Photos – 2003 to 2013

A collection of Delice photos on Google+

Christmas Eve Menu 2013

Smoked salmon and avocado tartine
Salad of goat’s cheese, rocket and Serrano ham with a honey and walnut dressing
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Spicy lamb tajine with couscous
Cod and homemade chips with tartar sauce
Steak and Ale pie with seasonal vegetables or homemade chips
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Homemade dessert from the blackboard
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Mince Pies and Christmas Crackers

19€ per person
Reservations: 02 33 51 16 14

Only in Gavray…

Thierry Olive’s new calf waiting patiently outside the Restaurant du Delice in his hatchback.

Territoire d’Expression Magzine – Autumn 2012

Côté Manche Magazine Nov 2012

We’re on TV!

France TELE-3, 17/5/2012 – Skip to 10m 25s

Win a Saint Emilion Grand Cru

Love French cuisine? Grand Cru Bordeaux wine? Think you could do a short voice-over? Visit my other blog “French Vineyards” here for competition details. Good luck!

Saint Patrick’s Day

‘The Rogues’ Patrick and Sam Hilyer (and Rosie) making noise on St Pat’s night 2012. Fish & Chips and Mobsby’s Irish Stout…

L’Ardoise

Queue de Boeuf Bourguignon

Here’s our Queue de Boeuf (ox tail) Bourguignon recipe (pared down for about 4 people)…

For a kilo of ox tail (or 2+ good pieces per person)

For the marinade:
1 bottle of red burgundy (at the moment I’m using some Paul Court Bourgogne Grande Reserve N.V. from the early ’70s, but any decent red burg will do)
1 large onion sliced
2 carrots sliced thickly
2 sticks of celery sliced
2 or 3 large cloves of garlic (somewhere between bruised and smashed)
1 sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
6 peppercorns (whole)

For the garnish:
Olive oil
100g of lightly smoked lardons
A Dozen-or-so peeled, whole shallots
200g of button mushrooms
Some lightly toasted, sliced French bread with a little garlic made into ‘croutes’
Lots of flat-leaf parsley

Method:

Trim the meat of excess fat

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and drown everything in the wine

Leave for at least a few hours or overnight if possible (turn the meat if you get the chance, otherwise don’t worry)

Take the meat chunks out of the marinade and dry it with paper towels

Sieve the marinade mixture, separating the vegetables from the liquid.

Fry the meat in a thick-bottomed or non-stick pan (don’t overcrowd it) on a high heat with olive oil until very well browned

Flambée each batch of meat in the pan with a slug of Marc de Bourgogne or brandy and set aside

When all the meat is browned, deglaze the pan with a little of the marinade and pour the this onto the meat that you have set aside

Melt some butter in the pan, add the marinade vegetables and fry gently until softened with a bit of colour

Add the meat chunks and cover with the liquid.

Add water or veal/beef/vegetable stock (use a stock cube if you like) if there’s not enough liquid to cover the meat

Cover and simmer ‘on a blip’ (on the lowest setting) for at least 2-3 hours, but test the meat with a skewer after a couple of hours

Fry the lardons in a little olive oil until brown. Reserve the fat and sauté the shallots (leave the twirly top bits on) and the button mushrooms (sliced in half it they’re big)

Add the lardons, shallots and mushrooms to the pot and cook for a further 30 mins (add salt and pepper to taste)

You can also add a little beurre manié to thicken at the end of the cooking

Serve either from the casserole or dished-up with plenty of freshly-chopped parsley, garlic croutes and macaroni pasta or boiled or puréed potatoes