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Dinner for Two

June Naylor and Marshall Harris share recipes they made in their Paris apartment.

By TCU Magazine

May 12^th, 2022

Photos Courtesy of June Naylor

Marshall Harris '79 and I found plenty of food and wine indulgences in the 93, where we lived, as well as on our weekend adventures in Paris and trips to Normandy, Champagne and Belgium.

The best burger we’ve ever tasted was in a little bistro in Aubervilliers, and our favorite oysters were served at a Montmartre restaurant called La Mascotte. Mussels, duck, rabbit — we ate it all.

But some of our most memorable meals were those we prepared in our Saint-Denis flat, using fresh ingredients we picked up twice a week from the magnificent, football field-size market by the basilica.

The following are our top three, and we’ve enjoyed making them back home in Fort Worth, too.

— June Naylor '79

Lamb Osso Buco

Lamb shanks are as readily available at butcher counters here at home as they are in the French markets. This dish can be made with pork shank or beef short ribs as well as lamb. Serve over egg noodles or atop chunky mashed potatoes. Serves 2

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided use

2 large lamb shanks, trimmed

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 shallots, sliced

2 sweet onions, chopped

3 large carrots, sliced

1 750-ml bottle pinot noir

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

3 sprigs fresh oregano

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons minced lemon zest

Heat oven to 325 degrees.

In a Dutch oven or ovenproof skillet with a tight-fitting cover, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and brown the lamb shanks over medium heat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, turning once after 5 minutes and cooking another 5 minutes. Transfer shanks to a plate.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan drippings, and sauté the shallots, onions and carrots over medium heat until onions are translucent, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with the bottle of wine, stirring and scraping up browned bits in the pan for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, oregano and thyme, stirring well for 1 to 2 minutes.

Return shanks to the Dutch oven, nestling them in the sauce, and cover with lid. Transfer to oven and cook until meat is ready to fall from the bone, about 2½ to 3 hours. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with parsley and lemon zest.

Steamed Mussels

This is so fast, so inexpensive and so delicious that we make it all the time. We always serve mussels with a crusty baguette and, if we’re industrious, frites that we’ve made in the French-Belgian style, which is to fry them twice. Serves 2

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 shallots, sliced

1 fennel bulb, sliced

8 sprigs thyme, divided

1 750-ml bottle dry white wine, such as Chablis or sauvignon blanc

2 to 3 pounds mussels, rinsed and scrubbed

2 tablespoons butter

Crusty baguette, heated and cut into hefty pieces

In a deep pot, heat olive oil over medium heat; add shallots, fennel and 4 thyme sprigs, cooking for 5 minutes.

Add wine, stirring until it comes to a simmer; add mussels to pot, stirring again. Cover and cook another 5 minutes until mussels have opened.

Remove from heat and discard any mussels that didn’t open. Using a slotted spoon, transfer mussels to serving bowls and cover with tea towels to keep warm.

Add butter and remaining thyme to pot with broth. Simmer over medium high heat for 2 minutes; remove from heat and spoon buttery, herbed broth over mussels in bowls. Serve with hot, crusty baguette.

Fish en Papillote

Nothing is easier than fish and veggies steamed in parchment paper, which leaves very little cleanup. In France our choices included bream, hake and trout, but you can easily do this with salmon, halibut or cod. We like the fish with head and tail still attached (with bones removed), but some people prefer just the fillet. Serve with roasted new potatoes or rice. Serves 2

Parchment paper

1 shallot, thinly sliced

½ fennel bulb, thinly sliced

½ red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks

2 6- to 8-ounce fish fillets, with skin or not, patted dry

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 thin slices lemon

Several herb sprigs, such as thyme, dill and/or parsley

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided use

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut a 12-inch square piece of parchment paper, then fold it in half. Use scissors to cut as large a heart shape as possible from the paper, with the fold as the vertical line at the center of the heart.

On one side of the heart, make a little nest of half the sliced shallot, fennel and red bell pepper. Add one fillet on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover with 4 lemon slices, half of herbs, and a drizzle of olive oil. Fold and crimp the edges of the paper tightly to seal the parchment around the fish, creating a pouch.

Repeat with second sheet of parchment and remaining ingredients. Place the two pouches on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the parchment pouch is puffy and beginning to brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Transfer each pouch to a plate and use a sharp knife to slice the parchment open.

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