Christmas on The Isle of Man

Having arrived back on The Isle of Man in mid December it was time to consider the Christmas festivities. Though we were on British territory, we opted to continue French tradition and hold a réveillon. A réveillon is a long dinner, and possibly a party, held on the evenings preceding Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. The name of the dinner is based on the word réveil (meaning “waking”), because participation involves staying awake until midnight and beyond. In the United States, the réveillon tradition is still observed in New Orleans due to the city’s strong French heritage, with a number of the city’s restaurants offering special réveillon menus on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eveve TableSo, a couple of days before, armed with a a lump of wood and some parcel tape, I prepared the dining table for seven. This took a modicum of engineering skill since we don’t have a large dining room and the table was designed to only seat six! However, it seemed to work OK, because on 24th Marie-Danielle prepared a beautiful table for us while I was locked away in the kitchen!

Our guests were Penny and Sarah who had met us in Paris at Le Procop, Penny’s husband Steve, and Jill and Bruno who are, like us, a French-British couple only the other way round (Bruno is French and Jill is British). We weren’t sure if Christmas Eve in PeelBruno was going to make it since he had been unwell for some days. However, he made a huge effort and spent the evening with a “cockerel hat” perched on his head (as opposed to Steve, who wore a “reindeer hat”) – yes, it was one of those nights! We are certainly blessed with some wonderful friends.

So, the menu!
First off, since it was Christmas, as part of the apperitifs, we constructed a “Christmas wreath” out of little cocktail sausages and that buttery, flaky, Vienna-style pastry used to make croissants. The bow itself was a red pepper that underwent M-D’s surgical skills and the bowl in the middle held Dijon mustard for dipping. Christmas WreathAlong with quails eggs, olives, “appericubes” (baby cheese cubes from France), cocktail biscuits and a couple of bottles of chilled Cremant d’Alsace, we passed a pleasant half-hour awaiting the main event. Or should I say that “they” passed a pleasant half-hour awaiting the main event, since I was locked away in the kitchen having all sorts of fun on my own!

As a starter, we had decided on Salade des Gourmets, that wonderful salad with lots of added extras like foie gras, smoked salmon, magret de canard, small cherry tomatoes, fresh scallops and prawns. It makes me salivate just thinking about it!

And then came the awkward bit!!!

Beef WellingtonWe decided to do a Beef Wellington which normally (for a decent size fillet of beef) takes about 35-40 minutes to cook. However, I knew that most of our guests would prefer their meat more cooked than M-D and I normally eat it, so I had to allow extra cooking time. To be sure, I used a cook’s thermometer and aimed to get to 60ºC (140ºF), where normally we go to about 54ºC (130ºF), I had estimated an additional 10 minutes but it took nearer 20 minutes extra. Normally that wouldn’t be too critical since everybody just chats and the time passes. However, Penny had committed to ringing the bells at the cathedral for the midnight service, so had to leave the house at about 11:40pm. Fortunately, we just scraped in and she was able to finish her plate of Beef Wellington, Champ and mixed vegetables before having to leave.

Jill, meanwhile, is not a meat eater (if the beast had more than 2 legs while it was alive) but she does enjoy Confit de Canard, so I made her a “Confit Parmentier” which is sort of French for shepherds pie using duck instead of lamb!! I simply heated and shredded a duck confit, placed it in a ramekin along with a little chicken stock then covered it with mashed potato (which I was making anyway for the champ!).

While Penny rang her bells (which we could hear since the cathedral is only a couple of hundred yards away) we all finished our main course and took a breather. Well, a sort of breather! In fact we had a “Trou Normand” (literally, a Norman hole) which, traditionally, is Eau-de-vie, especially calvados, served as a middle course in a large meal in the traditional belief it restores appetite. The first time I came across this was a hotel in Normandy where we styayed for a New Year once. In the middle of the meal, the waiter served us all an apple sorbet and then arrived with a teapot!! Tea it was not! Calvados it most certainly was. So, sure enough, we served a sorbet with calvados then sat with contented smiles on our faces waiting for Penny’s return.

Xmas CakeUpon Penny’s return, just before midnight, we all exchanged presents (I did warn you we were doing things French style!). After which, cheese was served, followed by M-D’s famous Chocolate and Walnut Gateau (dutifully decorated with Santa and a snowman!)

