Sauce Marchand de vin

 Sauce marchand de vin

Ingrédients :

3 échalotes 

1 gousse d’ail

Une bouteille de vin rouge 750ml

3 feuilles de laurier

1 branche de romarin ou 1 bouquet de thym (ou les deux !)

100g de beurre salé

+ 100g de beurre salé pour lier la sauce

3 cuillères à soupe de fond de veau lié

Une petit verre de Cognac

Ou 2 cuillères a soupe de farine pour faire un roux + fond de veau

Poivre du moulin

Préparation :

Hacher les échalotes et presser l’ail

Faire revenir à feu moyen avec 100g de beurre dans une casserole pendant 6 minutes sans faire brunir

Ajouter le vin, le laurier, le romarin (et/ou le thym) le poivre moulu

Porter à ébullition puis réduire et laisser réduire au quart du volume (1 heure ou plus)

Retirer les herbes. Mixer la sauce au mixeur à main (ou blender). Réserver 

Dans la casserole, mettre les 100 g de beurre restant, faire fondre et ajouter le fond de veau lié (ou la farine)

Laisser cuire à petit feu 3 minutes

Ajouter le vin réduit et le fond de veau si fond de veau liquide

Laisser épaissir 5 minutes. Ajouter un peu de poivre du moulin. 

Bon appétit !

Ingredients:

3 shallots

1 clove of garlic

A bottle of red wine 750ml

3 bay leaves

1 sprig of rosemary or 1 bunch of thyme (or both!)

100g of salted butter

+ 100g of salted butter to thicken the sauce at the end

3 tablespoons of thickened veal stock

Or 2 tablespoons of flour to make a roux + veal stock

A small glass of Brandy

Pepper from the mill

Preparation:

Chop the shallots and press the garlic

Fry over medium heat with 100g of butter in a saucepan for 6 minutes without browning

Add the wine, bay leaf, rosemary (and/or thyme) and ground pepper

Bring to the boil then reduce and reduce to a quarter of the volume (1 hour or more)

Add the brandy near the end

Remove the herbs. Mix the sauce with a hand mixer (or blender). Set aside

In the saucepan, put the remaining 100g of butter, melt and add the thickened veal stock (or flour)

Leave to cook over low heat for 3 minutes

Add the reduced wine and the veal stock if the veal stock is liquid

Leave to thicken for 5 minutes. Add a little bit more pepper

Bon appétit 😋 

Haricots à la Huguette (yellow beans in tomato sauce)

 Ingredients:

1 kg yellow beans

3 yellow onions (shredded)

4 ripe tomatoes (cubed)

300g ground beef (more or none if you want it meatless)

5 garlic cloves (crushed)

200 g of tomato paste

I vegetable stock cube

1 beef stock cube

Thyme, 1 teaspoon paprika, ½ teaspoon ginger powder, 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper, chili pepper if you want to make it a bit spicy

Olive oil

The juice of one lemon

Preparation:

Cut the tips of the beans and plunge them in a pot with cold water

In a big pan, add olive oil, fry the meat for 10 minutes till brown crushing the lumps with a fork

Add the shredded onions, set to medium heat. Cook and brown for 15 minutes until soft. 

Add the tomato paste, all the spices, the crushed garlic cloves, the cubes, stir well for a few minutes after setting the heat on high

Add a cup of water (or white wine if you feel like it), deglaze, add the tomatoes, set to medium, low medium high. Let it cook for 20 minutes

Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and the beans. Let them cook for 15 minutes until warm but still crunchy. More if you like them soft. 

Serve with couscous, polenta, with or without added meat or fish 

Bon appétit!

On the recent French elections results. June -July 2024

 What happened last weekend and the rise of the extreme right is nothing but a surprise. We’ve seen their gains election after election. The question was never if but when. And when is now because E. Macron behaved like a petulant child listening to no one but the close circle of his unelected advisors. He had a relative majority in the parliament but it was not perfect so he decided to break his toy: “If I can’t have everything I’d rather have nothing”. Wish granted!

He had no political experience when he was elected in 2017 and still doesn’t grasp political moods better now but he think he knows. He’s bad at making allies, but vey good at being hated with his supposed arrogance and his off colour one-liniers. As for the far right, their rise is the result of decades by moderate parties, left and right, of sweeping under the carpet unpleasant issues they didn’t want to address: the perceived bad controlled immigration, the stealthy progress of political radical Islam, the creation of ethnic ghettos in the suburbs of cities big ans small, what is perceived as leniency by judges in the treatment of criminals, petty or more serious ones, undermining the job of the police, the change of character of people surroundings, with more ethnic population, wearing ethnic or religious outfits, ethnic stores, people not speaking French in the streets or the subway. Taking into account this discontents was deemed to be racist or encourage racism. The opposite happened. Being silent about the fears of people thinking their country was changing too fast even if they had not seen a black or Arab person in years where they live in the countryside (but they’d seen the riots on TV!) encouraged racism. The only party that spoke openly about these issues was the far right with easy answers to complex questions which frankly is what most people want. 

