Category Archives: Mushrooms

Desserts, Duck, Fish, Isle of Man, Mushrooms, Personal Stuff, Seafood, Vegetables, Wine

Between a rock and a hard place!

February 22, 2014 needarecipe Leave a comment

So this is our final week on “The Rock” before heading back to France. It’s been a short stay this time and the weather has been dreadful with rain most days. Hope it’s not an omen for the summer! Last year we had a thoroughly splendid summer and we went walking almost every day. Unless something changes soon, this summer could be a washout, just like 2012.

By way of marking our return to France, we invited our friends and neighbours, Terry, Julie, Dominic and Kate to dinner last night. We kicked off in normal style with a glass or two of Kir, using a rather nice Chardonny that had travelled back with us in January. When we settled at the table, we started with Monk Fish in Bacon with Parsley Cream which we haven’t done for a little while, but never fails to please. It’s light, tasty and visually pleasing, so it easily meets all the right criteria. We served the same Duc de Morny 2012 Picpoul de Pinet that we have served a couple of times recently. It’s light and fresh and it’s a wine that won the Medaille d’Or in the 2013 Agricultural and Food show in Paris.

After which, we resorted to one of our regular favourites, Confit de Canard and although it may seem that we are “over-relying” on this, having eaten it a few weeks ago, we are conscious that it is simply not available in provincial Britain so, while we may be used to it, our guests always seem pleased to have it placed in front of them. As usual, we served it in traditional French style, simply with a potato/mushroom mix. For this, we prepare Sautée Potatoes but we add cepes and/or porcino mushrooms (same family – Boletus edulis, commonly known as penny bun). The secret is to gently cook the mushrooms on their own first, to remove the water and then mix them into the potatoes at the last moment.

One of the joys of this main course is that just about everything can be prepared beforehand and then quickly warmed just before serving. I leave the stove on very low beneath the potatoes and the confit while we eat our starter. Then, I return to the kitchen turn up the heat, flip the confit so it is skin-side down (important to get that skin nice and crispy!) and it’s ready to serve in just a few minutes. We served it with a Gaillac – a Chateau d’Escabes 2008. This lovely ruby-coloured red wine from just north of Toulouse has an intense ‘nose’ of red fruits, spices and vanilla while remaining silky in the mouth. It worked well both during the main course and the cheese that followed.

Our dessert was a chocolate and nut gateau that M-D had made using walnuts from her daughter’s garden in The Loire region of France. We served this with orange slices sprinked with orange zest that had been cooked in cinnamon sugar and, just to give a contrast, we mixed normal oranges and blood oranges as we arranged them on the plate. Naturally, there being plenty of chocolate in the cake, we served Mas Amiel with its dense and concentrated inky black Grenache grapes and its complex nose of tobacco and garden herbs.

Coffee and chocolates took us into the wee hours until we finally crashed and left the washing up until today – lovely getting up to a mess, isn’t it! What was lovely, however, was spending a few hours in good company. We all know each other well enough now to simply be ourselves and not worry about being politically correct or having to choose our words with care. So an evening of good food, good company and good conversation seems like the ideal way to once again leave The Rock and head back to La Belle France.

We’ll be back!

Desserts, Duck, Isle of Man, Mushrooms, Salmon, Seafood, Wine

That good old Confit de Canard

February 4, 2014 needarecipe Leave a comment

Last Saturday evening we enjoyed the company of Steve and Penny who live about 100 metres down the road, along with Steve and Jeanette (my brother and sis-in-law). Penny is a pharmacist at the local hospital and was on call, so had to curtail her alcohol intake to virtually zero. Unfortunately, Steve (not brother) is a pilot, so he’s away quite a lot and last Saturday was the only time their diaries and ours coincided!

We started with our current favourite, Julie’s Salmon & Prawn with Lime. It really is so simple but so delicious. It’s one of those recipes made in heaven! We’re always aware that Jeanette, my sister-in-law, is alergic to crustaceans, so make sure that the salmon and prawns never touch during the preparation. It also means, of course that her salad is missing one of the ingredients, but it’s wonderfully delicious nonetheless! We served this great starter with a Duc de Morny 2012 Picpoul de Pinet which is a wine that won the Medaille d’Or in the 2013 Agricultural and Food show in Paris (a rare accolade).

confit de canard duck For the main course, we took an easy option (for us) and served Confit de Canard with a mixture of Sautée Potatoes and Cepes (penny bun or porcino mushrooms). It’s easy for us because we bring from France big tins of Confit and also tins of Cepes. So peeling and cooking a few potatoes is no hardship. However, for our friends who would not normally get to eat confit, it’s something different and fun – particularly when served with a bottle or two of Château La Caze Bellevue, a smooth, velvety 2010 Saint Emilion!