And what, you might ask, did we drink with this meal? Well, it may surprise you to know that we stayed with Bordeaux Origami from start right through till finish. It’s made by Famille Capdevielle and is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc so is quite light for a red. For this reason it worked through all four courses. All said, a very pleasant evening with some valued friends. Now we have New Year’s Eve to look forward to!!

Pre-Christmas activities

We only stayed in France for three months before returning to the Isle of Man. It’s been fifty years since I spent Christmas on the island so it seemed like a good idea to repeat the exercise and see what I’d been missing!

Le ProcopeFirst of all, though, there was some other business to attend to! in early December we enjoyed a really pleasant evening with Penny and Sarah, friends from the Isle of Man who were visiting Paris. We ate at “Le Procope” in Paris. Founded in 1686 and now Paris’ oldest café, there’s a great atmosphere. The food is excellent and reasonably priced (for central Paris). I tried a Tête de Veau (veal’s head) which, for some reason, I’ve always avoided till now. Frankly, I shall carry on avoiding it! Penny, Marie-Danielle and SarahThere was nothing wrong with the food or the way it had been prepared it’s just that some foods suit us and some don’t. Tête de Veau turned out to just not be my thing. The other three hit luckier than me with dishes that suited them and that they enjoyed. But I had the pleasure of the company of three charming ladies, so I’m not complaining! The evening was fun and it was great to meet friends in a different environment.

Christmas in CleryAnd talking of Penny and Sarah, we will have pleasure of their company on December 24th for our Christmas celebration. But more of that when it happens because first we celebrated an early Christmas with M-D’s family near Orléans in north-central France. As our childrens’ families mature, we see less of them than before and, to me, this is quite right. They have built their own lives and we are now only a small part of it. So, since Muriel, Vincent and ‘the girls’ were heading to Corsica for Christmas, we spent an evening with them and had an early festive celebration.

And then came the time to head back to Britain. First, I had to pack the car! Normally, when we drive back from France, the enormous heap of stuff in the garage manages to fit into the limited space available for it in a B Class Mercedes. This time, however, The Tardis failed to expand through the super-galactic space–time continuum where matter becomes anti-matter and requires no extra space and, as a result, several dozen bottles of wine were left behind. However, I think we took the important stuff…
Chocolate Snails – CHECK
Various Liquours (a lot) – CHECK
Cheese Aperitif Cubes – CHECK
Armagnac – CHECK
Duck Breasts (several kilos) – CHECK
Bottles of Wine (enough to float a battleship) – CHECK
Foie Gras – CHECK
Other Alcoholic Stuff (a lot) – CHECK
Strange Frech Sausage Things – CHECK
Calvados – CHECK
Roll of Carpet – CHECK
More Wine – CHECK
Lovely Biscuity Things – CHECK
5 litre Boxes of Wine (enough to sink a submarine) – CHECK
Tasty Cakey Things – CHECK
3 litre Boxes of Wine (almost enough to sink a submarine) – CHECK
Chocolates (weighed by the metric tonne) – CHECK
A Bottle or Three of Wine – CHECK
Selection of excellent Pates and Stuff – CHECK
Some wine – CHECK
Passport, Tickets etc. – CHECK

Now, what did I forget?
A wife, did you say?
No – she was lying on her back in the garage seeing if she could dispose of the excess wine before we left. Apparently it’s an ancient French tradition, so I took her down a plate of snails at dinner time!

Our trip back wasn’t so good either! We left our home, west of Paris, in good heart and with a clear sky. The traffic was gentle and flowed at a steady 80 mph all the way to Calais (200 miles without even a queue of 2 cars). The pretty boat sailed the ocean blue, crossing to Dover in good time. Then it happened!

Landed at Dover at 13:30 – arrived in Crewe where my niece lives (300 miles later) at 19:45. That’s over 6 hours of nose-to-tail traffic jams, closed roads, roadworks, lousy weather and general British road congestion. And, of course, the boat to The Isle of Man was cancelled due to lack of interest and a little bit of rain and wind.

Why is driving in England getting worse and worse every time we pass through? Another few years and it’s going to just grind to a complete standstill.

Anyway, enough of that, you didn’t come here to listen to me muttering away! We finally got back to the island a day late, unloaded the car and got ready for Christmas.

