Vegetarian Lasagne.

Vegetarian Lasagne

As I've said before, one dish that seems to be a big hit with our customers here at Chez Teresa is our Vegetarian Lasagne.  What could be more inviting and warming as the chill hits the air of an Autumn day, or even as a summer dish served with a crisp salad, then this particular dish.

At Chez Teresa we make it with strips of lasagne alternated with our home made ratatouille or wuth a soyay mince that has been gently fried beforehand in a little olive oil with a handful of grated onions, some chopped tomatoes and basil leaves and a couple of cloves of crushed garlic.  Mixed with the ratatouille and then alternated with the layers of lasagne and topped with a Parmesan cheese sauce it makes for an easy and satisfying dish.  Top with a generous amount of sliced tomatoes and a few chopped black olives (my current passion is for black olives from Nyons in the South of France) add some more grated Parmesan cheese with a generous grind of black pepper then bake in a hot oven at 180c for around 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and bubbling on top.

Serve with a fresh green salad with a dressing of your choice and you have a simply divine family meal as well as for guests.  I have by the way started to use a half wholemeal flour (semi-complet) for our sauces, crepes and scones and really they are as light as if you use white flour, but with the added bonus of extra nutrition especially in terms of B vitamins.

For up to 10 portions (depending on your appetite of course..) you will need:-

A large rectangular ovenproof dish
10 - 12 sheets of dried lasagne pasta strips  (Barilla is a good authentic Italian make)
A large jar, or can of good quality Ratatouille or for Home made Ratatouille see my blog post on the subject 'making Ratatouille
A generous quantity of cheese sauce (see the recipe below)
A splash of Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrins is my favourite)
about 1 tbs of grated cheese, some slices of a large firm tomato and around 6 juicy black olives.

Method:-

Layer some sheets of lasagne at the bottom of your dish.  I usually alternate 3 slices then add the filling be it Ratatouille or a soya, onion tomato mince mix then layer with more lasagne sheets.

Once you have finished alternating your layers.  Top with a home made cheese sauce and decorate with one large beef tomato (cut into the thinnest of slices), a few chopped olives and some extra grated cheese.  Bake in a pre-heated oven for around 40 - 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.

Recipe for Cheese Sauce

50g butter
2 tbs flour (plain or semi wholemeal flour is best)
200 mls of milk
1/2 tsp mustard
200g of grated Parmasan or a strong mature cheddar
sea salt and black pepper to season

Melt butter, add four and mix until a smooth paste.  Next add the milk mustard, salt, pepper and cheese.  If your sauce goes lumpy just get out the electric mixer and mix until smooth.

Serve hot with a sprinkle of fresh Herbes des Provence.

One huge compliment recently was the fact that we had a large Italian family in who went on to compliment us on our pasta dishes...what an accolade!

I have in the past made my own pasta sheets with flour, eggs, oil, salt and water and these have turned out very well, especially when I have dried the pasta sheets out on a line in our kitchen.  Often though speed is the essence of our daily lives and quite frankly even when I've spoken to an Italian they will say that in Italy most households in this modern age cook with dried pasta and seeing as there is now such a marvelous range available certainly throughout Europe we should never feel that we are coping out by using the dry stuff.  If you do decide to make your own however, here is a recipe:-

Lasagne Sheets

300g semi-wholemeal or plain flour
pinch of sea salt
2 lightly beaten eggs
100ml whole or semi-skimmed milk
1 tbs butter

On a cold surface (I use a lovely what and black marble board that I've had for  years) place the flour in a heap, add the sea salt and rub in the butter.
Gradually add the eggs, then the milk and mix and knead until your have a smooth dough.

Roll out the dough until it is as thin as you can get without it being see through..... Cut into lasagne shapes and air dry.

By the way you can use this recipe for practically any pasta dish that you choose to make from noodles to Tagliatelli  (the latter incidentally is from the Italian word to cut i.e. tagliare)

Chez Teresa and the International Appeal of the Knickerbocker Glory

As previously reported we have had many nationalities through our doors this summer at Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre in Fontevraud l'abbaye in the Loire Valley and one of our most popular desserts is without doubt the Knickerbocker Glory.

Mostly folks whether they be from Brazil, Belguim, Belarus or sometimes even Birmingham ask what is it?  Once described, the tantalising appeal of such a melange of gateau, cream, fresh fruit, ice-cream, more fresh fruit, some crumbled meringue and swirls of Chantilly with a flourish of berry coulis and a strawberry or two or other seasonal fruit on the top served in a tall elegant glass, is for many of our customers, too good to miss.  When I was a child on holiday in Folkestone, my Father and I used to go and play bingo along the Harbour. Then it was off to one of our favourite quayside cafe's for a Knickerbocker Glory.  Actually it was on one such holiday that we went on a day trip to France and I first had a taste of delicious French patisserie and we know what that led to....

Here at Chez Teresa we make as a rule the full fat version, and for those of a more restrained disposition we create a skinny one featuring Yogurt, and sorbet as opposed to cream and full fat ice cream.

The Knickerbocker Glory first seems to have appeared, at least in the UK in the 1930s.  When I was a child - not in the 1930s I hasten to add, this elaborate concoction was to be found at seaside resorts, in promenade cafes and sometimes in Italian restaurants.

