Cosmopolitan

2 parts vodka
1 part Cointreau or Triple Sec
2 parts cranberry juice (gives a lovely colour!)
Juice of half a lime
Shaken in ice
Served in a martini glass with a wedge of lime

Margarita

This is the traditional Margarita glass, and it is usually frosted around the rim with lemon juice and salt.

However, you don’t have to use salt if you don’t like it & any shape glass will do!

2 parts tequila
1 part Cointreau or Triple Sec
Juice of 1 lime
Shaken in ice
Served with a wedge of lime.

Vocabulary:

“On the rocks” – Served with ice cubes
“Straight up” – Shaken with ice, but served without it.
“Anyone for a cocktail?” – Who wants a cocktail?
(Anyone for tennis? – who wants to play tennis?)
“Any glass will do” – It doesn’t matter what glass you use.
(Any plate will do) – It doesn’t matter what plate you use

A measure (1 part = 2cls; 2 parts = 4cls)–

A cocktail shaker –

PS : If you go to London you will find lots of cocktail bars and clubs such as this one:-

The London Cocktail Club

You will find friendly service and a large cocktail menu.

Look out for the words “HAPPY HOUR” with a time (eg. 5.30 – 6.30) – it’s usually quite early in the evening when all the cocktails are either half price, or you get two for the price of one.

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TO MULL verb (pronounce the "U" like sun, run, fun, mum NOT like pull)

1. followed by "over" to think about, to consider eg: I don't know whether to leave my job or not. I need to mull it over.

2. to heat and sweaten wine with spices. (MULLED WINE)

At Christmas time English Connection offers every adult student a glass of MULLED WINE.

There are lots of different recipes for this hot winter drink - but as many of you have asked for my recipe - here it is:-

You need: Red wine, orange juice, sugar, an orange and the following spices:
Cloves
Nutmeg
Cinnamon

Quantities? I'm afraid there is no exact science to this - because everyone has their own preference. You just need to add a little bit of this & a little bit of that, add quite a lot of sugar, mull the wine gently for at least 1 hour and keep tasting it until it tastes good!

I usually start by warming 1 bottle of red wine & half a litre of orange juice. Add 100g of sugar. Add 8 cloves, a spoonful of nutmeg and half a cinnamon stick. Slice an orange and add that too.

After half an hour, taste the mulled wine and adjust the flavours. You will almost certainly need to add more sugar and possibly more spices.

Mull for another 30 minutes and taste again.

I usually mull the wine for 2 hours, keeping the heat low, tasting & adding from time to time. This gives a wonderful Christmassy smell to the whole house.

You can keep any left-over wine and re-heat it the following day, but if you do this, take out the orange & all the spices otherwise you will get a sediment.

You can use Port instead of wine. In this case you don't need quite so much sugar. You can also add a drop of cognac.

For students living in Vannes, you can buy the spices you need in this lovely little shop in one of the narrow streets in the old town. (Buy them individually - not the ready prepared mix for 'vin chaud'. It's cheaper & you can adjust the taste yourself.)

CHEERS!

Vichyssoise

There is some dispute as to who invented Vichyssoise soup.
Some say it was invented in New York in 1917 by a French chef called Louis Diat.

He was working at The Ritz – Carlton hotel when he remembered a soup made by his mother and grandmother in his home town near Vichy. The soup was made from leeks and potatoes and he and his brother used to put milk in it to cool it down. He decided to recreate the soup for the diners at the hotel and, originally, Crème Vichyssoise was served cold.

However, there is also an earlier recipe which was first published in 1869 in a book called Le Livre de Cuisine by the French chef Jules Gouffé. His book was also published in English under the title “The Royal Cookery book”. In 1872 he also published Le livre de soupes et des potages,which contained more than 400 soup recipes.

Whoever invented Vichyssoise soup, it is delicious and very easy and cheap to make and you can serve it hot or cold.

If you have never made soup before – the one essential bit of kitchen equipment you will need, however, is a blender.

The reason that soups are easy to make is that you don’t need to worry too much about exact quantities.

To make Vichyssoise for 2 – 3 people:-

2 big leeks – chopped and carefully washed
2 big potatoes, peeled and chopped.
Milk & cream ( crème liquide ou crème fraîche)
Salt & pepper

Put the leeks & potatoes into a saucepan with enough water to cover them, some salt & pepper & a knob of butter.

Put a lid on and bring to the boil. Simmer (gentle boiling) for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft. Take the saucepan off the heat and add a splash of milk.

Use the blender to make a thick soup. Add more milk if the soup is too thick. (You can also add a spoonful of crème fraiche, if you like.) Taste it, and add more salt & pepper if necessary.
Reheat, and serve with some cream, if you haven’t already added it.

Pumpkin Soup

We don’t really know who invented pumpkin soup, but we do know that this vegetable was native to North America before it was brought to Europe. Its name comes from the Latin “Pepon” meaning “big melon”, which was given to it by the French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1584 when he used it to describe the strange vegetables he had seen growing in the Saint Lawrence region of what is now known as Canada.

