Yesterday we visited the market in Bourganeuf, which – thankfully – had a little more produce then the previous two markets. We had quite a large group so making decisions is always a little bit harder when there are 8 people with opinions… lol… But Jan-Willem was to be the chef of the day, so he had the final say in what we were gonna buy. The idea was to check what produce was available and with a reasonable price, buy that produce and in the afternoon come up with a menu.
 Busy cutting We have a large white board where the ideas are written down and once we all agree that is what we are going to make; we create a mise en place list and tasks are being divided among whoever wants to help in the kitchen that particular day. Not everyone is cooking every day; there are other activities being offered, so there are also people who prefer to go painting some days and work in the kitchen another day. So that means that the kitchencrew varies. Which is fine but it can be a little messy and unorganized as not everyone has cooking experience, but it makes it fun at the same time.
We ended up with a menu that went something like this:
 Antipasti the french way (we had rillette, baked terrine of duck, tomatoes with mozarella and basil and grilled veggies)
Salmon tartar with lemon mayonaise and a sort of pesto (I ended up making it with salad (initially the idea was to make rocketpesto, but we forgot to buy rocket)
With a piece of Conquer eel
Roasted chicken with home made french fries, fresh green peas steamed with sjallots and saladhearts
Clafoutis with strawberries and mango
The chicken was from a local farm so a really good one and ofcourse; who does not like good fries…
The group of people that had to be fed keeps growing as a few family members also arrived, so in total we had 16 people at the table.
I was not too impressed with the fish; really too much bones and not enough flesh. So as good as the shark was the day before, as bad as the eel was… O well, it can’t all be perfect right?
 Steamed green peas with sjalots and saladhearts Tonight there is going to be an additional 6 people that come for a table d’hote (basically it’s paying customers) which makes it kind of scary, but also fun to be cooking for “real” customers…. We’ll see how that turns out!! I’ll keep you posted!
 Checking to see if the fish is fresh
 Fresh shark (yes, that is me and Mathijs) I apologize for all the french people out here for not spelling the above title correctly but it kind of sums up what we are doing here perfectly. I was planning on posting something here yesterday but…. unfortunately the internet connection was lost. The wifi was connected only the day before yesterday and we are sort of in the middle of nowhere (biggest places Gueret is 20 km from here and Limoges is I think about 80 km so not exactly close) so any regular connection is not existing. Rob had a special antenna placed so there is at least a better internet connection then via a telephone line, but it’s still a bit shaky..But if you can read this; that means we had a connection plus it has its charms to be out in the country right?
Yesterday we had planned to go to the market in one of the little places around here but one of the markets was not there and the other was so small that we only bought some goatcheese and nothing else. So we ended up going to the Carrefour again.
We bought loads of fresh produce and then once back we had to come up with a menu to make.
 Smoked shark with rocket and lemon mayonaise The menu for yesterday was as follows:
Soup of roasted peppers with creme fraiche and basil
Smoked shark with rocket and lemon mayonaise
Beefstew with red cabbage, pear and mashed potatoes
Pannacotta with mango
Now I don’t know about you guys but I had never had shark before (called saumonette in french and apparently it is sold as sea-eel in some countries)
and I totally totally loved it.
It was first rubbed in seasalt and left to rest for about 30 minutes, cut into portions and patted dry with kitchen towel. Then it was put into the big green egg with Jack Daniels wood for smoking…
Absolutely delicious; the lemon mayonaise it simple. Fresh mayonaise, with some lemon zest and about the juice of half a lemon and you’re good to go. The french mayonaise is quite good, so you can use that as a base or simply make fresh mayonaise from scratch.
The beefstew was maybe my favorite…. We used a large piece of beef (I think it was 2 kilo in total but then we are with 12 people) and first removed the tendons where necessary. The beef (at roomtemperature) was then marinated for about 30 minutes at least in red wine. Briefly sauteed in various portions (if you put all the beef in a pan at the same time, you end up cooking it, instead of frying it. That is not what you want!) and then we put it in the oven with all the marinate. The beef was seasoned with salt and pepper during the sautee part. We added some whole cloves of garlic (including the skin), onion and a little later in the process some mushrooms and crispy bacon bits. In total it simmered in the oven for about 2 hours (in a crockpot) but just check when the beef is done, as you do not want to overcook it.
I seriously think it was the best stew I have ever had and combined with the red cabbage and mashed potatoes it was a delicious meal.
The pannacotta was just big enough. The previous day we had made two cakes (one lemon and one chocolate ) and while delicious it was a bit tooo much after a rather heavy meal! So the pannacotta was a better portion and delicious as well. As a base for the pannacotta I used this recipe and then just substitued the cranberries for the mango. The sugar got reduced to 90 gr (for 3 portions of the recipe) and I mashed some of the leftover mangoes into the cream before pouring into their forms.