No-tears method of peeling Onions

Chopping OnionsOf all the kitchen nightmares the cook has to live with, the one that generates the most problems for many is the peeling and chopping of onions, and the associated tears and stinging eyes.

The reason why it makes you cry is because the synthase enzyme converts the amino acids sulfoxides of the onion into sulfenic acid. The unstable sulfenic acid rearranges itself into syn-ropanethial-S-oxide. Syn-propanethial-S-oxide gets into the air and comes in contact with our eyes. The lachrymal glands become irritated and produces the tears!

Did you get all that, because I just looked it up, and don’t understand a word! To put it simply, chopping onions causes the release of an irritant gas in the air which, when it reaches your eyes, triggers a blinking and tearing reflex designed to wash it away (why didn’t they just say that?)

Not all onions are created equal. The fresher the onion, the less you cry. And not all cooks are sensitive to this phenomenon. Most tips are designed to either hinder the release of the gas, or prevent it from reaching the eyes.

Some people rinse the onions in cold water after peeling, or chop them underwater. Some recommend keeping onions in the fridge, or placing them in the freezer for a few minutes before chopping. Some chop from the stem end down, others from the root end up. Some recommend breathing through the nose, others only through the mouth, while others still hold a sip of water in their mouth, and try not to laugh and spit it out. (Honest, that last one is true).

Some report lachrymal immunity when they wear contacts or chew gum, others suggest putting on lab goggles or a snorkeling mask. Some boast they keep their knives so sharp it’s never a problem, others strive to keep their face well away from the chopping board. Romantics like to keep a lit candle by their chopping board, others opt to simply cry it out.

Pain au Levain - Sourdough BreadI’ve only tried a few of these tips myself, but one I hadn’t read about was this intriguing tip, which suggests that you to hold a piece of bread in your mouth as you chop. But it has to be pain au levain. Pain levain is a leavened bread, or sour dough bread. That is to say a mixture of water and flour where a culture of yeast and lactic acid bacteria develops. This fermentation, releases carbon dioxide and allows the dough to rise.

So off I set to the boulangerie because such an unusual tip could not go untested. Using the butt end of the loaf and feeling both experimental and silly, and with a saliva-soaked piece of bread hanging from my mouth, I went about like a mad thing, chopping onnions till my knife went blunt. I’m happy and amazed to report it worked perfectly.

The rationale, I gathered from a little research, may be that the piece of bread absorbs some of the irritant gas before it can reach the eyes. In fact, since trying the pain au levain, I have read that a lump of sugar works just as well. And the fact that you have to concentrate on not drooling on your chopping board may also make this a good hiccup cure! It’s certainly worth a try.

I don’t think I’m going to see this tip demonstrated on TV cooking shows anytime soon, but in my own kitchen, I set the rules of what’s classy and what’s not. (Though maybe I’ll stick with the sugar cube next time!)

Back to The Rock and meeting up with old friends

Removing a false wallI headed back to the Isle of Man on my own towards the end of June because I had some work to do in our bedroom, so it was easier having the place to myself and not disrupting Marie-Danielle too. When we bought the house on the island, the builder who had renovated it had generally done a good job but, on a couple of things, he had taken shortcuts. One of these shortcuts was that there was water penetration on the top storey and damp was coming through the walls into our bedroom. The builder had tried to hide this by adding a couple of false stud walls with a 4″ (100mm) gap to the outside wall. Naturally, this was just a short-term cover-up and, In August last year (2013) we had scaffolding erected and roofers arrived to resolve the situation. So now it was time to rip out the false wall and let the original wall breathe.

Don't block the access!DIY tip #153
Before storing your furniture under the loft access while you do repair work to the bedroom, be sure to get the sander (stored in the attic) that you will need to finish the work !!!

A week of work and the place was as good as new (or better!). Then, when M-D arrived, she came with her sister, Christine, who lives in Lille in Northern France. Christine has been over to the island before and she enjoys it’s beauty and tranquility. So, while she was here, we invited our friends Bruno and Jill to join us for an evening meal. Bruno is also French and I think he enjoyed an opportunity to relax and hold a conversation in his native language.

