This years chillies are coming along well. From left to right: Jamacian yellow, Espelette, Hongarian goulasch, Cayenne

This is the wine from Venice where I went grape picking earlier this year

The 2008 vintage is obviously not bottled yet, but I drank some 2006 and 2007 just last week in Paris, accompanied by a delicious topinambour (Jerusalem artichoke) soup with truffles. I’ll try to get the recipe from the lovely cook Emmanuelle Jary who, among other things, writes food and travel articles for people like Air France magazine (see here) and is a truffle expert.

The Orto di Venezia wine website is now up on line in three languages. You can find out all about this exceptional wine and find out where it is available. Any restaurants wishing to carry this wine on their winelist can send a request from the contact page on the website. The address is http://www.ortodivenezia.com.

Meanwhile back in French truffle country myself (no truffles yet, they come early in the year), I have finally got my ancient motorbike fixed with considerable difficulty and various spare parts purchased on eBay (6 volt lamps and coil, new saddle, brake cable). I went to Rocamadour yesterday in glorious sunshine (though it was a bit cold) and the bike works fine despite struggling a little on some of the steep hills. I nevertheless got up to 90km/h on a straight (ok, slightly downhill) piece of road. I will post photos and more about this antique vehicle at some stage in the future.

Finally getting around to posting some more of my recipes, here is a classic Indian curry which I mentioned in a previous post last year

The secret with all Indian curries is to freshly grind all your spices.
For this recipe I used cardomone, cinnamon, cloves, chilli peppers, cumin seeds and poppy seeds ground up and then made into a paste with some garlic cloves and fresh ginger.
– fry some onions in a wok (or large pan)
– add some diced lamb, I use a saddle or shoulder for this, a leg of lamb is also good but more expensive of course. Brown the meat
– Add the spice paste and coat all the ingredients well, avoid that the spice burn so lower the heat
– Add some chopped tomatoes then slowly stir in some natural yoghurt
– Cook on a low heat for 45 minutes or more, until the lamb is tender
– Serve on a bed of rice and garnish with plenty of fresh coriander

This is our neighbour’s pig, Lolita

I feel somewhat guilty in putting this wonderful animal in the cooking section of this website but I fear she will inevitably end up on our dinner table one of these days
She has a little house under an oak tree, she eats acorns and all sorts of other stuff, and she makes a lot of noise.
But she is very domesticated, she has taught herself how to open the front door so she comes into the house from time to time to have a chat(or rather an oink) with the dog.
Has a brush with a wild boar last night coming home in the dark? Huge animal but fortunately no damage, just lots of mud on the front and side of the car
The thought did cross my mind, maybe Lolita might like a husband?
Does that work????

This is a nice photo of chillies from the market in Venice, sadly no fish though as it was Monday.

Nothing whatsoever to do with chillies, one of the more pleasant encounters of the Venice trip this time was the cook Pamela who made us the most delicious pasta (her seafood pasta was especially memorable) and numerous other “mediterranean” dishes.
Pamela’s Parmesan Aubergines (Melanzane Alla Parmigiana) was one of the highlights. Here is her recipe:
– coat some aubergine slices in flour and fry them in some olive oil, set aside.
– in a baking dish, assemble layers of tomato sauce, parmesan cheese (freshly grated, not that awful stuff out of a packet), fried aubergines, mozzarella cheese and parma ham.
– repeat process for three or four layers depending on the size and depth of your baking dish.
– Top with grated parmesan.
– Cook in a hot oven for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned and cooked though.

