Caesar salad

Great when Spring/Summer arrives and scalops are once again readily available, this salad is a great lunch or a tasty starter. You can use scallops, chicken or prawns.

Caesar sauce : Blend together 7 anchovies, 120g pouring cream, 1 soupspoon Parmesan (grated) Add 125g mayo

Place 1 soupspoon in bottom of individual salad bowls. Place soms salad leaves on top as well as tomatoes confit, (oven dried with oil and garlic though shop bought sundried will do too) 2 black olives,sliced,  some Parmesan shavings and Parmesan sablé in pieces. (See below)

Add 3 scallops/person (cooked in olive oil – 1 minute each side) or chicken pieces, fried in olive oil.

Sprinkle some anchovy oil on top. (anchovies and olive oil blended together)

Parmesan Sablée

A great little recipe and so handy ot have in the freezer. Parmesan sablées (shortcrust biscuits)  may be served with cheeses, with salmon mousse, tomato tapenade or crumbled on a salad to bring a parmesan flavour.

• 320g flour
• 260g butter
• 210g parmesan, grated
• Mix together with the ‘K’ attachment of the Kitchenaid/Kenwood very gently until a ball is formed.
• Roll out and cut into biscuits.
• Bake at 170°C/350°F for 7/8 minutes.
• Freezes beautifully.

At blogger heads

Thinking of using the old blogger account as I'm just not enjoying the new one on my website....have a look at some of our recipes and anecdotes and feel free to leave a comment. Merci, Sinéad xx

Sausage, Lentil and Pepper Casserole

Had a look in the fridge yesterday and wanted to cook something handy yet tasty - came up with this one and will definitely be doing it again - may even try it in the slow cooker in Doogra ;)

4 Toulouse Sausages or 8 regular

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

3 peppers – 1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green, sliced

Chorizo sausage, sliced (optional)

100g/4ozs. lardons

300g12ozs. green lentils

Olive oil

100ml/ 4 fl ozs. beef stock 

water

Heat the olive oil in a large casserole pan and brown the sausages.  Remove  fom the casserole and place the onions in the pan.

Fry gently before adding the lardons,  garlic and the peppers.  Continue frying, stirring from time to time.

Put the sausages back in as well as the chorizo and pour the beef stock on top.

Cook gently on the hob for about 2 hours before adding the lentils.  Add enough water to cover the lentils and continue cooking until the lentils are ready. (about 45 mins.)

Serve with lots of crusty bread !

TARTIFLETTE

Comfort food at its very best especially during this freezing spell in France - Tartliflette - 'invented' in the 70's in the Alps, this recipe has certainly put Reblochon cheese on the map!

Our gîte in the snow

Potatoes, cheese, lardons, onions and white wine - not for 'operation transformation' but what a treat!

Serves 6

1 kilo potatoes

1 bay leaf

2 onion(s) sliced

60g butter

150g pancetta or chopped smokey bacon

1 *Reblochon cheese 500g halved and sliced

Coarse salt and pepper

75ml white wine (optional)

Method

1.Boil the potatoes with the bay leaf until al dente, about 15 mins.drain and set aside.  Peel and slice in to slices of 6mm.

2.            Meanwhile fry the onions and pancetta or lardons in half the butter until soft. Remove from the pan. Melt the remaining butter and add the potatoes. Cook for 5 mins then add the bacon and fry together until the bacon is cooked and the onion is caramelised in the juices. If using wine, add a splash and let it cook down into the other ingredients.

 Season well.

3.            In a buttered oven-proof dish, place the sliced potatoes and lardon mix.

4.            Place the reblochon, crust up, on top of the potatoes and lardon mix.

5.Bake in a preheated, moderately hot oven until the cheese melts and bubbles. Allow to cool slightly to avoid tongue-burning on cheese, and enjoy !

*The Reblochon can be replaced by Emmantal, Cantal, Tomme from the Pyrenees or even a goat’s cheese – a great way for using up a leftovers from a cheeseboard – just experiment in the happy knowledge that potatoes, butter, lardons and melted cheese  go sooo well together – it doesn’t get much better than this !

