French "country" style pork chops

The heating has been switched on both at home and at work. I've got my "Big Coat" and gloves out. The season has turned and Autumn is here. When this happens, I crave comfort food. 

This is a French inspired recipe, using Autumnal porcini mushrooms and courgettes. I used "single clove" garlic, although you do not have to. You could simply use 2-3 cloves of regular garlic.

Because you cook the chops and the sauce in the same frying pan, you save on washing up!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

10g dried porcini

120g button mushroom, sliced

1 onion, finely chopped
1 leek, topped, tailed and cut into half moons

1 "single clove" garlic bulb, peeled and very finely diced

1 courgette, partially peeled, halved and finely sliced

125ml creme fraiche (I used reduced fat, but do not feel obliged!)

3 pork chops

200ml white wine

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp fresh/frozen tarragon leaves, chopped

olive oil

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

You will need a large frying pan with a lid.

Method

1. Soak the porcini in hot water for at least 30 minutes.

2. Drain the porcini, reserving the water, and chop finely.

3. Pour some olive oil into a non-stick pan and heat up. When hot, add the pork chops.

4. Cook the pork chops for 2 minutes on each side, and remove from the heat. 

5. Put the same pan back on the hob, adding a little more olive oil if needed. Reheat and add the onions. Fry the onions for 5 minutes on a medium heat, until beginning  to soften.

6. Add the garlic, leeks, porcini and mushrooms. Mix well.  Put the lid on and cook on a low heat for 8-10 minutes.

7. Add the courgettes, mix well. Cook with the lid on for another 2-3 minutes. 

8. Add the white wine and 3 tablespoons of the porcini water. Cook on a high heat with the lid off until the wine smell has disappeared and the sauce is beginning to thicken.

9. Add the tarragon, Dijon mustard and reduced fat creme fraiche. Mix well. 

10. Once mixed put the pork chops back into the pan. Cover with the sauce. Replace the lid and cook on a low heat for another 10 minutes. 

11. Serve with mashed potatoes (made with milk, butter and freshly ground black pepper) and steamed mange tout.

La French Food Afternoon tea

La French Food is a chance for people with a love of food who produce, make, buy, sell and write about food to get together over an afternoon in Central London to sample the best, most traditional, and also the most innovative French food products.

Because, as we know, the French have great style, that meant being welcomed with a glass of Champagne, served up right next to Valrhona chocolate's presentation. Resist fine chocolate and Champagne? I am a mere mortal. How could I?

Valrhona's chocolates are rightly famous, known as one of the best in the world. But other than delectable high quality chocolates, what is new and innovative? 

The people at Valrhona were keen for me to try their fruit couvertures, as pictured above. They have been experimenting with preserving the very essence of fruit; colour, aroma, flavour in cocoa butter to give a cooking ingredient for baking and desserts. The strawberry is fresh and tastes like a sunny Summer day. The passion fruit is a taste revelation; packing a tangy punch, the vibrancy of the fruit shining through. Almost too good to cook with, these little parcels of fruitness have to be tasted to be believed!

Next I decided to check out the cooking demonstrations, of course!

Chef Neal from Atelier des Chefs was making salads using Entremont's new cheese creams. Their "Creme Terroir" takes classic French cheese such as Munster, Rebluchon and Roquefort and combines them with cream and butter to make a blend highly suitable for making sauces, creams or just for eating with salads. The blending means that when you are making a sauce, you can be sure the sauce won't split and will come out perfectly creamy.

Across from Neal, Chef Fabrizio was cooking up a storm, making that French favourite, Crepes. With a choice of Crepe with Valrhona Caramel cooking chocolate and Fabrizio's own secret recipe Chocolate Ganace or Crepe with Ham and cheese, the sweet crepe was always going to win!

Naturally, an experienced Chef like Fabrizio was going to make a lovely, light pancake. But the caramel chocolate filling was a great surprise, as was the rich ganache. Indulgent and luxurious!

It wouldn't have been right to only try the sweet stuff, so I moved on to Bahier's very traditional meaty Rilletes. They make Pork, Goose, Duck and Chicken varieties. 

