Romesco Sauce

Angel Blogger

In August we were very busy catering for a lovely Dutch Yoga group. I made a refreshing Spanish salad with roasted peppers which I then stuffed. They sat proudly on a mound of lettuce leaves which I decorated with herb croutons, toasted almond. The Romesco sauce was drizzled over the leaves & the peppers had a silky garlic cream sauce, & a shaving of Parmesan cheese to top it all off.

Really yummy if I don't say so myself. It was a balmy evening so they ate on the west facing terrace, watching the sun set, can't ask for more really. I thought I 'd share the Romesco sauce recipe as it is so handy. I use it on vegetarian dishes like the above, but it is equally great on fish pork or chicken. Hope you like it, always good to hear your comments.

Serves 4

Handful of ideally fresh garden tomatoes, I used our cherry toms. Wash them throw them into a roasting tin, add a sliced red onion, garlic clove, small red chilli, good gringing of salt & pepper, glug of olive oil, then into a hot oven for 20 minutes. Let them cool, then simply puree in either a blender or food processor, press through a chinese sieve then freeze or use immediately for the sauce. Whisk in 1-2 tbsp sherry vinegar depending on taste, a couple of Tbsp olive oil, anchovy paste to taste or omit if vegetarian. There you have it really gorgeous tomato sauce perfect for almost any occasion.

Sunday game of Canasta

Angel Blogger reporting.

Today is the start of a big French weekend, the last of the summer holidays. Traditionally its a long weekend visiting friends & family & lots of eating & drinking. The annual summer holidays come to an end next week.

The weather today was supposed to be a very hot 31 c & full sun, however nature decided to change its mind at the last moment. Thunder, rain sticky humid heat but not an outdoor day. Some of my wonderful friends spontaneously arranged a lunch & Canasta, we all as always chipped in. I rummaged in the fridge & made some puff pastry & goat cheese tartlets. We had a fab duck curry with quite a kick to it. Meringues & fresh fruit, & lots of wine which everyone brought along. I sadly did not win at Canasta but thoroughly enjoyed a fun afternoon with good friends.

Goats cheese tartlets.

ready made puff pastry mine was a circle piece, I cut out 12 discs & with an oiled tart tin lined the pastry in place. Prick each pastry case with a fork, then pop into a moderate oven for 10 minutes, remove the tin & then push down the centre to make a hollow, I previously had gently sautéed a red onion after 10 minutes add a sprinkle of brown sugar & a dash of balsamic vinegar, this will caramelize in about 10 minutes, cool. Mash about 60g of goats cheese add a dash of cream & a small beaten egg, this will be mixed till blended. Add a spoon of onions into the tartlets then a spoonful of goat cream, a sprig of thyme on top. Pop into the moderate oven for 7-10 minutes.

Duras night market

Angel Blogger

I love our evening markets in July & August, its a time to meet with friends & enjoy some lovely food & wine. Each town host's their night market & there is lots of competition between between.

We went to Duras with friends, it was a beautiful balmy night. We decided to eat & drink at Molhiere's, a business run by 2 the brothers Blancheton. Patrick is the vine grower & makes some fantastic wines, one of their white wines is the house wine for the famous French restaurant La Gavrouche in London a Michelin star establishment. We happily can buy it for a fraction of the cost.

François the elder brother runs a very classy little shop & bar in Duras, he is the salesman. His wife Yannick is a beautiful cook, & she was cooking outside the shop on her Plancha. amazing giant Gambas cooked in whisky & cream. You may be a little surprised to hear that she used whisky, in fact the French are passionate about their whisky, they have been close amies with Scotland for centuries. There was a great band playing popular French music & people were singing & dancing, the atmosphere was really fun.

We are looking forward to our biggest day of the year tomorrow, our local wine festival with all the top local wine producers present, a day of wine tasting & sampling lots of our local produce, all under the roof of the ancient medieval Chateau.Watch this space for pictures & news.