Moules Provençale

Ingredients: 

For two people:

• 1 kilo fresh mussels, cleaned and de-bearded


• 3 or 4 decent-sized tomatoes, diced


• About 150g chopped shallots (I used only 2 shallots but they were the size of lemons)


• 2 chopped cloves of garlic


• Large knob of butter


• Olive oil


• Fresh, chopped rosemary, thyme, parsley


• One or two bay leaves


• Half a bottle of dry, white wine

Instructions: 

• Melt the butter and a sploosh of olive oil in the bottom of a large pan (that has a tight-fitting lid)


• Toss in the shallots and garlic, covering them in the oil and butter


• After a couple of minutes, bung in the tomatoes and fresh herbs, stirring often


• Once the mixture has softened, throw in the mussels and the wine


• Place the lid on firmly and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the mussels are open (stir occasionally so that they cook evenly)


• Serve with fresh bread

Moule Love This

Moules (mussels) are very popular 'peasant food' around here. At around €2.50 - €2.90 per kilo for fresh-from-the-Med seafoody goodness, you can feed a lot of people for very little cash.  We are also fortunate enough to be not-so-very-far from Bouzigues, birthplace of the best oysters in the world, so we can have a dinner for 6 of raw oyster starter and mussel main course for around €20.

The moules must be properly cleaned and 'de-bearded' before cooking.  Scrub them with wire wool and yank the beard downwards to remove.  Alternatively, delegate the task to a nearby teenager or houseguest, as it is tedious and can make your fingers sore and you have much better things to do with your time.

Our usual choice when eating moules is the widely-popular, incredibly-easy-to-make, Moules Frites: mussels and chips.  Sounds better in French.  Just pop some butter, olive oil, chopped shallots, garlic and parsley in a large pan with a lid, wait til the shallots are softened then bung in a couple of kilos of de-bearded moules and a bottle of dry white wine. Place the lid firmly on and cook until moules are opened - usually only a matter of 5-10 minutes, depending on the quantity of moules.  There will quite often be one or two that won't open, but don't keep them on the heat hoping for 100% to open, or the others will shrivel and overcook.  Best eaten with homemade, thick-cut chips (fries), with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Popular additions to the sauce are Roquefort cheese, or peppercorns and cream.

This weekend, we decided to change it up a little and have Moules Provençale. This is similar to the above, but has tomatoes and more herbs and would be eaten without fries, just bread or perhaps some local rice.

There are, as with so many traditional dishes, an impossible number of variations and opinions on the recipe so I read a dozen or so and came up with a simple, easy version that tasted very good indeed, accompanied by some homemade thyme bread.

Pissaladière

Ingredients: 

For the topping:

• 6 tbsp olive oil


• 1 kg onions, peeled and thinly sliced


• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped


• 1/2 tbsp thyme


• 1 bay leaf


• 5 tbsp Tapenade


• 60g anchovy fillets in oil


• Handful of pitted black olives

For the base:

• 7.5g dried yeast


• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1 teaspoon sugar


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 300g flour

Prep time: 2 hours

Oven time: approx 20 mins at 220

Instructions:

For the base:

• Put aroung 100ml of warm water in a jug or bowl


• Sprinkle in the yeast, sugar and salt


• Place somewhere warm until it begins to bubble.


• Measure out the flour, drizzle in the olive oil and rub together


• When the yeast mixture is bubbling, pour into a well in the middle of the flour and mix.


• Work the mixture, adding more warm water as necessary to form a dough.


• Knead for appox 10 mins until smooth.


• Place back in the bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to rise for approx 1 hour, until doubled in size.


• Punch down the dough, roll out to roughly same shape as your baking tray


• Lightly brush baking tray with oil, place dough on tray


• Cover and leave to rest 10 mins before adding topping

For the topping:

• Heat the oil in a saucepan with a tight lid


• Bung in the onions and stir until onions are covered


• Reduce heat to minimum and place lid firmly on and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally


• Once onions are softened and transparent, add garlic, thyme, bay leaf and a little salt and pepper


• Cover and cook for a further 5-10 mins, remembering to remove the bay leaf once done


• Spread the tapenade on the base, then distribute the onion mixture evenly over the top


• Place the anchovies evenly over the surface, traditionally in 'x' patterns, adding the olives at the end.


