A Lesson on Lambs

There is a new addition to the Camont family.....LAMBS. Two very precious, very new lambs.
Kate knows a couple who owns sheep, so we drove north toward their farm into the Lot region of France, where the soil and landscape is quite different from the heavy clay around Kate's place.

On the way, we ran across two ancient Shepherd's huts built on the edges of a field.

This one in the distance is the bigger of the two, and was probably used for a
little refuge from the sun for a shepherd as he babysat his fluffy white flock.

The second hut was smaller and had a few inches of water still left in the bottom-
most likely once a spring.

The stonework is incredible, so precise and STILL STANDING in pristine condition. Does anyone know the artist Andy Goldsworthy? He creates structures like this one, and others with sticks, ice, stones, raindrops etc. They are temporary in that he builds them in places where they will be destroyed by natural means like melting from the sun or being carried away in the tide.

The old farmhouse is built right on a river and at one time was a working mill. The white
building to the right is the old mill house, but is now just another barn. Walnut, chestnut
and pine trees cover the property and create a wonderful, homey nest in the valley.

Happy sheep in their large, shady pasture.

First task? Getting the sheep in one place to snatch up a young one.
Sounds easy right? Just put food out and they all come running.

Craig, the owner, caught the first lamb. It is a beautiful little girl and a
local Gascon breed with black circles around its eyes.
Maybe this is mommy? Perhaps she's just a little angry?

No one knows who will be next, and they're all on guard, watching, waiting.

One little lamb, all alone and no one to play with.

Kathryn has arrived! And 2 days into the Camont experience she gets her first taste
of what it feels like to hold a warm, woolly animal in her arms. When we got the lambs home, I wondered why their knees were dirty and discolored...well, here you have it.
Drink up.

Craig demonstrates how to position the lamb. Sitting on its rear end, the little one is incapacitated and can't move from your grip. This is the position that
is generally used for shearing sheep as well.

And of course, no farm is complete without a dog. This Australian Sheep dog, with its
brown and ginger coat, is not only a rare color but also the best dog I have ever met.

Such a proud new mom with her new baby lamb.
Can you see the resemblance?

Thanks Craig, and good luck to Kate Hill in her new endeavor.

Spring Has Arrived

We have been working hard around Camont getting things ready for the coming of spring.

Enormous groups of cranes, hundreds at a time, flew overhead last week. This signifies the beginning of spring much like our Groundhog Day in the U.S.
We could not have been more happy to see them.

It is time for the ducks and chickens to begin sitting on their eggs, so we have to
secure the coop against ferrets, rats and weasels. This darling little chicken is more persistant than the rest and is always the first to run over and see what we are doing.

And it turns out, Bacon will be hatching the ducklings this year...

Nothing is done around Camont without the "help" of the 10 chickens and Henri.
They are constantly under our feet and hands as we work, waiting for the
second we dig up a plump, pink worm or grub.

The garden is turning around from last year's frozen, dead vines to our
newly constructed raised beds for potatoes. The soil here is full of thick, heavy clay,
so planting on top of the earth in raised beds is much easier.

Hiding down on the Garonne Canal, Kate's boat, the Julia Hoyt, is another one of our projects. Kate has lived on the boat for the past 24 years, giving canal tours in the summer between Bordeaux and Toulouse. But it is now time to sell the boat and move on to the next thing.

The boat flooded a few weeks ago, and finally all the water is pumped out from
under the floorboards, the bedrooms and the tool room.

Julia Hoyt will be beautiful and brand new when she's finished being fixed up.
She is an old WWI boat that Kate bought in Holland. The hull is iron, not steel, thus more rust- resistant and strong. Anyone in the market for a boat? She's an absolute gem!

No matter how hard we work throughout the day, we are always rewarded with
a stunning sunest over the farmland to the southwest of us.

Cheers to la belle vie en France

Larressingle, whaaaat?

I promise that Larressingle is NOT the name of a fancy duck dish. . .

Lucky us, it just so happens that we ran into yet another town on the 20 Prettiest Villages
of France list. The name is a bit funky, so Kate'slittle trick is to remember-
Larry's Single. Oh, he is? I had no idea!

Larressingle is an old bastide, or fortified town, built in the early 13th century. The currently accepted definition of a bastide is a town that was designed and built as a whole by the founder.

This town is circular, with thick, stone walls surrounding and protecting it.

Originally, when life was slightly more dangerous and you never knew who was
going to come and invade you next, there was a drawbridge across the mote.
It was later replaced by this fixed bridge supported by massive pillars.

The sign at the entrance reads:
INTERDIT AUX CHEVAUX(No horses allowed).
Shoot.

A short section of the 4-foot-thick wall is exposed along the back side of the village.
Safety first, children.

In the 13th century, this region was being fought over by both the French and English crowns. Thus came the beginnings of bastide-building.

And talk about a room with a view.

The tiled roofs in this region were especially prominent
and beautiful in this little bastide.

Pigeons roost in the abandoned towers of Larressingle.
The inhabitants are quite lucky because the up-keep of their small village is of utmost importance to France, being one of its 20 pretty villages. The stonework is precise and beautifully restored, the lawn in trimmed, and there are no horse droppings to speak of.

The village is also a stop along the Saint-Jaques-de-Compostelle pilgrimage,
which continues on to the southwest and then straight westward across nothern Spain.

Pâte, Civet, Rillettes, Confit, Foie Gras-- Oh la

Now that we've had a small break from duck,
we are going to go all out with everything duck right now.
(*This post is definitely not for the vegetarians/vegans out there.)

First up is duck pâte- so we needed to bring out the handy meat grinder...

