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Fun x Food x Friends - French food - January 21st, 2012
4:00pm Apero (J2O, Shloer, Tea and coffee etc for non alcoholic drinks)
5:00pm Hors d'oeuvre / entree
6:00pm Plat Principal
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Vegan food is marked (V).
Friends on the day, so far:
21: Lesley and Brian, Maria, Chris and Pete, Ross and David, Les and Helen, Chris W, Wendy, Jan and Jon, John and Lynn, Zem and Tony, Angela, Tom and Jenny, Sue, et vous?.
Sadly Tom and Jenny were recovering from the Action Aid Book Club the night before, Luke was just recovering from 2 weeks in Singapore having landed in Heathrow that morning,
Wendy was being selfish and keeping her cold to herself rather than sharing it with everybody, Sue was on life support duties for a friend, and we think Chris (W) was on Granny duties.
As it was we just managed to squeeze into the breakfast room.
With gales of laughter, much exchange of French cuisine and customs, exquisite food, and lots of French drink, this was F cubed working at it's best.
Steve Wozniak would have felt honoured as well as "podged1".
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French Food and Drink:
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Noilly Prat (A.k.a. French Dry") (Les)
An interesting drink, like a strong white wine, but "bigger" - more depth of flavour, more alcohol, longer on the palate.
Great if you want a slightly dry, non-fizzy aperitif
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Kir (Cocktail) (Jan (C) and John (A))
Kir, Kir Royale (or Kir Pétillant) if Wikipedia is to be followed,
was / is a lovely fresh pre-dinner drink, much enjoyed at that home from home opposite the Endsleigh Centre on Beverley Road, at our pre-Christmas meals as well as F3 French!
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Hors d'oeuvre / entrée |
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Meat Terrine (Lynn).
You could see that this was going to be juicy, and richly flavoured, the surprise was the texture provided by the walnuts. What a great idea.
I will see if the recipe is a closely guarded secret.
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Du Coquillage |
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Des moules marinières.(Les).
Mussels.!
Arrived in quantity and were consumed with enthusiasm.
So far as I could tell, cooked with some olive oil, a splash of white wine and some crushed garlic.
Internet recipes such as MyCookingHut also suggest a little cream
is needed to produce this French Classic.
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Plat Principal |
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Cassoulet Toulousaine (Peter)
Quintessentialy French comfort food. The top layer was Toulouse sausages and Duck breasts, below was cubed port and bacon, and all surrounded by excellent haricot beans.
Great rich flavours and bursting with energy, but would have been better with more than the six sausages, and some fresh breadcrumbs applied to give a crispier topping.
(This was a "Blue Peter").
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Coq au vin (Jan)
Another classic French recipe. Red wine gives a dark appearance to this dish which is reputed (and verified) to be better as leftovers than as a freshly cooked dish. Much enjoyed.
The exact recipe is unavailable, this was a mixture of Delia Smith and Raymond Blanc, with a nod to Nigel Slater, a.k.a. "real cooking".
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Sur le côté |
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By this time chaos was the order of the day and the webmaster does not now remember
testing the side dishes.
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Le Fromage |
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Brie, Boursin, Roquefort, Camambert, Roulé;
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"Bring a piece of your favourite French cheese" said the e-mail, and folks did, and the cheese was excellent.
However, it was interesting that much cheese sold in Hull and the area is UK sourced, so finding French cheese was a challenge.
Several different goats cheeses appeared and were consumed, the "circular slab" came from the deli counter at Sainsbury's at Hessle.
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Le désert |
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Désert wine
Someone (who??) brought a bottle of Muscat, a slightly sweet, slightly fortified désert wine, rosé appearance.
Great stuff.
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French Fruit Salad(V) Chris C).
Chris felt that a little less wine and honey would be an improvement, on what was a truly excellent fruit salad.
The autumn fruits go well together, and having fewer fruits than the normal "use everything you can get" approach made the
flavours identifiable. Very very nice.
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1) "Podged", - In Nottingham to be podged is to have eaten your fill of good food, and hence to feel truly replete.
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