On the Road Again!

On the road again and this week sees us in Tepoztlan which is in the state of Morales about an hour or so drive southeast-ish from Mexico City. I say and hour or so, as my sources tell me that Never do the drive at night but more importantly Never on a holiday weekend as it could take you three hours or more just to get out of the city. Once through the toll booths and past the shanty towns of the city’s suburbs one hits the federal highway and the countryside is amazingly green and beautiful. The road itself is a bit scary, very winding, and fast traffic with no lane discipline, so just sit back and admire the view!

Tepoztlan is a smallish agricultural/touristic town of about 15,000 inhabitants and is surrounded by the Tepotztcedo mountains which resemble mountains from ancient chinese paintings. At the time of our visit, the jacaranda and bougainvillea were in full bloom.

We rented a house with beautiful gardens and pool a short walk from the town centre. Having no intention of cooking ( equipment was limited anyway ) we had to explore the local restaurants.

Our first forays into town were less than successful. as it was mid week, most of the local restaurants were closed, they tend to open , outside of vacation periods, only at weekends, to cater for the influx of visitors from D.F ( D.F is what the locals call Mexico City).

We checked out Trip Advisor, which to my mind is not the best guide to eating out, after all it is very subjective. However there, ( after our disasters) were two of interest. the first of which was a Garden Literary Cafe, El Sombra del Sabino. It is a lovely little shop selling quality ethnic trinkets, panama hats and books, both in English and Spanish. The venture was esrablished by a group of friends, one at least is Canadian. Outside is a very pretty garden, with tables set under the trees, or under umbrellas, under the trees are also swings and hammocks. At weekends there is also a market, but again, not the usual Mexican Market, there were producers of organic vegetables and fruit, homemade jams and jellies, along with aromotherapy items, soaps and bees wax candles.

The menu at the cafe was limited, but wondeful fresh juices and sandwiches and salads and modernised mexican breakfasts/brunch type items. We enjoyed it so much ( it was so relaxed) that we went there twice!)

Our other find was Villa del Tepoz Fuego, and their restaurant Jardin. It is a small boutique hotel, set slightly out of Tepotzlan, surrounded by mountains. the setting is stunning, and is owned and run by Bruce and Marcie a retired couple from Baltimore. They love it in Tepotzlan and initally they were the chief cook, sous chef, chef, chamber maid, and uncle tom cobbley and all. Now though they are established and employ staff, though Marcie still gives cooking classes. They also do most of the shopping for their restaurant, which includes daily trips to Cuernavca, which is the largest town in Moreles state. Fresh fish is deliverd daily but the town today has a bit of a drug problem with the drug barons moving in.

We went there for lunch and it was exceptional, the garden was beautiful, the service impeccable as was lunch.

I have more to say on Tepotzlan, so watch this space for the second edition!!

The world is one big melting pot

And it is never more apparent than in Cuba? Cubans are a very mixed bunch , black, white, honey coloured, and Asian , this is explained by their heritage, there have been the Spanish and Moors, the British, Africans from the whole of the western coast of Africa ( slave trade ) French and Chinese , consequently it is easy to say that Cubans are one big melting pot. The early 20 th Century saw rich Americans ( and the Mafia bosses) arrive in their droves leading in part to the 1959 revolution of Castro and Che Guevara followed by the Bay of Pigs( 1961) the Cuban Missile crisis and the American Embargo of 1963 . Hence life for the last 50 years has not been easy. Reminding me in fact of East Berlin or Russia of the ’70’s and ’80’s.

So it is in fact a time warp, the crumbling cement, the faded paintwork ,the Art Deco hotels ,beautiful buildings but still functioning as they did 50 years ago.

My second impression was and why should I be surprised, it is really clean, the streets are swept and little signs of trash along the highways, few propaganda posters and the absolutely amazing cemetery covering 140 acres and named after Christopher Columbus. And the third impression Music Music and more music everywhere you turAnd finally the cars! Large old American Gaz Guzzlers, the one we had for our tour had a mere 600,000 on the clock! But as one driver told us, you have to be able to Fix It yourself!

