We’ve just said goodbye to our first visitors which was very sad - we’ve had a wonderful 3 days with some friends travelling through France on their way back to their home in Luxembourg, one of whom recently got his hunting license and so introduced us to our local “Chasse Peche” (hunting/fishing) shop full of everything one would need to either hunt wild boar or fish for whatever one fishes for!!
Tony has quite the collection of camouflage and so the obvious choice of gun for Tony should he ever wish to take up hunting would surely be the camouflage gun pictured above - that said when I pointed it out to Tony he did point out that it would be rather frustrating were you to put the gun down anywhere in the forest - it would be incredibly difficult to find - surely not a good thing if there was a wild boar coming your way - besides, although we’re told the wild boar are phenomenally intelligent, I’m not sure the intelligence stretches as far as the need for camouflaging the weapon that’s going to take the boar from the forest to the dinner table!
Also on our travels we discovered the local public golf course only 40 mins away, so as we were experiencing a little wet weather meaning we could take a conscience free break from watering the copious crops back at home, we decided to leave the farm behind and become golfers for the day. One of our friends happens to be a very keen and also very good golfer so after giving us a few pointers, he took himself off for a round of golf and we stayed behind on the driving range to discover that Tony’s really quite good and should probably take it up - we’re just not sure that works too well with the peasant farmer image we’re trying to cultivate with our crops!
In all our “visiting” excitement, we have not managed to have our next lunch with the neighbours yet which we’ll try and squeeze in this week although we’re also meeting friends in Bordeaux on Thursday and then have our next visitors arriving on Saturday which we’re very much looking forward to - it seems the season has begun and we’ll be juggling farm life with the high life for the foreseeable future.
I’ve found a lovely beef bourguignone recipe from Ina Garten who is usually foolproof and given my recent batch of imperfect jam I’m all for anything foolproof! So will probably try this out on the neighbours and hope for the best! We also owe the butcher and his wife a meal and I’ve promised to give them a call (yes - on the terrifying telephone!) so will see what comes of that.
Last night we tried an old Delia Smith favourite which I’ve posted below if looking for an easy yet tasty appetiser or main course for a light lunch served with lots of crusty french bread and a salad....
Roasted red peppers with anchovies and basil
(Serves 4 - preheat oven to 200ish/400ish - depending on nationality of oven)
You will need..
2 red peppers (cut through the stalk down the middle - keep the stalk on it helps keep the peppers together - remove seeds etc.)
2 plum tomatoes (place in boiling water for 30-60 seconds - remove and peel the skin), quartered lengthways
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
chopped fresh basil
Place prepared pepper halves on a baking tray (lined with foil for ease of cleanup)
sprinkle chopped anchovies and garlic slices inside the peppers
place 2 tomato quarters tucked inside each pepper half (one on each side)
Add some fresh ground black pepper (you shouldn’t need any salt because of the anchovies)
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to each pepper half
Put into the oven for 35-45 mins or until semi collapsed and a little black around the edges
Serve immediately with chopped fresh basil liberally sprinkled over the peppers and lots of crusty french bread
BON APETIT!
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