Wednesdays in France

Arles - Provence

Arles to the west of Provence
Beside the Rhone
as it makes its way to the sea
Van Gogh and the yellow house
Gauguin stayed with Vincent
to paint together

Pont Vieux - Beziers

Wednesdays in France

Beziers in the Languedoc

Southern France

Not as popular as Provence

It hides its treasures

for you to find.

A weekend of Indulgence

Usually its all about what Sue cooks but this weekend it was her $% birthday starting with champagne Friday. We were invited to have Pizza with close friends but of course we took our champagne - well bubbles or sparkling since the French banned us using their regional titles.
Did you know that these days, Australia do not have Burgundy, Chablis, Hermitage wines any longer. Not a bad thing really as we have some great "New World" wines as does the USA.

Saturday night was again dinner out with friends at a local Italian restaurant to encourage one of our retired cyclists back into the fold. Hopefully we'll see him join us once again. (its a friendship thing, isn't it)
Someone let the cat out of the bag about Sue's birthday and so she was presented with a mini birthday cake with a sparkler by the restaurant owner. How nice.

Good friends, good times.

I like what the wall says - don't you?

BUT, Sunday was Sue's actual birthday, starting with a family breakfast and then an evening dinner at another local restaurant. Six Keys is a restaurant at No 6 Keys St, Beaumaris, no more than 15 minutes from home.

It was just Sue, me and our son Mitch. Perfect...

The Six Keys menu - It's in 6 Keys Rd, Beaumaris, hence the name.

The restaurant wasn't empty but I caught this picture at a serene moment.

Leon had gravlax and I'm not sure what else.

I had duck liver pate with warm baguette, poached pear and caramelised shallots. Very nice.

Mitch had slow cooked beef cheeks with sage gnocchi and Parmesan. He loved it.

This was our main course -mine a rib eye, Sue's beef medallions.
Sorry my photos are on a strange angle. They were taken on the iPhone and no matter what I do, they will not  save the right way up.

We shared this dessert plate. A strawberry soufflé, a bombe of some sort, chocolate eclair and apple crumble with ice cream. All tasty.

This was all washed down with a superb bottle of Cote d'Rhone - A nice way to finish off Sue's birthday.

The Dove of Minerve

I have to say that the Dove of Minerve was a moving experience - Minerve itself was a totally moving experience. The population of Minerve were slaughtered, burnt alive by the catholic crusade against the Cathars. Religion and politics - partners in crime. No different to Hitlers crusade against the Jews.

For some further information on Catharism in the Languedoc, this wikipedia link will offer an insight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism

The Continuing Saga of the Bathroom

Bit of a crazy weekend really. I did get two morning rides in but the mid-morning and afternoons were back to the bathroom renovation. Time for Sue was in the kitchen with guests arriving at 7.00 pm Saturday night for dinner. I said to Sue, "Let's order in Pizza". But no, that's not her way. I'll ask her to tell you about the dinner.

Saturday was the day to start grouting the tiles and filling some gaps in the walls. I've never added plaster board to walls before but it seemed to go OK - proof will be in the final touches when it comes to painting. As for grouting, I've done a heap before in the family room and hallway leading to the bathroom. It's meticulous and time consuming and my body aches from being on my knees constantly.
I'm pleased with the results to this point. I've cut tiles in half as a skirt which I will then attach to the walls once the vanity and bath have been fitted by the plumber. One thing I'm a bit apprehensive about is wall tiling. We will be tiling the walls with 600 mm x 300 mm stark white tiles to match the white of the accessories. I'm hoping we can get this all ready for the Plumber after next weekend which is by the way, Sue's birthday. It was this time last year we celebrated her Birthday in Paris. Not so lucky this year.

I'm using a grout called charred ash - it's like a charcoal colour.
With the tiles on the diagonal, it gives a Mediterranean look don't you think?

It's a slow process of grouting, squeegeeing and wiping off the residue.

The charred ash grout contrasts well against the terracotta of the tiles.
I brought the toilet bowl and the vanity in for the plumber to fit.

The bath will also be put into place but there's further work to be done beforehand.

This is a caramelised beetroot and goats cheese tart with a salad of rocket and toasted walnuts on top. Served on a puff pastry round. The salad is dressed with white balsamic and walnut oil.  It was very nice. An interesting way to cook the beetroot, in that you cut it into batons while it's raw, then it's cooked briefly in acidulated water. Then you cook it in a little oil with a cinnamon quill, some balsamic and brown sugar and reduce it until it's syrupy. I will definitely make this again.

This is a Bill Granger recipe. Very easy, pretty quick and delicious. It's called Coq au Vin, and while it uses many of the same ingredients, it is definitely not traditional. Herbed baby chats, big green salad and crusty bread. Perfect autumn food.

Also, the leftovers, which was mostly sauce and potatoes, with just a little chicken, made a great lunch for Leon and I today.

Tried a dessert I hadn't attempted before. It was very rich, but I knew I had some chocolate lovers  coming. It was a chocolate tart that I made with 70% cocoa butter chocolate and it had Pedro Ximenez sherry in it. On top were raisins which had been marinated in a a mix with more sherry. Then the raisins were cooked until they became syrupy. The raisins were popped on the tart, and the syrup was whisked into some cream to serve with the chocolate tart. Yummo!

Leon, of course always has 50/50 tart and cream!