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Fresh tomato sauce
We’re drowning in a tomato torrent at the moment. We also have a steady stream of bell, chilli and Espelette peppers to complement them. I was naively imagining myself being able to relax a bit at the beginning of September after a very hectic summer. That was before the tomato frenzy. And as if our own aren’t enough to contend with, well-meaning (or perhaps sadistic?) neighbours donate to our tomato fund as well. We’ve been ringing the changes with tomato risotto, tomato omelette, stuffed tomatoes, tomato and basil salad, spicy chicken with tomatoes and black olives… Are you sensing a theme? Even the hens are indulging; if anyone has any good tips on how to protect tomato plants from hens’ destructive beaks, please let me know.
Tomatoes are overflowing with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, most notably lycopene which is thought to be capable of fighting and preventing cancer and heart disease. I justify my lax attitude towards the hens’ tomato fest with the fact that their eggs will be full of lycopene this Autumn.
As you can imagine, I’m absolutely tomatoed out and am now mindlessly brewing up this old favourite, which freezes well to use in the tomato-barren winter months. It may be used as a sauce for pasta, added to risotto or any tomato-based dish.
Ingredients (serves 8)
1 red onion
5 cloves of garlic
4 tblsp olive oil
8 medium size organic tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
2 chilli peppers
Sea salt and pepper
Lightly fry the chopped onions and garlic in olive oil in a casserole dish. Skin the tomatoes by blanching in boiling water for a minute or so and then add to the dish. Cut the peppers into thin strips and add to the tomato mixture. Season with salt and pepper and leave to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour, or until the mixture begins to caramelise very slightly.
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Sardine pâté and then there were three…
I haven’t had much time to blog lately as I’ve spent much of the Summer slaving over a hot stove (real punishment in 40°c of heat), producing food for an abundance of hungry guests. The latest ‘feast’ was a three-day party to celebrate my husband’s birthday (a big one – the birthday, not the husband ;-)).
I reached a rather random conclusion as a result of these preparations: hens are far more intuitive and intelligent than we are led to believe. Their relatively tiny heads are deceptive; during the week preceding The Birthday Party, while I was in full-blown production mode, our TWO hens managed to produce THREE eggs between them every single day. While I am convinced that this was a gesture of female solidarity, my husband claims it was their birthday present to him. As the French say ‘Chacun voit midi à sa porte’ (literally: ‘Everyone sees noon from their own front door’, or simplifed I suppose ‘To each his own’).
One of the things I made as a starter was this deliciously healthy and refreshing sardine pâté, which is full of anti-oxidants and omegas 3 and 9.
Ingredients (serves 8)
270g of bonelesss sardines (2 tins)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
15 black olives, pitted
2 tablespoons of horseradish
2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
1 clove of garlic
1 red onion
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
black pepper and a pinch of salt to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Chill for at least two hours and serve with either French bread or raw vegetables (carrots, celery, fennel…) -
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Guest post: The importance of good nutrition with cancer
Today I welcome Jillian McKee, who has worked as the Complementary Medicine Advocate at the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance since June of 2009. She also has a blog.
Here is what she has to say about the importance of nutrition with regard to effectively fighting cancer.Cancer patients and the benefits of good nutrition
Cancer patients have a host of health concerns to attend to. As well the more obvious issues surrounding their course of treatment and their physical condition they must also look after their nutritional needs. Proper dieting is no cure, but it will help give patients the strength and energy to maintain a better quality of life throughout the process. Whether it is mesothelioma cancer or another form of cancer, there are many benefits to be had by maintaining high standards of nutrition through all stages of the disease.
Energy : To help them through the many difficult cancer treatments, patients should ensure that nutrition is enabling them to maintain good energy and strength levels. Chemotherapy and radiation are known to take their toll. Proper dieting will help replenish lost nutrients. Good nutritional practices will help the body maintain proper muscular levels.
Immune System : With all of the various invasive procedures that take place, cancer patients are always at risk of infection, further complicating their condition and knocking treatment off course. Protecting the immune system is vital. According to the National Cancer Institute one of the principal goals of good nutrition is to make sure patients have a strong immune system.
