Stuffed Courgettes

This is such a simple recipe but so full of flavour it makes a meal in itself.

2 courgettes - cut in half length wise and the seeds scooped out

4 sun dried tomatoes

12 pitted black olives

1/4 red onion

Feta (about 50 g or more if you like it)

Chop everything except the courgettes into small pieces and mix together in a bowl with one tiny bulb of crushed garlic.

Put the courgettes in a baking dish and drizzle with a small amount of virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt (fleur de sel is best)

Fill each courgette half with as much of the chopped mixture as you can and top with parmesan cheese.

Put in the preheated oven at 180° for about 20 minutes or until the courgettes are soft.

I added small cherry tomatoes in the baking dish and some fennel.

This went extremely well with Les Perles de Jones Carignan Gris 2016.

Bon appétit!!

Epinards au four

I love the idea of eating healthy spinach but sometimes I find the taste a little too strong.  This dish is a brilliant way of making spinach absolutely delicious and it is so so easy!

Put the oven on at 200 °C

Ingredients

A big pile of fresh spinach washed and stalks removed
Mozzarella
Parmesan
Pine nuts
Pinch of salt
Olive oil
One clove of crushed garlic


In an oven proof dish put a teaspoon of olive oil and the crushed garlic then take one of the spinach leaves and spread the oil and garlic so that it covers the whole bottom of the dish.  Add as much spinach as you can - pile it high as it will reduce dramatically during cooking!

Drizzle olive oil on the top then tear the mozzarella and place evenly on top of the spinach.  Sprinkle on the parmesan and the pine nuts and add a healthy pinch of salt.

Put in the oven for about 10 minutes!

Serve hot from the oven

I would suggest a lovely glass of Domaine Jones Rouge Grenache to accompany!

Wild Boar Stew

Preparation Time       20 minutes

Plus 2 days marinade

Cooking Time          150 minutes

Ingredients for 8 people

For the marinade :

2kg of wild boar cut into cubes

1 bottle of Fitou or Corbières red wine (or similar)

3 sprigs of thyme

3 bay leaves

Half a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper

5 onions

For the stew

75g of flour

1 stock cube

100g of lardons

8 carrots

drizzle of olive oil

pinch of salt  and pepper

Method

In a big bowl add the wild boar, sliced onions, thyme, bay leaf and Cayenne pepper and the wine.

Mix well, cover and leave in the fridge for 2 days.

Take the meat and onions out of the marinade.  Put the marinade to one side.

In a casserole dish add the olive oil and brown the cubes of meat.  Take the meat out, add a little more olive oil and brown the onions.

Add the meat to the onions, add a pinch of salt and pepper and add the marinade.

Pre cook the lardons in a frying pan to get rid of the fat.

Drain the lardons and add them to the stew.

Dissolve the stock cube in 50cl of hot water and add to the stew.

Cook slowly with the lid on for about 1 ½ hours.

To thicken the sauce put the flour in a bowl, add a bit of warm water and mix making sure there are no lumps.

Add some of the sauce from the stew, mix and then add the flour mixture to the stew.

Mix well and leave to cook on a low heat for a further 30 minutes.

Serve with a delicious bottle of Domaine Jones Fitou.

Goats' cheese & roasted tomato tart with garrigue herbs

This is one of my favourite dishes at this time of year.  I use fresh home grown tomatoes from Jean Marc's Dad's garden and pick wild rosemary and thyme from the garrigue surrounding our vineyards. Enjoy with a lovely chilled glass of Domaine Jones blanc!

Ingredients

• Large pack baby plum tomatoes 
• Black olives (pitted and halved)
• Goats’ cheese log or any soft rind cheese (Brie or Camembert also work well)
• 1 pack of pre-rolled puff pastry
• 3 tbsp homemade or shop bought pesto (to make your own  – whizz the leaves from a large bunch of basil with 1 garlic clove  - you can roast it with the tomatoes to give a more mellow flavour, approx 150 ml of  extra virgin olive oil, 50g pine nuts and add 50g freshly grated parmesan cheese and salt & pepper)
• Fresh thyme or rosemary
• Beaten egg or milk
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

 Method

• Pre-heat oven to 220°C fan  
• Slice the tomatoes length-ways and roast for fifteen mins with a drizzle of oil, then leave to cool.
• Line a rectangular non-stick baking tray with grease-proof paper, unroll the pastry and lay onto tray
• Cut a border around the pastry, about 2 cm from the edge (don’t cut right through the pastry). This   gives a nice crispy risen crust once cooked.
• Spread the pesto over the pastry base.
• Slice the cheese into slices (around 1 cm thick is good)
• This is the fun part – arrange your tart as you please, I like to do a line of tomatoes, a line of sliced  cheese and then more tomatoes, with the occasional line of black olives.
• To finish sprinkle with thyme or rosemary leaves and season with salt and pepper.
• Brush the egg or milk onto the border.
• Cook as per pastry instructions (usually around 15-20 mins), until the cheese is bubbling and the  edges are golden
• Remove from tray and slice while warm.
• Serve with a crisp green salad or... do as I do, allow the tart to cool completely, wrap carefully in grease-proof paper and enjoy as a lovely al fresco treat after a morning’s hard graft! 

