Tag Archives: food

Back on “The Rock” and Jumbo Prawn Stir Fry beckons!

We got back on “The Rock” (The Isle of Man) three weeks ago (mid April) and will stay here now until mid-August. We’ve been lucky so far, since the weather has been kind and we’ve enjoyed regular walks along the sea front, around Peel castle and onto the harbour to watch the seals steal the fish off the lines of the fishermen!Peel Isle of Man

We enjoyed the company of M-D’s grandchildren (Clémence and Eléonore) for ten days and later M-D’s daughter (Muriel) came over for a few days and then took them back to France. Naturally, we did all the tourist stuff with them (Steam Train etc) but we also took them to one of our favourite local restaurants, The Royal India Restaurant. In fact, we took the girls twice (by unanimous demand!)

It might sound a bit strange to choose a small (about 30 covers) Indian restaurant for a holiday treat but the food is so good and tasty that it’s difficult to resist. In fact, I just got back from there about two hours ago after another visit with just Marie-Danielle and myself (Dingri Methi for me and Cafrial for M-D… yummmm!). Our French guests loved the food because, while there are many arabic restaurants in France, there are very few true Indian restaurants so, for them, it was a voyage of discovery and having really first class Indian cuisine so easily available (it’s only about 250 metres from where we live) is an added bonus. Eléonore (aged 10) voted the Chicken Biryani her favourite, giving it 21 out of 20! I had a fiery Madras curry that should have carried a government health warning (or at least been served with an optional fire extinguisher)!

We also visited Jade Harbour, a Chinese restaurant that has always been most pleasant. Sadly, our regular waiter and waitress weren’t there and the service was not up to standard. Whilst the food was good, the slow and erratic service somewhat spoiled the evening.

Isle of Man RailwayHowever, one place that never fails to please is Station Hotel in Port Erin. Yes, it’s just a pub, but their food is hot and fresh and served with a big smile. It’s mighty convenient if you arrive in Port Erin by train since it is just across the road from the little railway station (often described as the most beautiful building in the village) where the famous Manx Steam Train terminates.

There’s nothing wrong with pub grub as long as it’s good pub grub! If it’s plentiful, freshly cooked, tasty, hot and served by people who appear to be happy that you are there, then a meal in a pub with a nice glass of beer can be one of the great pleasures of life, just as much as an intimate evening in a top class restaurant.

Basking SharkAs we were out walking the other day, we met one of the local “characters” – a lady by the name of Pauline who, it turns out, is involved in the monitoring of Basking Sharks, which are often found in the plankton-rich waters around the Isle of Man. The Basking Shark is the second biggest fish in the world (second only to the Whale Shark) but it is truly an endangered species. It is a slow moving filter feeder that has a greatly enlarged mouth and highly developed gill rakers. These enormous fish have been measured up to 12.27 metres (40.3 ft), and weighing an estimated 19 tonnes, yet these gentle giants are not aggressive and are harmless to people.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Pauline encouraged us to go see a film that was being shown yesterday evening at the local “Centenary Centre” which revolved around the Basking Shark, but also covered lots of other wildlife on this curious island. Why do I say curious? Because, amongst other things, we discovered that The Isle of Man has the largest Wallaby poulation outside of Australia! Since they have no natural preditors here and do no damage to crops or hedges, the wallabies thrive in the hills yet it seems that very few people even know they are there (including me until last night!).

I started off writing this post with the intention of mentioning a stir fry that we often do (and did while the grandchildren were here)… but I seem to have sidetracked myself! So – Jumbo Prawn Stir Fry… this is a recipe that is very, very simple and doesn’t take much looking after. I know that, traditionally, stir-fries are cooked quickly over a very high heat but this one is much slower over a low heat! It’s a mixture of vegetables and King Prawn, with a good splash of Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce. You can mix-and-match the vegetables to suit yourself but I personally use two onions, a very small cabbage (or half of a larger one), two carrots, a handful of fresh peas, a handful of mushrooms, a tin of beansprouts and a tin of bamboo shoots. But the recipe is very versatile because you can add small pieces of broccoli, water chestnuts, miniature sweetcorns, sliced bell peppers, spring onions, mange tout (snow peas)… almost anything you fancy, in fact!