We are often asked here at Chez Teresa why is this dessert called a Knickerbocker Glory?  I usually come out with an explanation, which has particular appeal to our French customers, in so far as I say that it is to do with the fact that in France trousers are often referred to as Knickerbockers, and if you look at the shape that the Knickerbocker Glory makes in its tall glass it does look a bit like the glass is wearing within it a type of trouser.  Of course during the first French Revolution of 1789 and beyond, the revolutionaries abandoned such trousers for sans culottes (which means without trousers though not completely I would add, as there would have been I daresay more of a scandal then there already was)... and so for a while there was not a Knickerbocker to be seen.  In addition if we think of the Victorian era and the English lady or girl, she might wear an undergarment that was sometimes referred to as a pair of Knickerbockers.  I am also reminded of seaside towns and of music halls of yesteryear and a recollection that some of the dancers would wear something akin to a Knickerbocker,especially if they were doing a less risqué version of the routine of the ladies at the Folies Bergère in Paris.  

When I was a teenager back in the 1970s there was a revival of such knickerbockers which young women would wear under their floaty cotton maxi or midi dresses... Knickers are of course knickers and many an adolescent especially from the UK has collapsed into laughter when we offer them the possibility of a creamy dessert with knickers in the title....but we assure them that our Knickerbockers are fresh, fruity and delicious and if you opt for the skinny version possibly even healthy.

Recipe for the Chez Teresa Knickerbocker Glory

You will need a tall, elegant sundae glass into which you will place the following ingredients:-

1 slice of cake (Victoria Sandwich or a cup cake drizzled with fruit coulis or a splash of your favourite liqueur if you are feeling especially decadent - if the latter try matching the liqueur to suit the fruits that you will use...for example if you are using citrus fruits then a splash of Limoncello, an Italian lemon liqueur which will work well; for strawberries what about a splash of Tia Maria, for blackberries or blackcurrants try a splish splash of Chambord or Cassis and so on).

Next simply layer the glass with a melange of fruit, cream, ice cream, more fruit and one small crumbled meringue

Top with a large pretty swirl of Chantilly Cream and top with some more coulis and one or two fruits of  your choice.  Even a single Glacé cherry on top will look good.  In fact use your imagination to embellish your glory...I sometimes place a few toasted almonds on top and this can add an unexpected contrast and frisson to the dessert.

For the Skinny Version of the Chez Teresa Knickerbocker Glory

Do exactly the same as for the above recipe, but instead of using cream and ice cream substitute good quality low or full fat Yogurt, and sorbet, and if possible swirl some frozen yogourt on top.

Quite frankly the only thing that will stop you from creating your own fabulous Knickerbocker Glory is your imagination and the fruits that you have available at your fingertips at the time.

One of our lovely customers, Julie Lawrence from Chippenham negotiates her peachy Knickerbocker Glory on a visit to us with her family, Ben, Georgia and Alex and this summer.

Incidentally the doyenne of country and western Miss Dolly Parton is sometimes referred to as a Knickerbocker Glory.......


 

Chez Teresa's Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Another hit this week has been our Apple and Cinnamon Cake.  Basically I made a Victoria Sandwich mix with a hint of maple syrup, a splash of syrup of stem ginger, and a generous amount of powdered cinnamon.  Should you decide to make this cake, instead of using white sugar use a rich brown one.  Pour into a deep buttered cake tin with a circle of parchment paper at the bottom.  Next slice some fresh French Gala apples (keep the rosy skins on) and plunge them into the cake mix rather as if in the cake mixture you are creating a mini Stone Henge.  Top with some crumble mixture use semi-wholewheat flour and brown sugar with butter rubbed into the mix.  Sprinkle with some more brown sugar and bake in a pre-heated oven 180c for 45 - 50 minutes or until you can plunge a knife into the center and it comes out clean.  When cool empty onto a pretty plate.  Serve with Crème fraîche, Fresh Cream or Crème Anglaise. 

                             

I am not sure if I mentioned before that this has been the week of the Germans in terms of the overall number of customers of a particular nationality?  Last week was the week of the Italians and the week before was the week of the visitors from Chile.....they never seem to know each other, but such groups seem to visit Fontevraud l'abbaye in culturally diverse waves....Today we have also had in French, Spanish and English customers so all good.  Mostly our customers are great fun and interesting to talk to and very complimentary about our the food and atmosphere though we do get the odd horror through our doors...guess that is to be expected.  We have anyway been very very busy these past few weeks which is of course good and a revelation after the past two years when due to all the road works etc outside Chez Teresa we did not receive as many customers as in previous years.  I am very tired though, but I guess this is normal and in a way it is a nice kind of tired as overall we have had some lovely customers in this season so far to our tea room.  There is something really rather heartwarming to think that when visitors enjoy their stay with us or their lunch or afternoon tea, we are part of making their overall holiday experience a good one.  We were also thrilled earlier on in the week when a young French couple came over from Tours for a cream tea.   They had read about us in the Geo Guide and visited Fontevraud l'abbaye specifically for a taste d'Angleterre.  They combined this visit with a walk through the forest and its environs and collected a bowl of sweet tasting juicy blackberries which they gave to us as a gift.

Tofu is a great thing...from Chez Teresa

Tofu is a great thing....Today I made a veggie tofu dish in a vibrant Thai style source with lots of veggies thrown including Courgettes, Aubergines, Sugar Snap Peas, Tomatoes, Onions and grated garlic, a generous grating of fresh ginger, and some diced orange, yellow and red peppers.  Add a large splash of Tamarind sauce which is great to use plus a dash of Soya Sauce, Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins we love) plus a little brown sugar.  Saute your tofu in onions and garlic then add a tin of tomato pulp, add some chopped basil then all of the above.  Simmer until the flavours suit your palette.  It is simply delicious served with brown rice.  To be honest with a lot of my dishes today I also add a veggie Knorr stock pot  which I suppose you might see as a bit of a cheat, but what the hell.  A tsp of black bean sauce is also a wonderful addition to this dish and makes it rather sticky and gorgeous and that is just what I added today.

