Woodpeckers and Apple Blossoms

It's my favorite time of year again when nature bursts back into life in the garden. We have woodpeckers busy pecking away in the background as the giant oaks, ash, sycamore and beech trees start to mantle their naked forest anew with luscious new leaves. The old crab tree is full of apple blossoms again and so reprieved from her barren autumnal harvest. The hum of bees high up in the blossoms can be heard, a welcome sound given their scarcity last year. The primroses anemone, bluebells, wood sorrel and forgetmenots are competing with daffodils, tulips and magnolias for attention and the herb and vegetable garden is screaming out for my attendance!

To hear the songs of the birds as nature takes command of the land is one of the greatest joys of being alive and so why not savour this moment and reflect on the extraordinary beautiful world we are all part of.

To hear the woodpeckers and birdsong of Kerrouet you can do so via the following link: Birdsong in Kerrouet

Roast sweet peppers with pine nuts and oregano

I just love roast sweet peppers and to think they are actually so good for you too. Here is a delightfully simple dish which is easy and quick to make yet looks fabulous and full of flavour.

You will need for four servings:

8 red peppers
200ml olive oil
5 garlic cloves, cut in half and bashed
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
4-5 rosemary sprigs
½ tsp coarse sea salt
1 tbsp demerara sugar
1 tsp dried oregano
200ml balsamic vinegar
150g very fresh goat’s cheese
12 basil leaves, torn
80g pine nuts, toasted

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Cut the peppers in half lengthways and remove the seeds and stalks. Heat a roasting tin on top of the stove and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cut peppers, garlic, lemon zest, rosemary sprigs and coarse sea salt. Cook this for 2-3 minutes on top of the stove, then add the sugar and oregano and place in the preheated oven.

2 Roast the peppers for 8-10 minutes, until they are just beginning to soften, then remove from the oven and pour in the balsamic vinegar. Put the tin back on the heat on top of the stove until the vinegar is reduced by half. Tip the peppers into a bowl and cover with clingfilm. This makes the peppers steam and finishes the cooking process. Also, if you prefer the peppers without the skin, the steaming makes them easier to peel.

3 Remove the peppers from the bowl, then strain the juice and flavourings through a fine sieve. Add a little more oil to make a dressing. Season the peppers, add the dressing, goat’s cheese, basil leaves and toasted pine nuts, then serve voila!

Cook & Tour Programme 2011

We are offering three wonderful weeks of cooking and touring around Brittany this year. Each week comprises a full programme of French & Briton cuisine with our Michelin trained chef who will personally take you through some delicious gourmet lunch and dinner menus. You will also visit some wonderful places of interest including the extraordinary abbey at Le Mont St Michelle, oyster tasting at Cancale, the amazing medieval market town of Dinan and the historical Josselin Castle.

Dates are as follows:

26th -30th July

22nd - 26 August

19th - 23rd September

Full details can be found on our website frenchdiningschool.com .

Nothing fishy about a fish diet

We all know that fish is good for us. There is a growing body of evidence which clearly indicates that eating oily fish, such as mackerel, sardines or wild salmon has significant health benefits for our hearts as well as our brains. It seems it is all down to the omega 3 oil found in the fish. Fish oil lowers blood fat levels and dramatically reduces the risk of heart attacks. New evidence now indicates that increasing omega 3 in your diet can not only reduce the risk of a cognitive decline and memory loss generally but also cut your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease by 50 per cent. Swedish scientists have undertaken research which indicates that children on fish diets actually did better academically than those who rarely eat fish.

Omega-3s are a family of essential unsaturated fatty acids that include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The body can’t make them very efficiently, so we have to consume them in our diet.

According to Dr Ryan, author of The Brain Food Diet, omega-3s contained in fish oil, and its DHA component specifically, play a vital role in the structural integrity and function of our brains, with a lack of it increasing the risk of brain malfunction and disease.

What a great reason to include fish, specifically mackerel,salmon or sardines high up on your menu list. Here is a nice recipe to get you started:

Poached Salmon with Sorrel Sauce
2 lb (1k) piece salmon fillet
1/2 pint white wine
water
fresh ground black pepper, bay leaf

Put your piece of salmon into a pan, season with pepper, bay leaf and pour the wine over.

Add water to cover the salmon.

Bring up to the boil, cover the pan and turn off the heat - leave until the salmon is cold and it will be perfectly cooked.

If you want your salmon warm, then simmer for 5 minutes or so and allow to cool enough to handle and then divide into four portions.



Sorrel Sauce
1 small bunch of young sorrel leaves
5 fl oz cream or soured cream
ground black pepper
lemon juice to taste

Whizz the sorrel and cream together in a blender - season with pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Preventing Alzheimer's Disease

The simple solutions are often the most effective. If you keep to a healthy diet you are more than half way to maintaining a healthy body. Here are a few key ingredients to include in your balanced diet to ensure you keep healthy and reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer's disease.

