Samedi 14 après vendredi 13!!!

Bon - Friday the 13th I did my first 'Table d'hôte' since my return from South Africa. I still felt like sitting on a beach, sipping chardonnay and watching a delicious sunset over the ocean but hey, a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

So I plopped some pumpkins in the pot with garlic and onions and did a very thick brothy pumpkin soup dotted with my most favourite black pepper from Cameroon (Penja) and some Ina Paarman (this is for my SA friend's) rosemary and lemon spice.

This was followed by a kind of Pork Colombo with Basmati rice, cheese from our beautiful Auvergne region and then I really improvised a stunning dessert - sautéed apples in salted butter with brown sugar, some cranberries and pecan nuts scooped into a philo cone!

Not too bad after a lazy -almost 3 weeks in Africa!

So tonight 14th, no table d'hôte and Olivier said to me, why do you not do a blog about the 'table', your recipes and just well, whatever you feel like telling! And eureka, we did this thing on Google blogger and from now on you'll have to put up with my yacking away about all and nothing and food and life in Frogland and and and.........

Before I bore you too much, I shall get some old pics on and a couple of things like my jams in case I do not have time to liven up your day (or week) with some chattering from my dear Frogland.

Also, just to say that I cannot come close to Pam ,the Gypsy Chef's blog, or Neeta doing a wonderful thing on healthy eating.
This is just about sharing the things I love : Food, Wine, France (and my french husband Olivier of course)! Bisous
ps and you'll have to put up with my not perfect written English. Do not forget that I am actually a 'Boerin' living in French and trying to write in INGLISH!!


White pepper from Penja -Info found on this website - http://www.gourmetstore.be/en/shop-produits/poivre-penja.asp

		The pearl from paradise, as it was called by the Venetians, was for a long time a rare and expensive spice. Nowadays it has become the most widespread spice in the world. There’s however one pepper that hardly anyone knows: the white pepper of the Penja valley in Cameroon. It’s rareness, origin and perfume makes it one of the most unique peppers. It is sought after by the most distinguished chefs and gourmets. The taste of the Penja pepper is not comparable to any other pepper. It has a very delicate perfume, that is soft and refined, which goes together with a flavoursome warmth, more than any other spice. It starts by elegantly delighting the nostrils and brings out a warm, round, insisting feeling. Penja pepper complements the musked savours of pork, gives vigour to beef, accentuates the taste of eggs and raises the delicacy of fish preparations. The perfumers classify the Penja pepper into the family of the “fresh spices”. Not very volatile, this pepper has a particularly dry and rich smell. Strong and exquisite at the same time, the white Penja pepper is contradictory with its smooth and savage taste. Its roundness overrides the spiciness and its powerful, woody, amber aromas do not mask its fineness. Every pepper in the world comes from the pepper plant, a giant creeper called piper nigrum, originally from the humid Monsoon forests of India. Its round shaped berries grow in clumps, similar to the redcurrant. These same berries can be consumed in 4 different colours: green, black, red or white.