Yesterday was a bit of a sad day for us at Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre in Fontevraud l'abbaye as we hardly had anyone in and after a busy couple of  weeks what with all the Italians and visitors from Chile and also Kwait it was rather disappointing.  Today however we have been back on track and have had many customers in mainly from France and Holland as it happens, but also from the UK and Portsmouth in particular.  Our Lemon drizzle cake has been a huge hit along with the fondant au chocolat.  Quite a few people have wanted to drink Chocolate Chaud which we make with creme fraiche, full cream milk, sugar and melted chocolat.  This is a sure sign I think that Autumn is on the horizon and cannot we just feel it in the air first thing in the morning?  There is something about the quality of the air as late August and early September approaches whereby you can almost smell Autumn nights, the changing of the trees and the time when hot soup and a baked potato are going to be just what you want whilst you contemplate solstice and of course the impending lead up to Christmas.

Au revoir for now

T. xx

Running a vegetarian 'petit restaurant' in France can often be a challenge i.e. to entice customers through our doors.  Of course having been here in Fontevraud l'abbaye since 2006 we do have our wonderful regular customers plus we are mentioned in quite a few guides now such as Trip Adviser, The Lonely Planet, The Geo Guide and the Green Guide to the Loire Valley so many do come through our doors because of these reviews.

The biggest challenge in France is still to convince potential customers that you can have a perfectly wonderful and sustaining meal without it comprising of meat, meat and meat.  There does seem however to be some kind of zeitgeist in France at the moment in terms of healthy eating and more and more people of all nationalities who live here are making healthy decisions as to how they nourish themselves to the extent that it is now possible in most supermarkets to get hold of Soya products such as veggie mince, veggie burgers and the like.  Whilst we do like to use fresh, organic ingredients here at Chez Teresa I have recently started cooking and experimenting with Soya/Soja bean products.  I realise that there is a huge ethical debate about genetically modified soya and the pros and cons of this as a product, but we do try to use non-gm when we can obtain it.  Incidentally we had a vegetarian in the other day who said that she would never eat anything that even resembled meat so would not be partaking of a special Vegetarian sausage rolls.  I kind of get her point, but my husband Tony makes our Vegetarian sausage rolls and they are delicious!

In truth we are not fully vegetarian as in fact we do serve fish dishes such as smoked salmon at lunchtime with salads or in an omelette, and also fish pies/Parmentier and Saumon en Croute in the evenings for guests and/or for those who book in advance.  

So far this week has been the week of the Italians as we have had so many Italians in through our doors and also from Sicily.  They have all been an absolute joy and very appreciative of what we have to offer including dare I say it our pasta dishes!  They especially seemed to rank our cream teas.  Maybe there is nothing like them in Italy and Sicily.  The Sicilians that we had in for a cream tea today enjoyed it so much that they are returning at the weekend with some friends, so that is of course very encouraging.  They found us on The Lonely Planet so thanks again to that publication.  We also had a family in from Kuwait today who bought lots of pretty English and French china from our boutique. Actually one my major tips to anyone thinking of opening a small business in France is to diversify and not put all your eggs in one basket so to speak; as some weeks we sell a hell of a lot of china and then other weeks our tea room and restaurant is packed out....At other times our B & B is busy.

Sourcing vintage china is such a joy and I love to visit the Vide Greniers whereby the French empty their attics or I daresay other parts of their Maisons and sell all sorts of wonderful and less wonderful objets d'arts and an assortment of things.. selling everything and anything often including the kitchen sink!  I would also recommend visiting charity emporiums such as Emmaus as you never know what treasure you might find. 

Crêpes at Chez Teresa

We have had some great people in for lunch at Chez Teresa today including a Dutch/Israeli Family the girls of the family were delightful and the Mother who is Israeli said that she hoped for peace in her life time and a French chap who said that his slice of Tarte au Citron was the best that he had tasted in a long while....The children had crêpes with bananas and melted chocolate.   Next we had a lovely gay couple in from North London for full lunches who plan to stay with us in the future and also a Scottish couple who shared some Scottish and Irish recipes over a pot of tea and some scones with me.  I just love the cultural diversity of those who come through our doors and feel very lucky that we are able to meet with so many different people on a daily basis.  Of course the Abbaye Royale is the draw, but we are grateful for our visitors who come to see us either before or after their visit for a taste d'Angleterre....

Mid afternoon I had a Dutch couple in asking for Crêpes a la flambé in Grand Marnier to boot..Honestly am I being silly here in so far as we offer crêpes throughout the day but my recipe is simple but effective, but no Grand Marnier and flambé does not really figure and certainly not during the afternoon as one of our take aways.   We might offer it as an evening treat to be served in our dining room. Anyway the aforementioned left sans crêpe.  It was 16hrs and quite frankly where in France could you expect to be able to enjoy a crêpes a la flambé ?  At such an hour I would like to know.    Still they were on their velos and I guess they needed to be sustained.  "Au revoir" says I, "farewell and bonne route... "

When we first put crêpes on our menu I was a bit worried that our French customers would not like them, but this has proved far from the case and we have received many compliments and tips.   It is like serving pasta dishes to Italians you tremble a little bit as you serve it, but as the summer has progressed I am beginning to feel more and more confident serving crêpes.
 

