My first blog post. Be kind.

For the record, I can follow recipes. I'm rather attached, in an emotional sort of way, to recipes. Not because I can't "freestyle," but because I am more of a control freak and much more uptight than Anne. That said, my first post is about a relatively ad-libbed plat that I turned out last night, as part of a grand New Year's repast. A riff on coulibiac, served in individual portions. Part Julia (The French Chef), part Anya (von Bremzen, for those who don't know her, from Please to the Table), part some recipe on Epicurious, part my vast Russianist experience with mushrooms. It was yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. Очень вкусная, was the word on the street. Or 'round the table. And it looked damn good, as well.
Dilled rice (seasoned up with some mushroom stock), two different kinds of wild mushrooms that I sautéed and cooked down with shallots, cognac, dry vermouth and salt and pepper, 5 oz. pieces of salmon (traditionally, you poach and cube the salmon in advance, but I left the pieces whole and raw before baking). Layers: rice, mushrooms, salmon, mushrooms, rice, all wrapped in puff pastry. (Dufours is unquestionably the best. No reason to make your own.) Baked and served with a dill sauce. Rich yet light at the same time. I would definitely make it again. But, of course, since there was no real recipe, I probably couldn't.
That's another reason I like recipes...