Meal out or dinner in?

That is a very good question, there are so many great places to eat, Restaurant, Pizzeria, Cafe, then further choices, modern, traditional, local, specialties. Then on top of all this you could get carried away at the local market or even the supermarkets with their amazing selections.

I love eating out, but I also love cooking the important thing is that it is not complicated and you can drink a glass of wine whilst cooking just like Keith Floyd (well he did indeed have his own restaurant locally in Isle sur la Sorgue.) 

I like to buy fresh ingredients, but also what is good value.

Someone also said that you should have a repertoire of meals that you can cook every day, therefore, for me this is also important if you are on holiday. These are a few of the recipes that I find are easy to adapt to the ingredients that you have available.

Fish - Salmon Feta Pie

Salmon steaks, Leeks or onions, Feta cheese, eggs,filo pastry. We enjoyed this with chilled bottle of Petite Perle from Domaine de la Damase

Sausages - Merguez Pasta

Sausages (Merguez is my favourite), Onions, Garlic, Herbes de Provence, Tinned tomatoes, dried or fresh chillies

Chop the onions and garlic, fry the onions until soft with olive oil, remove the skins from the sausages and add to the pan in small chunks, fry with the garlic and chilli. When the sausages are nicely browned, add the tin of chopped tomatoes and herbes de provence. Serve with your preferred pasta. I also enjoy this recipe with mashed potatoes but this will take a little longer. Lovely with a glass of red!! If I make it really spicy, I like to have a nice smooth red from Costebelle.

Chicken - Chorizo Chicken

Chicken pieces, Olives, Tin of Tomatoes, Chorizo, 

Chop up the chorizo into chunks and fry off with a little olive oil. Fry off chicken pieces for about 3 minutes on each side just to brown and then leave to one side whilst you fry off chunks of the chorizo in 3 tbsp of red wine vinegar and 1 tsp of sugar and caramelise. Now add capers, olives, provence herbs, tin of chopped tomatoes and a little chicken stock. Put everything in the same pan and cover and cook for approx 1 hour. Oh, and guess what.........this goes really well with a glass of red. If I remember we had this with Domaine Boisson Cairanne Cotes du Rhone villages.

Vegetables - Mediteranean Vegetable Pie

Pesto, Chilli (optional), Mozzarella, Puff Pastry, 

Any vegetables, I like Courgette,

Peppers,Tomatoes, Onions, Whole Garlic, chop all the vegetables in good size chunks, and roast in a tin with olive oil.One cooked mix in pesto and chilli and leave to cool.

Meantime take the pastry and roll out into a circle, put the vegetables over one half, and slice the mozzarella and place on top. Wet the edges of the pastry

and fold over like a Calzone. Score the pastry and then glaze with egg. Bake in the oven for 35 mins approximately ( This very much depends on the oven that you are using!!)

Moussaka

Minced lamb or beef, jar of bolognese sauce (cheating I know), plenty of mint, sliced potatoes and aubergine, bechamel sauce, grated cheese.

I do cheat with this one, and it makes it quite simple, even better if you have a food processor to hand to finely slice the aubergines and potatoes. Once you have done this boil the potatoes in hot water until al dente. The rest .....put the meat, bolognese sauce, mint into a pan and heat through until the meat is cooked. Then layer your sauces and vegetables, top with cheese and bake in the oven.  We also enjoyed a lovely bottle of Caromb Grand Reserve , with this ( I do believe it was just the one!)

I haven't divulged all the wines, after all that is a question of personal taste :)