Here is my recipe for crêpes with some suggested fillings and yes you could even flambé the crêpes with Grand Marnier

125 ml du lait/full cream or semi du lait/ milk

350 gms farine de blé or semi complet if possible, or white or semi wholemeal will do

plus a pinch of sea salt and

4 l'oeufs/4 free range eggs as fresh as you can...

Suggested fillings are as follows:

Melted chocolate (a few cubes of 70% chocolate, with a noisette of butter and a little sugar) and some chopped bananas to add within the crêpes in the middle before you serve with a drizzle of chocolate on the top and a couple of pieces of fruit for decoration is particularly yummy.  Alternatively use freshly squeezed lemon and sugar within the crêpe then dust with sugar or what about honey and lemon or Maple syrup and a flourish of Chantilly cream?  Interestingly we have had many French customers in of late who just want a plain crêpe with lots and lots of sucre.

This is a very versatile mix that you can add savoury ingredients to especially if you choose to make the crépe with semi complet/wholemeal flour as it gives the crêpe a delicious nutty texture...  If I am going down the savoury route I tend to fill the pancakes with buttery leeks in a cheese sauce, or smoked salmon and cream cheese, spinach and ricotta cheese, or a spicy vegetable filling..

Enjoy...

T. xx

Here is a recipe that is a big hit in our Salon de thé.  Since 2006 we have been offering our customers and guests flavours from Angleterre that are often inspired by traditional French recipes and patisserie.   Being a chocoholic and a passionate baker, our dishes and recipes often feature chocolate, such as Mexican Chocolate Chili and Chocolat au Fondant. My version of the latter was actually inspired by reading The Elusive Truffle: Travels In Search Of The Legendary Food Of France by Mirabel Osler, a book I would highly recommend to lovers of France, provincial cookery and travel writing. Not that many chocolate recipes feature in this particular book, but even so the fondant cake that I make was inspired by reading it and my version is now a huge hit with our regulars and visitors from overseas who describe it as Gourmet….It is also incredibly quick and easy to make.  In addition you can dress it up as a celebration cake if you wish.  Another great thing about this cake is the fact that because it is so densely chocolatey it keeps well.

To make your Fondant au Chocolat you will need:

5 large free-range eggs (separated)
2 x 200g of best quality dark chocolate of at least 70%*.
200g butter
200g sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon plain flour or for gluten free add two tablespoons of ground almonds

Method:-

Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar in the microwave until melted and glossy
Separate the eggs and whisk the whites until stiff then add them to the cooled chocolate mixture along with the beaten yolks
Fold in the flour or the almonds and add the salt
Pour into a deep round 20cm non stick tin
Bake for around 40 minutes at 180c. Bake for around 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven. It will still look like chocolate liquid, but once it cools it will sufficiently harden. What you are aiming for, at least what I aim for is a hard top and a gooey center.

Serve with fresh raspberries and Crème fraîche.

Alternatively you can pour the mixture into buttered ramekins that you then coat with a dusting of cocoa and bake in the oven for around 12 minutes. These are great served piping hot from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

For a variations on this theme you can add
a hint of chili or
a splash of dark, smokey coffee or a
hint of your favourite liqueur such as Amaretto, or a rich chocolate or berry liqueur

The Queen Victoria Sandwich is also popular with our customers including a chocolate version that I sandwich with chocolate butter cream or crème fraîche laced with chocolate liqueur and filled with blueberries. Simply scrummy…

A note on the chocolate debate engendered by Michael Roux Jr on  his recent BBC programme Chocolate Perfection:-

* Depending on what we have in our store cupboard, for our chocolate cakes and dishes I might use Lindt Excellence dark chocolate or Chocolat Menier Pâtissier – personally though and relating to the current chocolate debate as triggered by Michael Roux’s recent programme on the BBC, I think that proper French chocolate from a reputable chocolatier is fabulous if a little expensive for cooking, but I am also partial to Swiss, Belgium and Dutch chocolate. Droste chocolate pastilles are a firm favourite in our family.  A bar of Cadbury’s Bournville would also work well in a chocolat au fondant.

This ones a bit wonky, but personally I think that this adds to its luscious chocolate charm!

Busy again today in our Salon de The in Fontevraud l'abbaye and everyone seemed to love the food and leave excellent tips so that is good.

Haven't heard from the Maire about our roof, but am hopeful that we might get some assistance from the commune.  Of course others in the past had said that the commune does give grants for this kind of work, but until Regine our Maire came round and said that the commune might be able to help I just had not thought of this.  I think that it might 50%, but imagine how that would help us!

