Le Couvent Diary

Despite the wild boar gouging big holes in our vineyard, we haven't killed them, so this recipe uses pork. It's going to sound like a lot of faffing about, but it really is worth it.

I used two rolled loins of pork for 11 people.  We only got through one at lunch, but that was because several of the guests were French (extras showed up). If we'd all been English we'd have scoffed the lot.

Ingredients - for about 8 people

2 kg pork loin, rolled and tied
1 bottle chunky Languedoc red wine (at least)
1 glass armagnac or cognac
1.5 cups olive oil
10 juniper berries
10 peppercorns
2  sprigs fresh thyme
5 cloves
1 bay leaf
4 good pinches salt
6 onions
2 shallots
Flour
Butter

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Squeeze the pork into a non-metallic container small enough to get in your fridge. Pour over enough red wine and armagnac to cover the pork.  Add 1 cup of olive oil, juniper berries, cloves, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns and salt. Turn the pork. Leave it in the fridge for three days, turning the pork two or three times a day.

At the end of three days it should look like one of these:

 

Take the pork out and dry it with some kitchen towel. Save the marinade. Put half a cup of olive oil and some butter in a roasting pan. Put the pan on the top of your cooker and sear the pork on all sides to seal the meat. Don't burn it.

Remove the pork, pour the fat only from the pan (leaving the bits). Put the onions and shallots in the bottom of the pan then replace the pork on top. Strain the marinade reserving the juice and ditching the rest. Pour a cup of the marinade over the pork and put it in the oven for about an hour and a half. Baste the pork every 30 minutes, using more of the reserved marinade if necessary so the pork is never dry.

Just before the pork is ready put the remaining marinade in a separate saucepan. Boil it until it has reduced by half. Take the pork and onions from the oven and put on a hot dish, covered, to rest while you make the sauce. To the roasting pan chuck in 50 grams-ish of butter and a soup spoon of flour. Mix it well while adding the reduced marinade. Scrape all the delicious bits off the bottom of the pan so they integrate with the sauce. Cook the sauce for about three minutes then strain it into a jug.

We served the pork with braised celery, roast potatoes and sweet potatoes, carrots and spinach. It was succulent, tender and delicious and worth a bit of forward-planning.

 

The weather's been disgusting today, dull, wet and dismal. Perfect for cooking up a storm or making a sorbet for supper tonight. This sorbet is soooooooo good I thought I'd share it. Don't be put off by the fact that it looks uncannily like school mashed potato, it really has an absolutely stunning flavour. Oh, and I've made twice as much in the photos as there'll be lots of us for supper.

You need: 150 ml water; 150 gms sugar; 6 limes zested; 1 glass of juice from the limes; 1 large bunch of basil

 

 

Method: In a saucepan chuck the water and sugar and bring it to the boil. Turn it down to a simmer and lob in the lime zest leaving it to simmer for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile pound the basil to a pulp.

 

 

Remove the water/sugar/lime mixture from the heat and let it cool a bit. Throw in the lime juice and basil puree, stir it and let it infuse for about ten minutes.

Sieve the mixture into a bowl and squeeze out the remnants. The remaining liquid will look like the stuff below. Don't be tempted to throw it away even though it looks so awful.

At this point you can put it into the freezer for about 3 hours, stirring it every 30 minutes, or if you're lucky like me and have a sorbetiere or ice-cream maker you can hand it all over to that. Mine takes about 50 minutes to be ready.

The finished product - not a great look, but a flavour you'll never forget. As they used to say at the Hungry Monk in Jevington - 'Serve with a smacking of lips'

P'raps we'll make some for weary travellers when they arrive at Le Couvent, Roujan - in our opinion the best bed and breakfast in the Languedoc! Biased? Us? Surely not.

This one's for the Landseer group who are coming to stay at Le Couvent, Roujan again in a couple of month's time. It's an annual reunion of chums who've previously worked together and they've asked for us to do supper for them one evening. They've requested 'the lovely courgette soup you gave us last time'. I'd completely forgotten, but have found the recipe. Good start. I'm hoping I can encourage the courgettes to get a move on. This is how they look today, with their pals the coriander plants.