Entertaining Ideas: A French New Year’s Brunch

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Signature Savoir-Faire

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On the Table

Artist and consummate entertainer Christophe Drumain welcomes family and friends to New Year’s Day brunch in his Riverland Terrace garden, complete with all the fixings from his native France

Artist and consummate entertainer Christophe Drumain welcomes family and friends to New Year’s Day brunch in his Riverland Terrace garden, complete with all the fixings from his native France

{Menu}
Caviar-Stuffed Eggs
Saffron Shrimp & Assorted Salads
Venison, Duck, and Rabbit Pâtés
Selection of Stuffed Dates & Prunes

Convincing Christophe Drumain that “there’s nothing to eat” is a difficult task. Just ask his friends, who claim he can whip something up from even the most barren refrigerator. 

“My clients laugh because I’ll design their yards and end up cooking for them,” says the French-born Christophe. “I enjoy food, but even more so, I enjoy the sense of family that comes with cooking.”  

And it’s no wonder: the Bordeaux School of Architecture graduate grew up helping his mother organize dinner parties. “My father was in the French army, so we would often host parties with military officials, including some of the generals. This taught me that it’s so important to know how to entertain, how to make people feel comfortable.” 

Christophe happily carried these lessons with him to the States; following a post-graduate degree program at Harvard, for which he received a full scholarship, the architect-turned-landscape artist met Scott Parker, who had just opened master planning firm DesignWorks in Charleston. Now a partner in the company, Christophe has sketched out the details of thousands of exterior plans. As for his own Riverland Terrace backyard? In recent years, it’s become a palette for artistry of all kinds. 

“In Charleston, you can use your garden year-round, so you want to design a space that you can spend as much time in as possible,” says Christophe. For him, that means forgoing a traditional lawn in favor of pavers, glass, and painted concrete. “I don’t really have the time to clip or trim,” he says. That’s not to say the James Island resident isn’t willing to put in a little elbow grease—it’s just that artistic projects like garden murals are more his speed. 

“I painted a koi pond onto a concrete slab using alkaline outdoor paint,” he says of the rectangular garden alcove that formerly served as a parking space. “I had always wanted a real koi pond, but as a landscape designer, I know how much they cost and how hard they are to maintain.” So Christophe decided to paint what he couldn’t install. A nearby water-jug fountain “feeds” the faux pond, while a generous selection of papyrus and water plants, most salvaged from friends’ yards, completes the illusion. 

But again, Christophe’s garden artistry is only part of the story. With his mom and entertaining mentor, Catherine, visiting from France—her first trip to the United States since Christophe’s Harvard graduation—with his aunt, Micheline, Christophe readied his back garden for a festive New Year’s Day brunch. The trio combined their traditional French flavors with his friends’ offerings to create a feast of pâtés, dried fruits, and even a vegan Yule log.

“It’s about a great diversity of food eaten in only small amounts,” he says, pointing to his friend Ken Immer of vegan culinary outfit OM Cooking. “I could take on everything on my own, but Ken is educated in French cooking, so he mixes his good, raw foods with these cooking methods. It’s all about the exchange of talent and ideas.” 

Christophe notes too that as large a role as food always plays, it’s never the main event. “The French love to feed people,” he says, “but it’s really about the social element that goes with it. You never remember what you wore or even what you ate, but you remember the experience forever. The best laugh I ever had was in the kitchen with my aunt and my mother. We were dropping dishes and falling on the floor laughing,” he says, “That’s what I’ll remember most, and that’s why you remember the way food smelled as a child for the rest of your life.” 

In France, explains Christophe, you can tell that people are from the same family when they sing the same tunes and cook the same recipes. “Food links me to my roots,” explains Christophe. “It’s the roots of who you are. You may lose a language, but you never lose those ties to family and food, and it’s an amazing experience to share that with friends.”

Caviar-Stuffed Eggs

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Serves

8

Ingredients 

Based on recipe from The Lutece Cookbook by chef Andre Soltner
• 8 hard-boiled eggs in the shell
• 1 large shallot
• 1 cup sour cream
• Splash of vodka
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 12 oz. caviar (Choose type based on budget. Salmon caviar presents well because of its red color and size.)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Kosher salt

Directions 

Carefully, cut top off each hard-boiled egg with an egg cutter or sharp serrated knife. Use a small spoon to completely scoop out the eggs, keeping separate the contents of the first four eggs. Discard the contents of the others. Reserve the shells.

Chop the whites and yolks of the four eggs. In a food processor, cut up the shallots finely. Add the chopped eggs, sour cream, vodka, and a small pinch of cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly in a food processor. Use a spoon to add half of the caviar. Season to taste with salt and pepper, remembering that caviar is already salted.

With a small spoon, fill each eggshell with the egg and caviar mixture and top with a small amount of the remaining caviar. Place eggs on a tray filled with kosher salt to prevent them from tipping over.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Eggs can be eaten with a small spoon, strips of toasted bread, or Belgian endive leaves cut in half lengthwise so that they can fit inside the egg.

Saffron Shrimp Salad

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Serves

6

Ingredients 

• 2 lbs. large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 Tbs. fennel seeds
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 cups fresh lemon juice
• 10 threads of saffron
• 6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large head of fennel with the fronds
• 2 large red bell peppers


For dressing:

• 4 Tbs. of the marinade
• 3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

The day before serving, place in a large plastic zippered bag: the shrimp, fennel seeds, orange juice, lemon juice, saffron, three tablespoons of the olive oil, and the fennel fronds (looks like dill). Marinate overnight.

