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

Winter soup / Soupe d'hiver

After catching a mini-winter cold last week, I have to admit that I didn't feel much like spending time in the kitchen. A big thank you to Cheri for making this delicious winter vegetable soup to warm me up and make me feel better. 

A simple and healthy recipe bursting with vitamins and based on good quality, seasonal vegetables: carrots, swede, potatoes and leeks. 

All that was left for me to do was grill and cut up some strips of streaky bacon and sprinkle over some grated Gruyere cheese to serve with this heartwarming winter soup. 

Merci mon coeur ! 

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 One look at the market stalls where the tomatoes and aubergines have been replaced by turnips, apples and grapes testifies to an undeniable fact: autumn is here.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!