Feeling a bit devilish and a lot carnivorous, I was so glad to see the sidebar for this recipe in Dorie Greenspan’s, Around My French Table states that the Chicken Diable dish could be made with Filet Mignon. Given the choice between chicken and Filet Mignon, it’s a no brainer- BEEF! (It’s definitely what’s for dinner!)

When I was in Paris last year I stocked up on mustard. And when I say I stocked up, I could have easily been mistaken for a doomsday prepper. There was a Monoprix (similar to a Target but with much, MUCH better food) right around the corner from the apartment where I was staying. I wandered the aisles several times a week filling my cart with coffee, cornichons, sauces, wine, cheeses (Watch two minutes of French cheese!), pates, rillettes and mustard. I am pretty sure I bought every type of Maille mustard they had to offer. And not just one jar of each, but several.

Yes, you can get Maille mustard here in the U.S., but somehow it’s not the same. Spicy, sweet, tangy, bitter… Old Style Whole Grain Dijon, Dijon with Honey, Mustard with Chablis, Moutarde Aux Fines Herbes and so many other varieties are available. I found one in a beautiful white crock, a green one, a red one, one in a stemmed “wine” glass, one in a juice glass and of course many jars of their regular Originale Dijon… it doesn’t matter the variety, they all ended up in my suitcase.  Which was the real devil to carry through the airport and ended up being, not surprisingly, “overweight”.

For this recipe, Moutarde a l’Ancienne was chosen just because it was open. It’s a very traditional grained mustard with white wine and large, whole mustard seeds. It’s not as sharp or hot as Dijon Originale and it adds  just the right amount of tang without masking the velvety smooth, rich flavor of the meat. It was a perfect combination! I am looking forward to trying this again with Chicken. Perhaps I will venture to use a different jar of mustard too!

Pureed carrots made a terrific side dish, simply done with butter and salt.

 

So sorry, but I cannot share this wonderful recipe- but you can (and should!) buy the book and cook along with us. It’s great fun! Every Friday we make a new recipe. And I can’t wait for next week’s challenge! For details and to see how others are recreating the dishes from this awesome book, check out the FFWD site.