for the use of Pauillac lamb, but any fine lamb will do. If fresh truffles are not available, use preserved truffles and add them to the potatoes 5 minutes before they have finished cooking.

1 leg of lamb, about 2 kilos, with the thick bone removed
12 medium asparagus spears
2 truffles, about 50 gr. each
1 sprig of thyme, chopped finely
2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
3 Tbsp. fine fresh bread crumbs
6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely
50 ml. olive oil
1 1/2 kilos small new potatoes
3 Tbsp. clarified butter
6 unpeeled garlic cloves
salt and freshly ground pepper

Peel the asparagus and cut off the ends to leave the tips and only about 5 cm. of stalk. Cook these in boiling salted water until just cooked but still firm (about 7 minutes). Rinse under cold water, drain, place on a plate and cover with a damp cloth.

If using fresh truffles place them in a bowl of cold water and brush them gently. Par them thinly with a potato peeler if the skin seems tough and then slice them as thinly as possible. Place the slices in a small bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.

To cook the lamb, mix together the thyme, parsley, breadcrumbs and chopped garlic. Make sure that the lamb leg bone has been sawed off neatly. Set an empty roasting pan over a high heat for 2 minutes. Brush the lamb with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place in the hot roasting pan. Immediately transfer to an oven that has been preheated to 220 degrees Celsius. Turn the lamb after 10 minutes.

As soon as the lamb is in the oven, peel the potatoes, halve or quarter them lengthwise, rinse in cold water and pat dry. Heat the clarified butter in a skillet, put in the potatoes and cook over a high heat for 10 minutes, until pale golden. Arrange them around the lamb in the roasting pan.

After the lamb has been cooking for about 25 minutes arrange the unpeeled garlic cloves among the potatoes and season lightly. Sprinkle the lamb with half the seasoned breadcrumb mixture and let cook for another 10 minutes (making 35 minutes in all). Turn the lamb over and sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs. Stir the truffle slices into the potatoes with a wooden spatula and add 3 Tbsp. of cold water. Cook for another 10 minutes and then re- move the lamb from the roasting pan, wrap it in aluminum foil and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees Celsius, add the asparagus to the potatoes, truffles and garlic and return the pan to the oven for 10 minutes.

To serve, arrange the mixture of vegetables around the edge of a serving platter, slice the leg of lamb and reassemble it on the platter. Serves at once. (Serves 6).

Sauteed Rabbit with Mustard Sauce and Mashed Potatoes
A recipe by Jean-Marie Amat

675 gr. potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. sweet cream mixed with 1 Tbsp. low fat milk
salt and pepper to taste
225 gr. lean thickly sliced bacon, diced
1 rabbit (about 1 kilo)
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup sweet cream
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

Place the potatoes in a pot, pour over cold water to cover, bring to a boil and cook until soft through (about 25 minutes). Force the potatoes through a strainer into a heavy saucepan, cook briefly over a moderate het until the potatoes begin to stick the bottom and then beat in the butter, sweet cream and milk mixture, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside to keep warm.

Place the bacon in a saucepan, pour over cold water, bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Drain and pat the bacon dry.

Cut the rabbit into pieces (leaving the thighs whole). Heat the oil in a heavy saute pan until hot but not smoking and in this brown the rabbit pieces, turning once,(about 5 minutes on each side). Drain the oil from the pan, add the bacon and brown lightly for about 1 minute. Add the mustard seeds and thyme. Add the wine and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan with a wooden spatula. Add the sweet cream and then cook over a high heat until the cream is reduced to about half of its volume (5 - 7 minutes). Reduce the heat to very low, remove the rabbit pieces to a warm plate, and swirl the Dijon mustard into the sauce.

Warm four plates. On each plate place a scoop of mashed potatoes, pour a small amount of sauce on each plate and place several rabbit pieces on top of the sauce. Serve immediately.

Sauce Perigueux
Truffle and Madeira Sauce

This sauce goes very well with beef and lamb. If truffles are not available, use fresh or dried morels.

50 gr. butter
2 medium shallots, sliced thinly
125 gr. very small champignon mushrooms, peeled or washed and sliced thinly
500 ml. veal stock
100 ml. Madeira wine
100 gr. truffles, preferably fresh and raw
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a saucepan heat half of the butter and then add the shallots and mushrooms and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the veal stock and reduce by half over a gentle heat. Pour in the Madeira wine and cook gently for 5 minute longer. Pass the sauce through a conical sieve and set aside to keep hot.

Peel the truffles and cut them into small dice or thin rings. Heat the remaining butter in a small saucepan, add the truffles and cook over medium heat for 2 - 3 minutes. Pour the truffles into the sauce, stir with a spatula and season to taste. Cover the saucepan and let stand to infuse for 3 - 4 minutes.

To serve pour the hot sauce over the meat you are serving or pass the sauce separately in a sauceboat.

Bordeaux Canneles (Canalay)
A recipe by Jean Marie Amat.

Note: These traditional Bordeaux pastries are cooked in conical copper molds, but if these are unavailable use brioche cups or other small molds.

1 large egg
1 yolk from a large egg
1/2 cup sifted flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk (use 3% or 4% fat content milk)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. rum vanilla extract

Mix the egg, egg yolk and sugar in a large bowl and then add the flour and beat until the mixture is smooth. Add 1/4 cup of the milk. Heat the remaining milk to a temperature of 85 degrees Celsius. Add the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture and then add rum and vanilla extract to taste. Cover and let cool for 2 hours at room temperature and then 12 hours in the refrigerator. (The recipe may be prepared in advance to this point).

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Lightly grease the canneles or other molds. Mix the chilled liquid and pour it into the molds, place the molds on a cookie sheet and bake until dark in color and springy in texture (about 1 hour, but cooking time will vary depending on the size and shape of the molds). Unmold and serve warm or at room temperature on a plate, as you would cookies.

To see an article about Restaurant Dining in Bordeaux, click here.

© Daniel Rogov