For the classic, simple Bretagne ‘Moules Marinière’, the mussels are cooked with white wine and water; I am sure those Bretagne sailors’ wives would have used water only. These days various cooks use cider, beer or even red wine. Add a bouquet garni of bay leaf, parsley, celery stalk, thyme and peppercorns, plus a [...]
Moules Marinière is one of the best-known classic French mussel dishes. The recipe hails from the wives of French sailors living along the northwest coast of Brittany, where most of France’s mussel catch is harvested. It is a typical French provincial bistro dish, in that these Bretagne sailors’ wives could afford to make a [...]
Prunes and apples always team well with pork, so if you prefer, substitute apples for the prunes. For the pork, you can select various cuts, female pork neck, pork scotch, a boned, rolled pork shoulder, or even a pork leg. These cuts are delicious as they are fatty and succulent; the fat runs through the [...]
This is a flavoursome classic Burgundian dish, with red wine playing a major role in the flavour, along with lardons, button mushrooms and tiny onions. The flavour of this dish, like many others, improves when the dish is refrigerated and served the next day. It is traditionally cooked on the stove-top, however, you can also [...]
Pipérade from the Basque* country is made with green or red peppers and pimentos, onions, tomatoes and garlic, slowly cooked together, with beaten egg added at the end and slowly stirred through to cook the eggs; it is usually served with slices of the famous and delicious Jambon de Bayonne, which is similar to prosciutto. [...]
Duck livers are available from your poultry shop or supermarket; I buy mine from my nearby supplier, Luv-a-Duck; they come fresh in large 2kg bags, so I freeze them in small packages of 200 - 300g pouches. You can substitute chicken livers for the duck, if you wish. Interestingly, the chicken livers have a darker [...]
Memories of Gascony is an award-winning cookbook written by three-Michelin starred chef Pierre Koffmann about the provincial cooking of Gascony, in south-west France. I did read it a couple of years ago, I am really enjoying reading it again and seeing how it fits so well within my Cook Real Food Program cooking classes. I [...]
Makes 2 loaves There are many versions of this recipe. Anne Willan, of La Varenne Cooking School in Burgundy, included her pain d’épices in a couple of her many books on French Cuisine, ‘The country cooking of France’ and ‘Real Food’. Recently, in St Jean de Losne, Burgundy, our host cooked her grandmother’s pain d’épices for [...]
Ingredients Makes 300ml 2 large egg yolks 1 clove garlic minced Pinch of saffron threads infused into the lemon juice or olive oil 2tbsp lemon juice, plus extra if needed 250ml sunflower oil 120ml extra virgin olive oil sea salt and white pepper To make the aïoli: In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, [...]
I thought you might like to try this dish now that sorrel is back in season. It looks like a long recipe, but it may be prepared in stages and is really very simple. It is a perfect dish for Spring and Summertime entertaining. Serves 8 8 x 120g ocean trout fillet, sashimi grade, pin [...]
