Well I'm still humming (see my last post!!) and I'm still talking about the weather....as are the majority of people!! The lady in the papeterie on Sunday was joking with me that it was like English weather, and the guy in the boulangerie was complaining it was too damp for his dough to rise!! That was probably just an excuse for his bread being under-cooked this week, but never mind!!We'd hoped that this last weekend our Diners Club guests could have eaten outside for a change. But no... we lit the fire to keep everything cosy and warm. We had some American agents for lunch on Saturday.... and it rained and rained!! They still seemed to like La Véronique, so hopefully will send many guests our way... so 'hey ho'!! Someday soon the sun will arrive and stay for a while. And in the meantime we'll think about food!!

We launched a 'members only' Diners Club at the end of January and it seems to have become very popular. We're fully booked for this weekend and we have several other bookings for future weeks. That's before we even publish the menu!! I don't know why I'm surprised really. Peter is such a good chef and Domaine La Véronique is such a special place people are bound to like it!! I hope it continues. Here's the menu we served this last weekend. Let's think about asparagus and Spring!!

Amuse Bouche

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Asparagus with Foaming Hollandaise, Quail Egg and Parmesan Crisp

OR

Smoked Trout & Beetroot ‘Trifle' with Avocado Custard

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Escalope of Veal with a Tagliatelle of Carrot and Courgette

With a Muscat and Veal Sauce

OR

Confit of Guinea Fowl on a bed of De Puy Lentils and Sautéed Potatoes

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A Selection of Three Cheeses

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Crème de Müre Jelly with Blackberry Ice-cream

OR

Bitter Chocolate Mousse with Ginger Crunch and Cappuccino Foam

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Coffee/Tea and Chocolates

I'm humming that the summer which is coming will be fun!!

For some reason I've been reminded of the poem (or hum!) called 'Noise' by Pooh. It has always conjured up Spring for me. Those early days when you realise winter has gone and everything is on the move towards Spring and Summer. But for some reason this year the Spring is not springing, and I haven't yet heard the Nightingale singing.... which he did in mid March last year. Wet weather here, and temperatures below zero in England!! What's happening? We had a lovely warm day yesterday, and then today it's turned wet and cold again. However much I love to sit in front of a cosy fire, I'm starting to feel the need for sunny days and fresh air! 

Spring might not have started but our season has. We've just finished our second week with two ladies from North Carolina who came for a six day cooking school. The weather was pretty awful for them, but with a lot of time in the kitchen it didn't really seem to matter, although we had a rather wet and windy trip to Carcassonne!! We did however manage to sit outside a café for a 'grande crème' at the street market in Pèzenas and in the main square at Narbonne... so not all bad!!

One of the recipes that always impresses our guests, and which is easy to do, is Peter's baked red peppers stuffed with feta and mint. It has a Moroccan influence and reminds me of summer lunches on the terrace with a chilled bottle of rosé!! So here's the recipe, and like Pooh, I'll carry on humming and hoping that 'the cuckoo will be cucking and ooing' very soon!! Enjoy!!

RED PEPPER WITH FETA AND MINT

Red Peppers halved horizontally

250g Feta

20g Mint

2 onions, finely sliced and chopped

50g pinenuts – toasted

Olive oil
Black pepper

1) Pour 3 tablespoons of olive oil in to a baking tin, and place the halved peppers so they sit on their skins.
2) In a food processor mix feta and mint.
3) In a frying pan sauté onions in a little olive oil until soft.
4) Allow onions to cool.
5) In a bowl mix the the cheese mixture with the onions and pine-nuts.

6) Fill the peppers with the mixture and bake for about 1 hour in a preheated oven 200ºC
7) Serve with the residue olive oil and mint sprigs.

Sunrise - looking towards St Christophe

It started snowing yesterday afternoon here at Domaine La Véronique! Not unusual for England at this time of year.... but for the South of France... pretty rare!!!! We've seen snow in the Languedoc perhaps three times in the 15 years we've been here. We woke up this morning to a winter wonderland... a wonderful sunrise... and now beautiful blue skies, and a temperature of  -4°.

Looking south from Veronique

So Peter has just lit the fire and is now in the middle of making his wonderful take on minestrone soup, which will keep us warm and full for a wintry walk this afternoon with our dog, Caline. Not the  'gourmet cooking' you'd expect at our cooking school, but extremely tasty and good winter fayre.