Peel and slice the onions, chuck them in the wok with a tablespoon of goose fat and cook them very gently to soften. Meanwhile, cut the thick stems out of the cabbage, leaving just the leaves, roughly tear these and add them to the work. It may seem that you have a lot but they shrink and reduce quite drastically. Peel the carrots and Julienne them (cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks) then toss those into the wok. Add a good splash (4-5 tablespoons) of Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce (I use one called Lee Kum Kee, but it can be any stir-fry sauce that takes your fancy). I often add a splash of light Soy Sauce as well – but that’s just a personal preference. Cook this mixture, stirring frequently, over a low heat for about 15 minutes to soften the vegetables.

Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary. Thinly slice the mushrooms and add to the mix. Drain the beansprouts and bamboo shoots and add these to the wok, along with the peas. Stir and cook for a further five minutes. Now add your Jumbo King Pawns and increase the heat. Turn the mixture regularly and watch as the prawns change colour from translucent grey to whitish-pink. These should be cooked for about 4-5 minutes (no more), then serve your stir-fry and enjoy! It’s a recipe that’s simple and VERY tasty and it has the advantage that you can choose your own preferred vegetables and even your own preferred seafood (we’ve done this recipe using Queen Scallops before now, and very tasty it is too!). Serve with a nice, crisp white or rosé wine and you’ll think you’re in heaven!

Dual Birthday Celebration (with secret anchovies)

Last night, M-D’s daughter (Muriel), son-in-law (Vincent) and their children (Clémence and Eléonore) came over so we could have a joint birthday celebration for M-D and Clémence (M-D’s was a few days ago and, while Clémence’s was in February. We weren’t here in France to celebrate it, so decided to have an evening together to mark the two birthdays!)

vrankenNaturally (as you do) we kicked off with a couple of bottles of fine Vranken Champagne Demoiselle Brut Premium Cuvée (it helps wash down the apperitif biscuits and olives!!)

Unfortunately we had had a bad shock during the afternoon. Down in the cellar are several bottles of 1989 Chateau de Cayrou – one of the very finest Bordeaux wines you will ever taste. We brought some bottles up and opened them to let them breathe and discovered to our horror that they had maderized (the wine acquires a rather bitter sherry-like character). In the end, we opened some 2002 Chateau Martet (one of the Grands Vins of Bordeaux) but I confess there was some residual disappointment about the Chateau de Cayrou. We have a few bottles of 1990 vintage… I guess we should open one of those and find out what’s happening with it.

monk_fish_in_bacon_with_parsley_creamAnyway – on with the meal! We started with a lovely simple recipe, Monk Fish in Bacon with Parsley Cream. Not only did this work like a dream but Vincent (son-in-law) who really enjoys and savours his food and wine, declared that it was “one hundred percent”, and christened me “The New Gordon Ramsey”! Well, I don’t know about that, maybe it was the Champagne and the Chateau Martet speaking, but for sure the fish was cooked to perfection (moist and tender) and the marriage between the succulent fish and the crisp, salty bacon was divine.

rich_gravy_lamb_shanksSo, The New Gordon Ramsey went back in the kitchen and emerged moments later with the main course – Rich Gravy Leg of Lamb. In terms of the recipe, this is identical to my Rich Gravy Lamb Shanks recipe, except that I replaced the lamb shanks with a 2kg leg of lamb and increased the other ingredients by about 50%. I served it with a few simple vegetables and then, as we ate, we played the guessing game … what’s the secret ingredient in the sauce? It took a lot of clues from us and lots of guesses by our guests before Clémence suggested anchovies (the correct answer)!

Well, the Rich Gravy Leg of Lamb was an absolute hit with everyone (2kg of lamb disappeared in minutes) and Vincent was, again, effusive in his praise! I know we already have a new Pope, but being elevated from The New Gordon Ramsey to The New Pope was fine by me! And the two secrets that made an evening of entertaining seem effortless were nothing more than:

  • Simple recipes that either don’t have many ingredients or can be prepared well in advance
  • Recipes that work alongside each other in the kitchen (I never changed the oven temperature from the monkfish starter right through to the desert)

Our guests were ecstatic (we lumbered our way through cheese and a warm apricot and almond desert before Vincent dozed off on the settee with a contented smile on his face!). So entertaining (and being elevated to Pope) doesn’t have to be complicated. I used two very straightforward recipes that kept kitchen time to a minimum yet produced outstanding results. And, before you ask, there were a total of five empty wine/champagne bottles this morning, which is, perhaps, a little excessive for four adults, but then it’s not every day one becomes Pope!