This name was later changed to “Pumpkin” by the British Pilgrims who arrived in 1620. They used pumpkins to make pumpkin pie and pumpkin beer.
Later, during the American War of Independence, the French army were sent to help the Americans fight against the British and pumpkins began to be imported to France – but they were not at all popular in England. In fact, “Pumpkin Pie” was, and still is, considered to be an American speciality and not at all British.

However, several hundred years later, pumpkins are slowly creeping onto menus in trendy London restaurants – especially at this time of year.

Pumpkin soup is easy to make and, as with the Leek & Potato soup, exact quantities are not very important.

½ or ¼ pumpkin, (it depends how big your pumpkin is!) peeled and chopped into large pieces.
1 large onion.
Salt & Pepper, cream, milk

Put the pumpkin, onions, S&P into a saucepan with a knob of butter and enough water to cover. Simmer for 15 -20 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.

Blend to make a thick soup, adding a drop of milk and some crème fraîche.

Taste it & add salt & pepper if necessary. Reheat and serve with a swirl of cream. (Crème liquide)

If you want to really impress your guests, you can serve the soup in the hollowed out pumpkin.

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"Je suis une inconditionnelle du Carrot Cake anglais ! Il est vrai que mettre des carottes dans un gâteau, ça peut sembler bizarre… Cependant, je vous assure que le résultat est fondant, très moelleux, et sucré juste comme il le faut, surtout avec le délicieux glaçage" MC

Carrot Cake by Bronwen at level B2

Carrots are a naturally sweet vegetable and have been used in England since the medieval period to make sweet cakes and puddings.
During the Second World War, The Ministry of Food began to encourage the British population to grow their own vegetables with a “Dig for Victory” campaign. The Ministry especially urged people to eat carrots and claimed that carrots helped you to see in the dark. The fact was that rationing had been put in place early on in the war and carrots were one of the few foodstuffs which were plentiful.

"Necessity is the mother of invention"

With very little sugar and butter, English cooking had to be inventive. From necessity came the Carrot Cake.

In the 1970s, Carrot Cake became popular again, especially in America, with the rather spurious claim that it was a “healthy” cake, due to the carrots, brown sugar & nuts. At this time Carrot Cake conjured up the image of sandal wearing, vegetarian hippies. Then, in the noughties, it made another come back, this time epitomising middle class, comfortably off families. Today this cake can be found in most trendy & chic tea rooms throughout England.

Despite the popularity of this cake in the English speaking world, most French people recoil in horror at the thought of Carrot Cake. But, trust me, Carrot Cake is absolutely delicious and, strangely, you CANNOT taste any carrots!

"Don't knock it till you try it!"

This week, at least 25 students at English Connection have bravely tasted my homemade Carrot Cake, AND THEY LIKED IT!

In fact, they liked it so much, they actually wanted the recipe. So here it is:

Oh, a word of warning, don’t let the members of your family see you cook it and don’t tell them what’s in it, because they will no doubt turn their noses up. Just present the cake, let them eat it, accept the complements and only tell them that they’ve eaten English Carrot Cake after the last bit has gone!

Ingredients:
4 eggs;
¾ cup of vegetable oil
¾ cup brown sugar
3 cups flour plus raising agent (levure chimique)
Pinch of salt
6 small carrots, grated
Grated rind & juice of 1 orange (or lemon, if you prefer)
A splash of vanilla essence
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecan nuts

For the icing:

Cream cheese – such as St Moret
50g semi-salted butter
Coffee spoon of vanilla essence
Icing sugar (enough to make a soft icing)

Method:

Wash & grate the carrots and the orange peel then squeeze the juice over the grated carrots. Whisk the eggs, oil, vanilla, sugar & salt together. Stir in the flour & raising agent. Add the carrots, orange peel, orange juice& chopped nuts. The mixture should drop easily from a spoon. (Not too dry & not too runny.)

Put the mixture into a baking tin which you have buttered & dusted with flower.
Bake for 30 – 50 mins (depending on your tin) at 175°

When the cake is cool, spread the icing over the top & decorate with a few more chopped nuts. If you bake a deep cake, you can cut it in half and put icing in the middle too.

It has been raining all week in Vannes, so I haven’t been able to take any photos round the town. However, as soon as the sun comes out, I’ll be out and about taking photos & I’ll send another postcard from Brittany as promised.

See you soon & enjoy the cake!

VOCABULARY:

foodstuffs - any type of food
plentiful - large quantities
expression: "Necessity is the mother of invention" - when we have a problem we will invent something to solve the problem
spurious - not true,false
to conjure up - to create an image
to epitomise - to represent
the noughties - 2000 - 2009
comfortably off - no financial problems (well off =rich)
to recoil - to step back, to step away
expression: "Don't knock it till you try it" - do not say something is horrible or bad unless you have actually tried it
to turn (your/his/her) nose up at (something) - to refuse something because you think it's inferior.

Here are four French recipes from some English Connection students studying at level B1.

Cannelés Bordelais (Sponge cakes from the Bordeaux region) by Armelle 1.

These little cakes have a traditional shape and are made in deep, individual cake tins. The cake mix should be made the day before cooking.