But what of Cuban Cuisine. I was told that there was only one actual Cuban dish and that was a kind of vegetable stew, otherwise it was a mish-mash of various cultures. Most Cubans eat rice every day ( it is grown on the island) along with fried pork and black bean stew, and whatever vegetables are in season or are available on the market. Currently it is pumpkin and Yucca , people are free to grow what they like in their gardens, but otherwise they are told what to grow on the farm land. Street food is very limited, Churros ( fresh hot doughnut type snack) , fried Pastries and sweet corn, some peanuts maybe and of course Ice Cream but that is it.
We had been recommended a few restaurants to try, but had been forwarned not to expect too much, traditionally Cuban food is not very spicy.

Below is one good bistro type Paladar in a small street, where about 7 homes have been made over to small dining rooms.

After a couple of not very inspiring meals we happened upon a Paladar restaurant, in the centre of Old Havana. This was a complete revelation. On Les Mercaderes, is the Paladar Los Mercaderes . It is a beautiful old house, with a young Cuban outside hustling for business. We succumbed and not for one moment did we regret it.

To understand modern Cuban cuisine, one has to understand the supply and quality problems that exist on the island. Everything is government controlled, the farms and produce they grow, the seas and the fish that are caught. Fish and especially Lobster are for export, Cubans eat very little fish for an island nation . All the hotels are controlled by the government ( Habaguenex is the arm that controls all of this). There are no supermarkets, as we know them and the fruit and vegetables on sale on market stalls leave much to be desired, bruised and mouldy is the order of the day. below is a picture of a grocery store window, and followed by the liquor store, at least rum was in good supply!

The story itself is worth repeating,( and it would seem typical of many paladares throughout the island) a young couple lived in the house and worked on it, making it beautiful and then planned their restaurant . Recently under Raol Castro the government have been allowing a little more free entreprise. A Paladar is a small family run restaurant , often in their own homes, until recently they were only allowed 30 diners but now they can house up to 50, but of course they can do this a couple of times a night and at lunch as well.

So Los Mercadres, is a small restaurant of extremely good quality, both in food as well as in service. We had an excellent dinner, we started with fish Cerviche, which was indeed excellent. Himself chose as his main course the Cuban equivalent of Bouillabaise , a spicy fish stew, which was one of the best he had tasted and for myself it was a smoked pork loin again in a delicious sauce. The owner himself came round to all of the tables, to introduce himself and to enquire if we were satisfied. I asked him, how he managed his supply and his quality control and it would seem that they have contracted with individuals in the countryside, to grow them organic vegetables and other framers to supply them with meat. So far so good, but what about the fish, well the answer is basically, he and his mates go fishing more or less every day. Certainly that takes dedication, which has to be admired.

smoked lion of pork in Cuban spiced sauce

There is a lot to see in Cuba, a country with a long and varied history, get there before Mac Donald’s does, it is worth a visit, but a word of warning, since the Russians left, the Cuban economy has relied greatly upon Tourism. There are two currencies in operation, one for the locals, CUP and the other for Tourists the CUD. All prices in restaurants, Hotels etc, are priced in CUD and it about 1 CUD to €1. It’s a cash society , we found one ATM, and nor credit cards, American cards are not accepted and there is a very large commission charge for changing US$ .Sometimes the lines at the exchange offices are hours long, and do not expect a bargain, cheap for the tourists it is not but worth every penny!

To Eat or not to Eat , Street Food that is!

We have all been warned about the dangers of eating street food in third world countries, warned about Gibby Tummy, Delhi Belly, Montezumas revenge and other such delightful phrases! How not to eat anything that has not been freshly cooked, to avoid raw fruit and vegetables and God forbid having a Gin and Tonic with Ice, the ice could be contaminated!

There are exceptions to the rule, eating on the streets of Bangkok and other Thai towns never produced any of those symptoms, there are street stalls and centres selling food all day long and the same could be said of Singapore. In Singapore, the term “hawker” no longer describes the person selling street food, as in the early days, nowadays, hawkers are located in ‘hawker centres or food courts. All the food I have eaten in such places have never produced any undesired effects.

