The 'F' Word

Here in France, animals and some humans (Kate ;D) are 'à la lettre'That means that all dogs born in 2010 have names beginning with 'F'
Following the birth of Enya's puppies (that's another story!) we launched an appeal for name suggestions on Facebook and came up with Frenchie (makes sense!)Fado, Filomene and Freckles. A couple of months on and lots of kitchen paper, mopping up etc. we're delighted that all have gone to nice homes - Fado is gone to friends down the road, Freckles off to Paris for 'la vie parisienne', Filomene down to a great home on the beach and Frenchie has gone to a recently widowed man where he's being spoilt rotten. Enya is back to digging holes in a desperate, however unsuccessful,search for rabbits in the field, that is when she's not stuck to the Rayburn or trying to get into Kate's bed!
Happy days!

Macarons....those delightful, delicate, almond-based meringues, filled with delicious ganache, fruit, jam or jelly have been the subject of great amusement in our house for quite a while!
The girls would kill for them, the other half hasn't to date expressed any great opinion on them, but enjoyed telling all in sundry of my culinary disasters, which only encouraged the determined side of my character to come out and succeed.
To be honest I, personally, could take them or leave them..but where there's a macaron there's a challenge....and yeees, I've enfin managed to make the finicky, french delicacies - 'the little black dress of french pâtisserie' as Raymond Blanc calls them!
Cooking to me is not generally about quantities - 'au pif' is an expression I use regularly - Pif a slang word for nose - so basically, just throw it in if the fancy takes you....but NOT where these babies are concerned...there are lots of basic rules....Right now I feel a little like Julie in Julie and Julia after days of expeimenting in the kitchen in a quest to make the perfect macaron!

Macarons
Ingredients
For the pâte à macaron
• 185g/6½oz icing sugar, sifted
• 185g/6½oz ground almonds
• 2 medium free-range egg whites
For the Italian meringue
• 2 medium free-range egg whites(at room temp.)

• 185g/6½oz caster sugar
• 3 tbsp water
For the ganache filling
• 100ml/4fl oz whipping cream
• 100g/4oz dark chocolate, or white chocolate if you wish
• Or lemon curd .....or raspberry jam....or whatever!
Preparation method
1. Heat the oven to 160C/300F
. In a food processor with a knife blade, mix the icing sugar, ground almonds then sieve them to remove any impurities (takes yonks!)
3. In a large bowl mix egg whites, icing sugar and ground almonds to form a paste. Don't overmix!

4. For the Italian meringue, whisk the egg whites on a medium speed until stiff (i.e turn the bowl upsidedown - the mix shouldn't fall out!) Add colouring.
5. Meanwhile, place the sugar and water in a small pan and cook over a high heat until it has reached 117C/242F.
6. Reduce the speed on the mixer to its lowest setting and pour the sugar syrup onto the firmly whipped egg whites.
7. Increase the speed to high and continue to whisk for 2-3 minutes.
8. Using a spatula,fold the Italian meringue mixture into the pâte à macaron until it reaches the ribbon stage. Do not over-mix or the macaroon will crack when cooked.
9. Place the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 8mm/¼in nozzle.

10. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and pipe on 3cm/1in discs, at least 2cm/¾in apart.
11. Leave to ‘rest’ for about 10 minutes.
12. Bake in the middle of the oven for 8 - 10 minutes and then leave on a tray until completely cold.
13. Place on cooling tray.

14. Pipe about one teaspoon of ganache/lemon curd/jam onto the flat side of a cooled macaroon and top with another macaroon to make a sandwich.
15. Repeat with the remaining ganache and macaroons and store in a single layer in an airtight container in the fridge.

Note: Macarons are best eaten a day after baking. They freeze very well (ungarnished) Remove from the fridge for at least 15 mins. before tasting.

Coquerel Vallée D’Auge

Chicken/Coquerel with cream, Calvados and apples - Normandy on a plate

For 6 people
2 tablespoons olive oil
75g/3 ozs. butter
2 onions, finely chopped
6 chicken pieces/ 1 whole chicken,portioned
A small glass of Calvados
500ml/1 pint dry cider
500g/1 lb mushrooms, finely sliced
500ml/ 1 pint crème fraîche/double cream
salt and pepper
a few shelled walnuts (optional)
675g/1 ½ lbs apples, peeled and cored
2-3 tsp light muscovado sugar

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2

In a heavy-based saucepan, heat the olive oil with a little butter. Add the chopped onions and the chicken pieces/cockerel, browning them all over.
Pour the Calvados over the chicken. Ignite the alcohol to flambé the dish. Add the cider and apples.

In a separate pan, melt the remaining butter and fry the mushrooms until they render their juice.

