recipes – The Vigneron's Wife

Spaghetti aux palourdes (alle vongole)

May 19, 2021June 2, 2021The vigneron's wife

Sharing recipes is no way complete, without this favourite favourite dish on the list and I can’t believe I haven’t posted ‘Spaghetti all vongole’ (ie clams, palourdes – as you wish to say it) yet!

Naked Wines (UK and US) kindly posted a photo of our clam pasta/ ‘Spaghetti vongole’ dish online (served with Ben’s Pique Nique Blanc)- and it got me thinking, I should share what’s in it! So I posted the recipe there, and now it’s here at HQ…

This is a super quick and simple dish, and I’ve more or less always followed the Jamie Oliver version (that you can find online). We ate ours outside – yay! – our first dinner outdoors for the season, and with Ben’s Pique Nique (unashamed plug)… it was hard for me to stop eating and drinking.

Perhaps a good thing it was just the one meal outside this week.

I hope you give it a try!

“Spaghetti aux palourdes’ (ie ‘vongole’, ‘clams’ Frenchie style)

+ 1.5 kg rinsed clams
+ 3 x roughly chopped ripe tomatoes/ 15 or so halved cherry tomatoes
+ 2 x finely chopped shallots (or 1x small onion)
+ 4 garlic cloves (I squash them under the knife and then add to pan without chopping)
+ 1 x cup white wine
+ small chopped chilli/ chilli flakes to taste
+ olive oil
+ large handful of chopped parsley and cracked pepper for serving

– Put a large pot of water on to boil*
– In a second large pot over medium-high heat, fry shallots in a generous serving of olive oil until golden
– Increase flame/ electric setting to high heat and add garlic, chilli and tomatoes, stir for 5 minutes, or until softened and colouring
– Add the white wine, stirring continuously

* while you are frying, check to see when water is boiling, and add pasta and cook until al dente

– Once liquid has heated up, pour in clams and put a lid on the pot
– Clams should start opening after 4-5 minutes, keep mixing them around/ shuffling the pot until open.

With clams cooked, pasta cooked – serve with generous scattering of parsley and – cheeky plug!! – a chilled glass of Pique Nique Blanc or Pique Nique Rosé!

Et voila! Bon appetit.

Kat xoxo

Roti de Porc au Lait (Roast Milk Pork) …tonight!

September 25, 2013June 15, 2020The vigneron's wife

LOVED this dish tonight! I know I’ve put this recipe up earlier this year, but had to share it again… with the “NEW”photos!

The nights are cooler, Benji is now in harvest swing and it’s time to cook up some warm, slow-cooked meals… Bon app.

HipstamaticPhoto-533513647.333384

delicious 'Porc au Lait' — delicious ‘Porc au Lait’

I was on the phone to Mum and Dad last week and mentioned that I’d just cooked up some Milk Pork – ‘Porc au Lait’ – for the next day’s dinner. It’s funny, these conversations about food are always totally out of whack with our time zones. It was 11pm my time and 8.30am the following morning, their time. Normally it’s me cleaning up the breakfast dishes as Dad explains with excitement what he’s got on the stove for dinner.

I’ve never served them Porc au Lait but I know they’d love it. It ticks all our family’s favourite food boxes: MEAT, lots of sauce, herbs, garlic and the required ‘three veg’ – and it is easy to prepare. It’s one of those old-fashioned French dishes that is simply delicious comfort food. My husband and mother-in-law showed me how to cook this years ago and I can’t count how many times I’ve prepared it since. We had the poker men for dinner + a few UK visitors and it went down a treat with the new ‘Boulevard Napoleon‘ wines – white and red.

the empties: the Boulevard Napoleon Grenache Gris white and a few reds... — the empties: the Boulevard Napoleon Grenache Gris white and a few reds…

had to show you these beautifully coloured carrots - they actually gave the milk sauce an almost mauve tint by the end — had to show you these beautifully coloured carrots – they actually gave the milk sauce an almost mauve tint by the end

After the meat has been cooking for awhile in the milk, drop the vegies and parsley in

amples of milk sauce... — amples of milk sauce…

...to serve with this tender juicy meat. The butcher told me the pork roll was 'parsleyed' ('persille') - I thought he meant stuffed with parsley, but he laughed and corrected me - no, it is the lines of fat running through the piece , 'marbled' as we might say. Even the Vigneron hadn't heard of this! — …to serve with this incredibly juicy meat. The butcher told me the pork roll was ‘parsleyed’ (‘persille’) – I thought he meant stuffed with parsley, but he laughed and corrected me – it actually refers the lines of fat running through the piece , ‘marbled’ as we might say. Even the Vigneron hadn’t heard of this term, so I was proud to bestow some francais on him.