Recommended wine Domaine Jones Blanc 2013 or 2014

Bon appétit! 

Annie's Crème Caramel

Otherwise known as Annie's baked custard flan with caramel, in the rest of the world this is known as Crème Caramel.  It should be deliciously light and smooth.

6 eggs

100 g caster sugar

75cl milk

A vanilla pod

Caramel

175 g caster sugar

2 tablespoons water

You will also need a deep soufflé dish (at least 5 cm) with a capacity of 1½ pints or smaller ramekin dishes or any other recipient with highish sides - metal cake tins are good too.

Oven at 160 °C

1         Put the milk in a saucepan.  Open the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds into the milk.  Add the   empty pod too

2        Dissolve the sugar in the milk

3        Heat but remove from heat before it boils and leave to cool

4        Gradually add the beaten eggs into the milk, whisking continously.  Make sure the milk is only luke warm otherwise the eggs will curdle and you will have to start again

5        To make the caramel, put the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.  When the sugar has dissolved stop stirring and leave to boil. Leave until it becomes dark golden brown and remove immediately from the heat so that it doesn’t burn.  The trick with caramel is to take it off the heat before it burns and it can turn pretty quickly so you just need to keep watching it.

6         Pour about 5 mm of caramel into the bottom of the dish (or dishes) and tilt and turn so it covers the       sides too (about a ¼ of the way up)

7       

        Butter the sides of the dish above the caramel

8    

             Pour the milk and egg mixture in to the cake tin on top of the caramel

9      

        Cover the top with foil and place it in a baking tray with 3 cm of water

1    

        Put in the over and cook for 30 - 40 minutes or until the custard is set

1

        Leave to cool and then chill in the fridge

1

        To serve slip it out of the dish and serve upside down ie with the caramel on the top !

Jean Marc’s handy tip

If you are making the Crème Caramel in a metal tin you can make the caramel directly in it without using the sauce pan.

Gratin Dauphinoise

Gratin dauphinoise

OK so the big debate for this dish is - do you add cheese or not?  I am a definite no cheeser as I just don't think it needs it.  Jean Marc, however, it a cheeser and so to avoid argument I do half with and half without.

The art of a good dauphinoise is how thin you can slice the potatoes.  I sliced them in the slicer on my kenwood and an hours cooking is then all you need to make lovely winter potato dish.

Enough sliced potatoes to fill a gratin dish

Enough milk to cover the potatoes

Grated Gruyere cheese

Salt

Garlic clove cut in half

1 oxo cube

Small bits of butter

1 Peel and slice the potatoes into 1mm slices

2 Rub the garlic clove on the bottom of the gratin dish

3 Layer the potato slices (about a third of the way up the dish)

4 Sprinkle with salt, and knobs of butter and cheese (optional)

5 Put another layer of potatoes and sprinkle with salt and knobs of butter and cheese (optional)

6 Put a final layer of potatoes sprinkle with salt and cheese

7 Dissolve the oxo cube in a small amount of water and add to the milk

8 Pour the milk over the potatoes but not up to the brim of the dish otherwise it will overflow when cooking.

8 Cook for 1 hour at 180 C.  Test with a knife to make sure it is cooked.

Jeremie's Cress Soup

Jeremie's Cress Soup

The texture of this soup is lovely - soft and velvety it makes a sophisticated change to bog standard vegetable soup. It is surprisingly flavoursome and would be great as a dinner party starter.  You could just swirl the cream in at the end to make it look rather glam.

500 g cress
500 g potatoes
20 g butter
1 small onion
1.5 l chicken stock
10 cl single cream

1 Peel and roughly cut the pototoes
2 Slice the onion
3 Wash the cress and take off thick stalks
4 Melt the butter in a saucepan
5 Add the oinion and the cress to the butter and cook on low heat for 5 minutes until soft.
6 Add the stock, potatoes, pepper and bring to the boil then cook on a low heat for 30 minutes.
7 Blend in blender until smooth, add the cream and blend again.
8 Season to taste

Thanks to Jeremie, lovely frenchie living in London but loving the south of France, for this recipe and I would suggest a chilled bottle of Jones Blanc to go with it - yum!

Chilled Courgette Soup

Courgettes were never the favourite vegetable in the Astruc household – that was until Annie tried out this soup. Her parents had always thought that courgettes were flavourless and quite boring but blended together with potatoes, onion and crème fraiche the result is surprisingly tasty. There should be an equal weight of courgettes to potatoes and the soup should be served chilled (although it is equally delicious hot). 


