Inspired by Bruno our local pizza chef, and vice-champion of France, I made my own pizzas this week. This one worked out exceedingly well.
– make a pizza base. I use épautre or spelt wheat flour and a little regular flour, a little yeast, oil, salt, sugar and tepid water. Leave the dough to rest for a while, it becomes more elastic.
– roll out the pizza base very thinly, spread on crushed tomatoes and cover with mozzarella cheese. Cook in a very hot oven (wood stove or pizza oven is even better).
– place cherry tomatoes, and fresh melon balls on the cooked pizza.
– decorate with rockette salad and a little vinaigrette salad dressing.
Thinly sliced parma ham and buffalo milk mozzarella can also be added at the end to make a more “substantial” pizza. But the lightness of this simple “summer” pizza recipe is what makes it interesting.

I do this one in the wood stove but, of course, you can do it in any hot oven. The “souris” is the bottom part of a leg of lamb, allow one per person. I already posted this recipe here a few years ago (see here) but this variation includes potatoes.

– place several souris (not mice, the souris is the little juicy bit around the bone at the bottom of a leg of lamb) in an earthenware dish (that can stand high heat)
– place some peeled whole garlic cloves in the dish, add some juniper berries, a chopped onion, some rosemary, some peeled potatoes and lots of salt and pepper
– pour beer (any kind) all over the lamb and fill to at least halfway up the dish, a little more as most of the liquid evaporates in the oven.
– place in a very hot oven for one hour, turning the meat halfway through cooking.

I must write here, one day when I have the time, about the ritual of picnics. We take picnics very seriously but the three essential items are pink champagne (very decadent), potato salad with tuna, and coronation chicken.

For those of you that don’t know what Coronation Chicken is, then you can go to the wikipedia page here. This lunchtime I came up with a variation which turned out to be a delight:
– boil some chicken pieces in a broth made with chicken stock and curry powder (look here or here for curry powder recipes). Drain and allow to cool a little
– make a “quick” satay sauce in the blender with crunchy peanut butter, soy sauce, a crushed chilli pepper (or two), lemon juice and honey
– chop an apple and a red onion, mix in a serving dish with a little mayonnaise, lemon juice, cream, a large dollop of apricot jam and the satay sauce
– serve with shredded lettuce

This dish can be served as part of a picnic, a starter or a summer main dish and even as a sandwich filler (in this case chop the chicken bits quite small).