Photography

Auberge du Belvedere

It was a cold and somewhat dreary Sunday, so what is better than having lunch at a new restaurant recommended by some friends that we had not been to. This time the restaurant was the Auberge du Belvedere located just outside of Tremolat. The restaurant is clearly one of those out of the way locations and we even made one wrong turn getting there but that is part of the adventure.

When we did find the restaurant, the parking lot was full and as we walked into the restaurant, it was full of local families all having their Sunday lunch together. Sunday lunch in France is not a “fast food” event, so for the Auberge du Belvedere, you need to plan on spending 2 to 2 ½ hours for lunch (which with great conversation is still too short).

The meal starts with a glass of a Kir and then is followed by a multiple course meal. To cut to the chase, everything was excellent and so I will let the photos speak for themselves as to the quality of the food. The service was excellent and we totally enjoyed ourselves.

The restaurant is located at Lieu Dit Rocamadou, 24510 Tremolat, France (+33 5 53 22 49 01) and you can read more about it on their TripAdvisor.com page.

Menu du jour at the Auberge du Belvedere

The potage du jour which was a delicious soup of noodles, chicken and a comforting brooth.

Pâte de foie gras and a foie de canard. Very yummy.

This plate was the Entrée chaude du jour and was roast pork in a heavenly sauce. Very yummy!

Confit de canard et pommes de terre sautées. Traditional fare that tasted wonderful

The dessert du jour, which was a light cake with pears, toasted almonds and what tasted like a Poire Williams sauce.

Salade de Chevre Chaud Marine

Last night we prepared a Salade de Chevre Chaud Marine, also known as Warm Salad of Grilled Marinated Goat’s Cheese. This is a recipe from “Le Cordon Bleu Classic French Cookbook, the Centenary Collection” and interesting cookbook of traditional French cuisine.

The salad was wonderful, visually as well as having an excellent flavor. If you would like a copy of the recipe you can find it in our recipe database at Searching4Zen.com.

The frisée and radicchio torn and tossed with all the wonderful herbs.

The cheese is ready to bake under the broiler.

Salade de Chevre Chaud Marine, plated and ready to serve.

Bistro Burger et frites de Patate douce

Spring is starting to appear and we were looking to break out the BBQ and have some good grilled hamburgers with some sweet potato fries. However not wanting to ignore the cuisine of where we are living now we decided to meld the good old American cheeseburger with Steak Frites, voilà un bistro burger et frites de patate douce. I do not know if that is the correct translation for sweet potato fries, but it sounded good when I checked it out on Google translate.

The mixture of bacon and beef makes for a very juicy and tasty hamburger with a slice of any type of melting cheese to coat the meat. Jo Ann had the idea of using the béarnaise sauce which added a great flavor to the burger.

It was a great meal to imitate the BBQ this spring and I hope the weather will continue to provide us with the warmer temperatures.

We grind our own meat for our hamburgers using a mixture of 80% beef and 20% bacon.

The sweet potatoes are sliced and ready to be oven baked to create our frites.

Whisking the Béarnaise sauce

Bistro Burger et frites de Patate douce ready to serve. The hamburger is toped with the Béarnaise sauce which is also used to dip the frites into.

Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Cassoulet is one of the ultimate French comfort foods and has always been one of my favorite meals. However to prepare it the traditional French way, the recipe can take several days and many hours of preparation and cooking. We found a recipe on NY Times Cooking from Mark Bittman called “Slow Cooker Cassoulet” which got us thinking why we could not adopt our cassoulet recipe to a less labor intensive and time consuming method.

Although I am sure Cordon Bleu would not approve of this recipe, I can tell you that it was one of the most flavorful and tasty meals we have prepared. The total involved cooking time was only around 1 ¼ hours although it did cook in the slow cooker for five hours.

We paired this dinner with a new (to us) wine appellation from Crozes-Hermitage, which provided an excellent pairing to the cassoulet, even though Crozes-Hermitage is not really that close to Gascony, where cassoulet was first made.

This is a strong recommendation on our yum scale so you should give it a try, especially with how easy it is to make. You can find our recipe at searching4zen.com.

Arranging all of the vegetables before commencing with the slicing and dicing

Carrots, onions and garlic all diced and in the slow cooker ready to cook

Sautéing the duck confit until it is golden brown

Browning the sausages in the duck fat until golden brown

The cassoulet in a deep casserole pan, all that is needed is the bread crumbs and the parsley.

All of the meats ready to be put into the slow cooker

The wine which we paired with the slow cooker caussolet. Excellent melding of favors between the wine and the food.

Slow Cooker Caussoulet plated and ready to serve

Le Restaurant Victor Hugo

This past week we had lunch at a restaurant in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande which we had found on TripAdvisor.com. The lunch was great as the food was very tasty and fresh, the service outstanding and prices very reasonable.

I had the menu du jour which consisted of three items, a starter of cream of cauliflower soup, a main plate of Veal with pasta and vegetables and a nice apple cake in a yogurt sauce. Priced at €13.90 it was a very nice deal. I also asked the owner his choice for a glass of local wine which was also outstanding.

Jo Ann had a large Salad de Chevre Chaud and a wonderful (I only got a small taste) of a Chocolat Foundaut avec glace de menthe. Not only was it presented beautifully but it was very tasty. Jo Ann also had a glass of the local white wine selected by the owner.

If you are in the area of Sainte-Foy-la-Grande I strongly recommend visiting Le Restaurant Victor Hugo. They are located at 101 rue Victor Hugo, 33220, Sainte Foy-la-Grande. You can find out more about them at TripAdvisor.com.

