Sara's Weeknight Meals

Sara's Weeknight Meals is made possible by... Aboard Oceania Cruises, we share a journey of culinary discovery, from shore excursions dedicated to local food traditions, to our hands-on cooking school at sea.

Our master chefs take inspiration from vibrant markets and flavors as they create the international dishes served to guests each evening.

That's the Oceania Cruises epicurean experience.

(soft music) And by USA Rice.

(upbeat music) Rugged, windswept Brittany is loaded with culinary treasures, and today we're on the hunt.

The more you look, the more you see.

Like foraged greens on seaside cliffs.

That's wild arugula.

The world's best butter in Saint Malo.

It's like a temple to butter.

Or the world's best oysters in Cancale.

I'm gonna show you how we eat oysters here in Brittany.

I'm ready.

(upbeat music) Mm!

And of course, crepes, with savory leeks and local scallops from an expat cook full of surprises.

- I did not know that.

Ooh.

- [Mary] Just like that.

- [Sara] Oh.

And then... - I am making my all-time favorite salad.

It's very substantial.

It's perfect for dinner.

It's called the Salad Lyonnaise.

The bounty of Brittany.

- What could be better than this?

Today on Sara's Weeknight Meals.

(upbeat music) If you like briny oysters, savory crepes, and some of the freshest food in France, seaside Brittany is the place to be.

We are headed to the coastal town of Cancale.

But first, a stop at one of Brittany's culinary landmarks in Saint Malo.

- Whoa, would you look at this?

It's like a temple to butter.

But not just any butter.

It's called Bordier butter.

And Michelin chefs say it's the best in the world.

Maison Bordier butter is handcrafted by specially trained artisans using a technique that requires three years of apprenticeship to master.

Butter this magnificent is bound to cost a pretty penny, but it'll be worth every cent.

- Oh, my goodness.

█6.70?

- Oui.

- I expected it to be so much more.

It's very affordable.

Yay.

(Sara speaks in foreign language) (cashier speaks in foreign language) The butter was a special request from Mary Margaret Chappell, an American expat who hosts crepe-making classes featuring greens she forages herself in Cancale.

- Just the more you look, the more you see.

And then you start to know where to look.

Like, oh, like there, that's wild arugula.

- Wow.

Okay.

- And if you take it, you can recognize it, 'cause it smells like arugula.

- Oh, it sure does.

- Yeah.

- I imagine I can eat it, too.

- [Mary] You can eat it too.

Yes.

- Oh, my God, yikes.

- Spicy, huh?

- That arugula is on fire.

- It is.

- Oh, I like it.

Is this okay, this one here?

- [Mary] Yeah.

- Look at me, I'm foraging.

Oh, my goodness.

- [Mary] Now you'll know where to find it wherever you go.

- [Sara] I'm so farm to table.

You can't believe it.

(gentle music) - And here is my pennywort stash.

- Oh, you mean those little things behind the stones?

- These little things poking between the stones are pennywort.

They are the darling of all the chefs right now.

And they grow in these beautiful, cool, wooded areas where there are stones or walls.

And all you have to do is just pick one.

Here if you want to taste it.

- I want to taste it.

Yeah.

I've never had it.

Okay.

Little crunchy.

- A little crunchy.

Wonderful in salads because of the difference in texture.

So the trick to gathering it is you want them to be the size of a penny or smaller.

- [Sara] Penny or smaller.

- [Mary] Penny or smaller.

- [Sara] I got it.

This is a labor of love.

- It is.

It's, you know, natural microgreens.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Sara] I had so much fun foraging today.

Thank you.

- Oh, I'm so glad.

And what we're gonna do now is even more fun.

We're gonna go get some of the local oysters at the oyster market.

Brittany's oysters are the best oysters in the world.

Cancale has the best oysters in Brittany, and this is the best place to eat them, the Marche aux Huitres.

