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.
We are back in France and asparagus caught my eye at our first market. I remember cooking white asparagus for the first time a few years ago and being pleasantly surprised by the result. So I decided to give le gratin d’asperges / asparagus baked in a cheese sauce another go. The vendor must have seen me coming because he chose the fattest stalks and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing! Anyway I scraped and washed the asparagus, using only the tender tips for this dish. These I fried briefly in butter with some smoked bacon lardons, adding salt and pepper and nutmeg, until slightly caramelised. I made a well seasoned béchamel sauce and tipped everything into a gratin dish topped with grated cheese (local Comté) and dotted with butter. This was baked in the oven until the top was crisp and golden. The result was as good as I had remembered with juicy asparagus complemented by the tasty sauce. A perfect dish for a cool spring day. And with the added bonus of asparagus soup made from the stalks on the following day.
We are back in France for an autumn break and so I am looking forward to more French cookery. Today Uli and Wolfgang called by for lunch. We were once neighbours here and so it was a real pleasure to see them. I cooked le pounti / pork, spinach and prunes in batter. This is a country dish from the Auvergne which is baked in the oven, and would have been made on bread-making day. I started the dish by soaking some prunes in tea. I made a batter by blending eggs and milk with flour. I minced some pork belly, ham, spinach, onions and garlic and added chopped parsley and seasoning. I mixed this into the batter and half filled a bread tin, added a layer of chopped prunes, and then the rest of the filling. I cooked for an hour till brown on top and shrunk from the sides. We ate the pounti cold, sliced, with salad. It was a lovely dish for a happy reunion with friends.
This recipe – les croquettes de poulet / chicken croquettes – is a different way of using up chicken from a roast. I minced the left-over bits and pieces with onions and bouquet garni herbs. I added this to a seasoned béchamel sauce and left to cool. Then I formed the thickened mixture into small elongated shapes using two spoons. A bit scruffy in my case! I dipped these in beaten egg and rolled them in breadcrumbs, ready for frying in hot butter and oil until crisp and golden.
In England we consider the cabbage as one of the more mundane vegetables – redolent of school dinners. In France le chou farci is something of a treat, combining meat and vegetables. It used to be specially prepared on Saturday night and cooked slowly on the corner of the fire next morning while the family went to Mass.
Jeanne Strang in Goose Fat & Garlic
This recipe, le chou farci / stuffed cabbage, sounds difficult, but turned out to be surprisingly easy and a bit of a talking point. Which was good, because I cooked it for my friends in the Book Club! I plunged a cabbage into a pan of boiling water and left it to simmer for eight minutes. I drained it upside down and left it to cool. Meanwhile, I prepared the stuffing. I put sausage meat, minced veal, pork fat, chopped shallots and garlic, breadcrumbs, chopped parsley and chives, salt and pepper, and a pinch of cinnamon into a bowl and mixed well. I added a beaten egg to bind. I placed the cabbage on a board and unwrapped the softened leaves. I pushed spoonfuls of the stuffing into the leaves, from the centre, reshaping the cabbage as I went. I wrapped and tied the now larger cabbage in a piece of muslin cloth to hold its shape. I lined a pan with a piece of pig skin, fat side down, and covered this with chopped onion and carrot. I heated gently till the fat started to melt, then placed the cabbage parcel on top, with a bouquet garni. I poured in some white wine and a little stock. I covered and cooked very gently for three hours.
Unwrapping the cabbageStuffing the cabbageTying up the cabbageCooked & ready to serveSliced & very much enjoyed!
Yesterday, I had a lovely day with friends. We all brought something for lunch and sat outside enjoying the food, sunshine and company. My contribution was la tourte Landaise aux champignons / mushroom and ham pie. First, I made some shortcrust pastry and lined a flan dish. Then, I chopped up some large field mushrooms and fried them gently in sunflower oil. Once the mushrooms had given up their liquid, I added onion and garlic and continued cooking till soft. I removed the pan from the heat and added chopped bacon (my substitute for jambon de campagne) and breadcrumbs. I bound with an egg yolk, finishing with a tablespoon of armagnac and seasoning. I spooned the mixture into the flan dish, covered with a pastry lid, and glazed with egg yolk. I cooked the pie for 40 minutes in a hot oven.
It wasn’t that long ago that I cooked stuffed tomatoes for the first time and now I have had a second go! For les tomates farcies aux royans / tomatoes stuffed with sardines, I cut the tops off large tomatoes and scooped out the flesh and pips. I seasoned them with salt and pepper, replaced the “hats”, and cooked them in a moderate oven for 20 minutes. While they were cooking, I made a filling from chopped shallots and parsley mixed with grilled sardines, butter and seasoning. I filled the cooked tomatoes with the fishy stuffing and heated them through for a further 10 minutes. Traditionally these were made with the sardines called royans, from the Bay of Biscay, but mine came from Cornwall.
I have been busy preserving and freezing apples from the garden. So it seemed fitting to make la torte Languedocienne / pork and apple pie to use up a few more. I made some pastry and rolled out half of it to line a pie dish. I diced a piece of pork fillet and sliced some apples finely. Then, I put a layer of apples in the pastry case and covered with the pork, which I had seasoned with salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. I covered the meat with another layer of apple and sprinkled with a little sugar. I beat up one egg with the white of a second, plus a little milk, and poured this over the filling. I brushed the rim of the pastry case with the second egg yolk mixed with a little water, rolled out the remaining pastry and placed it on top, pinching the edges together. I brushed the lid with the egg yolk and cut a couple of slits to allow the steam to escape. I cooked the pie in a hot oven on a baking tray.
While we think of pasta as Italian, it has long been used in French cuisine. Les pâtes à l’ancienne / pasta with garlic and eggs is an example of a traditional dish. I cooked the pasta in salted water with a dash of oil. I used penne rather than macaroni as in the recipe. At the same time, I hard boiled some eggs, shelled them and separated the whites from the yolks. I chopped up the former with some garlic and fried them gently in oil with parsley. I mashed the yolks, adding a little water to make a cream. When the pasta was ready, I drained it and added it to the frying pan, followed by the yolks. I seasoned well.
For my next recipe, l’étouffe chrétien / sausagemeat and potato pasty, I lined a pie dish with pâte brisée and filled the bottom with rounds of potatoes. I added seasoning, and chopped garlic and parsley. I covered this with sausagemeat and added more seasoning. I finished with a pastry lid, cut vents in the top, brushed with beaten egg, and cooked in a hot oven.
My Year of French Cookery ... continued 