Month: March 2016

Incredible Narbonne… with sardines on the side

~ WorkFoodHome ~ Leave a comment

IMG_3233

Last year the holiday I have been dreaming about for so many years finally came to be.  We hired a boat and went cruising down the Canal du Midi in the south of France.  From there we went on to experience the picturesque Provence before finally ending our trip on the beautiful Côte d’Azur.  It took careful planning… how to make the most of our limited time and to stay within budget!

One place that I really wanted to include in our schedule was Narbonne.  Rick Stein briefly visited its fresh produce market (one of the largest in southern France), in Rick Stein’s French Odyssey (the tv show that was really the starting point of our aspirations to cruise the canals of southern France) and because it is not a big city it seemed like it would be a great stop to catch our breath before we embarked on our trip to Provence.

Apart from the market we didn’t know much about it, so I must be honest in saying that we had no real expectations; apart from buying some great produce at the market that we could make back in the self-catering apartment we rented!

IMG_3238

We arrived by train and because we only stayed two nights we set off to explore the medieval center of town straightaway.  I was immediately taken with how picturesque it was.  I loved the streetlights in the streets surrounding our apartment and the buildings were so beautiful.  The Canal de la Robine goes through the middle of town and each bridge that crosses the canal was covered in beautiful flower baskets.  I just loved the feel of the Narbonne.  It felt authentically French; it was without pretense, without masses of tourists and without trying to be anything that it was not.

We found our way to the tourist office, which was not far from the Pont des Marchands, or Merchant bridge, which basically is the foundation for a row of houses and shops.  (It actually reminded me of a miniature version of the Ponte Vecchio.)

IMG_1511

Armed with a map in hand, we were amazed at all that Narbonne had to offer.  It might be a small city but it had so many hidden treasures.  It is hard to pick just a few (and we definitely did not get to see all that we would have liked to) but here are our favourites:

Cathedrale de St-Just and St-Pasteur

Building on the cathedral started in 1272.  If you climb the adjacent Donjon Gilles Aycelin you can really marvel at the architectural beauty.

The Roman Horreum

This was a fantastic experience and a must do if you visit Narbonne.  It was a Roman underground warehouse and dates back to the end of the first century BC.  It has been set up with a wonderful display of light and sound… goosebump stuff!

Musee Lapidaire

This is another must do.  Inside the old church of Notre Dame de La Lamourguier about 1 300 blocks of stone from all kinds of Roman buildings are housed.  We paid for our entrance tickets and when the door opened I literally gasped for air – the setting is that beautiful.  (The lady selling the tickets was bursting with pride; the biggest smile on her face!)

IMG_1589

For the culinary part of our visit we spent quality time in Les Halles de Narbonne.  We arrived early morning and drank coffee with the locals at one of the coffee bars inside.  And then we went on the hunt for what we came for… sardines!  Rick Stein made sardines on the barbeque when he was there and although we would not have the luxury of that, we hoped to pick up a few that we could fry with some butter, garlic, lemon and parsley back in our little apartment.  Oh, and we were not disappointed.  Apart from all the wonderful seafood on offer, the market was brimming with everything your heart can desire.  One can easily stay in Narbonne a month and would still not be able to eat your way through the market!

IMG_1521

Our supper that night consisted out of a starter of fried sardines and a main of fresh pasta with clams, tomatoes and parsley, while we sipped wine from the region.

So Monday was a public holiday in South Africa and hubby and I had some gardening to do… more specifically, it was time to harvest our olives!  After such hard labour we sat back with a glass of chilled dry rosé and barbequed a few sardines.  Although this can hardly be called a recipe – because it really just relies on the wonderful flavour of the fish and the smokiness of the barbeque – here is our take on sardines on the barbeque.  We enjoyed it with our fond memories of Narbonne.

