Côtes de Boeuf En Deux Cuissons, Sauce Béarnaise

Ingredients: 

For 5/6 people:

• 2 côtes de boeuf (beef chops - see your butcher)


• 4 sprigs of rosemary


• 8 bay leaves


• Olive oil


• Fleur de sel


• Crushed black pepper

 

For the sauce:

• 2 shallots


• 1 small bunch of tarragon


• chervil (optional - I didn't have any and I can't imagine the sauce being any better for it)


• 2 egg yolks


• 150g melted butter


• 5 cl white wine vinegar


• 5 cl white wine


• 1 teaspoon of crushed black pepper


• Salt

Prep time: 20 mins

Wait time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 20 mins

Oven temp: 180

Instructions: 

For the beef:

• Cover the bottom of a roating tray with the rosemary and bay leaves


• Rub each side of the beef with the fleur de sel


• Heat the oil in a frying pan on a high heat


• Sear each side of the beef for 2-3 mins


• Place the beef in the roasting tray and leave to rest for one hour


• Preheat the oven to 180and cook the beef for 15 minutes for French rare (very bloody in the centre)


• Sprinkle with the pepper before serving

For the sauce:

• Chop the shallots and place in a saucepan with half of the tarragon (choppped), the crushed pepper, the vinegar, the wine and 2 pinches of salt


• Bring to the boil, then simmer on a low heat until reduced to around 2 soup spoons of liquid. (This stage can be done whilst the beef is resting).


• Off of the heat, add 2 soup spoons of water and the egg yolks


• Whisk together


• Either on a very low heat or in a bain-marie, warm the mixture through, whisking constantly


• Once the mixture has thickened so it starts to stick to the whisk slightly, gradually add in the cooled, melted butter whilst still whisking constantly


• Add the rest of the chopped herbs and serve.

Rouille

Ingredients: 

• 75ml peanut oil (or olive oil, or a mixture of both)


• 2 egg yolks


• 1 clove crushed garlic


• Paprika or mild chili powder

Instructions: 

• Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl


• Gradually whisk in the oil until it has the consistency of a mayonnaise


• Add in the crushed garlic and mix well


• Sprinkle in about a teaspoon of paprika or piment doux and whisk


• Cover and refrigerate until use

Béar-naise This In Mind For A Special Meal

This weekend we celebrated the Fête Nationale of our 'patrimoine adoptée' with some very good friends and, of course, some very good food. We started with an apéritif at 12h30, and finished at 21h00. Some lunch!
For the entrée (n.b. America: this means starter, not main course!) we had a classic local Soupe de Poisson (a cousin of bouillabase) which I bought ready-made from the local poissonerie, and served with the traditional grated cheese, croutons (made from small slices of baguette, not diced bread) and a home-made rouille (a tangy, goopy sauce to dollop on the croutons).  For those not so keen on the strong, fishy taste there was terrine de campagne.  On this occasion I bought the terrine from our excellent boucherie, but I do have a very good recipe which I will post another time.
For the plat (main course) I prepared 'Côte de boeuf en deux cuissons, sauce béarnaise'. It was the first time I had cooked côtes de boeuf any other way than grilled over vinewood, so I was a bit nervous for our dinner guests, but they were incredibly good and I can't wait for an excuse to cook them again.  The trickiest bit was the sauce, which requires a lot of attention, but if you follow the steps correctly it's no problem.  Just be sure to have all your ingredients prepped and to hand before you begin cooking.
For the side dish, I took some boiled, diced potatoes, a diced aubergine, a chopped red onion and threw them all in a frying pan with some butter and olive oil. I seasoned and let them cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes then stirred in about a handful of freshly grated parmesan before turning out into a serving dish.
For the cheese course we had some fantastic, locally-made cheese, then for dessert we had my Moussey Chocolate Tart. The dessert was prepared a day in advance as I was fully prepared to be incapable of serving anything complicated by the time we got to the fourth course.  And I was right. Bonne fête indeed.

With the beef: 'Caracterre' 2007 Merlot Cabernet, Maitres Vignerons de Gallargues.

