Autumn weather, duck and fungi

 

 

The supermarket had prepacked duck joints this week for just over €5/£4 a pack.  This is the recipe I made up to cook them.

 

Preheat oven to 220°C – fan oven temperature.

Cut excess pieces of fat from the duck pieces and render down in small frying pan.

Place thick slices from a large onion in the base of a roasting tin.  Rest the duck pieces on the onions so they don’t touch the bottom of the tin.

Pour the rendered down duck fat  over the duck pieces and squeeze the juice of an orange over them too.  Tuck sprigs of thyme between the duck pieces and then season with salt and pepper.  Drape the duck with streaky bacon.

Into the roasting pan pour boiling water to depth of about 1½”/3.75cm.

Cover with lid or foil and cook in oven for 40 minutes.  Reduce heat to 160°C and continue to cook for a further 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Remove lid or foil and the bacon from top of the duck pieces and cook for a further 40 minutes to crisp the skin.

Remove duck pieces, keep warm while resting them for ten minutes and make the sauce.  Discard onions and reduce pan juices.  Then add a tablespoon or two of redcurrant jelly, some freshly squeezed orange juice and, optionally, a pinch of Chinese five spice powder.  I had some reduced rabbit stock from the pies I made so added some of that too.  It was a scrummy sauce.

 

I like to serve the meat off the bone so I stripped off the crispy skin, cut it into strips and ate that - cook's perks - then plated up the about a quarter of the meat with sauce, buttery mashed potato, and two home grown vegetables; courgettes in garlic butter and roasted pumpkin.  

I'm not sure yet what I shall do with the other three meals worth of duck, but I shall do some recipe research and meantime fridge/freeze the meat.

There were long periods of sunny weather inbetween the showers today.  I sat in the garden with a coffee in 23°C sunshine and then went walking with a camera.  Each day brings more and more fungi in the lane.  The first photo is of fungi growing on the old oak beams which form the edge of some of my raised veggie beds.

 

These two photos show two fungi in a neighbour's field.  They are about 8"/20cm across and about 10"/25cm high.  I took off one of my wellie shoes and balanced on one leg to give an example of scale.

 

Here are some of my chickens enjoying the warm weather in the duck field along the lane and some of my ducks enjoying the weather once the shower started about three minutes later.

 

Why are there catkins on the hazel on 3 November?  Is this another sign of global warming?

 

Back home because of the rain after visiting my neighbour who's still on bedrest with her broken leg.  Purrdy was curled up in the corner of the settee, Claude was very much awake and Daisy was woken by the camera beeping - I must put it on mute.

At the moment, one of the small roundabouts in St Nicolas du Pélem is surrounded by very large pumpkins and chrysanthemums.  The huge pumpkins make mine look like oranges! The cemetary is behind the wall in the left background and that will be full of chrysanthemums too, as they are the flowers that the French leave on the graves on All Saints Day, 1 November.  Prior to that date the supermarkets and florists are full of chrysanthemums which is a flower associated with death and is never used as a gift plant here.  Strangely, when my father died in England in 1981, the wreath I ordered for him was of deep raspberry coloured chrysanthemums.

 

 

Three things I like:

 

1.   Eating comforting cold weather foods now that Autumn is well established.

2.   My neighbour's grandchildren visiting me - well my rabbits really - but me too.

3.   Having an extra day of playing Short Mat Bowls this week. 

Kittens, fungi, diminutive horses and rabbit pie

I can't believe it's the last day of October - where has this month gone?

Daisy and Claude, the kittens have been outside for the first time.  It was such a sunny and warm afternoon  yesterday after the damp, grey days we've had recently so Andrea and I sat on the terrace catching the rays and watching their antics.  They can't yet manage the cat flap and because it is fitted into a 2ft/60cm thick wall I can't actually push them through from the inside, only from the outside.  In the end I propped the cat flap open with a broom and then later with wood stacked to brace it so they could come and go as they wish.

 

 

It's tiring though having new experiences in the fresh air and after an hour or so of running around and pouncing on leaves and each other they finally came back in and collapsed in a tangle of limbs.

 

 

I went for a bit of a walk with a friend on Monday afternoon and started taking photos of fungi growing in the lane. 

 

 

I think the last one is a shaggy parasol and edible but, with no-one to verify it, I left it growing on the verge.