France again (for a few weeks!)

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We got the work done on the house in Peel and ended up with a stripy stair carpet like a beach towel! (M-D can get a bit daring when the mood hits her!). Mind you, it suits the theme of the house which is intentionally “seaside” (we’re only three minutes walk from the beach). All the bedroom floors are now down to the original pine boards with a grey stain and a coat or two of matt sealer, so hopefully we can have a peaceful summer without too much disruption!

The trip back to France was uneventful. Since we came by car, we had two boat trips and a couple of long drives, but it gives us the chance to import and export stuff that’s not available in the other country. For example, when going from France to the Isle of Man, we took lots of Saucisson Sec because my mate Ken eats it till he bursts! We also took a couple of nice Jambon de Bayonne (an air dried salted ham that takes its name from the ancient port city of Bayonne in the far South West of France). In addition, there were lots of easy-to-find cooking ingredients and tins like Confit de Canard (prepared in a centuries-old process of preservation that consists of salt curing duck thighs and then poaching them in their own fat). We also took Foie Gras which is a fraction of the price in France than in GB. We get it delivered (along with the Confit de Canard) by Godard, an excellent producer in the South-West of France.

Coming back to France, we transport interesting stuff like Manx Kippers from Moore’s Kipper factory the last remaining traditional kipper curers. Moore’s produce traditional, oak fired, chimney smoked Manx kippers that taste like nothing else you will ever taste – 100% delicious (partucularly with Warm Potato Salad). We also bring curiosities for the family like Jelly Babies, Caramac, Chocolate Oranges and Custard – none of which are available in France.

So now our French grandchildren, Clémence and Eléonore, are impatiently waiting for a visit to The Island. We just booked their flights for mid April, so we’ll only be here in France for about four weeks before heading back! They’ll be expecting all the non-French lunch ingredients (like Pork Pie, Scotch Egg, Scallions etc.). Undoubtedly they will also hold us ransom for a visit to the Chinese Restaurant. In France, Chinese restaurants serve food that is more Vietnamese than anything else (Vietnam being a former French colony). So to get the more aromatic Cantonese food is a rare treat for our French visitors.

Last night, I had no doubt we were back in France. For dinner we had dozen oysters each with Pain Poilâne bread and salted butter followed by strawberries and cream. All washed down with a glass or two of chilled Edelzwicker from Alsace. Oysters in GB are at least twice the price than here (and generally don’t have the same quality and succulent taste). So there’s good and bad on both sides of the Channel. We’re fortunate in being able to get the best of both worlds… long may it last!

Pain Poilâne, incidentally, is produced in the Latin Quarter of Paris where it is sold at the original boulangerie on rue du Cherche-Midi. The worldwide demand for Poilâne bread is met in a facility located in Bièvres which produces around 15,000 loaves per day in 24 wood-burning ovens that are exact replicas of the ovens used at the Paris locations. These loaves are shipped worldwide – but it’s lovely getting the bread fresh the same day!

One day, Ramsey Bakery’s finest sliced dough – the next, proper bread using hand-crafted stone-ground flour, natural fermentation and a wood-fired oven. One day, the finest kippers in the universe, the next, hardly-smoked commercial herring in shrink-wrapped sauce!! Just kidding, but it does demonstrate how lucky we are to be able to reap the best of both.

The Rock awaits us

We’re heading back to The Isle of Man in a few days. We’ll be there for a couple of months, but we probably won’t get much relaxation! We bought a three story Victorian town house in August 2011 and it came complete with ivory-coloured fluffy carpets throughout! We have replaced the ground floor with parquet but the stairs and two floors of bedrooms still need to have something done to get rid of the ghastly dust trap underfoot! Our plan is to dump the carpets, strip the pine boards back to original state, tint them just to help the colour a little, then apply a matt varnish. On the stairs and landings, we’ll get new carpet runners and paint the edges white (a bit like it would have been originally except maybe the colour).

