Notice the whimsical top hat, bird beak umbrella and flowery carpet man bag
Jean A. Mercier (1899-1955) was a former student of Regional School of Fine Arts in Angers. He studied under Master Charles Berjole Art Deco Style of Art. He began his career creating movie posters and advertising. From 1925-1939 he created over 110 posters working for famous movie directors such as Jean Renoir, Abel Gance Sacha. He was known for his Billboards including being the artistic director of the house of Cointreau Liquor.
He was also known for his fantastic illustrations in Children's books he created for his daughter Sylvie.
This is from one of his books called "Les Trois Papillon Roses" 1947
After seeing this illustration I was reminded of the dish pattern my parents owned from Villerory and Boch. What a great coincidence to have eaten off of the balloon plates by Mercier!
Back cover of the menu
HERE IS THE YOU TUBE LINK FOR THE SONG MONSIEUR DUMOLLET
HORS-D OEUVRE : I personally would select a fruit appetizer over a Pigeon Terrine. So PAMPLEMOUSSE RAFRAICHI AU MARASQUIN will be my starter!
It basically translates into refreshing Grapefruit with a maraschino cherry. ( Funny we rarely get cherries with fruit salad today because of the red dye allergies)
SOUP: CREME VICHYSSOISE GLACEE
Cold Leek and Potato Soup is so refreshing and I have it all year because I love the taste of it so much. Here is my favorite way to have it!
Ingredients
5 Leeks
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter or butter substitute
6 boiling potatoes, chopped and peeled
4 cups of good chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon of ground mace
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
3/4 cups of heavy cream or milk
salt to taste
Directions: Cut the tough parts of the ends of the leek stalks and slice finely the white parts. Melt the butter in a large deep saucepan, stewing the leeks until they are very soft. Add the potatoes, stock and seasoning. Boil it and lower heat, simmering for about 40 minutes. Use your immersion wand and puree the mixture together. Then add heavy cream (you can use 1 or 2%milk but it won't be quite as rich) continue blending with the immersion wand. Taste it and reseason if needed. Cool to room temperature and place in refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight.
Ladle into soup bowls and top with sour cream or dill yogurt and a dollup of salmon caviar
Viola Vichyssoise Glacee!!!!
I will skip the Egg and Fish dish and go right to the Entree!
ENTREE: COTE DE BOEUF ROTIE JARDIN DE FRANCE
Cote de Boeuf is the same thing as a big juicy tender richly flavored Cowboy Steak. Cote de Boeuf in French is the big bone in rib-eye steak and not to be confused with boneless rib steak also called the delmonico or entrecote steak.
I like to cook my steak on my favorite cast iron pan. I get it very hot for about 10 minutes. Preheat my oven to 400F. Then I season my steak of 1 & 1/2 pounds with a rub of your liking ( I use garlic, salt, pepper and paprika mixture.) I also score the fat a little. Then I place the steak fat side down in the skillet so the fat melts and flavors the outside of the beef. The steaks char nicely for about 4 minutes. I turn it over again and rotate the steaks so they cook evenly for about 2 minutes longer. Then I flip them rotating as I did before. Then I place in the oven to finish cooking for about 6 minutes for medium or less for more rare. I let it rest for 5 more minutes and carve it table side. You can add a pad of herb butter to kick it up a notch!
About The French Line: French Line was a shipping company that started in 1861 by the Pereire brothers for mostly freighters and shipping. It was created to revive the french merchant marine. Although it was popular with transporting passengers on ocean liners, with the invention of air travel, The French Line in 1958 took a hit and started depending on government subsidies until 1974 when it all ended. The SS France, its last ship was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line and became the Norway until it was sold for scrap to India
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