Folks keep coming in wanting to buy cotton peaked hats/caps.. My son Jay just kindly sold one of his Lee Cooper caps to a young South American woman.  I thought that it would be too matcho for her, but she seemed made up with it!  We sold it for 10 euros so obviously we would not want to pay a lot for the caps in the first place but clearly we need to be looking out for them as I swear over the past month or so lots of tourists have come in looking to buy hats!! I thought about ordering some plain ones on line and then richly embroidering the name Fontevraud l'abbaye on the tip in royal colours such as gold or cobalt blue, but not sure whether I am up to that on the sewing front...I used to do lots of embroidering when our son was  young such as embroidering his little smocks etc, but haven't done it for years..
The song Whiskey Bar by the Doors just came on the radio (from the local radio station broadcast from Saumur) with its lines of needing to go to a great Whiskey Bar and then he goes on to say he needs to find a Little Girl or else he will die.  I wondered if those lines would be permitted or considered appropriate at all in the UK now that all of this scandal has come out about the 70s and 80s and the inappropriate behaviour of certain celebs such as Rolf Harris towards young people.and how our very perceptions of those times - our times have changed....I went onto YTube and discovered that although the song is performed and presented on line, that particular verse about needing to find a little girl is now omitted.  It is also known as The Alabama Song. Then I discovered that the song was actually based on a poem by Bertolt Brecht, written in 1925 and in 1928 was set to music by Kurt Weill.  Interesting contexts for the presentation of the song anyway from post first world war Germany to the pop cultural times of the 60s and the door and also David Bowie who also performed the song...What I do find interesting is how context is all and how once we might have accepted something as it is stated in its pure state, but when it is coloured by certain events we no longer find it per se..or do we?  Actually I often find that some of the American and British tunes come on to the radio here in France and I think whey hey could I hear this in the UK without some kind of censorship? Often the songs are  full of expletives and controversial lyrics that probably would not be broadcast in the UK at the present time.  I suppose this is France and not everyone who plays the lists or listens to the radio necessarily understand those lyrics or the context...  I have heard some people say well hang on a minute things were different in the 70s and 80 or even the 20s and 30s..but were they really? 

When I was young girl growing up in the 60/70s it was all quite strict really and not that I condone that but I sometimes wonder who really benefited from the so called 'swinging sixties'?  Perhaps I was too young at the time for most of it I was at Primary school, but even in 70s when I was at college in Maidstone in Kent with an arts college connected to my own alma mata of technology  I am not so sure that I felt that free...I was always conscious of friends who 'got pregnant' or those who actually were clearly being abused and taken advantage of under the guise of drink and drugs.  I think that maybe I felt more sexually inhibited by the 70s then I would have done at any other time in history and I speak from a point of view of someone who has always enjoyed sex.  Of course there was 'the pill', but in a way it was a double edged sword I think that made our boy friends think that we could be freer then perhaps we ever wanted to be.  Of course in 1970 I had read the Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer, but I am not sure that I then understood it fully I just knew that I was myself and I did not want to be 'taken for a ride'.  I had always had this image of the girl on the bike in the village and how it was said that either behind the bike shed or on her travels she was taken advantage of in a way I never wanted to be.  My sympathies in fact were always with her, and not the boys who took advantage of her.  I recall being on the swings at one point in the part outside my house in Dunton Green with a girl called Jasmine who told me that unlike myself she had had 'more boyfriends then hot dinners' and then she went on to get pregnant at 15 and had a child and I was grateful in fact that I was not the one with the myriad of boyfriends.  In fact it was not for want of trying and I did have lots of offers, but in retrospect I am happy that I was as I was and not how Jasmine was.  Maybe today she is happier then I have ever been, but I just did not want to go down that road.

Must dash now as I need to order a Fridge Freezer whilst the sales are still on as we urgently need one.  We've gone without one for a year now and really it has been tricky.  It's amazing what you can do without however when you have to.  Of course we do have two fridges so that has helped, but have not been able to serve ice cream.

Bye or now T. xx

Where have all the tourists gone?

Where have all the tourists gone...?

After a busy weekend at Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre (well it is July) from enchanting Chinese children who especially loved our Knickerbocker Glories which we make with fresh fruit, whipped cream and home made vanilla ice cream - to a French couple who loved our fresh berry smoothies so much so that they had two each. to a large Spanish family - to a trio of elderly French ladies who enjoyed a late late lunch at 7:00 pm yesterday evening we were content.   Today being a Monday (we are usually quite busy on a Monday) by contrast has left us twiddling our thumbs and wondering why we have only had one customer in for lunch.  On Saturday we were full to capacity and yesterday we had a steady stream of customers, so why today should be any different we cannot fathom.  It has rained a little this afternoon in the Loire so maybe that had something to do with it.....There do seem to be a few tourists about, though not that many...obviously the ones that are simply are not into what we have on offer today. Perhaps folks will come in for a late lunches and afternoon teas as the afternoon rolls on.

 We did just have a lady in who asked to see our quiches which are so clearly created by us and yet she still asked if they were 'fait maison' she then proceeded not to want any anyway as we generally receive excellent feedback about our quiches we are not too perturbed.   Why is it that on days when we are not busy we seem to get through our doors the oddest of people wanting to eat things we do not serve, or people asking for directions to the post office (three different people have asked today) or another restaurant? 

On the what we do not tend to serve front, the other day we had a couple of young ladies popping their heads round the door asking what cakes we had so I proceeded to tell them that we had Chocolat au fondant, Tarte au citron, Tarte au chocolat, Gâteau aux carottes a  la américaine, apple crumble, Queen Victoria Sandwich (which we describe as Le Gateau de préférence de la reine Victoria), Scones (I showed them some that I had just freshly baked), and cup cakes.  One of them then asked for croissants which although we occasionally serve these for breakfasts (in the main we serve freshly baked scones with cream and home made jam), we do not generally serve them as  I do the baking and croissants are not one of my spécialités. Plus the boulangerie across the road make such good ones that why should I seek to relicate.. We are after all A Taste d'Angleterre and yes I know we do serve some French inspired patisserie, but in the main we are about offering the visitor something a little different so even our french inspired chocolate gateau have our own spin on them so to speak...I anyway and much to my chagrin sent them off to the aforementioned boulangerie...

I sometimes think that we ought to take out shares with our local office de tourisme for all the directions we give out....

