Tag Archives: France

Method

Wash the mussels under cold running water in a sink, removing the beards with a paring knife. Do not scrub the shells – apparently the colour will taint the juices in cooking. Discard any broken mussels or mussels that remain open when tapped sharply a few times.

Melt the butter in a casserole (one that has a tight-fitting lid) that is plenty big enough for the mussels with room to spare. Toss in the shallot, garlic and thyme (if using) and sweat for a minute. Add the wine and bring to simmering point to drive off the alcohol.

Add the mussels, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes or until the mussels open. Hold the lid and shake the pan a time or two to stir the mussels up a bit. Discard any mussels that do not open.

Add the cream and parsley and stir well. Do not season – the salty mussel juices mixed with the wine are all you will need.

Serve with crusty French bread and/or, for the total French experience, frîtes .

Method

Mix the sultanas and eau de vie together and let the sultanas soak for 2 hours, turning them occasionally.

Use 10g of the butter to grease a loose-bottomed flan tin measuring 2½cms deep by 22cms diameter. Roll out the pastry thinly and use it to line the flan tin. Prick the flan base well witha fork and chill it for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.

Blind bake the pastry case, lined with greaseproof paper and baking beans, for ~15 minutes until the edges are biscuit coloured. Remove the greaseproof paper and baking beans and return the case to the oven for a further 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove the flan case from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 180°C/gas 4.

Make the filling. Beat the remaining 100g butter in a bowl until very soft. Beat in the caster sugar until light and fluffy. Lightly beat the eggs and beat them into the mixture gradually to prevent curdling. (Adding a few ground almonds along with later additions of egg apparently helps.) Mix in the ground almonds and any unabsorbed eau de vie. Fold in the sultanas and 75g of the pine kernels before filling the flan case with the mixture. Now distribute the remaining 25g pine kernels on top. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden on top. Now cover the flan with some domed foil to prevent burning while it finishes cooking for about another 15 minutes (until an inserted skewer comes out clean). Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Dust with icing sugar and serve at room temperature with crème fraîche or just regular cream, if you prefer.

Method

First, make the croûtons. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Drizzle about two tablespoons of olive oil on a baking sheet, add two crushed cloves of garlic and spread it around mixing the garlic into the oil (use your hands). Place the slices of baguette on the oiled sheet turning them over to lightly coat both sides. Bake them in the oven for 20-25 minutes until crisp and crunchy.

Place a 3.5 litre flameproof casserole on high heat and melt the butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil together. When hot, add the onions, 2 crushed cloves of garlic and the sugar, and fry turning everything occasionally until the onions begin to darken at the edges. (This should take 5 – 6 minures.) Reduce the heat to very low and continue cooking the onions very slowly for 30 minutes more. There should now be some nicely caramelized pan contents.

Pour in the stock and white wine, season, and increase the heat. While it is coming to the boil, stir with a wooden spoon scraping any caramelized residue from the pan bottom. Once at the boil, reduce the heat to very low again and leave it to cook very gently, uncovered, for about one hour. (All the above can be prepared in advance.)

When ready to serve, bring the soup back to simmering point and check for seasoning. Now is also the time to add the brandy if you wish.Serving this out of a tureen is apt to get very messy so I suggest you use individual soup bowls. Pre-heat the grill to high. Ladel the hot soup into the warmed soup bowls and top each with a croûton. Sprinkle the grated Gruyère over the croûtons and place the bowls under the grill until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Warn your guests not to touch the bowls!

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When it is foaming, add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is evenly and lightly browned. Stir in the lettuce and peas and sweat them for a minute without browning. Pour in just enough light chicken stock to barely cover the peas, topping up with a little water if absolutely necessary. (We want just enough liquid to cook them, not to drown them.) Bring to boiling point then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Stir in the beurre manié to thicken the liquid slightly and adjust the seasoning to your liking.

Serve, preferably with a charcoal-roasted leg of lamb studded with rosemary and garlic.

Method

Over a medium heat, melt the chocolate and butter with the milk and cream, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before beating in the icing sugar, egg yolks and orange zest.

I think I’d leave it at that so I’ve documented the original recipe’s use of brandy-soaked amaretti biscuits as optional. If you want to stick to the script, proceed as follows. Break up the amaretti and divide half of them between 6 suitable serving glasses/coffee cups. Sprinkle over half the brandy. Now pour in enough chocolate to cover them and then repeat the process to add a second layer.

Alternatively, skip the brandy and amaretti and just pour the chocolate into 6 suitable serving glasses/coffee cups.