When I travelled over, I had brought with me several duck breasts (Magre de Canard) which are taken from the ducks that are used to produce foie gras so are really plump and succulent. These seemed to be well appreciated so, a few weeks later, we asked two sets of our near neighbours over and repeated the excercise. Such was the success that Julie (our actual next-door neighbour) asked us to bring her back some Magre when we plan to return in December with the car.

Christine and M-D up in the hillsWhile Christine was over, we did a few walks and a bit of casual sightseeing. The location in the photo on the left is in the south of the island and, on that day, we could clearly see Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland from that spot. It makes you realise how central The Isle of Man is in the British Isles and Ireland.

We also visited a few of the local restaurants (as you do!). Christine loves the food at The Majestic Restaurant on Onchan Head, overlooking Douglas Bay and, indeed, it is an excellent Chinese restaurant. We also like The Boat Yard on the quayside in Peel, so naturally, we went there too! Oh, and let’s not forget The Swiss House at Glen Helen who do an awesome “surf and turf”!

Mireille Champseix-LeonardThen, in August, we housed a couple of French visitors for a week. Twice a year, the Isle of Man becomes home to bikers from all over the world. In June, they come for the Isle of Man TT and in August they come for the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling (used to be called The Manx Grand Prix). During thoise times, the population of the island doubles so, local people help out by offering rooms to bikers at a sensible price. It’s fun and it helps the island economy.

Serge LeonardWe got to meet and greet Mimie Champseix-Léonard and her husband, Serge. A real nice couple from Tarnac in the Limousin region of France. Though they seemed to enjoy exploring the various watering holes on the island, I think they were quite pleased when we asked them to have dinner with us on their final night before heading back to France!

So that’s another summer gone! I don’t know how we stand the pace, sometimes. Oh well, back to France and see what’s going on over there!

Poor Man’s Lobster

Archeres ApartmentsLast night we hosted a little dinner with some friends who have eaten with us before. It was actually a bit like an unofficial meeting of the conseil syndical de copropriété (the elected committee that help administer the day-to-day running of the apartment buildings). The conseil syndical ensures that lightbulbs are replaced, graffitti is painted over, cleaning is done properly, lifts work, doors and locks are maintained, and other stuff like that. They are elected each year at an AGM of all the owners and last night we had Yvon, Louis and M-D who are already on this committee, Pascale who is putting herself forward for election this year, Louis’ lovely wife, Monique, and of course, myself. So after a short spell on the balcony looking across the whole résidence (photo above), and then an aperitif in comfy chairs, we settled in for some serious eating!

Roulades de Jambon au Foie de Canard en Gelée au SauternesStarter was nice and simple – foie gras and roulades de Jambon au foie de canard en gelée au sauternes. And if you are wondering what that is, it’s foie gras rolled in ham which we get from Godard, France (they will mail all over the world). In fact, we were cheating a little because our foie gras was maybe not quite enough for six and the “roulades” augmented the plate and seemed like we were also offering more choice (no good getting old if you don’t get sneaky with it!)

monkfish medallions a l'orangeMain course was a repeat of something we have done before (for other people), monkfish medallions a l’orange (Monkfish in Orange Sauce). Monkfish is sometimes called “The Poor Man’s Lobster” since it has a nice firm flesh and is so very, very tasty. With it, we served Champ and Braised Fennel. And what a success it was… so much so that both Monique and Pascale asked for a copy of the recipe (a sure sign that something has been appreciated). And for Monique, it seems it was the first time she had even eaten fennel, so another first!

With the foie gras, we served a sauterne – a Barsac called Cyprès de Climens 2004 which, I confess, hit the spot rather nicely. With the fish, we served one of our “easy-going” favourites, Duc de Morny 2012 Picpoul de Pinet. Though, Yvon doesn’t drink white wine so we served him a rather succulent red wine called “Bordeaux Origami”. It’s one of the Grand Vin de Bordeaux from Famille Capdevielle and is almost totally unknown but (quite correctly) scores high in all the good wine guides. It’s a young wine (2011) but has a really deep, rich quality that you normally associate with older, more expensive wines.

raspberry and caramel crunch After a course of cheese and salad, for dessert, we served another of our old favourites, Raspberry and Caramel Crunch which never fails to please. In fact, Monique (who has a notoriously small appetite) was last seen scraping her dish and looking somewhat sad that there was none left!

