Tag Archives: morel mushrooms

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

Between a rock and a hard place!

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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!

 

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

That good old Confit de Canard

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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 duckFor 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 CarpaccioAfter 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 PromenadeMeanwhile, 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_500x333However, 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?

Mushrooms, Veal

My granddaughter doesn’t like mushrooms!

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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!!