Dinner: Chocolate Chicken

Unless you're Mexican, Chocolate Chili Chicken may not seem like an obvious combination... But the richness of the chocolate set against the warmth of the chili makes for a gorgeous rich stew style dinner...
Rather like adding a bit of coffee to your casserole or pie to add depth of flavour, it's worth bearing in mind dark good quality chocolate next time you want to add something extra to your casserole.

On Sunday we made Chocolate Chili Chicken- based on the Mexican Mole. It's very very simple- starting by frying onions and chillis with some chicken (or beef!) in Cinnamon (about two teaspoons..) add a tin of tomatoes and a few cubes of dark chocolate (about 20z will do four people, but it entirely depends on how chocolately you would or wouldn't want it...)

Simply leave it to boil away and serve up!

Yum yum.

xx

Noel en France

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So though whilst the plethora of food that Christmas brings fills me with excitement, I've never been the biggest fan of Christmas dinner itself. And for this reason, I welcomed a Christmas spent on the North coast of France.
As you will know from my previous post 'Lou en Bretagne' I am a great lover of France and it's food.

Here is a little overview of a few of our favourite dishes to create over the Christmas period in France, sourced from the local patissier, boulangerie and poissonier...

Christmas Eve- duck cassoulet, with french baguette. It is impossible for me to go to France without eating this at least once. It's the best thing you get out of a tin.

Christmas Breakfast: Beetroot rostis with smoked salmon and scrambled egg, topped with basil and horseradish cream. Love this recipe! I've been patiently waiting for Christmas Day since I saw it in Sainsbury's Magazine last January... As a big fan of both smoked salmon and beetroot, this ticked a lot of boxes for me. The horseradish cream is made by mixing horseradish sauce and creme fraiche. Serve with Cava! It's the one day that alcohol at breakfast is socially acceptable- make the most of it...

Christmas Dinner: In France, its traditional to eat fish on Christmas day. I favour this over roast meat and so we went for halibut with anchovies, capers and lemon, drizzled with rosemary oil. It's the simplest recipe and was really gorgeous- as well as fairly light.

Chocolate chesnuts from the chocolatiers in Paimpol.

Christmas Day, starter- seared scallops served in the shell (picked from the beach) with a spinach, tomato and beetroot salad. I love scallops served with strong flavours, such as black pudding, or, as I tried recently, with a roast chesnut and cep compote ... But sometimes they're best served simply, with a little drizzle of soy and ginger- or a wedge of lemon.

Boxing Day- After all the rich, heavy foods, Christmas cake, etc, Boxing Day should be kept light. I love fish soup, with grated ementhal and slice of toasted baguette. For those with sturdier stomachs, it is sometimes followed by a cheeseboard. When in Rome...!

Christmas isn't Christmas without mulled wine, right?

Hope you all had a great Christmas!

xx