preserved lemons

I had three new to me, recipes given to me this week. The first, marmalade with a friend, this i have never made before, mum made it often and indeed dad in latter years, so i was keen to give it a try. The one below was to do after my marmalade experiment and the other to try in a months time in early May. All completely different for our larder. 

This one was unlike any i had read before, for preserved lemons. Great in all kind of dishes, great with fish and tajines. I can eat them straight from the jar i love them so much but we are talking about shop bought ones, as that is all i have had access to, so far. So i thought I would give this recipe a go....you will sadly have to wait a month to hear if it was a success, but i think it's an all win situation if you want to try and when you reach the end of the blog you will realise why.

I bought a kilo of small lemons, but you do not need to many if you are just hoping to fill a couple of large Kilner jars. Sterilise your jar or jars, a good wash and 7 minutes on a lowish heat in the oven. Slit the tops of your lemons in a cross until halfway down then pack each one with natural sea salt. Push into the jar and squeeze the juice of a couple of lemons on top. For a week you must agitate the jar during the day, put it somewhere in the house or kitchen that you will pass, and see often, and therefore turn.

natural salt from the guerande, recolte a la main -
harvested by hand

lemons packed with salt and some lemon juice

...agitated daily!

final photo call before the cellar

Top with Spanish olive oil to go with my Spanish lemons, seemed like a perfect marriage, a branch of rosemary some chili flakes and a clove of garlic. Another good shake and down to a cool place to store for at least a month. If the lemons work out that will be brilliant, if not we are left with a very flavoursome oil for dressing. If they are not soft enough as our shop bought ones, I will stick them into a blender for a lovely lemony sauce for fish or stuffed under the skin of a roasting chicken and use the fragrant oil for salad.

Dames dans la foret

cabine with a view

It all began with, Margot my friend and tennis partner trying to persuade me to join the 'Couture' sessions on a Thursday. I was sceptical. I can sew, have knitted a very baggy jumper in my very distant past...but probably not my fave occupation. Come on she said you can take any project you want too.

I have been working on for five years more off than on a large tapestry and integrating with french people to improve my french sounded good sense. So after a few afternoons on a Thursday as a trial, where you turn up at our village school anytime between two and five. Start and leave when you like, I thought I would join this year. You join a circle called AFR (L'Association des familles rurales). They are a really lovely group sixty per cent french, we pay twenty seven euros for the year  this seems to include coffee and electricity! Cake for birthdays, or any other excuse from the generosity of the ladies that attend. 

At Christmas they all made things for free to be sold at our annual Marche de Noel, including a quilt that all had contributed too, to be raffled. Aprons made of recycled shirts, hand knitted bags, snoods and scarfs, some Christmassy bits for your tree or door, socks for adults and infants just to name a few.

It also soon became apparent that they also organise events for the group during the year, the first was an outing to a spa in Genos, beautiful, i have been with Mark and intend to go again with him also.

The second on the agenda if we good all agree a date was an afternoon in the woods. We hire a cabine that is owned by that particular commune, a few kilometres away from here in the woods with fabulous views of the mountains. All we have to do is drive or find a lift, make and take a dish or supply a bottle. If i heard correctly the lamb and saucisse were supplied by the chasse, who frequent the cabine also. Then all is required is that we sit, eat, drink and chat for the afternoon...simples!

a blazing fire already going, table set and napkin art envy...took one home to copy

Even though we arrived well before twelve the table was beautifully laid out for eighteen? photo calls were the order of the day.

cinq anglaise (plus one taking the photo) une belgique, une allemande(missing) plus dix francaise

Annie and i were separated by a post,  and my belgique neighbour was to the right of me

Margot and french neighbour comparing rings?

a view down the table...sadly Pirette and Beccys back of head

...two weeks later we make the regional news?!... for those who are interested in this stunning article on-line Les Petites Mains du Magnoac au relais des chasseurs à Caubous

december wrap up

A small precis of the run down to Christmas before and after. Hectic, enjoyable, lots of parties, some great fun with old and new friends, lovely weather...and now i will just let you look for yourselves, and possibly in no particular order or disorder?

