La Chatte Gitane (or The Gypsy Cat) was the name we chose for our cottage in France at the time. We chose it while on the road, moving house the first time round, from Ireland to France with 2 dogs and 7 cats in the car.
This blog began its insignificant life as a recipe book for friends and family who would ask me repeatedly for a recipe of this, that and the other.
Since then it has taken many different directions, like we did and like gypsies tend to do. Sometimes making a U-turn and revisiting familiar roads and taking a break when necessary.
You'll find recipes here, but also musings about the places we've called home, the gardens that we've established, not always successfully, the homes we've improved and the environments we've lived in. Currently, after yet another stint in Ireland, we're back in France @ Le Mas d'Ayen

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Sweet peppers stuffed with spiced potatoes


My absolute favorite vegetarian Indian dish.
4/5 servings

Ingredients

4 tbsp sunflower oil
100 gr onions ; chopped
handful of cashewnuts ; roughly chopped
handful of raisins
1 tsp white pepper ; ground
2 tsp garam massala
1 green chili pepper ; finely chopped
3 tsp fresh ginger ; finely chopped
4 tsp coriander leaves ; finely chopped
salt to taste
750 gr boiled potatoes ; mashed
10 red peppers (I prefer green peppers for this recipe)
40 gr butter (for basting)

Preparation

Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onions, cashewnuts and raisins over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add the pepper, garam massala,chili, ginger, half of the coriander and salt.
Add potatoes and stir for 5 minutes.
Fill each pepper with the potato mixture and arrange in a greased baking tray. Add knobs of butter and bake in a preheated oven at 175 C for 35 minutes.

For the sauce (this can be done while the peppers are in the oven)

Ingredients

2 tbsp sunflower oil
6 green cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1 onion ; finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic ; roughly chopped
1 tin (400 gr) peeled tomatoes
1 tsp mace
salt to taste
60 ml cream

Preparation

Heat the oil in a pan.
Saute the onions, cardamoms, bay leaf, garlic and tomatoes.
Add 100 ml of water and cook for 30 minutes.
Strain through a fine sieve.
Add mace, salt and cream and stir.


Remove the peppers from the oven and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

The yummiest pasta sauce


This recipe is especially for Emma, who wasn't too sure about the use of anchovies, but after eating it, she was sold immediately and asked me for the recipe. So there you go Emma, enjoy !




Ingredients

1 head of garlic or more ; roughly chopped
15 cl olive oil
1 tin of anchovies ; roughly chopped - save the oil to add to the pan later
1 or more red chilies ; finely chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
70 gr tomato concentrate
3 tins of 400 gr peeled tomatoes
2 jars of 140 gr capers in vinegar
1 tbsp dried basil or a bunch of fresh
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp sugar


Preparation

Pour the olive oil in a cooking pan and add the garlic, glaze on a low heat, stirring regularly. Take care not to burn the garlic.
Stir in the anchovies till they dissolve, before adding the chilies.
Next in the pan is the tomato concentrate and oregano. Let this simmer for a couple of minutes, still stirring.
Squish or squelch (don't know which word to use here) the peeled tomatoes in.
Simmer for a further 15 minutes, then adding the capers and their vinegar and the basil.
Bring back to a simmer, season with salt and pepper.
I always add sugar to cut through the tartness.
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