summer food

who says summer food has to be fancy?!

summer is here, with fresh vegetables and ripe fruit,
as beautiful to look at as it is delicious to eat

 

plenty of flavour and goodness

the best things in life are often the simple ones ...

the colourful french cuisine

Few brands of saucepans can boast icon status, but Le Creuset is up there, loved and honoured through the generations, a symbol of French cuisine and style.

My first le Creuset oven casserole dish was a wedding gift, and all these years later it is still going strong.  I can't even begin to count how many stews, how many braised guinea fowl, how much compote or soups have been served from it.

The Le Creuset pans, skillets and  other cooking tools are made of enameled cast iron.  Heavy?  yes, very, but also practically indestructible.  Because they are made of iron, they heat slowly but very evenly, and are ideal for long slow cooking.

Why do I love them so much?  Because they go from oven to table with no trouble at all, especially with the huge range of colours available.

the french christmas dinner

                                                       "joyeux noel!!"

The door is flung open to welcome the aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents gathered on this special day to celebrate together

the house already smells delicious as the turkey, complete with its chestnut stuffing roasts quietly in the oven;

coats are shed, "My how you've grown"

"Sit here you'll be more comfortable"

"Come closer to the fire"

POP goes the first champagne cork, and in come platters of warm petit fours or savory pastries to keep
 everyone happy

tall crystal glasses filled with bubbles, sparkling apple juice for the little ones, glasses raised to toast this happy family occasion, and before the meal is ready there is time to exchange presents.

Gift tags get muddled, then sorted and there is as much joy in the giving as the receiving, and all the while the champagne is kept topped up, there is no rush, a couple of hours go by

"A table!" .. to the table, come and sit by me .....  who wants to sit near the fire? "

Then "aaah" as the platter of foie gras is brought in and the first wine glass filled with a sweet and fruity Sauternes

As the first course is enjoyed , discussion is noisy and happy, the conversation turning around food ... what to eat ... where to purchase .... how to prepare ....

Plates whipped way and replaced with fresh platters then appear the oysters, chunks of lemon, little bowls of rock salt, a different bread and the second glass is filled with a dry white wine, a Chablis maybe

A pause may be in order, possibly even a trou normand (a tiny glass of apple liqueur)  then on to the main course

The turkey, with chestnuts and vegetables and stuffing and more wine.  Here the girls often prefer to stick with their white wine while the men are ready for something with a little more body and move onto a fine Bordeaux, 

This course marks a change of pace, more discussion of cooking techniques, the room is warm, the children listen to the adult conversation and join in or not

a little pause while plates are cleared, room made in the kitchen, bread replenished on the table

an uncle tells jokes, a cousin moves on to politics

the cheese platter is brought in .... sighs around the table  "Oh I couldn't possibly .... my that Brie looks good ...  have you tasted this roquefort ......"  more discussion, red wine to accompany the cheese

they have been at the table for almost four hours by now,  the youngest a little restless come and go, but they all still smile when the dessert is served La Buche de Noel, home made or bought from the local patissier.  Thin slices are served, glasses topped up and eyes wander back to the sitting room,  the prospect of a coffee in front of the fire most welcome

The sudden realization that it is already dark outside "what a shame, a walk would have done us good .... tomorrow I won't eat a thing ....."

the table is cleared, a hand is given to tidy the kitchen and make the coffee and by the time they all have sat and talked for a while, it is time to go home, "Take care, the roads may be icy...", the door closes behind them, the house still full of their happy noise and laughter ..

 and from behind her back,  a little voice speaks out "what are we having for supper?!"

french comfort food

Temperatures are dropping fast here, days are drawing in, and family dinner is enjoyed in front of a roaring fire.  No dish could be more typically French and more suited to the winter months that the traditional pot au feu.

We enjoyed this totally delicious meal at friends yesterday evening, and I was reminded just how fantastic, home-cooked, simple food can be.

The beauty of the pot au feu is that although it needs to cook for a long while, it is not labour intensive, and that from the one dish, you can actually create several meals.   There is the pot au feu itself of course, that is the braised meat and vegetables, but beforehand the bone marrow and delicious broth, and with any left overs the most wonderful hachis parmentier or shepherd's pie.

To make a pot au feu I buy several different cuts of meat, I prefer to stick to beef, a beef shank, a piece of rump and a couple of large bones.  You'll also need fresh vegetables: potatoes, carrots, leeks,  small turnips, maybe celeriac; a bouquet garni (parsley, bay leaf and thyme).

Start off by covering the meat with cold water in a large heavy stockpot, bring to the boil then let it simmer for a couple of hours with the bouquet garni added.  Add the peeled vegetables,  and let them cook then add the bone marrow when the vegetables are half cooked.

You want to finish with very tender meat and vegetables, perfectly cooked marrow and a clear flavoursome broth - the secret for this is to to let the dish simmer but never boil.

