The Merry Month of May

Well, this Merry Month of May started off with the coldest spell that I've ever had in my 20 years of living in France (for a spring that is)! 

Yesterday, the Broom and Hawthorne in Bloom had snowflakes dusting the petals. And all the shrubs in the garden had their heads drooping under heavy cristal raindrops.

The beautiful old Hawthorne tree at the bottom of our fields looking like a bridal bouquet

But somehow this does not curb the increbdible joy in the air. Birds twittering away from early morning, the nightlark singing his song when you put on a light in the middle of the night, ants scurrying around, deer grunting and galloping in the fields. 

A lovely lively lushness all around!

And this morning when I started my post, I had a peep at Anali's blog and found this:

"I asked her what her secret was to living to 80 years old and remaining beautiful and young-looking. She told me that she loved the outdoors, and she loved beautiful things. 'I just like looking at beautiful things.'"

  http://analisfirstamendment.blogspot.com/2010/05/just-some-random-pretty.html

Anali again was inspired by this incredible lady, Karen Walrond :
http://www.chookooloonks.com/blog/2010/5/3/random-thoughts-the-kind-of-person-i-am-so-far.html 

And this just made me realise once again how powerful sharing really is! Real sharing - even of little things. And that's why I love sharing with you - especially the 'beautiful things' like the words of the 2 ladies above!

And may the sun of the merry month of May share her rays with us again!

Life is about sharing
Bisous
Lynn

Paris and Lucien and Georges!

A visit to Paris, no matter how quick, always gives me so much energy and really recharge my batteries as was the case last week when we did a very quick 'aller-retour'. The main reason was to see the Lucien Freud exhibition - for those of you planning to come to Paris in the next couple of months, this is an absolute MUST!

But then no visit to the Centre Pompidou goes without either just having a peep from the rooftop terrace with the most exquisite view of  Paris or, if you have a bit of time, lunching at this divine rooftop restaurant called:

GEORGES (Abstraction Surface)

We decided to spoil ourselves and for the starter had 

Foie Gras de Canard for 2 

followed by 
Saint-Jacques (Scallops) tradition Provençale for Olivier and 

Spicy Lobster Pasta for myself! 

Accompanied by  a delicious bottle of Viognier.

Bonheur complet!!

With a ray of sun, a splendid view of Paris rooftops, I shared a delectable moment with the very special man in my life!

 Now all is back to reality and we are steaming into our busy season, so my postings might become a bit more sparse! But please do not give up on me!

I shall try and share with you when I can!!

Incredible view from the terrace

 

Life is about sharing

Bisous

Lynn

GAPERON = Garlic Galore !!

My writer friend Marita, living in the south of France with her froggie husband Alain, wrote in one of her books 'Where the heart is' about Alain making Aïoli and adding even more garlic than what the recipe required.

(http://www.maritavandervyver.info/html/reviews/reviews_eng.html)

Well, on Saturday I had an outing with our local Auvergne 'Slowfood' group and we visited the last 'artisanal' producer of a very local cheese, Gaperon d'Auvergne. (there are of course industrial producers making this cheese with pasturised milk). Gaperon is made of unpasturised cow's milk, garlic and pepper! Alain would've loved this visit!!

Patricia Ribier and her partner peels more than 350 kilograms of garlic per year as this is one of the ingredients, along with pepper, going into this very delicious cheese. You must of course like garlic. The suble flavour when you bite into the Gaperon is a one off expercience!

To obtain this delightful cheese, they use a mix of milk - Beautiful gray-brown 'Brune des Alpes' cows and Black and White Holsteins. This makes for a creamy but not too creamy milk with a high protein content.


After the cream is skimmed off, Patricia puts huge ladles full in thin cotton bags where it is hung for a day or two. Then the subtle process of mixing the garlic an pepper into this creamy cheese. Her very private secret recipe. And then more hanging in a 'sauna' like room untill ready to go off to the markets or to various 'maitre fromager' who order this delicious cheese directly from Patricia

We were treated to Gaperon in various stages of finition and I must say, that it is a difficult choice. A toss-up between the very fresh mixture - almost a creamcheese with the garlic and pepper very present -or the Gaperon that has been stored for 4 months! A divine mixture of mature cheese with the garlic less present!

What heaven it is to live in France!! Do come over for a tasting!!

Life is about sharing
Bisous
Lynn

Easter and the art of sharing joy and sorrow..............

