A big thank you to my good friend for inviting Cheri and I to dinner last Saturday. After a week's recuperation where I did little else than change my ice packs and mope around in the thirty degree heat (note to self: listen to the dentist when she tells you not to get teeth taken out over summer) I was both excited and apprehensive at the thought of my first real meal in a week as my poor mouth was still a bit tender and there are quite a lot of restrictions as to what you can and can't eat post-operation.
I needn't have been worried as ma copine had thought of everything! For nibbles we had ripe melon from the garden cut into tiny pieces that just melted in the mouth and some crabsticks with a homemade chive and cream dip. I must say at this point that crabsticks are one of my guilty pleasures as I know there is loads of rubbish in them but I just can't help myself, I love them!
Starter was a nice creamy vegetable soup, admittedly not a seasonal choice as it is pretty warm outside but it felt so good just sliding down with no chewing required.
Main course arrived and I was ecstatic to see we were eating some meat as this is one if the things I missed over the week. Lots of things can be mixed and liquidised to be suitable for post dental surgery diets but meat is just not one of them. I did buy some rilletes which filled a bit of the meaty void but nothing could compare to the delicious sausage meat casserole that was set down before me. Anyone who knows me well knows I am a fan of sausage in all its forms and so there couldn't really have been a more welcome ingredient! Combined with courgettes and tomatoes from the garden, slowly stewed until they became almost melting, this is a perfect summer dish. Only regret is that the sausage meat is a bit salty when prepared like this as it breaks down during the long cooking time. As a helpful gourmande I advised mon ami to put a raw potato cut in half in to the casserole dish the next time as this would absorb the extra salt.
Dessert didn't disappoint either. My mate excelled herself and dished up a bowl of egg custard, which I absolutely LOVE, served with homemade vanilla cream. This was always my favourite food as a baby and then even as a teenager I would sometimes allow myself to buy a pot of egg custard with rice baby food..Mmmm heaven!
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to document my return to real eating as the anaeasthetic has made me a bit dozy this week and I forgot it.
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Friday, 27 July 2012
Little greedy pleasures / Petits plaisirs gourmands
After having my wisdom teeth out this week, my daily diet has been reduced to mashed potatoes with gravy, vanilla ice cream and the French equivalent of Yop. For a self-confessed gourmande, I'm sure you can understand that not being able to eat proper food is even more painful than having my actual teeth pulled. Today is the first day since the surgery that I've felt like leaving the house and I decided to celebrate by indulging in some greedy therapy. Good enough to eat!
The confiture maison (home-made jam) candle has a nostalgic smell that makes me think of home. Just need a cup of tea and some warm jammy toast to go with it when I've recovered...
After coming across Miam Paris online, I have become a fan of greedy jewellery and was thus delighted to find out that one of the shops in Saintes has a whole collection! I couldn't resist this strawberry keyring that makes me feel all summery. Almost as good as the real thing.
Living in the town center can have its advantages but the smell of cigarette smoke and car exhaust fumes wafting in from the street outside are not one of them. That is why I have become a fan of scented room sprays, with the condition of course that they make me feel happy and that they last a long time. Otherwise it's a bit of a rip-off. I really like this collection from 'Durance', they do loads of different scents and have just brought out this sorbet collection for summer. After hesitating between raspberry and mint or peach and basil, I gave in to the exotic smell of peaches (the minty after-smell left behind with the former was a bit strong, dommage!)
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| Peach and Basil Room Spray, Durance / Confiture Candle, Durance / Strawberry key chain |
The confiture maison (home-made jam) candle has a nostalgic smell that makes me think of home. Just need a cup of tea and some warm jammy toast to go with it when I've recovered...
After coming across Miam Paris online, I have become a fan of greedy jewellery and was thus delighted to find out that one of the shops in Saintes has a whole collection! I couldn't resist this strawberry keyring that makes me feel all summery. Almost as good as the real thing.
 |
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| Which one's the fake? |
Living in the town center can have its advantages but the smell of cigarette smoke and car exhaust fumes wafting in from the street outside are not one of them. That is why I have become a fan of scented room sprays, with the condition of course that they make me feel happy and that they last a long time. Otherwise it's a bit of a rip-off. I really like this collection from 'Durance', they do loads of different scents and have just brought out this sorbet collection for summer. After hesitating between raspberry and mint or peach and basil, I gave in to the exotic smell of peaches (the minty after-smell left behind with the former was a bit strong, dommage!)