It was also our big twenty-fifth anniversaire this year so that called for some celebrations. We decided to do what we like doing best eating great food together. In the end we did a trio of restaurants one of them as featured in my last post we also decided as a first to go to a portes overtes in the Madiran region, one of my fave producers Denis Capmartin. DC as far as i am concerned is the best producer of the local Madiran, my taste admittedly and there are many red and whites out there that rival that post. Annabelle and i did a tasting in august with Mark whom kindly agreed to be in the driving seat and we both ( i needed no persuasion) his wines were one of the best. So from that as mark enjoys a drop too, we decided to do the open day on our anniversaire.  Picturesque countryside mainly unexplored by us coupled to tasting some wine and enjoying the sunshine. Can't get too much better than that, a very enjoyable afternoon. We bought some red and some white and a beautiful venetian glass bottle stopper to mark the occasion. Later Mark cooked a beautiful supper, just to top off a really lovely day!

The massive vats in the chateau

love in the vines

beau countryside and rows and rows of beautiful vines

The day before DC we had a lovely meal in a new(new to us) in a very quirky restaurant in Auch called Le Comedie, great food, very tasty, great value, lovely couple....you need to book because it is that good that it is packed every lunchtime they are open and they do not do evenings!

Auch, one of our favourites

P in party get up for posh-ish nosh

In between somewhere there was a re-visit to the L'Embrun, Mark and I, all part of our twenty-fifth celebration! Really delicious and just as good this time and the two other courses although the same as the last still had a slightly different slant.

return to L'Embrun, it tasted as good as it looks

P's Christmas wreath gathered and collected by P, Mark and Milou

Every year we have own Marche Noel in Castelnau, lots of talented people touting their wares. This year as every year,  my sewing circle made lots of things for the society that we all belong too. Lots of recycled shirts into aprons and bags, hand knitted bags scarfs hats and gloves. Plus a magnificent patchwork quilt which lots of the ladies contributed too and was raffled at the end. Liz was there with here recycled bottle art, squashed into dishes for olives and snacks or beautiful candle holders, .Jewellry, bric-a-brac. Our Salle de fetes was packed! The local stables were horse and carting the children around the square, lively fun atmosphere. I bought a couple of small presents for friends and mark bought a couple of presents for me!

beau tree with not too many breakables!

Our tree only toppled three times this year and then only, thankfully onto the settee...god forbid if Porthos does not get his Breakfast on time, he can create a right merry Mayhem! 

In between Anniversaires and Christmas my own got in the way! After a few ideas on how to spend it, the one that was most popular was to head off to Spain pick up some bits for Christmas and have lunch/tapas in Spain. on the day it was not so nice and i suggested we stick to part of the original plan, it's a great drive down, but bring back a tapas for us both to enjoy. mark could also enjoy a drink on my birthday as he would not be driving back after lunch.

gorgeous canapes

carpaccio of octopus

poached egg, garlic croutons and fried Serrano ham

On the 23rd we had a homage to Mark's mum as we had decided to do the traditional french thing on Christmas Eve which is sea food, 'see food and eat it'! so on the 23rd it was white tuna salad and wild mushroom pasta, courtesy of mark and mama Anna x

m creating in his lab on Christmas Eve

prawns the size of mini lobsters!

Darcie is keeping an eye on the situation

On Christmas Day we were plus one other, which was good, he was on his tod we had more than enough for two. Mark excelled himself again with rabbit in a beautiful sauce and lots of veg. Capped by dad's Christmas pudding....courtesy of dad for buying and bringing over and Waitrose. 

Boxing day we kept simple and ate up the leftovers, traditional in most households i would think.

Mark capped off his triptych with a new years speciale this time to honour his dad, must admit i am a big moules fan and this got my vote!

steaming bowl of beautiful moules

a bought chocolate, pear and ginger pud...severely enhanced by Mark

my trophy for winning a second year of our game 'where eagles dare'

Some balloonists may have clubbed together to use the local airfield as suddenly there were seven balloons in the sky after Christmas and a few more Saturdays and Sundays that followed, including this one that sailed above and across our garden!

a flurry of balloons on a clear Saturday or even a Sunday

then from flurry to a furry.....is it a bird, a plane..... a balloon, quoi?

