A visit to Paris

Smoked Duck, Confit and Foie Gras

Just returned from a visit to Paris, and well, whilst in France its great to sample some classic dishes and then be able to bring some home too. Some years ago we were fortunate enough to stay in the South West of France in a small town called Aiguillon, where many of the local farms produced Foie Gras. So a great pleasure to find these familiar offerings in Paris too, of course theres more to food in Paris than i had time to enjoy, but what i sampled was superb. From crepes in Versailles through the range of local breads, croissant and pastries to the homemade noisette ice cream in Montmartre it was a pleasure throughout. Then theres the markets laden with delicacies, honey, macaroons, cheeses and spices reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of the area, or maybe a chance to try the smoked pigs ears or chicken gizzards that are so good on salads. The flavour of Fleur de del adds delicate compexity to any food that you season, being hand harvested, sun dried and unique in qualities, its all here to sample. Most visits to Paris will understandably take in the museums, galleries and shops on offer, enjoy these but remember to refuel regularly on at least some of the above.  If you are lucky enough to visit then go try, you'll be pleased that you did, and don't forget to bring something home to remind of the visit.

Bon appetit

Sauce Anglaise

The real way to make the best custard! Take the time to master this classic sauce, it really is worth all the effort.

Ingredients


3 Egg yolks
65g Caster Sugar
250ml Milk
Half a Vanilla pod

Method

1. Pour milk into a pan on a gentle heat, scrape out sticky centre of the vanilla pod and add to the milk along with the outer pod casing.
2. Place egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy in colour and thickened to leave a "ribbon" trail.
3. When the milk and vanilla mix is just coming to a simmer, remove from heat.
4. Gradually pour a small quantity of the milk onto the egg mixture and beat in thoroughly.
5. Continue to add the hot milk gradually until all is incorporated.
6. Pour the complete mix to the pan, and stirring continuously return to the heat.
7. Keep stirring until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of the wooden spoon. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.
8. When the mixture shows the first sign of coming to the boil, remove from heat, keep stirring and pass the sauce through a sieve into a clean cool bowl.
9. Keep stirring until the sauce stops steaming, cover and place in fridge until needed.

Serve cold with a range of desserts to add a light but rich elegant and complimentary taste.

Rinse the vanilla pod casing, allow to air dry for a couple of days and place in your caster sugar container to make vanilla sugar.

Home made vanilla ice cream

Forget tubs of insipid synthetic tasting ice creams when you can recreate the taste of real dairy ice cream using just a few basic ingredients. We were inspired to make this when we found an ice cream maker on offer locally at a price too low to refuse! You will need to master the skills involved in making a sauce anglaise first but once you have done this you have the base on which to make memorable ice creams with the added benefits of having a sauce that is delightful to use in its own right.


Ingredients


1 Quantity of Sauce anglaise (see sauce anglaise recipe)
250 ml Double Cream

Method

1. Follow instructions for your ice cream maker. The one we used needed the bowl to be frozen for 24 hours first.

2. Set up ice cream maker and switch on. When paddle is turning pour in the sauce anglaise.

3. When this begins to freeze and thicken lightly, pour in the cream. 

4. Continue churning until the ice cream is thick and frozen. 

5. Remove ice cream from machine. Place in plastic container and put this in the freezer.

6. If ice cream has been frozen for some time remove

 from freezer for approx 15 minutes before use.

ENJOY