 

Coming home from taking Andrea to Guingamp station at the beginning of the afternoon I passed, and then went back to take photos of, a little horse event in Kerien.

 

The little carts were attached to diminutive horses, I don't know the breed, and as I was taking photos a coach filled with small children arrived and after a little song the horses pulled the carts round for them to have a ride.

 

 

 I bought a quantity of rabbit meat on Saturday and having cooked it up like a casserole I then squeezed half a fresh orange into it and added mushrooms cooked in garlic butter and some finely chopped sage and parsley before dividing it between two small casserole dishes and topping them with puff pastry.

 

 

I know I shouldn't say it myself, but I had half of one for supper this evening and it was gorgeous - I don't think I've had rabbit for years and I really enjoyed it.  There was a little bit of puff pastry left over so I filled it with raspberry jam and had a little tart for pudding with cream poured over - mmm - scrumptious!

 

Three things I like:

 

1.   My daughter called me this evening to say she'd got the job she was interviewed for yesterday - well done, darling!

2.   One of my young Light Sussex hens has started laying eggs - I didn't think they would start laying until the Spring.

3.   We just managed, by the skin of our teeth, to get to the station in time for Andrea's train, at least she wasn't on the platform when the train went out so I guess she got on

Last day of European Summer Time

I woke up at 10.00hrs today - very late - having had a very disturbed sleep last night.  I shall need the extra hour during tonight gained as the hour goes back and we say goodbye to European Summer Time for six months.  Though I hate the thought of going into Winter and the colder, wetter weather it will be good to get lighter mornings.

When I went up to the field to feed and let out the animals there was a bitter wind and I’m afraid it was so biting that in spite of my long sleeved fleecy sweater, padded gilet and scarf, I drove the short distance then and this evening.  Snow photos were being shown on BBC Breakfast of places in the UK – I do hope it doesn’t come here yet. 

I had to drive to see a friend before lunch and carried on to do some shopping near Loudeac.  I always enjoy shopping in a different and larger supermarket.  The choice of meat, fish and veggies was so huge and I came away with more than enough food for the week.  They only had live crabs for sale but, when I enquired, the young and friendly fishmonger asked me to give him twenty minutes and he cooked my lovely brown crab for me while I did the rest of my shopping.

 

When I eat him tomorrow, the first third of the crab meat which I extract will be mixed with Hellman's mayo and a chilli paste and eaten with the aid of butter and a fresh baguette - I am drooling just thinking of it.

The kittens have been very active today, but finally it was enough for them and they settled down to relax and eventually sleep.

 

 

My legs are covered in tiny puncture marks and needle diameter scabs where they keep climbing up to reach my lap.  I love having these little cats and even Purrdy seems to be marginally more accepting of them than she was at first.  They sometimes eat from the same plate at the same time now.

 

Daisy is definitely the braver of the two, although Claude is not nearly as wimpish as he was when he first arrived.

 

Three things I like:

 

1.   Some good friends have just announced that they are expecting their second child.

2.   Purrdy, Daisy and Claude all ate from the same plate this morning at the same time.

3.   Finally getting my new 'phones reconnected after the storm took out the old ones.

Happily back home again

It's been a while since my last post, as I've been visiting both Cornwall and Charente Maritime and when I came home my 'phones and internet had been taken out by a thunderstorm. 

 

I spent a wet week in England seeing the dentist, chiropodist and celebrating my daughter, Libby's 25th birthday.  Four of us, including my little grandson, Charlie, went to a The Cornwall, a spa hotel for a swim, sauna and Sunday lunch and then later in the week we all had fish and chips after ten pin bowling, where I failed miserably to get a decent score but was only surpassed in that by my son, Matthew, who played seriously badly!  Libby's partner, bowled like a professional and put us all to shame.

 

I did loads of shopping and eating out, as usual when I am back in Cornwall, and visited friends I hadn't seen since my last visit.  I arrived back home late one evening and after unloading the car the following morning I repacked my bags and set off for a visit with English friends in Charente Maritime who were staying in their holiday home for a week or so.  I really enjoyed seeing them again and the meals and time we had with old and new friends down there.  It was a long journey there and longer back as I decided not to take the autoroute, but worth it.

