Won-ton Ravioli a la Xuan-Minh

We were very fortunate to have a lovely Swiss lady of Vietnamese origin on our cooking course a few years ago. She kindly offered to teach us how to make a couple of Vietnamese classic dishes and one Ravioli recipe from her grandmother is very special indeed: 

Won-ton Ravioli a la Xuan-Minh

serves 6-8

Ingredients

1 pack of Won ton skin from an Asian shop 

500 gram / 1 pound of finely minced prawns and/ or chicken/ rabbit/ turkey 

1 onion finely chopped

Coriander ( Cilantro) leaves

10 gram / 0.35 oz dried black mushrooms (asian shop) soaked and chopped

3 dried shiitake mushrooms (asian shop) soaked and finely chopped 

Pepper

Salted Soy sauce

sesame oil

Fish sauce ( asian shop). It taste much better than it sounds

Chicken stock  (clear, only cooked on chicken for 2 hours)

Method

Soup: cook the chicken for at least 2 hours in 3 litres of water. Skim off the foam until the soup is clear. Strain and flavour it with fish sauce and pepper , quite a lot of fish sauce.

Stuffing: mix the onion, the mince meat, coriander and finely chopped mushrooms, season with pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil and a bit of fish sauce.

Assemble the ravioli by placing a teaspoon of the filling on each wonton skin. Brush the edges with egg white, then fold them diagonally . Then glue the pointy ends together . Let the ravioli dry for an hour in room temperature .

Bring the soup to a boil and cook the wonton for 2-3 minutes. Place them in a serving bowl, 3-4 per person.

Cover the soup with finely chopped coriander ( cilantro ) and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top and serve.

Carpaccio of beef with Harry’s Bar dressing

Carpaccio of beef with a Harry’s Bar dressing is a wonderful summer lunch menu. Easy to make and exceedingly tasty. It never fails to impress. It helps if you know your butcher as the quality of the beef fillet should be first rate.

Ingredients ( serves 6 )

For the beef 

400g of top quality beef finely sliced.

For the dressing 

185 ml home-made mayonnaise

1-2t sp Worcestershire sauce, to taste

1tsp fresh lemon juice

2 to 3 tbsp milk

salt, freshly ground black pepper

Serve with shavings of Parmigiana cheese and  fresh sunflower shoots ( or sweet pea shoots) . 

Method

Put the mayonnaise in a bowl and whisk in the Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. Whisk in 

enough milk to make a thin sauce that just coats the back of a wooden spoon. Taste the sauce and 

adjust the seasoning with some salt and pepper adding more Worcestershire sauce as required. 

The dressing should be poured over the beef just before serving along with parmigiana shavings and green sunflower  shoots on top. 

Wine - serve with a nice rosé or white  muscadet. 

We are on Danish TV

We feature on one of Denmark’s most popular television programmes from today. Hère is the link: https://www.dr.dk/drtv/se/anne-og-anders-i-europa_-nabostrid-i-nordfrankrig_322240?fs=e&s=cl

A visit to a traditional Provençal wine maker

It’s the small organic traditional wine makers which are so hard to find in the south of France. The big wine companies dominate the market and the media. However once in a while you meet someone who is both knowledgeable and generous and it was Peter Ware, (azurewinetours.com) who let us in on the extraordinary story of Georges & Mathias Rasse of Le Domaine des Hautes Collines.

The tiny vineyard is located at Saint Jeannet just north of the town of Vence. What is interesting here is they make the wines the traditional way and use no nitrates or filings so the wines are organic. All their wines are stored in 5 litre glass salmanazars and are left exposed to the Azur sun for three months. Then they are transferred to oak barrels and left to age for 12 months. Apparently this is how the Romans made their wines over 2000 years ago in this very spot and so it has stood the test of both time and palette! 

If you are lucky you will find their wines in some of the local restaurants and supermarkets but it’s much better to visit the vineyard where you will be very well received. They even have a camping site on the vineyard so you don’t have to drive if you drink too much!! We recommend you contact Peter and take one of his tours. He will pick you up from your home, take you on a interesting wine tour and get you back home safe without difficulty. His details are below (peter@azurwinetours.com) ( +33777963388).

Further details on the vineyard may be obtained from their website: http://vignoblestjeannet.fr/vins/vin-rouge-cuvee-pressoir-romain/

Lunch at Villa Ephrussi De Rothschild

The gardens of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild  are extraordinary and beautifully positioned overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The villa too is worth a visit and the restaurant , although not the stuff of fine dining has a lovely relaxed cafe feel as does the garden terrace also open for dining. The views from the villa are truly outstanding. Magical evenings are possible here with opera and candle lit concerts planned for July and August. 

Always start with a good glass of champagne! 








The glass of champagne was followed by a salmon and quiche salad with a lemon tart for dessert.

Poul had the pavlova! 



Not fine dining but the villa and gardens are truly beautiful.

Also nice to know there is free parking on the venue and if you plan it like we did you can even fit in a dip in the sea on a tiny beach cove at the bottom of the hill! 

www.villa-ephrussi.com

Lunch at Entrevaux - Medieval Fortress

For those who enjoy history, old castles, dramatic mountain scenery and good food you should make a day trip out to Entrevaux! You have the option to take the train from Nice or you could cycle if you were fit and brave enough! We took the third option - the open top merc!

Only an hour from Vence, the highway twists and turns following the river Var. It is a dramatic scene with massive towering mountain peaks speckled with shepherd huts. A photographer would find it hard to do justice in such a wild and turbulent scene especially if your driving at the same time! Once you get to Entrevaux the medieval fortress village becomes clearly visible across the drawbridge and over the river Var. 

High up on top of the village is the Citadel about a kilometer’s zig zag climb: 

We arrived at 12 noon so decided to have lunch at a restaurant which was recommended to us by a local wine tour guide Peter Wear. The L’Auberge du Planet is located just inside the town walls but nothing prepared you for the quality of the cuisine which is clearly under strong Italian influence. 

I ordered the Salade de la vallée to start and Poul had the Carpaccio de secca de boeuf. We both had the veau tonnato for mains. All dishes were of an exceptional standard which just goes to prove quality products with a good chef always works wonders! 

A local rosé from Provence - Domaine de la vielle tour was an excellent accompaniment to our lunch. 










The little fortress village has a delightful unspoiled character and has changed little since the Middle Ages. The 17th century cathedral is built in the gothic Provençal style with a beautiful baroque interior.

Do look out for the tiny art gallery belonging to Nadine François-Ware - her paintings of Entrevaux and the flowers of Provence are absolutely beautiful. 

www.nadine-art.gallery.com 

Her husband Peter is a knowledgeable cognac and wine guide for the area (Provence & Côté Azur). Not only is he very knowledgeable about the local vineyards and places of interest. He will also pick you up from your front door and take you out on a wine tour returning you home safely after a great day out! peter@azurwinetours.com

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!