Who would be crazy enough to invite a chef for dinner?

Recenlty, the Alliance Francaise has been providing most of our social events. A couple weeks ago, they organised a party to celebrate the yearly arrival of the Beaujolais Nouveau, a French tradition marking the first bottled wine of the year. The wine is not especially great but it is usually a good occasion to get a little bit tipsy. On that occasion, we hung out with a group from Chris's French class and had a good time so we thought we would keep riding this wave of "outside worldness" and organised a dinner at home the following week.

Friday came quickly enough but we were well organised. We had planned a menu, had all the ingredients and got to work a little bit after lunch as to avoid any flustered panic later. It is only when the meat for the "Daube Nicoise" (a meat and red wine stew) persisted in remaining hard and chewy after 2 1/2 hours of simmering that I realised how dumb and illogical it is to invite a chef for dinner...

Yes, people who learn French can also have a life outside of the Alliance Francaise and as it happens, one of our guests is a talented (and remarkably thin) chef from Serbia. Luckily, the other guests distinguish themselves in other fields but still, the pressure to perform was high and that, for a soup chef can lead to all sorts of overwhelming feelings. Nevertheless, we kept our cool and eventually, after many hours of simmering in a bath of red wine, the meat did soften up and the Daube came out quite nicely. We served it with some fresh pasta and green beans. Although not very high on presentation, this dish was convivial, plentiful and just what you need on a cold winter night (it's getting really cold here).

Of course, we followed that by a delicious and very popular cheese platter but the "coup de Grace" came with dessert. Following yet another one of Rosa's recipes, although with some variations, I had prepared a "Pear tart with hazelnut and honey". It was really delicious and perfect for a cold night. We served it with a little bit of cream on the side and it wasn't long until everyone was fighting over the last crumbs in the dish. We finished the meal with some coffee and the nougat Magdalena, the chef, had brought over from her own home cooking experiments.

In conclusion, Do not be detered by the foolishness of inviting a chef to taste your cooking. Although intimidating, many good things come out of it such as :

- the home-made goodie they will bring over, in this case Nougat,

- the incomparable feeling of having a chef ask you for a recipe,

- no one else does it and so you will seem not only brave but also really nice,

- and of course, they might return the favour!

Daube Nicoise

(serves 8)

1.5 kg of beef for stews, cut into 3cm chunks

3 tbsp olive oil

2 or 3 yellow onions, chopped coarsely

3 or 4 tomatoes, chopped finely

4 or 5 carrots, sliced coarsely

3 garlic cloves, sliced finely

the zest from one orange

dried herbs (laurel, thyme, rosemary)

2 cloves

some salt & pepper

50 cl. of red wine

300 gr. mushrooms, sliced of quartered

In a large saucepan, heat the oil and brown the beef on all sides in batches. Remove from the pan.

Add the onion and tomatoes and cook until onion softens. Add carrots, garlic, orange zest, the dried herbs, the cloves, some salt and pepper to taste. Add the wine and if necessary a little bit of water to cover. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 2 to 3 hours or until meat has softened. Stir from time to time. Add the mushrooms about half-way through the cooking.

Serve with some fresh pasta, or gnocchi and some greens on the side. This recipe is even better reheated the next day so make sure you make enough for some leftovers!

"Food Week"

We had some visitors a couple of weeks ago. Jacinta, Chris' older sister, arrived in early November, followed closely by her boyfriend Adam and his mother Margaret. After spending the last 6 months galivanting around South-America, they had just spent a couple of weeks driving around Spain with Margaret and came to Nice for a short stop before heading to Africa for more galivanting. Yeah, life can be tough...

In any case, they thought that they had had it pretty good in Spain with Jamon hanging everywhere, tapas at any time of the day or night, mojitos galore and so on and so forth but that was all before they came to Nice and we had our little Food Fest. That week was an all-round display of skill, flair and craftiness and nobody was left out!

Throughout the week, we went to a café called "le pain a table" in the old town which I have grown to enjoy very much for its spacious light-filled ambiance, the food, which is simple but always nice and fresh, and the pleasant service. We started by going there for morning coffee because they have a great selection of tarts and patisseries with a special mention for the lemon tart and a little chocolate and crisp concoction that was delicious. Invariably, coffee would extend into lunch territory. I have trouble getting past their Salade de Chevre Chaud served with little mounds of creamy goat cheese on crispy toast with a drizzle of thickened balsamic vinegar and a lovely green salad with apple, raisin and walnut.

We also did a lot of home cooking and tried something totally different each night. We had rabbit in mustard sauce prepared mostly by Adam. I can still taste the lovely mustard and cloves sauce.

Another night, we had honey glazed duck breasts with roasted figs, one of Rosa's recipes which I have seen being cooked several times in her class and it is splendid! it was the real winner of the week and was truly sensational. The duck breasts are slowly cooked on a fry-pan and then glazed with a honey and balsamic vinegar mixture + a secret ingredient which we hesitated about but were glad we got in the end. If anyone knows what else to do with green anis seed powder, let them be heard. We attempted to serve those with panisses, the local french frie made with chickpea flour but they were a total disaster (and I mean that) so Adam came to the rescue with some well... french fries.