The next day, thinly slice the fennel bulb and cut the red peppers in long, narrow strips approximately two inches long. Put fennel and peppers on a baking sheet, sprinkle with olive oil, and broil on low. Remove the fennel when it starts to brown. Remove the peppers when roasted. This should only take a few minutes, depending on your oven.

Remove the shrimp from marinade. Strain the marinade and reserve for the dressing. Sauté the shrimp in olive oil just until they turn pink. Let cool, then mix the shrimp with the roasted fennel and peppers.

For dressing:
Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Slowly pour the dressing on the shrimp until they are lightly coated (not dripping) with dressing. Toss and serve.

Country Venison Pâté

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Serves

16

Ingredients 

• 1 small venison tenderloin (approx. 1/4-lb.)
• 3 Tbs. gin
• 12 juniper berries
• 2 large shallots, minced
• 1 cup chicken livers
• 2 Tbs. dry thyme
• 2 Tbs. dry rosemary
• 2 Tbs. allspice
• 2 lbs. ground lean pork
• 2 lbs. ground veal (Turkey or chicken can be used if veal is not available.)
• 2 lbs. ground venison
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• 13 slices of lean bacon
• 1/2 cup pistachios
• 2 bay leaves

Directions 

Slice the venison tenderloin into one-inch-long strips. Marinate overnight with the gin and juniper berries in a plastic container or a zippered plastic bag.
The next day, in a food processor, mix together the shallots, chicken livers, thyme, rosemary, and allspice, and process into a purée.

Mix together the pork, veal, and ground venison in a large bowl. Add the liver mixture and the eggs.

Pour the juice from the marinated strips, including the gin and juniper berries, into the meat mixture. Reserve the strips for later. Salt and pepper the mixture generously. Gently sauté a tablespoon of the mixture to taste test. Pâté must be well seasoned and spiced, as it loses some of its flavor after being cooked.

Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Line a three-pound terrine with the bacon on all sides. Lay one-third of the ground meat in the terrine. Pack tightly by pressing down with your hands. Add the thin strips of marinated venison and the pistachios. Do not create a thick layer—instead push the strips and nuts into the meat. If the meat does not surround the strips and the nuts, the pâté will split when cut. Top with the remainder of the meat.

The terrine should be overfilled, as pate reduces in size after cooking. Cover the ground meat with bacon strips. Top with two bay leaves. Cover with terrine lid or aluminum foil. Set the terrine in a pan of hot water in the preheated oven. Bake for 35 minutes.

Remove lid or foil and bake for another 35 minutes. Check temperature after about 25 minutes. When a meat or instant-read thermometer reaches 160ºF and juices run clear when meat is punctured by the thermometer, the pâté is done. Cooking time varies based on shape of terrine and oven type.

Remove the terrine from oven and lay foil on top. Put at least a half-pound weight on top (a large can will do). Let the pâté cool on the kitchen counter. Make sure the terrine sits on an empty pan, as liquid may spill over the edges. This is an important step in the process as the weight pushes the fat and liquid out of the pâté and creates the coating.

When pâté has cooled, cover it tightly and refrigerate for at least three days. This amount of time is necessary in order to bring out all the flavors from the spices.

Serve at room temperature or cold. Slice and serve on toast, accompanied by French cornichons. Pâté can be kept tightly covered for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Variations for duck or rabbit pâté:
in the above recipe, you can substitute strips from the breast of a duck or the tenderloin of a rabbit for the strips of venison. Substitute cognac or Armagnac and peppercorns for the gin and juniper berries. Walnuts or hazelnuts can be substituted for the pistachios. All other ingredients and the cooking time remain the same.

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Stuffed Dates & Prunes

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Serves

8

Ingredients 

• 1/2 lb. whole raw almonds
• 1/2 lb. confectioners’ sugar
• 1-2 pasteurized egg whites
• 1 tsp. green food coloring
• 1 tsp. red food coloring
• 20 dried pitted dates and 20 dried prunes

Directions 

To make the almond paste, begin grinding almonds into a powder in a food processor. Halfway through the grinding process, incorporate sugar, then continue grinding. When both ingredients are well mixed and the almonds are completely ground, add one egg white. The mixture should turn into a solid paste. If it doesn’t, add another egg white.

Split the paste into three balls and set them aside on wax paper. One of the balls will be colored red, one ball will be colored green, and one will be left natural (red and green are traditional French colors for the holidays). For the red and green balls, add the food coloring by hand in small drops until you achieve the desired color.

Cut a lengthwise slit down (but not through) the center of each date and prune, nearly to the bottom, leaving ends intact. Mold a heaping teaspoonful of almond paste into a football shape and stuff one inside each date or prune. Gently press sides of the fruit until the almond paste pushes up slightly above the top of the fruit. Do not overstuff. Repeat process for the rest of the dates and prunes, creating an equal number of fruits stuffed with red, green, and natural-colored almond paste.

Place the stuffed fruits on a tray with other fresh, seasonal fruits, such as grapes and oranges, and nuts, such as whole walnuts, hazelnuts, and/or almonds. Stuffed fruits can be kept tightly covered and refrigerated for the entire holiday season.

Chef’s Note: If you have leftover paste, make small balls and put half of a walnut on top. Almond paste can be frozen and used later.