Ah the French, they have given the world of food so much. French cooking techniques run through the art of preparing food like the radiation from the Big Bang runs throughout the Universe – they are omni-present. However I would proffer that theirs is not so much a star in descendence, but that others cultures, regions and chefs are now shining that much brighter.
Last year I attended a talk entitled 'Is French food a spent force?' [see here and here] as part of London Restaurant week. The debate quickly turned into a comparison between the cuisines of the two countries, which wasn't the premise of the original question. Consequently the debaters, Jonathan Meades and A A Gill ('No' camp) vs Rosie Boycott and Janet Street Porter ('Yes' camp) didn't really get anywhere.
There is a certain type of English gentleman who likes to dress like a french dustman and live the Peter Mayle life. France, southern France in particular and the food experience of it, suffers from this a bit I feel. But France is slowly changing. People often say that the French don't have or need celebrity chefs or want glossy cook books. No? Well the two face out (i.e. latest) tomes in a book shop I visited in Bergerac were Notes From My Kitchen Table by a certain Ms G. Paltrow and a book to accompany the French version of Masterchef. Meanwhile in the news six children were severely ill with an E. Coli strain after eating steak hache (burgers to you and me) from Lidl. mon Dieu!
Having said that. Here is the salad bar at the in store cafe-restaurant at the Carrefour outside Bergerac. Look at all that produce – There are some towns in England that don't get through that much fruit and veg in a month!
Anyway, I was there to holiday with the family, soak up a bit of sun, eat some nice food and enjoy a demi in the town square at noon. Lord knows how the French stay so thin eating steak frites and fois gras, duck gizzards and pork at lunch. Nor could I fathom how their economy is doing well when the shops are only open 9-12 and 3-6. The French, they just don't give a toss, you've got to love them for that.
On one night we hosted the couple who owned the gite we were staying in. They'd had us over for dinner a few nights earlier, and produced some lovely food, bread topped with goats' cheese and honey, duck breast roasted on a BBQ with sauteed potatoes, a simple cucumber and tomato salad, and plenty of wine.
After our offer of a return dinner was accepted I rushed back and began to plan the menu. First and foremost it would be dictated by what pots and pans the gite had in it. Being a holiday let it was simply equipped, so nothing fancy was the order of the day. The electric oven was a portable kind and not very big, but it did get nice and hot, and a large Le Creuset rectangular oven dish, some large pans and a good stock of serving bowls meant I could cook and serve something worthwhile.
The next issue was what to cook. I was tempted to go all British – toad in the hole, shepherd's pie or a classic roast. But that only really works when you've got access to British produce and besides the weather was too warm. Then Alice May Brock's quote came to mind:
“Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.”
And so I went sort of French and did my chicken tarragon with haricot beans which is a firm fave in our house. It's easy, it can sit for a while, it goes well with salad, potatoes or both…..and everyone likes chicken right?
Unsure of the oven, I did a test run by roasting courgettes, celeriac, onion, fennel and garlic, to cool and serve later as salad. This taught me that the oven was good, but not as fast or as hot as mine at home. Consequently cooking times would be longer.
Chicken with tarragon.Eight chicken legs in my case, but one chopped up bird or just breast if you're a bit boring.Fry the onions and the garlic till soft. Transfer to oven dish.Fry the meat skin side down in a pan to get a bit of colour on it, flip it over then slug in a large glass of wine. It should bubble. Transfer this to the oven dish.Add a tin of haricot beans to warm up a little and soak up any juice, then add these to the oven dish around the chicken.Mix in a table spoon or two of creme fraiche to thicken the sauce, and place in an oven.
You're after the beans mushing down a bit and lift the meat slightly out of the pan, so the skin continues to colour but there's still some sauce underneath. Should take about 40 mins on a medium oven to cook through.
Adding the tarragon depends if you're using fresh or dried. Fresh needs to go in about 5 mins before it's served. Any earlier and it'll lose that lovely bright green and go all black. Dried is pretty good and can go in a bit earlier, if you're using dried use twice as much as fresh, it's not as pungent.
To serve with this I did my take on Sauce ravigote, which is just grated garlic, oil, parsley, tarragon, salt and pepper, and finely chopped gerkins and cornichons. It's a winner as the strong flavours complement the chicken.
I also wanted a 'fair bit of potato' and with jerseys nowhere to be seen, did some French ratte variety. Another salad of tomatoes, radishes and basil provided a bit of cool crunch too. Finally bread – lots of – and wine and everyone was happy.