When we looked at the cost of hiring an industrial sander, we found it was about £55 a day (plus another £45 for the edging sander). So we took a look on eBay and found we could buy both for about £600. If we sell them again for a loss at the end of the job it still will have only cost about £100 in total, so that seemed like the way to go. The edging sander was OK in the post, but the main sander is big and heavy and would need a courier.

Unfortunately, getting goods delivered to The Isle of Man is like smuggling drugs into Indonesia … it’s a death sentence! It’s all to do with the fact there’s a boat trip needed between mainland UK and The Island. So we asked my niece, Sally, and her husband, Danny, who live in Crewe in Cheshire, if they could take delivery and we would pick it up as we passed by on our way to the ferry. (“Passing by” involves spending the night there – which we often do when we take the car)

Sally and Danny used to live in splendid anonymity until a couple of months ago when Danny was imprisoned for having a gun in his possession… er, he’s an SAS Sergeant with an impeccable history and the whole world got behind him and forced a quick legal appeal where the sentence was reduced to a lighter suspended sentence – and they will be appealing the actual guilty verdict later this month. Without going into the whole story here, it’s enough to say that they are going through a really tough time at the moment and Danny is at home just waiting for justice to take its course.

What do Sally and Danny have to do with the story of my sander? Well the guy I bought it from agreed to deliver to Crewe and asked for the name and address. When I said the name, he said, “Haven’t I heard that somewhere recently?”, so I reminded him of the furor in the national press about Danny’s shameful imprisonment.

I though he had had a heart attack at the other end!

“But what happens if the sander doesn’t work?” he asked.

I replied (half-joking), “It better had, or Danny will come and sort you out!”

Had he known Danny, he wouldn’t have worried! He’s truly one of the nicest, most level-headed guys you could ever hope to meet! In fact, of course, he did meet him a couple of days later when he delivered the sander, and they shared a cup of tea and a joke together!

Hand and Trumpet, CheshireWhat has all this got to do with food … er not a lot except that, when we get to Crewe, we will go and eat in the evening at The Hand and Trumpet which is a great little gastro pub serving decent quality pub grub at decent prices. If you get an opportunity, it’s worth stopping by.

And finally, I just added a recipe to the site to make your own Smoked Salmon (without the smoke, of course!). It’s a great little recipe that M-D’s daughter, Muriel, passed on to us and it is stupidly simple. So not you can enjoy high quality smoked salmon at exceptional prices with your very own Smoked Salmon Without The Smoke

Wish us luck with the floors!

Losing weight!

I’m supposed to be losing weight! I’ve been trying to do so for close on one year! So here we are, just a few hours away from moving the clocks back and getting an extra hour in bed (hooray!) and my weight hasn’t changed significantly for the last 6 months. It’s dreadful how time just stips by without us noticing. However, we have been gastronomically busy, so we’ve enjoyed the passing of the days.

salade gourmandeLast Saturday evening, we had a dinner for six of us. In addition to M-D and myself, there was Loius and Monique who live close by and keep an eye on the apartment here while we are on The Isle of Man, Jean-Luc who was a neighbour until recently, and is now living in Brittany and Pascale, a new neighbour who bought his apartment from him. We decided to keep it simple so I produced that gastronomic delight, Salade des Gourmets as a starter (which always goes down well, no matter what). It looks complicated, but it’s not, and was well appreciated by our guests. The use of a vinagrette made of raspberries and the fact that the scallops and prawns are served warm makes it a unique eating experience.

confit de canard duckWe followed up with a traditional French dish, Confit de Canard with Cepes and Sautée Potatoes. Of course, we’re lucky here because we can get very good quality Confit out of a tin, so no sweating over a hot stove for hours of preparation!

Of course, having a good wine to help everything down (is that a technical term??) does no harm either and we had taken a couple of bottles (well, three actually!) of Chateau Berliquet 2002 – a St Emilion – out of the cellar. Added to the two bottles of Vranken Special Brut Champagne as a little apperitif before the meal, we were all quite mellow by the time it came to serving cheese and then M-D’s famous “Orange and Lime Parfait” for a dessert. I keep trying to persuade her to put the recipe on the site, but so far I’ve not succeeded!