Homemade Bagels

Ingredients: 

• 530g flour


• 1 tablespoon (12g) caster sugar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt


• 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil


• 2 teaspoons (7.5g) dried yeast


• 300-350ml warm water

• Prep time: about 1 hour 15 mins


• Oven time: 20 mins at 220

 

 

 

Instructions: 

• Mix the dough using the above ingredients and knead for a full 10 minutes until smooth


• Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces and let it rest for 20 minutes


• Take each piece and roll it into a 'snake', roughly the same length as the width of both hands


• Wrap a snake around one hand, with the ends meeting on the palm, then smush and roll the ends together, working it into as smooth a ring as possible


• Once all the rings are formed, leave to rest for 20 minutes and bring to the boil a large pan of unsalted water


• Place the bagels in the water, as many at a time as possible without the bagels touching


• Cook for 1 minute, then flip over in the water and cook the other side for 1 minute then remove immediately


• Once out of the water, allow the bagels to dry a little before placing them on a lightly-oiled baking tray


• Bake for 10 minutes, then flip over and bake the other side for a further 10 mins


• Mazeltov! Delicious, homemade bagels!

N.B. If you wish to top the bagels with poppy seeds or whatever, then this should be done after the boiling stage and the bagels placed topping-side-up for the first 10 minutes in the oven.

Hole-ly Inappropriate

Well I gave up trying to come up with a saucy title for this article because I couldn't get past 'hole' jokes which were well beyond saucy and firmly in rude territory. So. Bagels: can't buy a decent bagel for love nor money in these parts, so I decided to have a bash at making them myself.

I was somewhat taken aback when I learned that bagels are boiled before they are baked, but it turned out to be easier than I thought, and an essential part of the process.  Just wish I hadn't used curved tongs to fish 'em out, as they made the boiling water run over my hand! Lesson learnt.

The actual dough is very simple, and if the steps are followed correctly you get great bagels.  However, I have yet to become an expert on shaping them! My bagel rings have yet to turn out as the completely smooth rings one sees when buying professionally-made ones.  They have improved with each batch, and with enough practice I'm sure they'll be looking spiffy.  In the meantime, they taste delicious which is pretty much what food should be about, isn't it?

Sweet Piggy

Ingredients:

• 1 filet mignon/pork tenderloin


• 2 large onions


• 2 handfuls of brown cane sugar


• Raspberry vinegar


• Maple syrup


• Puff pastry


• Egg for glaze


• Salt & pepper


• Olive oil

 

 

• Prep time: 30 mins


• Oven time: Approx 30 mins at 220 (depends on thickness of tenderloin)

Picture:

Instructions: 

• Very finely chop the onions (I used a food processor)


• Heat a little olive oil in a medium saucepan and bung in the onions


• Scatter the brown sugar over the onions, then douse thoroughly in vinegar


• Cook the onions down until pinky-brown and sticky, leave to cool.


• Season the pork with a little salt and pepper, whilst heating a little oil in a frying pan


• On a high heat, sear the meat on all sides


• Lower the heat and cook the pork for a couple of minutes on each side


• Remove from pan and allow to cool slightly, so as not to melt the pastry


• Lay out the sheet of pastry and cover evenly in the onions, leaving a margin around the edges for sealing.


• Place the pork in the centre of the pastry and generously drizzle maple syrup all over it


• Fold the pastry over the meat to make a nice parcel, then glaze with beaten egg


• Place in the oven for around half an hour, until crisp and golden on the outside.

Sweet, Sweet Piggy or Love Me Tenderloin

Filet mignon de porc, or pork tenderloin, is reasonably priced here and fairly adaptable.  I have made a few different 'en croute' versions over the years, but this time I was looking to work up a recipe in honour of our Canadian family member, who is known in this house as 'Maple Ninja' (long story).

 Pork is a meat that lends itself well to sweet sauces, so I wanted to make maple syrup a key ingredient.  Pretty definitively Canadian, eh? So here's what I came up with: Sweet Piggy.  I made another version of the dish where I used par-boiled, diced apple instead of caramelised onions.  Both are good.

Things to remember:

• Make sure you get the pork well started in the frying pan before wrapping in pastry, or the oven time will be too long and the pastry will overcook and the onions dry out.


•  Have the pastry as cold as possible without being frozen, otherwise the warmth from the fillings will make it all goopy and almost impossible to fold over the pork without tearing.


• Maple syrup goes in the recipe, not in your tummy.