Sardines on the barbeque

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

6 sardines, gutted and cleaned

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Juice of half a lemon

Handful of roughly chopped parsley

Coarse sea salt flakes

Method:

  1. Light barbeque and wait for the coals to get hot
  2. Rub the fish with olive oil and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt
  3. Place the fish on the barbeque once the coals are really hot and grill for 6 minutes on each side
  4. Remove from heat, sprinkle with parsley and lemon juice
  5. Serve with lemon wedges and a side salad

IMG_3373

 

Venice; a feast for the senses

~ WorkFoodHome ~ 3 Comments
VIAJE EUROPA 2 160
The Grand Canal at sunset

Venice was nothing like I expected.  Sure, we’ve seen it on tv many times before and we knew it was going to be absolutely stunning, but arriving at Santa Lucia station and walking out onto the Grand Canal rendered me completely immovable, with the exception of my jaw dropping to the floor and my eyes popping out my head.  I was spellbound.  And no matter how hard I try, my words will never be able to do justice to just how beautiful and mesmerizing Venice is.

VIAJE EUROPA 2 136
Our first look down the Grand Canal

When I eventually came out of my daze, hubby and I went off to find the vaporetto (water bus) stop.  It was a bit of a mission to find out which one to take and when it arrived it was packed.  Hubby and I managed to squeeze in quite near to the front but we did not mind one bit as it gave us fantastic photographic opportunities.  Off we went down the Grand Canal, gaping at the splendour of it all.  We became aware of some commotion behind us at some stage; someone shouting really loudly, but nothing could take our attention away from the spectacle that is Venice.  I felt like Angelina Jolie in the The Tourist (albeit a tired, hot and sweaty version… with a heavy suitcase…) but I could imagine myself getting…

Vaporetto’s are really packed
Getting shouted at is worth it!

 

My daydream was rudely interrupted by a tap on the shoulder; rather an elbow in the ribs to be more exact.  The elbow belonged to an elderly lady, red in the face, shouting in my face “Attenzione! Attenzione! Attenzione!” She was clearly the source of the commotion that we’ve been ignoring, and we were actually the cause of it!  She, being a local resident, was not at all impressed by two silly tourists blocking her exit from the water bus!  She was shouting all kinds of, what I decided to take for Italian pleasantries (!) at us, while wiping the sweat of her brow.  We tried to apologize in our best Italian and with one last infuriated look our way she took her leave!  But we were not in the least bit offended.  We were in Venice.

VIAJE EUROPA 2 144
View down the Grand Canal from our vantage point on the vaporetto!
VIAJE EUROPA 2 137
More views from the vaporetto

We went to Venice because it is one of those bucket-list places.  There is something about this city built on top of the water that is just magical.  Its got a charm that is indescribable.  And the feeling that you get from it will never escape you.  Whenever anyone would ever utter the word “Venice” again, you will always yearn to go back to it.

An added bonus was the food we tasted there.  The shops have the most beautiful way of displaying even the simplest things.  We walked past a shop that sold dried pasta; complete with farfalle inspired by the Italian flag!  And restaurants would advertise their seafood in a dazzling display (especially the touristy ones!).  We were lucky to have found some really great little restaurants tucked away in small side streets as we did not stay so close to the tourist centre.  On our first evening we had amazing seafood with pasta.  What still amazes me about pasta in Italy is how simple they make it.  Not smothered in all kinds of thick and creamy sauces like we are typically used to, but rather letting the ingredients shine and the pasta really just becomes a vehicle so mop up all the natural goodness and flavours of the star ingredients.

Look! Italian flag pasta!
Restaurants showing off
Fantastic first night supper

The next day, we decided to just walk the streets without a map.  What an adventure.  It was amazing and we came across little squares and cafés we would have otherwise probably missed.  (We also discovered one or two dead ends!)  Lunch was in some neighbourhood restaurant where no one spoke a word of English and menus were only available in Italian.  It was filled with locals and I would have rather died than to take out my camera and take a photo!  We managed to order fegato alla veneziana (calf’s liver and onions) for hubby and pizza for me.  (Yes, not the quintessential Venetian dish, but I am a bit of a pizza addict and any pizza in Italy must be the real deal, right!)  It was simply delicious.  And we had to finish it off with tiramisu, of course!  There is no photos to show for it, which probably will necessitate that we go back there again one day!