(Mary speaking in foreign language) (seller speaking in foreign language) (Mary speaking in foreign language) (seller speaking in foreign language) (Mary speaking in foreign language) - I'm here with my friend, Sara.

(Sara speaking in foreign language) (Mary speaking in foreign language) (seller speaking in foreign language) - What's interesting about oysters in Cancale is it was traditionally women's work.

The men went out on the codboats fishing in Newfoundland and the women stayed home and they would manage the beds, take care of the oysters and sell them.

And this market has been here at least a hundred years.

And so sell them and open them for tourists like us coming to eat them.

- [Sara] Yes.

Oh, God.

- And look at that.

She's done.

These are gonna be fantastic.

(Mary speaking in foreign language) (seller speaking in foreign language) (Sara speaking in foreign language) - [Mary] You do the honor, Sara.

- [Sara] Thank you.

Ooh, I'm so excited.

(gentle upbeat music) - So I'm going to show you how we eat oysters here in Brittany.

- I'm ready.

- As you've noticed, they do not take the tops off.

- [Sara] No.

- [Mary] You take them off yourself.

- [Sara] Mm-hmm.

- Sometimes you need the fork to scrape them to break it.

And you will also notice they haven't cut the muscle on the bottom.

Oh, this?

Goodbye.

- Oh.

All right.

I like that.

Mm.

- The oysters here... - They're so briny.

- They're really briny.

- [Sara] Briny means salty.

But they're good salty.

They're, like, oyster salty.

- And that is because, you know, here in the Mont Saint-Michel Bay, which we are facing, they're the highest tides in northern Europe.

It's all that salt water rushing four times a day.

- [Sara] Oh, my God.

- Over the oysters, feeding them with plankton, cleansing them with all the salt water.

And that's what makes them both lean and fatty at the same time.

Like, they're meaty.

They're not super thin or anything like that.

And then once you're done and they go.

The other way of eating oysters in Brittany, you must have Muscadet wine.

You have to have bread and butter.

And you brought the Bordier butter.

- [Sara] I did.

I did.

- Before you lose that taste in your mouth, here you go.

And you know, you need plenty of the Bordier butter because otherwise... - Oh, geez.

- Why bother?

- Oh, yeah.

- There you go.

- Look at how yellow it is.

It's wild.

- That's because of the fermentation.

And quickly, before you finish that mouthful- - Oh, my God.

This is a three biter.

- [Mary] There's your glass of wine.

- [Sara] The oyster, the bread, and butter.

- And you know, in France, you can't have wine until you've toasted.

- Mm-hmm.

And what kind of toast do we do here?

- So, in French, it would be sante.

- Sante.

Do it quickly.

Yes.

Oh.

Mm.

What could be better than this?

- Well, we're about to go make buckwheat galettes which are another Breton's specialty, and they might just be better.

- No.

Not possible.

- Cheers.

(gentle upbeat music) - And here I am in Mary Margaret's gorgeous kitchen.

I'm so jealous in a gorgeous place.

- That's pretty great.

- I want this kitchen.

Anyway, I'm so excited 'cause we are making something that is very of the place from Brittany.

What are we making?

- Today, we are making Breton buckwheat crepes.

They are savory and they are called galette here.

And there are really only three ingredients in a galette: buckwheat flour, salt, and water.

- Wow.

Okay.

- So, I have 500 grams or four cups of flour here, buckwheat flour, and I'm going to add one tablespoon of coarse sea salt or kosher salt.

I don't need to whisk this in.

I'm just gonna stir it up a little bit and the salt will dissolve.

And then I'm going to add two cups of cold water.

So this is gonna turn it into a very thick batter.

And there are two reasons for keeping it thick.

One, it takes up less space in your refrigerator.

And two, if you tip it over, it doesn't all spill out.

- Ah.

- You know, when it comes time to make the galettes, we will thin it.

And then I'm gonna cover it with a thin film of water.

A little bit of that.

- Oh, and what does that do?

- What that does is it keeps crust from forming while the batter rests.