When everyone is ready to eat, serve first of all bowls of broth, accompanied by small pieces of toasted bread, and the marrow sprinkled with rock salt.

Next serve each guest with a plate of meat and vegetables, accompanied by more broth if desired, and it is very very desirable stuff!

If there is any meat or vegetables left over, then be happy!  then next day the meat can be minced, and topped with pureed potatoes before popping into the oven to make a delicious shepherd's pie.

Comfort food doesn't get much better than this!

Bon appetit and thank you for reading me.

getting educated at a french market

When I first lived in France as a young student, in a tiny flat in Nice, every day felt like an adventure.   I had a bicycle and would get all over the town, discovering what French living really meant.


Of course some learning just happens to us without even realising it.  We observe, we pick up as we go along. 

Sometimes however we need A Teacher!

I liked to shop at the little street market close to my flat.  You know how it is buying for a girl living alone, you don't really need that much, but you enjoy the detail.  I used to spend hours at the market, observing how the French bought their food, how interested they were in the quality and liked to know where it came from.

Nowhere was this more true than on the cheese stand!  To begin with I hurried past, hardly daring to stop and try because I knew so little about the cheeses.  One day I finally dared to stop at a stand and timidly asked for a goats cheese.

 

Little did I know that this first purchase would be the start of a gastronomical tour de France!

The cheese monger was charming, and maybe also a little bit charmed by a young foreign girl who had everything to learn!

Over the next few months he taught me about the flavours and textures of french cheese, carefully choosing which cheese I would try each week, and never failing to ask what I thought of last week's selection!

Via the amazing cheeses in his store I took a virtual tour; to the east of Paris to try Brie, down the centre of France to discover Cantal; along the Swiss border to explore the Gruyeres and Emmenthals, or slightly higher the Munsters.    In the centre and south of France he helped me discover the various goat's cheeses, including some of my favourite from Corsica.  The back up the south west via the sheep's cheeses of the Pyrenees, the wonderful flavours of the Auvergne, blue Roquefort and of course all the cheeses from Normandy that I now know so well.

And today, if I buy cheese at the farmer's market, I often remember my kind 'teacher', and how he gave me the confidence to discover so much more of France.

the french crème brûlée

First of all a special thought for all my friends and readers affected the the hurricane, 

I can't even imagine the disruption and difficulty getting over this

I wish you strength

Now that we are well into the cooler season here, desserts are less about fresh and fruity and more about comfort.  An all time favourite is the very french  crème brûlée.

Simple to make and chic to serve, I also love this recipe because it is served in individual portions. so easy to handle at a dinner.

.

To make crème brûlée for 6 people, you will need

4 cups (1 L)  cream

1/3 cup (75 mL) sugar

10 yolks of large eggs

1 vanilla bean

Use these ingredients to make your custard.  Mix the egg yolks in a large bowl with the sugar, whisk well until the mixture pales slightly.  

Heat the cream, or full fat milk, in a pan with the vanilla pod split length ways.  You can scrape out the tiny black vanilla seeds if you wish to heighten the vanilla flavour.

Pour the cream into the egg and sugar mix, and blend thoroughly.  Pour this mix into individual creme moulds and bake in the oven, in a bain marie,  at 160C for 15 minutes.

You remove the crème from the oven when they are just set (no longer liquid), but still slightly wobbly.

Leave to cool then pop the crèmes into the fridge and leave them for about 4 hours.

Now comes the fun bit!  Just before you wish to serve the crèmes, sprinkle sugar in an even layer over the top of each crème then reach for your culinary blow torch.

I used to do this bit using the grill on the oven, but it's not ideal as it re-cooks the crèmes and they lose their very creamy quality.  If you like this recipe, you may choose to invest in a little chef's torch.

Once they are nicely golden and bubbly, carry to the table, wow your guests and sit back to   enjoy their wild applause.

pictures thanks to google images

in autumn, making quince jelly

It is a shame that blogger doesn't have a 'smell' button I could attach to this post!

I am making quince jelly, and the whole house is perfumed with their delicate flower-like flavour.

Large, rock hard, chunky sort of fruit, tasteless raw, yet when it is cooked it shares

 all sorts of secrets, and its jelly turns a beautiful deep pink colour.

It takes ages to make, but still has to be one of my favourite jellies to spread on bread, 

or use in  tarts with other fruit.

Here is the recipe, but believe me , this jelly is quite hard work!!

For about 3 lbs or 1.5kg of quinces.

Wash the qunices well and cut away any pieces that are damaged or discoloured.
Cut the rest of the fruit into cubes, don't worry about  peeling or taking out the core.

Thrown into a big preserving pan with 1/2 litre (1 pint) of water.

Cook for 60-90 minutes until well tender.