Wellbeing : High nutritional standards can lead to a better quality of life. The National Cancer Institute indicates that proper nutrition can help improve wellbeing. This can make the difficult days a little bit easier. Having the psychological strength to face another day is one of the primary challenges that cancer patients face.
Complications : One thing that physicians worry about is the existence of complicating conditions. They want to treat cancer directly without other worries. Nutrition can play a role in preventing other health problems. Good diet is closely linked to good heart health and good blood pressure. It will not, in itself, heal a patient, but it will provide a healthy environment in which to treat their disease. -
Flying school and birdseed sundae
There seem to be an awful lot of irresponsible parents around here. They have countless offspring and then leave them to fend for themselves while they go off galavanting, without even taking the time to check that their babies can fly properly first.
Luckily Léo, my son, is here to rescue them; He has a knack for finding himself in the vicinity of their nests when they tumble out and he snatches them up before sharp canines, beaks or hooves can cause irreparable damage. He feeds and waters them, gives them a bed in his bird youth hostel and then teaches them to fly. The only thing his hasn’t yet mastered is a feeling of satisfaction and contentment when they fly away from him for good; tears are shed. 🙁
In honour of our quick-to-learn, high-flying baby birds I created this delicious sundae. The only thing that is slightly unhealthy is the ice cream but as long as you use a good-quality full-fat one without too much sugar or additives it’s well worth the sacrifice. Ice cream also has fairly low GI, lowered further by the addition of the yoghurt, nuts and seeds. The rum aids digestion – that’s my excuse and I won’t be told otherwise. 😉
Ingredients (serves one)
10 cherries, pits removed
Two scoops of good quality vanilla ice cream
Two tablespoons of greek yoghurt
A tablespoon of dark rum
1 teaspoon each of : chia seeds, cocoa nibs, pumpkin seeds, dessicated coconut
2 teaspoons of raisins
2 teaspoons of chopped almonds
2 squares of 80% cocoa dark chocolate
1 teaspoon of coconut oil
Melt the dark chocolate with the coconut oil and a tablespoon of water over a low heat. Prepare the sundae, starting with the cherries, then adding the ice cream, yoghurt, rum and raisins, followed by the seeds, cocoa nibs and coconut. When the hot chocolate sauce is melted, pour it over the ice cream, yoghurt and seeds and finally add the chopped almonds. -
Nine-year-old boy logic and crab salad
This is a translation of a ‘phone conversation between my nine-year-old son and his friend :
Son : ‘Hi ‘Friend’, would you like to play tennis this morning?’
Friend: ‘Er, OK, but could we make it this afternoon?’
Son: ‘But it’s going to be too hot this afternoon – why can’t you make it this morning?’
Friend: ‘It’s just it seems a bit chilly* this morning and I’m wearing short sleeves’
*’chilly’ for a native of Southern France is anything under 25°C
My son applied his steadfast and infallible logic, advised his friend to dig out a sweater and off they went. Imagine though, the possibilites of this kind of rationale. ‘Inappropriate attire’ could become a valid excuse for getting out of just about everything – school, work, boring cocktail parties, cooking lunch, the possibilities are endless…
Unfortunately for me, I was dressed appropriately enough to make lunch and I produced this crab salad. To be consumed on a terrace in light attire:
Ingredients (serves four)
400g tinned crab
1 greek yoghurt
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
4 heaped tablespoons of chopped cucumber
A thumb of freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon of raisins
1 tablespoon of sweet and sour chilli sauce
1/2 tsp chilli powder
seasalt and pepper to taste
Combine the onions, garlic, cucumber, raisins and ginger in a small mixing bowl. Add the drained crab and the sweet and sour sauce, mixing well. Add the Greek yoghurt and spices and mix with a spoon until the crab is entirely covered in the yoghurt mixture. Serve chilled. -
Basque Piperade and a disoriented white hen
When is an a tomato not a tomato? Answer: when it’s an egg…
The white hen has taken to laying her eggs amongst our tomato plants. I only realised the other day when I spotted several egg-coloured tomatoes. As hens tend to lay where there are, or have been, other eggs, I wondered whether she thought that the pepper tomatoes were green eggs. Which begs the question: are hens colour blind or just a few French fries short of a Happy Meal? Answers on a postcard please!