The same can not be said of India, notorious for unsanitary conditions , where in a land of 1.28 billion people over two thirds do not have a toilet, the streets are filthy and trash is everywhere. Hence, it is not surprising that street food is not safe. But when backpacking in China, the rule of thumb was, if it is being cooked in front of you and not located next to a dog pound, then it was safe to eat.

I always was very wary however in Mexico, I avoided street food. I stayed in reasonable accommodation ate good food and got sick, copious amounts of Imodium were always in my suitcase. This was the case until I went on a street food tour of Mexico City.

We went on the Eat Mexico Culinary Tours. We, #1 daughter, himself and myself, met our guide in the fairly smart centre of Mexico City and spent the morning going from stand to stand and eating our way through them all.

We started at Tamales ( corner of Rio Lerma & Rio Panuco), tamales are traditional Mesoamerican dish made from masa (corn) which is steamed or boiled , grilled or fried in a leaf wrapper. The wrapper is discarded before eating. They can also have grasshoppers (especially delicious ), small anchovy type fish and served with salsa, red, green or Jalapeño . Usually eaten early in the morning or late evening. 1 Tamale and drink cost $10 peso (5 pence). I chose the green Salsa, Yummy!

Next was a side trip into the Mercado Cuauhtémoc, outside was a wonderful array of flowers and fruit, inside fruit and vegetables and food stalls. A delicacy which is sold every where, is Chicharron it is pork skin after it has been seasoned and deep fried. In Mexico, they are eaten alone as a snack, drier and much nicer than pork scracthings . They are also used in soups Tacos and stews. We were also served, Atol, which is a hot drink made from corn, can be as thick as porridge or very runny more like gruel, can be flavoured with cinnamon or can have chocolate added. Always served on the Day of the Dead, however I have to say, it did not really ‘tickle my fancy’.

Next stop was a Tortilla factory , corn tortillas that is. The small Hole in the Wall factory makes fresh corn tortillas daily, standard size is 6″ and they sell for $12 peso a kilo. The average family eats about 9 kilos a day, and this little factory produces an unbelievable 800 kilos a day. Tortillas are to Mexican families, what a baguette is to French families. Nothing goes to waste, stale tortillas are made into breakfast dishes such as Chilaquiles .

We then continued our tour by stopping at a fresh juice stand ( fresh juice of all kinds is a delight in Mexico) and then moved on to Tlacoyos and Quesadillas. In Mexico City the preferred filling for these delights, ( quesadillas are flour tortillas which are sandwich together with a filling and grilled or baked in an oven) is cheese. In other parts of the country they choose such things as Salsa Verde, Huitalacoche, courgette flowers, cheese and meat. Once upon a time I made on a weekend what I called Breakfast Quesadillas, which I filled with scrambled egg, chopped ham and cheese. What is Hutalacoche? Well it is also called Corn Smut, does that give you a clue? It is indeed a fungus that grows on ears of sweet corn, but Mexicans use it in soups and for fillings for quesadillas ! As yet I have not tried it, and # 1 daughter has a thing about fungus of any kind, and that includes mushrooms!

We then proceeded to Tacos de Canasta, these Tacos were filled with pulled pork, but pulled pork, like you have never tasted before. The wife of the stall bolder arises at 3.0 am everyday to make the fillings for 800 tortillas. He sets the stand up at 6.0 am to catch the early morning trade. The Tacos cost €8 pesos, and they have been doing this for an amazing 18 years!

We ate Fresh fruit dusted with chile powder, and odd combination you might think, but no, really interesting. We went to a Burrito stand, Burritos are not really Mexican ( more Tex Mex) but in the City they have become a hit and have been in business for 6 years. They are flour Tortillas filled with sautéed peppers, cooked pork or chicken and different salsas.

Our last stop was Carnitas, it is fried pork and every part of the pig is used ( except the testicles known as Prairie Oysters in Texas), again it is a corn tortilla, filled pork of choice, chopped onions, salsa and cilantro.