Spread on some fresh sourdough baguette slices, their Rilletes were rich and pleasantly unctuous. They reminded me of sunny afternoons spent in the Loire Valley last Summer, where we had these informal and unfussy pates for starters, with glasses of Vouvray. 

The famous Agen prunes and dried fruits of Les Vergers D'Escoute were my next discovery. This family has made great quality dried fruit products for 5 generations. Not only were they large, moist, generous and tasty, but look at the presentation of their produce! A world away from the uninviting packs you find in health food stores, these are inviting and beautiful packages to either treat yourself to or give to your friends as gifts.

My next discovery was one of the quirkiests finds at La French Food: Apis Civi honey. Why quirky? This is isn't honey made in sunny Provence, or on the wineries of Bordeaux or on the banks of the Loire... this is city honey. Made in Paris! I was told that the flower diversity of Paris is so wide, the bees create a honey which is unique. It certainly tasted good and made me think twice about France's stunning and special capital, a city I love. 

It wouldn't be a French afternoon without Macarons! Brioche Pasquier provided these beauties. They are a bakery from the west of France originally founded in 1936 whose bread products have recently been picked up by Ocado in the UK. 

My final discovery was perhaps the most innovative food and drink product I have ever seen: the D-Vine wine system. This is a method of serving wine in perfect condition almost instantly. I was sceptical but had to give it a try.

As a frequent forgetful foodie, I have known the frustration of forgetting to chill white wine before serving, desparately putting the bottle in the freezer and hoping for the best. With the D-Vine system, each little bottle (which has a full glass of wine inside) has a little microchip to tell the machine how to serve the wine in terms of aeration and temperature. Still pining for the Loire Valley after my trip there last Summer, it was obvious what I was going to choose!

  
The machine detected my choice, recognising the need to chill it before pouring. After just under a minute the machine began to pour my wine into my glass.

Amazingly, the wine was perfectly chilled, despite the bottle having been at room temperature only a minute before. The wine itself was a beautiful off-dry Loire, as promised. The next person in the queue wanted a red wine. Somehow the machine served that wine, aerated and at room temperature.

This machine is such a marvel of new technology that even Emmanuel Macron, the French President has a D-Vine machine. I can see how this could be an excellent little gizmo for a small restaurant or bar. I was a bit concerned about the sustainability of the system given that each bottle only holds the capacity of a glass of wine. However, they are fully recyclable, and the makers hope to expand to reuse the bottles, collecting, cleaning and refilling them. If this happens this would be an excellent and environmentally friendly way of enjoying wine, glass by glass.

Snigdha was invited to La French Food by Business France as a guest. She has received no incentive for posting this review.

Merguez and Red Rice salad with poached egg

The longer days are back again. The clocks went back, giving us extra light in the evenings. The temperature is creeping back up. I’ve put away my warmest Winter woollies and I’m thinking about sending all my well-worn coats to the dry cleaners before putting them into temporary retirement. Spring has well and truly sprung and it is glorious.

I’m a “never say never” girl, so I won’t say anything rash like I won’t make another stew, soup or casserole again until October. I’m a capricious creature and like to go where the food mood takes me. 

However, I do feel like right now like ringing the changes. I was thinking about the food and ingredients of the South of France, and it is from Provence that I take my inspiration for this dish.

Camargue red rice is grown in the South of France. It’s a unique ingredient, with nutty flavours and a texture offering considerable bite. A whole grain, it keeps you full for longer and is high in fibre. As a result of having much of the husk left on, it takes much longer to cook than regular white rice. 


Merguez is a southern French sausage, usually made of lamb, although occasionally from beef. It is spicy and herby, as befits a food originating with the Bedouin people. Cumin, fennel, garlic and sumac provide aroma and flavour and either harissa chilli paste or chopped red chilli give some heat. They are usually grilled, but I have fried them here as it was easier to cook them evenly.  

