More and more, I am returning to pure cooking where the basic ingredients pay the starring role and complicated or incongruous extras are left back stage, as with this trout. The fresh food markets in Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye were already brimming with great produce, while here in the Ariège you are very close to theRead More
There are a lot of recipes for cassoulet here in the southwest of France. Castelnaudary, Carcassonne or Toulouse fight for the crown of the best recipe or the most original one. Cassoulet is a hearty dish and meant for winter, but restaurants here serve it to tourists in the summer when a lighter diet mayRead More
Lamb shanks are called “souris d’agneau” in French and are the top end of the leg, which is often sold in slices at the butcher’s. They give nice one-person portions and look pretty with the bone sticking upwards. It takes a long time of cooking and can be prepared in advance. Many restaurants do thatRead More
By chance, this post is about rabbit, just as the previous one from some time ago (busy, busy). I made it after reading “Un dîner à poils ou plumes” by Stéphane Reynaud — a lovely cookbook with nice pictures. His warning with this recipe was “not for sensitive souls” and that was not without causeRead More
I am trying out a new online fresh retailer, Tauziet et Co, that allows me to buy goods direct from the producer in southwest France. There is plenty available around here, but not everything. The more you order the smaller the transport fee, so when I do order it is a full carton. That isRead More
Here in the southwest of France, I can buy rather good meat straight from the producer and my recipes tend to remain simple to obtain the most of the natural taste and flavour. But this time I decided to turn two nice veal cutlets into schnitzels in the Vienna fashion. First you flatten the meatRead More
On Mondays, we go to the fresh market of Mirepoix where we have a number of trusted suppliers, like the refrigerated van of Guillemot for meat and the Zengarli family for vegetables. The Guillemot farm lies in the mountains beyond Foix and is run by a Dutchman, Hugo De Jonge Van Ellemeet, and his FrenchRead More
I recently found a website through which you can order fresh products from selected small producers. It works like a kind of market, you have a deadline by which you have to place your orders, the products get prepared and packaged and delivered at your doorstep. Even when you order at several producers, it arrivesRead More
I have a love-hate relationship with offal. I have never eaten brains, testacles or heart and do not intend to either. I did have to change my attitude to duck hearts, though, so who knows. But kidney, liver and sweetbread I do like. Offal is rather perishable so you need to buy it fresh fromRead More
You could make a white bean soup in about 15 minutes with a stock cube, a tin of white beans and some tomato pulp. This recipe takes a lot longer but the time and trouble is worth it as the taste is rich and smooth. You need to cook the dry white beans. I usedRead More