This tour certainly changed my mind with regard to Mexican Street food. The rule of thumb given to us by our guide was

Choose a stand that has children, the vendors will not be wanting to hurt their own children.
Choose a stand that is popular.
Choose a stand that looks clean
Choose a stand where the vendor wears disposable plastic gloves
Choose a stand wear the plates used are not washed up in dirty water but covered with a disposable plastic.much cleaner.
Follow these rules and you too will be able to avoid the dreaded Montezumas Revenge!

Five Fields

Pearl S Buck , the Pulitzer Prize winner, wrote many many books, but the one which won this prestigious prize was called, The Good Earth.

Recently dear friends invited us to join them at a restaurant in Chelsea , London called the Five Fields. For some unexplained reason, I associated the name with the book, The Good Earth, and consequently imagined it to be an upmarket Chinese restaurant. Having “done” Michelin starred Indian and gourmet Spanish in recent weeks, I thought this could be fun!

Fun, it was but Chinese, it was not!

Five Fields is an up market British restaurant a short walk from Sloane Square underground station, and is named because once upon a time this area was called Five Fields or Ebury. However in 1666, it belonged to an heiress Mary Davies, who at the age of 12 married Sir Thomas Grosvenor. Other areas of London which were fields ( well most of it in fact) were Tyburn ( now Marble Arch) where public hangings took place and Buckingham Palace was a country estate surrounded by fields, and there were only 2 bridges over the Thames. All of this can be seen in map created by John Roque in 1746. Fascinating stuff, but I digress.

So back to the restaurant Five Fields. A small elegant restaurant down a side street, the decor is smart and only seats about 35/40 people, the staff are very attentive and friendly, but not the ‘ in your face’ sort of way. A couple of years ago, it was the home to a Spanish restaurant, but after an extensive makeover became Five Fields.

The tables are nicely arranged in tows and fours but presumably they can be re arranged to accommodate 6.

Let us start with the wine list, a very nice wine list indeed but with a mark up of about 3 times retail . I understand that restaurants have to make money somewhere, but given that retail prices include a profit, a 3 times mark up is a bit excessive. However it was still very nice.

The menu for such a nice restaurant is £55 for three courses and is innovative. Although as you can see from below, it needs a little translation or understanding!

So for starters, we chose the Fois Gras with the beetroot and the Sweet breads. The fois Gras was amazing actually with what looked like a small beetroot, which was in fact the fois Gras, which I presume was wrapped in a coating of beetroot, , absolutely delicious . The sweet breads were equally good, looked beautiful, decorated with small flowers.

For the main course, tow of us chose the Roe Deer, one the Cod and one the Herdwick Mutton. Once upon a time, the word Mutton conjured up, something old and tough and almost inedible, a really cheap cut of meat, that would be stewed for hours along with some root vegetables, and usually not very tasty at all, but would feed a large family relatively cheaply. For the most part today, sheep meat is lamb, young and tender,mount with modern farming methods and the trend to re-introduce rare breeds and old fashioned cuts of meat, Mutton has once again hit the menus, but rest assured it is nothing like it was before.

The roe deer, was melt in the mouth and served rare. And the cod, which apparently was wonderful even though the portion was very much on the small side .

The dessert menu, really did need some deciphering, and so we more or less took pot luck, how difficult is that? .

I seriously can not remember which one is which, however they all looked beautiful, I do know that I ate the chocolate one, Which was divine, and given that a) I do not have a sweet tooth and b) that I do not normally eat desserts, that is praise indeed . Would I go again, yes ( with reservations ie the price of wine) and would I recommend it and that is certainly a Yes.

Five Fields

8-9 Blacklands Terrace, London, SW3 2SP, United Kingdom

020 7838 1082

Another Continent, Another country, Another Dinner, but same restaurant!

