Tag Archives: salads

Cheese, Chicken, Desserts, Salads, Salmon

Christmas 2018

December 31, 2018 needarecipe Leave a comment

Florence, Damien, Marie-Danielle and Graham

We spent an informal Christmas Day this year in the company of two good friends, Florence and her son, Damien. We also decided to keep it simple, so we kicked off with smoked wild salmon from Olsen Bornholm, a specialist smoke house and curers, just a mile from where we live. But we dressed it up a bit and turned it into Julie’s Salmon and Prawn with Lime. This is such an easy recipe and it’s been a huge success every time we’ve done it. Damien was more impressed with Marie-Danielle’s hat. And a mighty fine hat it was too! Florence, Damien, Marie-Danielle and Graham

For the main course, we cooked Chicken in a Salt Crust (or Poulet a l’ail en Croute de Sel if you want me to be pedantic). It’s a simple, straightforward recipe and I know from experience that the salt crust takes a bit of breaking. In fact, I often employ the help of a hammer. So it was a racing certainty that Damien would find this amusing. Nothing like getting someone involved in the kitchen at an early age – even if it is only with a hammer!

Happy 2019 from Marie-Danielle and Graham Florence lives in the heart of Paris and she had brought with her some truly wonderful cheeses that we took our time over. She also brought the deserts – delicious hand-made cakes from one of the best patisseries in the capital. We would have been happy if she had just brought herself and Damien, but the cheese and desserts were an added bonus.

Incidentally, I used Florence (with her permission) as a model for one of the characters in my book Web of Tangled Blood. It’s the story of a couple struggling to understand their past as they search for their long lost son.

So, finally, I hope you’ve enjoyed following this blog. I leave you at the end of 2018 with all my best wishes for the year ahead. May you enjoy health and happiness. Everything else will follow from there.

Beef, Desserts, Lamb, Salads, Shellfish, Slow Cooking

Top Five Recipes for 2017

December 31, 2017 needarecipe Leave a comment

This post actually isn’t going to be the top five things I’m grateful for. That would turn into a top 150 list and it would be annoyingly long. Instead, this post is the top five most viewed recipes on Need A Recipe in the last year!

Which, I guess, actually leads me to talk about something I’m thankful for. I’m really, really, thankful that you read this blog! Or even just scan through the pictures. Seriously, I wish I could serve you the recipe of your choice through the computer screen every time you visit the site and browse around.

Building the Need A Recipe list of good things to eat, and blogging like this is fun because of the interactions that I get with other people, and those other people are you! Thanks for keeping it fun for me and helping Need A Recipe grow in leaps and bounds in this last year.

Now, let’s eat! The Top Five Need A Recipe recipes for this year are:

Julie’s Salmon & Prawn with Lime is dedicated to Terry and Julie, our neighbours on The Isle of Man, who served us the most stunning starter in the field of human culinary endeavours! I promise you – you eat this and no starter will ever seem the same again. M-D and I were transported to a place that few ever get to see… the pinnacle of goodness and taste and salivating cherubs floating on clouds of… er, yeah, okay, I got a bit carried away there. But so will you when you try Julie’s Salmon & Prawn with Lime Julie's Salmon & Prawn with Lime

A Trio of Scallops is a simple and very effective starter course or, as you will see when you follow the recipe below, you can extend the choice to make it a “quad” of scallops. This lovely dish is perfect for serving when entertaining since it can mostly be prepared beforehand and then will take only four or five minutes to finish and serve.

The most effective way to serve a Trio of Scallops is in long individual dishes that are separated into three sections. If you cannot find these, you can use Chinese soup spoons (the ones that have a flat bottom so stand up on their own) with one scallop per spoon. And failing that, just use scallop shells (one scallop per shell). The finished scallops should be placed in the correct order on the plate and eaten from left to right. No – this is not food snobbery, it’s simply that the taste begins gently and builds to a crescendo.

Beef Wellington – oh beloved food for an evening with friends (or your partner’s boss who you are supposed to impress!). Just occasionally, I get an inkling to make Beef Wellington – the tenderest of Angus beef smeared in mustard or horseradish, smothered with mushroom duxelles, wrapped in Parma ham and put to bed in a cover of golden puff pastry. Traditionally, Beef Wellington was coddled in a layer of pâté, but I prefer the mushrooms and Parma ham version. It’s actually a lot easier to make than it looks, and the result is fantastic. A great idea for all beef-lovers (and partner’s bosses who need to be impressed!).

Some people use thin pancakes to wrap around their beef. The idea is to stop the pastry getting wet. However, I’ve always found that overlapping prosciutto works just as well, and tastes 100 times better. Beef Wellington

Lamb Shanks in Deep Rich Gravy gained an easy fourth place. It’s a magical recipe, especially if you want to have your guests guessing at the secret ingedients. Even though the recipe uses anchovies (a very salty fish) you can’t taste it in the finished dish but it totally transforms the meat and gravy, bringing out the delicious flavours.

Incidentally, 3lb (1½kg) of shanks is usually about 2 or even 3 shanks. If your butcher offers you one large one, reject it – at that size, it’s probably old mutton! If you have any problems, simply use a leg of lamb instead. I often do that. Lamb Shanks in Deep Rich Gravy

Double-Take Apple Flan is so called because there are two ‘stages’ to the cooking and also because it tastes so good, there’s no way you won’t go back for another helping. “Double-Take” Apple Flan is a winner, no matter what the occasion, and the extra little trouble in preparation and cooking is well, well worth the effort. Your guests will love you for it. Double-Take Apple Fla

Beef, Christmas, Desserts, Isle of Man, Personal Stuff

Christmas on The Isle of Man

December 27, 2014 needarecipe Leave a comment

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 Table So, 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 Peel Bruno 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. Along 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!!!