Le Menu du Jour.

Veloute de chou-fleur.

Blanquette de veau Tagliatelles, légumes. The veal was extremely flavorful as were the vegetables and the pasta.

Salad de Chevre Chaud

Chocolat Foundaut avec glace de menthe.

Gâteau au yaourt pommes-caramel. Simple but very good.

Penne Boscaiola (Woodsman-Style Pasta With Mushrooms and Bacon)

Dinner last night was a scrumptious penne boscaiola, a recipe we found on Serious Eats. It was a chilly evening and this meal just warmed your insides and was a earthy and smoky pasta that had loads of favors packed inside.

Being in the Southwest part of France you would think that we would have little if any problems in getting some dried mushrooms, but Jo Ann and I ended up having to shop at three supermarchés before we were able to get all the ingredients (and the proper mixture of wild mushrooms).

This recipe is definitely a strong YUM recommendation for you to try. To get the recipe you can find it in our recipe database at Searching4Zen.com.

Penne Boscaiola (Woodsman-Style Pasta With Mushrooms and Bacon)

Finishing up the Penne Boscaiola, it looks so good I can’t wait for dinner!

The plated andd ready to eat Penne Boscaiola (Woodsman-Style Pasta With Mushrooms and Bacon)

Restaurante La Poudette

It was a chilly day so we decided to have a traditional French family Sunday meal. Although the restaurant was about 20 minutes drive from where we were staying we thought it looked like it would be a fun and enjoyable meal.

All I can say is that you will not be disappointed if you have a lunch or dinner at la Poudette.

The meal started with a wonderful amuse bouche, followed by an entrée, then a main course and we finished with a dessert. We also had a glass of crémant and a glass of local wine with our meals.

I thought that the service was outstanding and very friendly and the food was heavenly.

Don’t think twice it’s alright, you just need to visit La Poudette.

If you would like more information on La Poudette, check them out on TripAdvisor.

The amuse bouche was an excellent small taste of a great mushroom cream soup. So tasty but now anxious for the meal to come.

Noix de coquilles Saint Jacques dorées, risotto au champagne.

Foie gras de canard des Landes, pruneau cuit dans un sirop de vin à l’armagnac, pain de mie Maison.

Lotte à la vapeur en lasagne, fondue de poireaux bisque de langoustines à l’estragon.

This was a special not on the menu du jour. It was a filet of duck, with chanterelles, a ball of mashed potato and a wonderful foie gras chaud. This was so yummy.

Joli Baba à l’Armagnac, glace à l’Armagnac

Gâteau Forêt Noire

The menu at La Poudette is based on what is in season and fresh.

Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara

Last night we were in a craving for Italian cuisine and we had a new recipe that we had never made before “Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara” from America’s Test Kitchen. I don’t know where I came to think this way, but I always use to equate carbonara with a cream based pasta. When you read this recipe you can see that is made from just a couple of ingredients and is fairly easy to make. I sure don’t know where I ever came to think this way, but boy am I glad I have unlearned that “alternative fact”.

The recipe is very straight forward and easy to prepare. The results were superb with a pasta coated with a sauce of Pecorino Romano, bacon, bacon fat and garlic. It is so yummy.

Make this for dinner and you will not be disappointed. If you would like a copy of the recipe you can get it from our recipe database at Searching4Zen.com.

The first step is to cook the bacon in water until the water is completely cooked off.

Then you continue to cook the bacon in it’s fat until it is golden brown.

it is critical to properly mix the sauce so that all of the pasta is coated evenly but throughly.

Plated and ready to serve, the Foolproof Spaghetti Carbonara is an awesome recipe.

Sainte-Foy-de-Grande Samedi Merché

Our first day in the Sainte Foy Bordeaux appellation and we decided to head off to the Saturday market. The marché in Sainte-Foy-de-Grande is extensive, full of people and had many vendors that we do not get in the marchés in the Dordogne.

Not only was there extensive produce and fruits available, but there was excellent fish, meats, sausages, and my favorite dried fruits stuffed with foie gras. These little delicacies were so tasty and sweet, it was like candy from heaven.

Bottom line if you are visiting the Sainte Foy Bordeaux appellation, you must make time to go to the Saturday market in Sainte-Foy-de-Grande.

The highlight of the day, these dried figs were filled with foie gras. Such unbelievable flavor!

Here is a mixture of the dried figs stuffed with foie gras as well as some prunes stuffed with foie gras. We have both for tonight.

Yummy looking mussels.

Fresh Mussels

A French speciality, Radis Noir. I just can’t get my head around eating a black radish.

Very interesting way to present and sell Endive. The plant was still attached to the roots in a holder with some dirt. The vendor just broke off the vegitable when you bought it.

Yummy garlic, shallots and onions.

The oranges were looking so fresh and tasty today.

We just could not make up our minds on what we wanted to prepare and eat tonight.

The marché at Sainte-Foy-de-Grande is extensive and almost every street has at least a couple of vendors. However we found one that was still empty.

Oh the prunes were so good at the marché

The dried fig stuffed with foie gras and the prune stuffed with foie gras.

l’Escargot d’Or

We were heading back home from a week in Italy and stayed in Saint-Etienne. We found this restaurant on Trip Advisor and decided to spend our Saturday evening here. Well that was one of the best decisions we made on this trip.

The food was wonderful, very tasty and presented beautifully. The service was outstanding especially with the owner seeming to take care of everyone in the full restaurant. The entire staff was outstanding.

Next time we are passing through Saint-Etienne we will definitely stop in again.