Ed at the cafe and later with the three amigos

 

 

An early start this morning, we collect bread and cakes from the bakery and take coffee at the cafe.

We have ordered plates of seafood from the Hotel du France in the village, where Didier and his wife Marielle, run the hotel. We met them on our first night in Chalabre where there had been a mix-up with the booking. They were about to leave,  as they close the hotel on a Sunday night, but instead they handed us the keys and told us to make ourselves at home.  See previous post from May 2016 FIRST NIGHT IN CHALABRE. 

Food for tonight includes Smoked Salmon all the way from Carlingford in Ireland, courtesy of Gerry, served with Soda Bread (see recipe).  As well as the seafood,  we have a pulled pork dish, courtesy of Jan, assorted salads made by the girls, tiny new potatoes topped with cream cheese and chives, a cheeseboard and pastries from the baker.

Ed picks up the seafood from the hotel. The dishes are so huge, he needs several friends to help him collect it all (or just an excuse to drink beers at the hotel bar!) There are crevettes, shrimps, oysters, crab, moules, and clams.

 

On the cheeseboard is Roquefort – Papillon noir (in my mind the best blue cheese), Comté, a relatively hard cheese with a slightly sweet flavour. Chaource (a salty and buttery creamy cheese) , Brie and Camembert. After cheese comes the gateaux – a chocolate roulade and a tarte tatin from the local patisserie plus some Religieuse pastries (a circular chocolate eclair with a smaller one on top – representing a bishop’s hat called a Mitre) from Cedric Diant in Mirepoix. We serve Blanquette de Limoux, Sauvignon, Rosé, Corbière. Minervois and lots of beer to accompany the food.

 

 

We have a fabulous day, made better by all our family and friends being  there. We party until the early hours and tomorrow we will head to the lake for rest and recuperation (after a good lunch obviously!) c’est la vie – naturellement. A demain.

 

 

SODA BREAD RECIPE

This is my mother’s recipe for which she used sour milk instead of buttermilk.  She always left the milk on the windowsill to go sour.  These days it’s a lot easier to buy sour cream or buttermilk!

450gm strong white flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

300ml of buttermilk or soured cream

100 ml water

Heat oven to 200ºC/Fan 180ºC

Mix dry ingredients together and add buttermilk or soured cream – add enough water to make a very soft dough.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and shape into a round about 8in in diameter.  Place it on a greased baking try and make a cross in the top with a sharp knife.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, then turn the bread upside down and bake for another 15 minutes until the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

Eat when cooled.  This bread doesn’t keep for more than a day, so eat it up as soon as possible!

Bon Appétit