Yes another dinner, from a different continent and different country but in the same restaurant. Hard to beleive, but true. The private restaurant on Londons Pall Mall, hosted the dining experience from Benares and then last week, hosted a dining experience from La residencia’s El Olivio, which is normally found in the town of Deia, Majorca. The setting there is beautiful as is the restaurant itself. Dinner is served on the most wonderful assortment of colourful glass plates. My best friend from Houston Texas was visiting, she too fell in love with the dinnerware, so off we went to buy some for ourselves. I have to say we did not buy any. Firstly it was fairly expensive, but cost aside, it weighs a ton and so to export it either as hand luggage or to ship, would not be a reall viable option, Ah well dream on.

Our visit to La residencia in London, actually did not happen. Having discussed with the restaurant before hand that two of our party were pescatorians, we were assured that there would be suitabel options for them. Alas it did not happen. The set menu which sounded wonderful, was available for the tabel as a whole, but when we enquired about the non-meat option, we were told PASTA!!!, I have to say, I was really not pleased, firstly not an option on an already fairly expensive menu and secondly, hardly Spanish.

Consequently we all were required to take the a la carte option. Having eaten in this restaurant several times, we were not disappointed in the food, far from it and the waiter went to great lengths to ensure were happy and were in fact served a course from the El Olivio menu, ( the tartare of Wild Sea Bass ) which was delicious., we also had a smapling of the dessert from the menu, which was crispy cannelloni stuffed with white chocolate mousse and served with passion fruit sorbet. Our guests, had sampled once before, whilst in Spain, crispy cannelloni, and were interested to try it, as they had not been overwhelmed previoulsy. However this time round it was a hit.

So despite our disappointment at not being able to try El Olivio’s food once again, our dinner was very good and you can see below. Our extra course was the the Tartare of Wild Sea bass, followed by fillet of sole, Turbot, Hereford Beef or Veal Cutlets. I personally chose the Veal cutlet, which was really tasty.

Todays veal industry has changed and is no longer the pariah that it once was. “Rosé veal is 100 per cent welfare friendly in the way the animals are reared,” The world is short of food and it’s a waste for bull calves not to come into the food chain, previoulsy they were just slaughtered, as there is only one Bull per herd, otherwise they would all be fighting pover the cows!

Rosé veal is similar to beef but with a smoother texture, a richer taste and is lower in fat and cholesterol. While it is available in the same cuts as beef – steak, roasting joints, escalopes, mince and casserole meat – there are additional specialities such as liver and shin (Osso Bucco).

Unlike white veal where the calf is reared to 16 to 20 weeks old entirely on milk, the rosé veal is fed milk replacer to a maximum of seven litres a day until they are eight weeks old by which time they have been weaned onto a calf pellet. They are straw bedded until they are eight months old.

Too many Indians

A few years ago, the Indian government declared that I was an undesirable and as such would not grant me an extension to my Visa. I thought of just staying on, but the local “Fixer” was heard to say” Oh No Sir, not a good idea Sir, Mother in law end up in Jail Sir” so needless to say. not fancying my chances in the largest prison in South Asia, I was persuaded it best to leave!

As a compensation we dined in a restaurant called “Indian Accents” and what Himself described as the best meal he had ever eaten. Indian Accents is a restaurant in a boutique Hotel, called the Manor. This in turn is owned by an Indian run company that runs more than 40 hotels and a few restaurants. Among them is Chor Bizarre ( chor =thief and Bizarre= well Bizarre!) Chor Bizarre is to be found in Connaught Place, New Delhi in a building which is typical of Luytens Delhi and is quite frankly BIZARRE, but the food is great! And more to come as there is a branch of this restaurant in London!! So I must put it on my “must try” list.

So onto another Indian restaurant in Central London, called Banares. And it has a Michelin Star! I first went there with ” The Ladies Who Lunch”.

Lunch time is always affordable and we were not disappointed. However this weekend, was another dining experience, a private event, hosted by the chef/owner of Benares and his team. Atul Kochhar, started his career in New Delhi working for the Oberoi group of hotels ( and I have to say that breakfast in the Oberoi was always good). So in London, he runs Benares and has recently opened Sindhu in Marlow. He is also involved with some cruise lines and a coup for Marks and Spencer, he is their consultant for their Indian Range of foods.

