Nuts, walnuts... in French, they have the same name… they're good and healthy, full of omega-3 fatty acids… and of Omega 6 fatty acids... These are the good unsaturated fatty acids, good fats for proper functioning of the cardiovascular system... A good natural food supplement ... that must be used without abuse!

For harvesting, you have two solutions : either the tree is yours or not :

- Or you pick them and then read the following passage directly
- Either you have a walnut tree in your garden and there are some rules to follow to respect the next harvest.
It is better to stick nuts rather than waiting to pick them up.
- Why ?
Simply because sticking them, popular French proverbs say that the harvest will be better next year ...

Whatever the method, remember that the husks (the green envelope around the nut) blackened fingers. It must be removed.

Preservation and storage
Once harvested, the nuts have to be dried: ventilate them regularly, stir them so they do not rot. Store in a cool place.

Just peel the amount of walnuts you need because once shelled, they go rancid very quickly. Keep in the fridge and eat them in a few days.
The recipe? A German recipe !!! Easy and tasty !

It is a recipe from my German friend Karine. But all the ingredients are so common that it could be a Breton dish. The only concern is to peel them… It’s a bit long… it depends ... if you've already tried the hips or the chestnuts ... Wallnuts are just to easy, it’s a breeze ...



Ingredients

500g potatoes good to mash
150 grams of nuts (peeled) 30 to 40 whole nuts
150 grams grated cheese (Emmentaler or comté depending on your tastes)
3 eggs (you must beat the egg whites)
Pepper and Salt

It is good plain like that. If you want a more tasty flavor, add a few leaves of basil or sage, finely chopped (the dried herbs powder is less good but it works well).

Cut the potatoes in pieces and cook them. Peel and mash to a puree.
Reduce about two-thirds of the nuts into small pieces (the robot to do anything does it very well) and keep the rest for decoration.
Pour and mix nuts, cheese, egg yolks, salt and pepper, basil or sage.
Whisk the egg whites and add them.
Butter a dish and pour the batter. Bake at 6 (180 °) for a half hour to 40 minutes when the pie is brownish.
Serve with a winter salad .

You want to try recipes with walnuts, well learn too about the tree that produce them. It is a nice one…



The walnut tree comes from Asia and is known in France for several centuries already (800). Charlemagne wanted it throughout his empire and thanks to him it was spread out in Europe ...

The walnut is native to warmer lands (Asia), he does not like the cold weather. When it blooms in April or May, the flowers do not like frost ... Otherwise the precious harvest of nuts may be compromised ...

Nut is very nutritious: 60% fat for 20% protein. They were advised for women seeking fertility ...

The walnut tree has a nasty reputation ... We strongly advise against taking a nap under its shadow ... not for fear of receiving nuts during your sweet rest, but rather because under it, vegetation grows with a lot of difficulty. The grass is sparse and the flowers wither. If you want to plant with a walnut tree around, do it but at a certain distance.

The tree can life 70 years to … 300. It produces walnuts with 20-25 years… It is 20 to 25 meters high.

In the Middle Ages, people used the walnut oil for massage to relieve pain of rheumatism or arthritis: 4 to 5 kg of nuts per 1 liter of oil ... Peeling and peeling again and again.

Walnut oil is very good, very tasty ... but it turns rancid very fast.

For longer storage, it must be stored in a cool place, away from light in a dark bottle. It helps by adding a few grains of salt in the bottle.

Use it as seasoning, as salad dressings, it is excellent, it can not stand to be heated.

The walnut wood is highly prized by carpenters. The quality of its wood and itsdark color are valued for furniture, table, desk, library ...

The walnut is a producer of nut husks : the green envelope that protects the fruit. The liquid it emits is used to produce inks for dark stained wood.

Inside the husk, the shell hides the edible part : the kernels.

The nuts have interesting nutritional benefits : they provide good essential fatty acids (the so-called omega 3 and omega 6), vitamins and minerals (especially magnesium).

Want to try my recipe : mashed potatoes and nuts in the oven.