I thought I had cooked enough of everything for more than six people, but very little remained at the end of the evening. So, a very pleasant “meeting” of the conseil syndical, full of good food and plenty of good humour. All meetings should be like that!… and guess who had left-over monkfish medallions for lunch today????

locks on the river SeineSo to walk it all off, M-D and I went for an afternoon ‘constitutional’ along the river Seine this afternoon. The massive locks there are for the big barges that use the river (some of them up to 100m long) for moving mostly sand and shingle. It’s fascinating watching them manoeuvre into the locks which have a height difference of about 4 metres at this point. Marie-DanielleWhile walking, I spotted a brightly-coloured wood nymph! (see left).

And then, this evening just to round it all off, we had a simple, but tasty Tarte flambée (also called Flammekueche) – an Alsatian dish composed of bread dough rolled out very thin, which is covered with fromage blanc or crème fraîche, thinly sliced onions and lardons. It is one of the most famous specialties of the region. So – a very pleasnt 24 hours!

How to Open Scallop Shells

scallops in their shellsOf course, your fishmonger will open your scallops for you. In fact, they mostly sell just the flesh. But there is seriously nothing better than a FRESH scallop, as we discovered the other day as we went to the market. Most people are simply afraid of what’s inside a scallop and are not sure what to keep and what to throw away, but it’s drop-dead simple, and here’s how you do it…

Hold the scallop shell flat in your left hand (assuming you are right-handed), with the curved side down and the flat side up. If you have a scallop with both halves curved, it’s normally white side down and dark side up! Keep the round edge facing you then insert the end of a round-tipped knife (or a small spoon) in the join to the right of the shell. Work the knife towards you then rotate it a little to open the two halves enough to allow you to wedge the fleshy part of your left thumb in the gap, and keep the shells apart.

Using the dull edge of the knife blade, scrape the inside of the top shell until you feel the two parts of the shells separate (you have simply cut or broken the muscle that was holding the shells together). Discard the top half of the shell then place your left thumb firmly on the scallop muscle. Still holding the knife in your right hand, insert the tip carefully beneath the grey-black mass (the viscera) that’s next to the round, white muscle. Hold the mass gently between the knife and your right thumb, lift it up, and pull it gently towards you. You will feel a layer of skin come cleanly off the scallop muscle, along with the “innards”.

scallop in its shellYou will now be left with just the edible muscle, though it may be a little gritty with sand, which you can easily rinse off under cold running water. Now you are free to eat them raw from the shell or create any one of a dozen delicious recipes like my favourite, A Trio of Scallops

Veal and Duck ….. Mmmmmmm!

Grenadin de Veau GratinéLast week, while M-D’s sister, Christine, was with us, one of the meals we served was Grenadin de Veau Gratiné which comprises medallions of veal about 1″ (2.5cm) thick, served with a sauce of white wine, cream and cheese… and it is truly delicious!

As I have said many times, simplicity is the key to nearly all French cooking and there’s not much that is easier than this. Simply pan-cook the veal then degalze the pan with wine, stir in the cream and grated cheese, and it tastes like heaven. We served it with duchess potatoes and broad beans.

Magre de CanardAt the weekend, we went up to Lille, where Christine lives and she trumped our Grenadin de Veau Gratiné with Magre de Canard (it’s not really a question of trying to outdo each other, because both recipes are drop-dead simple). Magre de Canard is duck breast – nothing more and nothing less. However, Christine roasted it and served it with a green pepper sauce and accompanied by sautée potatoes. It was more than splendid, it was rapture on a plate (and I ate far more than I should!)

Roubaix swimming pool museumWhile we were in Lille, we visited the Roubaix swimming pool museum. This is the most amazing place, and has made use of a beautiful old Art Deco swimming pool that was due for demolition due to safety problems.

Originally built between 1927 and 1932, the swimming pool had served the people of Roubaix for over fifty years and the locals were very fond of their pool. Yet the health and safety issues meant that it could no longer be used for that purpose. Thinking laterally, why not make it in to a museum? So that’s what they did, and the result is truly stunning. If ever you are in the region, you should pay a visit – you’ll not be disappointed. Or, if you can’t get there, at least take a virtual look at this stunning place

Tomorrow night, our “nephew-in-law” is coming for dinner. Steve live in Canada but is sometimes in Europe on business. We tried to get together last time he was over, but it didn’t quite work out. This time we planned ahead! Nothing fancy planned, just good old favourites, Julie’s Salmon & Prawn with Lime followed by Confit de Canard and ending on M-D’s specialty, Citrus Parfait. Looking forward to it!