There were two donkeys in St Georges de Longuepierre.  They are a special breed and each year villages in the area receive two of them to look after in order to preserve the species.  They seen all out of proportion, were friendly and I loved them.

 

 

Les and Roy have a converted cowshed in the village and it's perfect for a holiday home.

 

 

One of their friends in the village keeps bees and I wandered down to take photos of the hives before going to buy two lots of honey, one from Spring and one from Summer of this year.

 

 

 



The weather was lovely on the day I arrived, but deteriorated and shower dodging became the order of the days.  However, when the sun was out it was lovely and I took the opportunity of wandering around the village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everywhere there are roof pantiles, strange after the slate used up in Brittany, and they are also on the top of walls, stacked waiting to be used and even on the church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the little south facing courtyard, in the early morning, outside the converted cowshed, perfect for sunny lunches when the sun has moved round, and very little maintenance necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a day when they collected wood with friends.  First of all a couple of normal loads of two metre logs and then a couple of loads of fagots, which are the long pieces which are machine trimmed from the sides of trunks when they are turned into straight sided lengths.  These only cost an incredible €9 per cubic metre which is wonderful value for hardwood.

 

 

This is the old lavoir - washhouse - in the village - most French villages have these old communal washing places, and there were berries and fuschia flowers in gardens in Rue des Roses.

 

 

I picked these mushrooms, hoping that someone would identify them for me as edible, but no-one wanted to take the chance!  They were in the garden where we were allowed to gather fallen walnuts.

 

 

Now I'm back home, I have been offered the possibility of having two kittens, who look remarkably like Daisy and Maisie did when I first had them.  This was the photo I was sent which persuaded me that I couldn't say no to them - could you?

 

 

I agreed yesterday morning, on the proviso that if Purrdy doesn't get on with them after a good trial then they would be returned. This is all through a third party and it now turns out that one kitten has been rehomed since yesterday evening, so I have chosen the grey kitten in this photo to join the white one here in St André.  I shall call the grey kitten Grace if it's a girl and Claude if it's a boy.  The white one will be Daisy, after my last white cat, as I know shall only forget her  name otherwise and call her Daisy in senior moments. 

 

 

My oldest son installed a solid state drive into my laptop when I was in Cornwall.  It has improved the speed so much - brilliant!  I also have a new printer which my son, a computer genius, has just helped me install via logmein, so I can have hard copies of stuff again.  Thank you, Matthew.

My Breton neighbours were away for a couple of weeks before me. They were packing in loads of visits to friends and family. I was pleased to find they had arrived back in the village yesterday, but when I went round to see them Paulette was in a wheelchair. In the first few days of the holiday she had skidded on wet grass and fell with her leg under her and has broken both sides of her lower leg. Two metal plates were fitted during an operation and a plaster cast applied. She can’t weight bear for six weeks from the operation  - still another three weeks to go.  They came over for lunch today. Her husband has been cooking for them both since the accident and I thought he might need a break. I had supper there on Thursday night and he had made a very nice riz au lait - rice pudding - with caramel drizzled on the top, but he says he won't be cooking any more once his wife is fit again!  

They returned from their holiday to find their salad beds devastated by slugs and snails so put down some of my little blue slug pellets to try and deter them. There was a mushroom growing on their lawn which Christian gave to me and he assured me that it was safe to eat. I had it with an entrecote steak and survived.

 

Unfortunately I had the tungsten light setting on the camera, so it has a blue cast as the photo was taken outside.

My salad stuff is in the polytunnel and I seem to have been lucky with only one slug attack on very tiny seedlings early in the season.  A few weeks ago I visited a garden centre and bought twenty-four winter lettuce plants which I planted out in the tunnel where the tomatoes used to be. I’ve still got salad leaves, sage, parsley, aubergines, peppers, courgettes and cucumbers in the tunnel and my butternut squash are harvested and hardening off in there along with the picked ripening tomatoes and onions that didn’t have long enough stems to string up. 
 

My peppers are finally turning red and I picked three off the plants to see if they'd continue to redden in the kitchen a few weeks ago, but they are now red in the polytunnel, it just took longer than I thought it would.

Three things I like: 

1.  The thought of two new kittens here by the end of the afternoon.
2.  Being back home again - it's always lovely to walk back into my own house even though I enjoyed my trip away.
3.  Scones, which I baked this morning, with Cornish clotted cream and cherry conserve.