France 2018

By shendyNo Comments
We stayed in Bordeaux on the way down to our holiday in France - I had a Big Birthday shortly beforehand and fancied visiting some vineyards and doing a couple of tastings.We visited Chateaux Siran in Margaux, Chasse-Spleen in Moulis-en-Medoc and Bouscaut in Pessac-Leognan. The tours were interesting, particularly the Siran nuclear bunker... Once at the gite we actually did very little (which was lovely), but I still managed to take quite a lot of photos - we had the usual good sunsets, as well as one morning with a thick fog. There will be more images from the gite in the film update I'll be posting later. On the way home, we stopped off in the Loire for a Chateau visit - Azay-le-Rideau this time. And of course there was a decent selection of meals... As we'd been to this particular gite before, we knew that there would be plenty of opportunity for photographing the stars. ...
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Confit

By shendy1 Comment
We've spent the last couple of weeks making duck and goose confit. Aldi has been selling frozen ducks and geese at pretty reasonable prices, and Asda have taken to selling duck legs for £2.70 a pair. Makes a change from chutney - on which subject, SWMBO cooked up a huge vat of green bean chutney using our entire green bean crop from this summer. And then threw it all away as it wasn't at all nice... First up, dissect your bird - separate the legs and breast, and perhaps the wings if there's a bit of meat on them. Marinade in salt, oil, pepper, thyme, bay leaves and juniper berries. After a couple of days stewing in the marinade, clear off the salt and vegetation and sear the meat. Put it in a casserole dish, cover with goose fat and cook at 150 degrees C for a couple of hours. Yes, all that liquid is goose fat. Then put it in jars and cover with lashings of...
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More Flinty Red

By shendyNo Comments
Flinty Red asked me in recently to take some shots in the kitchen for them to use to publicise their Outside Catering service. Some Creme Brulees (or should that be Cremes Brulee?) in the foreground, with Max the (temporary) chef in the background. Crostini, ready to be loaded up with Marsala-cooked onions on Ricotta. This was actually the (really nice) staff dinner - pork, beans, herbs and some of the Marsala onions. Onglet with courgettes. I think the yellow ones came from Matt the chef's own garden. Fresh haloumi cheese I had an email yesterday from someone at the BBC (yes, that BBC), asking for photos of Flinty Red to use in one of their food magazines. Coo!...
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