Food brings back memories in powerful ways. This past week I recreated the first dinner Corey and I shared in France for our honeymoon. Our good friend Marshall was teaching English in Noyon, France and we were lucky enough to get to visit him for part of our journey. He graciously prepared this dinner for us and it was an epicurean delight.

We started the meal off with a bottle of Sauternes—a wine made by a rare fungus growth on grapes, which results in a higher sugar content, producing a very sweet but complex tasting wine. We paired the wine with goat cheese, foie gras, Camembert cheese, Moroccan olives, and several fresh baguettes.

We then had an endive salad with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. The French really like simple salads with the emphasis being on the freshness of the lettuces. Endive has a slightly bitter taste and a crunchy texture. It went nicely with the balsamic dressing.

For the main course we had a leek pie with herbed carrots and mashed potatoes. The leek pie is the showstopper. The sliced leeks are sautéed in butter and lardon—cubed pork fat, oftentimes made from pancetta. You then add cheese and cream to the leeks and transfer the mixture into a buttery piecrust and bake. This is a truly swoon worthy entrée; make it when you want to indulge.

Noyon is a quaint city located 60 miles north of Paris with a population of only 15,000. The main attraction of Noyon is its magnificent cathedral located in the heart of the city. Having never been in a cathedral before this trip, the experience was quite mesmerizing. They’re spectacular works of art and incredible feats of engineering, especially considering when they were built and the limited technology. The sheer magnitude paired with the intricate attention to detail is quite astonishing.

I took these photos with a Holga film camera to experiment with the effects and distortions. I like the unpredictable nature of the Holga.

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Leek Pie

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Serves	1 (9 in pie)
Region	French
Website	Slightly adapted from Allrecipes.com

This leek pie is a showstopper. The sliced leeks are sautéed in butter and lardon—cubed pork fat, oftentimes made from pancetta. You then add cheese and cream to the leeks and transfer the mixture into a buttery piecrust and bake. This is a truly swoon worthy entrée; make it when you want to indulge.

Ingredients

• 1 9 in refrigerated pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
• 2 Teaspoons butter
• 3 leeks (chopped)
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 1/4 Cups grated Gruyere cheese
• 1/4 Pound pancetta (cubed)

Note

Make sure to thoroughly wash the leeks, as they can be quite dirty. I thinly slice the leeks until I get to a junction where the outer leaves branch away, I then discard the remainder of that layer (as it is tough). I repeat this process until the leek has been cut in its entirety. You want to use the white and light green parts of the leeks, making sure to discard the dark green layers.

Directions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Step 2

Heat butter and pancetta in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in leeks; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream and cheese, and warm through. Pour mixture into pie shell

Step 3

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until custard is set and golden on top. Allow to sit 10 minutes before cutting pie into wedges.