Of course the other explantion is that she’s a Basque hen gagging for some Piperade, no doubt one of the most renown Basque dishes.
Ingredients (serves four)
6 medium tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
100g sliced Bayonne ham
3 cloves of garlic
2 onions
Chopped parsley, thyme, bay leaf
2 red bell peppers cut into strips
2 green bell peppers
2 teaspoons Espelette pepper (if you don’t have this, Paprika, chilli powder or Cayenne will do)
4 eggs
Blanche and skin the tomatoes. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a medium frying pan and cook the ham until golden brown (about 7 minutes). Set aside. Cook the garlic and onion in two tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown. Add the herbs and peppers, Espelette pepper and seasalt to taste. Cover and leave to cook until the peppers soften (about 10 minutes). Stir in the tomatoes and browned ham and cook until the mixtures melds and juices slightly thicken. Beat the eggs and add over the heat to the tomato/pepper mixture, stirring until cooked. Serve immediately! -
Lentil dahl soup
Spicy lentil soup might seem a rather unexpected choice for the South of France in the middle of July, but I’m indulging the locals who, poor things, are at the end of their weather-tethers. It is unseasonably cool this Summer with many days not getting above the low 20s. Anything under 40°C in July and August in this region is unacceptable and strictly for namby-pambies (Parisians). It gives carte blanche for unrestricted and expansive whingeing, as well as countless visits to the doctor for weather-related complaints such as ‘chills’ and acute depression.
Puy lentils have a delicious earthy flavour and are packed full of goodness – protein in the form of amino acids and fibre. They are also an excellent source of iron and B vitamins. What better for a cold Summer day 😉
Ingredients (serves four)
200g Puy lentils
2 diced tomatoes
1 large onion
2 carrots, sliced
Tablespoon of olive oil
Tablespoon of coconut oil
6 cloves of garlic
fresh grated ginger
seasoning to taste (seasalt, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, tumeric)
Put the lentils, diced tomatoes, onion, carrots and seasoning into a large saucepan containing 2.5 litres of boiling water. Bring the water back to the boil and then simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes.
Five minutes before the soup is ready, heat the oils in a frying pan and gently fry the garlic and ginger until golden brown. Add to the soup, mix well and simmer for a few more minutes. Serve with chickpea pancakes which will be the subject of my next post… -
Ossau Iraty and black cherry chutney
I haven’t started talking in tongues; this is the name of a delicious cheese from the Basque region. So delicious, in fact, that it was named ‘Best Cheese in the World’ at the World Cheese Awards 2011. It is nicest served at room temperature with black cherry chutney.
I last enjoyed it just the other day, at the top of a mountain in 30 degree heat, surrounded by 30 ten-year-olds. And it was delicious nonetheless 😉 ! We were on a school trip to the pyrenees, a somewhat long but very enjoyable day. Well, apart from the bit where the coach had to reverse down a tiny mountain road, negociating no fewer than EIGHT hairpin bends backwards. I’m not that cool on tiny mountain roads in a car going forwards, so I’ll leave it to you to imagine the state I was in after this little escapade. There’s always a plus side though, and in this case it was that the children were actually SILENT for the time of the manoeuvre. They also derived much amusement from the fact that their teacher inadvertently let slip a four-letter word (or French equivalent thereof) in sheer terror.
As you can see, I didn’t take a photo of the cheese and chutney. But I did take one of a ‘typical Frenchman going for a picnic in the mountains’!
To make the black cherry chutney:
Ingredients
300g black cherries
1cm fresh grated ginger
Pinch of cinnamon
Black pepper
60g of cane sugar
2 tbls white vinegar
Heat the cherries and sugar in a casserole for just under five minutes. Add the ginger, cinnamon and black pepper and continue to heat for another five minutes. Add the vinegar and cook until the mixture starts to congeal. Leave to cool before serving.