I am feeling in a Greek mood at the moment....so much so that I found myself buying a large piece of organic feta cheese earlier today, plus some fresh spinach and even some vine leaves that I proceeded to fill with a savory rice.   With the feta and the spinach today's quiche is Quiche aux épinards with feta et un soupçon de noix de muscade, otherwise known as nutmeg.

Usually I make my own pastry..and of late with my son recently having been diagnosed with diabetes 2 I've been making it with semi-complet or complet farine de blé (so half-wholemeal/wholemeal).  Today however I used for the base for our Quiche du Jour a packet of puff pastry (Pâte feuilletée).  It turned out if a little rustic looking, rather well.

Method and ingredients for today's Quiche du Jour:-

Line a deep quiche tin with the pastry and pre-bake until a light golden brown and puffy.

In a basin whisk a small pack of whole cream, a cup of whole milk, 8 free range eggs and throw in a couple of handfuls of some thoroughly washed baby spinach.  Beat the mixture with a fork and season with black pepper then crumble in 3/4 block of 200g of organic/bio Feta Cheese and 1 tablespoon of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.  Add to the pastry case and grate some nutmeg on the top.  I am not quite why it is that nutmeg works so well in a spinach quiche, but it just does.

Bake in a pre-heated over at 180c for around 40 - 45 minutes or until firm to the touch.

Serve with a crisp green salad with a lemony dressing made with 2 tbs of freshly squeezed lemon juice, a tsp of  Dijon mustard, 4 tbs of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of sea salt.  Here in France one of the best sea salts available is the traditional French fleur de sel viz le Guérande. The latter are often sold in little cloth bags which makes the salt even more special I think.

Thoughts and reports..

Busy again today and everyone seemed to love the food in a Salon de the and left excellent tips so that is good.  Plat du jour was Onion Tarte and Lasagne a la vegetarian.

Haven't heard from the Maire about our roof, but am hopeful that we might get some assistance from the commune.  Of course others in the past had said that the commune does give grants for this kind of work as although our roof was new in 2006 due to the torrents of rain it has deteriorated.  Until however our Maire, Regine came round and said that the commune might be able to help I just had not thought of this.  I think that it might only be 50% that they pay, but imagine how that would help us!

Folks keep coming in wanting to buy cotton baseball caps so we are now on the look out for t these. My son Jay just kindly sold one of his Lee Cooper caps to a young South American woman.  I thought that it would be too matcho for her, but she seemed made up with it!  We sold it for 10 euros so obviously we would not want to pay a lot for the baseball hats in the first place.  I thought about ordering some plain ones on line and then richly embroidering the name Fontevraud on the tip in royal colours such as gold or cobalt blue, but not sure whether I am up to that on the sewing front...
The song Whiskey Bar by the Doors just came on the radio (from the local radio station broadcast from Saumur, Loire Valley) with its lines of needing to go to a great Whiskey Bar or he will die, and then he goes on to say he needs to find a Little Girl or else he will die.  Hello?  I wondered if those lines would be permitted or considered appropriate at all in the UK now that all of this scandal has come out about the 70s and 80s and the inappropriate behaviour of certain celebs such as Rolf Harris towards young people.and how our very perceptions of those times - our times have changed....I went onto YTube and discovered that although the song is performed and presented on line, that particular verse about needing to find a little girl is now omitted.  It is also known as The Alabama Song. Then I discovered that the song was actually based on a poem by Bertolt Brecht, written in 1925 and in 1928 was set to music by Kurt Weill.  Interesting contexts for the presentation of the song anyway from post first world war Germany to the pop cultural times of the 60s and the wonderful Doors and also David Bowie who also performed the song...What I do find interesting is how context is all and how once we might have accepted something as it is stated in its pure state, but when it is coloured by certain events we no longer find it per se..or do we?  Actually I often find that some of the American and British tunes that come on to the radio here in France I think whey hey could I hear this in the UK without some kind of censorship?  The songs of Lilly Allen are a case in point.  Often the songs are  full of expletives and controversial lyrics that probably would not be broadcast in the UK at the present time.  I suppose this is France and not everyone who plays the lists or listens to the radio necessarily understand those lyrics or the context...  I have heard some people say well hang on a minute things were different in the 70s and 80 or even the 20s and 30s..but were they really? 

When I was a young girl growing up in the 60/70s it was all quite strict really and not that I condone that but I sometimes wonder who really benefited from the so called 'swinging sixties'?  Perhaps I was too young at the time for most of it I was at Primary school, but even in 70s when I was at college in Maidstone in Kent with an arts college connected to my own alma mata of technology when things seemed quite liberated..  I am not so sure that I felt that free...I was always conscious of friends who 'got pregnant' or those who actually were clearly being abused and taken advantage of under the guise of drink and drugs.  I think that maybe I felt more sexually inhibited by the 70s then I would have done at any other time in history and I speak from a point of view of someone who has always enjoyed sex.  Of course there was 'the pill', but in a way it was a double edged sword and I think that it made 'our boy friends' think that we could be freer then perhaps we ever wanted to be.  Of course in 1970 I had read the Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer, but I am not sure that I then understood it fully I just knew that I was myself and I did not want to be 'taken for a ride'.  I had always had this image of the girl on the bike in the village and how it was said that either behind the bike shed or on her travels she was taken advantage of in a way I never wanted to be.  My sympathies in fact were always with her, and not the boys who did whatever they did to her....  I recall being on the swings at one point in the beautiful park outside my house in Dunton Green with a girl called Jasmine who told me that unlike myself she had had 'more boyfriends then hot dinners' but when she went on to get pregnant at 15 and had a baby I was grateful in fact that I was not the one with the myriad of boyfriends.  In fact it was not that I did not have lots of offers, but in retrospect I am happy that I was as I was and not how Jasmine was not in any smug way as I rather admired her...but I was concerned about her as I partly admired her sense of liberty but even from my 14 year old vantage point wondered how long her freedom might last.. Maybe today she is happier then I have ever been, but I just did not want to go down that particular road.  In fact I married quite young (22) and although it seemed right at the time and I cannot regret the fact that I had my son Jay, maybe it would have been better to have taken more time before I committed to a long term relationship.  On the other hand we were happy for many years and a lot that is good has come out of my marriage so sometimes I guess things must be as they must be..