Tonight will be different! M-D’s daughter, Muriel, (who cooks all my favourite stuff) is bringing our grandchildren up from Orleans to stay for a few days. Muriel is stopping overnight with us, so it’s going to be a “Happy Sushi” night (little Japanese resaurant over the road). The last time we were at Muriel’s (just a couple of weeks ago) she prepared a “duck cottage pie” (that’s the nearest I can explain it!). It was the famous Confit de Canard, shredded at the bottom of a large dish and topped with mashed potato that had been cooked in their skins and then peeled. There were eight of us at the table and it disappeared in minutes! Allowing for some delightful apperitifs, a starter of foie gras, the cheeses (one of which smelt like old socks and tasted like heaven!) and Clémence’s chocolate Brownie (not to mention some excellent wines), I went home weighing about 10 pounds heavier!

Losing weight in France is, I have decided, impossible!

My granddaughter doesn’t like mushrooms!

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 MushroomsOn 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 MushroomsSo 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!!

Summer visitors to try out British food

Oh Bloody Hell – is it really 4½ months since I last posted to this blog. How time flies when you’re having fun!! During that time, we returned to France for a couple of months then went back again to The Isle of Man for a couple of months. Now we are back in France again… must be Sunday!

We had an interesting summer on the Isle of Man with three lots of visitors from France. First of all there was Pierre and Claude who stayed with us for a week (and fitted in a year’s worth of sightseeing!). There are so many curiosities to see on The Isle of Man for the first time visitor. One that amused Pierre and Claude was the Great Union Camera Obscura on Douglas Head (opened in the 1890s and is one of only a tiny handful left in the British Isles.)… I’m the lazy one with his hands in his pockets!

Of course, food is never far from the minds of French people, so we introduced them to a typical British picnic (complete with table and chairs). This time, I’m the taller one with the wine in his hand!! Included in the picnic were such British delicacies as Scotch Egg, Melton Mowbray pork pie and also we served radishes as part of a salad, which is not in the French culture (they eat them on their own as a starter, with salt and butter). Surprisingly, we also discovered that your humble Heinz Salad Cream went down a treat, since there seems to be no equivalent in France – the nearest being mayonaisse.

Harbour Lights - Port St. MaryWe were also pleasantly surpised by the warm reception our guests gave to the local eating places. The French can be a little snooty about their food, so we weren’t quite sure what sort of reception basic British “grub” would get. Our minds were put at rest after a delightful lunch at The Harbour Lights in Port St. Mary (I’m the one examining what I eat before shovelling it down!)

Basic British Picnic GrubOur next arrivals were M-D’s cousin, Anne-Marie, and her husband, Jean. They stopped with us for a little under one week since they were then heading off for a hiking holiday in Scotland. Again, they seemed to appreciate basic British “picnic grub” like the pork pie and Scotch egg, We also introduced them the delights of haggis neaps and tatties, before their Scottish visit, so they could decide whether or not they liked it (I think the jury is still out on that one!)

Manx Country CottageFor Jean and Anne-Marie, I think the attraction of The Isle of Man was simply the delightful country cottages and quaint streets of the old fishing village of Peel. Naturally, they enjoyed seeing all the other natural attractions the island has to offer (like Loaghtan sheep and Manx cats) but, being lovers of fish (to eat, of course) they thoroughly enjoyed trying out the famous Manx Kippers which are smoked by Moore’s Manx Kippers less than a mile from where we live. Moore’s is the last of the traditional oak-smoked curing yards and the flavour just oozes out of their products.

Isle of Man Steam RailwayOur final guests of the summer were M-D’s sister, Christine, and her younger son, Corentin. Christine has visited The Island before but, for Corentin, it was his first time, so we naturally did all the “tourist” bits like the electric trams, the Great Laxey Wheel, The Isle of Man Steam Railway. the horse trams, and everything else than contributes to making the Isle of Man a unique place to live and work.

The Hop GardenDuring their stay, we celebrated Christine’s birthday with a visit to our favourite restaurant on the island, The Abbey whose food and attention to detail was, as always, immaculate. Regrettably, they had used up all their stock of 2004 Chateaux Lyonnat Saint Emilion but, fortunately, they had a slightly younger version of the same wine, and it was a dream! We also visited a couple of “regular” haunts like The Hop Garden (pictured above) which serves really good quality “pub grub” in delightful surroundings.