It is not often that we rent the house to a family as a whole, but it happened this easter. I was contacted months ago by a lovely lady wanting to organise a surprise for her mother's 70th Birthday.

As usual this means lots of hard work and organisation and last week I was running around like a mad hatter to finalise everything.

First the children and grandchildren arrived on the gray saturday afternoon and then we had to hide the cars etc as this was a surprise. The whole family (11) hid in the bathroom when the granparents arrived.

What joy on the faces!! Laughter and and........

Saturday night I did a big meal with bobotie and quails and cheese and and with lots of frills and fancies and Pascal from our local café made 2 divine cakes.

On Sunday night instead of the normal 'Easter Lamb' I made them a very perfumed Lamb Curry with Basmati rice and my chocolat/chesnut hearts decorated with porcupine quills. 

Always a winner.

Monday they all lunched at the local café and monday night the parent's friends arrived for another 2 days of fiesta!

But the thing that really made this weekend so intense is that it is the first time this family got together after a very big drama in which they lost 2 small girls in a fire at the grandparents home. As the father of the girls cannot face going back there, they reunited here. The wonderful thing is that this couple who lost their children, faced their pain, and now have a beautiful baby boy. Obviously the center of attraction for all around! 

Being so close to everyone, we totally shared in their pain and in their joy of getting together again. 

And of course wonderful things happens in the kitchen. The sharing of all their stories whilst I'm behind the pots cooking away!

So intense!

And that is what makes life so incredible. 

Sharing sorrow and joy.

Life is about sharing

I am so privileged to share this with you

Bisous

Lynn

Meandre on the Canal du Midi

What a pity that nice things never lasts very long and always comes to an end?

This past weekend we were invited by my dear longtime friend, Olivier Baudry (used to be called Cape Froggy and now Canal Froggy) and his lovely partner Gladys, to navigate with them on the Canal du Midi!

Breaking away for a weekend from our B and B here in the countryside near Vichy is not an easy thing and then we still had to get back quick quick on Sunday for another friend's 50th birthday lunch, cutting this little excursion far too short!!

Well, all I can say is that we were totally spoilt for 2 days. Apart from the wind that did not quite play along, we had an amazing time, taking time seeing the world going by. A rarity for us, always on the run! Beautiful trees with their knobbly root fingers stretching far into the canal lined the stretch we did on this incredible feature, the Midi Canal finished and inaugurated the 15th of May 1681! More that 300 years old.

This all on the beautiful Hotel Barge Alegria (http://www.hotelbargealegria.com) that Olivier bought and converted more than 2 years ago and charters for very small exclusive groups (4 pax max) on this beautiful engineering wonder!

As usual a lot about this engineering feat can be found on my favourite website : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal_du_Midi

 

My Olivier enjoying his coffee next to one of the big portholes in the lounge 

Gladys, Olivier's partner is not only a very smart lady, she is also an amazing chef and if I tell you the menu she prepared for us, you'll all be jealous!

Friday night: Starter - Goat cheese sprinkled with 'herbes de provence' on bread roasted under the grill, served with a fresh salad AND goat cheese icecream! Yes! This absolutely divine.

Main course - Filet Mignon with a Coffee sauce! YES! and the recipe will follow below, served with endives braised in an orange sauce

Dessert - Coconut Flans (steamed in a pot and not done in the over. I must still get this recipe though!)

Saturday lunch:

Gladys made a quick and easy mango achard that was gobbled up as a starter, then delicious pan fried prawns served with a creamy garlic, onion and lemon-grass sauce on basmati rice cooked to perfection and to end this lovely lunch, a very easy thin apple tart. (Roll out your puff pastry in a round tart tin, spread cooked condensed milk mixed with salt on the bottom - in France we get what they call 'Confiture de lait au beurre salée!' , arrange your thinly sliced apples on top and bake it in the oven until done - about 15 - 20 minutes! Quick and easy and DELICIOUS!)

Saturday night I had another belated birthday dinner!! So spoilt!!! (but maybe I deserved it!)

After a profusion of little snacks accompanied with an Organic Champagne produced by a friend's aunt, Gladys served us a local dish, a Bull Stew! (Gardiane de Taureau) Very much like a bourguignonne, the bull meat is macerated in red wine with herbs for a couple of hours and then slowly simmered for some more hours and served with simply boiled potatoes. Olivier then spoilt us even further by taking out one of his precious bottles of South African redwine - a Rust en Vrede Cabernet Sauvignon.

