Beef Bourgignon with a few carrots

The French have a gorgeous traditional beef dish from Burgundy, Boeuf Bourgignon.    I've put my own slant on it here to make it "Traditional English cooking in France".  The wine really should be a bottle of Burgundy red..... but I tend to use any good full bodied red wine.

This recipe is so incredibly easy,  and relies on a slow cooker to gently simmer everything for about 12 hours.

I hope you love it as much as I do

Beef Bourgignon

1 tbsp duck fat (use olive oil if you don't have duck fat)
600g beef shin, cut into large chunks
100g smoked streaky bacon, chopped  (Lardon)
2 onions, peeled and chopped
3 carrots peeled and sliced 
4 garlic cloves crushed, peeled and sliced
2 heaped tablespoons Herbes de Provence
1 small can tomato purée
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
750ml bottle red wine, Burgundy is good 
A glass of water

200gms mushrooms, sliced into largish chinks

In the Slow Cooker
Heat the duck fat in a frying pan and brown the beef for about 3 minutes a side.  (cook the beef in batches)  Toss the browned beef in flour then add to slow cooker.   After frying the beef, fry the bacon, onions and garlic in the same pan, adding a little more goose fat if needed.  Add to slow cooker

Rinse out the pan with a little red wine, making sure to get all the lovely juices and add this to the pot.

Reserve out the Mushrooms and put the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker.  Give everything a good stir

Cook for 4 hours on the high setting and then a further 8 hours on low.

Add the mushrooms 2 or 3 hours before finishing.  (after about 9 hours cooking)

From time to time check the mixture for liquid and give a stir.  If the liquid gets a bit low, just add a bit of water

Oh, one last little thing, I have a friend who lives just down the road from here and owns and runs a "Restaurant Gastronomique". He hails from Burgundy and makes, what I believe is the best Boeuf Bourgignon in South West France.... Please, please, please, I want you all to promise not to mention this cheating recipe of mine, I'm sure he would seriously disapprove! Hervé, I apologise.

Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday..

I love Pancake Day, the local name for today.

Almost without fail, my evening meal is constructed to make provision for the main event... Beautiful pancakes doused in Maple syrup, or hiding sultanas.... or both!!

Here is my own Pancake Recipe, yried, tested and developed ove many years of celebrating this special day in this traditional way...

 

Basic Pancake Batter

(makes eight) except it only really made 5 or 6

75g/3oz plain flour

Pinch of salt

2 large fresh eggs

150ml/1/4pt milk

a dash of water

A little oil for frying

Mix the water and milk and beat in the eggs.   Place the flour and salt in a large bowl, then add half the milk. Whisk until the mixture is lump-free. Add the remaining milk and whisk again until smooth. If you prefer place all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend until smooth, Pour the batter into a jug. The batter can be made in advance and chilled for up to eight hours before use.   I think it improves if left to stand and usually leave it about 30 minutes or so

Heat a 20cm/8in diameter non-stick frying pan until hot, drizzle a little oil over the centre and wipe it around with a piece of kitchen paper. Now pour a little of the batter into the pan and immediately tilt the pan to spread the batter thinly and evenly over the base. Cook for two minutes or until the top is set and the base golden. Turn the pancake over with a spatula or if you are feeling brave, flip the pancake!

Cook for a further one to two minutes or until the base is golden. Transfer to a plate and interleave with greaseproof paper, keep warm. Use the batter and a little more oil to make a further seven pancakes in the same way. Serve simply with lemon and sugar or try them in the following recipe ideas.

French Mushroom, Ham & Goats Cheese Crepe

Fill the pancakes with sliced mushrooms sauteed in oil, a slice of ham, then top with thinly sliced goats cheese. Fold up to enclose the filling then pop under a hot grill until the cheese begins to melt. Serve scattered with flat parsley.

 

Redcurrant and apple

cook the basic pancake and just before serving add a mixture of stewed redcurrants and apple, then roll and serve immediately.

 

Or, simply add a handful of golden sultanas to the pan immediately before adding the batter.    These are great served with Maple syrup.

Ian's Shortbread Biscuits

I regularly make these delicious Shortbread Biscuits.  They are really easy to make and are very much appreciated by my French neighbours.

They are really my version of Scottish Shortbread and are best eaten as soon as they have cooled although they do keep well in an airtight tin.

I understand that they are also delicious coated with chocolate, but I rarely do that!!!!! Well, maybe sometimes!

On this recipe you should use either imperial OR metric measurements.  They make slightly different amounts

Preparation time Cooking time Eating time

10 minutes 30 minutes Not Long

Makes enough for a small cookie tray - I usually double the recipe.

INGREDIENTS	METHOD
200gms (6ozs)  Butter 100gms (3ozs) Castor Sugar 225gms (7ozs) Plain Flour 60gms (2ozs) Cornflour	Preheat the oven to 160C (320F) Mix the flour, cornflour and sugar together. Cut the butter into cubes and then rub into the mixture. Press firmly onto a cookie sheet about 5mm (1/4 inch) thick and prick all over with a fork. Bake in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes Dust with caster sugar and cut into bicuits Leave to cool before removing from tray

Toffee Fig Pie

I'm harvesting figs at the moment.  Lots of figs, every day.   Last year, when I collected the figs I ate most of them just using a few to make some delicious jam and bottled a few in the local "Monbazillac" white wine which I gave away as presents at Christmas.

