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Pairings | Chambres d'hotes

Chez Miton and Au Fil de L’Aigronne: two Loire bargains

Chez Miton and Au Fil de L’Aigronne: two Loire bargains

Posted on July 20 2013 at 10:46

Instead of hurtling down south on the motorway as we used to do with the kids to minimise family squabbling, we’ve taken to a stately three day progression with frequent stop-offs to visit winemakers, eat or simply drive through France’s beautiful unspoilt countryside and blissfully traffic-free back roads.

Tags: Pineau d'Aunis Loire reds drink:red wine Loire France B & B chambres d'hotes
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Stews also act as a useful receptacle for random freezer finds. The first shot is a fish stew made from a couple of chunky fillets of hake, a few queen scallops (goodness knows how long they’d been there) and a few frozen prawns. I made a base from onion, garlic, a slosh of white wine and half a tin of chopped tomatoes, then added the fish and a few parboiled new potatoes. Oh and the magic ingredients - a few drops of nam pla (fish sauce) which boots the flavour of any fishy dish and a pinch of saffron soaked in warm water. And some of that flat leaf parsley that went into the tuna and bean salad at the end. The other dish was based on an odd chunk of meat I thought was mutton but turned out - not disastrously - to be a ham hock. I slow roasted it with onions, carrots and a bit of beer then served it with a root veg stew made from onions, carrots, swede and potatoes finished off with brown miso and a dash of soy. Took the meat off the bone and added it back to the stew. It WOULD have been better with mutton but was pretty good nonetheless. Except that I now have to think what to do with the leftover root veg as I inevitably bought too much 🙄. Useful reminder that IT REALLY DOES HELP TO LABEL AND DATE THINGS YOU PUT IN THE FREEZER. And then remember that they’re there. When I was first married I used to have a freezer book, believe it or not. Not a bad idea. What have you found lurking in your freezer lately? . . . #stew #fishstew #hake #prawns #shrimp #hamhock #rootvegetables #miso #freezermeals #loveyourleftovers #lovefoodhatewaste #givingupstockingup #frugalmealsMore fridge foraging over the weekend built around half a jar of @boldbeanco’s fabulous queen butter beans which my generous neighbour @jennychandleruk had passed on to me as I’d run out and she knows I love’em. I used them to rustle up this quick tuna and bean salad with a tin of very good tuna from @thetinnedfishmarket, a handful of delicious cracked green Lebanese olives from @shorkk.food and a small preserved lemon it took me at least 5 minutes to find in the back of the fridge. I used the oil from the tuna tin and the brine from the olives and lemon as a dressing and mixed in some freshly chopped flat leaf parsley from my local greengrocer @regthe_veg. (I AM allowing myself fresh herbs) The sharpness of the olives and lemon really made it for me as I normally find tuna salads a bit bland. Incidentally the sharp-eyed among you may notice that there are two different shots of the dish - actuall 3 as I forgot to delete one. I recently bought some vinyl backdrops from @blackvelvetstyling in an attempt to raise my food styling game. Ideally there should have been a vase of flowers, some Scandi cutlery and a folded napkin in the shot, I know 😂. I still have a lot to learn. Which pic do you like best? . . #beans #pulses #tuna #tunaandbeansalad #olives #pickledlemons #fridgeforaging #storecupboardcooking #lovefoodhatewaste #frugalliving #givingupstockingup #foodphotograpyI’m conscious that wine is getting a bit neglected in this flurry of frugal posts so here’s a couple I’m rwally excited about. One was last night’s 2012 Gros Noré Bandol, a deeply coloured velvety red from Provence which ages spectacularly well (bit indulgent for a Monday night I know but I had a wine-loving friend over. At least that’s my excuse 😉) The other is the Pinot Meunier in this line-up of Aussie wines from @thewinesociety1874. It’s a grape more commonly found in champagne and other sparkling wines but has here been used by winemaker @mac_forbes_wines to create an utterly delicious fragrant light red or dark rosé - whichever way you want to look at it. I loved the Syrah too. You can find my write-up about them in the link in my biog. (The Blind Spot wines were press samples. I bought the Bandol - and wish I’d bought more!) . . . #wine #winelover #winestagram #instawine #redwine #rosé #bandol #pinotmeunier #blindspot #australianwine #thewinesocietyI’m not sure I ever enjoy marmalade more than the first time after I’ve made a new batch. Today it’s on the easy seed bread I made the other day (I froze half so had fresh bread to start the week) with glorious @ampersanddairy butter of which I still happily have a couple of packs. Made myself a proper cup of coffee (from @hasbean ana sora beans) to celebrate. I’m halfway through the #givingupstockingup challenge now (marmalade oranges don’t count cos a) they’re fresh fruit which I’m allowing myself and b) you can only buy them at this time of year) but I’m already realising this could easily go on for another month. Can I do it? Not sure I can or at least not with a bit of relaxing of the rules. But I should. Incidentally if you want to make my marmalade - or rather my mum’s - you’ll find a link to the recipe in my biog. . . . #sevilleoranges #marmalade #sevilleorangemarmalade #preserves #homemade #breakfast Follow on Instagram

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