Must dash now as I need to order a Fridge Freezer whilst the sales are still on as we urgently need one.  We've gone without one for a year now without a freezer and although it has been tricky it's amazing what you can do without however when you have to.  Of course we do have two fridges so that has helped, but we have not been able to serve ice cream and have had to serve everything ultra fresh.  Maybe however this is not such a bad thing and I am sure that our customers have really enjoyed fresh home made chips and lots of fresh vegetables and fruit dishes as opposed to frozen ones which if we had had the obigatory freezer things might have been different..

Recipe of the day is:-

Teresa's lemony tart/Tarte au citron :-

Line a large round tin with fresh butter puff pastry and bake in a pre-heated over at 180c for 10 - 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown.

Fill with a lemon curd as follows:

Take 4 lemons and squeeze them into a bowl, add some grated zest then
add 4 tbs of sugar and
3 heaped spoons of butter plus
3 large whisked free range eggs

Ensure that the curd is all thoroughly mixed and place in the microwave for 2 minutes, remove and whisk again, then add for an additional 2 minutes and mix again. If your curd curdles do not worry just get our your electric whisk and whisk through the curdles...

When the curd is thickened place in the cooked tart and bake for an additional 12 minutes or until set.  A little browning on top is okay, but not too much.  When a little cooler swirl some melted dark 70% chocolate into a button shape at the centre of the tart or make make a diagonal ziz zag pattern across the tart.

Serve with creme fraîche or cream (creme fraîche  is good as it cuts through the richness of the lemon tart).  Place a couple of fresh raspberries on the top of the tart and serve with a little splash of raspberry coulis.  Dust the whole affair with icing sugar.   Delicious!

Bye for now T. xx

Day in the life of a Bed and Breakfast and Tea room in Fontevraud l'abbaye,

Day in the life of Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre a Bed and Breakfast and Tea room in Fontevraud l'abbaye, Pays de loire..

Managed to buy an abundance of fresh strawberries at the market in Montsoreau yesterday morning.  Fruit just on the turn, but has made for the most terrific tasting jam! I've put a few pots of it for sale in our shop at 6 euros 80 la piece so hopefully it will sell.  The jars look rather pretty with their rich fruity contents, red and white check tops plus the jars are embossed with berries so all in all they look good I think.  It will also be nice to give the children who are staying here tonight at Chez Teresa.  Booked in by their Aunt, who lives in the village, there are four of them aged all under 10.  They are performing in some sort of playlet,   but as their Aunt doesn't have enough space for them at hers she has booked them in here.  Anyway they will be my guinea pigs in the morning and we will serve home made strawberry jam for their petit dejeuneur.  They have already put in a request for their morning drink in the form of Chocolat Chaud, which always makes me think of the young heroines in the novels of Colette....very French.

After a quiet day yesterday, well we were competing with the Grand Prix, Wimbledon and the World Cup, we have just had a lovely family in from Reading who seemed to enjoy their lunches very much and gave us a very generous tip.  How very kind.

Our Maire came round the other day to inform us that we should not have hanging baskets on our walls as they could pose a health and safety threat to the public.  I can see the headlines now, "Loire Valley death threat posed by hanging basket on the avenue Rochechouart, in Fontevraud...beware passing tourists...."  Thing is I cannot for the life of me see the logic of this and when I cannot see the logic of something I find it difficult to comply.  In the end we left it that we can continue to have our hanging baskets, but we must sign an official document stating that if any accident occurs as a result of them then we must pay for any damages.  Sods law and knowing our luck, despite the fact that we've had hanging baskets on a walls for a number of years now and to no-one's detriment that I am aware, one of our baskets may well fall on some innocent bystander and then we will be for ever in torment about it.  We also have to remove our pot plants from along the wall...but there again our Maire has said that a 20cm trench will be dug along our wall by a member of the commune so we will be able to plant a few shrubs including a couple of our roses, so let's hope that they flourish.  What with the road works of the past two years, fortunately now ended, our poor plants have been through quite a lot of upheaval and not all of them have survived, but we will have to see.   

Making Ratatouille

Hi Teresa here from Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre in the Loire Valley please see below my first piece for my new blog 'Thoughts and Reports' reflecting a day in the life of me Teresa Dolan and my life in a not so typical French village, Fontevraud l'abbaye, running a tea room cum restaurant cum B & B in the West of France.