Roti de Porc au Lait

serves 6-8

ingredients:

1.5kg roll of roasting pork – preferably of shoulder (fillet is drier and less fat, don’t want that)

1 litre full cream milk

2 large onions, sliced

6 carrots, cut into in large chunks

8 potatoes, as above

8 small turnips, as above

4-5 cloves of garlic

2 sprigs fresh thyme

bunch fresh sage (about 10-12 leaves)

2 sprigs rosemary

oil, butter

salt, pepper

method:

Fry up the onions in heavy cast iron pot with a big chunk of butter (30-40g) and a little olive oil, until golden.

Add the roll of pork and brown on each side over medium -high heat.

When the meat is almost all browned, add the garlic and salt, pepper to taste. I find garlic burns very easily, so I add it near the end of the browning.

Pour over the milk (meat should be 3/4 covered, if not add more ) and add the herbs.

Cover with lid and let simmer for an hour.

Add the carrots and turnips and keep simmering for another hour.

Add potatoes and keep simmering until they are tender.

Serve with lashings of dijon mustard on the side and a big white or red wine!

N.B. If this is prepared the night before eating, I don’t add any of the vegetables until the next day.

And. I cook this for a few hours, the longer the better. I like it when the meat falls apart. A lot of recipes cook it for less though, and you keep the form of the pork roll and then slice it. As the French would say, ‘as you want’…

Mamy Jeanne’s Jardinière de Légumes

April 18, 2013May 24, 2019The vigneron's wife

jardiniere cooking

It’s the season of peas. How delicious and sweet they are – served in the pods as a nibble during the aperitif, or boiled or steamed. I grew up with my fair share of them – Mum always hid them in the mashed potato – and I loved them like that even if ‘green’ was a no-go zone at the time. But I must say that the peas we ate were more of the frozen in a bag variety (feeding a family takes a lot of shelling I now realise). Now it’s a delight to find so many fresh peas around at the markets and Lilas and I’ve had a great time sitting amongst the rows of vineyards (Benjamin uses them as a ‘green fertiliser’) picking and eating them.

Lilas shelling peas for Mum — Lilas shelling peas with her Mum

A couple of years ago, my parents-in-law brought Mamy Jeanne with them to stay at our place (Mamy Jeanne is Benjamin’s maternal grandmother and ever since my arrival in France has been a huge support – even when my French was non-existant and communication was conveyed by gestures). Not one to sit around and enjoy being waited on , Mamy wanted to help contribute to the numerous family reunions we were having that week and prepare a few of her favourite Spring dishes from over the years. And we’re talking a few Springtimes here – Mamy is 90 and also been known to wield a ping-pong bat in games against the great-grandchildren.

Mamy Jacqueline et Mamy Jeanne — I just love this photo of the two Mamys: Here is Mamy Jeanne on the right and Mamy Jacqueline on the left

jardiniere on stove

So I took Mamy to the local market and she was very keen to buy up on the peas. She wanted to show me how to make a Jardinière de Légumes (as one of my husband’s favourite dishes, it was almost a family duty to add this to the repertoire) and I was very eager to hover over the stove as she did it.

When the peas are abundant in Spring and you have the arrival of the other ‘legumes nouveaux’ (new vegetables), this dish is served on many French tables. It’s extremely easy, colourful and healthy. We had some Australian friends to stay recently and with a couple of vegetarians amongst them, it was a perfect meal.

Mamy Jeanne’s Jardinière de Légumes

(please note that quantities are approximate – I vary them, depending on how it looks in the pot)

ingredients:

10 or so lettuce leaves (any type of green salad leaf)

10 carrots

10 potatoes

6 turnips

4 onions – or about 8-10 new baby onions

367 432 peas (that’s what it seems like – but make it about 800g, unshelled)

bay leaves

fresh thyme

butter, olive oil

salt, pepper

salted pork (this is optional – depending on how you feel and if there any any vegos)

method:

First I like to fry the onion in a good chunk of butter and olive oil until almost golden as I enjoy the sweetness (and easier for hubby to digest).

(I read a recipe where a women likes to caramelize a bit of sugar in her pot first, but I really don’t think you need to when the new vegetables are so sweet and fresh)

Once onion is done, add the salad leaves and stir well until leaves are floppy. If using pork, add now too.

Then add the carrots, potatoes, turnips, all cut into random, small chunks (some like to perfectly dice each vegetable but I think this looks too neat!), and herbs.

Add water to the pot, until vegetables are just covered, close lid and simmer after boiling for about one hour – or until vegetables are to your liking (the French have a reputation for very well-cooked vegetables, something unheard of in the Asian-focused cuisine so popular in Australia!)

Remember to add the shelled peas about half-an hour into the cooking time. I don’t like to add them from the beginning as they can get mushy.

Serve on its own or as an accompaniment to veal, pork or chicken, with a big pot of French mustard on the side.

jardiniere 3

Bon Appetit!