We 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 Cake Upon 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!!

Chicken, Personal Stuff, Salads

Welcome to the cousins!

April 8, 2014 needarecipe Leave a comment

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.

To 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.

So, 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.

After 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!

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!)

Beef, Desserts, Fish, Salads, Salmon, Seafood, Shellfish, Wine

Glorious evening of simple, tasty food.

October 18, 2013 needarecipe Leave a comment

Last night, our old friends, Paul and Valérie came round for dinner. They arrived early and left late (which is always a good sign!) and they insisted on taking away with them the recipes for our starter and dessert.

We kicked off with a starter that our neighbours, Julie and Terry, on the Isle of Man had made for us just before we came back to France… Julie’s Salmon and Prawn with Lime. This simply is one of the tastiest starters I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. We “smoked” the salmon ourselves which not only tastes better but also allows you to slice it thicker than normal. The dollop of cream and horseradish with the fish has a lovely fresh taste but the real delight is the salad dressing which includes limes, honey and fresh ginger and comes as a mouth-watering surprise when you put a forkful of salad leaves in your mouth.

Naturally we helped this down with a little drop of France’s finest… a Duc de Morny, Picpoul de Pinet 2012. It’s a crisp white from the Languedoc coast but, even though it was a young wine, it won the Médaille d’Or at the renowned Agricultural Show in Paris, so it wasn’t a bad drop at all !

Our main course was Daube Provençale (one of our regular favourites) which consists of large chunks of slow-cooked beef with lots of tasty secrets like orange flavours and fresh olives in the gravy. This always works well because it really does taste of France and it can be prepared well in advance. Also, we serve it simply with potatoes (which we crush into the gravy with our forks – bad children!) so there’s not a lot of work preparing the vegetables.

Paul brought an excellent bottle of something deep and rich and red from Bordeaux but I’m darned if I can remember the name of it and the bottle is now being recyled somewhere in deepest, darkest France! Whatever it was, it worked extremely well with the Daube.

After the cheese, we finished off with M-D’s famous Citrus Parfait which we totally demolished since everybody went for a second helping! We helped it down with a glass or two of Edelzwicker from Alsace in North-East France though I confess, it didn’t need too much help!

Valérie and Paul were impressed enough to insist that we give them the recipes for the starter, the “self-smoked” salmon and the dessert (they already had the recipe for the Daube). And the real beauty was that – as so often with a good meal – almost everything had been prepared in advance, which allowed “cheffy” to sit with everybody else and enjoy the conversation.

The salmon had been “smoked” two days earlier, the salad dressing for the starter had been made during the afternoon and put in the fridge, the Daube was made the day before and just allowed to slowly reheat, and the Citrus Parfait was from a supply that we keep in the freezer all the time because we know that this dessert is a winner, so it’s always available. In fact, the only thing I had to do was boil a few potatoes – now how hard is that?

I know I’ve said it before (and I’ll probably say it again), but the secret of French cooking is simplicity. While the French are very good at combining various flavours, unless you eat in one of the really top restaurants, you are likely to be served something that is uncomplicated but truly tasty.

I suspect we might be serving these same starters and desserts again at some point in the near future!

Duck, Personal Stuff, Salads, Wine

Losing weight!

October 27, 2012 needarecipe Leave a comment

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 gourmande Last 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 duck We 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!

Cheese, Duck, Quail, Wine

La Petite Rôtisserie

September 17, 2011 needarecipe Leave a comment

So – was it Salade des Gourmets or not???

Well, believe it or not, I was able to resist and, for a starter, I went for the Salade de Caille et Magret de Canard (Salad of Quail and Lean Duck Breast). Deeee-licious! Now I have two favourites to choose from! What’s a man to do, I ask?

La Petite Rôtisserie is living up to its reputation. The food, the service and the wines were just perfect. Starting with a little apperitif (M-D takes an Americano and I take a Cocktail Maison), diners are given plenty of time to study the menu and the wine list before having to choose. As a main course, M-D took Rognons de Veau (Veal Kidneys) which were cooked to perfection. I took a fillet steak, rare, with a sauce of Bleu d’Auvergne (a blue cheese from the Auvergne region of France). These were accompanied simply by a few sautéed potatoes and mushrooms… very simple but very effective.

We followed up with cheese from the amazing selection that they keep here. I took some Pont-l’Évêque, some Chaource and some Bleu d’Auvergne (yeah, I know, I’d already had that with my steak!). Nadine (the restaurant owner) keeps her cheese in perfect condition and the Chaource just melted on my plate (as, indeed, it should!).

Dessert (which follows the cheese in France) was, for me, an aumônière which, literally translated means a purse or sack. In fact, it’s ice cream wrapped in a crèpe (thin pancake) and tied with a strip of orange peel, the whole thing sitting on a bed of thick chocolate sauce, sprinkled with crushed almonds. Ooooo – I can still taste it!

And all of this was washed down with a 2001 St Julien. The wines of St Julien are the epitome of Bordeaux. Sandwiched as it is between Pauillac to the north, and Margaux to the south, this small commune still makes a huge contribution to the wines of Bordeaux, with a distinctive and elegant style and the promise of consistency which is perhaps unrivalled by its neighbours.

Well – we enjoyed it anyway!!

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