So, as this year's crop is substantially heavier, I have been scouring the internet for different recipes.   Meals here are becoming a "Fig Feast".  Sunday lunch today was no exception.  I made a delicious starter of figs with little bits of goat cheese and ham, all marinated in my favourite balsamic vinaigrette.

The roast chicken remained "unfigged" although, I did toy with putting figs into the stuffing(seasoning)

 

I made these Toffee Fig Pies for dessert.    I more or less copied the recipe although my pastry skills are such that my own version was totally unphotographable, so, I've stolen the photo as well from the excellent recipe resource of BBC Food....

 

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2829/toffee-fig-pies

Baked Beans

There are a few British things that I love that are quite hard to get here in France.   Actually, to be honest, they are not particularly hard to get, as there are a plethora of specialist British shops around.  It's just that, being a bit stingy, I refuse to pay the price those shops are charging.

One such thing is baked beans.   In the UK, baked beans are available in every grocery shop and range in price from a few pence per can up to about £1.00 per can.  Sometimes, I can't even tell the difference between the cheap one and the expensive one.  However, here in France I can only buy a fairly middle of the road variety and that will cost me the equivalent of way in excess of £1.

Kate over in Tasmania, offered me a solution whilst she was here a few months ago and gave me an easy to make recipe.  Since then I have made it quite a few times and made subtle changes.  I always liked the recipe but now, I think it's just a bit better....

This recipe would probably serve 6 people, served with salad and home made bread.   The recipe freezes well and I usually make this amount and then freeze in small portions

	Preparation time:        a couple of days (see method) Cooking time               1 hour plus 1 hour
Ingredients 1 1/2 cups coco haricot beans a dash of salt	Method Soak the beans in water overnight. Drain and recover with water , add a dash of salt and simmer for one hour
2 large onions 4 or 5 cloves garlic 100gms smoked belly of pork	Coarsely chop the onions and thinly slice the garlic then fry in a little oil.  Meanwhile, slice the belly of pork into small cubes and add to the pan and fry until the meat and onion are lightly cooked
1 tin tomatoes 2 tbl tomato paste 2 tbl brown sugar 1 tbl dark soy sauce 1 tbl fresh basil 1 tsp herbes de Provence 1 tsp fresh thyme	Combine the tomatoes, paste, sugar, soy sauce and herbs. Drain the beans and reserve the water
reserved cooking water + hot water to make up 2 cups Worcestershire sauce	Make the reserved cooking water up to 2 cups, then add all the ingredients into a casserole and add the water and a large dash of Worcestershire sauce.   Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for about an hour.  Add more water if needed to keep the consistency of a thick soup

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  It makes a great side dish with grilled ham, or serve on thickly cut toast as a nutritious breakfast.

Coconut Macaroons

I made these for tonights barbecue...  They are very easy and very tasty.

Preparation time:            5 minutes
Cooking time:                15minutes
Temperature:                 180°C

 

Pre heat oven to 180°C Separate eggs, reserve the whites and give the yolks to a friend to make Mayonnaise

150gms sugar 200 gms dessicated coconut 3 egg whites 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1/2 teaspoon of salt

sift sugar and coconut into a mixing bowl stir in salt, vanilla essence and egg whites and make sure thoroughly mixed drop large teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet, ensuring that the macaroons are not touching.  They will spread, but only a little Bake in the middle of the oven (180°C) for about 15 minutes until just turning golden on top Remove from oven and let stand 2 or 3 minutes then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool. If you have any, I didn't, dip the bases in melted chocolate

Tartar Sauce

Friday here is fish day and today was no exception.

I love fish and seafood in virtually any way that it arrives but I am particularly fond of traditional British Fried Fish and Chips.

However, those of you who know me, or who have seen my photo on the blogs, will know that fried fish and chips is not something I should be sampling every week.  My compromise comes in three forms: one - the fish I choose these days is coated in breadcrumbs and grilled, rather than coated in delicious succulent beer batter and deep fried to perfection... two - the chips I go for these days are lightly fried in oil, then frozen... then oven baked to serve.  Although they are still fried, they contain about 50% less fat than the traditional chip of potato, cut into slices, deep fried in animal fat, then, after the fat has been reheated, deep fried a second time until they are golden brown and crunchy.... three - well, the third compromise is to replace the tartar sauce with a slice or two of lemon.... but hey, lets stick to two compromises shall we?

I always make my own tartar sauce as part of preparing the meal and have developed an incredibly easy recipe which is fabulously tasty

Here it is:

Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

3 or 4 small pickled gherkins
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon fresh dill
1/2 teaspoon of the pickling vinegar
a few capers (if liked)

Method

Finely chop the gherkins and put them in a ramekin.

Add the mayonnaise, mustard, fresh dill, vinegar and capers and blend together.  Chill for an hour or so.

This recipe makes a small serving suitable for a dinner for 4 (or me!!!)  It's incredible easiness, belies it's great taste.