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Recette: Scallops in Champagne Sauce
Finally found the photos I took of the New Year’s meal I made for Chéri! And as not a meal can be blogged without images, of course, I can also finally share this delicious and festive recipe taken from a range of seasonal cookbooks brought out by Sud Ouest newspaper. Each month takes into account the ingredients which are in season in the South West of France and gives you plenty of greedy ideas on how best to use them. This one comes from December!
Scallops in Champagne Sauce (serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a starter)
You will need:
12 large scallops in their shells
1 tsp olive oil
150ml champagne
60ml double cream
2 tsp fish roe e.g. salmon or cod
sprigs of dill
salt, white pepper, ground black pepper
Open the scallop shells and remove the scallops. Separate the scallop from the coral and discard the corals. Season the scallops. Keep the 4 best shells and carefully wash them. Put to one side.
Heat the oven to 180C/gas 6. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the scallops for 1min on each side. Share between the 4 shells and bake in the oven for 4min on a baking tray.
During this time, bring the champagne to a simmer and add the double cream. Season with salt and the white pepper. Simmer for 2min, remove from the heat.
Sprinkle sea salt on to 2 plates, remove the scallops from the oven and lay them on the sea salt.
Blend the champagne sauce with a hand mixer to make a nice mousse and share this sauce between the shells. Add the salmon roe and decorate with the sprigs of dill. Sprinkle with black pepper before serving with a crisp rocket salad.
1 tsp olive oil
150ml champagne
60ml double cream
2 tsp fish roe e.g. salmon or cod
sprigs of dill
salt, white pepper, ground black pepper
Open the scallop shells and remove the scallops. Separate the scallop from the coral and discard the corals. Season the scallops. Keep the 4 best shells and carefully wash them. Put to one side.
Heat the oven to 180C/gas 6. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a high heat and fry the scallops for 1min on each side. Share between the 4 shells and bake in the oven for 4min on a baking tray.
During this time, bring the champagne to a simmer and add the double cream. Season with salt and the white pepper. Simmer for 2min, remove from the heat.
Sprinkle sea salt on to 2 plates, remove the scallops from the oven and lay them on the sea salt.
Blend the champagne sauce with a hand mixer to make a nice mousse and share this sauce between the shells. Add the salmon roe and decorate with the sprigs of dill. Sprinkle with black pepper before serving with a crisp rocket salad.
Greedy Notes: Buy the biggest and freshest scallops you can afford from the fishmonger. They are the key to the recipe and are really worth the money. However, if you are on a tight budget, try swapping the champagne (which can be very overpriced in the UK) for Spanish cava or Italian prosecco, both of which will create the same effect while being kinder on the purse-strings.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Greedy Guide to Cordial
Much more popular in France than back in the UK, cordial (sirop to the French) has taken the place of high juice and squash in my everyday drinking habits. Originally this was more of a forced change as squash does simply does not seem to exist in the supermarket. To get my hands on some I would need to make a costly detour to the English shop in Saintes town centre, a guilty pleasure my purse cannot afford! However, as with many of the changes I have made since moving to France, what starts out as bedrudgement often leads to new discoveries and greedy pleasures, and cordial has definitely become one of these fetishes.
Existing in an impressive range of flavours from the traditional lemon, mint or strawberry, through to more bizarre flavours like bubblegum or basil, cordial in France is most commonly diluted in water and is actually more cost-effective than squash as a little goes a long way! Mixing with lemonade is also popular especially with kids; this is known as a 'diablo' and is a bit like ordering a lime or blackcurrent and soda in a pub. The French also add cordial to their beers, most commonly lemon and peach, and I was even introduced by a colleague to cordial diltued in milk: mint flavour is surprisingly tasty and very refreshing in summer.Cordials can be used both hot and cold, which also means they can be using in the kitchen to experiment with unusual flavours or bring an intense burst of colour to a dish.
Try marinating prawns in banana cordial before pan-frying, adding a bit of acidity to red meat dishes with a raspberry cordial, or even bringing a bit of zing to tomato soup with a ginger cordial.
Greedy Note: Sugar-free cordial does exist, but I find the flavours less intense and oddly sweeter than the pure sugar alternative.
Monin Sirops
Moulin de Valdonne
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Salon de la Gastronomie: La Rochelle
There's something you should know about me: some people like spending Sunday afternoons going for a brisk walk, snoozing in the sunshine, or catching up on telly. I, on the other hand, am a fan of la salon de la gastronomie, or in stark British terms, the food fair.