So the batter is going to rest in minimum four hours.

I prefer overnight, and it can be up to three days.

The buckwheat needs time to ferment.

- I didn't know it was fermented.

- Yeah, most people don't, even in Brittany.

The fermentation makes the buckwheat easier to digest.

- Okay.

- And it just makes it taste so much better.

You get that nice, rich, tangy taste.

- [Sara] So part of the filling is the leeks, right?

- Yes.

- And these are beautiful.

- [Mary] They really are beautiful.

- Well, I just brought this guy here 'cause we've already got almost enough, and you had me take off the top and the bottom, cut it in half, and then into half moons.

And we're going to wash this.

I agree with this method.

I call this the salad washing method where you put the item in the bowl filled with water.

The idea being that the dirt's gonna go to the bottom and the lettuce or the leeks or the whatever is gonna go to the top.

And then you get them clean this way.

Okay.

So I'm gonna lift it out.

I've got a strainer.

Sometimes when they're really dirty, I'm sure you do the same.

I'll do more than one rinse.

I'll take them out, dump out the dirt, start with fresh water, put them in again.

- I am going to start by putting about two tablespoons of butter into the pan.

And once the butter melts, we're gonna add the leeks and just let them cook gently but evenly.

We don't want them soft.

We don't want them crunchy.

We want them just sort of- - [Sara] Tender.

- Tender.

- [Sara] Just tender.

- [Mary] Just tender.

- [Sara] And you didn't dry them.

- I'm gonna use that residual water to keep the leeks from browning and burning.

- Oh, okay then.

- [Mary] Just stir them up.

- Ooh, it smells good.

Now any salt and pepper at this point?

- I'm gonna salt them just a little bit.

I usually like to add pepper at the end 'cause otherwise it can get too strong.

- [Sara] It can get too strong.

While that's cooking, we have to make a dressing?

- [Mary] Yes, we do.

- [Sara] Okay.

- And this is, you know, a classic French vinaigrette and the Brittany twist is cider vinegar because Brittany is the land of cider in France.

- Okay, that's one tablespoon of cider vinegar.

A half a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

- I add a tiny bit of olive oil so that you can get the flavor, but then most of the oil is just a neutral flavored vegetable oil.

- [Sara] Two tablespoons of vegetable oil and one tablespoon of olive oil.

I got little pinch of salt.

- [Mary] Mm-hmm.

- [Sara] Can I add some pepper?

- Please add pepper because pepper is an emulsifier.

- I did not know that.

- Pepper is an emulsifier just like mustard.

So it helps the vinaigrette come together.

And now for the moment of magic.

- I'll pretend I'm a bartender.

- There you go.

- This is a martini.

There you go.

- [Mary] I'm gonna add a quarter cup of white wine to this.

It just adds that little extra bit of flavor.

We'll cook that down until all of the wine cooks out.

I'm gonna add a teaspoon of honey.

- Oh, wow.

That's sort of different.

- So we have this beautiful Bordier Creme Fraiche.

It's really just- - [Sara] Wow.

- Well, yes.

Isn't that gorgeous?

- Oh.

- Would you like to lick the spoon?

- [Sara] I would actually.

- Here you go.

But it's really just to bring the whole thing together so that you have a filling that is moist and tender and delicious.

- Okay.

You want me to get the scallops out of the fridge?

- I would love it if you get the scallops out of- - And the rested batter.

- And the rested batter while you're there.

Oh, thanks for doing that.

Could you pat them dry?

- Yes.

- Just so that we can try and get them as nice and brown as possible.

And I'm going to put- - [Sara] Butter.

- A lot more butter.

- We have a theme here.

- Because Brittany is, you know, we're in Brittany.

- These are local and these are seasonal.

- The season runs from October 1st to May 15th.

But everyone around here during the season buys kilos and kilos of unshucked scallops, shucks them, and then freezes them.

There we go.

See how it just almost starting to turn to a brown butter and that's when we want the scallops to go in 'cause we want them to sear.