Read it in French : Le noyer un arbre remarquable à planter dans le jardin

Your walk will start at Rohan, a small village in Morbihan, located between Pontivy, Loudéac and Ploërmel and along the canal that connects Nantes to Brest.



Park along the canal and cross the bridge ; The path is on the other side of the canal. You’ll see a chapel, chapelle de Bonne Encontre, which is on the opposite of your walk. The chapel was part of the Castle of Rohan. There is nothing left except the building erected in 1510 as you can read it on its walls. You can’t visit it as it is being restored.



Here you are ready for a 30 to 45 minutes walk to reach a good breton speciality. Your first lock is the number 52 Rohan. After 10 minutes you will cross a sign indicating a B&B called Manoir de Quengo. This B&B is not far, but you have to leave the towpath and go up for about 3 minutes. But keep walking.
The next lock is Quengo, go on till you find the lock of Timadeuc. There you will see a cross on a small road to the memory of Gwénaël, a father deported to the concentration camp Buchenwald.



Leave the towpath, go up the alley and you ‘ll see a big wall : it is the beginning of the estate of Timadeuc. If it smells like cows, you’re at the right place !!! Timadeuc is quite big, walk along the wall till you find the entrance.



The abbey of Timadeuc was built in 1841, on the place where the manor of the Lords of Timadeuc used to be. The actual building has been rebuilt many times ; the monks adhered to the benedictine rule (work and prayers). You cannot visit the abbey as a tourist but you can stay and share the monks’ life as a believer.

And for cheese? you’ll find it in the nice shop at the entrance. It is full of miscellaneous items : books, novels, travelguides, CD and other home made goods from other abbeys. Also, soap, essential oils, jams, candies and sweets and of course the goal of your walk.




The monks breed the cows and with their milk they produce the cheese. They also grow apple trees for the crystallised fruits.They make two types of cheese : the cheese of Timadeuc (1,7kg for about 20 euros). They don’t sell small ones but you can freeze some of it and it is still as good as it used to be when you take it out of the freezer. It tastes like the french Port salut or the Chaussee aux Moines but is much better.
The second cheese is the Timanoix. Its rind is brown and as its name indicates it – noix in french means walnut - it has a walnut taste thanks to a liqueur used to complete the maturing process.
And last but not least are the crystallised fruits (3,15 euros for 250g). They are made with apple jelly and natural flavours. It has a delicate taste compared to others crystallised fruits made out with artificial flavours.

After your snack, go back the way you came in.

Read it in French : Balade au pays du fromage et des pates de fruits des moines de l'abbaye de Timadeuc

Cauliflower is mainly Breton in France: 75% of the French production comes from the North coast of Brittany, also called the golden belt.
If you're touring by there, you'll see signs: Prince de Bretagne (the main supplier of cauliflowers here) has many partners that deals with their vegetables : restaurants, shops... And probably those you get over the Channel come from here and are send by the Brittany Ferries from Roscoff.

Caulyflower has a second name Cyprus cabbage... because... even if it was known during the Roman time, the culture of the vegetable declined and disapeared until the late Middle Ages... It was brought back probably from Cyprus and called then coleworts Cyprus.

West of France today dominates the French market ... There are also varieties of purple or orange.
Cauliflower can be eaten from September to January. It is a good autumn vegetable, ideal for weight watchers (full of water, low in calories and rich in vitamin C and B9, the famous folate for pregnant women).

Cooking
Cabbage is not appreciated by everybody ... Because some people don't supporter well, they suffer from flatulence ...
Well, you have two solutions:
- Growing it in the garden, collect and eat it the same day ... It won't bother you...
- The second, for almost anyone, is to cook your cabbage in two waters. It will be more digestible. And to keep it white, add lemon to the cooking water.

Conservation
You can eat the leaves of cauliflower. Cut them into small pieces for the same cooking time as the cabbage.
These recipes are possible with cabbage or broccoli Romanesco or both.
My great grand father was Italian... I do like these two ways of eating it but they're unusual... Italian cuisine...