 Beef stew After such a meal it was time for some of us (…) to stretch their legs in a battle of tabletennis.And did I already show you our gorgeous sleeping room, which is in an old cowstable and one of the best things is that – while it is pitch dark inside with no windows – it is fabulously cool!! Totally love that… plus… we have no mosquitos!!
 Our stable room!
 Views from Ahun I told you right, that I would be very soon off to France to enjoy a week of cooking..? It’s been busy up till now and I had wanted to complete the Daring Bakers too as I totally love the recipe but with everything going on these days it’s hard to complete anything. So it does come at a fairly good time that we can relax here in France.
We’ve already done loads of cooking with Rob from Kookstudio Amsterdam and he and his wife have started a cooking/creative venture here in France too. They are situated in a very small town called Ahun, which is about 950 km drive from where Tom and I live. The area is absolutely beautiful and you wouldn’t believe how quiet it is here (ok, except for the occassional cow…They bought this place about 5 years ago when it was complete rundown and have managed to make a couple of gorgeous rooms, an outdoor kitchen and still give it the feeling of an authentic french place (with lots of brocante that is used throughout the in- and exterior.)
 Painting by the river Apart from cooking you can also learn how to sculpt with stone and get painting lessons from an authentic artist. I am really not into sculpting or painting, but if you are into it; the area is beautiful and apparently the painting lessons are real fun or so I’ve been told.
We’ve arrived here on saturday while most of the group arrived on sunday, but it gave me the time to take photos of a few of the rooms before they were occupied… We’re actually sleeping in the former cowstable..They’ve really managed to make it look like a very cosy bedroom!
There is lots of other stuff planned for the rest of the week, so I am sure you will be hearing more of me in the days to come. Wifi was installed here today, (yes, hot of the press!)
Today is a day when there is no market in the area, so we went to the carefour for groceries and based on the ingredients we found we have come up with dinner for tonight which you will hear about tomorrow.
 Outdoors kitchen area That is the whole idea anyway during the entire week; to try and create a meal based on the ingredients we will find at the local markets. I think probably we will take turns in being the one deciding on the menu and if all goes well, we will actually also be getting a live rooster and duck to…. eh… prepare… if you know what I mean. I am not sure yet, if I will be able to go through the motions with that although I have done it before, but well, it’s different with live animals! All in all, it’s gonna be a fun week and I will be posting more. For now it’s time to go back and check on dinner for tonight. It’s sort of unnerving if you have to suddenly cook from scratch for 12 people! (ok, with loads of help, but still….)
O and that gorgeous red cat is Fritz….. Isn’t he cute??
 Almond nut butter I am nuts about nuts… Love them all, although I have a slight allergy for them. Ever heard of the most common allergy which is apple, raisins and walnuts? Well, I have it.. Really nothing serious; but whenever I eat a raw apple or walnut (once used in something I’m fine) my throat, ears and chin start to itch and if I make the mistake of touching my eyes before I wash my hands…. the fluids in my eyes start to swell up making me look like something from outer space..I’ve only had that once but it was not a pretty sight! Ever since I make double sure to wash my hands immediately after eating an apple. Yes, I still eat them. I like them too much and the itching is something that passes quickly.
Lately though I have noticed that the allergy seems to have spread to other nuts besides walnuts… Hmm…. I’ve always thought I wasn’t “made” properly.. too many weird allergies, but thankfully nothing all too serious. So… I was quite happy to read about the challenge for the Daring Cooks for this month.
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.
 Almonds When I was reading through our various options for the recipes I really wanted to make the Asian salad as that just sounded perfectly for the current hot weather, but… Tom didn’t feel like eating any salad. For some weird reason he always feels that dinner should be positively warm. Even if the weather is +30°C, he still insists something should be served hot. He’s ok if it is only a sandwich, as long as it is one prepared in the oven and eaten hot… How weird is that??
So I do tend to eat my salads for lunch rather then dinner, although I do occasionally just ignore him and prepare a salad for dinner. I mean seriously; what is wrong with a salad??
But for this particular challenge I really liked all four of the options so I decided to please my guy and made the chicken with curried tomato almond sauce.
Making the butter is really a breeze. Just pop everything in the magimix and keep on grinding until it becomes smooth and buttery. I did add a bit more oil as almonds are by their nature rather dry. I did not roast them beforehand but I can imagine that it would be an enhancement to the flavor. The nuts were unsalted to begin with, so I just added salt to the final dish prior to eating it. Which worked fine for me as I felt it would be easier to adjust the levels of saltiness when doing it this way. The finished dish was also very flavorful.
I do tend to forgot to read recipes very thoroughly, so what happens is that I scan through it, check my ingredients and then just start cooking. I sure do check the recipe occasionally but as it turns out; I also forgot to do certain things that are spelled out. Simply because I do not read it thoroughly enough.
