I have got 2 (maybe 3, fingers crossed) new clients but, whenever we get a chance, the Girlie and I have been going mushrooming.
For intimate details you’ll need to take a look at www.MushroomDiary.com but these photos are just an appetiser to show you the sort of mushrooms we are finding.
I’m not saying that we’ve got mountains of mushrooms but…
There do seem to be rather a lot in the kitchen, waiting to be eaten or preserved.
When Dave and Marnie (and daughter Holly), came round for dinner on Saturday I thought it would be nice to try a Salade des Ceps as a starter.
I’ve recently posted on my Mushrooming site…. www.MushroomDiary.com about the first decent mushrooming forays of the year.
Together with a glut of eggs (more of which later), we’re working hard to find new ways of cooking mushroom omelettes!
I know that you can’t tell from the photos but…
They don’t half taste good!
If you want to find out more, take a look at…www.MushroomDiary.com
But folks, please be careful….
If you’re planning to harvest some of these lovely mushrooms yourselves…
Just make sure you’re 100% sure about what you’re picking!
All the best
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During one of our trips to the fish market in Vannes whilst my Father was over, I bought two and a half kilos of unclassified oysters…
These are oysters that are too large (or misshapen) to be sold at the normal price…
I paid 2 euros a kilo and a dozen large oysters weighed in at 2.5 kilos…
Just a picture of a bowl of salad…. That’s all.
All the best
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Whilst Father was visiting, we went to Vannes a couple of times…
The second time, I got some baby Octopusses in olive oil.
I made up a very simple salad and we had them as a starter.
The Girlie and The FourTeenYearOld did not partake!
Now, I’m not boasting…
Because, when all is said and done, I am pretty crap in the kitchen!
But it does give me a bit of a buzz…
To make a silly little salad from almost all of our own ingredients (the onions were bought in – ours aren’t ready yet!)
The Nasturtium petals might not have made much difference to the taste but they do add a bit to the look of the dish.
All the best
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I do have to ask…
Am I the only person in the world who, when he sees a cow, automatically thinks Steak, Pot au Feu and Roast Beef?
And start dividing the poor beast up, in my imagination, into suitable cuts.
I used to know someone who admitted that he did something similar, but with women;.
Imagining what they would look like undressed.
He was quite a wow with the ladies and he often got to find out!
Me, I’m more into mentally butchering poor harmless farm animals.
Here’s a picture of some steaks that I always make a point of saying hello to, after I’ve dropped the ThirteenYearOld off at school in the morning!
All the best
The idea came from The Compleat Anglo and we didn’t quite put it into practise the way we thought we would but, the Girlie and I wondered if we could eat a meal that consisted almost entirely of cheese.
Well, it didn’t quite work out that way as I was seduced by the oysters at the Saturday morning market at La Gacilly.
What we should have done is go and buy a small slice of each of the cheeses we wanted to eat.
Because I’ve been a good boy recently, the Girlie offered to cook dinner last night.
Because lamb was on special offer at the supermarket, lamb it had to be!
Also, as we’ve got things planned for today and are going to the Girlie’s house tomorrow morning (she’s got someone coming round to see it – hopefully a buyer), we decided to have Sunday Lunch on Saturday night.
Thus, I was banished from the kitchen (the Girlie used a Gordon Ramsay phrase; something along the lines of… Get the Fork out of my kitchen! or something like that!)
As I’ve been feeling better, the last few days, I decided to celebrate and cook for the Girlie.
The Girlie had never eaten scallops before, so that was going to be on the menu.
I fancied Salmon for the main course.
The nice thing about cooking scallops and salmon is that they are so easy to cook and, the less you do to them, the better they taste!
On Sunday morning I cooked Pot au Feu, or should I say, I started cooking Pot au Feu.
It should be ready tonight. We’ll also eat it tomorrow. Then, what’s leftover will be turned into soup!
Pot au Feu has to be one of the easiest meals to cook – and one of the most economical, as well.
The secret with pot au feu is to use the cheapest cuts of beef and cook them slowly, very slowly.
Now, I know that it’s the middle of October and that we should be cuddled up in front of the fire but recently the weather has been nice enough for the Girlie and I to be able to spend some time outside and anyway, I don’t have a log fire to cuddle up in front of.
So, that’s how the Girlie and I found ourselves sat in the garden, the other lunchtime, eating a summer holiday meal of bread and cheese and oysters!)
I suppose that normal people would be thinking about winter stews around about now but then, I’m not sure that either the Girlie or I would classify ourselves as normal!
I have a thing about garlic. I love to use it in cooking and I also love to store it in oil.
Having been slightly greedy whilst out shopping, I realised that I had way too much Garlic in the house!
Only one thing for it – the Girlie and I sat down to store it in olive oil!
Normally, on a Sunday morning, I take a walk to Lanouee, visit the lcoal shop to buy a few things and then go to the bar to have a beer and read the paper.
Today, however, was different. I bought a car last Thursday (a new Bessie to replace the ailing, old Bessie), and thus, decided to go for a little drive. I ended up at Le Roc St. Andre, about 20 kms from where I live. There is a great boulangerie at Le Roc and so I bought a still warm baguette – one of their special ones, with added seed – a bargain at 1 euro. I then went to the little market (I mean little, only four stalls) and bought one and a half kilos of oysters for my Sunday tea.
The weather has been gorgeous, in the afternoons, at least.
The mornings are cold and foggy but I can live with that – where I work it is cold and my mind is often foggy, there.
So, convinced that summer is finally here, I bought 6 pots of herbs that were on sale at my local supermarket.
In my local supermarket, I found a Guinea Fowl for sale at half price.
From reading the label, I guessed that it had had at least some sort of life and so I bought it. I stuffed it with black olives, a handful of garlic cloves and a couple of whole, red onions.
I roasted it slowly and before long, that lovely Garlic stench was forcing me outside into the garden. Luckily it was warm!
I ventured back into the kitchen and then ate about a third of my Guinea Fowl with roast potatoes and boiled cabbage – gorgeous! When I get my Hobbit House, I am definitely going to think about breeding some Guinea Fowl!
All the best
Someone on my favourite Brittany website was advertising some real pork for sale at the end of March.
I have just ordered a poitrine and a head and four trotters.
I cook two different types of Pot au Feu. Neither are classic recipes – they just happen to work for me!
This is my recipe for the beef version.
I start off with a kilo of Plat Cotes de Boeuf. These are, basically, the ribs underneath the shoulder of a cow (or, more likely, a steer). I find that it is ideal in terms of quantity of fat, beef and bone – you need all three. It is, also, very cheap over here.
The fish van is came round this morning (whilst I was at work).
I had handed in my order to Michelle (the landlady of my local bar) – the fish are freshly bought off the boats earlier in the day – I went for a Conger steak, to be slowly cooked in wine with tomatoes and shallots and served on a bed of rice.
Almost Italian!
As, I was in a good mood, I even splashed out on a few prawnies, for my masters (the cats who have to be obeyed), as well!
However, when I got home, I decided to cheat and do something different.
I’m not sure if it was the thought of washing up that pointed me in the right direction but, I did make the right choice. So, what did I end up doing?… You’ll need to look at the Kitchen section of this site, to find out!
All the best
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