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Monday, March 26, 2012

Take cover!!!!!!




New Gazebo




Chateau Perroterie is proud to announce the completion of our new Gazebo. John & I spent most of the weekend putting the frame together, with a span of 6 metres by 3.5 metres we were stretched in all directions trying to hold it in position & then fix it. The icing on the cake, or rather the canvas covering for the Gazebo was really tricky & truth be known we could have done with another pair of hands, but we were not to be beaten, by mid afternoon mission accomplished. A well earned cold beer under our new sun cover, very satisfying weekend's work. I hope our clients will enjoy sitting in the shade, it will seat 20, so perfect for those al fresco meals, it also has curtains which can be positioned  to give additional shade.  

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Things I've seen, done and loved this week......


The pleasures of spring are upon us. The colours and textures of the season are celebrated here at Chateau Perroterie. The countryside has taken on a freshness of greens, & yellows, & as the days are about to become longer, there is so many jobs to do outdoors. The practical side of me, is making sure my spring cleaning continues at a pace, clutter will not be tolerated! The early warm sunshine boosts us in our endeavours, and of course, there is time to enjoy a glass of wine on the patio, ah! the sign of good things to come. 
Our chickens have ventured out & loving the open-air, & the bonus of organic fresh eggs is very welcome. I suppose I should be showcasing an egg dish, but the fact of the matter is my husband had a longing for shortbread, so that's what I baked.  




Beat 130g of softened butter with 60g of caster sugar in a food processor, add 130g of plain flour & 60g of rice flour, pinch of salt, use the pulse button to roughly mix. Tip the mix out into a large bowl & press the mixture together with your hands. Using a loose bottom cake tin (20cm) press the mix into the tin until it covers the base of the tin. Pop in the fridge for 30 minutes. Bake in a moderate oven 325f for 20-25 minutes till golden colour. With a sharp knife score the shortbread into wedges & sprinkle over caster sugar. Don't be tempted to eat a piece till it has cooled or indigestion may hit you! We Sat outside with a cup of tea & a slice of shortbread - parfait.



Saturday, March 10, 2012

Excuse me while I catch my breathe, phew what a week we have had at Chateau Perroterie! We are very busy doing our pre-season jobs ahead of next month's opening Tai Chi retreat with Jason Chan. Palettes of new paving flags have arrived, we have decided to extend the front terrace outside the Guest House making it more spacious, its a very popular spot for outdoor dinning, & watching the awesome sunsets in the evenings, of course accompanied with the obligatory chilled glass of rose or icy beer. Yesterday we took delivery of an new ENORMOUS permanent sun cover, it will look fabulous, offering shade while dinning al fresco..

Our 6  new chickens have settled in nicely & laying 4 eggs a day, but they are currently refusing to leave their cosy hen house & play outside! 

Yesterday we visited our new "Shopping Experience" a huge new commercial centre just outside St Foy, 15 minutes from  here with a fabulous L'Clerc Hypermarket, cafe, shops & tons of car parking, its a great addition for our area, & one I am sure our clients will love visiting.

The enquiries for courses & self catering are continuing to pour in, apologies to the lovely course leaders who wanted to come this year & we couldn't  accommodate, hopefully we will see them in 2013,  already we have 3 confirmed weeks booked for next year, all wonderful news, our hard work is really paying off, we feel really blessed. I recommend you take a moment to scroll down to the bottom of our Home page, we have some very exciting retreats coming up & some have available places, click on them for more details.

 In the next two weeks I will post pictures of the finished works & maybe even a sighting of our shy chickens. In the meantime here's to another fun packed week

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Its that time again when French pork is on promotion, every supermarket at the moment has really cheap pork chops & pork roast joints. The French housewives eagerly awaits this season, they fill their freezers with bargain pork meat. Why I hear you say is pork suddenly so cheap, & the answer is simple, like Spain, France loves their dried cured hams such as Jambon Sec. The pigs are reared almost exclusively for the curing of their back legs, the rest of the animal is then sold at a really discounted price. A little factoid is that the left back leg is almost always more expensive, pigs tend to lie on their left side & this helps to tenderize this leg! Strolling around the supermarket I came across pork cheeks, a part of the animal I have never tried before, but having heard the celebratory chefs on TV raving about this cut I thought I would try them out. I wasn't to be disappointed. The secret as with any muscle meat that is well exercised & of course the cheeks are the main chewing area, you must cook it slowly.Recipe is as follows:-


PORK CHEEKS IN RED WINE

Heat a medium to large frying pan with olive oil, season cheeks with salt & pepper, I allowed 3 per person. Sauté till brown, remove from the pan & keep warm. Add a mix of julienne carrots, onion, & celery, dash more oil & cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile bring a 1/2 bottle of red wine & 250ml of chicken stock bubble away till reduced by 2/3rd In a casserole pot spoon in the vegetables place the cheeks on top, pour over the reduced liquid & season, place lid on top, bring to boil on the top of the cooker, then pop into a low oven 100-125c.or a slow cooker. Cook for 2-3 hours checking every hour, ensure there is plenty of liquid. Remove the cheeks & rest on a warm plate, return to the warm oven. Strain the juices & press the vegetables with the back of a ladle try to get as much juice out from the vegetables. Pour into a pan & reheat, add a tablespoon of redcurrant jelly if you like. I decided to fry some bacon rashers & add as a final piece of crunchy decoration. Serve with garlic mash & a selection of steamed root vegetables, cut each cheek on a diagonal (looks nice) then pour over the rich gravy. Et Viola!
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