Orange Carpaccio After a selection of cheeses (with a little more St Emilion!), dessert was a Gâteau Creusois and a Carpaccio d’Oranges à la Cannelle (Orange slices with cinnamon). Together, a nice simple, refreshing and tasty way to finish the meal (particularly since it took a new bottle of Saint Emilion to help it go down!).

Damage on Douglas Promenade Meanwhile, a combination of storms and high tides has given The Island a real pounding with many of the sea walls damaged, some shops and homes flooded and everybody huddled indoors waiting for summer! Fortunately, the island is hilly, so we don’t get many places where water lays on the land for long periods such as they are experiencing in Somerset.

castletown2robinwootton_500x333 However, all’s well that ends well because Penny is coming round tomorrow night to help us finish the raclette ingredients that we had with Terry and Julie last week! We have just enough for three people, Steve’s away and Penny’s not on call, so it sounds like a good excuse to dig into the wine cellar and see what’s available – I love it when a plan comes together! Who cares about the weather?

Beef, Charcuterie, Cheese, Mushrooms, Raclette, Salads

Melted cheese followed by a left-over lunch

January 26, 2014 needarecipe Leave a comment

Last night we enjoyed the company of our neighbours, Julie and Terry, with their children Esme and Merlin (12 and 7 respectively). Whenever younger people are involved, it’s always best to find something simple that will capture their imaginations, so we decided to do a Raclette, which is a dish created in Switzerland where, originally, cheese was heated in front of a fire then the melted cheese was scraped from the unmelted part of the cheese onto the diners’ plates (the term raclette derives from the French verb racler, meaning “to scrape”). The cheese is accompanied by small firm potatoes, gherkins, pickled onions, and dried meat, such as raw smoked hams and viande des Grisons (beef).

Raclette with all the trimmings Obviously, we didn’t buy a 50kg block of cheese, light a fire and start scraping it – we used a more modern way of serving raclette that involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, in which to melt slices of cheese. When we do this, we bring the cheese to the table already cut and sliced, along with a plate of charcuterie like Grisons (which is what we used last night) or pastrami or salami or cooked ham (or whatever floats your boat) accompanied by a big dish of boiled or steamed potatoes and a bowl of cornichons (small gherkins).

Diners place a slice of cheese in their coupelle, slide it under the grill to melt and, meanwhile, help themselves to potatoes, meat and cornichons. As soon as the cheese is melted it is simply “poured” over the food on your plate (with a bit of help from small wooden spatulas if necessary). Then you load your coupelle with cheese again and pop it under the grill to melt while you are eating what’s on your plate. It’s like a mini production line, the emphasis being on relaxed and sociable eating and drinking.

And, just for fun, we had brought some purple Vitelotte Potatoes back from France with us, which we mixed with normal white potatoes to create a splash of colour. We had also brought back with us some packs of ready-cut cheese that are specifically intended for raclettes. However, you can use almost any firm cheese (particularly Port Salut – a semi-soft pasteurised cow’s milk cheese from Pays de la Loire, France, with a distinctive orange crust and a mild flavour). As a guide, there were 4 adults and two youngsters last night and we ate 750g (just under 1¾lb) of cheese.

French and other European supermarkets generally stock both the grill apparatus and ready-sliced cheese and charcuterie selections. However, elsewhere in the world you can buy the grills online at places like Amazon (just search under raclette). The other fun aspect of modern raclette grills is that they incorporate a hot stone, so you can have a “cook your own meat” evening too (which we often do). If you buy your cheese as a block, you need to cut and slice it to create pieces roughly 5cm x 7cm x 6mm (2″ x 2¾” x ¼”)

Last night, just for fun, we also put a few uncooked quail’s eggs on the table and some of us played making “omelette on cheese” just for the hell of it (told you it was all about relaxed and sociable eating!). Thought it’s not essential, we also provided little side salads of baby leaves, raw mushrooms, clementines and a vinagrette that used tomato ketchup! We served a Pinot Noir from Alsace that is light enough to complement the somewhat heavy cheese. Afterwards, we indulged in Bruno’s Double Take Apple Flan, which is light and delicious! (Hazard warning!!! Don’t serve ice cream after a raclette; it will solidify the cheese in your stomach and you’ll feel like you’ve eaten a barrow load of lead!)