Not that you need any excuse to go back to Venice.  I find it hard to describe the feeling I had when we were there.  I have tried to give a little glimpse of it above and when I read it back it seems so inadequate.  Maybe music can do it justice.

VIAJE EUROPA 2 170
The Rialto bridge at night

This is part of the soundtrack from the movie, The Tourist.  I think they have the music just spot on – every time I listen to it, it takes me back to that magical moment I first laid my eyes on the Grand Canal.  Click here and listen to at least about 45 seconds in… To me that is the music my soul makes when I think of Venice.  It is an incredibly special place and I am so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to see it.  I truly hope I can go back one day.

PS:  And picking photos for this piece was agony!  I wish I could post all 1 032 we took!

VIAJE EUROPA 2 266
Piazza San Marco viewed from the sea

Italian style Bistecca

~ WorkFoodHome ~ Leave a comment
IMG_1684
The beautiful Ponte Vecchio

One of my favourite parts of Florence is Piazza della Signoria.  It is located near the imposing Ponte Vecchio, spanning the Arno River.  It is truly the ‘open air art museum’ so many travel books refer to.  Walking in between the copy of Michelangelo’s David, Perseus with Medusa’s head and the Medici lions, you can’t help but feel like a culture vulture!  And, if that is not enough arts for you, the Uffizi Gallery is just around the corner.

IMG_1700
The Palazzo Vecchio on the Piazza della Signoria

Hubby and I chose the perfect day for an outing to Uffizi: windy, with thunder clouds looming in the sky.  We started out all excited, admiring each piece of art we walked by.  Slowly the admiration turned to awe as we marvelled at the hall upon hall, each filled with exquisite art and sculptures.  But as the hours passed, the wonderment slowly started turning into a feeling of trepidation, especially when we realised that after four hours we probably did not even see half of the things on display yet.  And when we finally arrived at the Uffizi rooftop café and even it was closed, desperation took over and I thought to myself that I might never make it out alive again!

 

Luckily we eventually managed to find our escape and headed towards the Piazza del Duomo.  On the way there the clouds finally gave in and it started to pour down with rain.  After our exhausting day I really started to feel sorry for myself (and my feet in particular), when hubby spotted a little trattoria.  What a lovely place.  The décor was so special; wagon wheels against the walls, filled with wine corks!  The aroma from the kitchen made our mouths water.  So with a lovely glass of Chianti in hand, we studied the menu and finally decided on a wild boar stew (have to try something new every now and again) and a bistecca Fiorentina for supper.  Red wine and red meat, just the thing to comfort you after a long and tiring day!  Hubby had the wild boar and it was truly delicious, with a rich tomato based sauce.  The steak was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much for me to finish but was really cooked to perfection.  (However, not the best thing to have this meal if you still need to walk back to your hotel afterwards!)

Europa 049
The little haven we discovered!

Seeing that this was a particularly trying week for me, what better way to start off the weekend than with the comfort food that includes some good meat and good wine.  So with that said, buon appetito!

Italian style Bistecca 

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 T-bone steaks (about 350g each)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon chopped thyme (fresh)

Salt and pepper to taste

300 ml chicken stock

2 corn on the cob

125g polenta

200g baby spinach

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Method:

  1. Fill a pot with water, enough so that it will cover the corn, and bring to the boil.
  2. Once the water reaches boiling point, add the corn and boil for 10 minutes.
  3. Remove from the water, rub with half the butter and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Place the corn on a griddle pan and char the the corn slightly.
  5. When done, slice off the kernels (holding the corn upright and cutting top to bottom).  Set aside.
  6. Add the chicken stock to a pot and bring to the boil.
  7. Add the polenta to the stock by whisking it in. Cook for 25 minutes, until creamy.
  8. Rub the steaks with the olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper.
  9. Get your griddle pan really hot and fry for 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan and cover the meat with some foil.  Leave the meat to rest for 10 minutes.
  10. Heat a little butter in a pan and add the spinach and corn.  Just warm it through so that the spinach wilts.
  11. When serving, place the polenta on the plate and put the steak on top of the polenta.
  12. Place the spinach and corn on top of the steak.
  13. Drizzle the left-over meat juices over the steak and serve with lemon wedges on the side.

IMG_3350

IMG_0003_2

Passion fruit crème brûlée

~ WorkFoodHome ~ Leave a comment

IMG_3323

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

Last week I was in the fortunate position to be gifted with something a bit less sour! Firstly some eggs from my boss (at work, that is!).  She has her own chickens at home, roaming around her yard, so free-range eggs are always in abundance at her house.  Secondly I received a whole bunch of passion fruit from a friend who has a real enthusiasm for organic and sustainable living and has really green fingers.

Most mornings I have some eggs for breakfast; it’s quick and simple and it keeps me going throughout the day.  But being gifted with these eggs I did not feel it would do them justice to just do a quick scramble.  And the passion fruit really needed to be celebrated.  On the day I took them home I cut one open and ate it with a spoon straight from the shell; it was delicious and sweet and the smell was intoxicating.  It tasted like carefree summer days!

So what to do with these bountiful gifts?  When in doubt, I always turn to my trusted recipe books and as usual they did not let me down.  In Rick Stein’s French Odyssey he has this beautiful recipe for passion fruit crème brûlée with passion fruit jellies.  It sounded lovely.  However, I must be honest and say that I cheated a bit – the jellies were going to take too much time to make on a Sunday morning and in his recipe he rests his cream mixture overnight to really soak up the vanilla flavours.  So I improvised a little bit… and I was still really pleased with the way it came out.

Here’s to the flavours of summer!  (And I am still going to try those jellies sometime!)

Passion fruit crème brûlée

(serves 6)

Ingredients:

1 vanilla pod

600ml double cream

8 egg yolks

100g caster sugar

200ml passion fruit puree

Method:

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 130°
  2. Cut the vanilla pod open lengthwise and scrape out the seeds
  3. Place the cream in a medium pan and add the vanilla seeds and bring slowly to the boil (I put the actual pod in as well to get the maximum flavour out of it)IMG_3330
  4. Once brought up to the boil, remove from the stove and leave to cool (I poured the liquid out into a separate bowl, so that it cools quicker; you can strain it at this point to make sure that no pieces of the vanilla pod is left)
  5. Whisk the egg yolks and 50g sugar until it turns thick and pale
  6. Slowly drizzle the cream into the egg mixture, whisking continuously (be sure that your cream mixture has cooled down enough, else you will have scrambled eggs!)
  7. Add the passion fruit puree to the mixture and mix well through
  8. Place 6 ramekins inside a deep roasting tray
  9. Pour the brûlée mixture in a jug from which you can easy pour it into the ramekins, filling it right to the top (I was a bit over zealous with the mixing in point 7 and this made my mixture a bit foamy, so although I filled them to the top, during the baking process they did flatten a bit – be warned!)
  10. Transfer the tray to the oven and then pour enough boiling water in the tray to come half way up the sides of the ramekinsIMG_3341
  11. Bake the brûlées for 50 minutes (they should have a slight wobble when you take them out)
  12. Remove the ramekins from the tray and place them in the fridge to cool
  13. Once you are ready to serve, sprinkle the remainder of the sugar evenly over the top of each brûlée
  14. Either put them under a grill for 1 to 2 minutes until the sugar has melted and go a golden brown or you can use a blow torch (I thought this was the perfect excuse to finally get a cheffy gadget!)IMG_3346