Merguez and Red Rice salad with poached egg

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 Merguez sausages
5 small tomatoes, quartered
8 sugar snap peas, topped, tailed and cut into half
10 French beans, topped, but not tailed and cut into thirds
1 banana/French shallot, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into half moons
60g Camargue Red rice
80-100g pancetta cubes (or bacon equivalent)
Mixed salad leaf, cut into pieces
2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
Olive oil

Poached eggs:
2 eggs, cracked into individual mugs or ramekin dishes
1 teaspoon vinegar (any kind)

Dressing:
1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
½ teaspoon garlic paste
Olive Oil (I used extra virgin, but this isn’t necessary)
White wine vinegar

Method:

1. You will need several saucepans of varying sizes and a couple of non-stick frying pans, unless you have a helper who will wash pans up for you so they can be recycled. 

2. Put the Camargue Red rice in a small saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to the boil and then put on a simmer. You will be doing a lot of the rest of the cooking while the rice cooks, which will take 25 minutes. 

3. Fry the Merguez sausages in olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, until cooked (about 15 minutes). Some paprika may drain out of the sausages, but do not worry about this. If you want to keep the dish lower in calories and fat, you can grill the sausages instead. 

4. Remove the Merguez sausages from the pan onto a plate covered in kitchen paper. When cool enough to handle, cut into small pieces.

5. Dry fry the pancetta or bacon lardons in a non-stick frying pan until cooked. Remove from the pan onto a plate covered in kitchen paper.

6. Put another pan of water on, bring to the boil. Add the French beans and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the sugar snaps. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water to arrest the cooking process. 

7. Mix up the salad dressing by putting the white wine vinegar into a jar or mug, adding the garlic paste and Dijon mustard. Whisk with a fork or put the lid on and shake to mix. Then add the Olive oil and repeat the mixing process. 

8. Put the kettle on with about a mug of water in it. When the Camargue Red rice is cooked (try it to see if it is al dente), drain and rinse with boiling water. 

9. In a mixing bowl, add the sugar snaps, shallots, pancetta, Merguez, and the cooked Camargue Red rice. Pour the dressing on top, and mix all of the ingredients together with a gentle folding motion. Once mixed up, leave to cool down.

10. Put your salad leaf and tomatoes on plates. 

11. Put a small pan of water on to boil with 1 teaspoon of vinegar. Once boiling, start swirling the water vigorously. Whilst the water is circulating, add the eggs. Poach for 4 minutes. 

12. Top the salad leaf and tomatoes with the Camargue Red rice and Merguez mixture. Sprinkle with parsley. Top with an egg each. Enjoy immediately.

Augustine Kitchen's Nicoise Salade

Nicoise salad is a classic southern French dish. The original version has certain rules to it, such as ALL of the ingredients being raw. Yes, even the green beans! 

Franck Raymond of Battersea restaurant Augustine's Kitchen has created his own version, which retains the best elements of the Nicoise tradition (from Nice on the south coast of France), but with a modern and accessible twist. 

Augustine Kitchen is Franck's big move into the London restaurant scene. It celebrates his roots in the south of France on the border with Switzerland in the town of Evian, famed for the mineral water of the same name. The food is honest, prepared with love and care and have a different feel from the Parisian bistro food we are more familiar with in the Uk.

One of my favourite features of the restaurant is the strong sense of family recipes and heritage present. The pictures of family members and their influence on the recipes and menu selections make this restaurant like taking a little step into French territory.

I hope you will give this quintessential salad a go at home. It is easy and quick to make.

Augustine Kitchen's Nicoise Salade

Serves 4

Franck's Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

A pinch of salt
50g Dijon mustard
50ml red wine vinegar
100ml vegetable oil

Method:

In a large bowl make the vinaigrette by whisking together the vinegar and the mustard.

Slowly whisk in the oil in a thin stream to emulsify the mixture.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If you don't use it all in one go, you can put the remaining vinaigrette in a glass container or jar and keep in the fridge for up to a week. 

Franck's Nicoise salade

Ingredients:

100g of French beans, topped
4 quail eggs (boiled and quartered)
12 black olives, pitted
1 can of tuna, fully drained
100g of mixed chopped peppers
4 cherry tomatoes, which you can halve or quarter
8 salted anchovies
a small Cos lettuce


Method: 

Drain the anchovies of oil and pat them dry. 

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer. Add half the beans, cover, and steam until they are tender firm, about 6 minutes. 

Remove from the steamer and let cool on a wire rack covered with a cotton tea towel. Repeat with the remaining beans. 