Serves 4 
Preparation time 10 minutes 
Cooking time 30 minutes 

3 medium sized courgettes 
2 large potatoes 
1 large onion 
1 chicken stock cube 
150 - 200 ml. of crème fraiche 
Salt and pepper 

1. Top and tail the courgettes and cut into 3 pieces 
2. Peel the potatoes and cut into similar sized pieces to the courgettes 
3. Peel and roughly slice the onion 
4. Put all the vegetables into a saucepan, add the stock cube and cover with cold water 
5. Salt and bring to the boil 
6. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on until the vegetables are soft 
7. Remove from heat and blend until smooth 
8. Add the cream until the required consistency is achieved 
9. Season to taste and either serve immediately or chill.

Annie's Apricot Jam

Annie’s favourite jam made from freshly picked apricots from Roger’s garden. The tree is laden with fruit in July and August and there is enough for the whole family to make jam following Annie’s traditional recipe. 


Preparation time 15 minutes 
Cooking time 1 hour

2 kg of stoned apricots 
1.4 kg of castor sugar 

1. In a large saucepan cover the apricots in cold water and bring to the boil. 
2. Discard the water and add the sugar to the apricots and bring slowly to simmering point stirring continuously. 
3. Cook the apricots and sugar for an hour on a low heat stirring occasionally. 
4. Check to see if the jam is cooked by putting a small drop on a plate. If the jam is thick and runs slowly down the plate then it is ready to put into sterilised jam jars.

Fresh Tomato Bread

This is a well known favourite in the village of Tuchan and marks the beginning of summer. As a child, Jean Marc would buy a freshly baked baguette from the boulangerie, sneak into his Dad’s vegetable garden and squeeze the juice from freshly picked tomatoes on to the bread. It is that simple and is perfect as an aperitif or a starter. 


Preparation time 5 minutes

2 ripe juicy tomatoes 
4 slices of whole grain crusty bread 
Olive oil 
Wine vinegar 
Salt to season 

1. Cut the tomatoes in half. 
2. Rub the slices of bread generously with the tomato flesh. 
3. Drizzle with the olive oil and a drop of vinegar. 
4. Sprinkle with salt to season 


Serve with a slice of Bayonne or Serrano ham

Annie's delicious ratatouille

Mid July and Roger is starting to pick the first vegetables from his garden. Annie is ready with the frying pan to conjure up the most amazing ratatouille dish that captures the freshness of the onset of summer. Annie’s ratatouille is perfect as a side vegetable for grilled meat off the barbeque and can be enjoyed hot or cold. 


Ingredients for 4 people 
Preparation time 30 minutes 
Cooking time 45

2 aubergines 

3 courgettes 

1 large onion 

3 tomatoes 

salt 

2 cloves of garlic

1. Half peel the aubergine and cut into 2 cm cubes. 
2. Fry in olive oil until browned then remove from the pan. 
3. Top and tail the courgettes and cut into 1 cm cubes. 
4. Fry in olive oil until browned. Remove from the pan. 
5. Peel and slice the onion, brown in olive oil in frying pan then add the courgettes and aubergines back into the frying pan. 
6. Plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 5 minutes then peel, deseed and cut into 1 cm cubes. 
7. Add to the frying pan, season with salt and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes. 
8. Press the garlic and add to the ratatouille. Season with more salt if needed and cook for a further 15 minutes.

Mussels in local herbs and olive oil

All of the herbs for this recipe grow wild in the countryside surrounding the village of Tuchan. Annie picks sprigs of rosemary and thyme in the early spring when they are in flower and keeps them in a storage jar for use throughout the year. The recipe uses dried herbs and small mussels from the local fishing village of Leucate. It is so simple and quick to do and a perfect starter


Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
Ingredients for 4 people

2 gk fresh mussels in shells
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of dried rosemary
1 teaspoon of dried dill
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds






1. Mix all the herbs together and crush the herbs using a pestle and mortar.
2. Clean the mussel shells making sure to scrape off barnacles and remove the beard by giving it a forceful tug.
3. Put the mussels in a big frying pan over a lively heat until they open (about 5 minutes).
4. Drain off all the water.
5. Keep the heat high and add the olive oil and herbs.
6. Stir well so that the herbs and oil coat the mussels.
7. Continue to stir for 3 minutes and serve immediately.


Annie’s Alternative 
3 crushed cloves of garlic can be used instead of the herbs

Paziols Palmier Biscuits

A very quick, very easy recipe that Annie often does at the last minute when the oven is still hot from the morning’s cooking. These crunchy biscuits go very well with the Jones Muscat and are named after the row of palm trees outside the church in the village of Paziols. 

Preparation time 10 minutes 
Cooking time 15 minutes 
Preheat oven at 180 C

1 roll of ready made puff pastry 
80g of sugar 





1. Unroll the pastry and sprinkle it evenly with the sugar. 
2. Roll the pastry from both ends until the 2 rolls meet in the middle. 
3. Put the pastry in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill and then slice the roll into 1 cm thick biscuits with a sharp knife. 
4. Place the biscuits on a lined baking tray and cook in the oven for 15 minutes until golden brown 
5. Leave to cool and keep in an air tight container. 


Annie’s alternative 
As a savoury alternative, try covering the puff pastry with chopped black olives or goat’s cheese instead of the sugar.