This week we’ve been cooking from the classic BBC book of the series, Floyd on France. This book covers recipes from all regions of this beautiful culinary country. We started the week with a Bouillabaisse with Rouille, Aioli and some boiled potatoes. This recipe was incredibly simple and absolutely delicious. We had a couple of improvisations that we had to do. We didn’t have fennel fronds, so some chopped fennel had to suffice. Our second challenge was Aioli, which we make most weekends to go with our steak and chips, but this recipe caused a bit of a nightmare. It was all going so wonderfully well when I added just a bit too much oil a little too quickly, and it split. Keith’s recipe didn’t include mustard to help emulsify but needs must, and I had a mayonnaise to save. Alas, there was no dijon in the fridge, so we had to use English mustard – sacred bleu! I’m sure Keith would have found that somewhat amusing. The rouille was absolutely delicious, super simple, and perfect with the aioli and bouillabaisse.

Next up in the week was Veal Escalope with Dijon Mustard. This was another straightforward weeknight supper that was tasty and took 15 minutes to make.

Basque Chicken was another cracker of a recipe. The chicken was cut into pieces, and we used the carcass to make a simple chicken stock with some carrots, leeks and onions for later in the recipe (the recipe could easily have been done with chicken pieces and a stock cube). The cooked chicken pieces are combined with red and green peppers, tomatoes and the stock. The recipe was just great for a mid-week meal.

Last, this week was Marinated Grilled Lamb Brochettes, which we served in wraps with a cucumber and yoghurt salad, and a tomato and red onion salad.