Now We're Cooking!

In all the years we've been coming to France, it's been a dream of mine to learn how to prepare some French dishes, something typical of the region.  Well, that dream became reality!

It all started with the Town Crier.  Now there's a man who knows everyone and everything that's happening in town.  I asked him a couple of weeks ago if he knew someone who might welcome me into their home for an afternoon.  I wanted to see what a French country kitchen might look like and what herbs and spices are on hand.  I also wanted to learn how to prepare a dish - perhaps a clafoutis, or a pear flan.  He told me to speak to Marine, a rather unassuming woman who sells nougat and other sweets at the Sunday market.

Did I win the lottery or what!  It turns out that Marine has many talents.  She is a Master Baker, Pastry Chef, and Chocolatier.  Master as in professionally trained and qualified to teach.  Of French-Swiss origin, she has a solid background of two countries that know how to prepare incredible food and chocolate.  When she agreed to have me over for a "lesson", I knew I was in good hands.  I could hardly wait.

The lesson soon blossomed into so much more: an invitation for Karl and I to join her and her partner in their home at 16:00 (4:00 p.m.) where we would prepare a complete meal together.  An "appéro", an entrée, a main dish, cheese, and a dessert with appropriate wines served with each course. 

Marine had done a lot of prep work before we arrived and had all her ingredients neatly arranged on the counter. 

What you must realize is that she and her partner moved into this "grange" as she calls it (barn or shed), about two years ago and have been renovating ever since.  The exterior took up a lot of time to tame the shoulder-high weeds but is now a great pasture for the horse and the 4 cocker spaniels to run around.  There are two larger dogs which seem to be content snoring in the basement.  But I digress.  The interior of the house is a work in progress and Marine manages to cook and bake on a two-burner stove, a convection oven and a regular oven.  Despite the unfinished setting, everything is so clean.  Spotlessly clean! 

"Trempette" or dipping sauce to accompany our "Appéro"

I was so busy taking down notes and asking questions that I may have missed a few photos.  Actually, my assistant Karl was the photographer and he was also taken in by the wonderful aromas that were emanating from each dish, so he looked, inhaled and tasted more than he snapped!

The dip was made with Greek yogurt seasoned with "5 peppers", salt, some Knorr "Aromat", lemon, chives, basil, parsley, lemon thyme, and fresh garlic.  This was served with a huge platter of things to dip: sweet radishes, green olives, mini pretzels, pieces of charcuterie which included chorizo sausage, ham, and a type of pepperoni.  Best dip ever!

We drank a strong wine that was aged in oak casks. 

Mushrooms on Toast

They have three hectares of land, a hectare being 10,000 square meters or 2.471 acres.  They have sought-after porcini mushrooms growing not far from the house, so this became part of the next course, along with chanterelle mushrooms.

Sauté 1 or 2 chopped onions in a bit of oil.  Add 3 cloves garlic and the chanterelle mushrooms only.  They take longer to cook than the porcini.

 

Do not add water.  The mushrooms will make their own liquid as they cook, then that liquid will get reabsorbed.  Add a small amount of salt (gray salt from Charente-Maritime being a good choice), 6 leaves of sage cut into small slivers with herb scissors, lemon thyme and its flowering tiny purple blooms, 3 branches of oregano - pulling the leaves off the stem.

Add a small glass of wine, either white or rosé, but not red.  Let simmer for about 20 minutes.  Put aside. 

Add the porcini mushrooms to a small amount of oil, add parsley and cook for a short length of time.  Do not overcook since they become pasty.

Add them to the chanterelle mushrooms, add some dry garlic and boil lightly.  Pour just enough cream (12% fat) to make a sauce and add more parsley.  If only you could smell this!  It tastes incredible.

French cooking relies on a lot of herbs and very little salt.  A bit of oil but not tons of butter.  Very healthy eating, at least the way Marine approaches a recipe.

Mushrooms on Toast

Marine is a multi-tasker and a real whirlwind in the kitchen, yet there was always time to stop and taste herbs, smell the aroma of something, feel the consistency of a sauce.  "Crush this lemon-thyme in your hands and smell it; it's different than ordinary thyme."  "Chew a bit of oregano and feel the tang on your tongue."  "Taste the honey in these egg whites."  "Feel the sponge in the cake to determine if it's done."  There were no written recipes, just an innate ability to know what would taste good.  I felt transported into the movie "The Hundred-Foot Journey".


Poule au pot

Think of "Pot au feu" that uses beef in a stew.  This is similar, but using chicken.

Marine started off with a large, yellow-hued chicken that had been corn fed.  In the cavity went a bunch of thyme.  Around the chicken went leeks, onions, turnip (the longer, less bitter variety), and carrots.  She used a cutter for French fries to julienne her veggies, ensuring that all the vegetables were cut evenly and would cook uniformly.  There were also cubed "lardons", which we would consider a meaty bacon.

 

She added 5 or 6 real peppercorns that had not been ground up, a Knorr bouillon cube, a bay leaf, and again an assortment of herbs.  She topped everything with a generous amount of water since the broth would be used for the risotto and the gravy for the chicken.

She started the cooking process on her stove then transferred the pot to the living room fireplace where it simmered for almost 2 hours.

