5 more!!

Omelette Soufflée et piperade (Soufflé omelette with a basque pepper relish) – 23/02/14

This was an impressive looking breakfast and had a light foamy texture but it was quite bland and very eggy, it nailed the soufflé component but the omelette part was lacking. When I make this dish again in the future I would season the eggs, add cheese and herbs much like an omelette to give this dish flavour. The relish was nice and complemented the egg but nothing to rave about.

Nids de tartiflette (Cheese and potato nests) – 25/02/14

This recipe was in the ‘snack’ section of the cookbook but I cooked it for dinner with steak and veggies as it acted like a potato rosti. It was beautifully rich and was layered with many flavours; smokiness from the bacon, strong goat flavour from the cheese and those extra flavour boosters like the thyme and bay leaves to flavour the sautéed sweet onion. There was also texture contrast between the softness from the shredded potato, crunch from the top of the nests and smoothness from the heavy sauce created by the goats cheese melted in the juices from the fried bacon and onion. A tremendous take on a potato rosti.

Endives au jambon (chicory with ham) – 02/03/14

Mum made marinated lemon and garlic chicken breast for dinner so I contributed with this creamy vegetable delight. I have never had chicory before but have heard that its rather bitter luckily in this dish I hugged it in a layer of smoked leg ham and bathed it in a flavoursome silky béchamel sauce which cut through its bitterness. The chicory itself was tender and juicy which along with the ham and sensational sauce made for a gorgeous side dish, which would be perfect with a Sunday roast.

Crêpes avec une sauce Suzette caramelisée (Pancakes with a caramel Suzette sauce) – 04/03/14

After dinner on shrove Tuesday I did the traditional thing and decided to make pancakes but instead I took it that step further and made crêpe suzette, my grandfathers favourite dessert. I have never made crêpes before but these were thin and light so I think I did reasonably well. The sauce had a slight twist as I caramelised it in the pan before pouring it generously over the crêpes, another outstanding dish.

Canard à l’Orangina (Duck with fizzy orange) – 09/03/14

On Saturday mum and I went to the Boxhill market to get a couple ingredients for my project and one of those were these plump duck legs. The orange flavour from the marinade leached in the skin skin which was exceptionally intense along with the sweet sauce which just made this dish outstanding. It was sweet and zesty, the only negative is that one duck leg was not enough!!