Having already visited several salons in smaller towns like Pons and Saintes, I was full of high hopes for the La Rochelle fair, La Rochelle being the capital of Charente-Maritime and all. Chéri and I were not to be disappointed. The impressive marquee boasted over 50 stands, offering a diverse selection of high-quality products ranging from Corsican saucisson (which we had the chance to taste while on holiday last year and which I can say is delicious!) to home-made sweets of all flavours, passing by sumptuous olives and, of course, the obligatory coup de champagne.
After snaking around the marquee no less than three times, making the most of the generous free samples, Chéri tactfully made the remark that we'd have to decide on what to buy as my suggestion of buying a bit of everything had evidently not had the desired effect. So, after careful consideration, we decided on champagne from a local distributor, a jar of cheese-stuffed sweet peppers to accompany the champagne for the apéritif, several saucissons (Chéri's guilty pleasure), and finally (after a brief hesitation over the macaroons) a selection of the home-made cookies.
Purchases made, it was with bellies full and wallets empty that Chéri and I left La Rochelle, promising each other that next time we'd resist temptation.
Having already visited several salons in smaller towns like Pons and Saintes, I was full of high hopes for the La Rochelle fair, La Rochelle being the capital of Charente-Maritime and all. Chéri and I were not to be disappointed. The impressive marquee boasted over 50 stands, offering a diverse selection of high-quality products ranging from Corsican saucisson (which we had the chance to taste while on holiday last year and which I can say is delicious!) to home-made sweets of all flavours, passing by sumptuous olives and, of course, the obligatory coup de champagne.
After snaking around the marquee no less than three times, making the most of the generous free samples, Chéri tactfully made the remark that we'd have to decide on what to buy as my suggestion of buying a bit of everything had evidently not had the desired effect. So, after careful consideration, we decided on champagne from a local distributor, a jar of cheese-stuffed sweet peppers to accompany the champagne for the apéritif, several saucissons (Chéri's guilty pleasure), and finally (after a brief hesitation over the macaroons) a selection of the home-made cookies.
Purchases made, it was with bellies full and wallets empty that Chéri and I left La Rochelle, promising each other that next time we'd resist temptation.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Miam Paris: Good enough to eat
This clever girl makes some deliciously decadent jewellery, perfect for greedy gourmandes like me. And even better, her sugary creations are not outrageously priced, meaning that the only problem will be deciding which one comes top of my Christmas list?
Will it be the mouth-watering macaron pendant?
Or the undeniably French pain au chocolat ring?
Not to mention the tantalising hot-dog earrings?
Oh no, I hadn't seen the madeleine necklace!
Oh what the hell, at these prices I'm asking Santa for all four!
http://miam-paris.blogspot.com/
Will it be the mouth-watering macaron pendant?
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| 21€ |
Or the undeniably French pain au chocolat ring?
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| 16€ |
Not to mention the tantalising hot-dog earrings?
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| 26€ |
Oh what the hell, at these prices I'm asking Santa for all four!
http://miam-paris.blogspot.com/
Coup de coeur: Au coin des Saveurs
So when Chéri's birthday fell on a Monday (and not the dreaded Sunday!) I thought we'd have no problems finding somewhere to celebrate in tête à tête over a glass of champagne and a good meal.
Rule number two: nowhere is open on a Monday evening either.
After doing the rounds of all the restaurants we knew, only to be greeted by 'Fermé le lundi soir' we were almost about to give up and go to Macdo when I remembered one of the girls at work telling me about a little restaurant on the quayside: Au Coin des Saveurs. It couldn't hurt to try?
What admittedly started out as a last resort turned out to be a charming restaurant overlooking the River Charente. The waitress, efficient and friendly, showed us to our table in the intimate dining room and brought us two delicious champagne cocktails (Chéri blackcurrent, me raspberry).
We opted for the menu at 26 euros and the meal that followed was gourmand and well presented, exceeding all of our expectations. The crab-based starter was fresh with an interesting mix of flavours, while not too over-powering, thus letting me fully enjoy the main course of duck breast with a raisin and apple chutney, which Chéri and I both found delicious and perfectly cooked. Dessert was equally attractively presented and bursting with flavour: we opted for the strawberries presented three ways, perhaps in an attempt to prolong the last few warm summer evenings.
Our stomachs (and hearts) full, we stepped out of the restaurant only to be greeted by the moonlight dancing over the Charente...Joyeux Anniversaire Chéri!
Address: 36 Quai del'Yser, 17100 SAINTES
Budget: 25-35€
Greedy rating: 4 spoons
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