Château de Lagarde sits on the hill, about 8km from Mirepoix.  The original Chateau dates from the 11th century and was later handed to the Levis-Mirepoix family, after their support for Simon de Montfort in his crusade against the Albigensians.  During the summer the village holds night time fetes in the magnificent setting of the Chateau. The food is freshly cooked and there are plenty of dishes to choose from. We queue up at the spit roast where the veal has been roasting all day and are served with two enormous slices of meat plus a plate of frites. There are also moules, steak hache, snails in tomato and garlic sauce, all served with salad, french fries or spiced sweet potatoes (see Adrienne’s recipe) and fresh bread.  Pudding is crepes, cherry clafoutis, Ice cream, or cheese

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After the food is served, the musicians start playing for the crowd and soon many are up dancing and singing.  We meet up with friends from the surrounding villages and catch up with all their news. Around 11pm the fireworks are set off, causing the Chateau to look like  it’s on fire – stunning.  We follow the trail back down the hill to the car and drive home feeling very full up.

VRUISE NEWS

Phil and Jude leave Southampton after a short delay while the porters load Jude’s 25 cases on the ship. Phil brings his hat.

RECIPE CORNER

Please send any photos of recipes you have tried from this blog and I’ll put them up

ADRIENNE’S SPICED SWEET POTATOES

(I use about one medium potatoe per head)

4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2” pieces

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp each crushed cardoman, cumin, coriander and black pepper and fennel. Just use equal amounts of the spices and mix together.  You will have plenty left over to keep for later recipes.  The spices go well with any type of potatoe or butternut squash.

Take 2tsp of the spice mix and add it to the olive oil. Put the mixture in a plastic bag.  Add the potatoes and shake to ensure they are all covered.  Leave for an hour then put the potatoes in a dish and pour the remaining oil from the bag over them.  Roast  at 190ºC/170ºC FAN for about 50 minutes. Serve them with any meat dish – particularly good with lamb or beef. 

Bon Appétit 

After yesterday’s busy day, we drive over to the lake and relax in the sun. We have a light lunch as we have ordered paella for this evening from Didier at the Hotel du France and we know just how generous he is with his food!

We arrive back at the house late afternoon and most of us take a nap. Around 7pm the guys go over to the hotel ( any excuse for a few beers at the bar) and collect the paella. It is truly enormous but everyone manages a plateful. We serve it with fresh bread and aioli – (see recipe).

After the meal, we take a walk through the village and watch the locals playing Pétanque. They invite us to play so we spend an hour or two trying to win with no success. Definitely more practice needed, so we stroll home and are all glad of an early night.

AIOLI RECIPE

1 egg yolk

2 cloves of garlic finely minced

2 tbs olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Pinch of salt

Put the egg yolk in a bowl and add the garlic and a pinch of salt. Squeeze the lemon juice into the bowl and start whisking the ingredients together. Gradually add the oil, whisking continuously until the mixture is smooth and creamy. You can use this with a number of dishes. In Spain they serve it with fresh baked rolls and plump olives with a beer or glass of wine – Salud!

Tomorrow we visit LaGarde near Chalabre for one of the best barbecues of the year and Jude and Phil go off on their VRUISE (virtual cruise) to Norway.

RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS RECIPES

 

 

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 

 

 

 Today the kids go home and we will miss them all after such a great week 

We drop them off at Carcassonne airport and drive into town for lunch. One of our favourites is Longchamp Brassiere in Place Carnot, Carcassonne.

                                                               Ed at Le Longchamp  

We choose a light lunch of Roquefort salad and Tomato with mozzarella, both with a delicious dressing (see recipe below). We have a glass of wine and coffee to finish. A quick (very quick) look around the shops with no time to buy any of the lovely clothes and shoes!  Straight home, as tomorrow will be a busy day. Many of our friends will be arriving for the party and we’ll need to be up early to shop for all the fresh food we will cook. We have the first early night in a long time with Welsh Rarebit for supper (Sue’s Recipe see below).

DRESSING FOR SALAD

3 tbsp good olive oil

1 tbsp Marc de Champagne vinegar (most good supermarkets stock this) or Vinaigre de Noix by Maille is another good make.

1 tsp Dijon mustard 

Salt and pepper

Mix everything together, add salt and pepper to season and pour over salad – that easy!