It'll be just brown because we want it practically medium rare.

- [Sara] Well, while they're cooking, can I ask you a quick question?

- [Mary] Yes, absolutely.

- So a million years ago, I worked in a restaurant in France.

And we served scallops, and they had the roe attached.

- [Mary] Ah, yes.

- Which is something we never see in the United States.

- It's something you never see in the United States and something you saw in Chartres because Chartres was getting its scallops from Normandy where the roes are very big.

Here in this part of Brittany, the roe is not that big.

You know, it's not as orange and appetizing and beautiful, and so they just pull it off.

- Oh, okay.

- So, these scallops didn't even have much roe.

There we go.

- [Sara] Oh, that's nice.

- [Mary] That's what I'm talking about.

- Oh, those look wonderful.

- But again, I'm not looking for a sear.

I'm really just looking for a little bit of color and texture.

Like that one, I think, it's probably ready.

- Here we go.

Here's a nice plate.

- I'd rather them be a little undercooked than overcooked 'cause they're so fresh.

- Yes.

- [Mary] I'm just gonna turn that off.

- Well, that butter smells good though.

- Because... So there are our scallops.

They are ready to go.

So now the moment of truth, we're going to mix the galette batter.

So this is batter that I made yesterday and has been resting for 24 hours.

And it looks a lot like cement.

- It doesn't look all that fermented, but it is.

- [Mary] Watch as I add more water.

- [Sara] Okay.

- We're gonna start with about one and a half cups of water.

- Wow.

- See how that white film that's coming up on the water, that is the fermentation.

- Ah, okay.

Yeah.

- [Mary] You can see the bubbles.

- [Sara] Yes, I do.

- It's beautiful.

Here is my ladle.

This is about a third of a cup.

- [Sara] Mm-hmm.

- So I'm gonna go right about two o'clock, but in the center, just like that.

Take my trusty spreader and very, very gently spread it, almost like I'm raking leaves.

And then I have to do a little dance to get all the way around.

- [Sara] Wow.

That is beautiful.

- Now I need to fill it because while it's cooking, the filling's gonna heat up.

- [Sara] Leeks go in first.

- Leeks go in first.

Could you hand me the scallops?

- [Sara] Yes.

- I'm gonna put maybe four.

What do you think?

- [Sara] I think that sounds splendid.

- Okay.

For the folding, so what you want to do is sort of mark it and then fold in the side.

- Oh, so you sort of leave it open faced.

- [Mary] Leave it open faced so that you can see what's in it.

- And how do we get it from there to here?

- [Mary] It should slide right off.

- Ooh.

- [Mary] Just like that.

- [Sara] Oh.

- And the finishing touch, a nice pad of butter that you can spread yourself.

- [Sara] Wow.

Okay.

- All right, I'm putting mine down here.

It's your turn.

- [Sara] Right here?

- [Mary] Mm-hmm.

- [Sara] Boink.

Boink.

Okay.

- [Mary] And you take your little spreader.

- So you sort of go gently.

- [Mary] Beautiful.

Oh my goodness, you're a natural.

- I don't know about that.

I'm scared.

- [Mary] That's pretty good.

- [Sara] Okay.

- [Mary] The next thing you want to do is add the leeks.

- [Sara] It's not too soon?

- [Mary] Nope.

- [Sara] Okay.

- [Mary] 'Cause this is heating the leeks up.

- Okay, and then four scallops.

- [Mary] And here are the scallops for you.

- Okay.

- [Mary] I don't know.

I think you're going to beat me at this one.

- Oh, I don't think so.

You're very nice.

Teachers have to be encouraging.

So, I see.

I'm just going to do it here?

- [Mary] Just do it there and then fold it in.

There you go.

- Oh, it worked.

- [Mary] It did.

It's beautiful.

- Okay.

Oh, my beautiful crepe.

Oh, dear.

- [Mary] It's gorgeous.

