The best season to eat this vegetable runs from May to November, for the one produced next to your door, in small Britain.



To choose a beautiful artichoke, a Breton one, le camus de Bretagne (green globe for US)… You have to recognize it : it is not the same as the mediterranean one, it is bigger (2 to 3 heads for a kilo). Then for a good one, you need to check the stem : it has to be fresh (not dry).

To cook it : you need to use two different boiling water

The first one is to wash it (the acidity will go), boil for 5 minutes and don’t cover. The water will be green.
The second is to cook it. Depending on the size of the vegetable, cook betwenn 15 to 30 minutes in boiling water. To know if it is cooked, remove a leaf and if it is tender, you can strain and wait till it is cold.

Recipe for french dressing :
3 tablespoons oil
1 of vinegar
a large teaspoon of french mustard.

Eat the leaves one by one dipped in french dressing. Savour the heart once you removed the inedible “choke”. You can also peel the stem and eat the tender center.
Be careful you have once cooked to eat it during the day because the artichoke oxidizes quickly.

Read it in French : Recette de l'artichaut à la vinaigrette

The peak season for artichokes lasts several months : from May to November.




The artichoke is a domesticated thistle ... Have you seen it blooming ? The flower looks like the thistle’s one and it smells so good…

The reproduction of the artichoke is often done thanks to a rejection from an other artichoke that grows beside and must be replanted. The plant is almost a bush, which can reach 2 meters high and provides several artichokes (big ones) for 2 or 3 years.
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Its name comes from the Italian language which took it from Arabic. Originally, the plant is Mediterranean. Already known in Italy during the 9th century, the marriage of the French King Henry II with the Italian Catherine de Medici (1533) who loved it made him popular in France.

Even if it is a Mediterranean plant, it grows well in Brittany- the culture began early 19th century-, specially on the North coast, where the climate is quite mild. The famous golden belt around Roscoff is the coast for early vegetables and 75% of the artichokes produced in France come from the area.



In France the favorite one is the camus de Bretagne,the largest species (2 to 3 kg per head), the one eaten peeled. The southern one is much smaller and often eaten like in Spain or Italy, in oil.

Read it in French : Artichaut de Bretagne

Everybody knows the french crêpes ! And what about the crispy dry ones ?

This crepe is extremely fine, crisp to perfection. Without preservatives or additives. Ideal for ice cream and water ice this summer.

The gavotte has changed since 1920, date of the beginning of its fame. It has different tastes : milk and dark chocolate, caramel with salted butter ...



As very often in the kitchen, the food's great discoveries are due to an error of the cook... who forgot an ingredient in the dough or cook it too long ...

The gavottes are part of those great culinary mistakes ... Here it is not a cook but a woman of Quimper, a Madame Cornic, who at the very end of the 19th century cooked too long his pancakes and the gavotte is born...

The crepe industry began at Quimper, (100 crepes an hour) in 1920. Success !! 30 years later 1500 pancakes were produced in 60 minutes. And as the success continues, a factory is created in Dinan.

Today the group Locmaria includes several brands of biscuit in Brittany. The company signed the Pact of the United Nations for sustainable development ... respect for human rights and environment. In short, a product in accordance with our planet ...

Read it in french : Gavottes ou crêpes dentelle : une spécialité bretonne

Winter is the season for soups and stews, good simmered dishes and rich meals... Apple pies and roasted chestnuts are also part of the winter menu... and the excess of Christmas time...

It is also the season of cold, where diseases are more predictable ... Therefore vitamins of fresh produces and food are even more recommended ... to fight your bad cough... Fresh fruits or vegetables are the best natural source of vitamins... and the best way to loose weight after the plenty of New Year... Some days of a diet of fruits and veggies, that the best way to recover...

So let's see what we can eat... to enjoy the winter production without worrying ...

Some vegetables are edible all year long if they are well kept : Beets, Carrots, Celery, Potatoes and Onions.
Same thing for nuts...
Exotic fruits, even if they are produced in warm lands, are also connected to seasons.

Better than eating food supplements in winter, try the natural vitamins and the right minerals...

Links are connected to recipes or specific vegetables and fruits produced here ...