Macron’s administration has had its success with the economy. France is the favourite European country where foreign firms want to invest, unemployment is at an historical low, the Covid crisis had a very low impact on the economy thanks to tons of money spent to subsidise small to medium firms and maintain employment. But what do the average French citizens know about the economy? They care about the price of what is in their shopping cart at the supermarket, how much their holidays will cost,  and the evolution of their pay-check. That’s about it. Contrary to what James Carville, Bill Clinton’s strategist said: “It’s the economy stupid!” you don’t win elections in France anymore with a heathy economy. You apparently win them with simple slogans inspired by one from a few years ago across the ocean: “Make America Great Again” which really meant “Make America White Again”. Same here… 

Cari Porc Dakatine

 Cari porc Dakatine

Ingrédients

For the “Cari”:

800g of pork loin

3 tomatoes

2 onions

5 garlic cloves

50g of fresh ginger

3 carrots 

2 spoonfuls of turmeric

1 cube of vegetable stock

1 small cal of button mushrooms (whole)

1 small can of crushed tomatoes

5 twigs of fresh thyme

Salt, pepper, olive oil

3 spoonfuls of peanut butter (smooth or crunchy, your taste!)

For the “grains”:

1 onion

1 garlic clove

20 g of fresh ginger

Fresh thyme

1 small can of beans

For the “rougail tomate”:

1 tomato

2 green onions

1 lime

1 teaspoon of chilli paste (to taste)

Basmati rice

Preparation

Curi:

Peel the garlic and ginger. Blend to a paste. 

Cut the meat in big squares. Brown it for 15 minutes. Save

Cut the onions and brown them for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger paste and garlic paste plus the turmeric, vegetable stock, thyme leaves, crushed pepper.

Add the tomatoes (diced), the can of crushed tomatoes, the carrots (sliced), one cup of water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and cook on low medium heat for an hour or more (the meat must be melting in the mouth)

Reduce the sauce by removing the lid the last half hour. 

Add the button mushrooms and the peanut butter ten minutes before turning the heat down. 

Grains:

Fry the cut onion for 10 minutes until brown and soft. Add the ginger and garlic paste, the turmeric, salt and pepper, the leaves of three thyme leaves. Fry for one minute. Add the beans and let them simmer for 15 minutes on low heat. 

Rougail tomate:

Cut one tomato in small cubes

Add 2 green onions finely sliced 

Grate the zest of one lime. Add the juice of the lime

Add one teaspoon of chilli paste, salt, pepper

Serve the meat with basmati rice, the beans and the tomatoes,salade. 

Bon appétit. 

Green curry chicken coconut soup

 Green curry chicken coconut soup

(With radishes leaves for an added peppery flavour)

Ingredients:

1 or 2 chicken breasts depending on taste and size

2 onions

1 red bell pepper

2 garlic cloves

5 cm of Thai galanga ginger

5 cm of ginger ginger

1 or 2 spoonful of Thai green curry paste

The leaves of two bunches of radishes 

200 g of frozen string beans

200 g of frozen peas

200 g of frozen spinach

500 ml of chicken stock 

1 cube of vegetables stock

Black pepper

400 ml of coconut cream

Preparation:

Cut the chicken breast in cubes

Fry them for 6 min and set aside

Cut the red pepper in cubes. Fry and set aside

Cut the onions and brown for 6 minutes

Make a paste with the garlic cloves, the green curry, the galanga and fresh standard ginger

Add the paste to the onions, sauté for 3 minutes to develop the aromas. 

Add the chicken stock and the vegetables stock cube

Add the radishes leaves, the frozen vegetables, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes

Let it cool down then blend finely. 

Pass through a colander to get rid of the excess fibres. 

Add the fried chicken, the fried red pepper bits, the coconut cream, and the udon noodles

Reheat and let it simmer for five minutes. 

Enjoy, Bon appétit, ทานให้อร่อย (Thān hî xřxy)

Rougail Boucané Chouchou

 Rougail Boucané Chouchou

Ingrédients:

800g of smoked pork meat (or cooked pork ribs) cut in small pieces (but not too small)

2 chayotes, peeled, cut in bug cubes with the stone removed. 

4 tomatoes, 2 onions, 3 garlic cloves, 3 cm of fresh ginger, peeled and shredded, 3 scallions, fresh thyme (strip the leaves, throw away the twigs), one hot red chili, 2 teaspoons of turmeric, salt, pepper

If you use smoked meat, boil it for five minutes in a big pot of water. Drain

Fry the meat in a Dutch oven for 6 minutes. Add the shredded onions, keep stirring and brown for 6 more minutes. Add the pressed garlic, the thyme leaves, the paste of fresh ginger, the turmeric, the black pepper. Sauté the spices for a minute or two. Don’t let them burn! 

Add the tomatoes cut in small cubes. Add the cubes of chayotes, half a cup of water, bring to a boil then reduce the temperature and let it simmer for a hour (or more) with the lid on until the chayotes are cooked. 

Remove the lid and cook some more until the sauce thicken. You do not want it to be watery.

For the “Grains” (beans), cut one onion, let it fry in olive oil until brown. Add one clove of garlic (pressed), 1 teaspoon of turmeric, black pepper, cooked beans (dry, fresh,canned), cook for 20 minutes. 

“Rougail Tomate” recipe, cut 1 or 2 tomatoes (depending on size), half an onion cut in small pieces, a bit of red chili (depending on how spicy you like your food), 1 cm of fresh ginger finely chopped and reduced to a paste, the zest of a lime grated, the juice of the grated lime, 2 spoonful of olive oil. Prepare in advance so the flavours will develop. 

Serve with basmati rice.