Let’s have a history lesson.

I was always a good student. I was one of those kids that did well in almost every subject (notice I said almost…numbers still elude me).

But numbers aside, history was/is particularly delicious to me.

Cooking has an interesting history of course. You don’t have to go all the way back to medieval times to find a fascinating tale.

In fact I have a fun story for you. In the 1960s & 70s, in this country at least, the foodie-world was abuzz with the suddenly “discovered” truth behind “classical French cuisine”. It was brought to our attention by the commendable talents of Julia Child. Her book Mastering the Art of French Cooking changed the way American home cooks like my mother began to look at gourmet food.

As I have said before. I was raised on this kind of fare. I was a nine year old who liked chicken liver pâté. I knew crêpe was not pronounced crape, and sauces always started with bones.

But things can never stay just as they are, now can they? In fact changes were afoot in the culinary world. Because just as Ms. Child was introducing Americans to classical French cooking; classical French cooking was being challenged or perhaps re-interpretted in of all places– France!

Meat & Potatoes Day 2 goes continental! Lamb Champvallon.

According to the Larousse Gastronomique, this classic French dish dates from the reign of Louis XIV. It was supposedly invented by one of his mistresses. But which one? There are 14 (quatorze) officially recognized mistresses. That’s a lot of ladies to give credit for this dish to.

The French seem to have a lot of these stories attached to their most traditional foods. It’s hard to say how much truth there is in any one of them.

Take this recipe known to the French as Cotes D’agneau Champvallon. If it was indeed a lamb dish brought to the King’s attention by a mistress, it seems to make sense that her name may have been Champvallon. But most mistresses get short shrift in the history books. I can find no references to any of Louis’ lovers with that name.

So I decided it was time for me to take hold of this lore and redefine the history behind this dish to suit my own needs and my own cooking style. While I am rewriting history I think I’ll do a bit of tweeking to the recipe too. Something more suited to the modern palate.

I have so many little people to thank for this recipe!

I never could have done it were it not for the bold pioneers who went before me. Although the inspiration for this recipe may come from many, I have decided to take all the credit myself! And if I cry and sniffle a little whilst taking all the credit, people will cheer me on as an underdog. The little guy who beat "the man".

That's me– The Little Engine That Could!  I believe this is the way you get ahead in the world, n'est-ce pas?

Because truthfully I did have many an inspiration when I sat down and started putting this recipe together. One of the primary "little people" involved in this dish is a quaint cook named Daniel Boulud. Perhaps you've heard if him? He runs a charming little self-named cafe on an island somewhere. It's a bit off the beaten track on East 76th Street, I believe. If you ever find yourself in that part of the world you must pop in. Tell him Sup! sez Hi...

Egg in the Basket, Toad in the Hole… Pig in a Whistle. I can’t quite remember what I am supposed to call this dish. That’s because I have a bad cold. I don’t even feel well enough to google the name.

So you can pick any one of those names or make up one of your own, then berate me in the comment section later. Besides today might be your lucky day. I am feeling so low energy I might even go ahead and publish it with out editing it… but probably not.

If you don’t mind, I think I’ll call this dish by its French name Oeufs en Croustade. It was a good enough name for Julia Child and it’s good enough for me. Besides, I don’t feel well and French is my comfort language. Yes I may be American, but I sometimes slip into French when I am feverish. I can’t explain it. Que signifie-t-ceci ? Suis-j'insensé?

So when I am feeling this way, the truth is– I just don't care what your Aunt Polly called this dish. And I certainly am not cutting the hole into the shape of a heart or a star. Because contrary to what Aunt Polly said, cute shapes will not make me heal faster. Just ask your uncle Walter…

Maintenant me pardonner j'ai un oeuf pour manger.

Do you read SpinachTiger? If not you should. Her blog is sophisticated, witty and honest.

These are great reasons to read her blog 364 days a year. But there is a 365^th day and on that day there is an even more compelling reason to make the time to go there.

Tuesday December 1 is World AIDS Day. Angela at SpinachTiger is asking us to Cook Red To Remember.

Now, I am going to say something that may seem controversial. I am a gay man, old enough to remember the shell-shocked days of the early epidemic. I don’t need a special day to remember the death, the sadness or the fear.

So when I hear about these special days set aside for remembrance there is a part of me that bristles up and thinks, “what about every other day in the year?” It sometimes almost offends me that one day a year needs to be set aside so we can “remember” that 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and there is still no cure.

There is autumn in the air. I got a whiff of someone's first fire of the season when I awoke this morning. Which put me in the mood for something seasonal from the Hollywood Farmers Market for the week's Market Matters.

I had already decided I was going to make a soufflé today. Because I have been wanting to do a post addressing some of the issues people have with soufflés. I just didn’t know how I was going to incorporate a soufflé into my Market Matters post, especially now that I my taste buds had a need for something autumnal.

But the truth is, choosing an unusual ingredient for my soufflé only reinforces my theme for today– and that theme is quite simply; despite their big, bad reputation, soufflés are a piece of cake! Well, I hope not literally cake, but you know what I mean.

Because soufflés are not difficult. Soufflés are a roux and egg whites barely mixed together and baked until golden. As I am sure you already know a roux is very easy to infuse with just about any flavor. So I decided to infuse mine with the sweet, nutty essence of sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) and pecans. Doesn’t that sound just like the weather outside?