One-pan chicken / Poulet d'une casserole

There are many things that I love about my flat. For sarters, it's a duplex, which makes it feel like a proper home. My neighbours aren't too annoying, if I exclude the elderly lady underneath us who enjoys tapping on her ceiling/our kitchen floor with her broom. I couldn't be any closer to the town centre, which means I don't always have to use the car. The list of bonheurs is endless. 

However, all of these avantages are quickly forgotten by your frustrated Gourmande when it comes to cooking dinner in what seems to be the world's worst thought-out kitchen. Or kitchenette. Calling it a kitchen would be a slight overstatement. With absolutely NO workbench, I therefore have to do all food prep on either the dining room table (not too practical when hosting dinner party) or the American-style bar (too high, makes my arms hurt!). 

The other thing that annoys me about the kitchen is the teeny tiny sink. Put a coffee cup and a plate in there and there's no room for anything else. OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but you get the gist!

I have thus become a huge fan of any meal that avoids both complicated preparation and washing-up, like this easy and stress-free one-pan chicken dish.

Simply chop up whatever vegetables you fancy (I chose sweet potato, carrots and red peppers), chop them and pop them in an ovenproof dish, then add 10-15 garlic cloves. Don't take the skin off the garlic, just separate the cloves and throw them in to the dish whole. When they cook the overpowering taste will give way to a slightly sweet, delicate garlicky paste. Add 4-6 chicken thighs depending on how many people you need to feed and how hungry they are. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with whatever herbs you have in the kitchen and cook in the oven for 1 hour 15 mins at 190C. Drizzle with honey 15 minutes before serving if you like your vegetables a bit caramelised. 

Walnut cake with cognac icing / Gâteau aux noix avec nappage au cognac

What to do with a kilo of walnuts kindly given to me by Cheri's aunt? 

As I'm not a huge fan of just chowing down on nuts as a snack, even though I know they are good for me, I decided to make something decidely less healthy but undeniably delicious: a walnut cake with a decadent cognac icing. After all, what's the point of trying to be healthy over the festive period?

Walnut cake with cognac icing

Shell 450g walnuts and set aside 16 for decoration. Put the rest in a blender with 150g brown sugar. Blend for 10 seconds, until the mixture is roughly but evenly chopped. 

Heat the oven to 170C/gas 5. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt and 80g flour, followed by 3 eggs and 130g melted butter. 

Grease a high-edged baking tin and sprinkle with flour. Pour in the cake mixture and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake for 40 mins, then leave to cool before turning out onto a wire rack.

To make the icing, mix 80g icing sugar with 1tsp cognac. Add a little water if necessary. Pour over the cake, coating evenly. Place the walnuts around the edge of the cake and leave to set before serving.

Salmon stir-fry / Saumon a l'asiatique

What makes this salmon stir-fry extra special? Good quality salmon fillets, fresh seasonal vegetables, and a sauce realised from scratch that my Chinese friend, H, would be proud of. 

Easy, quick, and bursting with flavour, this is a healthy dinner that can be changed endlessly depending on which vegetables you have at hand or which oils and vinegars you prefer. 

Salmon stir-fry (serves 4)

In a bowl mix together 4 tsp soya sauce, 4 tsp sherry or white wine, 1 tsp brown sugar, 4 tsp groundnut oil, 2 tsp water and season with black pepper. Marinate 4 salmon fillets in the mixture for at least 30 mins.

Peel and chop your chosen vegetables. Boil for 10 minutes in salted water and drain.

Grill the salmon for 5 minutes under a hot grill, turning the fillets half-way. During this time, cook a packet of dried noodles in salted water and drain. 

Heat the remaining marinade in a pan, add the vegetables and the noodles and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Divide between 4 deep plates, top with the salmon and serve hot.

Greedy notes:

I chose broccoli, red peppers and carrots and this is what I had available but celery, mange-tout or mini-sweetcorn would all work, as well as mushrooms and bean-sprouts. 

Living in the Charente-Maritime region of France, I decided to replace the sherry with the same amount of red Pineau des Charentes. This delicious, sweet mixture of grape juice and cognac has the same syrupy consistency as sherry and is one of the specialities of the area.