Bob's White Chili

Ingredients: 

This is a recipe that has evolved according to our own tastes, and makes no claims to be an 'authentic' dish :)

Serves 4/5:

• 2 large escalopes of chicken, cut into small strips


• 1 large onion


• Large red or green pepper, according to taste


• 500g tin or jar of haricots blanc


• 300ml chicken stock


• Big sploosh of white wine


• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped


• Spoonful of crunchy peanut butter


• Cumin


• Chili pepper to taste


• Sploosh or two of hot chili sauce


• Sprinkle of caster sugar


• Salt & pepper


• Olive oil

Instructions: 

• Heat the oil and soften the onions and peppers


• Toss in the chicken and brown it


• Add in stock and haricots blanc and bring to boil


• Turn down to a low heat and chuck in everything else


• Simmer for about 20 mins or so to allow flavours to blend, but not so long as to let the chicken get stringy


• Serve with plain rice and flatbreads, and a nice, crisp rosé

Moussey Chocolate Tart

Ingredients: 

• 125g dessert chocolate (75% cocoa)


• 35g butter


• 4 eggs, separated


• A half-quantity of the amazing Buttery Biscuit Base

Prep time: around 20 mins

Chill time: at least 2 hours in freezer

Instructions: 

• Prep the base and put in fridge to set


• Break the chocolate into small pieces and melt in a bain-marie.


• Dice the butter, then add to chocolate, stirring until butter melted.


• Add 2 egg yolks (discard the other 2), mix thoroughly and set briefly to the side, allowing it to cool but not set.


• Whisk the egg whites to snow, then gently fold into the chocolate mixture.


• Gently scoop it onto the buttery biscuit base, cover with cling-film and freeze for at least 2 hours


• Remove from freezer about 20-30 minutes before required, depending on room temperature

Big, Fast and Easy Is How I Like It

Even when they're teenagers, school holidays are surprisingly disruptive (In a good way, sweetie! Love you! xxoxx)  and there are people in and out of the house at all times. Meals need to be flexible, and easily adapted to include unexpected extra mouths to feed.  I try and keep the cake tin full, and enough ready-made pastry in the freezer to knock together extra food in a hurry. A sheet of pastry, smear it generously with some pesto or tomato sauce, sprinkle on some cheese and pop it in a hot oven for about 10 minutes and you have a 'pastry pizza' starter.

Dishes such as spag bol are easily bulked out with extra tomatoes and pasta. Pasta salads are quick and easy, as well as filling, so the protein part of the meal (meat/fish/whatever) can be divided into smaller portions. I finally got my hands on some crunchy peanut butter (not so easy to do here), so my white chili is back on the menu. I usually accompany this with rice and flatbreads which are, again, a good way to bulk a meal out to accomodate last-minute guests.

It's easy to slip into the habit of repeating the same exact recipes time after time so on Sunday, with a new guest to lunch, I decided to go for a lighter, mousse-ier topping for chocolate tartjust to change it up a little. Wild and crazy, I know. The good thing (apart from the chocolatey deliciousness) about this tart is that it is frozen, so it can be prepared in advance and whipped out of the freezer to soften whilst you are eating the main course.

Mmmmm......chocolate.......

Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken escalopes (chicken breasts cut open)


• 200 g of smoked lardons


• A handful of shallots


• 150 ml balsamic vinegar


• 150ml water

• Prep time: 5 mins


• Cook time: around 30 mins

Instructions:

• In a frying pan, brown the lardons then put to one side


• Fry the shallots in the fat from the lardons and put to one side


• Sear the chicken in the remaining fat then remove from pan (I got bored of saying "put to one side")


• Pour the balsamic vinegar into the frying pan and cook on a low heat until it reduces by around 50%


• Add the water and pop in all the other ingredients


• Simmer on a low-to-medium heat until the chicken is cooked


• Serve with some plain rice

What I Did On My Weekend

Well I know that this site is about home cooking, but every now and then it's nice to have someone else take care of the food (and the washing up).  Saturday saw me having my first meal at an Indian restaurant in more years than I care to remember.  Indian food is hardly the first cuisine one thinks of when in the South of France, and the few establishments I had seen in Nîmes failed to tempt me over the years.  We were discussing this with friends (one English, one French, they lived together in England for a number of years) and they highly recommended a place in Lunel.  I made a mental note, and the conversation moved on.  Cut to a year or so later and I am craving Indian food.  I am now kicking myself for waiting so long before following up on the recommendation.  Le Palais des Roses was outstanding! Gorgeous food, with such a tempting menu we were hard-pressed to choose.  In my usual style, I was too busy enjoying the food to remember to take notes on the names of the dishes etc, let alone photograph it, so I will just have to go back for another meal, I think :)  Also, it never occurred to me that there was such a thing as Indian whisky but, thanks to Mr Kohli, I now know that there is, and that it is goooood.

On the home cooking front, I was looking for something different to do with the chicken escalopes requested by Husband.  I found a recipe that interested me and monkeyed around with it, and the result is Balsamic Chicken. OK, so the recipe name is lacking pizazz, but the food is not.

Catch you later, special llamas.

bobxx