And finally, M-D and I had a couple of weeks to recouperate from a hectic schedule of sightseeing! After which, a couple of quick flights and we are back in France, for the winter. We’re lucky, because my brother Steve lives close to the house on the Isle of Man so keeps an eye on it for us while we’re away. Maybe, one day, we can persuade him to visit France where we can play host to some of the delights that France has to offer.

Almost time to leave ‘The Rock’ again

How time flies. It only seems like yesterday that we were unpacking our loaded car having arrived from France. Now we are planning loading all the stuff we are taking back and catching the ferry to UK and on to France until June.

When we come from France we bring wine (wouldn’t you know it), tins of things like cassoulet, confit, snails (yes- honest!) and lot of other interesting goodies that you can’t easily get in UK. When we go back to France from The Isle of Man, we take stuff you can’t get in France like party poppers, custard, haggis and jelly beans! Yeah – I know – we’re real adventurous rascals, aren’t we!

While we’ve been here this time, we’ve had two or three interesting meals at home with friends and relatives including Cubes of Veal with Spicebread Sauce, snails (which we brought over with us and packed into the shells ourselves, along with garlic butter and parsley and, tonight, since my niece, Sally and her husband, Danny, are over for a few days, we’ll be having one of my regular favourites, Filet Mignon (Tenderloin of Pork) with Sage and Rosemary.

Abbey Restaurant, Rushen Abbey, Isle of Man
Abbey Restaurant, Rushen Abbey, Isle of Man

Marie-Danielle and I also managed to fit in a visit to The Abbey Restaurant at Rushen Abbey where I enjoyed some amazing Grilled Manx king scallops in hazelnut butter as a starter, then both of us had Chicken Ballontine with dauphinois potatoes, oyster mushroom cream and cranberry sauce. All this, washed down with a bottle of their amazing 2004 Chateaux Lyonnat Saint Emilion. I don’t know how much longer their stocks will last, but, boy, is that a great wine or is that a great wine!

The other things we discovered on this visit were two great local restaurants. One was a Chinese – The Jade Harbour Restaurant overlooking the marina where the food was excellent, the service was spot-on and the prices were right. The other was an Indian – The Royal India – in the little market place just down the road from where we live. Small (only about 30 covers) but clean, friendly, well-priced and with excellent Indain cuisine, this little gem is one we have revisited twice already!

So now, we are looking forward to being back in France so we can visit The Happy Sushi and La Petite Rôtisserie – our two “canteens” that we make plenty of use of! Wish us “Bon Voyage!”

Back on ‘The Rock’ but not before a special feast of lamb

So here we are again, on The Isle of Man. We regularly move between France and “The Rock” and now it’s “The Rock’s” turn to enjoy our company! However, just before leaving France we went down to Orleans where Muriel (M-D’s daughter) and her family live. Last Saturday was Clémence’s 14th birthday (she’s Muriel’s and Vincent’s elder daughter) and Muriel was entertaining 11 people – their own family of four, the two sets of grandparents and some friends with their 14-year-old daughter.

Five Hour Confit of LambNow when you are cooking for eleven, it’s essential to reduce the level of complexity to a minimum and Muriel had done exactly that. Her starter course was foie gras which is, of course, pre-packed and just needs slicing. Her dessert was a chocolate brownie cake that Clémence had made, and her main course, and pièce de résistance, was Five Hour Confit of Lamb. This delightful creation left her free to totally chill out and hands-free to do whatever it is women do for hours on end in a bathroom before their guests arrive.

I love recipes that look after themselves. There’s nothing worse when you are hosting a dinner party and you have to keep going to the kichen preparing and checking on stuff. So when Muriel told me she had prepared the main course mid-afternoon and it was slowly cooking without any input from her, I raised my hat to her – particularly when I tasted the result!