Manoeuvring through the narrowest bridge at Capestang

What great hosts, animated conversations, splendid meals all served with perfectly matched wines. Olivier has done a wonderful job finding great local producers. Some of them they also visit with their guests whilst doing their excursions on the Canal. 

Bravo to our Captain Olivier (who navigated through one of the narrowest  bridges on the canal with such style) And his lovely Gladys for her amazing welcome and great culinary skills (and in a small scully one must know what to do to)! A moment to savour!
Life's about Sharing
Bisous
Lynn
ps if this adventure tempts you, do not hesitate to contact Olivier as he has special prices up his sleeve!! email: olibaudry@aol.com

Gladys manoeuvring in her scully

And now for the filet mignon (pork fillet) with coffee sauce :

Roll your filet mignon in grinded coffee beans with pepper added.

Brown it in a hot pan and before putting it aside to finish the cooking in the oven (about 15 minutes), scrape off the coffee bean mixture into the pan.

Add a small glass of Cognac to this mixture in the pan and flame it. Add a glass of white wine and simmer for a while. Add cream and just before serving, add a small cup of coffee (espresso)! Absolutely sumptuous

Laksa via Mansell!

For a while now I  saw an old friend Mansell, talking on facebook about Laksa. So to curb my curiosity and ignorance, I jumped on my favourite ecological research engine ECOSIA and found the following on another favourite website, wikipedia!


'Laksa is a popular spicy noodle soup from Peranakan culture also known as Baba and Nyonya, which is a merger of Chinese and Malay elements found in Malaysia and Singapore, and to a lesser extent Indonesia. 
Origin - The origin of the name "laksa" is unclear. One theory^[1] traces it back to Hindi/Persian lakhshah, referring to a type of vermicelli. It has also been suggested^[2] that "laksa" may derive from the Chinese word "la sha" (辣沙; pronounced "latsa" in Cantonese), meaning "spicy sand" due to the ground dried prawns which gives a sandy or gritty texture to the sauce. The last theory^[3] is that the name comes from the similar sounding word "dirty" in Hokkien due to its appearance. 
Types of laksa  - The term "laksa" is used generally to describe two different basic types of noodle soup dishes: curry laksa and asam laksa. 

Curry laksa is a coconut curry soup with noodles, while asam laksa is a sour fish soup with noodles. Usually, thick rice noodles also known as laksa noodles are preferred, although thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon or mee hoon) is also common and some variants use other types.

Asam laksa is a sour fish-based soup. Asam (or asam jawa) is the Malay word for tamarind, which is commonly used to give the stock its sour flavor. It is also common to use "asam keping" also known as "asam gelugor", dried slices of tamarind fruit, for added sourness. Modern Malay spelling is asam, though the spelling assam is still frequently used. ' 

(Thanks to this wonderful source : WIKIPEDIA!! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laksa - for more info on all the different kinds of Laksa!)

And then, very kindly, Mansell sent me his favourite Chicken Laksa recipe! Thank you Mansell!

Mansell's FAVOURITE CHICKEN LAKSA - courtesy Jacoba Louw
 

Ingredients for the spicy paste – you can make this a few days before the big day
• 3 long fat stalks of lemon grass, use only the tender hearts and reserving the rest of the stalks for another use
• 4 hot red chillies, don’t use the stem (if you have a sensitive palate, remove the seeds or some of them)
• 4 slices of galangal – if you can’t find fresh galangal and you should, use fresh ginger, peel it and grate on a fine grate
• 1 thumb-size lump of ginger, peeled and grated finely
• 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
• 3 shallots, peeled and chopped finely
• 3 large cloves garlic, peeled and pureed
• 4 tablespoons peanut oil
• 125 ml fresh coriander leaves (maybe you know it as cilantro), chopped
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground turmeric (always use fresh spices – especially turmeric_
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 125 ml tamarind paste
 

Method
• Stick the whole lot into your blender or food processor – pop in the lemon grass hearts, the chillies, the galangal and ginger, the shrimp paste, the shallots, the garlic and the oil first and the process until it’s a speckled mush.
• Add the coriander, the turmeric, the sugar and the tamarind paste and blend at the highest speed until it is a colourful but smooth paste.
• Scoop into a glass jar and refrigerate until you're ready to use it – it will stain plastic.
 