Gravy for chicken

In a small bowl, mix flour and olive oil and stir until you ensure there are no "grumeaux", no lumps.  Add to the hot broth that you have taken off the heat and stir to ensure the gravy is smooth.  Only then do you return to the stove to thicken.  Stir often, but not constantly.  Add lemon and cream (the same 12% used in mushrooms).  Add pepper but taste for salt content since there may be enough from the broth.  Simmer gently to thicken.

Risotto

One of the secrets of producing a meal where every dish seems to complement the other is to repeat many of the core ingredients and herbs.  There is enough "difference" to make sure it is not similar, yet it all seems to taste like it belongs together.

 

In about 1 Tbsp of oil, sauté carrots, turnip and onions lightly.  Add 1 cup risotto (the round rice often used in paëlla) and sage.  When the rice becomes "translucent", pour in some hot broth from your chicken pot to cover all the rice.

 

Stir occasionally, but it really cooks by itself.  Cover once it's boiling and lower the heat.

The "plat principal" which was risotto, chicken, and that wonderful gravy.  (They say sauce in France.)  Tender and creamy and delicious!  We drank red wine with this, so who says chicken has to be served with white!

Cheese

There was a beautiful assortment of cheese and some crusty bread.  Too busy eating to take a photo.

Flaugnarde

Flaugnarde is a baked French dessert with fruit arranged in a buttered dish and covered with a thick flan-like batter.  Similar to a clafoutis, which is made with black cherries, a flaugnarde is made with apples, peaches, pears, plums, prunes or other fruit. Resembling a large pancake, the dish is dusted with confectioner's sugar, flamed, and can be served either warm or cold.

The name is derived from the Occitan words fleunhe and flaunhard, which both translate as "soft" or "downy". The dish is common in the Auvergne, Limousin and Périgord regions of France.  (We are in the Limousin region.)

Separate 4 eggs.  To the bowl for the whites, add a bit of salt and lemon.  Whip in electric mixer and then add about 3 Tbsp. honey.  She used "miel de Bourdaine de sapin" which will not be available in Canada.  We tasted the whipped egg whites and it was sweet and smooth, slightly reminiscent of cotton candy.

Marine, the little dynamo!

For the batter, add 50 grams of flour (which she measured out on her weigh scale) to the egg yolks and whisk until well mixed.  Add about 50 grams of sugar, a few drops of lemon, and just enough milk to make the batter smooth.

Core, peel and slice 3 apples.

In a pan that can be transferred to the oven, such as a cast iron pan, start melting butter.  Add the sliced apples to the hot butter. 

Add 1/4 section of a vanilla bean.  (Never scrape the bean completely or it will stay on your cutting board instead of in your recipe.)

Apples must be cooking well and have colour before you turn them over.  Only after they have been turned over do you add sugar to start the caramelizing process.

To the apples, add a cup of dried raisins that have been soaking in liqueur.  Marine had some of her own plum liqueur that was strong and aromatic!  You may use any other liqueur with kick such as Armagnac or Cognac.

Put the beaten egg whites into a bowl.  Now mix the batter in electric mixer with a 1/2 stem of vanilla.

Fold the egg whites into the batter, very gently.  Keep lots of air in your mixture.

Cover your apples and place pan in a preheated 180* C oven if it's convection, and in a 200* C oven if it's a regular oven.

To test if it's done, you have to touch and "feel" the little soft bubbles.  It will "fall" a bit as it cools.

Time to turn the flaugnarde onto a plate.  The apples will now be on top.

 

 Sprinkle with sugar and the same liqueur you used to soak the raisins.  Flame.

Oh. My. Goodness!  This is SOOOoooo delicious!

You would think that the time and energy so willingly shared to prepare this meal would be enough of a gift.  But Marine doesn't do anything in half measure.  She packed us a going away bag with containers of all the wonderful dishes she had prepared: dip, mushrooms, risotto, chicken in gravy, and flaugnarde.  We will be able to repeat this feast again tonight!  (Tucked in was a container of "Aromat" to bring back to Canada.)

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There is another person who contributed greatly to this wonderful experience - Ana.  She is the one who came to meet us in La Roche on her motorbike to guide us to their home so we wouldn't get lost.  She is also the one who has clean-up duty and refused our help to get the kitchen back to its sparkly, pristine state.  Ana has two daughters and one of them is hoping to come to Canada to improve her English this summer, so Karl and I will actively try to find her a host family. 

Marine and Ana are beautiful women, so generous with their time, their talents and their knowledge.  They are the most amazing ambassadors for their country!

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Sidebar:  Marine is setting up a professional kitchen just off the house where she will comfortably be able to continue making her nougat, her chocolate and all the other delights she sells at the markets.  Once established, she hopes to give cooking/baking/chocolate classes.  We lucked out in being the first "students"?  There is definitely an angel watching over us.

Marine and Ana are also in the process of taking over the bakery in La Roche-Canillac, taking on the roles of business partners and bakers.  I think it will contribute greatly to the revitalization of this town and attract many people interested in quality products.  I bet Marine makes a knock-out "escargots aux raisins", one of my favourite pastries.

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"When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know;
But when you listen, you may learn something new."

~  Dalai Lama