Lunch at Chateau de la Chèvre d’Or

There are many wonderful places to enjoy lunch in the Côté Azure but few are as extraordinary and exceptional as the Chateau de la Chèvre d’Or in Éze. The bar and terraces of the Ramparts restaurant are a real gem so get your booking in quick to secure your seats!

You can let the gate keeper park up your vehicle and have a little trip around the medieval village of Éze before entering the Chateau restaurant which is right in the middle of the village. 

We had a lovely Negroni in the bar as we waited for our friends to arrive. 

Soon we were joined by our friends and escorted to our table on the terrace with extraordinary views over Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat:

The staff were exceedingly cordial, relaxed and welcoming. I had been advised earlier that shorts were excluded from the dress code but 90% of the male diners were dressed in smart shorts!! An interesting menu for lunch was offered:

I ordered the burrata with a beetroot and rhubarb deconstruction for starters . It was delicious. 

The sommelier Philippe was exceedingly generous with his knowledge and recommended a local Provençal white wine , Chateau Crémade which was full bodied with generous flavors: 

 For the mains, I ordered the sea bream and my friend had a tomato infused risotto. The bream was pan fried and served with wood fired leeks, capers and lemon. Both dishes were excellent:

The restaurant is famous for its take on the simple lemon as dessert. Here all four of us just had to try it! Inside was a lemon cake surrounded with a basil cream and coated with a white chocolate enhanced in yellow and green! It almost looked like a giant goose egg and cracked open to reveal its unsweetened basil interior. Magical and delicious!

A wine tasting on the Côté d’Azur

It’s summertime and the Côté d’Azur is only a few comfortable days away by car from Brittany. We had our eye on a chateau in Cremat famous for its rosé wines, it’s gardens and it’s chateau. It didn’t disappoint! 

As look would have it we arrived just in time to explore not just the winery but also the chateau in the company of a tour of gastronomic students from Mexico! The chateau was charmingly furnished with some extraordinary exhibits including bedroom furniture direct from Coco Chanel:

If you are ever in the Côté d’Azur, the Chateau de Cremat is definitely worth a visit! We tasted six wines including some delicious rosé’s, Their Domain de Toasc is a powerful summer rosé with powerful undertones. Here are a few more:

It’s not all about wine or beautiful art of course. It was nice to see the current owner of the chateau had invested in the same brand of stove as we have in Kerrouet.

Well it might be just a tad bigger and a tad cleaner than ours! 

Cooking School B and B

Students can choose to stay at the cooking school or a private gite locally within walking distance of the school. All students have their own private bathroom and bedroom. Here are some photos:

At the School:

Danish TV arrive in Kerrouet Kitchen

One of Denmark’s top TV show hosts, Anne and Anders arrived in our kitchen yesterday! They were here as part of their In Bretagne programme which will be broadcast in July. The programme is very popular in Denmark because of its genuine and unique approach to life and culture around the world. We had a lovely time cooking lots of delicious seafood and discussing why we love Brittany so much.

Here is a link to one of their previous programs on Danish TV: 

https://www.dr.dk/drtv/se/anne-og-anders-vender-hjem_-kaerlighed-og-kirsebaergrise_206874

Slow cooked oxtail

Oxtail is worth seeking out as it is absolutely delicious and exceedingly nutritious! You can serve it on a bed of mash as below or make a terrine. Not always easy to find as an ox only has one tail! 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 Kg of oxtails 

3 cloves of garlic

1 large chopped onion

1 chopped leek

3 small carrots

1 large table spoon of tomato puree

2 bay leaves

1 large sprig of thyme

1 large sprig of parsley

1 small sprig of rosemary 

1 bottle of red wine 

Method 

Preheat the oven to 220C / 350F 

Dry the oxtails , chop up the vegetables and put it all on a baking tray and bake it all in 

the oven for 30 minutes or till it has a bit of colour.

After browning, put it all in a slow cooker and let it simmer for 8-12 hours. if you make it in the evening

you can cook it over night.

Next day or later that day, take the meat up from the slow cooker and peel it of the bones.

Strain the stock and boil it up, reduce it to desired flavour .

Stock and meat can be used to make a terrine or serve it with a mash potato.

Buttermilk ice cream

This is one of our favorite desserts especially when served with orange cake. The slight sourness of the ice cream pairs wonderfully with the cake.

 Ingredients 

250 ml of Cream

250 ml buttermilk

3 egg yolks 

125 gram sugar

1 vanilla pod

Method

Heat the buttermilk and cream together with the sugar and vanilla.

When the cream and buttermilk has just boiled, add it to the egg yolks and stir it in so it becomes a creamy custard.

Chill the cream as cool as possible before adding it to the ice-cream maker.