This is a classic French dish which I have been making for a long time. I used to do it in the pressure cooker but I find that slow cooking in the oven works best.
– It is best to marinate some chunks of stewing beef in red wine overnight in the fridge but this is not essential.
– Fry some onions and stewing beef. If you have marinated the beef, pat it dry with some kitchen roll first (keep the marinade).
– Add some nutmeg, cinnamon, and chopped garlic. Add some flour and briefly stir so as to coat the meat.
– Add some red wine and some stock to almost cover the meat. If you have marinated the beef, use the marinade.
– Add some sliced carrots, two or three squares of dark chocolate, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.
– Place in an oven proof casserole dish and cook in a medium oven (160°) for about two hours (or more) until the meat is very tender.
– About 10 minutes before the end of cooking I add some sliced cherry tomatoes as decoration, you can also add sliced mushrooms.

In the photo I serve the beef with garlic/mustard mashed potato and beans. Traditionally it is served with steamed new potatoes.

Eclair cases made from choux pastry also work very well for savory dishes. You can buy them in most supermarkets and specialty pastry shops.
– Slice some eclair case lengthwise.
– Blend together a large bunch of chopped dill, mustard, lemon juice, sugar, olive oil and a little mayonnaise. You can also buy ready made “gravalax” sauce.
– Gently mix the dill sauce with some fromage blanc, this filling should be quick thick, not too runny. Spread this mixture inside the eclair cases and close.
– Cover with a slice of smoked salmon.
– Allow to stand for an hour or two before serving to allow the moisture to soften the eclair cases.
– Decorate with grilled sesame seeds and fish roe. Serve with rocket salad and a lemony vinaigrette.

– Grate some carrots and celeriac.
– Mix the grated vegetables with lemon juice, mustard, some raisins, a few chopped walnuts and olive oil. Season well.
– Mix some plain yoghurt with some soft cheese, I used fresh goats cheese but cottage cheese or similar will also work.
– Mix in a lot of finely chopped dill.
– Roll yoghurt mixture in a slice of smoked salmon. Secure with a cocktail stick if necessary.
– Serve with little mounds of the carrot and celeriac salad

This started out as Garlic Chicken (click here for recipe) but then I realized I didn’t have enough garlic

– Thinly slice some potatoes.
– Place two or three chopped onions in a pot with some olive oil. Place the sliced potatoes on top and towards the edges so that there is enough room for the chicken. Add some chopped garlic (if you have got any).
– Lay the chicken onto its potato and onion bed and place the open pot in a hot oven for 10 minutes to brown the top of the chicken.
– Stuff fresh tarragon all around the chicken. Add a little white wine stock. Season well.
– Cover tightly and put back into a moderate oven for an hour or until cooked.

This pie was delicious and very easy.

– Fry some onions in olive oil.
– Add some bite sized chunks of meat and brown. I used beef cheek but any stewing steak will do.
– Add some chopped mushrooms and some flour and mix in well.
– Add a bottle of beer to almost cover.
– Cover tightly and cook on a low heat until the meat is tender. It can also be cooked in the oven on a fairly low heat if you prefer.
– Place in a pie dish. Put some slices of cheese (cheddar) on top of the meat stew and cover with puff pastry (home made is better, recipe may appear here soon).
– Brush with egg and cook in the oven until golden brown.
I served this with garlicky mashed potatoes.

This was totally improvised.

– Take the skin off some chicken legs and thighs.
– Toss the chicken pieces in a mixture of curry powder and flour.
– Brush with an egg.
– Toss in a mixture of breadcrumbs and polenta.
– Cook in the oven until golden brown.
Meanwhile, make a spinach curry:
– Fry some chopped onions in ghee.
– Make a paste with freshly ground spices added to fresh ginger, garlic and chili.
– Add to the onions, stir well and add a large bunch of fresh spinach leaves, stir over a low heat until the leaves begin to wilt.
– Stir in a little fresh cream or yoghurt and cover to cook through.
I served the chicken on a bed of spinach curry and topped with some yoghurt mixed with a little curry paste. A sprinkling of chopped nuts to garnish.

The left-over Turkey Gratin (left) recipe can be found here. This year I topped it with almonds which grilled nicely in the oven – pretty.

The Christmas Pudding Roll was spectacular. Just roll up Christmas Pudding and a grated apple in a few leaves of filo pastry. Grease the individual filo leaves before with melted brandy butter (or bum rutter as we call it). Bake in a hot oven until golden.
Above you can see a slice served with pineapple slices and vanilla ice-cream.

A spectacular recipe with filo pastry.

– Stew some chopped apples with a little cinnamon, raisons, lemon juice and sugar. Don’t overcook, the apples should be soft but not mushy.
– Warm up the oven (hot).
– Place two spoonfuls of the cooled apple mixture onto a sheet of filo pastry and fold up into a little bag. Secure the top with a cocktail stick.
– Brush the “aumônières” with melted butter and cook in a hot oven until lightly brown.
– Serve with vanilla ice cream (or rum and raisin) and homemade shortbread.

I came across this at our fishmonger this morning. We live 2 hours from the Atlantic Ocean and 3 hours from the Mediterranean, so the Friday fishmonger is eagerly awaited because we don’t get really fresh fish every day.

We have often eaten swordfish in the West Indies and, in fact, you can read the chapter of my online e-book about this by clicking here.