Boeuf à l'Indienne

I've gone a bit crazy for beef cheeks!
To be honest, I'm never buying 'bourguinonne' beef again - steak pieces, or whatever you may call them! The simple truth is that:

• No piece of beef has given me that 'melt in your mouth' satisfaction that beef cheeks have and
• I can cook them in my new toy next time I'm in the west - in my slow cooker and 
• I have about 8 kilos of them waiting for me in the butcher's freezer in Carrick on Shannon and am desperately trying to come up with recipes (my butcher got a bit carried away!)

During the Christmas break I made a traditional Beef Bourguinonne and used them cut in chunks - easy, perfect and very tasty served with mashed potatoes to mop up all that lovely sauce ;)

Today, a tad more adventurous, along with a better equipped kitchen and ingredients press, I prepared Beouf à l'Indienne whichi will be served up tomorrow night - I started this morning, left the beef simmering in the Rayburn all afternoon, have just added some creamed coconut and will leave all overnight so that the flavours will develop beautifully.

Bœuf à l’Indienne (serves 6)

1.5 kilos Ox cheeks, in chunks

1 kilo carrots, sliced

1 red onion, chopped

olive oil

2 tablespoons Tandoori paste
2 cloves

1 tablespoon flour

Bouquet Garni

salt/pepper

Water

Creamed Coconut

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and fry the meat in batches to seal the flavours.

Add the onion, flour, cloves and the Tandoori paste and cook for a minute before covering with water.

Add the carrots, the Bouquet Garni and cover with water.

Bring to boil, cover and simmer on the stove or in a moderate oven for at least 3 hours.

Add the creamed coconut and leave overnight (time permitting)

Serve with Basmati Rice, Nan bread, Poppadoms.....

Beef Cheeks 

Happy New Year 2013

We're back to Normandy and back to 'normal', whatever that means!
We had a fabulous time in the west of Ireland and enjoyed our first Christmas and New Year in our cosy, little cottage tucked away in the bogs.
The girls amused themselves for hours over the decoration of the Christmas cake and did a great job -

Philippe tried to get in with the 'neighbours' -

And Ellen did us proud with her simple but elegant Christmas table -

Menu planning was certainly a challenge, due to limited cooking facilites, but thanks to a slow cooker (Crock Pot) and some pectin 48 ( cooks the egg in the crème brulée so no oven needed!) our Christmas dinner was all about fine dining ...

We enjoyed

• Irish smoked salmon with brown bread, lemon and black pepper, washed down with Champagne
• Thai Soup - scallops and julienne of celery and carrot in a coconut milk, lemongrass and prawn stock
• Ox Cheeks with a creamy mash and roasted asparagus
• A selection of Irish Cheeses with Tomato Relish
• Vanilla and Tonka bean Crème Brulée 

The New Year was brought in in our 'local' as we bopped away to DJ Dermot followed by a singalong of 'come -all -ye' type classics.  Philippe made his début and sang 'Champs Elysées' for all in sundry!

A few days of welcomed rest followed and on our return my better half claimed that coming home to Normandy didn't have the usual 'home sweet home' effect on him.  He reckons that Doogra is becoming 'home' for him too - happy days ahead in our 'home from home'!

Bonne Année 2013!

Rainbow country - Doogra ;)

Another Christmas idea from Normandy...

Le Trou Normand - a shot of Calvados - traditionally served on a special occasion.... wedding, christening, Christmas etc., between the fish course and meat course, the idea being that the palate is cleared to make room for more!
 Trust me this 'Calva' certainly burns its way down! Not for the lighthearted and with people drinking less spirits than in the past, today it's often served with an apple sorbet - un délice!

However, should you prefer a more seasonal sorbet the nest one may be worth trying -

Cranberry sorbet ( lasts ages in the freezer – so it’s fine to make ahead of time)
Serves 8-10 as a small course
500g frozen cranberries
300g caster sugar
500ml water
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Cook all the ingredients in a saucepan until the cranberries are very soft. Blend them until smooth and then strain them. Discard the pulp and freeze the juice in a plastic container.