We also had a raclette which tends to invariably have a good effect on people. It's fun, it's easy and how can you possibly go wrong with stinky melted cheese on potatoes. It's awesome and that's a fact.

Finally, we had a vegetarian delight with a lovely dish of fresh pasta with a wild mushroom sauce. Very delicious and a nice light touch after the rabbit, duck and raclette.

As for dessert, I'm glad you asked, because it wasn't so bad either. We had the chocolate tart mentioned in one of the posts below as well as a delicious Apple and Almond tart, also from Rosa's recipe collection. Both were complete successes.

And in case that wasn't enough, we topped it off with an outing to what has to be one of the best restaurants in Nice. It is called the "Bistro d'Antoine" and should be overseen under no circumstance. I could go one for a while but I think I just want to go back. The food is fantastic, the decor is lovely and the service impeccable. To make it even more impossible to resist, it is serioulsy well priced for the quality you are getting. Let's just say we can't wait for our next batch of visitors so we can go back as quickly as possible!

And thus ends "food week" which led me directly into "soup month" but it was worth it, every single juicy bite of it!

Dark & Rich, as a man should be...

Obviously, the opposite has its benefits too but not in this case.

To celebrate our first entry, I propose that we break all the rules of tradition and go straight to dessert, of the dark and rich variety. I would like to share a recipe for a (dark & rich) chocolate tart which was tried and tested during what I now like to refer to as "Food week" or the time when Jacinta, Adam and Margaret were visiting Nice. More on that later but I'll say one thing : it was epic! (it also explains my current soup phase).

Anyway, the recipe below is a combination of two recipes. The pastry, which is deliciously light and just melts in your mouth, is borrowed from Rosa J., the cooking teacher I currently work for. This pastry is a little bit special because she uses olive oil in combination with some butter and because of that, it cooks quickly, reaching a lovely golden color, while maintaining its shape very well. It works wonderfully for a lemon tart as well which is how Rosa often uses it.

The filling, which is responsible for the title of the tart, comes from a Women Weekly recipe online. It uses cream and dark chocolate in equal proportions. It is delicous and sets very well once in the fridge. It probably helps to take it out of the fridge a little before serving, maybe half an hour to let the chocolate soften nicely. The filling is as easy to make as it is delicious so in my world, that makes it worth the effort. And since it is quite rich, your chocolate tart will probably last at least a few days, delighting you for many morning coffees!

Give it a go and let us know what you think ...

Dark & Rich Chocolate Tart

(serves 8)

• For the pastry :

60 g butter, at room temperature

30 g icing sugar

15 g ground almonds

1/4 tsp sea salt

120 g plain flour

1 egg yolk

50 ml olive oil ( 3 1/2 tbsp)

• For the filling :

300 ml creme fraiche

300 g dark chocolate, finely chopped

4 egg yolks

(the pastry preparation is based on Rosa’s recipe for “Menton lemon tart with olive oil”.)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, icing sugar, powdered almonds, salt and 2 tbsp of the flour using a pastry scraper or a food processor. When the mixture is well combined, add the remaining flour, egg yolk and olive oil. Mix again until it forms a smooth ball (this happens quite quickly in a food processor).

With your fingers, press this dough, as evenly possible, into a tart tin with a removable base (it doesn't hurt to butter the edges a little bit). Press the dough above the sides of the tin and cut off the excess with one swipe of the rolling pin across the top to give your pastry a neat edge.

Prick the pastry all over with a fork and bake in a 200 C. oven until it is lightly browned all over, about 8 minutes. Set aside. There is no need to weigh it down to bake it.

For the filling, heat the cream in a saucepan until it starts to boil. Add the chocolate and stir until well combined. Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and place in the refrigerator until set.

Take out of the refrigerator about 1/2 hour before serving. Enjoy with a dollop of cream or ice cream.

Enjoy it, we did!

Welcome to the Soup Chef's kitchen!

As the journey of the intrepid Chlaure comes to an interlude, I have been eager to pursue the adventure into a different territory. One that presents very few limits and which requires curiosity, imagination and dedication. This universe I have been exploring lately is, as you might have guessed, the one of Food. A topic that has always been dear to me, in which I take immense pleasure and, although the delight has often come from eating rather than preparing it, is opening up a brand new ground for experimentation.

As some of you might know, I tend to associate situations with particular Alter-Egos of my own creation. You might have come across "Dirty Mad" somewhere along the border between New South Wales and Victoria, "Euro Mad" was it's Scandinavian counterpart, all aviators and hiking boots, while "Chlaure the Explorer" took us half-way around the world.

Therefore, and with no further due, let me introduce you to the "Soup Chef". It is not a Chef, not even a Sous-Chef. A Soup Chef is below that. It is someone who lacks confidence and experience, who is eager but not especially talented and who can learn through small successes and a fair share of disasters.

The Soup Chef will be our host, sharing recipes and experiences in the kitchen. Feel free to contribute in any way. This is about sharing tips and tricks, experimenting and, obviously, the main goal is to eat as much great food as possible !

Tastefully yours,

The Soup Chef