Baked fennel / Gratin de fenouil

Before going in the oven

This quick and easy oven baked fennel dish is perfect for keeping warm on the not too far off cold winter nights. The delicate, slightly sweet taste of the baked fennel goes very well with the salty melted cheese, and while I am not a huge fan of raw fennel as it has quite a strong liquorice taste, I find that once cooked it is simply greedylicious! 

All you need to do is cook the fennel bulbs until soft, cut into slices, layer them in an ovenproof dish, cover with melted cheese and grill until the cheese is bubbling. I used a pressure cooker as this methods allows you to keep the maximum of nutrients in the fennel and also saves time but if you don't have a pressure cooker you can steam or boil the bulbs.

Any grated cheese will do: I used Emmenthal as that was what we had left-over in the fridge but parmesan, cheddar, crumbled stilton or even some smoked mozzarella would do the job nicely. 

Try with marinated pork chops, steamed fish or a roast chicken leg for a speedy and delicious winter supper.

Ready to eat

Apple puddings and hot chocolate / Flognarde aux pommes et chocolat chaud

Cold autumn afternoons off mean only one thing: it's baking time! While I am undoubtedly more salty than sugary, there is something calming about baking. The 'here a pinch, there a pinch' approach that I usually take when cooking savoury dishes doesn't work quite as well when it comes to making desserts. 


In my experience, to get cakes and puddings right, a minimum of concentration is required: an extra 10 grams can make all the difference. So when I need to leave behind money troubles, expensive MOTs or our noisy neighbours, baking is a leisure pursuit that I can dive into and just forget about everything else. Only the kitchen scales matter!

As apples are in season at the minute I decided to make the most of this greedy fact by trying out a new recipe. 

Recette: Apple pudding (serves 6)

Beat 4 eggs with a packet of vanilla sugar and 120g brown sugar, adding a pinch of salt. Add 80g of flour and 40g of cornflour and mix until smooth. Thin out the mixture by adding 500ml of milk. Add 40g of melted butter to the bowl and mix.

Heat the oven to 190C or gas mark 6/7. Grease a large ovenproof dish and brush over a thin layer of flour. Peel and chop 4/5 apples and spread them out in the dish. 
Pour over the pudding mixture, taking care to spread it evenly. Put in the oven for 40 mins, then leave to cool in the unlit oven.

As you may be able to tell from the first photo, this is another Sud Ouest beauty from my months of the year cookbook collection - I just can't get enough of these colourful, delicious and reasonably priced recipes!

Cheri and I were both pleased with the result. More pudding than cake, this autumnal dessert has a soft and creamy texture that much ressembles the traditional French clafoutis. The brown sugar balances out nicely the acidity of the apples and while undoubtedly quite a sweet dish, it isn't sickly at all. 

The only slight downside for me was the appearance. Once out of the oven, the apples and pudding mixture turned out a similar pale brown colour; I would have preferred the apples to caramelise a bit instead to provide a nice colour contrast! 

Either way, this dessert is to be consumed without moderation, and ideally accompanied by a big mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon.Even Fifi (my tabby cat) wanted a bit!

Fifi giving my slice of flognarde his "come-on eyes"

Confit duck / Confit de canard

There's a good reason that confit duck is a French classic. It's one of the most tender ways of cooking meat that exists, and the side-dishes that normally accompany said duck are just as flavoursome if admittedly not too diet-conscious, notably thin sautée potatoes cooked in duck fat and sprinkled with lots of garlic and fresh parsely. 

While this is a dish I love eating, it has the reputation of being a bit tricky to get right at home so I normally only have confit duck when Chéri and I eat out.

But being the adventurous gourmande that I am, it wasn't long before I decided to give it a go especially saying as Lidl had tins of brand-name confit on special offer! 

The result was not bad at all really. The duck turned out crispy on the skin side and stayed tender. This is one of the main problems when cooking a confit duck, as cooking over too high a heat can dry out the meat. I chose, for this reason, to cook mine in a large frying pan for about 25 minutes over a low heat, or until the duck was warmed through.

As for the potatoes, no real problems there either. You need quite a lot of duck fat when frying, as the potatoes seem to drink it up. Add the parsely and garlic just at the end so as not to lose their flavour and turn the potatoes constantly so they don't burn. 