Slowly but surely the duck meat was fed through the top of the grinder,
and came out nice and...ground..? onto the dish.

Note the deep yellow color of the farm-fresh egg yolks-- incredible.
The egg gets mixed right in with the meat, and then it's
molded into little bowls and decorated with a bay leaf & a few peppercorns.

Pop it in the oven, spread it on a baguette and voila! Delicieux

Next up is Civet, which is a very, very close cousin to
Boeuf Bourguignon, if not a fraternal twin even.
Don't like duck? You can substitute really any game or red poultry in this dish.

Brown the meat, carrots, leeks, shallots, celery and bacon ends. In a separate pot, boil 2 1/2 bottles of red wine and add the bouquet garni(thyme & parsley). Add everything back into the browning pot, pouring in the wine, some peppercorn and 4 bay leaves.Boil, then let simmer
for 2 hours(it's better/more flavorful the next day, so be patient and reheat it later!)

Civet, served with delicious buttery polenta. Mmmmmmm

Moving on to Rillettes, a true duck phenomenon and relatively simple.
Muscovy is the duck of choice for this dish, as they are extra meaty.

Put the wings, carcass, neck and breast(opt) in a pot with bay leaves, peppercorn, onion, carrots, leeks, celery leaves, and fresh thyme. Add water 1/2 up the pot, boil, simmer for about 2 hours, until meet is very tender. This creates really flavorful juices that will be put back into the recipe.

This is the fun part if you like to get your hands dirty. Take all the meat off the bone, discard the meet and ligament. MASH MASH MASH the meat with your hands until it turns into a nice paste. Add: 1 c broth from pot, 1 c duck fat, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 Tbl large salt crystals.

Now, you can put this in a terrine/wok and eat relatively soon,
or you can sterilize it in jars and keep it for up to 1 year.
We chose to sterilize them, but let me tell you, they will not last for a year in this house.

Almost there! The 4th recipe is none other than Confit de Canard.

Take all the duck parts and rub with salt. Let it stand in the frig for about 24 hours.
To get the duck fat- cut out all the fat you can find and melt it in a skillet. Strain it to make sure there are no chunks. Retrieve the duck parts, wash off the salt with cold water,
pat dry, and let then simmer in the fat for 2 hours.
Fit them into jars and pour the fat over and around the parts to be 'confited', and seal them well.

Now, Confit means to preserve, like confiture(jam). You can confit just about anything that produces fat, like pork. So while we made the Confit de Canard today,
we should really let it sit on the shelf for 2 months or so before eating it.

Most likely, when you order Confit de Canard at a restaurant it is not the true/preserved dish.

Next? Last? Getting tired of duck yet? Terrine de Foie Gras Entier Mi-Cuit
Now, what does all that mean? Terrine is simply the small pot it is cooked in. Entier means 'whole', so the liver is not cut up, not mixed in with other parts of the duck, just the liver.
You can buy cheap fois gras at the store because it not made solely from liver.
And mi-cuit means semi-cooked. It is the best kind and retains a beautiful, pinkish hue.

De-veining the liver is essential, as you do not want them spoiling your creation.
First discovered by Egyptians with migratory birds, fois gras spread from Egypt to the Mediterranean, though it was not recognized as a proper dish until Roman times.

Salt and pepper and Armagnac the liver, leaving it marinade for 3-4 hours in the frig.
Then put it into a small terrine pot.

Press the liver down with weights to make sure there are no air pockets.
Cook at 180 degrees F for 30-35 minutes in a water bath, until it is 135 degrees in the center.
A nice seal of fat will rise to the top. Let cool in the water.
Keep 2 days before eating. You may cry when you taste how wonderful this is.

A Perfect pot of foie gras, waiting to be eaten.

Our very own, homemade foie gras, which we had as
an apéritif along with baguette and fresh, fresh oysters. Oh la!

Do try all of these dishes but don't attempt to make them all in one day...
you will most certainly drive yourself nuts, burn a few pots, put the polenta through
the meat grinder and accidentally pour the Civet wine over the fois gras- GROSS.

Bonne Chance(Good luck)

Tartiflette à la Kate Hill

After a few days of seeing quite a lot of duck, we decided to do something a little different for dinner tonight: Kate's Gascon version of Tartiflette, with a pear tart for dessert.

Welcome everyone, to The French Kitchen with Kate Hill.

And we're off!

We started out with the pastry shell. Sandra said if she could go home knowing
how to make a perfect pastry she would be happy...

Mixing a 1:2 ration of butter and flour together and keeping the hands facing up, always up, Sandra is well on her way to perfection. This nifty measuring cup gives the grams based on what it is you are measuring- from flour, to sugar, to rice, and liquid.

For the pie makers out there, we know that rolling out the dough and getting it safely into the pan in one piece is never easy. Rolling it up onto the rolling pin this way helps immensely.

Mmmm, and there is nothing better than juicy pears, fresh from the
local market we went to earlier today.

Participating in the cooking and note-taking are both
essential parts of getting the process down.

Someone is happy with her pie shell. And the tart was superb.

Now, on to the tartiflette we march.

...but first, a little knife-handling session.

The tartiflette originated in the Savoie region, which encompasses southeastern France but is no longer a technical region of France. It is reminiscent of potatoes au gratin, and is usually made with potatoes, cream, ham and a whole round of Reblochon cheese cut and melted on the top.

Kate's Gascon version is much more lively and
colorful thanks to the wonderful sweet potatoes.

And who knew that making homemade crackers could be so easy? Not I. We used extra pizza dough, rolled it out, put an egg wash and some seeds on top and voila!

Every night of great cooking deserves a candlelight dinner chez Kate.
And a night of good, long sleep follows shortly after.
Bon Appétit friends