I cook this fish in the simplest of ways, but be careful not to overcook because it can become very dry:
– season the fish with garlic, salt, pepper (or chili flakes) and a drizzle of olive oil

– heat your “plancha” (cast iron griddle) ribbed side upwards.
– grill the fish for about 4 minutes per side, rotate them halfway through if you want to make a pretty griddle pattern as indicated in the photo.
– sprinkle with chopped dill and lime juice to serve.
– Serve with chopped courgettes fried with garlic and some curry powder (freshly ground from spices, of course).

Our catering business is doing rather well. This weekend we did another curry tiffin event, this time in Paris.

The chicken curry turned out particularly well:
– make a spice mixture in a small blender. I used freshly ground cardamom, cloves and cinnamon blended together into a paste with fresh lemon grass, a hot chili pepper, a bunch of coriander, lime juice, honey, garlic and ginger.

– fry some onions until translucent, add chopped chicken breast and sliced courgette, cook for 5 minutes.
– add spice paste and continue to stir fry for 1 minute, add coconut milk and simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes or more (until the chicken and vegetables are cooked through, and this depends on how small you have chopped them).
– Serve with rice and garnish with coriander.

In the photo you can see freshly made cucumber raita (strained cucumber, yoghurt, mint and ground cumin), mango chutney, lime pickle and Indian Naan bread (supplied by my dear friend Mark ‘N’ Spencer)

Very successful crop of chard from the garden this year. This wonderful vegetable is sometimes known as “Swiss Chard” and goes under the latin name Beta Vulgaris from which its French name of “Bettes” is derived.

You can eat the leaves and the stalks. I made the following tart with just the leaves:
– fry some onions and the chopped chard leaves, lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes.
– roll out a pastry base and line the pie tin. Prick pastry with a fork and heat oven to 200°.
– whisk together two eggs, some milk, some cream and a little cornflour. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.
– Place the cooked chard on the pastry, add some pine kernels, a pinch of cumin seeds, and pour over egg mixture. Cover with grated cheese.
– Cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

The tastiest way to prepare the white stalks is to steam them for 20 minutes and then finish them off in a hot oven covered with a cheesy bechamel sauce.

There is that scene in the movie Ratatouille where the food critic zaps back in time to remember the taste of his grandmothers ratatouille when he was a boy. I felt a bit like that when I made this Toad in the Hole – we used to eat this dish regularly when I was young and I had not made it for years and years.
– Make the batter with 285ml of milk, 115g of sieved flour, 3 eggs and a pinch of salt. Leave to stand for a while. You can also make it a few hours in advance and leave it in the fridge.
– Heat the oven until very hot (250°) and lightly brown some sausages in a deep ovenproof dish with some dripping (I use a mix of duck fat and sunflower oil).
– Make sure the fat is sizzling and pour the batter over the sausages.
– Close the oven door quickly (and keep it shut) and cook for 20-25 minutes until the batter had risen and golden.
– For the onion gravy, fry some chopped onions. Add some honey and vinegar and reduce. Add some stock and a little Madeira or Sherry.

A lot of people for dinner again:

Mise en bouche – appetizer – Spicy pea soup with fresh goats cheese and toast

Main course – Indian and Indonesian Curry Tiffin buffet

Saag Gosht

A medium hot lamb curry cooked with freshly ground spices, tomatoes, spinach and yoghurt with grilled almonds. North Indian speciality

 Kaeng Khieu Wan Kai (Thai Green Curry)
Chicken and vegetables cooked in coconut milk and basil. Extremely spicy and guaranteed to transform any night into an unforgettable event (just don’t ask why!)

Dahl
Coral lentils cooked to a purée with fresh chillies. Typical daily dish eaten throughout the Indian sub-continent, medium spicy stodge designed to prepare the stomach for the gastronomic onslaught to come

Vegetable Biryani
Basmati rice and vegetables cooked with spices, eggs, herbs and nuts. A variation of the traditional dish prepared for weddings and feasts through Southern Asia. Essential for calming down the ardour evoked by the other dishes.

Indonesian beef salad
Grilled beef marinated in lime, fish sauce, spices and fresh herbs. Extremely spicy but nevertheless an excellent antidote for cooling down the passion evoked by the previous dish. Separate bedrooms should still be kept as an option and recommended emergency backup plan.

Gado Gado
Cucumber and cooked vegetables in a salad with peanut sauce. Misleadingly cool and refreshing as the delayed action peanut chillie dressing bites into your taste buds and explodes into an unforgettable orgasmic experience.

Condiments (home-made) (well mostly) –

– Lime Pickles
– Green tomato Chutney
– Fresh tomato, coriander and onion Chutney
– Fresh Banana and coconut Chutney – Cucumber Raita – Fig Chutney

Green salad

Musical interlude

Verrines with fruit compote and chocolate
Birthday cake

Musical interlude

Cheese platter

After……..

It’s that time of year again. The chillies have been very successful this year.
We did Espelette, of course, but also some very hot and tasty long peppers which I used to make a Thai Green Curry paste.
– Just put the following ingredients into a food processor:
» fresh chillies
» garlic
» a large bunch of coriander, stalks and all
» a little kapi (Thai shrimp paste)
» honey or sugar
» a dash of sesame oil
» vegetable oil
» crushed lemon grass
» light soy sauce
» lime juice

Fry this paste in the wok with your curry ingredients, add coconut milk.

We discovered this restaurant in the beautiful town of Condom in Gascony.

The chef, Éric Sampietro, has taken the risk of proposing an all-vegetarian menu which, actually, was better than the fish and meat menu, at least to our liking (we tried both menus).
You can find his website here: http://www.latabledescordeliers.com.

Guess which restaurant we’ve been to…again.