Cabbage Vegetables
26th November 2012

A “light” version of Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut, fermented cabbage, is part of the Germanic diet and eaten from the Netherlands to Poland, with Germany and the Alsace region in France being the standard bearers. In the times before refrigeration, the fermentation process allowed people to have access to vitamins and nutrients in winter when other vegetables were scarce. Sauerkraut still has many vitamins, such as vitamin C, lactibacili and other nutrients […]

Pastry
26th November 2012

Kouign Amann as a Breton cupcake

Cupcakes are all the rage in France. Our upstairs neighbours run a shop in cupcakes and there was a Dutch lady in our village who gave cupcake lessons to children and adults. She had to go back to the Netherlands. Suddenly the local weekly newspaper had a front-page article announcing that a finalist of a TV cooking contest – Sabrina of Master Chef season 2011, […]

Main dish Offal Veal
20th November 2012

Veal liver with onions and garlic

Liver is slightly controversial. Not everybody likes the taste, not everybody likes to eat offal. Yet liver is the best kind of offal you can get and veal liver is tender and delicious. Liver is a source of proteins with low fat, it has vitamins A C D, B2 B5 B6 B12 as well as vital mineral salts such as copper, phosphorus, iron and zinc. […]

Main dish Mushrooms Poultry
14th November 2012

Guinea fowl with girolles and rice

There are still various mushrooms on the market, some late ceps, cantherelles, the black “trompettes de Maures” (also called trumpets of death) and the yellow girolles. I do like mushrooms, especially ceps, but I find most of the mushrooms a lot of bother to clean. Girolles go well with poultry, so I bought some of them for this recipe. Ingredients one guinea fowl 200 grammes […]

Main dish Poultry
14th November 2012

Pan-roasted quail with garlic and ginger

From time to time, you just have to cook with what you have in the house. I had bought several quail as they were on offer and I did not want to follow a traditional Italian recipe again, as nice as that one is. I had a piece of ginger lying around and some unfinished white wine. Garlic and onion is usually available in the […]

Fish Main dish Seafood
12th November 2012

Halibut and scallops

We went to the market in Dieppe where you can buy fish almost straight from the boats. The scallop season is in full swing and we decided to buy a few kilos, as well as a halibut that looked nice. The prices in Dieppe are two-thirds of what we pay in our town, but it is a bit of a journey just for some fish. […]

Fish Main dish Seafood
8th November 2012

Risotto with sea urchins and clams

I saw ‘oursins’ on the market, sea urchins. They look like spiky purple balls. Usually the fish monger has opened one up to show the orange “tongues” that are eaten. This way you can see the freshness. As with all sea food, the further away from the water, the more perishable it is. Some people eat them raw, some with eggs, I made a risotto. […]

Main dish Venison
4th November 2012

Deer with pumpkin, chestnut and carrots

We were having four days off due to the November 1 public holiday, for All Saints and All Souls, preceded by Halloween evening, and on the market there were many kinds of pumpkins. It is also the hunting season and I had a roast of deer, or venison. French markets often have venison in season, I also saw a leg of boar with one of […]

Fish Main dish Seafood
30th October 2012

Sea bass with seafood

Several people have asked for the recipe of the dish that I used on top of my Facebook page. It is a picture I took for my entry in the “Tous en Cuisine” contest. I had to submit a recipe for a “plat salée” with a picture. At first I was at loss about what a salty dish was but in turned out the opposite […]

Cabbage Cauliflower Cheese Vegetables
30th October 2012

Cauliflower, cabbage and cheese

I am not a vegetarian but it is good not to always eat meat, poultry or fish. So when I found some left-over vegetables in the larder, remains of an enthusiastic shopping spree on the Sunday market, it was not too hard to decide what to do. I had a head of cauliflower and a quarter of red cabbage. The head was not very big […]