Find a way to let the fruit drain overnight.
 I have a rather 'heath-robinson' affair with a stool turned upside down,
and a muslin strung over a big mixing bowl to catch the juice.

The next day measure out how much liqud has come from the fruit pulp.
Resist the temptation to squeeze the muslin too hard, if you want a very clear jelly.

For each half litre (1 pint) of juice, you can add 350 grammes (12 ounces) of sugar.
Heat gently and simmer for about 15 minutes.  Quinces contain a lot of pectin,
so there isn't usually a trouble with this jelly setting.
The best way to test for setting is on a plate kept cold in the fridge.

When setting point is reached, pour into jars and ... admire!

And if you love the flavour and hate to see the fruit pulp wasted, you could always make quince

jelly squares, quite yummy with cheese!

After extracting the juice for your jelly, push the remaining soft fruit through a sieve, and mix equal weight of sugar to the sieved fruit paste.  Cook until thick enough to 'write' in with a wooden spoon and turn out onto a greaseproof paper lined baking tray.

Let it rest for 24 hours then cut into squares,
YUM!

Wishing you all a happy autumnal weekend.

food at a palace in paris and other places to eat

If you adore Paris and you love  fine food, and if you don't mind feeling hungry as you emerge from a cinema, then I think you need to see this film.

Les Saveurs du Palais,  'Flavours of the Palace' , tells the true story of a French woman, a cook and a farmer in the Perigord, who was unwittingly chosen to be the private cook to the former French president François Mitterand.

She gets lost in the presidential palace, she has to convince the all male kitchen staff that she can do the job and of course she gets to share the pleasure of good food with the president.

It is said that Mitterand asked the cook Hortense  Laborie to prepare the sort of meals his grandmother used to prepare - traditional French cuisine doesn't get any better than this!   You can find some of the recipes  here.

Not only is the film well acted, the décors are sumptuous and the food breathtaking.   Here is the trailer, in French I'm afraid! 

And if you are looking for recommendations for where to eat in Paris, then pop over to visit the delightful Stacey at Stacey's Snacks.  I had the pleasure of meeting Stacey and her husband when they came to visit last week.   She is a real connoisseur of food, and has tested some of the best restaurants for you.

While she was here we had loads to talk about, with shared interest in food and gardens, and I loved here fast talking way of doing things, a breath of fresh air here in sleepy Normandy.

She is a beautiful lady, (with a very handsome husband!) and they both completely charmed my whole family.  She takes photos of her meals all over the world, and shares them on her popular blog

I particularly loved her review of the confidential restaurant Verjus, and thanks to her I'll be dining there quite soon too!   She also took a private tour of the famous Cordon Bleu cooking school, that's her in the photo above with the owners of a Paris restaurant.

You can see what fun I've been having this summer with so many visitors - all that from one little blog, who would have guessed!   So if you are one of those who is hesitating about starting a blog, a little worried about publishing, then I can only say "go for it!", you never know where  the adventure may lead you!

a favourite french snack

A French lady I know ( beautiful, slim, lively and fun) once talked to me about growing up on the Cote d'Azur as a little girl in the 40's.  A magical moment to be sure.

We talked about school and friends, and clothes, and family life.   So many details to enjoy, but one that made me smile was her description of her favourite mid afternoon snack, when she came home from school.    "Pain au chocolat?"  I asked, already imagining her at the baker's counter.   "Non, non" she frowned,  "too sweet, way too sweet".

That little girl's idea of heaven was a slice of bread, a clove of garlic opened up and rubbed on the bread, then a trickle of olive oil.

France and the French never cease to delight!   

Wishing you all a fragrant weekend!

Photo by Ella

french summer dining

A last minute decision to invite friends for supper

warm enough to eat outside

one friend brings wine, another turns up with delicious patisserie

a few flowers, a few candles, a rising moon

chatting, laughing,

teenagers mixing with adults and nobody in a hurry to leave the table

summer evenings as they should be  ...  simple.

simple pleasures in everyday French life

If you read my blog now and again, you'll have understood that for me the best pleasures in life are the simple ones.  I'm not big on bling bling.  To me the greatest luxuries are the simple moments.

Buying at the market in France is not about ticking off from a shopping list, it is a sensual and sensory experience.  The produce is displayed beautifully to seduce the client, and the vendors make full use of their natural charms.

It was my husband who taught me how to shop at market.  Simple rules that work well.     Never go with a list,but to  be inspired by what is on offer;  walk around the market once before buying, remembering where are the ripest peaches, the sweetest melons, the best fish and cheese and to take the time .... buying food is important work, never to be rushed!

It's like I said, taking pleasure in the simple things.

 I invariably return from market with food I had no intention of purchasing, simply because it looks and smells so wonderful and because the inspiration for meals comes once I see the food.

and if I buy too much? .... no matter, there are always baskets for sale!