It is quite strange basking in the sunshine (16.5 C this moring), when the reports from friends and family in the UK are reporting such a prolonged spell of snow and ice. This photo from our old neighbours in the Highlands brought back memories of the many times we had to dig a track for ourselves before heading out to work. Very ofter we were both at our desks before people living in the city too!
Delighted to report that the Christmas sweater fits! And he's pleased with it and it is being modelled as I write at the Petanque club in Port Ste Foy.
Our New Year's Day dinner is traditionally steak pie, which has posed a problem since moving to France as we have never found French beef to live up to the quality of Scotch beef. (Duncan Fraser's butchers in Inverness comes high on the list of things I miss...). The other issue is the different names for the cuts. I have been doing some internet research over the last few days and 'paleron' steak came highly recommended. This morning we set off to Castillon for a bit of pre holiday shopping and found some nice looking paleron at the butcher's counter in Leclercs. It is lean and will need either long slow cooking or pressure cooking. I just hope I can get it tender and it has some taste. In France the don't hang their beef very long, which I think is the issue regarding taste; but this is supposed to be a tasty cut. Time will tell.
2 comments:
Thanks for the nice comments about Scotch Beef. I'm from the body that promotes it in the UK and Europe (Quality Meat Scotland)
If you are looking for a taste of home. We export quite a bit to france, mainly in top quality butcher shops. It can be found in Intermarche shops and high quality butchers mainly in paris and the south east.
Thank you for that information, Steph; it is really interesting to know and I will keep an eye out for Scotch beef. I do use Intermarche, but haven't spotted any in stock round here (we're in south west France). But I'm not alone in looking for nice beef - I have lots of friends who don't buy beef here for the same reasons.
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