Provencal Meatless Monday

With this lovely weather, that we have had, I have been reminded of being in Alsace France, last summer. These are wonderful memories to hold on to, in such strange times, when all of our plans have been cancelled. With these thoughts in mind, we decided on a French Provencal dinner. Our guests this week were our good friends Dan and Deborah. So lets visit France!

Once our prep was done and our guests arrived, without hugs unfortunately, we gathered under the pergola and opened a bottle of Malivoire Che Bello sparkling wine and savory madeleines.

We have made these madeleines several times and they never disappoint, but making them with fresh herbs from the garden elevates them to a new level of freshness.

After a bit of a catch up, we headed to the outdoor table for our feast. We started with a bibb lettuce salad, that Shawn came up with in Myrtle Beach. He takes a head of lettuce deconstructs it, dresses it and reconstructs it into much smaller salads that look like little heads of lettuce.

Every time I look at these pics, it looks like the lettuce was attacked by bugs, but those are herbs. I request this light salad regularly.

Recently we had our friend Sheila for dinner and she gifted us with some wonderful blue cheese. We actually planned this meal with this cheese in mind. The dish we decided on was a Sweet pea and blue cheese croquette. The recipe we found was one of the most vague recipes we have seen. after making the mixture, we refrigerated it, then had to freeze it, to get it solid enough to pipe. The final result was quite delicate, but turned out beautifully and served on spoons kept them together nicely. The lesson here is sometimes you need to trust your instincts and not the recipe.

These turned out light and savory. The cheese added a bit of a tang to the croquettes. We paired this with asparagus with puree and egg mimosa, a Provencal vegetable tian, provencal stuffed vegetables and fingerling potato chips.

The potato chips served in water glasses added some whimsy to the table, and were crisp and salty. The vegetable tian is always a hit and the stuffed squash and tomatoes were bright and with the filling, added some meatiness to the table.

Now for the dish we were looking forward to most… Usually a dessert dish, the tarte tatin can also be made savoury, so for this Monday we served a beetroot tarte tatin.

I love beets in most forms, but caramelize them and add a buttery puff pastry crust, and you have a delicious rich dish. The table was beautiful, the flavours varied and the company vibrant.

What a meal to share with dear friends. One thing I failed to mention, our friends brought a treat with them, and we added a few of our own, to serve lavender ice cream with honey and a cookie tray (with butter tarts of course).

This was a nice light end to our meal. This was a perfect evening with good food, good friends and memories.