So we arrived at lunch time today wondering what to eat and decided on a “left-overs” salad of Grisons (left-over), potatoes (left-over), mushrooms (left-over), quail’s eggs (left-over) and spring onions. M-D had her potatoes as a Warm Potato Salad while I just had mine sliced and cold. And we both added a little Thousand Island Dressing to the raw mushrooms… delicious! Tonight will be just soup, I suspect – I rather overdid the cheese last night!

Beef, Christmas, Lamb, Mushrooms, Salads

Another Christmas gone… can’t wait for the next.

December 27, 2013 needarecipe Leave a comment

Well, you know what it’s like… you plan for it, you shop for it, you tear your hair out for it and, at the end of the day, you find it’s December 27th and once again, Christmas is just a memory. But as long as it’s a good memory, who’s worried!

In France the “big dinner” is the evening of December 24th and M-D and I had planned a quiet dinner together since we were heading down to Orleans the following day to have a ‘second Christmas’ with M-D’s daughter and grandaughters. However, the best laid plans etc…. and a few days before, we discovered that a friend would be on his own for Christmas so we invited him over for Christmas Eve dinner with us.

It had to be simple and straightforward, so we opted for foie gras as a starter, Rich Gravy Lamb as the main course, cheese and salad and then we finished on M-D’s (in)famous Citrus Parfait which we always have ready in the freezer.

The Rich Gravy Lamb is an absolute stunner because it is stupidly simple to prepare – lamb (leg or shank), a couple of onions, a bit of stock and red wine, a few simple herbs and a fillet or two of anchovies (yep, you read that right … anchovies. Though you can’t taste them in the finished dish, they totally transform the meat and gravy, bringing out all the delicious flavours). The joy of it is that you shove it in a slow oven and leave it alone until you’re ready to eat it. It also washes down quite well with a 1986 Roc du Breuil, Cotes de Bourg!

The following day, we drove down to Orleans (it’s about 100 miles) and met up with Muriel and the girls (Clélence and Eléonore). They had spent Christmas with Muriel’s half-sister over on the Atlantic coast so they had driven for about 3-4 hours to get home. Nonetheless, along with Muriel’s Grandmother, Rolande (96 going on 25), we made up a happy gang of six.

We started with Julie’s Salmon & Prawn with Lime which has, in just the few months since our neighbour in Peel introduced us to it, become one of our firm favourites. We already had them drooling and we hadn’t even arrived at the pièce de résistance…
The day before, I had prepared a Beef Wellington to the stage that the fillet of beef was wrapped in its coat of mushroom duxelles and Parma ham. So all I had to do at Muriel’s was to add it’s pastry overcoat (two packets of ready-rolled puff pastry), coat with egg yolk, and pop in the oven for about 40 minutes (it was a 2¾lb – 1.25kg fillet). It came out perfectly cooked to suit us all. The ends were medium-well, the centre was rare and in between a beautiful medium rare, so everybody got what they wanted. (In fact we all got we wanted two days later, too …. left-overs. Cold. With Salad. And a few miniature tomatoes. Bliss!). Helped down with a rather splendid 1986 Chateau Moulin a Vent, Lalande de Pomerol, I can highly recommend Beef Wellington, hot or cold!!

And now we’re back home in Acheres planning the next onslaught!!! Today is Friday (for about another hour) and tomorrow we dive to the shops and get what we need for the next few days because M-D’s sister, Christine, is arriving for a week or so. On Sunday we are having a “late Christmas” dinner with Christine and “Tatty Suzanne” (Christine and M-D’s aunt who lives a few miles away on the outskirts of Versailles.). The plan is for Monk Fish in Orange which is a bit of a mixture of two other recipes but, if it works, should be pretty damn good!

I’ll let you know (or not!)

Mushrooms, Veal

My granddaughter doesn’t like mushrooms!