1. For 30 cakes: ½ litre milk, 250g sugar, 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 125g self raising flour, 50 g butter, 1 vanilla pod, rum to flavour.
2. Beat the eggs, the egg yolks & the sugar together. Add the sifted flour.
3. During this time, boil the milk with the vanilla pod.
4. Remove the pan from the heat & whisk in the butter.
5. Allow to cool & remove the vanilla pod.
6. Gently add the milk to the eggs & flour mixture, stirring constantly.
7. Add 2 spoons of rum.
8. Put the mixture into the fridge for 24 hours.
9. The next day, ¾ fill the Bordelais tins with the mixture. Cook for 40 mins at 150°

Rabbit in Mustard by René

Preparation: 10 mins; Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients (for 6 people)
- 1 rabbit, cut into pieces
- 1 large spoon of French mustard
- 20 cl dry white wine
- 6 carrots (peeled & sliced)
- Salt & pepper

This is a quick and easy rabbit recipe!

1. Put the pieces of rabbit into a large cooking pot with oil and start to brown.
2. During this time blend the mustard with the salt & pepper
3. When the rabbit is a golden colour, add the mustard mixture
4. Cook for a few minutes, then add the white wine and the sliced carrot
5. Cover & cook on a low heat for 1 hour. (Add more wine if necessary)
6. Serve with a glass of red wine – Marvellous!

Pork in Peaches by Armelle 2.

Ingredients:
- Fillet of pork
- 1 shallot
- Tarragon
- Mustard
- 1 tin of peaches
- White wine
- Salt & pepper
- Crème fraiche (soured cream)
- Cinnamon
- Butter
Method:
• Brown the shallot with butter in a frying pan. Add the pork fillet, brown it on all sides then brush it with mustard.
• Add a glass of white wine and a little tarragon
• Cover and simmer on a gentle heat for 40 mins
• At the end of the cooking time, add some crème fraiche.
• In another pan, brown the peaches in some butter with a pinch of cinnamon.
• Serve with pasta or rice.

Turkey Fillet with Three Peppers by Mijo

Ingredients for 4 people:
- 600g turkey fillets, cut into strips
- 3 peppers (one red, one green & one yellow)
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 spoons of olive oil
- ½ glass white port
- ½ spoon cider vinegar
- Salt & pepper to taste

1. Slice the peppers and cook them in a little oil for 5 minutes
2. Finely chop the onions & garlic, add to the peppers with a little salt & pepper
3. Add the strips of turkey, the white wine, the cider vinegar and leave it to cook gently until all the ingredients are brown.
4. Serve with rice

WE HOPE YOU ENJOY OUR RECIPES!

Nutty Recipe 2

If you made the banana & walnut cake successfully, perhaps you would like to try this next recipe:

Nut Tart (Gâteau au noix)

It’s slightly more difficult than the cake, but well worth it. I often make this as a dessert when people come to dinner. You can make it in advance, even the day before, and everyone loves it. However, it does contain alcohol, so this dessert is strictly for grown-ups!

For the pastry:
250g flour
100g butter
25g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
Pinch of salt

For the filling:
300ml cream (crème liquide douce – NOT crème fraiche.)
2 egg whites – beaten until stiff
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Packet of powdered almonds (125g)
100g caster sugar

For the topping:
100g Icing sugar
50ml Cognac or Armagnac
12 perfect walnut halves

Mix all the pastry ingredients together into a firm ball. Butter & flour a pie dish, then roll out the pastry & place it in the dish. Put it into the oven at 180° for 10 minutes. It should NOT go brown at all.
Meanwhile, mix the cream, vanilla essence, sugar, salt & powdered almonds together. Then carefully fold in the stiff egg whites.
Take the pie out of the oven & fill it with this mixture. Put it back into the oven & cook for another 30 -35 minutes until it is a golden colour.
When the pie has cooled a little, mix the icing sugar with the Armagnac & pour it all over the top of the tart. Decorate with the walnut halves.

Then sit back and wait for the complements!

There is a walnut tree in our garden which is probably about 40 years old. This year, it has produced a bumper crop*.

So what can we do with so many walnuts?

NUTTY RECIPE NUMBER 1

Easy Banana & Walnut Cake

75g semi-salted butter
110g caster sugar
1 large, beaten egg
Grated rind of 1 lemon
225g flour + raising agent
4 ripe bananas
75g chopped walnuts

Method:
Pre- heat your oven to 180°. Put buttered, greaseproof paper into a deep cake tin.
Put butter, sugar, beaten egg, flour & raising agent in a large bowl.
Slice & mash* bananas with a fork in a smaller bowl.
Mix the sugar, butter & flour using an electric whisk. (Don’t worry if it looks dry at this stage.)
Add the lemon rind, the mashed bananas & the walnuts. Mix together with a fork.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin.
Bake in the centre of the oven at 180° for 45 minutes, until golden.

This cake is delicious warm or cold, with a cup of coffee or a cup of English tea!

*a bumper crop = more fruit or vegetables than usual.
* to mash = to crush fruit or vegetables, eg:mashed potatoes
*"going nuts" = (idiomatic expression) to become mad or crazy