Poulet Vallée d’Auge – chicken braised with onions, leeks, apples, mushrooms, crème fraiche and calvados

This is a classic, regional, warming, hearty braise originating in Normandy, France, the region famous for its dairy produce, the creams, butters and cheeses, such as Camembert, and apples and Calvados. Chicken and apple is a delicious, yet uncommon match. The chicken is braised with the onions, leeks and mushrooms, the apples give a light [...]

By |2020-09-01T13:44:24+10:00August 30th, 2020|Apples, Braising, Chicken, Cook Real Food, Cook Real Food, Food, French Cooking Classes, French food, French Regional Cooking, Healthy Family Meals, Low Carb, Normandy, Normandy, Recipes|Comments Off on Poulet Vallée d’Auge – chicken braised with onions, leeks, apples, mushrooms, crème fraiche and calvados

The tunnel at Pouilly-en-Auxois and the beginning of the Canal de Bourgogne

We are having a sensational trip along this glorious canal. Every-day is blue skies and sunshine and something new to see. For the past two days we climbed a staircase of 36 locks, each about 500m apart so it was busy and tiring getting up and down to do the ropes to secure the barge [...]

By |2020-07-06T17:40:38+10:00July 6th, 2020|Barging on the Betty B, Burgundy, Canal de Bourgogne, Culinary Travel, Culinary writing, France, France - wine, France and cooking, French food, French food, Musings|Comments Off on The tunnel at Pouilly-en-Auxois and the beginning of the Canal de Bourgogne

Ratatouille à la Provençal

This vegetable dish combines the colours and the ingredients of Southern France. The word Ratatouille, meaning tossed or tumbled together, has gone into the French language to mean to get oneself into a mess. Quelle ratatouille...what a mess! Serves 4 Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, chopped 2 small eggplant, [...]

Duck liver pâté

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 [...]

Pain d’épices – French honey spiced bread

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 [...]

By |2018-12-03T11:34:11+11:00December 3rd, 2018|Breads, Cakes, Cooking classes, Food, Food - spices, French Cooking Classes, French food, French food, French Odyssey cooking class, loaves, Recipes, slices|Comments Off on Pain d’épices – French honey spiced bread

Le 1131 at L’Abbaye de la Bussière – dinner Sunday 21st July 2018

On the recommendation of some recent cooking school clients, we were looking forward to going to this lovely restaurant for dinner.  Neville had said it was in the Realis et Châteaux group but did not mention it had a Michelin star.  He did say it was just a short walk from the Canal de Bourgogne, [...]

By |2018-08-02T17:57:01+10:00August 2nd, 2018|Barging on the Betty B, Burgundy, Canal de Bourgogne, Culinary Travel, Culinary writing, Food, France, France - wine, France and cooking, French food, French food, French wine, L'Abbaye de la Bussiere, Restaurants, Travel|Comments Off on Le 1131 at L’Abbaye de la Bussière – dinner Sunday 21st July 2018

Brandade de Morue au Gratin made with the addition of potatoes

Servings: 8 - 10 This Provençal dish known as Brandade De Morue is a whipped salt cod gratin; it is a great example of how to elevate modest ingredients like salt cod and potatoes, by whipping them with milk, olive oil and garlic until luxuriously silky. This dish is usually served as an hors d’oeuvre [...]

By |2018-04-04T15:57:24+10:00April 4th, 2018|Brandade de Morue, Food, French food, French food, Recipes, Salt cod|Comments Off on Brandade de Morue au Gratin made with the addition of potatoes
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