Vegetables
Beet, Horseradish, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrot, Celery, Chicory, Cress, Crosne, Fennel, Jerusalem artichoke, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkin, Salad, Salsify, Turnips
Fruits
Apples, Clementines, Kiwis, Mandarins, Oranges, Pears
Dates Nuts
Exotics Banana, Grapefruit, Lychee, Papaya, Pineapple



Vegetables
Avocados, Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Chicory, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Salads, Salsify, Turnips, Watercress

Fruits
Apples, Blood oranges, Clementines, Kiwi, Lemons, Mandarins, Pears
Nuts
Exotics Bananas, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Passion Fruit, Pineapples



Vegetables
Avocados, Beets, Carrots, Cabbage, Celery, Leaves, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions, Potatoes, Radish, Salsify Spinach,Turnips
Fruits
Apples, Clementines, Kiwi, Mandarins, Oranges
Exotics Bananas, Mangoes, Pineapples

If you want to eat the right products at the right time, the easiest way to do it is to go to the market next and buy the vegies and fruits produced in your area.
You'll discover vegies that we do not eat often anymore and you need just a bit of imagination to accommodate some vegetables! Bon appétit

Read this post in French : Fruits et légumes de saison : calendrier d'hiver

You can find eldertrees everywhere in Brittany along paths, in cities and on the coast. So just go for a walk and pick them.
Be careful when picking them to find the right eldertree. The one you want is two to five meters high, it blooms in May and June, the white flowers custers smell nice and the berries, later are black.

Pick them with stems, it is easier to cook and cut it down before eating. It is still edible but not very good.



Here is the recipe for about 20 flowers clusters :
180g of flour,
1 egg,
200 ml of water,
some rum,
a yeast packet.

Mix all the ingredients and leave the batter resting for one to two hours .
Cook oil and when it is warm enough – let a drop of your batter into the oil, if it comes back up, the oil is ready. Take a cluster and dip it in the batter.




The batter must be liquid to wrap the small flowers delicately and to make a light fritter where you will still taste the flower; if the fritter is too thick you won’t taste the flowers. Drop the cluster full of batter in oil, wait one or two minutes, when it is brown, it is done. Then strain it on paper, cut the green stems and serve it warm with green salad.

You can also eat it sweet. You do exactly the same and just add sugar on the fritters when they are done.

Read it in French : Recette végétarienne de beignets à la fleur de sureau

Have you heard about the Copenhagen Summit... Of course... States and men have to act together to change the habbits we have for years...

One step can be simple : eat the right vegetable or fruit at the right time...
But as most of us don’t grow anymore vegies, we have forgotten when it is the right season to eat that kind of vegetables or this type of fruits…
And it is not just politically correct, it is also healthy (fresh vitamins) and wise (less expensive if you buy them when they're naturally mature.... cheaper...) to eat well and good (better taste)...
To help you through and to discover some of our regional products, I have done this calendar for the autumn production… October, November and December...

Some veggies can be kept through the year, if well preserved : beets, carrots, celery, potatoes and onions...
We often forget that exotic fruits are also related to the seasons.
Autumn is also the season to collect and enjoy fresh nuts (chestnuts,wallnuts...).

Enjoy the recipes and the local production clicking on links.



Vegetables
Artichokes, Beans, Beets, Horseradish, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflowers, Celery, Chicory, Cucumbers, Fennel, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Radish, Romanesco cauliflower, Roquette Salad, Spinach, , Turnips, Zucchini

Fruits
Apples, Dates, Figs, Grapes, Lemons, Oranges, Pears, Persimmons, Quinces
Almonds, Chestnuts, Hazelnuts, Walnuts
Exotics Pineapples

NOVEMBER

Vegetables
Beets, Broccoli, Carrots, Cabbage, Celery, Chicory, Fennel, Jerusalem artichokes, Leeks, Lentils, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Salad, Salsify, Spinach, Turnips Fruits
Apples, Grapes, Kiwis, Mandarins, Oranges, Pears
Chestnuts, Dates, Walnuts



Vegetables
Avocados, Beets, Horseradishes, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Leeks, Onions, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Salsify, Turnips

Fruits
Apples, Clementines, Mandarins, Oranges, Pears
Almonds, Dates, Hazelnuts, Walnuts
Exotics Bananas, Guavas, Lychees, Mangoes, Pineapples

Read it in French : Calendrier des fruits et légumes à consommer en saison d'automne

Easy recipe.
Cooking time : 20 to 30 minutes.

Ingredients

A whole fish with thick skin (bass, sea bream, salmon ...)
Coarse salt
A trickle of olive oil

Preheat the oven (T 240°C / 8).
In a dish for the oven, place your whole fish. Add olive oil and a generous handful of salt. Bake the fish and cook according to the size of the fish (20 minutes to 30 minutes).

Once cooked, the skin comes off really easily. The fish is perfectly salted. Not bad with new potatoes.

Read it in French : Recette de poisson au gros sel au four

It is a recipe that tastes good and smells my childhood. A nice mixture between my dad'pissaladiere with my Mum'puff pastry.



A pissaladière with Breton onions... The pissaladière is a type of pizza, a white one without tomato sauce, done with onions on a bread dough. Usually anchovies are also part of this pie.
The way I do it is a bit different : I use Breton onions, the one from Roscoff, called oignons rosés or may be the Johnny'onions.
They are quite good for this onion pie... because they're sweet. Like South European onions. You need to cook them a really long time... I don't use bread dough but puff pastry instead. It's not "the real one" but it is good !

