Very happy with our cool new but retro lights.....

Down to the cave you go old track lights, you'll be fine down there.  But up here we don't like you!  Loving our retro jobs.  What a gorgeous golden light you give off.   It's a little funny when the bulbs cost more than the fitting!

Braised pressed pork belly (again) with fennel and apple

The sauce is a reduction of the braising liquor.  The fennel and apple were braised in the braising liquor.  I took out the apples before they went toooooo soft and roasted them on top of the fire to finish them off (with a smear of duck fat).  I just really do love pork belly this way when the skin is finished like chewy glass on it's second cook.  Sprinkled with fennel seeds.  Elegant, comforting and utterly delicious.

Braised pressed pork belly, Jerusalem artichoke and egg yolk raviolo, shaved fennel, roasted Jerusalem artichoke

Yum.  The sauce was made from pork bones (and I'd never made a stock from pork bones before, they make a great stock for a sauce), the Jerusalem artichoke were roasted until lovely and chewy, the raviolo filling was jerusalem artichoke puree with an egg yolk.  Cooked until the pasta was just done but the egg yolk deliciously runny.  Shaved fennel one of my favourite fresh accompaniments to just about anything.  

A delightfully textural dish.  The pork belly was melting with it's glassy chewy crispy skin having been cooked again.  The whole dish was a complete plate of deliciousness.  Worth the effort.  

Indian style tortellini with pork belly

Spiced green pea tikki filling, tomato, fennel, ginger sauce, braised, pressed twice cooked pork belly with shaved fennel and liquorice powder. 

Fusion, yeap.  But it worked well - tasted and looked great.  Tortellini are fun to make.

Duck breast, Goan spice paste, spiced panna cotta and fresh lentil fennel salad

This recipe is one I've combined out of a couple of different Goan recipes using Vineet Bhatia as my guide.   I've done many times but usually with fish.  This time with duck breast and it was delicious.  

The duck held it's own with this gorgeous spicy paste which contains a huge array of ingredients but comes together beautifully (the ingredient list includes black cardamon, kashmiri chilli, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cloves, garlic, ginger, tomato ketchup (yes), vinegar, star anise......

The panna cotta is made with coconut milk infused with lemon grass, kaffir lime leaf, kashmiri chilli, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and salt.  It creates a lovely subtle coconut sauce when you take each bite. The panna cotta should be just set, not too firm and this dish MUST be served on a room temperature (not heated) plate otherwise the panna cotta will melt before it's ready to eat.

Lentil salad is a fresh lively accompaniment.  The lentils are soaked overnight and served raw.  I've used green lentils this time as that is what I can get here.  I've usually used red in the past, either way it makes very little difference to the taste.  Shaved fennel and green peas worked well dressed simply with lemon juice.  

The addition of a rhubarb chutney added a hint of sweet sour that worked particularly well with the duck, not necessary with fish.  Coriander is a good finishing touch but absolutely not available this time of year here (or any time of year in honesty).  I plan to grow my own when things warm up a bit.

Quail

The little quail here are always sold with their heads on.  It's so we can see what breed it is or some such.  Fine by me, I quite like taking off the heads.  I'm a bit weird that way but it's not so great in the summer having things like quail and chicken heads sitting in the rubbish waiting for collection!  Best popping them in the freezer for a few days during the hot months.

Anyway I served this particular quail with a very scrummy Jun Tanaka recipe I've made before.  Savoy cabbage pesto and creamed savoy cabbage.  I stuffed the quail with a mixture of onion, garlic, sage, cepes and prunes.  I browned them well and finished in the oven for about 18 minutes.  They were beautifully moist.  The stuffing protects the breast from overcooking while the legs do their thing.  

Savoy cabbage pesto might sound strange but it's really delicious.  By blanching the leaves first you keep the green and it's then simply blended with roasted walnuts and parmesan.  A touch of water to loosen it, a little garlic and salt.  Yum.  Sorry little quails but you do taste delicious.

Andy's Post - Phillipe, the birds, the bees and the fish

Today was an interesting day. First off, I went with Phillipe our neighbour to the Sanchez’s car dealership as part of getting the Porsche registered and fully legal in France. The car arrived from Dubai with a flat battery resulting in all the computers needing to have their codes cleared. M. Sanchez apparently has a Porsche 911 so of course he has the necessary tools to reconfigure the computers. However, first off, I need to replace the tyres (I knew this before leaving Dubai, but A, they are cheaper here. B, you can buy tyres here that suit the climate) The bottom line is I have tyres on order and once they are fitted the computers will be reset.

Ok that is a bit boring but who cares this is my story!!

This afternoon I was out by the front gate trying to work out how to landscape the entrance when I heard Phillipe say hi from his upper floor window. Françoise his wife had binoculars pressed to her face glancing towards the river Rognon, I should say lake Rognon as its banks have been breached and the farm land beyond flooded. They were both very excited by a flock of African migratory birds, I think Herons, gathered on the new shoreline. Even from my position about 1500 meters away these white birds are large! At a guess ,over a meter tall. Clearly, Françoise and Phillipe are thrilled by the presence of these birds.

A short while later Phillipe arrived at the front door having brought our “poubelle” rubbish bin in after collection and asked if I would like to accompany him down the road for a walk. With Bino’s in hand I assumed we were going for a closer look at the Herons.

It turned out that he had been asked to do something for the neighbour below us. They are not in residence and could not attend to their house after the rains.

I had no inkling about this place 300 meters away at the end of the road that runs past our maison down to the right. It has been rendered with a shitty stucco plaster and painted ochre (I’m being kind here). Nat and I had both thought it had been constructed in the 80’s with some degree of bad taste. There are 6 or 7 buildings starting with what was once a communal laundry house, (apparently there are two in the village I’m not sure at this point were the other is) The laundry is about 5 meters by 4 meters and contains a “tub” about 2/3’s the size and 50 cm deep. This place has been here for hundreds of years. It is such a shame about the rendering as the original stone work visible around the back of the house is a beautiful. 

The original building was a Moulin used for milling maize. The defunct water wheel has been removed by the current owner (much to the disgust of Phillipe who has a profound respect for the local history). Beyond were the wheel once stood is a large pond covering about 1000 square meters. The river runs down into it from the forest. The overflow from the pond runs through the narrow gap created by the absent wheel down to the Rognon. The pond is full of carp. I could see dozens of small fingerlings in the murky water swimming amongst larger fish some easily up to 70 + cm in length. The reason for Phillipe’s visit it seems, was to clear debris from a grill at the downstream end of the pond.

On the walk back home, we passed a builder who had suddenly appeared and was busy repairing the roof of the building next to the laundry. After a brief chat, Phillipe introduced me as his friend, the guy who lives in the first house up the road and drives a Porsche.

At the top of the road just outside our maison Phillipe told me that the road/ track that veered away to our right had been in use since Roman times, used as an access the river. It just happens to also align with a migratory route of bees.

He told me he has some photos to show me  of the Castle that used to exist on the grounds of the Chateau and of a subterranean tunnel that ran between the two. I look forward to that as I am intrigued by the history of this tiny village that has existed in some form or other for over a thousand years.

To top it off we were visited by 3 pairs of Dassault Rafale from Saint Dizier on a low level NavEx (less than 500 ft agl at 420 knots). Nothing unusual in that except that due to a clear visibility and a nice mid-level cloud cover we could see them easily for a change. They passed within 500 meters of us in a 90-degree left bank having crossed the “Lake” essentially following the line of the old Roman road past just to the north of our maison over the old Moulin heading back to Saint Dizier. A stirring sight and an unforgettable sound.