Sunrise over the boulodrome!

Not quite sunbathing weather at Domaine La Veronique!!

INGREDIENTS:-
Smoked lardons (chopped bacon)
Onions
Potatoes - diced
Garlic - finely chopped
Red Pepper - diced
Carrot - diced
Celery - diced
Tinned Haricot Blanc or Lingot beans
Pasta
Tinned plum tomatos
Tomato purée
Harissa
Homemade ham stock
Olive oil
Oregano
Salt and Pepper
Grated Parmesan Cheese
METHOD:-
Heat the olive oil. Cook the lardons until coloured but not crispy. Add all vegetables (except the tomatos and Haricot) and the oregano and stir for 15 minutes on a low heat. Add tomatos, purée, harissa and stock and bring to the boil. Stir and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the pasta and beans, and continue cooking until the pasta is cooked. Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

A Happy New Year to everyone, from Domaine La Véronique!

Christmas is over, we’re in to 2013 and the cold weather has arrived. It is sunny here today, but the wind is whistling with that feel of snow off the mountains. We can’t complain though as only a week ago we were sitting out on the terrace having aperitifs before lunch The sun is forecast for the next week so we might manage it again if the wind dies down!! Just before Christmas, we were sitting outside, this time having a cup of tea and some homemade gingerbread, when suddenly a pheasant dropped from the sky!... literally dropped… and fell in to one of the fig trees! (No we don’t have any pear trees I’m afraid and it was a pheasant not a partridge!!). Obviously there was something wrong, so Caline, our dog, went to investigate, neatly bringing the pheasant to Peter’s feet and dropping it. She was very pleased with herself. Sadly she hadn’t quite finished the pheasant off, so Peter had to do the duties!! Peter decided to hang the bird for a couple of days, and then he plucked it etc. finding that it had in fact been shot. Strangely we hadn’t heard gunfire when the bird plummeted from the sky, but as it’s hunting season here in the Languedoc we presumed that's what had happened. So all that was then needed was for Peter to do his gourmet magic and to cook the pheasant! It was delicious, so maybe we'll add the recipe to the cooking school menus!! Anyway, we thought you might like the recipe just in case a pheasant suddenly falls at your feet!!

Ingredients

1 pheasant – plucked and drawn!

1 large red onion – finely sliced

1 carrot – diced

1 stick of celery - diced

100g finely diced smoked bacon

100g button mushrooms – quartered

50g unsalted butter

Large sprig of thyme

1 bay leaf

Salt and black pepper

200ml oz Red Wine

150fl concentrated chicken or game stock

Method

1) Heat the butter in a casserole dish and brown the pheasant on both sides

2) Season with salt and pepper

3) Remove the bird from the casserole and set to one side, placing a sprig of thyme and bay leaf in the cavity of the bird

4) Sauté bacon in the casserole until brown

5) Add onions, carrot, celery, and sauté for two minutes

6) Add red wine and reduce by a third

7) Add stock and reduce by a third

8) Place the pheasant back in to the casserole, cover with tin foil and a lid, and cook in the oven preheated at 170°. Baste with the juices every 10 minutes. It should take a 45 minutes to cook, but check by pricking the thigh of the pheasant with a fork. The juices should run clear.

9) Remove the pheasant from the casserole and place on a carving board. Cover with foil and allow to sit whilst you finish the sauce.

10) Add a dessertspoon of redcurrant jelly to the casserole and reduce sauce to a pouring consistency.

11) Adjust seasoning.

12) Carve the pheasant, and serve, dressing with the sauce and a small piece of thyme. Serve with fried matchstick potatoes and a green vegetable such as broccoli. 

ENJOY!

This dish took a while to evolve but I am now very happy with how it looks and tastes, so have added it to our gourmet holiday menus. I would serve this with a glass of cold white wine from Chateau La Voulte Gasparets.