So we were wined and dined and the evening started with a cocktail called, Mumbai Sling, a drink made with gin, lime juice, palm sugar and ice. I have to say it tasted much like my own version of a Citron Presse ( fortified that is) pressed lemons sugar and gin, so good you think you are just drinking lemonade, how wrong can you be??

So onto our dinner. For the amuse bouche we were served Aloo Chaat Anarkali ( potato salad with sweet yoghurt foam and pomegranite sauce). For the starter it was Thandi Jal Murghi, ( Duck terrine with Bakarh bread and tamarind chutney).

I have eaten Aloo Chat several times whilst in India, this was a much more refined version.The duck terrine was lovely and so was the bread, a sort of glazed and crisp naan, hoever the swish of sauce on the plate is never my favourite, and this was no exception, it looked pretty but by the time it arrived on the table, and as the plates were warm, it had dried and hence no sauce, a shame really.

The fish course was Meen Moilee, Sea Bass with coconut gravy and beetroot mash, a lovely contrast of a creamy yellow sauce and deep red/burgundy of the beetroot. The main course was equaly delicious and consisted of Chaampan Da Saag Gosht, Rack of Lamb with Polenta and spinach puree.

Indian meals do not usually have a great selction of desserts, but this time we were in for a treat, it was something called Rangeela, which was Cardamon and orange sponge with three different types of Ice Cream, Raspberry, Pistachio and ginger. along wth some softe berries on the side.

So Atul has written another book, and I think it is already on my Wish list, after all, what makes for better bedtime reading, than another cook book. It has been said that Britian has become obsessed with cooking shows on TV and the purchase of cookery books. The average home has a dozen books but only cooks from 9 recipes!, not in this household, my mother onced remarked that she never knew what she was going to be given for dinner in my house! And that is surely true, just ask Himself !

Accentuate the positive

Eating our way around Mexico ( again) or Accentuate the positive!

In London towers, we had another significant event, well not actually London Towers, and not even close by. But wherever it was, it was a good reason to try yet another nice restaurant.

Biko is in Polanço, Mexico City, is listed as one of the best restaurants in the world and stands at # 30! A couple of years ago we tried another in Polanço, Pujol, with which I was not duly impressed. Having eaten now widely in Mexico, attended a couple of cooking classes, been on street food tours, I feel I have a good understanding of Mexican cuisine, and Tex Mex it is not.

So to Biko, a Wednesday evening in November , the temperature warmish, the traffic as usual in this part of town, dreadful. Biko is located just off President Mazaryke , which is the main road in this part of town, and where one can find most of the smarter shops and cafes., that is when it is not being dug up, which seems to be most of the time.
So let us start with the positives, we were warmly welcomed, our chief waiter introduced himself and explained how their menu worked. Nickinlaw ( family joke) duly explained, the girls had Kir Royal ( more Kir than royal, which had to be diluted with more champagne, of course) whilst the boys had a deconstructed Bloody Mary, in this case, Tequila with spicy tomato juice on the side. Interesting!

We chose the tasting Menu, which consisted of 7 courses, albeit they were small. And here comes the negatives, Grey seems to have been the colour theme of the evening, ( in Pujol it was beige), almost everything was various shades of Grey ( and not, I add 50 Shades of Grey, might have been more exciting if it had been!) The fois gras was grey, the tuna, grey/pink and the pork grey / white. And the restaurant it self was Grey, or beige or Dull. Food tasted OK service was Ok, atmosphere, not Ok. Reading various comments on Trip Advisor ( not always the best source of information, I must admit) others too were underwhelmed.Pricey? Yes, worth a second visit, No, there are too many very good restaurants, to go to one that we think mediocre. I wonder sometimes, who actually ranks the restaurants, and the criteria used for the rankings.

