Beef from Signeville

 Finally for the first time we got around to going to Dominique and Olivier's gourmet grocer in chaumont and bought a lovely piece of cote de boeuf from Signeville.  

It is stunning weather here so we did it justice on the BBQ using charcoal and some lavender ( we use what ever we are in the middle of trimming, whether it's lavender, thyme, sage, rosemary etc but last night it was lavender).

Cooked to 52 degrees, then rested it was absolutely amazing.  You read all the stuff about happy animals tasting delicious and I often think it's a load of rubbish but in this instance it would turn out to be 100% correct.  We watch these beef grow and frolic everyday, eating the fresh grass and nutrients carefully supplied by the lovely farmers.  

These cows make up a part of our daily lives whether just watching them from the bottom of the garden, seeing the hay being made, enjoying seeing them hanging out under the trees on hot days or simply enjoying the baby calfs being silly little ones.

This is simply as good as beef gets to taste and it's amazing to know we can buy it locally having watched them being cared for and doing it justice on the plate.  

For future reference, we served it with a Josh Emmet recipe we have done before which is a bone marrow crust but this time we used smoked bacon fat and served the crust separately rather than grilled on top.  A caramalised onion puree, a lentil roasted mushroom onion dish, smoked roasted potatoes on the bbq and salad.  Superb.

 

 

 

A final snow....

 I'm sooo cold in this photo, jamies and a coat.  

Andy captured this one of Montot

Our bonhomme de neige is getting a little snowed in! And he looks like he needs therepy.  Oops!

I've said it before but ... our barn is a beauty

I'm trying to thumbs up, but it's cold!!!

And I'm trying again but it's still really really cold!!!

Yup that's me in my PJ's and my cosy coat looking like a wierdo!

Christmas Eve

We went to Chaumont on the 23rd and bought oysters (Fines de Claires Vertes Label Rouge) which Andy shucked, an aged cote du boeuf.  We had bone marrow in the freezer, used a fantastic Josh Emmet recipe which was incredibly simple but carried so much flavour.  

As we did last year, we reversed cooked it taking it to around 45 deg, then hard seared it, added the crumb then blasted it under the grill.  I think for an aged piece next time I'd skip the reverse cook method, just cook it on the double induction part of the hob.  The centuries old cast iron pan we were given by our neighbour Philippe a few years ago does an incredible job.  It's so well seasoned, it doesn't spit or stick and can get to a very high heat.  

Our barn is so beautiful

Our section is filled with fairy lights

Our property is indescribably amazing

 

And that beef rib with bone marrow crust.... we used a Jost Emmet recipe with Philippe's centuries old cast iron pan which is seasoned and as heavy as a MF.  Sooo delicious.  

Christmas Day

 We had stuffed spachcock.  It was a real delight.  Stuffed with chorizo, breadcrumbs, confit lemon, sage and served it with a mushroom sauce which we added rabbit livers to at the last minute.  It was really extremely delicious and decadent.  

For boxing day we were invited to Anneke and Caas's for lunch down in Montot.  We felt like kings.  Anneke and Caas had made us individual presents.  Caas has a 3-d printer which cost an arm and a leg so he makes all sorts of things including the gifts for each guest at lunch.  

Our neighbours, Philippe et Francoişe sent us a Christmas photo of little Adelaide. 

Christmas stuffed baby Chicken

Anneke et Caas's attention to detail

Each guest at Anneke and Caas's had an individual present at lunch.

Little Adelaide, the pride of our neighbours.

New Years

A beautiful white start to 2026.  New years eve itself was a bit of a disaster though!  The entree I made with salmon didn't quite work, I should have stuck with making blinis like I usually do and the confit duck for main was salty.  I cooked it perfectly, skin side down rendering the fat so that side of things were good but the actual cure was very salty.  We've had the brand lots of times and this is the first time.  I couldn't eat it and I like salt.

Philippe and Françoise's house, the church and chateau. 

Looking towards Montot

Little cat, he spends the majority of his time this winter in Andy's bottom drawer

La cave

Notre bonhomme de neige 2025-6

He started out with pistachios for eyes but Andy thought tea light candles would be better.  The nose is a dried mexican chilli.  The mouth is bark.  We had fun, then we dressed him up with Andy's scarf and hat.  He went through his various stages of coming to life and will likely go through his various stages later on.....