Red Pepper, Carrot and Chilli Soup

This festive soup is ideal for lunch. It is warm and very nourishing. 

Ingredients for 2 litres ( serves 6)

4 X red peppers

4 X carrots

I X onion

1 X garlic

1 x chili 

1 x salsify 

1 x potato

2  litres of home made chicken stock 

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a saucepan bring the stock to the boil. Cut all the vegetables into small pieces and add to the stock starting with the potato ,onion, salsify and carrot and then garlic and chilli. Boil gently until tender (5-8 minutes). Let it cool. Blend the soup in a blender and reheat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with warm garlic bread. 

Frederic Eckhard , Spokesperson for Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General, has lunch at Kerrouet House!

 Second birthday party by Frederick Eckhard

23 August 2023

When our friends Poul and Niall heard that I had turned 80 in April, they invited me to lunch for a second celebration. They run the French Dining School in the tiny village of Kerrouet in Brittany. They renovated a centuries-old house in the village which serves as a home and a school.

Poul, left, and Niall.

A special treat for us would be seeing our old friend Chris. Our last time together was pre-Covid. He has a secondary home in the area and introduced us to Poul and Niall. Chris is a beekeeper, among other things.

There were currently three students in residence, two of whom were cousins, Meghana, a recently certified medical doctor with a special interest in nutrition, a graduate of the University of Chicago, and Emily, who just took a degree in economics in Dallas.

Meghana, left, and Emily.

The third student was Hillary, a judge from Sydney, Australia. Her husband was playing golf in Ireland for two weeks, so she took a detour to Brittany. She was busy in the kitchen.

It was a lovely day. Kathryn brought a treat for Scooby-Doo, a dog that Poul and Niall found abandoned in the woods several years ago. A red rubber ball. She became very popular with him.

We started with appetizers, served with champagne. This one was lump fish caviar with homemade mayonnaise and chives.

Meanwhile, Emily and Meghana joined Hillary in the kitchen. Emily was working on the first course, mussels in saffron soup.

While Meghana worked on the main course, warm smoked salmon.

The table was set on the terrace.

Niall sat at one end. He is the CEO of the Dining School—Chief Entertainment Officer.

First came the mussels and saffron soup.

Yumm.

Then came the delicious salmon.

Chris and Hillary enjoyed it.

There was the ritual assortment of cheeses.

And a strawberry tart for dessert.

We all enjoyed it immensely.

For you ambitious cooks, here are the recipes.

Frederick now runs a very worthy charity which helps educate women in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. French Dining School are very happy to support this charity and you can too! Here is a link: www.bwefund.com

Alsace feast comes to Kerrouet

Alsace is world famous for its unique foods and wines and today we were fortunate to be invited by our lovely neighbours ( visiting from Mulhouse) to taste some home made choucroute with a variety of delicious cuts of meats and sausages. 

We started with a cocktail punch of sparkling wine with a cognac twist and a salted bread called a Kougelhopf:

The mains followed with each dish being amply served with choucroute, and seven pieces of pork including  kassler, collet fumé,  palette fumée sans os, montbéliarde,viennoise, lard fumé and lard frais. The potato added extra comfort on this august wintry day! 

What a delight it was to be served such delicious Alsatian delights in our own Breton village! 

Ladies retreat - a St Gilles gitê treat!

Ladies who would like to stay in the nearby village of St Gilles Des Mené have the option of a B&B with Tracey. She has a beautiful Breton traditional stone house but you could swear you were in Crete once inside! 

Here is a link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iOcHSeTw6i6bYPdtsBC5Yz0pvjwodtAK/view?usp=drivesdk

A stone house to stay in Kerrouet

Students on the cooking course also have a lovely traditional Breton stone cottage to stay in. Only a few minutes walk away from the school. It’s called Papillion; it has two bedrooms, a bathroom with shower upstairs and a nice cosy kitchen/diner on the ground floor. It also has a private courtyard with parking space. 

Here are some photos:

Cocktail’s at Kerrouet House

As the CEOC  ( Chef Excellent Opérateur de Cocktails) at Kerrouet House, I am responsible for arranging drinks and cocktails for all thirsty hard working students on our cooking courses. 

Some drinks are obvious such as champagne when we have oysters or the pairing of wines when we have our starters, mains and desserts all of which are overseen by Poul as sommelier as well as Chef. 

Some of the cocktails we offer have been invented at Kerrouet House like the Kerrouet Royal ( sparkling wine cognac and cointreau). Another cocktail invented at Kerrouet House is Pink Deniall. This is a combination of grapefruit cordial and rosé.

Oysters and champagne 

Pink Champagne anyone?




Queen Mum’s Gin & Vermouth Martini! 



Bollinger of course! 





G&T’s Kerrouet style! 



Bouchinot - a local liquor made from apples and honey - served with white wine. 







Lillet - a French martini mixed with tonic! 




Bouvet - a red sparkling wine from Saumur a small vineyard in the Loire. 



Wine maker’s drink! Red wine and cassis! 

Negroni with aperitifs

Ker Royal - a sparkling wine with black currant liqueur 

Life is too short to drink bad wines!!