Moules Poulettes / Marinieres

I just saw these delicious little lovelies and decided impulsively we'd have them for Saturday night tea! After visiting France many times, I have become 'used' to these; I used to hate them, the texture you see, not the taste, but over the years, a bit like Professor Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle, I've become accustomed to their faces!

During the summer, when the tourists are about, this is often called Moules Mariniere, but it reverts to its more traditional names of Moules Poulettes once the tourists have dispersed! It's basically mussels steamed in white wine with onions / shallots and cream. Easy and delicious.

Begin by softening the finely diced shallots and garlic in butter. Meanwhile, clean the mussels by removing the beard and rinsing through with cold water. Tap each one firmly to ensue it closes. If it doesn't, it's dead and needs throwing away. Do not cook mussels that don't close before cooking.

Once the onions have softened, add the cleaned mussels with a good splash (a large glass) of crisp white wine. Cover with a lid and steam for about 5 minutes. Once the mussels have opened and are hot, pour in some cream, add chopped parsley, season well and serve immediately in a large bowl with a glass of chilled wine and crusty french bread.

I served with an Australian Sauvignon Blanc, which was perfect.

Cote D'Azur

Apologies for not writing sooner, but I've only just managed to dig a laptop out from the dust after having a little building work done. It's not the one with the photos though, so you'll have to wait a little longer for me to add those! (Since added!)

Why is it that French airport shops are generally much more attractive than English ones? Is it because even if you buy a children's book from the newsagents there, they wrap it as a present and take time to do it beautifully, despite the queue building up? Or is it simply that the produce looks so much more appetising? Rather than selling everyday chocolate and giant bags of sweets, they sell a range of delicious French cheese, magnums of French champagne, foie gras, saucisson...the list could continue, but those are just a few of my favourites.

The restaurant food is a self-service affair but not as we know it in England. Admittedly, there isn't a choice as at Stansted - see my post about the simple and delicious food at the airport, but the food all looks quite appetizing; the best thing being that you can buy wine in a carafe from a tap! How good is that?! Red, White or Rose from a machine that in England, only dispenses soft drinks -wonder if we could get one installed in the staffroom at school?! No Tartiflette on the menu unfortunately, so we both ordered pizza -not frozen from a packet, but made there in front of you with fresh dough and toppings of your choice, and cooked in a feu-de-bois (wood burning oven). Just a reminder, this is a self-service restaurant in the airport! Usually these are delicious, but unfortunately this once, the girl left it in a little too long and the base was certainly crispy in parts, if not burnt and black. Oh well, the carafe of wine made up for it at just 4 euros!