Welcome to the cousins!

Monday saw us having lunch with M-D’s cousin, Jean-Louis and his partner, France, who live on the east of Paris. Also, M-D’s sister, Christine, came down from Lille in northern France. We had planned eating at about 1 o’clock, but circumstances worked against all of us!

First of all, the chicken that we had planned cooking in its salt crust was decidedly “off”. Though it was a farm-bred, corn-fed beasty that was well in date, there was something going on inside it that shouldn’t have been, and it became very obvious when we removed the packaging! So I dumped it straight in the garbage and drove to the store to get a replacement.

As I was gone, Christine rang from her car. She was stuck in a jam just outside Lille due to an accident. Then we had a call from Jean-Louis… they had been advised of a parcel delivery that still hadn’t arrived, so he was having to wait before they could leave the house.

tomato and mozzarella saladTo cut a long story short, we had a long “apperitif” with Jean-Louis and France while we waited for Christine, and then sat down to eat just before 3pm! Fortunately, the Chicken in Salt Crust is a very tolerant recipe that can stand a lot of messing round. We had started it late, so it sat happily in its little salt ‘oven’ while we enjoyed a Tomato and Mozzarella Salad starter (except that I used Feta, for a change!). This is a great starter because it’s fresh, tasty, easy to make and (apart from adding the vinaigrette dressing) can be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge. Be sure to serve some nice fresh chunky bread with it to mop up the dressing… it’s far too good to waste.

Chicken in a Salt CrustSo, at about 3pm, the “bomb” that held the chicken was presented to the table. Of course, it takes a degree in mechanical engineering to open it, so it doesn’t get undressed at the table – it goes back to the kitchen to be exposed and dissected! As it happened, France had never seen one before, so she joined me in the kitchen and attacked the crust with a large, dangerous-looking carving knife.

Chicken in a Salt CrustAfter a few minutes of cursing and hacking, she succeeded in exposing “the beast” and then left me to carve and present it to the other diners! The joy of this dish is that the chicken is “loaded” with Boursin cheese between skin and flesh and this melts to create a really succulent chicken with rich flavours. It might seem like a waste of coarse sea salt, but I can assure you that the end result is well worth it.

With the chicken, we served a Ratatouille and, for fun, some “curly potatoes”! M-D discovered a little gadget that drills the inside from vegetables, leaving a core like a spiral of vegetable. So I par-boiled the spirals and then sautéed them. Visually they looked great, and they tasted good too! There was very little left of either the chicken or the vegetables when we had all finished.

Since Jean-Louis and France don’t drink alcohol, there were just three of us sharing the excellent bottle of Pinot Noir that hit the spot nicely for all the courses. After the cheeses, we served Gâteau Creusois and a Carpaccio d’Oranges à la Cannelle (Orange slices with cinnamon) – something we’ve done a couple of times recently (we must stop being lazy and falling back on all the simple recipes!), However, it’s a nice simple, refreshing and tasty way to finish a meal – which just left me loading the dishwasher while the others had coffee and chocolates! – Hmmm – and they say a woman’s work is never done!!

Lovely way to spend a Monday amonst friends!

Between a rock and a hard place!

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.

Monk Fish in bacon with parsley cream sauceBy 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.

Confit de CanardAfter 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.

Orange SlicesOur 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!

 

Tastes of the Sea and the Salt Air

Last night, our friends Bruno and Jill came for dinner and we followed a sort of loose “sea & salt” theme throughout. We kicked off (as we always do) with an apéritif. “Apéritif” is a French word derived from the Latin verb aperire, which means “to open.” So an apéritif is an alcoholic beverage usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite, and is therefore usually dry rather than sweet. Common choices for an apéritif are vermouth, champagne, pastis, gin, rak?, fino, amontillado or other styles of dry sherry and any still, dry, light white wine. The word also refers to a snack that precedes a meal. This includes an amuse-bouche, such as crackers, cheese, pâté or olives.

