Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

June/July at Coin Perdu.

June and July went by so quickly, I am still wondering where I was..I fell and broke my leg 2 weeks ago, so my moving about is somewhat restricted, especially here in the barn and on the rugged terrain of Coin Perdu. The crutches drive me nuts, but they are my best friends at the moment. At least my biceps are now something to look at. I’m not doing a lot of cooking, if any and it is only the most easiest of cooking – a handful of tomatoes from the potager on the plate with the salt and pepper pots beside it. A bowl of peaches. Half a chicken done by mon chéri on the barbecue. A tub of ice cream. A slab of Lindt fleur de sel chocolate.Lots of water to prevent the leg from swelling. More chocolate and ice cream. Macarons. Don’t you think I am a good girl for eating so healthy?

broken leg

WARNING: This is a fairly long post! I am also adding my Facebook page if you would like to follow and my instagram account as well as Lindiwe, our german shepherddog’s account.

In the meantime, the garden is running out from under my hands. Our summer has been very hot up to now and very dry and the garden is showing signs of fatigue without water and my loving care. It is big holiday time and France has come to its summer standstill. No one is available for helping in the garden. But it was nonetheless so beautiful before the drought took over and I thought I’d share it with you, since I can’t really show you my plate of tomatoes with salt and pepper or half a chicken on my plate…even though it was as goo..ood!

June/July 2015 it started off lush and green in May, everything was flowering beautifully, newly planted lavenders santolinas…

Garden in May-001

..even when the pool was being built, it looked…OK

building pool

summer 2015 new pool

iceberg roses, feverfew,, salvia nemerosas to name but a few

Garden JUNE 2015-003 Iceberg roses lavandes grosso rosier suneva Salvia nemorosa

On the terrace with Partia, purple oxalys, herbs..

Pratia angulata(blue star creeper) purple oxalis sage

..My beloved olde world flower, the hollyhocks, a lost sunflower that sprouted from the birds’ winterseeds and even dried roses..

hollyhocks

dried white rose one sunflower

 

..new additions to the family are the two babygees, who mon chéri calls Hansie & Grietjie, some cute chicks and Lindiwe, our german sheperd dog, who has her own instagram account, should you be interested in following!

hansie & grietjie

Lindiwe-020

Lindiwe in pool

And of course hours spent around the table..our favorite pastime, you could say.

summer 2015-003 summer 2015-004 summer 2015-006 Summer July weekend Summer July weekend-001 Summer July weekend-002 Summer July weekend-008 summer lunch

à bientôt

Ronelle

 

Posted on by Myfrenchkitchen

“Un oeuf cocotte” for Easter.

Easter is coming up pretty fast and everybody is munching on Easter chocolate. So are we. But one can’t live on chocolate alone. An egg every now and then will help. An “oeuf cocotte”. It is easy to make with many variations to suit each taste an ddesire.

Pacques Avril 2015-004 La recette:

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. (39°F, gas 6)
  2. Butter 4 ramekins(with volume of 125 ml or 1/2 cup) liberally with butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place some shredded spinach on the bottom.
  3. Spoon 1 heaped TBS of créme fraîche onto the spinach and spread it evenly over the spinach.
  4. Break open 1 egg into a little bowl and and slide onto the créme fraîche in each ramekin without breaking the egg yolk.
  5. Drizzle a little cream over the egg yolk to protect it during cooking.
  6. Place in a deep ovenproof dish, fill with boiling water up to half the height of the ramekins and bake at 200°C for 9 minutes for a runny yolk. The egg white should just be coagulated and don’t worry if there is still a little transparent egg white left…while standing the eggs will still continue cooking a bit.
  7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper, some  fried bacon pieces and chopped chives. Serve immediately with toasted  bread fingers to dip into the eggs.

Pincée de fleur de sel:

  • Use any nice containers for the eggs as long as they are ovenproof. Glass looks especially nice with the layers of egg and cream showing through the sides.
  • Place bacon pieces or asparagus tips, frozen creamed spinach, mushrooms, strips of ham… and place at the bottom before filled with créme fraîche. the list is endless.
  • Use small brioche buns instead of ramekins and steady them in muffin pans, fill with eggs and bake…especially popular with children.
  • Infuse cream with saffron, or other spices/herbs of your choice, bring cream to a boil and simmer a few minutes to reduce and use instead of créme fraîche.

Pacques 2015

Pacques Avril 2015-003

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I am not one for a lot of  Easter decoration. But I love having spring flowers in my house and the chickns provide me with a moutain of eggs, which I use simply in bowls to add an Easter flavor.

..Eggs from the poulaillier, rosemary and terracotta in which the eggs end up when stolen from the poullaillier…a winning combination for me..

Pacques Avril 2015

..For a little playfulness – an empty egg carton filled with shredded wooden strips colour green, the egg shells used for the recipe filled with water and holding spring flowers and herbs, some eggs and tiny quail eggs..

Pacques Avril 2015-001

..tulips in hotelsilver, my ink drawing book, a feather pen, feathers from the poullaillier and …some eggs!..

Pacques Avril 2015-002   ..last, but not least..Lindt Easter chocolates, Raffaello and Ferrerro Rocher..Pacques Avril 2015-005