I'm so excited.

- Oh, you're so nice.

You're a good teacher.

Kindergarten art class.

- [Mary] Put the butter.

- [Sara] Oh, okay.

Put the butter right on it.

Then get enough before- - [Mary] And this is like one of the best uses of Bordier butter you can find.

- Well, I think we need to go eat.

- I think we do.

Let's go.

- [Sara] Yeah.

- [Mary] And here's our dressing.

- [Sara] And our beautiful salad.

- Our magic dressing and our beautiful salad.

I can't wait for you to taste the herbs.

- Oh, my God.

And I made this.

- You made this, from start to finish.

- Mm.

Oh, I love it.

- [Mary] It's just such a wonderful combination.

- And you know what's great about the buckwheat is it's so much more interesting than white flour.

- And so much better for you.

You know, buckwheat actually has the same protein content as quinoa.

- I would love some of that salad.

- Oh, so glad you reminded me.

- I'm excited to taste all of those beautiful greens and the- - [Mary] And the herbs we gathered.

- [Sara] Yes.

- [Mary] There you go.

- I'll forage with you any day.

- Come back anytime.

You are more than welcome.

Bring your friends.

(gentle upbeat music) - Today, I am making my all-time favorite salad.

It's a salad from France, of course.

It's very substantial.

It's perfect for dinner.

It's called the Salad Lyonnaise.

And it's wonderful, hearty salad with frisee and lardon, which are thick bacon strips and crouton and a poached egg, of course.

So, I'm starting with the croutons here.

I've got two cups.

I just used rustic bread, and I'm gonna transfer it to a bowl to season them.

And we're gonna need some extra virgin olive oil.

This is the time to use the good stuff.

One tablespoon and a little salt and pepper.

(gentle music) And meanwhile, I've preheated the oven to 350 degrees, and these go in for about six to eight minutes.

You want them to just get firm, you know, and almost crispy.

Okay.

(gentle music) Ok now I█m going to spread them on this rim sheet pan just one layer.

This is, you know, you could use these croutons for any salad.

So, now I'm gonna pop them in the oven.

So my bacon looks nice and crispy.

And you want to cook them in a pan in their own fat for about five minutes or until they're just crispy.

Now, you'll notice this is regular thin sliced bacon.

If you have thick sliced bacon, just use three slices.

If you have the thin stuff like this, use four.

So for this recipe, I'm actually gonna use the bacon fat as part of the fat in the dressing.

I want about a tablespoon, and actually this looks more like two.

So I am gonna lose just a tiny bit.

And then into the bacon fat, I have two tablespoons of minced shallot here and cook it till it gets a little softened.

This should take a few minutes.

Okay.

So now I think my crouton should be done.

I'm gonna get them out of the oven.

Oh, yeah.

These look perfect.

We'll just park them over here.

I'm going to see how my bacon's doing yet.

It's just about ready.

Crumble it up.

Now, the original Lyonnaise salad only has bacon in it, but I wanted to protein it up.

So I'm adding some smoked salmon as well to keep sort of the smokey theme.

But you don't have to add the additional smoked salmon if you don't want to.

Now let me just say about Lyon.

Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France.

It's where Paul Bocuse was, all these great old chefs were based and they had just the best food.

And it's hearty food, stick-to-your-ribs food.

And everybody loves it.

I love it.

Lyon to me is like a little mini Paris.

It's got rivers running through it.

It's got a big hill, and it's got so much character.

Okay.

These look nicely softened.

Shallots are wonderful 'cause they give a little crunch, and they also give a little sweetness.

So to this, I'm going to add some vinegar, three tablespoons.

And this is red wine vinegar, and this is traditional.

A teaspoon of Dijon mustard, which comes also from that area of France.

Let me whisk that in.

And I'm gonna add a little salt.

You want to dissolve your salt in your vinegar.

It doesn't dissolve as well after you've added the oil.

And a little pepper.

All right.

And whisking in the oil again, the really good stuff.

