READY STEADY - STARTER

Hello from a snowy South West France. We have some of our lovely  family staying with us, they are taking a well earned break from their busy London lives. We have been creating lovely meals to enjoy between movie viewing. It feels so good to chill out just like our weather. We had a perfect lunch, caemenbert parcels with onion confit honey and walnuts. Followed by a platter of charcuterie meats and cheeses, a selection of breads.

The method is so easy, cut a small wheel of caembert into 8 wedges, put them nose to tail so you have a square/rectangle shape. Unroll a packet of filo pastry, cut each sheet into 4 strips, roll each piece of cheese into a filo parcel. Place on a baking tray, open freeze for 12 hours then place in a tupperware container. In the meantime slice an onion thinly slowly saute in frying pan with oil, when hey have turned golden,add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and the same of balsamic vinegar, continue to cook on a low heat for another 10 minutes, it will caramlise and taste great. Let the onon confit cool and place in an airtight container store in fridge. 30 minutes before serving place 2 parcels per person on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Place in the a hot oven for 10-12 minutes,remove them when they have turned golden brown,add a spoonful of onion confit, a sprinkle of broken walnuts or hazelnuts, a drizzle of honey, pop into a now medium oven for 10 minutes. Prepare your plates with mixed salad leaves which you have dressed with a nut and honey vinagrette. Sit the cooked cheese parcels along side and drizzle around any remaining dressing. Viola a perfect starter to serve quick easy, trouble free. Now we just need the snow and cold temperature to disappear and let spring burst forth. 

HEALTHY BREAKFAST

Healthy breakfast idea

Who doesn't like a cooked breakfast from time to time? OK my vegetarian friends maybe aren't with me here, but it can be adapted to be meat free!
This week continued to be cold, with the added bonus of heavy rains, I now can commiserate with my family in the UK who have been tortured with wet weather for months in 2012.  I was looking for a comforting plate of food, but not necessarily full of calories. The delicious result was my any time breakfast salad.

The cooking time is minimal which is nice for when your in a hurry, or just starving. I dressed a selection of salad greens with a lovely light walnut oil & lemon vinaigrette, I put a handful in each bowl, I sautéed some new potatoes which were already cooked in a pan with olive oil, added sliced button mushrooms. In another pan I poached an egg per person, I wrapped some jambon sec around a grissini stick, this could of course be cooked bacon or Parma ham. Place the sautéed vegetables on top of the lettuce, & the poached egg in middle with the Grissini & ham across. When you slice into the egg, the runny yolk pours over the salad making it really yummy. The vegetarian alternative is as above, either wrap roasted red pepper around the grissini, or chargrilled courgette ribbon, & halved cherry tomatoes strewn around the plate.
Bon appetite.

snowy scene

citrus spritzer

January at la Perroterie, & the weather has been interesting, to date we have had sunshine, blue skies, torrential rain, snow, gales, I think that about covers it. So not a typical January!

We have been inundated with enquiries, for 2013/2014, we are delighted with the response to our websites. It looks like we are going to have an amazing season, lots of fun in the sun, drinking by the pools, & cooking on the BBQ. Oh nearly forgot singing & dancing around our fire pit.

In my kitchen, I have been playing with my new gadgets I got for Christmas. I have a thing about all things kitchenallia! Secret Santa gave me a really clever citrus fruit atomiser, perfect for lemons, limes, & oranges, it's so simple, I just gently twist the plastic corkscrew end (sorry about terminology). The top is a spray, it gives a tangy zingy taste to salads, refreshes vodka cocktails, martinis.

spoon rest

multi veg peeler

 My second gadget is a very simple plastic heatproof clasp which pinches to the side of pans & your spoon or spatula clips on & it's just there ready for stirring - love it! The third present is a clear plastic disc with 3 different peelers, potato blade, zester blade for lemons, oranges etc, & third is a julienne blade, perfect for root vegetables especially carrots, so pretty on salads. Now I just need more kitchen drawers to fit them all in.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year

Just back from a fantastic 2 weeks in the UK, visiting friends & experiencing 3 different Christmas celebrations, necessitating in much eating, drinking & enjoyment. John & I have brought back a few kilos & I don't mean luggage, so Wednesday is the start of less excess & lots of healthy resolutions!

New Year's Eve brings with it a time of reflection, making me feel a touch nostalgic & appreciation for all that we have had & what is yet to come. We send our best wishes to all our clients old & new & a very happy, peaceful 2013.

THE DELIGHTS OF LILLE

On our way back from UK we stayed in the beautiful city of Lille in northern France  the shops are to die for, perfect for indulgence even if it was just post Christmas. After a busy morning shopping there is nothing nicer than to restore one's energy with a delicious lunch. We discovered the famous Aux Moules restaurant, you cannot book, you have to queue, we waited 20 minutes but wow it was worth it.  John choose Moules mariniere, I decided to go for the parsley, cream, garlic version. Just thinking about it brings back juicy memories, with chunks of baguette to soak up the juices. 