Transfer one-third of the dressing to a medium sized bowl. 

Toss the beans and the peppers with enough vinaigrette to fully moisten them. Top them with the anchovy fillets. 

Quarter the eggs, and place them, with the tomatoes. 

Break the tuna apart into large pieces. Sprinkle with the olives. 

Drizzle with any remaining vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Tartiflette by Franck Raymond of Augustine Kitchen

January was pretty cold, wet and miserable, wasn't it? I caught some horrible cold, felt ill, and everyone got sick of being rained on. I don't know about you, but the whole experience left me craving hot, rich, comforting food to provide a little internal central heating. 

I don't know what we can expect from February. The weather in the UK is becoming..... more than a little unpredictable. But if we are due for more of the same, then I have a treat for you!

I was delighted to meet Chef Franck Raymond very recently, at his newly opened own restaurant, Augustine Kitchen in Battersea.  Franck is branching out on his own for the first time in London, having run his own restaurant in his French hometown of Evian, called Le Cheval Blanc. Chef Franck has worked for Marco Pierre White at the Oak Room and Titanic as Executive Sous Chef, followed by a position as Head Pastry Chef at Kensington Place. After that, he became the Head Chef at Mon Plaisir in London's Covent Garden and Head Chef at Le Marignac in Geneva, Switzerland (where he achieved the accolade of two Michelin stars). 

Chef Franck Raymond and Augustine Kitchen

Franck's home town of Evian (which is the place of the famous source of the mineral water) is close to the Franco-Swiss border. As a result, the food is influenced by both nation's culinary traditions. Alpine ingredients and cooking techniques are common in this area. 

Many people who have been skiing have discovered the warming, rich joy of Tartiflette. A cheesy, oozy, satisfying baked dish, perfect with a glass of chilled white wine is an excellent restorative after a day out in the cold. I don't ski. I'm far too much of a motor skills moron to master this very physical sport. But Tartiflette is an apres ski ritual I think I can get used to!

So, here is the Tartiflette recipe that Chef Franck was willing to share with me and my readers. I hope you will give it a go. 

Chef Franck and I

However if it all seems like too much hard work, you can always visit Augustine Kitchen and have Chef Franck make it for you. Tartiflette Tuesdays are starting at Augustine Kitchen and you can have CHef Franck serve you a big helping of Tartiflette, accompanied by a green salad and served the house aperitif of sparkling rose, priced at a very reasonable £14.95pp.

Tartiflette recipe by Chef Franck Raymond

You will need 2 frying pans, a skillet, a mixer, a saucepan and a gratin dish.

You will need to use Reblochon cheese for the Tartiflette to be made authentically.

(for 6 people)

Ingredients: 

450 grams of potatoes

160 grams of smoked bacon

200 gr onions

30cl dry white wine

30g butter

1/2 Reblochon

25 cL creme fraiche

75 cL semi-skimmed milk

2g of chicken bouillon

salt and pepper

water

Method:

Remove the rind from the Reblochon.

Peel the potatoes. Cut into large cubes and put them into water before they get dark. Drain and cook in water 15 minutes. 

Peel the onions, chop and sauté in a pan with 15g butter.

Add 30cl white wine and reduce until you have a syrupy juice.

Fry the bacon in a frying pan without fat. Slowly add it to the onions and let it rest. 

In a saucepan pour milk 75 cL and 25 cL of creme fraiche. Add half Reblochon cheese (cut into chunks) and reduce by half. Add a pinch of salt and 2 grams of chicken bouillon.

At the end of cooking, add a pinch of salt to the potatoes. Cook for further 2 minutes and drain. 

In the mixer, pour the sauce and the rest of Reblochon (add a little water). The sauce should be quite syrupy. 

In a skillet, sauté the potatoes. They should be lightly browned. Toss bacon and onions with potatoes. 

Put everything in a baking dish. Pour the Reblochon sauce evenly.

Cook for 10 minutes in an oven at 200 ° C. 

Augustine Kitchen

Opening Hours: 12:00 to 3:00 6:00 to 10:30

020 7978 7085

63 Battersea Bridge Road, Battersea, SW11 3AU

http://www.augustine-kitchen.co.uk/