Tournedos Rossini is a classic recipe but every chef has his own version.
Here is mine:
– first the foie gras topping: the best is a fresh foie gras which you cut into small escalopes, one thin slice per steak. You fry the escalopes just a few seconds in a very hot frying pan without any oil. Set them aside on a warm plate.
– if you don’t have fresh foie gras, use a thin slice of foie gras entier out of a jar, there is no need to cook it, just place on top of each steak in the pan (see below), it will warm through when you cover the pan. However you will need a little duck fat in the frying pan to start as follows.
– now fry some slices of French country bread in the juices that the foie gras has left in the frying pan. Fry until lightly crisp and set aside with the escalopes.
– now fry the tournedos steaks in the same pan. Add lots of pepper.
– turn the steaks when cooked on one side and place a piece of foie gras on top of each, add sliced mushrooms to the pan. Add a touch of cornflour dissolved in some warm water (this absorbs the duck fat) and some Madeira (or any other cooked wine, the quantiy depends on the number of tournedos steaks and the size of the pan).
– Cover the frying pan and cook for a couple of minutes until the steaks are cooked through, the mushrooms cooked and the sauce starts to thicken (cooking time depends a little on how you like your steaks)
– place a slice of fried country bread on the plate, add the cooked steaks with their foie gras topping on top and pour over the mushroom/Madeira sauce.
– Serve with rice cooked with some chopped courgettes, or a potato gratin.

Delicious contribution from Nicki Dennis

– 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
– 2-3 teaspoon cayenne pepper
– 2 cups uncooked small macaroni (elbows, orecchiette, penne etc.)
– 1 cup + 2 tablespoons grated sharp yellow cheddar cheese
– 2 cups milk
– 1 cup + 2 tablespoons grated sharp white cheddar cheese
– 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
– 2 cups + 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano/Reggiano cheese
– 2 teaspoon salt
– 8 scallions, white and light green part only, thinly sliced
– 3 teaspoon pepper
– 4 oz. fresh goat cheese

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a 2 quart casserole. Set aside.

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.
Warm the milk in a saucepan until small bubbles form around the sides.
Melt the butter in a large, heavy pot over low/medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour being careful not to let it brown. Continue to whisk continuously while gradually adding the heated milk. Cook over low/medium heat for 6-8
minutes whisking occasionally. The sauce will be fairly thick and very smooth.
Remove from the heat and add salt, pepper and cayenne. Cover to keep warm.

Reserve 2 tablespoons each yellow and white cheddar and Parmesan cheeses and set aside.

Add the remaining yellow and white cheddars and the Parmesan cheese to the warm white sauce and stir well to combine. Add the macaroni and stir gently to incorporate. Stir in most of the scallions reserving a few pieces for garnish.

Cut the goat cheese in to 1 inch pieces and gently fold into the macaroni/cheese mixture being careful not to break the macaroni.

Transfer the mixture to the casserole, top with the reserved cheese and scallions.

Bake until golden brown and bubbling, approximately 30 minutes.

Contribution from Perry Taylor at la baguette magique

Preheat the oven to 200-220C
Have a baking tray large enough for the chicken and some roast potatoes.
Wash your hands and the chicken well.

Take the chicken and, beginning at the neck end, carefully slide your fingers under the skin of the breast. Slowly lift the skin of the breast and legs from the meat. Be careful not to tear the skin.

Now mix the following in a bowl:

1 garlic clove, crushed
6 tablespoons of creme fraiche
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
a handful of tarragon leaves (fresh or dried)
salt and freshly ground pepper

Mix well and spoon into the cavity between the skin and flesh of the breast, Massage the sauce under the skin to spread down over the legs. (You have to set the chicken on its end to pour in the sauce, so a second pair of hands is handy).

Use a cocktail stick or two to close off the skin at the neck to stop too much sauce escaping during cooking. Stick the squeezed lemon in the other end and place on the middle shelf of the oven. Cooking time depends on the size of the chicken, but 50 to 60 minutes should do it. Lay aluminium foil over the chicken for the first half hour to stop the sauce from burning under the skin.

Let the chicken rest for five minutes. Meanwhile, you can make a superb gravy from the leaked sauce and chicken juices.

Serve with young carrots and peas, potatoes or rice. A real Sunday dinner recipe!

2 onions chopped, sauteed in butter
125gr bacon
100gr cheddar cheese grated
1thsp. mustard
1 spoon flour
2 eggs
250 ml milk (1 cup)
1 thsp parsley chopped
salt pepper

Beat eggs into flour, mustard and milk. Add all the ingredients and mix well. Pour into greased 23cm pie dish. Bake at 180 degrees 30 min.
No pastry needed it sets as it is.