This is the easiest dish to make & deceptively filling. Simply Sauté a sliced shallot in butter, add as much diced garlic as you like. Add a glass of white wine, bring to a gentle boil, toss in 1 kilo of cleaned & de-bearded mussels, toss in the juices, lid on reduce the heat a touch, then about 4-5 minutes later check to see if all the mussels have opened, if necessary allow another minute. Any mussels which remain closed, discard. Pour in fresh cream to enrich the juices. Spoon into 2 bowls, sprinkle over chopped parsley for colour & texture, serve with lots of bread, cold beer & french fries, Or as in our photo serve in cooking pot which restaurants tend to serve to the table. A little tip - it's fun to eat the Moules with an empty mussel shell, simply use the two sides as pincers, then pull the mussels from the shell.

CHRISTMAS STARTER

Christmas is fast approaching and I'm sure everyone's wondering what special things they can come up with, with perhaps a touch of difference, something easy, can be prepared in advance & just needs a bit of time in the oven, hopefully I have come up with just the thing. I tried this out yesterday, I was looking in my fridge for inspiration and as always found some lovely tit bits, the remnants of some delicious pate de foie Gras needed to be finished. our chickens despite all the rain we have been having lately are laying their mandatory 6 eggs, so as I hatched a plan (excuse the pun), why not make a foie Gras brûlée. Sophisticated  but light the perfect starter. So sleeves rolled up I began creating a surprisingly tasty little dish.
I blended the pâté, which by the way could be any type of smooth pâté you wished even vegetarian. I mixed in my small blender 300g of pâté with 120ml of heavy cream, your looking for a smooth consistency. Bring 240 ml of heavy cream slowly to a boil, when a bubble pops the surface it's ready. Whisk 2 egg yolks in a bowl add a good pinch of chilli powder, dash of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, season with salt & pepper. Then add a little of the hot cream whisking all the while, slowly adding all of the hot liquid, or it may curdle, although its never been my experience. Pour into a jug (easier to fill pots), then fill the 6 ramekins. Place them in a roasting tin, & fill to half way up the sides of the pots with hot water. Pop into an oven 325°f after 20 minutes check, if their is a tremble then it's ready, otherwise allow another 5 minutes or so. Lift the roasting tin out of the oven, I leave the pots in the water for another 5 minutes, then remove to slightly cool.
Just before serving sprinkle brown sugar on top & caramelise under the grill or with a chefs blowtorch, serve slightly warm with toasted nut or fig bread. Eh voilà the perfect starter.

ANTI VIRAL SOUP

I wish you could smell the aroma in my kitchen! I decided that it was time to make a really tasty soup which was high in vitamin C & anti viral, therefore immune boosting! If you can protect your immune system sooner rather than later with pro-biotic ingredients, you will have invested wisely. The holiday season will soon be upon us.  this can be both a fun & stressful period, Nothing affects your body harder than stress! So here is a little medicinal soup, I have created. I prescribe that the ideal dose is one large bowl to be taken once a week, & just what the doctor ordered, also it freezes beautifully. 

Take 2 large cloves of garlic, cut horizontally, place in a roasting tin that you can also put on the cooker hob. I large onion cut roughly, I large potato cut into small chunks. Pour over a good glug of sunflower oil, salt pepper, give a good stir. Cover tightly with foil. Then place in a hot roasting oven 400c for 30 minute. Take out the oven & remove the garlic halves, leave to cool. Add a 1/3 cup (125ml) water stir, recover with the foil, then place back in the hot oven for another 20 minutes, the idea is to get the vegetables really golden brown. Remove from the oven, place on the hob over a gentle heat, stir scrapping any brown bits on the bottom, add the squeezed out soft pieces of roasted garlic, add a 1/3 cup dry sherry, let it come to a bubble, then add 1 litre of chicken or vegetable stock, again bring to gentle boil, adjust seasoning. Put it into a blender till smooth. For a perfectly smooth soup pass through a Chinese sieve. I sprinkled over chopped parsley This soup will freeze well. 

Garlic has many healing properties. Anti fungal, anti viral, anti bacterial, helps prevent heart disease, purifies the blood, helps reduce high blood pressure, in other words a good all rounder. It's part of the Allium family which onion is also closely related. Garlic when cooked in the oven has a softer taste & is easily digested, the good news is your breath is less likely to be offensive as the cooking mellows the over powering garlic odour. PARSLEY is medicinal too, containing vitamin A & C. So you can see the wonders of this soup, not only delicious to eat but a foe in warding off winter colds & flu.