October avec Papa

Dad rang, and much to my pleasant surprise said he was going to visit us again this year, this time without Shona, space wise this meant he could stay with us at the house. They had come in late April  and stayed at Cathe's  a few minutes down the road, and we had a very enjoyable time.

some beau fleurs from Suzanne at Trie marche for dad's arrival

We picked dad up on Monday 24th of October with fairly ominous clouds and thunderstorms towards Toulouse, on the horizon. Indeed a whole week before, we were told by Meteo it was not conducive to a sunny weeks holidays in the South-West France...but we are nearly into November, might have to take your chances.
Good timing from both of us, dad had just arrived with baggage in the hall and with a fast-ish exit to the car park we did not need to pay for the stay. Mark drove us home safely to Castelnau where dad was able to unwind and unpack, although the flights were at civilised hours travelling can take it out of anyone, no matter what age you are. We had organised some cold meats selected from the market on Saturday, with salad and cheese as i did not know what time we might get back from the airport. Propped up by beautiful cakes for desserts, Ali's cake making. That morning we had had coffee and cakes with Ali, Chris and the girls and knowing that dad was arriving she had given us a huge generous doggy bag to go home with!

Tuesday we had a relaxed day to acclimatise, i think dad was whacked, Mark went to do his bloods in Lannemezan and dad and i took Milou for a walk locally. A little chilly and a tad misty.

Wednesday morning was a choice between Montauban and Pau, Montauban is about fifty minutes further, a full day job so we settled on Pau. Good choice as although we have been to Pau on a couple of occasions it has otherwise been on airport runs and now the newly renovated chateau is open to all....Shame it was still misty but a tad warmer, because we would have spectacular views of the mountains from the ramparts. Anyway we arrived at the railway station not really knowing where it was, it turned out to be ideal as the old funicular railway was all of ten metres away and it took you to the top where the castle was. I have only been on one other in Barcelona, a cable railway for steep slopes, apparently there is one in Bournemouth? The architecture and Pau were not disappointing at all despite the still misty haze in the afternoon. The castle was beautiful and well worth a trip at seven euros an entry. Mark wanted to do his own guided tour, alas only guided by a knowledgeable lady in the know, but good for our french and even managed to pick up an interesting nugget or too...despite having most of it on an a4 sheet in front of us in English. The tour took around ninety minutes, it has been well preserved and there is plenty to see. If you are further interested in wall hangings or silk tapestries these are probably the best i have ever seen. For further information, one of many, on this beautiful place see the link some brief facts about the chateau

surrounds of Pau near to the castle

magnificent church

need to explore more....great architecture

inner courtyard of the chateau

Thursday morning, still a bit grimy, Milou and i walked with Taj and Jan  as they could not make our usual walk and talk on a Friday. The afternoon significantly cheered up for our walk around Puydarrieux in search of bird life and of course the Grus, five o'clock seemed to be optimal landing time.

By Friday the weather was really starting to improve, i am saying this for dads sake of course, no one wants to come on holiday and the weather to be miserable for your entire stay. We went to the market in Seissan for a change and bumped into a few familiar subjects. Bought some olives, tresses of garlic and a few other bits and bobs and so did dad. On the way back we walked Milou in Masseube in the park by the river. Tonight we are all invited to join Chris Cook and Tony and Penny Clark for supper at Chris's. Nice meal convivial company, Chris had gone to a lot of effort to cook for the six of us.

Saturday, being a creature of habits i needed some of my own market kicks so i took dad around ours and introduced and re-introduced him to some familiar faces. We had an afternoon stroll with Milou up on the ridge, weather is sunny and warm now. Saturday evening Mark and I were invited to a b'day bash, dad was invited too, but i think tired from being dragged around the market by his ear he declined in favour of looking after les chats et la chienne?! We had a nice time new people, came home fairly late.