Either way, chill the pots in the fridge for 12 hours before serving.

Method

Soak the prunes in the brandy for 6 hours.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Open up the loin of pork, flatten it and trim off the rind to leave 3mm of fat. Lay the pork fat-side down, season it and place 8-10 soaked prunes along the centre. Roll the loin up and secure it with string/skewers.

In a suitable roasting tray, heat the butter and oil on medium heat until the butter foams. Lightly brown the pork loin. Add the tomato, cover all loosely with foil and cook in the oven for 1½ hours. Remove the tray from the oven, wrap the pork in foil and place it on a plate to rest for 30 minutes.

Remove all but 2 tbs oil from the tray. Put the tray on high heat and deglaze it with the stock bringing it to the boil. Add the remaining prunes and heat through. Adjust the seasoning.

Carve the pork remembering to add any juices released by it to the sauce.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4.

First, make the tomato sauce. Put 3 tbs olive oil, one medium onion and the garlic into a pan and soften, without colouring, over a medium heat for 3 minutes. Add the 2 thyme sprigs, the chopped tomatoes and the tomato purée and cook for 7-8 minutes. Add 300ml water, season and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove the thyme and check the seasoning; sweeten with the sugar only if necessary. Purée the sauce and set aside.

Slice a cap off each of the large tomatoes and scoop out the pulp and juices into a bowl.

Now make the rice stuffing. Soften the onion in the butter with the thyme leaves and bay leaf. Add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat the grains. Add 200ml water and 150g of the juices and chopped pulp from the tomatoes. Add the carrot and season. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the celery, courgette and peas together with a further 75ml water, then cook for another 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and Gruyère, check the seasoning and remove the bay leaf.

Fill each tomato with the stuffing and top each with a tomato cap. Place them on a baking dish and drizzle with a little olive oil before baking for 25 minutes. Serve them with the reheated tomato sauce.

Method

Cover the lentils with water in a small saucepan and add the sprigs of thyme. Do not add salt. Bring to the boil and simmer gently. After 5 minutes, add the chopped shallots. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes or until the lentils are tender but retain their shape.

Drain the lentils and remove the thyme sprigs. Put them into a bowl and stir in the olive oil. While still warm, add salt to taste, stirring gently to dissolve. Due to the natural peppery taste of Puy lentils, adding pepper should be unnecessary.

Allow the lentils to cool before serving.

Method

Slice the turbot into 1 cm strips across the fillet. Strip off enough tarragon leaves to make 1 teaspoon of roughly chopped tarragon. Cut each scallop into three rounds.

Boil together the fish stock, half the cream and remaining tarragon until the volume is reduced by three-quarters. (Care is required to avoid boiling over.) Strain the liquid and discard the tarragon.

Place the butter and Noilly Prat in a wide, shallow, heavy-based pan. Add the chicory and leeks, cover and cook gently for about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further minute. Place the turbot strips and the scallop discs on top of the vegetables, add half a teacup or so of the reduced fish stock and cream mixture, and season lightly. Simmer gently, covered, for about three minutes when the fish should be just cooked.

Lift out the fish and vegetables and keep warm. Add the remaining cream and chopped tarragon to the pan and boil vigourously for 3 – 4 minutes to reduce the volume and concentrate the flavours.

Divide the fish and vegetables between four plates, pour over the sauce and serve sprinkled with chopped chervil.

Method

Skin and de-seed the tomatoes then slice them lengthwise into strips about 1 cm wide. Wash and trim the beans and halve them. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into quarters. Simmer the potatoes until tender (about 7 minutes), steaming steam the green beans above them. Drain the potatoes and keep them and the beans warm.

Pit the black olives and quarter then lengthwise. Split four anchovy fillets in half lengthwise. Halve the hard-boiled eggs and top each half with two crossed anchovy strips. Chop the remaining anchovy fillets coarsely.

Warm the olive oil in a wide sauté pan (be careful not to heat it too much; don?t fry things). Add the cooked vegetables and mix in the tomato segments trying not to break them up. Add the chopped anchovies, capers and black olives. Slacken the mustard with a splash of white wine vinegar and stir this into the vegetable mixture. Warm through very gently ? try to keep the tomatoes intact. Season to taste with some salt and pepper.

Sear the tuna steaks on a very hot ridged griddle pan being sure to keep them pink in the centre. Pile the vegetable mixture into the centre of each of four plates and top each with a tuna steak. Top each tuna steak with one of the egg halves topped with anchovy strips.