Samedi - Une journee francaise

Everyone has their food foibles.  For some, it's midnight KFC, for others its chicken fried rice and chips (I'm looking at you, Joe).  For me, its French.  I'm a huge francophile - I love the cities, the countryside, the people (even the grumpy ones), and most of all I love the food.  Joe and I have been lucky enough to go France roughly once a year since we've been together - benefiting from some very hospitable friends and family around France. 

So this weekend, I went off on one of my food jollies and decided we were having a whole day of French food (bad form, it was Paddy's day and Joe and I were supporting Wales and Scotland/Ireland in the rugby respectively - woops).  Cue an overindulgent spending spree and some serious treats.

First up, a little amuse bouche of anchois marines (aka Waitrose anchovies, yum) and some bieres de France - well we were watching the rugby after all.  We also indulged in some rather tasty extra virgin olive oil (from Andalucia - apologies!) which went rather well with some fresh baguette.

Anchois

Extra virgin olive oil and baguette

After a petit break, it was on to the entre: fois gras on a light salad with toasted baguette.  I know not everyone is up for the fois gras thing, but as with everything, some is well produced, and some is not.  It's a personal choice, and not one I indulge in very often (it's seriously naughty!), but believe me it was worth it!

So if you thought the starter was rich, wait for the plat du jour!  Having deliberated for some time over what I wanted to make, I ended up falling for a yummy cassoulet (with a twist!).  A proper cassoulet takes at least two days to cook, including confiting the duck, soaking the beans and letting the dish rest.  If I was really keen, I would go through all of that, but a) didn't leave myself the time and b) pah.  For this, I adapted a recipe from Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cook book (if you haven't read Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, go and buy it now).

My cassoulet is made with duck legs, Toulouse sausage, pancetta and some vegetables thrown in, which I think are needed to make up for the loss of flavour from not confiting the duck, and to make the whole thing a little lighter.  The last cassoulet I had in France had the added bonus (ahem!) of tripe which also didn't make it in to mine.  Maybe next time....... 

Anyways, it might not have been totally traditional, but it tasted absolutely amazing after three hours in the oven and I will definitely be doing this version again.

The cassoulet (with what looks like a dinosaur duck leg!)

And a petit tribute to Anna Duffy who persuaded me to try making some green beans, which I usually hate.  This was an amalgamation of an Anthony Bourdain and a Jamie Oliver recipe.

And to round the meal off, we also indulged in some particularly filthy French cheeses - the names of which I have forgotten - but which were so ripe I'm sure they would have walked off the table had we turned our backs!

Mmmm......fromage

Plus fromage

Thursday - Fat club and baked potatoes

Joe has stepped up his marathon training since the start of the year, and has decided the key to doing a good time is working on his "core strength".  So on Thursday this week he dragged me along to a circuits class.  I'm not sure I've ever done one before, and I'm hoping the memory of the horror of this one will have eased by the time it comes around next week again!  Shuttle runs, sit ups, press ups, weights, step ups........I was definitely using muscles I didn't know I had! 

On the plus side, we returned home to baked potatoes in the oven, which by that time were perfectly cooked!  I do think I make a pretty awesome baked potato - crispy skin and fluffy inside.  Joe had his with the classic butter and cheese, while I went for prawns and salad.  Really yummy!

Baked potato with butter and cheese

Baked potato with prawns and salad

Tuesday Pasta (Jo Girl)

So it was another day in Manchester for me on Tuesday (my last until next Wednesday, phew!).  Due to the bad weather, there were some delays with the trains, and I got home just after 9pm.  Luckily for me, Joe was at home, firing up the stove and putting together some lovely pasta - definitely one of his best efforts.  Really yummy, sweet and sour tomato sauce with vegetables and perfectly al dente pasta.  I don't eat much pasta normally, but every now and again it is the perfect supper. 

Pasta with veggies and a tomato sauce

And Joe's plate - topped with a cheeky few bits of cheese!

Saturday Lunch at Dock Street Market - Review

Before moving to rural Roundhay, Joe and I lived in the Quays building in the centre of town, and the area around Lower Briggate, the Calls and Brewery Wharf were our local patch.  There are lots of good bars and places to eat in the area, but one of my favourite selling points was Simpsons, a local shop selling fun gourmet treats and booze.  Roll on two years, and Simpsons has gone, a victim of these hard times.  In its place is the Dock Street Market, a relaxed cafe/bar selling food and drink in a chilled out setting.

We ventured there for lunch on Saturday to give its food a whirl, spurred on by a sneaky Groupon voucher purchase a few months ago.

The Groupon deal was for a meat and treats platter, served with a couple of glasses of wine and some coffees.  The platter means you can try a couple of the sharing dishes on the menu, including the breads with oil and balsamic, cheese, meats and chutneys, and humous, babaganoush, slow roasted tomatoes and olives.  It was a good tasting plate, and I was a particular fan of the babaganoush and humous, both of which were rich with garlic and lemon.  The oil was a Yorkshire oil rather than olive, and a little tasteless, but that was a very small part of the overall meal.    The wines were nice, as were the double espressos so it was a good lunch all in.

Dock Street Market also sell a selection of sandwiches, salads and other deli treats, including a very delicious looking range of cakes.  They also have a bread counter for fresh sourdoughs and an interesting selection of draught beers.  I'll definitely head back for a few afternoon drinks at some point and to sample some more of the menu and would recommend others do the same.

The Dock Street Market menu

Our platter - breads, meats, cheese, chutneys, olives, tomatoes, humous and babaganoush.  Good stuff.

The slow roasted tomatoes, which had a deep, rich flavour

Babaganoush.  It turns out Joe is not a fan of aubergines, whereas I am...how will we ever get over this?!

Humous

The chutneys, including one which tasted just like mince pies

Me enjoying my wine and my papers - a perfect Saturday!

Joe really enjoying his wine - a good noseful there!

The double espresso - a much needed, very tasty,  caffeine kick

After this, we headed straight for Cornucopia, a food festival at the Corn Exchange, more of which on Sunday's post.....

And this is what is on offer at the Dock Street Market....

Wednesday - Jo finished work at 9.30pm!

So it was a very quick dinner made by me - chicken, broccoli, chilli and mushrooms on toast with pesto and cheese on top!! Sounds a bit pants but quick and pretty tasty (this is a dull post but it is 10.30pm and time to get ready for bed! - it has been a lonnnnng day!)

Tuesday - Little post exercise snacks (well almost)

Ok, well maybe not quite a snack for me...I left work a little later than I had hoped so I went for a quick (ish) 10k home (52 mins which was more of a struggle that I was hoping for!) with a smoothie when I got in. I put milk, chocolate protein, a few strawberries, some oats and whizzed them up until it looked like this;

It tasted better than it looked

Even though this was more than it enough, it didn't feel like I was eating a proper meal so I also had this about half an hour after.....fatty Joe!!

Cheese and ham toastie with salad

Jo was much more refined in her choice and put together a lovely looking bloody mary prawn salad (without the vodka) with a brown pitta - I wasn't a bit jealous!