A one course meal

Traditional meals in South-West France often start with a soup, made from stock and left-over vegetables, bulked up with yesterday’s bread. They are surprisingly good and just the thing to whet the appetite for the main course. I assumed that la soupe au fromage / cheese soup would be one such. I heated some duck fat in a frying pan and added chopped onions and leeks and cooked slowly until soft. Meanwhile, I lined the base of an earthenware dish with slices of bread (a type called a croustilot), and covered with slices of Cantal, a local cheese. I covered this with the onions and leeks and topped with another layer of bread and cheese. I added some seasoned homemade stock to cover and cooked, uncovered, in the oven for an hour. The result was fabulous – all the delicious liquid had been absorbed by the bread which was soft and tasty, and the cheese was melted and stringy. With seconds (of course!), this turned out to be a one course meal.

How to cook duck?

Cooking a duck breast would seem to be simple but, from watching cookery programmes, I know that it can be tricky. In Magrets & Mushrooms, Jeanne Strang proposes a different method for magret de canard / fattened duck breast which I was keen to try as it seemed to be foolproof. I scored the fat with a sharp knife and rubbed salt crystals into it. I marinated for a couple of hours with bay leaves, thyme, piment d’Espelette and a little Armagnac, then put into a warm oven of 45 minutes. At this stage, most of the fat had been rendered but, I crisped the skin a little more in a hot frying pan, then left to rest for 10 minutes My assessment is that while this is a simple method, I didn’t get quite the result I was looking for, which is a crisp on the outside (and most of the fat melted) and pink and juicy on the inside. So, next time, I will try the frying pan method again!

Simple is best

Sometimes it is the simple dishes that are the best, and this applies to les pâtes au piment / pasta with piment. I warmed some powdered piment d’Espelette in olive oil, then added peeled, chopped tomatoes, and mashed this mixture together with finely chopped garlic to make a sauce. I seasoned with salt and cooked slowly for half an hour to reduce to the consistency of a purée. I cooked dried pasta (in my case a type called torsades from the Alsace) and added to the sauce. Served with slivers of Parmesan cheese.

First strawberries

I couldn’t resist buying my first strawberries of the year – just the thing for la tarte aux fruits / fruit tart. I made a sweet shortcrust pastry and lined a shallow metal tin. I pricked the bottom all over with a fork and filled with a frangipane mixture made from butter, caster sugar, eggs, ground almonds and a little rum. I baked for 20 minutes until set and allowed to cool. I filled with strawberries and poured over a glaze made from jam heated with a little water.

Special beans

The recipe for les haricots Tarbais à la Moustierenco / white beans South-West style stipulates, as you would expect, haricots Tarbais. I have used other white beans for Goose Fat & Garlic recipes, but never this variety. I tracked some down in the covered market in Cahors and rather baulked at the price, but bought them nevertheless to remain true to the list of ingredients. In Magrets and Mushrooms there is a section on this bean which explains why they are so special (and expensive!). They are produced in the plain of Tarbes, close to Lourdes. Traditionally, they used to be grown climbing up maize plants and were handpicked. However, mass cultivation of maize along with machine harvesting led to their decline, until a cooperative was established supporting small-scale production. They are big kidney-shaped beans (the dried beans double in volume with cooking) that keep their form despite being thin skinned, and have a unique flavour that is tender and non-starchy. So, all in all, I was happy with my purchase. I soaked the beans overnight, then put them in boiling water with an onion, some celery, and a bouquet garni, and simmered for nearly an hour. In another pan, I fried chopped onion till golden, then added chopped tomato and simmered together for a few minutes. To this, I added the drained beans, chopped garlic, and cooking water to cover. I simmered for another 20 minutes and added seasoning to taste.

White cheese

Fromage blanc is a fresh cow’s milk cheese which is only aged for a few weeks, resulting in a soft texture and a tangy flavour, a bit like yoghurt. Herbs, spices, or fruit preserves etc. can be added to make spreads and dips. For l’olivade de fromage blanc / olive and fresh cheese spread, I crushed stoned black olives and mixed these into the cheese along with some finely chopped onion and chives, then stirred in some extra virgin olive oil. I seasoned with a little salt, packed the spread into a bowl, covering with onion rings and more olive oil, and chilled in the fridge for 24 hours. I served on bread croutons.

Special Sunday lunch

Yesterday, we had a special Sunday lunch. Special, because we are in France, shared our lunch with good friends, Angie and Eric, and remembered Jeanne and Paul Strang by eating le poulet les Cazes / roast chicken à Lascazes. This is their own recipe which I am sure was enjoyed many times at their home, Lascazes, in the Aveyron. I bought a lovely farm chicken (poulet jaune) from the market in Cahors and started by making a bit of stock from the giblets and wing tips. I stuffed the chicken with chopped onion, garlic, and tarragon, adding butter and salt and pepper. I coated the chicken with more butter mixed with piment d’Espelette and roasted in a hot oven for just over an hour, adding stock to the pan and basting the bird every so often. I placed the chicken on a warm plate and covered with foil to rest, while I deglazed the pan with verjus to make the gravy. This was the perfect dish to raise a glass to Jeanne and Paul and to remember them fondly.

A versatile dish

Although it’s not summer yet, by a long way, I had all the ingredients for tian de lègumes gratiné / summer vegetables baked with cheese. I put a little olive oil in my tian, an open earthenware dish, and added sliced vegetables in layers: aubergine, courgettes and tomatoes. I seasoned each layer and sprinkled with more oil. On the final tomato layer, I also sprinkled some finely chopped rosemary, and then covered with cheese slices. The recipe suggests mozzarella, but I used the local Cantal cheese as a substitute. I baked in the oven for one hour. The result was delicious, both hot and cold, and would also make a very good starter.

Fishy soup

Le ttoro / Basque fish soup originates from the fishing port of St Jean de Luz in the French Basque country. You can find it in restaurants and homes, and it seems everyone has their own version. I made a basic version, as follows. I fried chopped onions in olive oil until golden, then added some hake bits and pieces (head, skin and bones) along with a bouquet garni, salt, pepper corns, and ground piment d’Espelette. This delicious red pepper powder has a unique flavour, spicy, sweet and fruity, and has its own AOP appellation in France (i.e. the peppers can only be grown in the area around Espelette, inland from St Jean). I covered everything with water and simmered for 30 minutes, then strained the resulting liquid. Meanwhile, I dipped some hake cutlets in seasoned flour and fried briefly, before adding them to the hot stock and simmering gently until cooked through. I also fried some rounds of French bread to make large croutons. I put these in my serving bowls, sprinkled with chopped parsley and garlic, placed a fish cutlet on top, sprinkled over a little more piment, and ladled over the stock. The result was a delicate soup, with a crunchy garlicky crouton, complemented by a perfectly cooked piece of fish. You could add additional seafood if you want, such as langoustine tails and mussels.

A strong sauce

La lotte toulousaine / monkfish served with walnut and garlic sauce is rather unusual. The fish is served with an aillade, a very thick sauce based on a purée of garlic, and it certainly packs a punch. To make the aillade, I blended walnuts and garlic to a paste, then added walnut oil little by little, and chopped parsley at the end. I cut the monkfish into chunks, rolled these in seasoned flour, and fried them in olive oil together with chopped shallots and garlic. I added a little fish stock and then the aillade. Served with saffron (or, in my case, turmeric) rice.