Meanwhile back at London Towers, we had a first! A First was a take-away! We have had in the past, I must admit had en Famille a Pizza Movie Night, especially confined in the Snowy Mountains of France, where we drive down 7 hair-raising hairpin bends, slip-sliding to the original Pizza Hut……. La Cabane, a little wooden hut, which night after night just makes Pizza, to go, and whilst you wait serves either a Vin Chaud or a soupçon of vin rouge.all over the French Alps it is possible to find these small, Take Aways, usually Pizza, but sometimes Pasta.
But this was a real, live delivered to your front door, take away. And I have to confess, that after being out all day, it was a great meal. Might just do it again! Watch this space!!

Mulligatawny soup recipes!

Ron’s Mum Mully Soup

2 Onions chopped finely

6 cloves of garlic crushed

2 tsp both of Turmeric and of ginger

1 litre of water or stock ( you may used bought)

1/3 of a cooked chicken ( no bones or skin please, you can use those to make your stock)

1 tin condensed cream of chicken soup

2oz creamed coconut 1 lemon cut into wedges

Fry the onion in a little butter or ghee until translucent , add the spices, add the stock along with the chicken. Bring to the boil and add the can of soup, mix well. Add the creamed coconut and stir well to mix. Test for taste and adjust seasoning ( salt and pepper) serve with a wedge of lemon.

Alternative Mulligatawny Soup.

2 onions chopped , 4 cloves of garlic chopped, 3 carrots, chopped, 3 sticks celery chopped, one medium size potato or sweet potato peeled and chopped.

1/3 cooked chicken cut into pieces

1-2 tablespoons curry Powder

1 cup of long grain rice

1 1/2 litres of chicken stock

1 tablespoon tomato purée, 2 oz ground almonds, 4 oz plain yoghurt
Some sour cream and fresh coriander to garnish.

Melt some butter or ghee and add the vegetables and stir fry for a few moments. Add the curry powder, mix well and cook for 3 mins. Add the stock , the tomato purée , and the rice. Cook for 15 mins or so until the rice is really soft, add the chicken, and warm through, add the yoghurt and using preferably a stick blender, purée the soup, it does not have to be super smooth. Adjust the seasoning to taste and if too thick, add some boiling water to obtain the required consistency . Serve garnished with a small scoop of sour cream and fresh coriander. Enjoy!

For richer, for poorer, but not for Lunch!

It is that time of year again, we are on the move and as such, it means sorting out the refrigerator, and so I make soup. Fortunately, Himself likes soup and although I married him for richer, for poorer, I did not marry him for lunch! So this at least is an ideal compromise, as I make soup, bag it in Zip Lock bags ( perfect for one person….Large portion), remove the air and flat pack them in the freezer, ready for whenever!

So my most common soup, when clearing out is my infamous Refrigerator soup, others include, Cauliflower and blue cheese ( always have Stilton left over after Christmas), Leek and potato, ( always have too many potatoes), and french onion,( again too many onions and garlic),and when I have too much lettuce I make pea, sometimes with ham, and sometimes without, just depends if I have too much ham.

Seriously, though, my refrigerator soup, is made with whatever is left and todays version has the title of Refirgerator Soup, a la Provencal, as it could almost be Ratatouille!!

So as I say, when needs must I make soup from almost anything , more or less the only ones that I can really replicate time and time again are French Onion and Pea! But I came across a recipe the other day, hiding in my numerous Cookery books . Ones that are less popular have been decamped to France and in some cases, ones that are extremely popular have been duplicated in France, and I subscribe to French cookery magazines and web sites, always interesting to have an insight to other cultures and cuisine .
However the recipe I happened upon, was aptly named Ron’s Mum, Mully Soup!
Ron’s Mum was I believe of Burmese origin but sadly died many years ago, and so did Ron . I always said that the recipe would die with Ron’s Mum, and whilst living in the US circa 1994 , Ron asked ” do you by any chance have my Mums recipe for Mulligatawny soup? And I did. So here it is, it was the best Mully soup going but this was dated about 1970, so times have changed and I think I would use ready cooked chicken today and maybe not the condensed chicken soup, but give it a try and see for yourself.

