On the farmer’s market here in Mirepoix, I found fresh kale just had to take it home. Kale, chou frisé, is called boerenkool and the Dutch eat it as a healthy and cheap vegetable in winter.
Pyrenees crawfish
Crawfish are a rare delicacy in France, especially as they are far less abundant than several decades ago when the red legs and white legs still populated many streams and lakes. But they are for sale, or can be caught, here in the season in the Pyrenees.
Turbot in the oven
Turbot is not the least expensive of fish, but it had a very delicate taste and the meat stays firm during cooking. In France, there are many recipes with parts of a large turbot – of up to 5 kilos – with white sauces, mushrooms, shrimps and oysters or mussels. I do like mushrooms, shrimps,Read More
Trout simply baked in a skillet with butter and lemon
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
Mounjetado/Mongetado – cassoulet in Ariège
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
Braised lamb shanks with carrot, tomatoes and quince
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
Whole roasted rabbit
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
Lapin Lagarde – rabbit legs in vegetable stew
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
Sweetbread, fava beans, ceps and pasta
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
Not a simple white bean soup
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