Dad said perhaps we should go out for a meal today, where to we thinks, there are quite a few really good restaurants around here....but A) you have to know them and B) with anything rural you just might have to travel a bit further and under your own steam. A fair few were shut having a week of, school holidays or recovering from the summer. However we did manage to book L'Embrun in Lannemezan, for lunch, wow how is it that we have never discovered this one before, absolutely amazing a real gem and right on our doorstep. Dad said it was one of the best meals he had had in sometime, something of a winner i would say. Later on we could only manage a very small cheeseboard! lovely meal

anticipation....

more anticipation...

mise en bouche

superb....how to poach an egg but that's the chefs story!

roulade de pintarde, sublime!

chestnut  souffle

Monday the weather continued to be beau, twenty three degrees, we all decided great for an end of year picnic. So we packed us up and some food and headed for Bagneres for picnic and drawing, but ended up stopping in Mauvezin at our fave spot in front of the castle taking in the sunshine and the magnificent scenery, really is pretty. Left dad to draw the castle while we took Milou for a walk, then we all had our picnic lunch. After that we moved to one our other favourite spots the little chapel in front of the Baronnies just before Bagneres for a final draw! dad packed, not sure how he is going to pack all the coffee in!

first jerusalem artichokes from the garden, love them

On my own i did a nice sunset walk with Milou, up over the mound, beau views from the top, just a thirty minute circuit to watch the sun go down, it was just such a beautiful day.

memorial to the french lost on the war

stunning views and sunset

Tuesday, Sadly, dad's final day of the stay having packed and ready for the off we did a walk along what we call the ridge from Larroque it is till quite high up with views of Castelnau and the lake. After a quick lunch it was off to the airport, dropping dad at three, having waved him off he rang at 7.50, 8.50 our time to a cold wet uk and one very pleased cat!

Marc, dad and Milou for a last photo call of the holiday

dad and Marc walking the ridge

Mrs P's pickled walnuts

Pick a walnut tree. Here's mine on the edge of one of our favourite spring walks

A very quaint and apparently quintessential  English tradition  is to pickle walnuts. As the trees here are abundant and in some case abandoned it seemed rude not to give it a try. Last year i missed it as there is a very precise couple of weeks, even days when you can take the nuts. The reason being is that you are pickling the whole nut, the would be shell as well. You need to take them off the tree before the shell inside the green layer has started to form the outer layer is what splits eventually to leave the hard brown shell on the inside. 

Traditionally i am told that the day of summer Solstice is the right day for picking, but i am sure that will vary depending on where you are...we were a couple of days off the Solstice but perfect timing. You can cut one in half to tell, if there is and kind of shell that has just decided to form below the green hull...you are sadly too late.

Use gloves whilst preparing otherwise you will have stained hands for a week. I think i might like to try a tie dye with these nuts next Spring? pretty earthy browns.

This is a recipe, along with a few other wild from the field recipes, an excellent website for hunters gatherers.
http://www.thefield.co.uk/food/recipes/how-to-pickle-walnuts-22906

freshly picked fruit, three days after solstice, 23rd I think...the longest day of the summer

How to pickle walnuts

Ingredients for 2kg pickled walnuts

• 225g salt
• 1 litre malt vinegar (I have not been able to find malt vinegar in France but cider vinegar is just as good, i am reliably told on the web, so that is what i used)
• 500g brown sugar
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp cloves
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

1. Prick the walnuts with a fork and cover with water and the salt.
2. Leave for a week, then drain and renew with a fresh brine solution for another week.
3. Drain the walnuts and lay out on trays in a dry, airy place. After a few days they will have turned black.
4. Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring them to the boil, add the walnuts and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and spoon the nuts into large jars and cover with the liquid. They should last for years.

Note: Harvest the matured nuts when the protective green hull containing the brown nut splits end of September to the end of October/November.

Brine them in salt for two weeks, the split walnut shows that the shell has not yet formed

There is very little shrinkage, so according to the recipe and the amount...make sure you have
 the requisite sterilised jars

please note that there was a lot of cheese harmed during making this blog entry.

a beautiful goats cheese from our saturday market