I'm back!

It’s been almost four years since I last posted on my blog and I feel high time I got back to it. We’ve had some ups and downs in these few years but are still here in the beautiful South of France, I’m still baking and sewing, working… and laughing most of the time.

I plan to try to keep up a weekly blog (give or take) mainly recipes and recommendations but possibly with a few anecdotes and photos along the way… send feedback if you try the recipes or have any recommendations of your own.

Great dinner last night with friends; my easy peasy ‘Paella in the oven' recipe was a hit as always, but made even better using proper paella rice. The rice was a gift from Spain my lovely friends Jessica & Sion gave us when they visited us in the summer on their way back from a family holiday in Northern Spain. The recipe works well with risotto rice but the paella rice stays separated giving a more authentic paella consistency, rather than giving the creamy texture of risotto.

Dessert was a fantastic new adaptation of a recipe with some lovely seasonal pears poached in sweet Muscat wine, vanilla and star anise and served with praline coated ice cream balls. Will definitely be doing that again it was a dreamy dessert and looked fantastic, I wish I’d taken some photos!

The wine too was excellent, recommended by the knowledgeable Gérard Bouchet of 'La Cave Des Gourmets' in Meilan – we attended a wine tasting at the Cave in the spring and had a wonderful time, tried some lovely wine under the excellent guidance of Gérard and his wife Claire who made some wonderful dishes to accompany the wine. That night we tried wines from all over Gascony and fell in love with one or two – this one has become one of my all-time favourites ‘Vignes de Martissens – Les 3 Domaines’ Cuvée Prestige 2008 . I highly recommend a trip to the Cave - link.

Paella in the Oven (or Spanish Risotto)

(Serves 4)

250g cherry tomatoes

1 red onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

Red pepper halved and sliced

Handful frozen peas

2tbs olive oil

300g risotto rice (or if you can get it Paella rice I used Calasparra Bomba)

4 chicken thighs, bone removed (but leave skin on), halved

200g chorizo thickly sliced

2tsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 litre hot chicken stock

Generous pinch of saffron strands

8 large raw prawns

Two large handfuls fresh mussels, cleaned & de-bearded

Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 220c/Gas 7. Place cherry tomatoes in large casserole sprinkle over red onion, garlic and olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes till tomatoes are softened.
2. Brown the chicken in a heavy frying pan with a little oil, skin side first to colour and seal the chicken. 
3. Stir in the rice, chicken, chorizo, rosemary, red pepper, saffron, chicken stock and seasoning, mix well and return to oven for 20 minutes. 
4. Remove from oven, check seasoning and that the rice is almost cooked. Add peas and stir through. Place prawns (shell on) on top, this time cover with lid or foil and return to oven for a further 5 minutes.
5. Lift lid and add mussels to the top, replace lid and cook for a further 10 minutes. 
6. Remove from oven and give it all a stir, serve with crusty bread and good wine, you’ll need finger bowls on the table for shelling the prawns and mussels.

(By the way - I’ve also made a vegetarian version of this in the past by omitting all the meat / fish and replacing it with roughly chopped mushrooms, chunks of squash and/or courgette.)

Poached Pears and Hazelnut Praline Ice Cream

(Serves 4)

4 firm pears (with flat bottoms!), peeled but with the stalks left on, drizzled with a little lemon juice to keep them white.

Half bottle of Muscat (I used Muscat de Rivesaltes this time but Muscat de Beaumes de Venise or Moscato would give the same effect)

100g sugar

1 vanilla pod

1 star anise

Vanilla Ice Cream

100g Hazelnuts

50g Sugar

1. Put the wine, sugar, split vanilla pod and star anise into a saucepan just large enough to hold all the pears. Bring gently to a simmer, when the sugar is dissolved place the pears into the wine and poach for 30 – 40 minutes. The timing for cooking the pears depends entirely on how ripe / soft the pears are. You want to cook the pears till they are soft when you put a knife into them but keep their shape. (Depending on how fond you are of star anise you may want to remove it after about 15 minutes in the poaching liquid, I find it too strong if it’s left in for the full cooking time.)
2. When the pears are cooked enough and the liquid has thickened turn off the heat and leave to cool. (The pears can be made several hours in advance and just left to steep in the syrup.
3. While the pears are poaching make the hazelnut praline. Put sugar in pan with the nuts and warm over a medium heat till the sugar has dissolved and turned golden brown. Stir gently to coat the hazelnuts. Pour the mixture out onto a non-stick baking sheet, spread out and leave to cool. Once cooled and set, put the praline into a food processer and wizz for a few seconds until it looks like crumbs.
4. Take four round scoops from the vanilla ice cream and roll them in the praline until completely coated, return the balls of praline coated ice cream to the freezer until time to serve.
5. Just before serving assemble the pears upright on plate drizzled with the thick syrup, the balls of ice cream, a sprinkling of any leftover praline and the vanilla pod and star anise for decoration.