P.S. There are many, many versions of a Jardinière, this recipe below came from a treasured copy in her cookbook collection…

'Les Recettes Faciles' (easy Recipes) by Francoise Bernard, Librairie Hachette, 1965 — ‘Les Recettes Faciles’ (easy Recipes) by Francoise Bernard, Librairie Hachette, 1965

Francoise Bernard's version — Francoise Bernard’s version

Roti de Porc au Lait (Roast Milk Pork)

February 1, 2013September 25, 2013The vigneron's wife

Roti de Porc au Lait

serves 6-8

ingredients:

1.5kg roll of roasting pork – preferably of shoulder (fillet is drier and less fat, don’t want that)

1 litre full cream milk

2 large onions, sliced

6 carrots, cut into in large chunks

8 potatoes, as above

8 small turnips, as above

4-5 cloves of garlic

2 sprigs fresh thyme

bunch fresh sage (about 10-12 leaves)

2 sprigs rosemary

oil, butter

salt, pepper

method:

Fry up the onions in heavy cast iron pot with a big chunk of butter (30-40g) and a little olive oil, until golden.

Add the roll of pork and brown on each side over medium -high heat.

When the meat is almost all browned, add the garlic and salt, pepper to taste. I find garlic burns very easily, so I add it near the end of the browning.

Pour over the milk (meat should be 3/4 covered, if not add more ) and add the herbs.

Cover with lid and let simmer for an hour.

Add the carrots and turnips and keep simmering for another hour.

Add potatoes and keep simmering until they are tender.

Serve with lashings of dijon mustard on the side and a big white or red wine!

N.B. If this is prepared the night before eating, I don’t add any of the vegetables until the next day.

Simple Country Lentils*

September 28, 2012October 26, 2012The vigneron's wife

(* this dish is a version of the one listed in the fabulous “French Farmhouse Cookbook” by Susan Herrmann Loomis)

a simple lentil dish — a very simple lentil dish – minus the sausages

Nothing like keeping the monsieur happy – and at this time more than any other. Harvest time means good, honest, country cooking and this very simple (the best kind!) lentil dish is a winner in our house. It’s easy and so versatile – it’s great on its own or delicious paired with country sausages, pork chops, lamb chops, whatever you feel like. They say that dried pulses were a staple in many homes during the harsh Winter months, a time when people also consumed more preserved, salted meats (no wonder I feel like large slabs of juicy ‘petit sale’ with my lentils).

pork for your fork
(‘petit sale’ or ‘porc demi-sel’)

And it’s another one of those dishes that tastes better and better each day it gets older!

I first tried this dish here in France at Benji’s parents’ house. A large cast-iron pot was plonked in the middle of the table and we helped ourselves to this comfort-food’ – the country sausages (mmn, like a bit of country saucisse, but not these!!) swimming in a dark brown-green mass of steaming lentils, with dollops of Dijon mustard, soaking it all up with crusty bread and wine.

I’m wondering if it was the first time I’d had ‘Puy’ lentils? These are a dark green/grey coloured lentil commonly found in ‘Le Puy’, in the Auvergne area of France. Grown in volcanic soil, they are very small and lovely to cook with as they retain their form. Until that time, all the lentil dishes I’d tried were mostly Indian influenced, eg dhal, using red or brown lentils. Come to think of it, I used to eat a lot more ‘Asian’-influenced dishes in Australia. Coriander, soy sauce, chillies and limes were far more common sights in the kitchen than wild thyme, bay leaves and olive oil. Who would have thought…

Simple Country Lentils

ingredients:

500g green Puy lentils (this will serve about 6 people)

2 onions, diced

4 carrots, chopped

250g salted pork, cut into chunks (optional)

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme

bay leaf

country sausages/ frankfurters (1-2 per person) – (optional)

parsley and mustard for serving

pepper to taste (if you are using the salted pork you will not need to add any salt)

method:

Fry your onion until golden in a generous amount of olive oil, in a heavy casserole pot

+ During this time, boil a full kettle of water for pouring over the lentils later – the hot water greatly reduces the cooking time +

Add the roughly cut chunks of salted pork and fry for a few minutes, stirring frequently

Add the carrots and the garlic, give a good stir

Now add the lentils, stir well

Pour boiling water to cover well.

N.B. During the cooking, you will find that the lentils soak up a lot of water, you may need to add a second pot of boiling water over the mixture if you have no liquid left. I know, it may look like you are drowning the lentils with water, but believe me it does dry up!

lentils 2 — pour boiling water over the lentils etc and then cover

Add herbs and pepper to taste.

N.B. You do not need to add salt if using the salted pork (I’ve made that mistake!) – but if you’re not using meat DO NOT salt at this point. – adding salt to lentils during cooking may toughen them up. Add it after the cooking.

Cover with lid and let simmer for one hour (if you have too much liquid, leave the lid slightly ajar) – or until lentils are tender.

Voila! – and enjoy with a light red or a dry white…

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