In this case I sort of forgot to make it a smooth sauce, as I just chopped the onion into fine bits and left them in the sauce. There was no way I would have been able to remove them anyway and I liked the final result. Not a smooth sauce by any means, but very tasty nonetheless. The almonds you could taste very well in the dish but not in an overpowering way. Really loved the dish!
 Chicken tomato almond curry Chicken with Curried Tomato Almond Sauce
Yield: 4 servings
Recipe notes: Substitute the protein of your choice for the chicken. This is a smooth sauce, so the onion is removed before serving. If you prefer, dice the onion and leave it in the sauce or substitute a bit of onion powder.
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
4 (6 oz / 170 g) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Salt to taste
Spice Blend:
1.5 tablespoons (20 ml) garam masala seasoning
1 teaspoon (5 ml) ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) black pepper
Sauce:
4 tablespoons (60 ml) butter
1 large onion, cut in half pole to pole
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15-ounce/425 g) can tomato sauce
⅓ cup (80 ml) almond butter
⅓ cup (80 ml) milk
½ to ¾ cup (120 to 180 ml) chicken broth or water, more as needed
1 cup (240 ml) frozen peas (optional)
Hot basmati rice for serving
Chopped parsley (optional garnish)
Sliced almonds (optional garnish)
Directions:
- Cook the chicken. If desired, pound chicken to ¼ inch (6 mm) thickness to promote even cooking. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to taste. Heat 1 teaspoon (5 ml) olive oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the chicken; sauté 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Cook the chicken in 2 batches, adding more oil if needed for second batch. Dice chicken into bite-sized pieces; set aside on clean plate and keep warm.
- Prepare spice blend. Stir garam masala, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook gently for several minutes to infuse the butter with onion flavor. Keep the heat low to avoid burning the butter; a little color is fine. Add the spice blend and garlic and cook for 1 minute or till fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the tomato sauce, stir well, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Whisk in almond butter and milk until thoroughly combined with tomato sauce. The almond butter is thick so it takes a while to make a smooth sauce. Return to simmer. Add broth (or water) to sauce to reach desired consistency; return to simmer. Add more broth (or water) as needed to thin sauce as desired.
- Remove onion from sauce and discard. Stir frozen peas (if using) into sauce. Transfer sliced chicken to sauce. Simmer gently for a few minutes until peas and chicken are heated through.
- Serve chicken and sauce over rice. Garnish with chopped parsley and/or sliced almonds if desired.
 Fettucine with lots of veggies It doesn’t really happen very often that I use a recipe to make pasta. To me it is just the perfect meal when we need something quick, tasty and want to use whatever we have in the fridge or closet. So that is also the way that this fettucini came to live…. It’s hot here at the moment, which I am sure you heard me say on more then one occassion by now. So while perfect for strawberry frozen yogurt or mango icecream; that is not really very sustainable or fit for an evening meal. It’s also not the kind of weather where you would like to stand in the kitchen or near a stove or oven for longer then absolutely necessary. Since I used fresh pasta for this recipe, cooking the pasta is just about 3 minutes and the rest is as easy as can be. Because I used smoked chicken, rather then raw chicken; it’s even quicker to make. I will try and list the ingredients that I used for this pasta but really… it would work with lots of other things as well!
FETTUCINI WITH PEAS, SMOKED CHICKEN AND SUN DRIED TOMATOES (serves 2)
Fresh pasta for two
2-3 sundried tomatoes
3-4 fresh tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 clove of garlic
roasted bell peppers (about 2)
200 gr peas, frozen (obviously if you have fresh peas, you can use those as well)
handful of rocket
200 gr smoked chicken
garlic pepper, seasalt
Italian herbs (basil mainly)
Parmesan for grating
100 ml of double cream (I think I might have used a little less. It was really just a dash)
Bring your water to a boil and keep at a simmer. You want to have your ingredients done already before cooking the pasta, as that literally takes 3 minutes when using fresh pasta. If using dried pasta with longer cooking times then you might want to cook it straight away, as the preparing of the sauce is very quick.
Cut sundried tomatoes and roasted bell peppers in small strips. Cut the chicken in cubes.
Put a pan on the stove at medium heat and add some oliveoil. Slowly fry the onion until soft, add the garlic and bake for a short while. Ad the chicken and briefly fry before adding the sundried tomatoes and bell peppers. Add the fresh tomatoes and let it simmer shortly until the tomatoes start to fall apart and form a sauce. Once you have that, add the cream and mix. Taste and add Italian herbs, salt and pepper where needed. I’ve used garlic pepper which is great and very tasty. Add the frozen peas at the last minute and warm through.
To serve put the fettucini in a bowl, add a little grated parmesan on top and a handful of rocket.
Enjoy!
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