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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Confit French Bistro

Confit French Bistro, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania © Susqueats.com 2009

Confit is a French cooking term for a special way of preserving meats developed before there was refrigeration, now considered a luxury. And Confit French Bistro on Market Street in Camp Hill invites guests to luxuriate in the taste of France right here in the Susquehanna Valley. This bistro strives for authenticity with everything it does.

Everything on and off the menu is made from scratch. They butcher their own meats and fish. They bake their own bread. They make their own soups, desserts and sauces.

Glance through the menu, and you'll wish you had paid a little more attention in your high school French classes. Pictured here is an order of Moules an safran et a la moutarde. Fortunately for those us who didn't see the importance of French classes, the menu is also subtitled; so we know that this is "Atlantic mussels steamed in white wine, mustard and saffron, served with a grilled baguette."

Most of the appetizers are one form of shellfish or another. Selections include Escargots a la bourguignonne (snails in garlic herb butter) and Huitres avec le pernod at les epinards (you'll have to stop in for the translation of this one).

The entrees include a variety of hearty provicial French dishes such as this Boeuf Bourguignon, Confit du cochon aux spaetzli de normande, or Agneau roti dijonnaise (pictured below).

There is also a selection of Crepes. The four varieties are each traditional French preparations of rabbit & duck, beef, chicken and vegetables.

Confit also serves half orders and full orders from their Raw Bar, where you can get oysters, clams, shrimp, crab cocktail and lobster.

Another traditional French offering that is rarely presented as a dinner option here in the States is this Tartine. A tartine is an "open faced sandwich," and this variety is a Croque-Madame aux pomme frittes (toasted ham and cheese sandwich on brioche with sunny-side up egg, mornay sauce and a side of fries).

Desserts are all off-menu and listed on the specials board. This French Peach Cobbler served with Fresh Berries and House Made Cinnamon Ice Cream and the Chocolate Bouchon pictured below are hard to pass up.