• Bake for approx 20 mins until crust is golden.

Tapenade

Ingredients: 

• 300g olives (remove pits after weighing)


• 3 anchovy fillets


• 1 large garlic clove


• 2 tbsp pine kernels


• 1/2 tbsp capers (rinsed to remove excess brine)


• 120ml extra virgin olive oil (needs to be decent quality as will be consumed uncooked)


• Juice of half a lemon


• Salt and pepper to taste

• Prep time: 5 mins


• Refrigeration time: 24 hrs

Instructions: 

• Place olives, anchovies, garlic, pine kernels and capers into a blender


• Blend until it forms a course paste


• Add olive oil, lemon juice and seasoning and blend for a further 15 seconds or so


• Place in a clean jam jar (or similar), close tightly and refrigerate for 24 hours

Olive Your Guests Will Want The Recipe

Boom! Another quality pun, brought to you by the Queen of Prevarication. ( For someone who wishes to be a published author, I spend a lot of time avoiding my keyboard.)

Today, imaginary readers, I offer you my tried and tested recipe for Tapenade, an olive-based spread for snacks and hors d'oeuvres, as well as for use in other recipes, such as the comically-named Pissaladière.

Tapenade can be made from either green or black olives, but we as a family prefer black. They needn't be expensive ones, tinned ones will do.  Some may find the inclusion of anchovies in the ingredients a little off-putting, but they combine with the others to make a well-rounded, savoury flavour.  It has a strong taste, but one that is redolent of the sunny Mediterranean cuisine that I love. It can be eaten on the day of preparation, but I find it is best made 24hrs in advance to give the flavour time to mature.  Sealed in an air-tight jar and refrigerated it will last up to a week. Serve in a bowl, accompanied by slices of baguette, allowing guests to spread their own according to taste.

Pita bread

Ingredients: 

• 1 sachet dried yeast


• 1 tsp sugar


• 120ml warm water


• 450g flour


• 1 1/2 tsp salt


• Approx. 240ml tepid water


• Vegetable or sunflower oil

• Prep time: approx 2 hours


• Cooking time: Approx 6 minutes per tray of pockets


• Preheat oven to 260

Instructions: 

• Sprinkle the sugar and yeast into the warm water and leave in a warm place until foaming


• Sift together the flour and salt, making a well in the middle


• Pour in the yeast mixture and work it in


• Gradually add the tepid water as necessary until all the flour forms a dough


• Turn out and knead for 10-15 minutes until smooth and elastic


• Place in a bowl that has been coated with vegetable or sunflower oil and roll it around until it has the oil on all sides


• Cover bowl with cling film (optional, but I find it helps) and leave in a warm place to double in size


• Roll out the dough into a sausage (see pic!) and cut or pinch it into 10-12 pieces


• Roll the pieces out until 12 - 15cm across and about 1/2cm thick then leave them to rest for 10 minutes


• Place as many pockets as will comfortably fit on your pre-heated baking tray


• Bake them for 3 - 4 minutes until they puff up


• Flip them over and bake another couple of minutes


• Remove from oven, wrap in a clean cloth and gently press down to deflate them


• If not for immediate use they should be sealed in an airtight container/food bag as soon as possible

You've Gotta Pita Pocket Or Two

Pita bread: one more from the seemingly endless list of things I've been meaning to get around to. Pita bread has been a favourite of mine since childhood, but good pita bread is not easy to come across here in the South of France.  The vacuum-packed crap from the supermarket can often taste chemical-y, I think.

I was pleased at how simple they were to prepare (a basic dough, leave to double in size etc) but the cooking is a bit fiddly and requires your full attention.  The oven needs to be very, very hot and the baking tray should be pre-heated on a shelf at the very bottom of the oven.  The bread is cooked for 3-4 minutes on one side, then flipped over and cooked another couple of minutes on the other, so keep a good pair of tongs handy and keep an eye on the progress of the bread, as ovens often vary.  It's a bit of a hot and fiddly chore to do a whole batch, but the results are delicious.

Try adding poppy seeds or herbs etc to the dough to change it up a little.

There. Whole paragraphs without a single double entendre or reference to alcohol. Perhaps I'm maturing.  Perhaps I need a glass of wine......