Five Hour Confit of Lamb does, genuinely, take five hours to cook, but at a very low heat, and slow cooking is an excellent way to render all the fat out of the meat. The result was a lamb that was so tender, it was like cutting butter. And because all of us round the table are garlic affectionados, Muriel had split 4 full heads (bulbs) of garlic horizontally (still with the skins on), added them to the pot, and simply served these with the meat. Naturally, the lamb was fairly heavily infused with garlic – which suited us all and left us fighting over the garlic that was soft and juicy!

I guess the fact that we helped it all down with a couple of bottles of 1976 Chateau de Cayrou didn’t do any harm, but I genuinely believe that the recipe will “stand on its own two feet” even if you wash it down with Coke or antiseptic mouthwash!

The other benefit of Five Hour Confit of Lamb is that the potatoes are cooked along with the meat. Simply drop everything into a Dutch Oven (a cast iron cooking pot) along with a mixture of common herbs and spices and, five hours later, you have a meal fit for a Prince. Meanwhile, you can catch up on your beauty sleep!

So, after a bit of arm-twisting, Muriel agreed to add the recipe to the site so we can all share. You don’t have to go beserk with the garlic like she did, because six or seven cloves will be enough to infuse a gentle garlic taste that most people will appreciate.

Anyway, now we are back on “The Rock” I may just practise Five Hour Confit of Lamb on some of our buddies! Then I can catch up on my beauty sleep too… after all, I need it more than my daughter-in-law!

Restaurant L’Ostéria for a classy lunch

Restaurant L'OstériaRestaurant L’Ostéria was our rendevous with M-D’s former boss and his wife. Jean-Pierre had been the head of the Belgium office when Marie-Danielle had worked there a few years ago and now, like M-D, had returned to France.

From time to time, the four of us meet up and dine somewhere nice and, since they live about an hour and a half’s drive away, we take it in turns to go to them or they come to us. This time, they came to us, so we decided to try a restaurant that is only about 3 miles from where we live and is situated right in the middle of the Forest of St Germain.

L'Osteria interiorRestaurant L’Ostéria is a former hunting lodge with a huge fireplace that gives the dining area a wonderful atmosphere. It is open 7 days a week, which is not so common around Paris. The service and welcome were excellent and the wine list was original and unusually wide. There’s a large terrace but January weather is not ideal for eating outside (though it should be great in the summer) so we snuggled at a table near the log fire and enjoyed some of the best that France has to offer (even if it was Italian!)

The food was more than good enough to rate this as a true Osteria in the best Italian traditions (establishments serving wine and simple food with menus that tend to emphasize local specialities such as pasta, grilled meat and fish). Often, when visiting Italian restaurants we are disappointed because they are nothing more than slightly upmarket pizza parlours. At L’Ostéria we tasted the true stuff of Italian cuisine (they even speak Italian if you want them to).

L'Osteria interiorM-D and I both started with baby squid salad in a tomato and basil sauce… delicious. When, for the main course, M-D and Jean-Pierre moved on to Foie de veau vénitienne (veal liver, Venetian style), Janine (Jean-Pierre’s wife) chose a Filet de bar de pêche au champagne (fillet of bass with champagne) and I settled for a delicious Risotto coquilles Saint Jacques (Risotto with scallops and asparagus tips). It was simple but excellent and I rate it amongst the best risottos I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a few!). Wonderfully smooth and creamy with the delightful taste of fresh scallops and tender asparagus and just a hint of the onion, garlic and olive oil that the rice had been coated in prior to cooking.

We helped our food down with a rather splendid bottle of Menetou-Salon. Menetou-Salon is an ancient wine-producing area with documented vinyards dating back to 1063. It produces both white and red wines and we chose a red which was light and refreshing and perfect when diners eat varied foods (me with my risotto, M-D and Jean-Pierre both with their veal liver and Janine with her fish). Desserts, coffee and good conversation topped off a perfect lunch (well, it was almost 5pm when we walked out of there!).

Tomorrow (Saturday) we have a former work colleague of M-D’s coming to lunch at our place and I’m doing Filet Mignon with Sage and Rosemary. I’ve done it a few times before and it’s stunning, yet very, very simple… looking forward to it!

And then it will be back to the diet! I’ve lost 20kg (44lb) in the last four months so, when I eat well, I have to pay for it for the rest of the week. Ah well, life’s pleasures should never be simple – otherwise they probably wouldn’t be such great pleasures!