September 3, 2012 needarecipe Leave a comment

M-D and I had our two French grandadaughters, Clémence and Eléonore, stay with us last week. It was the final week of the school holidays so our last chance for a while to have them stay. While they were here, we ate Veal and Creamed Mushrooms. The recipe on the site uses regular mushrooms (out of a tin even), but we are so lucky in France to have an excellent supply of gastronomic mushrooms readily available (at a price!). When we are on The Isle of Man, we are somewhat limited in our choice, so we make the best of it when we are here.

Chanterelle Mushrooms On this occasion there was a fresh supply of Chanterelles (known in France as Girolles) in the local supermarket so we waded in and chose the best before anyone else could get near them (yes, I know, we’re not very polite are we!). However, we made allowances for nine-year-old Eléonore who decided a long time ago that she didn’t like mushrooms, and we bought some fresh asparagus for her.

So, as I began to prepare the meal, I thought I would just verify that she was okay with asparagus (she’s not particularly fussy, but it’s always as well to check!). She asked what we were having and I told her – Girolles – and she decided that maybe she like those and that the asparagus could wait (kids!!). Okay, fair enough, we’d taken more than enough Chanterelles for three, so spreading them amongst four wouldn’t hurt! Well, not much anyway!

Now, I beg you, if you can get hold of veal and Chanterelle mushrooms, try this recipe because it’s just so darn easy, but it’s food fit for a King.

Trim the ends off the mushroom stems, cut any oversize ones in two, then wash them well. Drain and add to a large frying pan with a tablespoon of duck (or goose) fat in the bottom. Season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper and cook gently for 10-15 minutes until tender (you’ll need to drain off the excess liquid as they cook, since they give off quite a lot).

When the mushrooms are nearly cooked, heat another frying pan, add a very small amount of fat, just to grease the pan, season the veal scallops and toss them into the hot pan. Depending on the thickness of the veal and the way you like it, you’ll need to cook them for between 3-4 minutes on each side. Once cooked, remove the scallops from the pan and keep them warm on top of the mushrooms. Add a couple of tablespoons of white wine to the pan in which the veal was cooked and, with a wooden spoon or spatula, scrape the pan to collect the meat juices from the veal. Bring the wine up to simmering and add a couple of tablespoons of thick cream or crême fraiche. Stir well without letting the mixture boil then add the veal and mushrooms and coat with the sauce. Place the veal onto serving plates and spoon the mushroom and cream mixture over the top… Mmmmm

And now for a confession (but don’t tell my granddaughetrs!)… it was so good, we had it again last night!

Morel Mushrooms So be on the lookout for “unusual” mushrooms. We particularly like Chanterelle (as you may have gathered!), Cèpes and Morels. The Morel (shown on the right) is from the mushroom family “Morchella” and is closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi. These distinctive mushrooms appear honeycomb-like in that the upper portion is composed of a network of ridges with pits between them.

Prized by gourmet cooks, Morels are hunted by thousands of people every year simply for their taste and the joy of the “hunt”. They have been called by many local names; some of the more colorful include dryland fish, merkels, molly moochers or sponge mushrooms. They are truly an excellent mushroom that you can eat with Duck Confit, for example. Just take care to wash them well, because they are often quite sandy.

Cèpe Mushrooms (Boletes) Cèpes is the local name (in France) for one of the Boletes group of edible mushrooms (of which there are over 100 species!). Probably the most common is the Boletus Edulis, commonly known as penny bun, porcino or even cep (in English). Commonly prepared and eaten in soups, pasta, or risotto, the mushroom is low in fat and digestible carbohydrates, and high in protein, vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre. It’s also very, very good (again) with such as Duck Confit. Because the cap holds quite a lot of moisture, you do need to fry Cèpes for longer than regular mushrooms (but not so much that they dry out and go hard).

We keep a few jars of Cèpes in oil in our food cupboard (they are easily available in the supermarket here). If you want some mailed to you, try our favourite gourmet supplier, Godard where you can also get dried Morels (look for Morilles Séchées Extra)

So be on the lookout for good gourmet mushrooms. The different flavours are something you need to experience if you have not already done so. And finally, thank you to our granddaughter, Eléonore, for eating some of the Chanterelles intended for our plates… it simply meant we bought even more of them after she had gone home!!

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