Chez Teresa/A Taste d'Angleterre in Fontevraud L'abbaye in the Loire Valley as a business comprises of a Salon de The/Petit Restaurant, a boutique crammed to the rafters with French and British collectables and a Bed and Breakfast.  I run the business with my family and we are located at the heart of the village next to the jewel in the crown that is the Abbaye Royale in Fontevraud.   Since moving here in 2006 we have begun to notice some changes in the culture of food and drink in France and this has had a dramatic impact on the way we run our business especially in terms of what is available in the supermarkets and general fruits, within the smaller epiceries and at the wonderful fresh fruit and vegetable markets.  As I am the one who does most of the cooking this is good from my point of view as it means for me that there is more choice available in terms of the availability of ingredients that I can use to create my cakes and savoury dishes.

We live in a village where we still have two boulangeries, a biscuiterie, and some traditional style French restaurants and cafés. In addition and where the crow flies down the road in Montsoreau there are a few more traditional French shops and eateries. Here also a wonderful market is held on a Sunday morning where local produce including local cheeses, honey, fruit, fungi and vegetables reign supreme. In an age where the supermarket and shopping malls are beginning to take over commerce and where we cannot help but note that such huge complexes have the negative effect of sucking the life blood from town centres we count ourselves fortunate indeed to have all these wonderful places on our doorstep. Not that I am against supermarkets per sé.  It would certainly be difficult to run a business in France and fulfil the expectations of our customers without access to what they have to offer. In fact one of our neighbours does live a life sans supermarche, and I admire her principles. For most of us however this is just not a realistic or economical option.

In a similar vein, our local fruit and vegetable market is also beginning to stock produce from other parts of Europe and in particular from Spain. In part this is probably because in France like in the United Kingdom we have discovered, due to the impact of multi media and cookery shows on the television, that it is possible to create dishes and have access to produce that is not in season all year round.  Now that it is summer the brightly coloured array of vegetables on the stalls at the local market  cry out for me to make a Ratatouille. In season it is actually one of the most popular vegetarian dishes that we offer, and one that is recognisable and popular across the globe so whether visitors are from the United Kingdom, United States or even Uruguay our customers know Ratatouille as a delicious dish. Possibly one of the greatest vegetarian dishes of all time, surprisingly it is not actually one of those provincial dishes that has been served in France since time immemorial.

If you thought that Ratatouille was a dish made to feed a hungry brood of farmers and family from times past then think again....The origins of Ratatouille it is true are deeply rooted in the south of France and today Ratatouille is as synonymous with Nice as is the ubiquitous Salade Nicoise. Ratatouille first seems however to have become popular as late as the 1930s when the dish began to feature as a kind of vegetable stew or ragout served in bistros and Auberges. Comprising of onions, garlic, red and green peppers and green courgettes, interesting enough unlike today, it did not feature the aubergine. Whatever its origins Ratatouille has all the elements of a hearty peasant farmers dish that continue in this age of convenience food and the pulling in of the purse strings to be a a relatively fast food dish that is nourishing and inexpensive to make.

Today at the market I can only buy onions, garlic, tomatoes, peppers and courgettes as our key ingredients for the dish today. A trip to the nearby supermarket in Saumur would have presented an aubergine on its shelves and no problem, but I was not tempted to go.... What is interesting on a number of levels is the fact that a regional supermarket is even open on a Sunday and is illustrative of changes in French day to day life. Another change of note is that when we first moved here in 2006, by and large the supermarkets themselves only offered seasonal produce. Now in 2014 it is possible to buy strawberries out of season, and innumerable other items that in the past would simply not have been available including an aubergine. Sans aubergine I nevertheless decided to make this dish and because the original recipe for Ratatouille did not feature this vegetable at all I decided to try making it without this vegetable and to be honest it was just as tasty.

Method behind the making of a good Ratatouille

Of course there are a number of approaches to the making of Ratatouille from the fast to the slow method.....reminding me of the time when I was living in Dublin and my local publican used to ask me if I wanted a traditional slow pulled Guinness and a fast one whilst I waited? Not that I am suggesting that you have two pans of Ratatouille on the go, though you could of course...

UK chef Nigel Slater suggests that we take our time when making Ratatouille advising us to blacken our peppers first and then take each of the ingredients, sauté them in olive oil then for the final stage to bring all the elements together. Having tried this method and the faster approach of throwing everything in the pan – apparently BBC Television chef and cordon bleu restaurant owner Raymond Blanc prefers this approach - and having concluded that life is indeed too short and that the infinitesimal difference between the two methods in terms of taste and compliments that we have received over the years, leads me to conclude that the fast method is delicious and really quite as good. As the word Ratatouille actually comes from the french term "touiller," which means to toss food, I have no qualms in adopting this method, so I am with Raymond on this one....

What we are aiming for in this recipe is for the veggies to be tender, but not sloppy and for the sauce to be rich and flavoursome so please see below an extract from my Chez Teresa Recipe Book which you may like to try.

Courgettes grown in the Loire Valley are particularly fine, and we enjoy using yellow and green courgettes in our cooking as the yellow ones have a delicate flavour, hold their texture well and are attractive to serve.

Ratatouille

2 large aubergines

4 small courgettes

2 red or yellow peppers

4 large ripe tomatoes

5 tbsp olive oil

small bunch basil

1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced

3 large fresh garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

Especially during the summer months when the local produce is at its freshest and best we enjoy the simplicity and yet depth of flavour that this dish brings to the table. It is especially delicious when served with a contrasting accompaniment such as a buckwheat galette. An added bonus is the fact that it really is the easiest of all recipes as you literally chop, chop all your veg and load it into a pan of heated olive oil and stir and simmer until all the vegetables are tender. If you choose to make Ratatouille without aubergine then just double your quantity of courgettes. With an aubergine or without this dish is simply one of the best vegetarian dishes ever created.