Two tablespoons of olive oil, extra virgin.

(gentle music) Okay.

So poached eggs.

While this comes to a boil, we're gonna strain the eggs.

Why are you straining the eggs?

The white divides into two parts: very viscous white and sort of watery stuff.

And if you just dump it into the pan like that, the watery stuff will make strands.

It's sort of unattractive.

It's perfectly edible.

It is protein.

If you don't want to waste protein, don't strain it.

But if you want it to look pretty, strain it.

So you see this watery stuff coming out, that's what would make the little ugly strand.

And I'm gonna set them up in ramekins or little bowls.

I'm going to do two.

Here goes our second egg.

This is one of those times when you really want a fresh egg, because you really want those viscous whites.

That's why.

Okay.

All right, now what we do is I'm gonna turn this off completely.

There we go.

Okay, it's off.

And now you add the eggs, just drop them in.

Don't even think about it.

Don't worry, and put the lid on.

And then about a minute and a half later, you're gonna have perfectly poached eggs.

Now, I was taught at cooking school, you bring a pot of water like this to a boil with lots of vinegar in it, because vinegar helps the whites to set up.

Trouble is the vinegar also flavors the whites, so I don't like that.

I was also taught that what you should really do is get the water to a bare simmer, make a whirlpool with a spoon, drop the egg right in the middle so the white wraps around itself.

By the time you're done doing that six or eight times, you're ready for a heart attack.

It's really stressful.

So I learned this from a very cute Australian chef a million years ago when I had a show on the Food Network called "Cooking Live."

So they slowly poach in the hot liquid.

You notice there's no heat now.

It's turned off, and they should be ready very soon.

Let me just take a quick peek.

I bet you they're done.

There you go.

Look at that.

I'm using the right tool for the job.

This is called a spider.

It's mainly used for deep fat frying, but you can use it for other things.

I often use it to take pasta out of a pan.

If I don't want to strain the whole pasta pan, I just take it out with this.

Now this guy has a little bit of the stringy white.

You can also just trim it off later or don't worry about it.

And I'm putting them on paper towels just to drain them, because you don't want to have water in your salad, 'cause then the dressing will not stick to the salad.

Okey-dokey, speaking of the salad, it's time to put the whole thing together.

So here we have our frisee.

Husband hates it.

He says it's tickly.

It's called frisee for a reason.

Looks like a bad hair day, right?

It's frizzy.

But this is what's traditional.

If you don't like it, like the husband, just use romaine, use arugula, whatever makes you happy.

We're gonna add our dressing, which I've been keeping warm over here.

Okay.

Down to our frisee.

Now you can either put the croutons in now or you can just put them on top.

You know, I think I'm gonna actually add them right now.

I'm gonna just add these guys right in.

Yum, yum.

And like I said, I think this is perfect for dinner.

In France, it's a first course or a lunch.

I love salad for dinner.

And with the egg, it's pretty darn substantial.

After you've nicely mounted the lettuce, try to get it up there.

Garnish it with smoked salmon.

I've got four ounces.

The pieces are cut into one inch by two inch squares.

And that goes on top.

Just lay it a pretty way.

And finally, I'm gonna sprinkle the bacon.

Last but not least, here you go, poached egg.

And ready?

Here we go.

Ooh.

Oh, that's nice.

I like the little yolk on top.

The idea is now that when you go to eat it, you break the yolk and the yolk also becomes part of the dressing on top of the salad.

So there you have it, my Salad Lyonnaise.

Yum.

(gentle music) For recipes, videos, and more, go to our website, saramoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by... Aboard Oceania Cruises, we share a journey of culinary discovery.

From shore excursions dedicated to local food traditions, to our hands-on cooking school at sea.

Our master chefs take inspiration from vibrant markets and flavors as they create the international dishes served to guests each evening.

That's the Oceania Cruises epicurean experience.

And by USA Rice.

(soft music) (bright music) (gentle bright music)