A touch of rich chocolate for the festive season

Although not a huge chocolate fan myself I do appreciate that my guests will usually love it and this one is a proven winner – it’s really rich so goes a long way – I picked the recipe up from a magazine recently but can’t remember where, so some of you may recognize it.

The cake needs a lot of eggs and my friend Jan had arrived the previous day with some wonderfully fresh laid eggs from her chickens, which made the baking all the more pleasurable. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare the mixture and 30 minutes or so to cook.

You’ll need:-
200g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate (70% or more)
5 eggs
1 tbs self raising flour
200g icing sugar

Put your oven on to 180 degrees (gas mark 4)

Using the bain marie technique – melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. When the ingredients have melted together tip the chocolate and butter in to another bowl and add the eggs one at a time to avoid curdling, mixing well all the time. Then beat the flour and icing sugar in until all is well blended together. Pour the mixture into a cake tin which you have previously greased and floured – I used a 23cm one as I wanted to cut thin slices.

Bake in the oven for about 25-35 minutes until solid but with a slight give to the touch. When the cake is cool serve with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream with fruit coulis drizzled over it for added colour. I make batches of fruit coulis when fruits are in season and store them in small plastic containers in the freezer – strawberry, raspberry and apricot in particular look lovely with this sort of dish in the winter.

Hope that all you chocaholics enjoy this one – Happy Christmas to you all.

Susie’s Provence style chicken

This week's recipe is our interpretation of a popular recipe from the South of France that we have perfected over the years and can easily be adapted for a supper for 6 or a meal for 30. We cooked this for a visiting choir last summer in the height of the tomato season when there was an abundance of fresh basil in our herb garden and the market was full of the wonderful fresh purple garlic tresses which inspired Susie's pastel painting.

This recipe will serve 6 people. You will need:
• 6 chicken breasts
• 750 g of fresh or tinned tomatoes
• 3 medium size red onions (you can use others but the red ones are sweetest)
• 20 black olives (stoned)
• 1 large lemon
• Bunch of fresh thyme leaves
• Bunch of fresh basil
• 4 large cloves of garlic
• 1 glass of white wine
• Salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 2-3 tablespoons of good olive oil

1. Squeeze the lemon and pour the juice into a bowl. Add the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and a dash of olive oil – blend together to make a paste. Cover the chicken breasts with the paste and place in a bowl in the fridge for about an hour.
2. Meanwhile skin your tomatoes and roughly chop them up and put on one side.
3. Gently fry the chopped onions in a heavy based oven -proof pan with the olive oil until soft, then add the tomatoes and torn up basil leaves. Cover and simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes (the scent will be wonderful at this stage)
4. When the chicken has marinated for an hour place in a pan with the remaining olive oil and sauté until browned, then add the wine and stir gently for a few minutes.
5. Add the chicken and all the juices to the tomato and onion mixture and cook in a preheated oven (175°C/Gas mark 4) for about an hour, until the chicken is cooked through, adding the black olives for the last few minutes.
6. Serve with a crusty loaf and green beans or green salad.

A family favourite

This week's recipe is a firm family favourite in our house - the guests love it too!! Haven't got any fishy pictures to accompany it so fishing boats in Cassis Harbour will have to suffice. Enjoy!

SUSIE’S FISH PIE RECIPE
Ingredients for 6 plus
I use about 500 g of fish mix:-
Salmon
White fish ( monkfish, hake, cod etc)
Peeled prawns
Scallops (optional)

2 medium onions
200 g mushroom (optional)
Chopped parsley
Bunch of dill
(I sometimes use coriander, depends what I have around)
1 lemon
About 500 g of potatoes (waxy variety)
Melting cheese – 100 g
2 large tomatoes

Boil potatoes in their skins until waxy.
Once boiled skin & slice the potatoes about 10 mm thick – put aside to cool.

Sauté finely chopped onions slowly in a little butter/oil until soft then add chopped mushrooms and cook until a golden colour and put on one side.

Poach the fish all together in a pan with herbs, dill & lemon juice, salt & pepper.
Drain & flake all the fish, checking to make sure there are no bones, reserving the stock for later.

Make a white sauce with butter & cornflour (or flour) using a mixture of milk & the fish stock from the poached fish for a pouring consistency – enough for about a 50 cl of sauce.

Mix the onions/mushrooms and fish all together with the white sauce & spread over the bottom of an ovenproof dish.

Then lay the sliced potatoes decoratively over the mixture to cover it.

Sprinkle with a mixture of chopped parsley & the melting cheese & decorate with sliced tomatoes.

Bake in a hot oven (175°) for three-quarters of an hour or until heated through until the cheese is golden & melted on top.

Serve with a green salad or green beans.

Most requested recipe at Le Perchoir

We're constantly being asked for lots of the recipes that we cook for our guests here at Le Perchoir des Paons, but the most popular one of all seems to be Susie's Red Onion & Goat cheese tart, so we thought you might like to share it.

Susie’s Red Onion & Goat Cheese Tart

This recipe serves 4 – 6 as a main course or 8 as a starter. You will need:
• A non-stick flan tin 25cm (10”)
• Packet of puff pastry
• 5 red onions
• 5 large eggs
• 100g soft goats cheese (I usually use a local Quercy cheese called Cabecou but any soft one will work)
• Salt, fresh ground pepper and grated nutmeg
• Cooking oil (I use a mixture of olive oil and sunflower oil)

1. Slice the red onions into rings about 5mm thick and sauté with a tablespoon of cooking oil, adding a little salt and ground pepper. Cook the onions until they are soft trying to keep the rings intact, as much as possible – leave to cool.
2. Roll the puff pastry out to fit the lightly greased flan tin and trim to fit.
3. When the onions are cool arrange them in the pastry case.
4. Depending on the type of goat’s cheese you use either slice or break into small pieces (about the size of a 50p) and arrange on top of the onions.
5. Next whisk the 5 large eggs until light and fluffy, adding salt and pepper to taste, and then pour this mixture over the top of the onions and goats cheese in the flan case. Sprinkle fresh grated nutmeg over the top
6. Place into a preheated oven (190° C/Gas mark 5) for about 30/35 minutes until the mixture is cooked and the pastry is golden
7. Cut the tart into wedges and serve immediately with a green salad.

We hope that you enjoy it as much as our guests do - even people who claim not to like goats cheese love it. Hopefully another of Susie's pastel images will also whet your appetite.

Obviously if you come and stay with us you can taste it without having to cook it and maybe learn to paint as well!!

A taste of Autumn

This is our first attempt at Blogging - we thought we'd start with one of Susie's pastel pictures and a seasonal recipe after making a huge batch of golden pumpkin soup yesterday - delicious and creamy with a hint of chilli.

Le Perchoir Pumpkin Soup

You'll need the folowing ingredients:-

1kg pumpkin, de-seeded, peeled and cubed
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 ½ litres vegetable or chicken stock
50g butter
200g grated parmesan cheese
½ a chopped de-seeded small chilli
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Sauté the chopped onion in the melted butter in a pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the cubed pumpkin and fry until soft - turning occasionally so it doesn't catch. When the pumpkin is softened add the chopped chilli and parmesan cheese. When the cheese has melted into the mixture add the stock and cook for 10 more minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Blend the mixture in a food processor to a creamy puree and return to a saucepan to heat until hot through. Pour into warmed soup bowls and serve with a tablespoon of creme fraiche and crusty bread or garlic croutons. A delicious starter or lunch snack for this time of year .