BEETROOT AND SMOKED TROUT TRIFLE

WITH AN AVOCADO CUSTARD

Beetroot Jelly

50g Cooked beetroot

Water

2 leaves of gelatine

½ teaspoon horseradish

Salt and Pepper

1)      Blend beetroot, water and Horseradish

2)      Add to non-stick pan and heat with gelatine until thoroughly integrated

3)      Pour liquid evenly in to cocktail glasses and refrigerate for 2 hours

Smoked Trout Mousse

Smoked Trout

1 Egg white

2 tbsp crème Fraîche

1 tbsp horseradish

½ tbsp Lime juice

Black Pepper

1)      In a processor place the trout and egg white, and blend

2)      Add crème Fraîche, horseradish, lime juice and black pepper and blend

3)      Spoon creamy mousse on to the beetroot jelly

4)      Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours

Vegetables

Finely dice, ½ red pepper, ½ yellow pepper, ½ green pepper, ½ cucumber and 5 radishes.

Sprinkle over the mousse

Avocado Custard

4 avocados

2 tbsp Crème Fraîche

1 tbsp lime juice

Salt and Black Pepper

1)      Blend ingredients in a food processor until very smooth

2)      Carefully spread custard over the vegetables until level with the top of the glass

3)      Sprinkle with toasted pine-nuts and top with half a cherry tomato.

  

A LIGHT LUNCH FOR A HOT DAY

With the temperatures we're having at Domaine La Veronique at the moment, one can only sit down at lunch and enjoy a light meal with a couple of glasses of ice cold rosé!! Tricolour salad (sliced beef tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and avocados) with a home-made pesto and olive oil dressing, with crusty fresh bread, and all washed down with a glass of Domaine Comps Rosé from our local village. Who could ask for more!!

This weeks menus

Menus from 29th April

Sally's just put out a blog on Chef Pierre's Blogspot about our visitors this week, so I thought you'd like to see the dinner menus I served! 

Domaine La Véronique

Dinner Menu

29^th April, 2012

Asparagus with Quail Egg and a Foaming Lime Hollandaise

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Chateau Lagrave, 2010 AOC Minervois

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Quail Véronique

Potato Fondant and a Mirepoix of Vegetables

*

Chateau La Voulte Gasparet, 2008 - AOC Corbières

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Perail of Brebis

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Fresh Strawberries with Almond Shortcake,

Crème de Fraise Jelly and Strawberry and Mascarpone Ice-Cream

*

Domaine Baroubio, 2010 AOC Muscat de St Jean de Minervois

Domaine La Véronique

Dinner Menu

30^th April, 2012

Asparagus soup with Crème Fraiche and Croutons

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L’Elegantier 2010, AOC Clairette de Languedoc

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Breast of Duck on a Tagliatele of Noodles, Courgette and Carrot

Mange tout and a piquante plum sauce

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Domaine Entretan 2002 AOC Minervois

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Mont d’Or

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Bitter Chocolate Mousse with Ginger Crumble and a Cappuccino Foam

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Domaine Baroubio, 2010 AOC Muscat de St Jean de Minervois

Domaine La Véronique

Dinner Menu

1^st May, 2012

Salad of Duck Gesiers with Apple

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L’Elegantier 2010, AOC Clairette de Languedoc

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Rabbit En Croute on a bed of Depuy Lentils

Brunoise of Vegetables

*

Domaine Sylva Plana 2009 AOC Faugères

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Valencay

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Vanilla Panacotta with Caramelised Oranges

*

Foncalieu - Viognier

Domaine La Véronique

Dinner Menu

2^nd May, 2012

Cauliflower and Roquefort Soufflé, with a Crème Fraîche and Chive Sauce

*

Ollieux Romanis – 2010 AOC Corbières

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Filet Mignon of Pork, and Slow Roast Belly Pork

Dauphinoise Potatoes, Purée of Celeriac and Carrot

Apple and Black Pudding

*

Chateau d’Ampuis, E. Guigal-  2009 AOC Gigondas

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La Coudelet Roquefort with Pears and Walnuts

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L’Eglantier – Molleux – AOC Clairette de Languedoc

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Cold Lemon Soufflé

Domaine La Véronique

Dinner Menu

3^rd May, 2012

Beetroot and Smoked Trout Trifle, with an Avocado Custard

*

Boris de Maurel – 2010 AOC Minervois

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Baron of Lamb and Confit of Lamb Rissoles

Leek and Potato Gallette, Baby Carrots and Lamb Jus

*

Domaine d’Aéria – Cairanne- 2001 AOC Côtes du Rhone Villages

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Epoises

*

Crème de Framboise Jelly, Bitter Chocolate Ganache

and White Chocolate Mousse with Vodka

*

Mas Amiel, AOC Maury