Well, we’re at the half way stage and all fans of Cadel Evans, especially his mum, sighed a huge sigh of relief when he survived that horrendous crash. His cracked helmet explains how huge the impact was and his injuries must have hurt like hell. What a champion to pick himself up from the crash and then to win the yellow jersey at one of the most painful stages of the tour. 

The riders had a day off yesterday and I hope they got fed delicious French food, like some of the stuff that Gabriel Gaté has been producing.  The gel that they consume during the race sounds pretty revolting. 

I watched over the past few nights and it’s amazing how he and his fellow chefs are able to whip up such scrumptious food in a matter of five minutes.  I was looking forward to learning the Raspberry Pâte de Fruit as I love these fruit jellies.  They’re very popular in Europe but I’ve found them to be quite pricey, especially when it’s possible to eat lots of them.  Now that I understand the work involved, I have a better appreciation of the cost.  Experienced cooks may think it’s easy, but I thought it looked a bit messy to make.  So, no experiments with Pâte de Fruit for the time being.

Tonight’s Apple tart with Armagnac was more encouraging.

Ingredients include:
4 dried figs chopped into 1 cm cubes
30 ml Armagnac
20g butter
60g caster sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
4 green apples – peel, core and cut into 1 cm slices
2 squares of rolled puff pastry, at least 22 cm square
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water
250g rich cream

Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Place fig cubes in a bowl with the Armagnac and lemon zest and macerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.
- Place the butter in a large non-stick pan on medium heat. Cover the pan with the sugar and as the sugar begins to melt, add the apple slices. Caramelise one side of the apple slices, then turn over to caramelise the other side. Add the figs and Armagnac in the pan and stir in. Tilt the pan towards the fire so that the Armagnac catches the flame and cook for a few seconds. Transfer the apple onto a plate and allow this to cool.  Wow, it looked good to eat at this stage!

Place the puff pastry on a floured bench and using the flan tin cut the two sheets of pastry into circles. Place one pastry circle in the greased flan tin and brush the edges with a little diluted egg yolk. Fill the centre of the pastry with the cooled down apple slices and the figs.

Carefully place the other pastry sheet on top and seal by pinching the pastry edges together. Make a hole in the centre of the pastry using the tip of a blade and brush the top with diluted egg yolk. Using the prongs of a fork, make a criss-cross pattern on top. Place the tart in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

Bake the tart in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is cooked and golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before carefully turning out. Cut the tart into wedges and serve with cream.

I thought the chopped figs was an interesting feature as raisins are a more common ingredient.  It looked so good and definitely something that an amateur like myself can manage.  Another recipe for the books!  Merci Gabriel.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Well, I caught Gabriel Gate’s Taste le Tour for the first time last night.  Gabriel grew up in the Loire Valley and as the cyclists are in his home region, Gabriel was on the spot to provide interesting gastronomical information.  The Loire, with its fertile soil, has an abundance of orchards growing apples and pears.  Strawberries and asparagus also grow well here.  Apparently, the asparagus particularly likes the sandy soil of the banks of the Loire. 

Another interesting fact is that goats cheeses are a specialty in the Loire.  Not only is fromage de chevre popular here, but it accounts for 70% of all goats cheeses produced in France – and France is the leading producer of goats cheeses in the world! So if you are partial to fromage de chevre, the Loire is where you need to be. 

Poitou-Charentes is France’s number one region for goat cheese production.  Gabriel says that frequently the cheeses take the names of the local villages.  Tonight Gabriel’s highlight cheese is the Chabichou du Poitou which achieved AOC status in 1990.  Shaped like a small cylinder, it is soft but firm and becomes slightly crumbly when very mature. It’s creamy in taste and develops into a stronger flavor with maturity.