SUE’S WELSH RAREBIT

2 slices of bread 

As much grated cheese as you wish

1 egg beaten 

dash of Worcestershire sauce

Put cheese and beaten egg in a bowl. Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce.   Mix thoroughly and spread evenly on toast (no butter required).  Grill until golden brown and serve (really good with brown sauce).

yum😋

 Bon Appétit

 

 

 

 

 

 

This evening while the kids go off to see other friends, we host a party for Gerry and her family. We have known them since we first moved to France. I met Gerry in the local antique shop when she was struggling with the French language and I offered to help. I was drawn in by the Belfast accent as I was born in that great city. We started chatting and discovered that our parents had lived in the same street when we were all children. I was invited to their brother’s home, just a few hundred yards from our house in Chalabre, where I met Gerry’s husband Eddie, her brother Brian and her sister Ann. We have been friends ever since and often visit each other in Belfast, Carlingford, Suffolk and France. Gerry’s other brother Michael and his wife Linda, also have a house in Chalabre.

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Tonight we cook some fresh fish on the griddle, and start with a curried egg sundae (see recipe) and for dessert a gateaux from the bakers, kindly provided by our guests. We have a very pleasant night catching up with news from Belfast and our respective families. We are also joined by Pierre – our French friend who lives in Mirepoix.

We say goodnight and arrange to see them at the weekend when we will be holding a party for our anniversary with lots of other friends.

MAGGIE’S CURRIED EGG SUNDAES

Serves 4

4 eggs hard boiled

4 medium tomatoes chopped finely

250gm Smoked salmon or crab chopped into small pieces (tuna would also be suitable)

Half tsp curry powder

1 tbs mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

Chopped Coriander or parsley to garnish

4 glass dishes (I use wine glasses)

Worcestershire sauce

Separate the yolks from the white of the eggs and mash them. Add the mayonnaise along with the curry powder and salt and pepper.

Now chop the white of the egg and season.

Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to the tomatoes

Start with a layer of tomato at the bottom of the glass, followed by the curried yolk, then add a layer of the egg white followed by the salmon or crab. Repeat the layers, ending with the white on top. Sprinkle a pinch of coriander or parsley on each glass and serve.

Bon appétit

Monday market in Mirepoix is always an enjoyable day. When I had my shop in the village (Abigail’s Boutique), I would arrive early after dropping Abi off at the St. Maurice primary school and then head to Llobet’s Restaurant, owned and run by Benedicte and Olivier. Olivier would make me a coffee and I would disappear to the kitchen and chat to Benedicte whilst she prepared the lunchtime dishes. It’s good to see them again and they make us very welcome.

Olivier makes us coffee and we sit outside to enjoy pastries from Diant’s Patissierie. It is perfectly acceptable in France to order coffee at a cafe and eat food bought from a boulangerie. Cedric Diant is one of the best bakers around and his bread is delicious. We buy tiny ficelle loaves, filled with cheese, fresh croissants and bread for later on.

We chat to the Llobets while the kids explore the market and visit the magnificent cathedral. Then Abi takes her friends to see her old school, where she still keeps in touch with her French pals.

The square is full of lovely fresh produce; juicy fat olives, local cheeses, huge tomatoes, fresh lettuce, just picked that morning. The smell of the paella and meat dishes waft through the market. One of the most mouth watering aromas comes from the rotisserie chicken stall, where the chicken juices run down onto the potatoes cooking in trays underneath. We buy a couple of chickens and potatoes for tonight’s dinner. (See recipe at end).

We finish shopping and drive back to Chalabre and sit in the cool of the house. The kids get out the table tennis set and play a few games, but in the heat, they soon stop and come indoors to get drinks and read, or watch something on their tablets.

By 6pm everybody is hungry again and we serve drinks, followed by the chicken, potatoes, salads, cheese and baguettes from the market. Coffee and patisseries follow. We clear up and walk to Chalabre village square where the locals are playing pétanque. We have a few games but none of us can beat the French at this game!

Bon nuit

MIREPOIX ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

First of all, you don’t need a rotisserie for this recipe but you can use one if you have it.

1 large chicken between 1.5 to 1.8kg. In France we buy the Bresse chicken – more expensive but a delicious bird. Any good standard fresh chicken will do.

1 lemon cut in half

1 crushed clove of garlic

2 tbsp of olive oil

2tsp paprika

Half teaspoon cayenne

Half teaspoon dried herbs (thyme, marjoram, oregano,sage and basil)

50g butter softened

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/150º FAN

Place the lemon and garlic inside the chicken

Mix the paprika, cayenne, mixed herbs and salt together and combine with the butter. Rub this herb butter all over the chicken.

Place the chicken in a roasting tin and drizzle the oil over it.

Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours and baste a couple of times.

I add parboiled potatoes and vegetables at the beginning and sit the chicken on top. They taste delicious cooked in the chicken juices. Alternatively, you can serve the chicken with pasta or rice.

Bon Appetit!

This morning we decide to take breakfast with us to the Lake. We pack up several picnic bags and stop en route to buy fresh bread, croissants and pastries from the boulangerie.

The lake is a short distance from home and we unload the cars. The sun is already scorching so we set up camp under the trees for some shade. Everyone leaps into the water to cool off.

Well most of us

Every Wednesday evening during July and August, Lake Montbel is transformed into a night market. Stall holders set up on the grass beside the lake and offer food to the hungry locals and holidaymakers. The choice is vast, paella, crevettes (see Ed’s sauce recipe to serve with these), slices of griddled duck breast, Chinese food, freshly made pizzas, Camembert cooked in their wooden box, over an open fire and served meltingly hot with fresh crusty baguettes to dip in. There is a huge choice of local wines available from ice cold rosés to full bodied reds. Desserts are crêpes, tarte tatin, ice-creams and sorbets. We take our own plates and cutlery and enjoy a lovely meal sitting at the wooden tables set out in the open air. There is live music with everyone joining in the singing and dancing. Most towns will have a night market on different evenings during the summer and they are very popular, with locals and tourists alike, so an early arrival is advised.

We enjoy another lovely evening and look forward to visiting Mirepoix market tomorrow.

ED’S SAUCE FOR CREVETTES (or meat, or veg or whatever!)

Two tbsp Mayonnaise

25g Butter

1 clove of Garlic crushed

1 tsp tomato sauce

Salt and pepper

Melt the butter and the crushed garlic in the microwave for about a minute. Remove and add the mayonnaise. This will look curdled at first but beat it quickly and thoroughly until it emulsifies. Then add the tomato sauce and salt and pepper. Especially good with crevettes but also good with bread, meat or vegetables.

Bon Appétit!

We awake to glorious sunshine and another lovely day in the Languedoc. After breakfast and sorting out sunglasses, sun cream, headache tablets, shorts, sandals and drinks, we leave for Carcassonne. The drive is about 50 minutes and we park at the foot of the castle, walk up to the ancient ramparts and stop to take photos. Every summer, artists paint temporary summer designs on the castle walls and this amazing sight can be seen from the main road.

Carcassonne was invaded by Charlemagne during the 8th century and the name derives from the Grand Dame of Carcas, the town’s moorish Queen, who alerted the townsfolk to the invasion by ringing the bells (Carcas a sonné les cloches).

After coffee and some exploring we meet up in the main square and find a place to eat. We choose Le ménestrel restaurant in the central square which has huge trees giving shade from the midday sun. They offer several menus and we choose a three course lunch for 15€, including a mixed salad or pâté starter, moules frites (see recipe below) or chicken for main course, and a chocolate mousse or crème brûlée dessert, plus a carafe of wine, bread and a bottle of water.

After lunch the kids wander off to explore the many other aspects of Le Cite, including the torture chamber, the museum and some shopping. I find a cool spot to have a cold drink and jot down some ideas for my writing. After a couple of hours, we head back down the hill to the cars and set off for home.

Tonight the kids cook for us and we sit back and enjoy the evening, whilst listening to their many stories. We play cards and music late into the night and get to bed around 2am. Tomorrow will be a trip to Lac Montbel which is a beautiful lake, perfect for swimming on these scorching days.

MOULES MARINIÈRE

Serves 4

2kg of fresh mussels scrubbed and beards removed

60g butter

1 clove of chopped garlic

1 medium onion, chopped finely

150ml dry white wine

3 tbs double cream

2 tbs Chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Melt 40g of the butter in a saucepan with a lid. Add the onion and garlic and cook on a low heat until they are soft. Pour in the white wine and when it comes to a boil, add the mussels. Cover with the lid and leave on a high heat for around 5 minutes. Remove the lid and take the mussels out as they open. Discard any that do not open. Place the mussels on a serving dish and keep warm in a low heated oven. Strain the liquid through a sieve back into the saucepan, discarding the onion. Simmer the juice to reduce by half, then add the remaining 20g of butter and the cream. Add salt and pepper and when the butter has melted and the cream is warm, pour over the mussels sprinkle with the chopped parsley and serve.

You can serve the mussels with frites, but we prefer them with fresh crusty bread.

Bon appétit !