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Monday, July 23, 2012

Vampires & Garlic


A tribute to Vampire Diaries - garlic!

I am a big fan of Vampire Diaries, and as we are just harvesting our garlic it gave me the idea for this Blog.
Garlic drying out 
Fresh cut garlic
garlic in olive oil

Despite our little red squirrels best endeavors of stashing the bulbs in our rockery, we have successfully grown a good few kilos of these tasty culinary nuggets.
Garlic must be my favorite seasoning, & with my Italian background it's a very important addition in my cuisine.
It has so many benefits. Lowers cholesterol, strengthens immune system, good for the heart, purifies the blood, strong antibiotic, it has antifungal properties, good for recovery from coughs & colds to mention a few.
My son recently bought me a little silicone tube called "mr garlic" it rolls the garlic clove & takes all the outer skin off, works a treat. I then pop them into a Kilner jar with olive oil & herbs, I used tarragon & rosemary. Now I always have garlic ready on hand for that vital addition to any dishes.
Garlic bread has to be a popular favorite; it goes well with most savory dishes. Cut a baguette in two, length-wise, squish 2-3 cloves of your garlic into butter, or my personal favorite, use some of the oil from the marinating jar & 2 garlic, squish & smear along the baguette, wrap in foil pop into a moderately hot oven for 10 minutes, as easy as that - yummy bread in a flash.
I love it on any roast meats, vegetables before popping into the oven. It's delicious in mayonnaise, sauces, and soups.
Finally as I said at the beginning I love anything to do with vampires. My fascination began with Anne Rice’s interview with a vampire, Brad Pitt & Tom Cruise.  My favorites are the Twilight Saga films,starring Robert Pattinson as the gorgeous Edward Cullen. The TV series, The Vampire Diaries, starring Ian Somerhalder alias Damon Salvatore, is to die for, oops excuse the pun! It's hard to image a vampire who isn't a hunk, or is it just me, & they don't seem to mind garlic!!.

Monday, July 16, 2012

TIME TO JAM

MIRABELLE PLUMS
PLUM JAM
I'm jamming!
Hope you like jamming too.  It's that time of the year again when fruit is ripening in the garden & heaped high in the shops. Nature seems to love getting ready all at once & suddenly you have fruit coming out of your ears! For me it's also my busiest time here at Chateau Perroterie & I have very little time to bottle, pickle & freeze kilos of fruit. This year our apples are not abundant, thank goodness, unlike last year, the wild boar had a lovely pig out rooting & gobbling up all the dropped fruit. This year the quantity may be less but the quality is gorgeous. I love to freeze slices of apple which I can later turn into apple ice cream, or a apple & cider sauce which is yummy with roast pork. My neighbour kindly gave me 2 kilos of apricots which I converted into 12 jars of jam, this will be enjoyed with buttery croissants & is fantastic in curry sauces. This year our mirabelle plums are a good, 2 weeks late, but they are my husband's most important crop for his precious Eau d'Vie. I love our plums because they make a fantastic sauce for duck confit.

Apple sauce
Peel core & slice 3 large apples. Place them in a pan with 75ml of cider, 50g of butter & 2-4tbsp of sugar to taste, slowly simmer for 10-15 minutes, the sauce is ready when the apple starts to collapse but isn't mushy. Allow it to cool, serve with pork. It can be frozen too.


Basic Plum jam.
3 Kilo plums, wash, add to pan, with 500ml water, bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes. Sieve to eliminate pips, measure the juice and return to the pan, add the same quantity of sugar. Boil up & allow the jam to steadily reduce to a syrup, 40-60 minutes. Pour into sterilized hot jars. If you choose, add chopped red chillies & chopped rosemary, absolutely gorgeou
s melted in a small pan with some pineau liqueur or port, serve with any red meat dishes.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

GONE FISHING!

Gone fishing!

When we get an enquiry from a new client, one thing that is at the top of the list is - what is there to do?
Well, quite a lot. Kayaking, canoeing, tennis, cycling, go karting, bowling, swimming, prehistoric caves & grottos, walking, vineyard tours, ancient chateaux, river cruising, eating drinking, markets, the list goes on.
But the two favorite pass times is lazing by the pool with a good book or the more modern way a kindle, or fishing.
We have a not inconsiderable size lake at the back of the property. There are a number of coarse fish mainly roach & carp. My husband & son Gareth recently fancied "drowning a worm" as they like to call it. They encourage two ways of fishing, a serious competition of who can catch a fish the length of a bottle of wine, the bottle must have been consumed before the catch, see photo! The second way is to drink the wine while fishing with no hook, so maximum enjoyment of said wine will not be interrupted by a fish on the line. Both ways seem to be enjoyed, & have become a bit of a tradition while fishing at Chateau Perroterie.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

CAFE SOCIETY


OK, I confess I love relaxing with a coffee & sometimes a yummy pastry. Southern Europe has the climate which has helped create the cafe society. Taking time out to enjoy an aromatic cup of cafe creme outside under a shady parasole is not a treat, more a daily ritual for most French. Its where all the local chatter is discussed & most cafe owners are quite happy for you to eat & enjoy a tasty treat you have bought from a nearby patisserie, very civilized! This leaves only one problem, which pastry or cake to choose, the selection can be quite daunting. I find it works best when you are with a group of friends, then you can share from a box of creamy delights, or arm wrestle!. The photo says it all, hands diving in from all sides.

oh which one?
Quick!

Our local boulangerie in Duras asked my advice this week on cheesecake recipes. Marilyn's father is the cake maker & he said the English make the best cheesecakes, I thought it was the Americans but I didn't argue. I went home & had some fun tinkering in the kitchen with some simple ideas that might be useful, & this was the result, a no bake lemon cheesecake, recipe below.


200g digestive biscuits, crush in a bag with a rolling pin. 100g melted butter, add the biscuits & stir till all the butter is incorporated. Press into a loose form ring tin 20cm, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Gently warm a jar of ideally home made lemon curd check out my Blog dated  1/24/12 for recipe. Meanwhile soak 2 leaves of gelatine in water for 5-6 minutes, squeeze the water out with your hands, stir into the warm lemon curd. Once the lemon curd is cool stir it into 250g of  Mascapone  cream & 350g of creme cheese like Philadelphia. Spread the lemon cream mix on top of the biscuit base, chill in the fridge for 12 - 24 hours, as simple as that but really tasty.
Lemon cheesecake




So put your feet up with a cup of coffee & enjoy a slice of cheesecake heaven - Bon appetite!