So with the local produce in hand, Gabriel quickly whipped up a Tarte aux asperges vertes.  He made it look so simple that I’m kidding myself that I’d be able to cook it this weekend.  This is approximately what his instructions were:

Ingredients:
400 gm of puff pastry
Lightly whisk 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water
1 egg yolk blended with 2 tablespoon cream
16 green asparagus, (chop of fair portion of ends) and blanch for 2 – 3 minutes
Salt and pepper
Chabichou cheese

- Make pastry into a rectangle, about 10 x 30 cm.  Use edge of knife to mark borders about 1.5 cm wide along the length of rectangle
- To stop pastry from rising, place baking paper in the centre and fill inside with rice or dried pulses
- Brush edges of pastry with a little of the yolk and then bake for about 15-20 minutes until the edges have risen and are golden brown
- Remove weight from pastry and brush with egg and cream mixture.  Season with salt and pepper
- Neatly line the asparagus in the case and spoon egg and cream mixture over it.
- Crumble some goats cheese over the asparagus and bake for another few minutes to melt the cheese.

It looked really delicious and easy.  If I’m brave enough to attempt it on the weekend, I might just have a photo to show what it should look like.  Unfortunately, finding the Chabichou would be a challenge.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Today, I was treated to a tasting of 3 French cheeses that were new to me.  I must say that they were delicious and confirms that the French are undoubtedly the greatest cheese makers in the world.  The three that I tasted were:

Pont-L’Evêque is a small square-shaped flavourful cheese of a pale yellow color and with a white-orange rind. It was very creamy, but not too strong.  This cheese is made on small farms, using rich salty and almost pasteurized cow’s milk. 

The cheese took the name of the village in Normandy where it is mainly produced.  With its washed rind, Pont-L’Evêque may be the oldest cheese variety from Normandy that is still produced today.   In the past the cheese went by different names, including Angelot and Augelot.

Fromager D’Affinos, produced by the Fromagerie Guilloteau company, is a double-cream soft cheese made from cow’s milk. It is similar to Brie in production, appearance and flavour.  The company is located in the Pilat Regional Nature Park in the Rhône-Alpes region and has a reputation for its culinary expertise.

Saint Agur is a medium strong creamy blue cheese from Auvergne which is made from cow’s milk. The cheese is rather similar to Roquefort and has a very strong and spicy taste when it is ripe.

Of the three, I liked Saint Agur best as it was stronger, more complex than the other two, but really smooth.  Saint Agur was of course part of my cheese platter tonight.

Having looked up the three cheeses to see the regions from which they came, I decided to  check out where some other favourites came from as well.

Roquefort - A huge favourite of mine comes from Midi-Pyrenees.  A true blue Roquefort comes only from the Rouergue and is aged in the caves of Cambalou. Roquefort has been described as the king of blue cheeses and I’m inclined to go with that.

Epoisses de Bourgogne is produced on single farm in Bourgogne. Interestingly, each cheese is washed by hand, using a small brush to spread the bacteria over and into the rind. Finally, it is washed with marc de Bourgogne spirit. This cheese can be eaten at different stages of maturation and is best accompanied by a fine Burgundy or a spicy aromatic white wine.

Saint-Marcellin is a farmhouse cheese made from the milk of cows that graze in the mountainous Dauphiné Province in southeastern France. These small rounds with natural rinds, turn from white to light brown as they age. Inside, the pâte is softer and mild, but rich.

Mobier AOC – This cheese is easily recognizable by the horizontal stripes (made from plant coal), through the cheese. Morbier recently became the 38th member of the AOC family. The mountain cheese from the region Franche-Comté had to wait for ten years for this moment. To meet the strict demands of the controlled origin term AOC, the national institute for controlled origin (INAO) needed the time to check if the cheese was able to meet its standards.  I haven’t had this one for a while so it’s worthwhile giving it a try again.

Researching cheeses has got me thinking about things that I’d really enjoy doing.  Tasting cheeses certainly falls into this category.  Imagine travelling all around France and other countries and doing cheese tastings and reviews.  A job made in heaven.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog