Buying and Storing Garlic

OK. Some things that I have learnt about buying garlic…

Always buy it from the Saturday morning market at Josselin. Well this works for me but might cause you some problems – I can assure you, however – it’s worth making the effort. The supermarket stuff just isn’t the same.

Garlic is grown in the south of France (the good stuff, that is) and is picked in early to mid summer (depending upon the area) and then dried for three months (in warm air but out of direct sunlight). L’ail blond de Lomage & L’ail rond de Limousin are the first to be found. Then L’ail violet appears (a good keeping variety) and is finally followed (and out-classed) by the l’ail rose de Lautrec.

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Buying and Storing Tomatoes

Some general rules about buying and storing tomatoes. Once again, from the Saturday morning market at Josselin.

1). Only buy Tomatoes on the vine. Tomatoes that are still on the vine don’t know that they have been picked. They might notice that there’s no water coming up the vine but they’re probably used to that.

2). Only buy local Tomatoes. Tomatoes that come from Morocco, Spain or wherever have been picked too early (before they are ripe). The have spent days (or weeks) in the backs of lorries. They may even have been treated to special gasses to make them last longer. They are not Tomatoes – they are imposters. They have no taste and, if you eat them, neither do you!

3). Only buy what you need for today. Buy your tomatoes on a daily basis. It’s OK to buy just three or four (if you’re single like me). Choose them carefully – no-one will mind. If they do mind, change your supermarket.

4). Never, ever put tomatoes in the fridge. If you buy them on the vine (and thus, they don’t know they’re dead) – why try to freeze all the flavour out of them. Imagine how perky you’d be if someone shoved you in a dark cold fridge for a few hours – especially if you were used to being outside in the sunlight and warmth.

My tomatoes get kept in a basket on the bookcase (yes, the one that gets all the afternoon sunlight). Sure, they won’t last very long (a couple of days at most) but does that matter? Not at all – I buy my tomatoes every day.

All the best

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Tomatoes and Terrines

Terrines – They come in all sizes and colours and cost about 2 euros each.

Originally used for making pate (or similar), I have about a dozen and don’t get stressed if I break one. I tend to use them a lot.

Tete de Filet Mignon

One of the things I really like cooking in them is Tete de Filet Mignon.

The Filet Mignon is the muscle that, in a castrated male pig, doesn’t get used very much – not at all, in fact. It is the pig equivalent of filet steak in a cow (I should say, male castrated bovine animal here – a steer, in other words.)

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Summer Roast Chicken

I only cook roast chicken one way now.

I got the recipe from Nigel Slater’s Appetite – surely one of the most sensible (and sensual) cooking books ever.

All you need are as follows…

A good chicken
Butter
A lemon
Garlic (of course!) – a whole head, cut in half

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Too Much Olive Oil?

Perhaps I have too much olive oil at home. Many food writers (including the best, Nigel Slater) argue that, in the countries where the olives are grown and olive oil is a vital part of the diet, there will only be two bottles of olive oil in the kitchen. One will have been decanted from a tin drum and will have cost tuppence a litre. The other will have come in a bottle and will have probably have been a present from a friend or a neighbour who has grown and pressed their own.

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Conger Steak, the easy way!

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!

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Food Cruelty

I have been doing some thinking about Food Cruelty, which is something that has started to concern me more and more. I love cooking and eating but am getting quite thoughtful about where my food comes from and what sort of life it had before it ended up on my plate. Although I shall never be a vegitarian, I have come to understand what my friend, neighbour and colleague – Denis, has been telling me… “Eat less but eat better”. To find out what I am doing in order to approach this goal, read on.

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Freezer Clearout!

I’ve finally decided to clean out and defrost the freezer. It’s something that I do once a year. Thus, I have been eating all the things I’ve squirreled away there (finding some suprises along the way – ice cream… yum, yum).

Now, all that is left are five large packets of sliced pork belly – the question is, what to do with them?

Father brought over a copy a copy of Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Jane Grigson when he came over last week. A quick scan through only shows appropriate recipies for Rilletts which is not really what I am after, so I am going to have to go it on my own.

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Pigeon Pie!

Michelle, the landlady of my local bar, gave me a brace of pigeons last Monday. She then spent 10 minutes explaining how to cook them. Then the rest of the customers joined in. At that point I had about a dozen ways of cooking my 2 pigeons.

The next day, at work, I asked Denis (who is constantly trying to teach me French – not the language, you understand, but how to be French – far more important!) as he started to explain, some of my other colleagues joined in. Now I have about 40 methods for cooking my 2 pigeons.

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Freezer clearance

I’ve been trying to clear out the freezer so that I can give it a good clean out. I am down to 5 packets of sliced pork belly. I’ll be looking at the recipe books (particularly Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Jane Grigson that Father bought over last week) and then cooking the lot in one go (for freezing)

I shall then be filling the freezer with whatever is on offer at work. Ooh, I think I’ve got a pig cutting, chopping and slicing evening coming up!

All the best

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Slow Cooking

When I came over in January, Father gave me his old slow cooker (having ugraded, himself, to a larger one). I wasn’t sure if I would use it and was tempted to ‘accidently’ leave it behind. I didn’t and now find that I’m using it about one a week.

Father’s old slow cooker got put on the top shelf where I expected it to stay for rather a long time. And, perhaps it would have stayed there if, that is, I hadn’t had a disaster. Yup, you guessed it, it was a Sunday lunchtime and the gas ran out.

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French Kitchen Garden

My kitchen garden consists of about a dozen plant pots (some big, some little) containing the following… Tomatoes (3 different types), peppers (both chilli and caspuscin), Basil, Rosemary & Thyme. To liven the place up there are also some fuschias, marigolds and heather. Round the side of the house, there is a small patch of garden where I have 3 rose bushes and more tomato plants and, of course, my courgettes. All my friends at work have kitchen gardens – even those who admit to not having mains verts. I think that it is part of being French.

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The Kitchen Page – an Introduction

“More of an ideas page rather than a recipe list.

The recipes are definitely not a three grams of this and half an ounce of that type recipes, anyway.

In fact, you’ll only get the vaguest outlines here.

After all, the stuff I buy in my local market is probably different to the stuff you buy in yours.

Take everything that I say here with a pinch of salt (or pepper, whatever).

If I suggest using a kilo of Ceps – that’s because I’ve picked them myself – for me, they’re free.

I hate to think how much a kilo of Ceps would cost in the UK.

Be flexible, use something else, instead….”

Reading back through what I’ve written reminds me that there have been some really great food writers.

Writers who have transcended their subject; geniuses who can fill our stomachs with mere words, carefully prepared & beautifully presented.

People like Elizabeth David, George Lassalle, Alice B. Toklas (well, I like her writing) and, perhaps the best of the lot, Nigel Slater.

Reading back through what I’ve written reminds me not to give up the day job!.

This is stuff I learned the hard (or easy) way.

Much of it has come from friends, neighbours and the people who have stalls in the Saturday morning market.

All the best

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