Rosies Coleslaw

So simple,
Ingredients;
White cabbage
Carrots
Onion
Lemon Juice
Mayonnaise
Dijon Mustard (optional)
Thinly slice the cabbage
Add grated carrot

Thinly sliced onoin


Mayonnaise and if used the Dijon mustard
Add the lemon juice, Mix everything well.

Rosies Easy savoury flan

How easy is this,
Ingredients, I have used so many different ingredients in the past, have a look what you have in the house, even the pastry is optional. A perfect summer flan, eat warm with couscous and a baked potato or cold with a salad.
For this version,
A packet of ready made and rolled pastry
Smoked bacon lardons
4 or 5 eggs
creme fraiche
3 leeks
Feta cheese
curry powder

Method
Warm oven to C180
Line a flan dish with pastry, (I have done the flan without pastry before)
Fry the leeks and bacon together till the leeks are tender
Whisk eggs with 3 tablespoons of creme fraiche and a level tablespoon of curry powder
After the leek and bacon has cooled slightly (so as not to start the egg cooking in the bowl) add to the eggs with the crumbled feta cheese and fold the ingredients together, pour into flan dish and bake till cooked, about 30 mins.


Bon Appetit

New Ducks

Dan and Vero bought me two ducks today, the dark one looks like a wild or semi wild duck.

Flowers in my front garden.

As some one who is an expert in growing weeds, I'm rather pleased with these.

La Gacilly (again)

Every year La Gacilly has an exhibition of Photographs, rather Large ones, posted around the village, this years are starting to be put up and I will start posting them from this weekend, this Photo however is a poster outside a wine shop, and I rather like it.

Text and more pics to come from Yvonne's and Michelle's visit to France.





To see more pics go here

English style Sunday lunch

Roast lamb with Rosemary and garlic.
Photographs and recipes coming later today
But just to wet your appetite.

Coming next Leek and Potato soup

Peel and roughly slice the carrots
• Slice the celery
• Peel and roughly chop the onions
• Cut the ends off the leeks, quarter them lengthways, wash them under running water and cut them into 1cm slices
• Peel and slice the garlic
• Place a large pan on a high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon
• Cook for around 10 minutes with the lid askew, until the carrots have softened, but are still holding their shape, and the onion and leeks are lightly golden
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1cm dice
• Put the stock cubes into a jug or pan and pour in 1.8 litres of boiling water from the kettle
• Stir until the stock cubes are dissolved, then add to the vegetables
• Add your potatoes
• Give the soup a good stir and bring to the boil
• Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on

To serve your soup
. Remove the pan from the heat
• Season with salt and pepper
• Serve like this or pulse until smooth using a hand blender or
liquidizer
• Divide between your serving bowls

Some more road signs

Andouillettes

Andouillette

Paul and Mike eat this, I don't like the smell

Drinks with friends

Jilly took time of working on Brittany's version of the Berlin wall to trim my hair, while Paul and Keef played Petanque.
Then of course it was time for a bottle or two of wine.
2 men and a bottle of Cote de Rhone, will soon sort out the worlds problems.

30th Tour de Bretagne

This year is the 30th year of the Tour de Bretagne for old cars, vans and Motorcycles. Here is some photographs I took in a local shop publicising the event. The route and times are here and I will take some photographs when they arrive in Sixt sur Aff on Monday morning.







Here's some Youtube video from a past event.


Old meets new, Kenzos first bike, for his first birthday.

Gateau Breton

My photographs soon, but here is the recipe I will be trying next. Given to me by a real Breton. luckily they gave me the recipe in French. Also a recipe for Mussels in white wine.

200 g flour
50 g soft butter, cut into small knobs, plus extra for greasing
200 g unrefined caster sugar, (never bought this before, not sure who sells it).
zest of 1 orange
5 egg yolks
milk for glazing
The recipe doesn't ask for levure chimique, but I think it will need it.

1. Heat the oven to 160°C/gas 3. Generously butter a 24cm push-up-bottom cake tin.

2. Place the flour in a bowl, add the butter, sugar, orange zest and egg yolks, and work together with your fingers until all the ingredients are evenly blended - the mixture will be quite sticky. Put the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread it out with your hands.

3. Make a pattern in the top of the cake mixture with a knife or pastry cutter, and brush the surface with a little milk. Bake for 35 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and has come away from the sides of the tin.

4. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out.

A view from my bedroom

Rosies Yoghurt Pot Cake (with Apple and Hazelnuts))

I got this recipe from http://frenchcountrychallenge.typepad.com/blog/


1 x 125g pot of Yoghurt

2 pots sugar

3 eggs

3 pots flour

1 packet levure chimique (1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder should work, if you try this let me know how it worked)

1 pot sunflower oil

2 apples

half pot chopped hazelnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).

Empty one pot of plain yoghurt into a mixing bowl, then rinse and dry the plastic pot.



Add 2 pots full of sugar and 3 eggs and beat together with a fork.





Add 3 pots of flour and the packet of levure, then mix again




Finally add 1/2-1 pot of sunflower oil and stir again. Remove the core from 2 large or 3 smaller apples (if you have one of those implements, great, if not, I chopped in fourths, cut out the core then chopped further), then chop into small pieces. Don't worry about removing the peel. Mix your apple in with the hazelnuts


put your mixture in a buttered cake tin.


Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or cold.