Soups from Top to bottom are, Soup a la Provençal, thick Mulligatawny and Ron’s Mum Mully Soup! Given a taste test the other night the general consensus was They preferred Ron’s Mum, however, number two daughter declared after looking at the contents of tinned soup ( lots of filler and only 3% soup) that if she had known beforehand then she might not have eaten it! Ah well! It could be a quick semi homemade soup providing you have the cooked chicken and the can of soup ( I normally do not) enjoy!

January in the mountains

Once upon a time, January in the mountains, meant freezing temperatures, good snow, and Ice. This year we have the Ice and Rain and wind ,obviously some snow higher up, but wind helps to make lots of ice and swipes away what snow there is.

This equals good news for some of the restaurants as now they are busy at lunch time as well as in the evening. One of our favourites in Morzine, is La Grange, a very rustic place decorated with cow bells, and sleighs and other artefacts of a bygone era. It is owned and operated by Alex ( British) and Fred ( French) . In the off season, Fred uses this time to try his hand at different types of cuisine, ( and does a wonderful Steak Tartare) but in the Winter it is cuisine Savoyard that comes into play. Other restaurants that have tried to be non conformist seem to have failed, the Savoyard cuisine is the one that the tourists are looking for. It is not for the faint hearted, as I have said before, variations on Ham, Cheese and Cream are the order of the day, however the a la carte menu does offer good quality steaks, chicken ,duck pork and fish ( though personally am not keen on FERA du lac, which is a lake fish and I always find it tastes a bit muddy!)
However on our recent visit, it was packed to the doors, but Alex was her usual smiley self and food was as good as usual and copious. I started with the Tarte d’ abondance, which is a very a very rich quiche like tart, but with, I think more cheese and cream, than in a quiche!

Liking it so much, I decided to make it last night, did some research and fiddling with recipes, came up with this:-

Pastry, you can use a packet of bought short pastry ( I always make my own, but then you can all me odd!)
6 eggs, beaten with enough single cream to make up 1/2L of liquid,
500 grams of good cheese, here it would be Abondance, but any of hte following can be used, Beaufort, Emmental, Gruyere, or even goats cheese, but would not recommend any of the british cheeses, either too strong, or do not melt the same.
Roll out the pastry and line a greased quiche type dish with it. Fill dish with the cheese and pour over the egg/cream mixture. Bake at 170/180 degrees for about 40 minutes until golden brown.When hot the filling will be runny but sets on cooling, so best eaten warm, but not piping hot. Serve with a green salad.

Over the Festive season, youngest daughter also took her turn in cooking dinner and she came up with Vegetarian Chilli, which although she is not a vegetarian, enjoys being creative with pulses and grains. so here is her dinner, which is YUMMY!

4 garlic cloves chopped plus 2 large chopped onions
2 cups of chopped vegetables, to include mushrooms ( optional), red/green peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes
1 hot pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
1 Cup frozen peas and or corn
1 tsp ground cumin, ground coriander, chili powder, salt and black pepper
2 cans chopped tomatoes
16 oz – can tomato puree
1 – can kidney beans, ,black beans, red beans, or any other such as chick peas or lentils. all drained
2 Cups water
1/2 Cup bulgur wheat or quinoa cooked
Hot sauce or cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 Cup minced fresh cilantro, for garnish
sour cream, and mashed avocado for garnish (optional) grated cheese

Directions
put some oil in a large pot. Sauté the vegetables and spices in the oil over medium to medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until tender. Add a few tablespoons of water if the veggies begin sticking to the pot.
Add the remaining ingredients except the cilantro, sour cream and avocado and simmer over medium-low heat, covered, for 30 minutes. Stir and simmer for an additional 20 to 30 minutes until the veggies are cooked through.
Season with salt and, if more spice is desired, hot sauce or cayenne pepper to taste. Serve sprinked with the cilantro with the sour cream grated cheese and avocado on the side
Tip: Leftover chili freezes

Photos from the top, filet of beef, onion tart, supreme of chicken, Tarte au fromage, my Tarte au fromage and the interior of La Grange br />