THE NEXT BIT NOODLES AND CHICKEN
125 g noodles - use thick or thin rice (I rather like the thin rice noodles, but it’s a matter of taste) wheat or bean-thread
800t organic cooked chicken (gently steamed chicken breasts work the best because it’s juicy and tasty)
Cook the noodles according to package directions, rinse, drain and set aside.
Shred the chicken into bite sized pieces – some people cut it into cubes but I like it to have a natural feel – it’s a matter of choice.
 

FINALLY THE LIQUID
• 2 Tablespoons peanut oil
• 250 g of the prepared spice paste
• 800 ml plus fresh, homemade chicken stock – make sure you’ve sieved out all the bits, you’re only looking for the clear, exquisitely flavoured stock
• 125 ml fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 125 ml Asian basil (this is also known as the laksa leaf), chopped
• 125 ml nam pla or any other good quality fish sauce
• 400 ml good quality coconut milk – look at the expiry date on the tin – it must not be dated otherwise you will have on solid block of something indescribable
Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat and then stir in the paste gently – continue stirring until it is a little browned but take care that you don’t burn it – this should take about 3 minutes.
Pour in the chicken stock and then bring to a boil, reduce the heat, stir in herbs and fish sauce and simmer for about 5 minutes.
When you're ready to begin assembly, stir in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer.
 

THE GARNISHES – YOU CAN USE WHAT YOU LIKE HERE – I LIKE TO OVERDO IT
• Crisp bean sprouts – get fine ones – there’s nothing worse than a hard bit in a laksa
• Asian basil – finely ripped or chopped
• Sambal of your choice
• Garlic-chilli type spicy hot sauce
• Preserved carrots
• Julienned cucumber
• Preserved ginger
 

TO MAKE
• Divide the noodles among your guest’s bowls – use big ones, small ones are ludicrous.
• Arrange the chicken over the noodles
• Pour the liquid over all of them
• Arrange the garnishes on top or pass them separately – I prefer the latter 

Now all of you, how about a great Laksa dish this weekend!
Life's about sharing
Bisous
Lynn

Sharing of another kind!! Thanks Neeta!!!

We're we live in the heart of the French countryside, the postperson drives up our little alley - winter, summer, spring, fall, rain and even try in knee deep snow! And this is a highlight of my day! Am always hoping to get a long letter with exotic stamps and beautiful handwritten prose like in the good old days! A very rare thing these days!

But last week, I received a very unexpected parcel......... beautiful striped boxes filled with Neeta's home made wafers, special organic sauces and wonderful sandalwood soaps!

AND WHAT JOY!!!!

 A real goodies parcel filled with love from Neeta!

http://www.neetashealthyplate.com/

Wrapped in red tissue paper was the most delectable delicate wafers of zuccini/flax/almonds that I shared with local French friends and they were absolutely amazed :

Neeta writing about her treats: 'I made those - zucchini/flax/almond and onion/flax/sunflower seeds - wafer thin Crackers in my dehydrator, I have a 9 tray Excalibur which is one of the best things I've ever bought apart from my Vitamix blender :-)
I made the fruit paper in the dehydrator too....the almond as well as chocolate butters were made in the food processor....
Very few people have dehydrators, so I'm wondering how useful the Cracker recipes would be to your readers? Let me know if you'd still like it though, I'll definitely send it to you!'

I just got this info from my friend Kate - re dehydrators :

'You can use a very, very low oven as a dehydrator. I have a friend in London who has a dehydrator - she is cœliac so most sweets and snacks are out of bounds for her, but before she got the dehydrator she did the same thing in a really low oven overnight - like 50C.

One of her best snacks was fruit yoghurt leathers - mix fresh fruit (I like berries best) with a good thick organic yoghurt, spread in a thin layer on a non-stick sheet and leave in dehydrator or oven overnight then cut into strips or squares and dry a bit more. delicious!' THANKS KATE!!!

So all of you, if you want those recipes, look at Neeta's website and pester her for the recipes!

http://www.neetashealthyplate.com/

Also in this great box was handmade mini orange and chocolate shortbread biscuits that I saw very few of as my dear man Olivier gobbled them all up in a jiffy.

I did mange to hide the smoked Irish smoked oatcakes and have them at night in my kitchen whilst preparing my dinners for our guest! I know selfish me but hey, have the right sometimes!!

So dear readers, this was just a quick one to say that before I thought life's about sharing and now I KNOW it is!

Bisous from a sunny frogland

Lynn