Maybe I'll give coq au vin a try next!

Recette: Griddled salmon with cheese

While I'm a big fan of salmon, I must admit I don't really know how to make it interesting. I always tend to pop it in a tin foil papillote with some lemon and butter, or soya sauce and ginger if I'm feeling oriental, before forgetting about it for 20 minutes in the oven. While that makes for a perfectly tasty supper, I fancied trying something different with my salmon this time.

Recette: Griddled salmon with cheese

Serves 2 as a main course.

You will need: 2 salmon fillets, 2 thin slices of cheese (Taleggio works well but I opted for Gouda), some fresh basil leaves and 4 slices of prosciutto or parma ham. 

 
Season the salmon with a bit of pepper. There is no need to add salt, as the prosciutto and cheese will do this. Cut the cheese to fit the salmon fillets and place it on top of the fleshy side of the fish. Top the cheese with several fresh basil leaves and wrap the fillets entirely with the prosciutto to make a parcel. 

Heat a griddle pan and cook the parcels for 10 minutes on each side over a medium heat (depending on how well cooked you like your salmon).   

Serve with fresh vegetables (I chose baby carrots and peas) or a salad as this can be quite a rich main course, and a glass of white wine if it's the weekend! 

Autumn salads / Salades d'automne

Don't get me wrong, I love winter food; it sticks to your bones, fills you up and keeps you warm! I'm not ready to give out on summer just yet though. One of the advantages of living in the South of France is that the thermometer is stuck at 24 degrees even though it's October! This doesn't, however, mean that we can cheat the seasons. One look at the market stalls where the tomatoes and aubergines have been replaced by turnips, apples and grapes testifies to an undeniable fact: autumn is here. 

Autumn is my favourite season. I love the colours of the trees, the cooler temperatures mean no more sunburn and I have an excuse to make tasty autumnal dishes like this brie, hazelnut and grape salad.

This idea came to me from a similar salad in the 'October' volume of my Sud Ouest Gourmand collection. I really love this set of cookery books. Not only do they feature seasonal recipies (being based on the months of the year) but they also use ingredients that are normally easy to come by in the area.

Chop up half a block of brie, wash a big bunch of black grapes and cut them in half. Wash your salad leaves (I chose rocket as I like the peppery taste but you can use any seasonal leaves) and mix together in a big serving bowl. Sprinkle over some roasted hazelnuts for a bit of extra protein and a nice crunchy texture. 

The little secret to this recipe is the dressing. As this is quite a sweet salad due to the grapes and the brie can be a bit rich, you need something acidic to cut through the flavours. 

  Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into a little bowl. Add salt and pepper, two teaspoons of balsamic vinegar and 4 teaspoons of olive oil. Whisk together with a fork. Finely dice a shallot and add to the mixture. Drizzle over the salad. 

This dish is enough on its own for two people as a lunchtime meal but if you want to make it a bit more filling serve with a slice or two of country ham. 
  

This dish is easy to make, really tasty and perfectly in harmony with the seasons. What more could you ask for? Maybe seconds!

Recette: Honey and Goat's Cheese Pasties

These little veggie triangles are excellent served alongside drinks or on a bed of rocket as a tasty summer starter. The recipe makes between 8-15 pasties depending on the size of the pastry squares. I'd recommend trying to cut the squares fairly accurately as otherwise the pasties won't be evenly cooked.

You will need:
a packet of ready-made puff pastry
150g goats' cheese log
runny honey
dried thyme
beaten egg yolk (for glazing)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6. Unroll the puff pastry and use a floury rolling pin to roll it out to approx 2mm thickness. This will be much easier if you take the pastry out of the fridge half an hour in advance.


Cut the goat's cheese log into rounds and place a circle in the middle of each pastry square. Drizzle with the runny honey and sprinkle with the dried thyme.


Close up the squares to make triangle shaped pasties (imagine the shape of an envelope). Don't worry if the finished product isn't very neat; a raggedy edge won't take away from the taste!


Glaze the pastries with a little beaten egg yolk and bake for approx 20 minutes or until golden brown.

My greedy little helpers ate half of them before I could take a blog photo

Serve with a sweet white wine such as a Monbazillac and most importantly, enjoy!