Eat half a cup of various berries, raspberries,strawberries, blueberries, blackberries every day. They contain compounds which improve neuron function.

Eat low fat or fat free dairy products. Cut back on both fatty and processed meats.

Eat apples,or drink 2 cups of apple juice per day. It boosts the production of acetylcholine in the brain, a key resister to Alzheimer's.

Enjoy tea & coffee. Caffeine has been found to help prevent the onset of the disease as well as repair some of the damage it causes. 400-500mg of caffeine per day or around 5 cups of your favourate brew. Check with your doctor first though if you are pregnant or suffer from HBP before drinking caffeine.

Enjoy cocoa and chocolate which contains high flavanol content. This increases the blood supply to the brain and reduces cognitive decline.

Add cinnamon to your dish, 1 teaspoon per day as new research from Sweden indicates it may prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Try Alcar supplements (lipoic acid) one of the strongest antioxidant rejuvenators for the mature brain. Also found in yeast.

Avoid iron and copper supplements if you are over 50 unless recommended by a doctor.

Enjoy yellow curry or specifically turmeric. It contains curcumin a compound reputed to help against memory decline.

Enjoy a glass of wine every day. Keep within the unit health guidelines.

Include folic acid, proven to slow down memory decline, in your diet(if you have a medical problem check first with your doctor).

Enjoy walnuts and almonds (and their skins) in your diet. They are rich in antioxidants.

Eat fresh oily fish like salmon, sardines, herrings and tuna three times a week. The more fish you eat the less likely you are to get Alzheimers's disease.

Cut back on red meat and enjoy poultry.

Avoid sugar as it increases the production in the body of the toxin beta-amyloid which kills neurones.

Drink Tea and more Tea especially black or green tea without milk. They are packed with antioxidants and a powerful benefit for the mature brain.

Love vinegar (4 teaspoons per day) as it has been shown to reduce the risk factors related to memory loss including high blood sugar, insulin resistance, diabetes and weight gain.

Use olive oil (cold press if you can)as benefits against memory loss.

Enjoy your spinach as it is full of elements, minerals and antioxidants which benefit the brain as well as the body.

Take multivitamins - a low dose every day containing no iron is best for slowing down ageing in the brain.

Finally keep body and soul active in different ways such as brisk walking, cycling working in the garden,swimming, socialising, reading, conversing with neighbours and friends all of which will keep you young at heart.

Be happy - relish every moment of every day and enjoy it to the full. Remember you have already won the lottery just by being born!

Walking and cycling in Brittany

It's not just the food folks! Brittany has to be one of the best places in the world to go on a walking or cycling holiday. The countryside is unspoilt, the roads are relatively empty and drivers take great care for cyclists and pedestrians.There are over 800 km of dedicated off road cycle routes crossing the countryside with another 20000 km being scheduled. Old train lines and tracks take you through medieval villages and forests where you can really get away from it all. Only last month we stood in amazement and watched a family of wild boar cross our path! What a shame my camera was at home in the car!

Britons are exceedingly friendly folk especially if you try at first to speak a little French with them. After all that is only being polite. With so many French words in English, no one has any excuses! There are excellent facilities along the cycle routes and you can find plenty of interesting places to explore. As you will see from the map above, it does not matter where you start your trip as the routes are easy to access from any direction. We have a number of dedicated walks and cycle tours we recommend so no excuses to get lots of wonderful exercise and as we are a cooking school you get to eat exceedingly well too!
We are located right in the middle of Brittany close to route 8 on the main map above. If you are staying on one of our cooking courses, we can prepare a nice picnic for you too. Here is a link which shows you our little village of Kerrouet in more detail.

http://www.randobreizh.org/zonedifferenciee/VoieVerte6StCaradecPlemet%20%282%29.php

Even William the Conqueror was on a diet

When William the Conqueror reached his fortieth year on the throne, he became very concerned about his weight. Being overweight presented real problems for his riding skills and swordsmanship. For a king in the age of chivalry this was real disaster. Apparently his solution was to go on a very strict diet giving up food completely and drinking lots of wine instead! It is never an easy thing to refuse your King a drink! Anyway this was all very well until one day he was so inebriated that he fell from his horse and sadly died from the complications which set in later. He was only 59 years old.

Current guidelines say that the average working adult should consume no more than 720g of food per day and drink around 3 litres of water. The food ideally should consist predominantly of carbohydrates (530g), proteins (130g) and fats (60g). If William had been aware of this he might have lived a lot longer and his horse might have suffered a lot less!