Bastille Day lunch: Onion soup, baked salmon and dauphinoise potatoes, tarte tatin

Joyeux 14 juillet (en peu en retard...) ! As I was spending my first Bastille Day away from France in three years, I decided to pay hommage to my second home by preparing a three course meal.

This meal can be made easier by preparing both the soup and tart the night before. It was a bit tricky to ensure everything was hot at the right times but hey, it's a learning curve.

Delia Smith was my saviour, providing all recipes I used. On the menu was:

Soupe à l'oignon gratinée (onion soup)

Saumon au four & gratin dauphinois (baked salmon and dauphinoise potatoes)

Tarte tatin (apple tart)

Bon appétit ! Restaurant findings from my trip to Paris

I had the chance to get back to Paris last week and it was generally pretty fantastique. The premise of the trip was officially business (I attended a trade fair) but I then had three full days to profit from the city that I called home for three years.

I spent 75% of my time eating and drinking and the remainder walking along familiar streets and loving the sunny weekend. Seeing as I haven't had the time to bake for myself this week, I thought I'd write a little bit about what I enjoyed eating in la ville lumière. With a few exceptions, these are mainly old favourites from my uni days.

Sushiken
12 rue Ernest Renan, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux

If you happen to find yourself on the outskirts of the 15th arrondissement with a craving for sushi, I'd definitely recommend you come here. Sushiken prides itself on offering an authentic Japanese experience. I somewhat blindly ordered a tasting menu where the chef decided what fish I'd be trying.

As you can see above, the plate was certainly aesthetically pleasing. The sushi tasted great and was one of the best eating experiences I've had for a long time, but there was slightly too much wasabi for my taste.

Price: 14 sushi, salad, miso soup and beer came to 25€.