Our own apéritifs will always include a light, dry wine (or champagne) which we often flavour with ‘Crême de Something’ (depending on the person’s choice). We discovered a long time ago that ‘Crême de ….” costs a bomb in UK! We searched hard and all we found was a Black Raspberry Liqueur made by Chambord. A bottle of just 20cl (about one-third of a pint) cost us over £10 (€12 – $16). So now, when we come from France by car, we load up with 50cl (¾ pint) bottles which we buy for about €3 each (£2.50 – $4).

We have a great selection now of Crême de Pamplemousse Rose (pink grapefruit), Crême de Pêche de Vigne (Vine Peaches), Crême de Framboise (Raspberry), Crême de Mûres (Blackberries) and Crême de Fruits Rouges (Red Fruits). Curiously, what I don’t have is the all-time classic, Crême de Cassis (Blackcurrant) which was the original drink.

Crême de CassisWhite wine with Crême de Cassis is known as “Kir” in France and is a popular apéritif drink named after Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon in Burgundy, who popularized the drink by offering it at receptions to visiting delegations. Besides treating his international guests well, he was also promoting two vital economic products of the region – blackcurrants and white wine.

So, due to our collection of different flavour liqueurs, we can offer guests a choice and, in fact, outside France it can be a great talking point as guests sample first one and then another! Last night, we served our Kirs using a lovely crisp Chardonnay that we happen to have sitting in the fridge. And as an amuse-bouche, we also served large green-lipped mussels from New Zealand. We buy these already cooked from the local supermarket and I then finely chop garlic, sprinkle it over the mussels in their shells and drizzle a generous amount of Salad dressing over them. They are really delicious and our guests certainly seemed to appreciate them.

For a starter course, we once again resorted to Julie’s Salmon & Prawn with Lime which has become a real favourite. Jill cleverly guessed all the ingredients in the salad dressing and also spotted the horseradish and crême fraîche mixture for what it was. The salmon was wild Pacific Keta Salmon (sometimes known as chum or dog salmon for its dog-like teeth). It has a lower fat content than other salmon but is a really rich, tasty and healthy fish. With the fish starter, we served the same Duc de Morny 2012 Picpoul de Pinet that we served last week when we had “the Steves” with us.

Chicken in a Salt CrustThe main course was the “salty” end of the recipe with Chicken in a salt crust otherwise known as Poulet a l’ail et aux Fines Herbes en croute de Sel Parfumée. This is a great way to serve chicken since it always comes out tender and succulent and the taste is just out of this world.

In fact, you start with a chicken (nice corn-fed, free range one for us) and you insert Boursin Soft Cheese with Garlic and Herbs (Boursin Ail et Fines Herbes) between the skin and the flesh. During the cooking process, this “melts” into and around the flesh leaving a taste that has to be tried to be believed.

Chicken in a Salt CrustOnce the chicken has been treated with the Boursin, you build a complete casing for it using coarse salt, flour, rosemary, thyme, baies, peppercorns and egg whites. It ends up looking like a bomb, but part of the fun of this recipe (and, yes, food should be fun too!) is, prior to serving, showing your guests the cooked “bomb” and seeing if any of them can guess what’s inside. Then, of course, you take it back to the kitchen and remove the salt crust (which takes a certain amount of brute force and muscle!)

Chicken in a Salt CrustOnce you have opened up the crust, you will find (every time without fail) a perfectly cooked golden brown bird, ready to be segmented and served in portions or, very simply, placed on a serving dish and carved at the table. We served ours with mini Brussels sprouts and new potatoes. No need for any sort of sauce or gravy, the moist chicken meat was more than enough – particularly when helped down with a couple of bottles of Domaine du Landetran, L’Ame des Schistes 2010 (well, come on, be fair, there were four of us!).

After the cheese, we had planned serving M-D’s “Parfait” but Bruno had made a chocolate cake so we got stuck into that instead… and very good it was too. (Particularly washed down with a glass or Maas a Miel).

And so passed a very pleasant evening in good company. Bruno and Jill found their way home at about 1:30am and I eventually got to bed at 2:45am after clearing the mess I had made in the kitchen (better that than face it the next morning!)

Entertaining is fun, particularly with people you like… and we really DO like all our guests. They are all different. They all have different tastes. The conversations are always different. But the one common factor is a convivial evening spent around the table with good food and decent wine. It makes life worth living!

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