Time: two hours for the onions and cook about 45 minutes for the onions'pie.

Ingredients
2 to 3 kilograms of onions (it has to become pureed)
A little olive oil
Black olives

One to two hours of gentle cooking.
The tart should be well covered with a thick layer of onions ... more than one centimeter ... au moins. At least. Onions reduce very slowly until it becomes very soft, almost like a puree and the colour becomes khaki brown.

Ingredients for the puff pastry (pate feuilletée) to a 30cm pie
wooden spoon
160g flour
half or 80 g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
a small glass of very cold water

Cut butter into pieces (2cm to 1) in the flour. Pour the oil. Mix. Add water little by little and mix (no fingers but with a wooden spoon) until dough is held (not necessarily very well but it does not matter).
Avoid putting too much water, your dough will be hard. And do not touch the dough with fingers. These are the two secrets to succeed for a pate feuilletée !
Pour your dough on the table and with a rolling pin, spread roughly.
Fold it again and spread...with rolling pin. Repeat this operation 5 to 6 times. Fold one last time and store at least 15 minutes in refrigerator. The more you've folded your dough, the better the puff!
When the time expired, spread the dough and pour over your onions and black olives. For 45 minutes ... Your puff pastry is done.
Enjoy with a green salad.

Read it in French : Tarte aux oignons rosés de Roscoff sans anchois

Want to eat unusual pancakes… with a spring flavour…

The elderberry flower will give a very light sweetness to the crêpes. And hurry… the season of flowers elderberry flies (a good month of May and June).

You need two to three large clusters of flowers to put in the dough.

Ingredients
250 g flour
250 ml of beer (the same amount of flour)
500 ml of milk (the double )
4 eggs
Salt
Some alcohol of your choice
Mix everything and let it rest a bit.
Add the flowers in batter. Heat the pan. With some oil on a tissue, grease the pan each time you make a crêpe. Pour a ladle of batter. When the edges turm brown, turn it. Let cook a minute.

Place on a plate, sprinkle with sugar (which will melt with heat) and add so on your pancakes. Eat them when they are cold (the flavour of flower is light, when eaten warm, it does not taste as much !).

April is the month for harvesting dandelions. Take your knife and pick flowers, some buttons and young leaves. You’ll make the meal of the day. Try to avoid to places where dogs like to … or where foxes run (the disease they transmit is hard to heal) or where cars leave their gaz…



The jelly is so nice. It looks like honey (colour, smell and texture) and it is really good.
No wonder because the flower is melliferous (it attracts insects that make honey). Taste a flower. It is honey…

Well the recipe now

Quantity for a mug of flower well packed. Harvest as much mugs as you want and add the quantity necessary.
250 ml water
175 g sugar
A quarter of lemon in slices

Remove stems. Wash the flowers.
Pour into a saucepan with the water. Boil softly (5 minutes for a mug, 10 for 2…). Filter and strain the flowers to collect all ther liquid.
Add sugar.
Cook over low heat until the consistency of a syrup. Times varies on the number of mugs you used (for 2 mugs about 45 minutes). Transfer to pot and let cool upside down . Store also upside down.



Salad with buttons of dandelions, leaves, potatoes, soft-boiled eggs and bacon

Like bitter salad. You’ll love it… Pick some young leaves and buttons.



Ingredients
Dandelions
Lardons
Eggs (2 per person)
Potatoes (2 to 3 per person)
Dressing (with french mustard)

Wash them. Cook the potatoes in slices, the eggs (6 minutes). Fry in a sauce pan the lardons.
In the bowl, put the salad, add the potatoes, the lardons and the eggs cut in half. Finally the buttons of dandelions.
Delicious, is n’t it ????

Read it in french : Miel de pissenlit et salade aux boutons et fleurs de pissenlit

The elderberry flower gives a very nice and light sweet taste to pancakes. Season of flowers elderberry goes so quickly… then hurry ...

You need two to three large clusters of flowers that you will shell in the dough.

Ingredients

250 g flour
500 ml of milk (the double of flour)
250 ml of beer (the same amount of flour)
4 eggs
Salt
Some alcohol of your choice

Mix the ingredients and let rest the dough. Once the dough rested, shell flowers in batter.
Put on your stove. With an oily tissue, grease the pan. You will reuse it for each new pancake. Pour a ladle of batter. When the edges of the pancake turn brown, it is time to return it. Let cook a minute.

Place on a plate, sprinkle with sugar (which will melt with heat) and add so on your pancakes.

Read it in French : Recette de crêpes aux fleurs de sureau