Sue Chase takes over the blog today to share her experience of our inaugural cooking class in Provence.
Chilly and I had an awesome day yesterday creating food masterpieces under the expert guidance of Sarah and Jesse.
Firstly Sarah (my delightful daughter) and Jesse told us we were booked into a French Cooking Class in Provence. I did think that was a bit funny given their already outstanding cooking skills, but dismissed the thought, with it must be part of their grand plan to extend their skills on their gap year in France to unearth their culinary delights for their future business.
The trickery came to light, when Sarah told me our guide was at the door. I opened it to be greeted by Chef Jesse with a hearty welcome to his cookery school. After an excursion to market at Apt, we were whisked back to our accommodation, given glasses of Champagne and put straight to work – all before 11am!
Jesse is an excellent and patient teacher, explaining how to prepare the food, how it would end up and why we were doing what we were doing.
We had such a fun day, laughter filled the kitchen. The best part however was eating our delicious creations and washing it down with lots of local vin.
What we made
Zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh goats cheese + herbs
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Beef tartare
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Cod with smashed white beans + sauce vierge
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Nectarine tarte tatin
zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh goats cheese + herbs
Preparation time 30 minutes // serves 4
What we put in it
20 zucchini flowers
200g fresh goats cheese
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup of loose basil leaves chopped finely
1/4 cup grated strong cheese
2 egg yolks
salt + pepper to taste
500g rice flour
250ml cold beer
600ml cold sparking water
2lt oil for frying – rice bran/sunflower
How we did it
Combine cheeses, lemon, yolks, salt, pepper + basil well into a smooth paste.
Carefully stuff zucchini flowers with approximately 1 teaspoon of cheese mixture and pinch the ends closed. refrigerate stuffed flowers for one hour.
Mix flour, beer and sparking water into a thick batter – don’t worry about the lumps because they will pop when fried and create more crispness.
Heat the oil to 180 (or test a spoonful of batter – when it fries like crazy and starts to turn golden, it’s ready)
Dip the flowers in the batter and place carefully into the hot oil.
Wait until they turn golden, remove from the oil, drain slightly and let to rest on a wooden board until ready for serving. try not to overcrowd the oil.
Serve with lemon wedges.
Beef tartare
What we put in it
300g of prime beef topside, rump or skirt
1 small shallot, chopped finely
2 tbsp capers, chopped finely
1 handful of parsley, chopped finely
1 tsp dijon or whole grain mustard
2 tbsp top quality, extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar (tarragon infused if you have it)
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
How we did it
Chop your beef as fine as you can with a very sharp knife (unlike what our students were using)
Remove any sinew and connective tissue as you go – fat is good
Combine all ingredients, except vinegar, lemon juice and salt + pepper – as these need to go in just before serving as they will toughen the meat.
Just before serving add remaining ingredients – mix well and serve with crispy toasted baguette.
Cod with smashed white beans, olives + tomatoes
Preparation time 25 mins // serves 4
What we put in
800g of cod (200g per person // any fish you desire)
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt
White bean smash
2 x 400g can cannellini beans, rinsed well (Sue + Chilli used fresh white beans, but these are just as good – if using fresh, shell and boil for 15 minutes in well salted water with 3 bay leaves, until nice and soft).
3 medium sized shallots, diced small
Zest of 1 lemon
50g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Dash of white wine
Juice of half a lemon
Olives + tomatoes
100 g of pitted black olives halved
8 roma tomatoes, blanched, peeled, de-seeded and diced finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
Combine all ingredients for the olive and tomato salsa, cover and set aside
For the white bean smash, sauté shallots, butter, olive oil and lemon zest for 15 minutes over low heat, covered with foil (this will stop the mixture from colouring)
After 15 minutes or when the shallots are soft, add the beans, a splash of white wine, recover and simmer for another 15 minutes over low heat.
Get a large fry pan nice and hot, season fish with olive oil and salt.
Fry skin side down, add rosemary leaves + butter. fry until a 1/3 cooked through and then flip over. Cook another 1/3 and remove from pan. fish will continue to cook once out of the pan.
While cooking fish, smash your beans with a masher, add lemon juice and salt to taste.
Once fish is out of the pan, don’t clean your pan! add all ingredients for the tomato and olive salsa into the pan and fry for 2 minutes to warm through.
Assemble on warm plates, add some fried salami if you wish – we did!
Nectarine tarte tatin
Preparation time 25 minutes // serves 4
What went in
5 nectaries, blanched, peeled and quartered
300g sugar
50g butter
Seeds of one vanilla pod
One portion of ready made puff pastry
Whipped cream and ice cream to serve (and eat while your making it)
How we did it
Preheat oven to 200
Put sugar in a large, heavy based frying pan over medium heat, cook without stirring until the sugar is a dark caramel, swirl if necessary.
Add butter and vanilla – give a swish around
Add nectarines, cook for 8-10 minutes, remove from heat
Cover with pasty, tucking the pasty into the sides
Use a knife to poke holes into the pasty so the steam can escape
Place into the oven and cook until the pasty is golden – approximately 20 minutes
Take out of the oven and carefully flip the tarte tatin onto a serving plate so the pasty is on the bottom and the golden nectaries are on top.
Serve straight away with ice cream and cream.
