We've become francophiles

The roof of the farmhouse we stayed in at Hautefort
France - photo by Sue

Yes we have gone a bit potty over all things French.

Alan is reading Balzac's book 'Old Goriot'.  He is enjoying it because it is set not far from where we stayed in the Latin Quarter of Paris. 

I am trying to find a suitable recipe for a French entree to go with the fabulous Coq au Vin recipe I made on Staurday night and will make again for a dinner party we have planned.  When we came home from our trip I found I had won a prize - the wondrous big book 'Tasmania's Table' which had arrived in the mail for me. It is a culinary guide to Tasmanian produce and Tasmania's best restaurants and includes recipes from Tasmania's top chefs.  Of course I sought out the French recipes. 

I hope to find some nice French red wine to accompany our meal on the night.  French wine is so much nicer than most of our Australian red wine because apart from tasting amazing it is also lighter with less alcohol content - which means you can drink more of it without going silly.  Our Australian wines are way too high in alcohol content.  I feel like writing to someone about it but who? 

So here's the Coq au vin recipe for you.  It's from Jean-Pascal of New Town.

Coq au Vin


1.5 kg Nichols free range chicken pieces (I used chicken marylands)
1/2 bottle good red wine
12 small white onions
2 carrots, peeled and quartered
Bouquet of herbs; 2 sprigs of thyme and 1 bay leaf
6 slices of bacon
250 grams button mushrooms
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
Sunflower oil (I used olive)
Unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

A day in advance marinate chicken in red wine, add the small white onions, carrots and herbs.  Cover and put in the fridge.  The next day, remove and drain the chicken and vegetables, discard herbs.  Put the wine aside for later use.

Brown the chicken pieces with oil and remove the pieces and put aside.  Using the same pan, add garlic, onions and carrots and cook for a couple of minutes.  Return chicken to pan and pour in the wine. Bring to a boil, cover and cook on a low heat for 1 to 1.5 hours.  (We only did one hour as the chicken looked like it might break up with more.)

Heat bacon, onion and mushrooms in butter in a pan and cook until brown (5-10 minutes).  Add bacon, onion and mushrooms to chicken and wine etc and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.  Taste and correct the seasonings.  Add parsley and serve.

We had it with small boiled potatoes and some spinach but think next time mashed potatoes would be better to soak up the beautiful coq au vin sauce.

Enjoy!

Day 30 - castles and canoes

Third time lucky we find canoes on the riverbank at a small town called St Leon sur Vezere. We choose the three person model and after being driven a few kms up river we are soon paddling our way down the peaceful waterway.

Autumn leaves drift down from the beautiful trees lining the riverbank. Just when we are thinking 'Had enough trees' a chateau comes into view built into the rocks above, hanging precariously. Further down we encounter another chateau and a few rapids for a bit of canoeing excitement.


We are hungry when we arrive in Les Eyzies, famous for being the centre of cro-magnum man. All the restaurants have finished lunch but we manage to find a snack – sandwiches, pizza and omelettes.


Back home at around 6.30 pm we cobble together dinner supplemented by Larry's 'ribs' and his company for an hour or so.

More castles and food

There is nothing in rural France that is ugly. We drive through beautiful countryside, rolling hills, small villages, past lots of vegie gardens, walnut and hazelnut trees, leafy forests, the occasional castle. If anything new is constructed here it is built out of stone, or rendered concrete with the small tiled-roofing and shutters that harmonise with the old buildings.



Just before noon we arrive at Brantome, the Venice of Perigord, a lovely village built with small canals through the centre of town. There is a market stretching across a bridge and on either side of the canal - more fabulous local food produce to buy and I find a great hat for Bruce.


Sue describes lunch:


“We find a delightful spot by the river to eat our picnic lunch of three different cheeses, a basil pesto, tiny grape tomatoes, fresh bread, sweet strawberries and muscatel grapes – washed down with a local rose.”


Afterwards we wander over to Jardin Botanique, a communal vegie garden that has been going for a couple of hundred years. On the way home we stop at Chateau Puyguillham, all rather grand but not a patch on our local castle!


Home for a quick tart up and out for dinner at Cheviux de Cubas, the next village north.

Sue again:


“We all choose the menu of the day which costs 12.50 euros and and to develop our appetite we have aperitifs – peach and walnut.


“The vegetable soup is served from a large terrine at our table. After finishing the soup, which is delicious, we pour in a drop of wine from our bottle of red, as is the custom before starting to drink the bottle.


“Entree is a salad of duck gizzards and greens with a light dressing and was enough really in itself foodwise.


“Next course is a confit of duck legs (three) with potatoes sauted in duck fat. A platter of five different cheeses follows. We finish with a crème brulee, which slides down rather nicely, and we complete the meal with coffee before rolling home to bed.”


We are sure all the food is going to cost us more than 12.50 euros but no the total bill is a ridiculously small amount. It must be a conspiracy against foreigners in France - death by overconsumption!

Day 27 – Hautefort castle

It is a drizzly hazy morning. Sue takes off for the boulangerie to get fresh bread while Alan and I have a lazy time back at the farmhouse. She comes back all excited with tales of the miniature cyclamens covering a lawn up the road.

We visit our castle, which is just over a 1km away. There is hardly a soul around and it wonderful to have the place to ourselves. There appears to be only one attendant inside the whole castle. The rooms are lavishly decorated and the view of the manicured gardens, parklands and village below are superb. We have to thank for the restoration of the castle, parts of which date back to the middle ages, the Baron and Baroness de Bastard.


Afterwards we visit the Information Centre and Museum of Medicine, which contains a few instruments of dental torture from a couple of centuries ago.

Back at the farmhouse we have a late lunch, mainly consisting of all the things we bought at the Sarlat markets yesterday – a walnut and duck salami, a wonderful pungent cheese, olives, a strangely-shaped tomato and greens on fresh bread.


Sue and I wander country lane ways eating walnuts from the ground and apples from overhanging trees. Back at the farmhouse we put the fire on and find a music station on the radio.


Over to Sue for a description of dinner:


"We decide to eat in so head off to the local chacturie to purchase some veal, locally bottled haricot beans in sauce, some onion soup and plums for dessert.


“Home to prepare the food, while accompanied by a gin and tonic. The pot is left simmering on the stove while we relax in the spa bath – Alan plunging twice into the cold swimming pool.


“Although not quite the standard of the previous evening the meal is still pretty darn good and accompanied by another bottle of local red.”