Add the mushrooms and the shelled walnuts to the chicken, season lightly, cover and place in the oven.
Cook gently for about 45 mins - 1 hour (depending on your chicken - real free range ones take longer than others!) Just before serving, add the crème fraîche, heat gently and garnish with parsley.
Serve with puréed potatoes (with a little hazelnut oil)to mop up the juices.

Black pudding with apples

Serves 4 as a starter

500g/1lb2ozs. Firm apples
juice of 1 lemon
4 small/2 large black puddings (boudins)around 500g/1lb 2 ozs. in total
25g/1 oz. Unsalted butter
salt and pepper
1 teasp. brown sugar
1 tablsp. red wine vinegar


Peel and core the apples, then cut the flesh into slices.
Add the lemon juice to a large bowl of water and soak the slces for around 15 mins.

Slice the boudins across on a diagonal.
Melt butter in a heavy pan over a high heat and cook the boudins for around 3 – 4 minutes on both sides.
Remove and set aside.

Drain the apples, add to the pan, season and fry until browned.
Add the sugar and the vinegar and return the boudins to the pan, turning briefly in the sauce.
Cook for another minute or so and serve......

Bon appétit

Camembert with Apple and Calvados

For 8 people:
1 Camembert
1 apple (pink lady)
40 g/1 ½ ozs walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts
5 cl/1 teasp Calvados
2 tablspoons butter

Peel and slice the apple. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and caramelize apple. Flambé with Calvados and leave to cool. Cut the Camembert in 3 disks and sandwich with apple mix. Use the remaining butter (melted) to coat the camembert.
Whiz the nuts together in a food processor. Coat the cheese with this. Place in fridge and serve at room temperature with a green salad and walnut vinaigrette.

Julia and Julie.....

Happy days - I've finally seen it - yeah!! Life in rural France isn't always all it's cracked up to be - I mean until yesterday I still hadn't seen Julia and Julie!!
It was shown in our Mega CGR in Cherbourg ages ago, but alas... in french - version originale takes too much effort for your average Joe Frog....sooooo, I've been putting serious pressure on Mr. Orange to install our Orange TV whereby we can pay to view in .....yes......version originale!!The girls and I huddled around a roaring fire (Papa went to bed) and indulged ourselves in a couple of hours of fun....It was hilarious - Meryl Streep fantastic..
Afterwards, witty Ellen called me into my 'office' (the kitchen) and told me she'd found a touch of 'Julia' about me......








Taken during the February break by Ellen!

Britain vs. France en cuisine.......

The French have long been considered masters of cuisine but Britons spend longer in the kitchen and prepare a wider variety of international food, a survey shows.

The cross-Channel study by BBC Olive magazine and French title Madame Figaro found that the French eat out more and stick to family recipes while at home.

It found that 72 per cent of Britons cook at home every day, compared to 59 per cent in France.

When in the kitchen, 50 per cent of Britons spend more than 30 minutes cooking, while 27 per cent of the French do so.

However, people in France tend to produce more, with 47 per cent preparing two courses or more compared with 18 per cent of Britons.

The French eat out on average three times a month compared to twice a month in Britain.

Ninety-three per cent of Britons and 87 per cent of French said they cooked Italian food; 76 per cent of Britons and 40 per cent of French cooked Chinese; 76 per cent of Britons and 31 per cent of French cooked Indian; and 62 per cent of Britons and 55 per cent of French cooked Spanish.

The French cooked more Moroccan food than the British, with 49 per cent to 43 per cent ever preparing such dishes.

"Although the French have an enviable food heritage, it's fascinating to see how much British people have embraced home cooking and international cuisine over the past few years," Olive editor Christine Hayes said.

While Italian was the favourite foreign food for both countries, just one per cent of French respondents said British cuisine was their favourite.

And while 46 per cent of Britons said the dining out experience was better in the other country, the percentage of French who said likewise was zero.

Olive readers thought that 1970s favourite crepe suzette was the dish which best symbolised French cuisine, while the French said it was veal, followed by foie gras.

Madame Figaro voters reckoned Christmas pudding best symbolised British cuisine, but British readers said it was a roast dinner with Yorkshire pudding, followed by fish and chips then a full English breakfast.

Madame Figaro editor-in-chief Jean-Sebastien Stehli said people now had access to multiple sources of inspiration: books, magazines, television and the internet.

"It feeds into their thirst for experimenting new ways of cooking, exploring new restaurants," he said.

"What's striking about the survey is that in both countries people are moving toward a cuisine which is more international, more open, curious of other cultures, less nationalistic."

The survey questioned 2061 readers of BBC Magazines and 1345 Madame Figaro readers in January.