In July we went away to France. We’d booked it back in January. We were in paradise. Beautiful pool. Divine interior. Walled garden. Happy children. Parents who could relax. Ah.
Le Sigh.
Ideas and inspiration for modern rustic living.
Archive for August, 2012
Categories: Food
Categories: Food
Back when it was Jubilee weekend I took the family to see my old (host) family in the countryside in Germany. It was hot. And the countryside was beautiful. And of course it was brilliant to introduce everyone to everyone (host family meet family). We sat outside in the late evening sunshine. Norbert and Ingo comparing Bordeaux wines. Birgit and I sampling the bubbly stuff.
It was Kevin’s birthday the day we arrived and I was a bit late remembering. The next day his birthday treat was a trip to Holstein’s Mühle – the Germany of my memories – a traditional restaurant with hot cherry cream waffles and the best farmer’s liver pate ever. We had neither but instead had steak, with garlic butter and salad. My mouth is watering thinking about it (on the evening of day six of my fast).
The next day we went on our old walk – up the hill and out into the fields overlooking Wiehl. It was hot and the children were tired. We carried sleeping children down the hill, along the path by the stream where I used to go running. Back around below the village we went. Norbert showing us all the wood the boys had cut down for Winter. We remember the field we’d searched for an elusive native orchid. Up by the old Roman road.
Walking under the dappled shade of the green birch leaves.
Heavenly German countryside.
This is where I used to go walking.
This is where I used to think and dream.
This place is a part of me.
And I of you, Angfurten.
Categories: Adventure
In France you can buy pre-rolled organic pastry (already shaped in a circle for flans and tarts) for 1 euro at the supermarket. And in the house we stayed at in France there were loads of flan dishes and they had an amazing hot, fast oven.
We ate tuna and leek tart one day, Alsace tart the next. They were amazing. Then we harvested apricots and had apricot almond tart. It was so big it lasted four nights of pudding.
But it wasn’t really the tarts that put on the kilos. They only contributed to two. The second two came after getting back to London and deciding it was still okay to eat croissant for breakfast. When really I know it is very much not ok to eat a croissant for breakfast apart from when I’m on holiday in France.
Tuna and Leek tart
1 pack pre-rolled chilled French circular organic pastry (yeah right)
1 pack pre-rolled pastry, defrosted and somehow shaped into a circle to fit your flan dish
2 leeks, sliced
Knob of butter
Sea salt to taste
2 cans tuna, drained
6 eggs
250ml organic creme fraiche
100ml good, thick organic cream
Pre-heat the oven to 180° on fan-setting. If you have a slow oven cook at 200°.
Grease an 11″ flan dish and line with pastry. Poke the pastry base with a fork (about 10 times). Cover pastry with baking paper and use either baking beans or any dried beans to hold the paper down while you blind bake the pastry shell for 10 minutes or until very very very slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside.
In a large frying pan, sweat the leeks in melted butter until transluscent.
Add tuna and gently stir in to the leek.
Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk until nicely mixed (ie all yellow and a bit bubbly). Add cream fraiche and cream and whisk ingredients together.
Spoon the leek and tuna mix into the blind-baked pastry shell in the flan dish. Pour the egg and cream fraiche mix over the tuna. This should fill your pastry shell*.
Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown (and if you’re lucky it will puff up a bit like a souffle).
* If you are woefully short of egg mix then make up the mix again if you have any ingredients left, using the same proportions. I’ve had to do this a few times and it’s always worked so far.
Categories: Food