Baked Italian meal with Cauliflower

It is a sort of gratin made with an olive oil bechamel with thyme.

Ingredients
1 medium cauliflower
Butter
Crumbs
100g grated cheese

For the sauce

3 tablespoons flour
2 cups cooking water
5 tablespoons olive oil
Thyme (1 tablespoon dried thyme or a little less fresh)
Salt
Cut leaves, wash the cabbage and separate the bunches. Let it boil in salted water. If you are cooking with two waters, the second (5 to 10 minutes depending on cabbage) for a cooking al dente.
Cook it in butter.
Meanwhile, prepare sauce. Warm the oil. Remove from heat, mix the flour, cooking water, a pinch of salt and thyme. It's a sort of bechamel sauce.
When the sauce is homogeneous, pour over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with grated cheese and some breadcrumbs.
Bake for 20 minutes at 6 (180 °) until a beautiful golden crust.

Italian cooking : cauliflower with olives and provolone

Ingredients
1 cauliflower (good size)
150 g provolone (Italian cheese)
100 grams of black olives
1 onion
1 glass red wine
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Toast

Wash and separate cauliflower parts.
Cut into thin slices provolone and onion.
Pit the olives and cut them into pieces.
Put in a saucepan with oil, onion, a layer of cabbage, some slices of provolone and pieces of olives. Spice with salt and pepper.
Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with oil and add the diluted wine with a glass of water.
Put the saucepan on the stove and cook over low heat for an hour. Avoid cooking too fast. If during the cooking liquid has evaporated add boiling water. Cauliflower should be tender.
Serve with toasted bread and a salad of beans and julienne carrots.

Read this post in French : Deux recettes à base de choux-fleurs au four ou à la casserole

You can do it salty or sweet… It is an easy recipe, nice to do with children.
Several ways can be done : vegetarian with vegetables thinly sliced, with crumbs of tuna fish or sweet with fruits.

Ingredients :
50 g flour
2 yolks and 2 whites
150 ml milk
25 g melted butter
A large pan

Mix the ingredients. Add the whites softly.
Slice thinly your vegetables. Add them with a bit grated cheese.
Pour into a frying pan. 10 minutes for each side.
Eat it with a green salad.

The sweet recipe

Add 25 g of sugar to your dough. Slice thinly the fruits.
Add them. Same cooking time.

Read it in French : Recette de matafan végétarien à la mode de Bretagne

Here is a recipe for a cookie that crumbles... at least it did for my first try...

Germans do all sorts of small cakes and biscuits for Christmas. The second recipe, Linzer torte, can be kept longer, at least 8 days before being eaten. But it is hard to keep it that long. At your calendars to be ready for Xmas !

Here are two recipes for sweets, recipes brought from my last stay with my German friend. real ones from natives, easy to do. Exclusive! And still without pictures ... My computer is still out of order with pictures.

Ingredients
50 grams of dark chocolate
50 grams of walnuts
60 grams flour
30 grams sugar
60 grams butter
1 teaspoon of spices (clove and pepper)
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Finely chop the chocolate and nuts into pieces. Put in a bowl. Flour, sugar, butter cut into small pieces and spices are to be added to the nuts and chocolate mixture.
Put your hands and mix until a smooth dough, which held together.
Roll the dough into rolls 2, 3 cm.
Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
After the break, preheat oven to 200 (6 / 7)
Cut into pieces and cook 15 minutes.
Leave it to cool down and dry before serving.

(which is originally an Austrian recipe!)

Ingredients
170 g butter at room temperature
170 grams sugar
1 egg (white and yolk separated)
100 g crushed hazelnuts
200g flour
1 packet yeast
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 to 2 tablespoons brandy
120 grams of rosehip jam (but I have made it with raspberry jam)
1 tablespoon milk
Icing sugar
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Melt butter. Mix sugar, flour, egg white, yeast, chocolate and spices. Add butter. Then the alcohol. If the dough sticks, add a little flour.
Cover and let stand one hour in the fridge. Not too much because after it was very hard to spread.
Preheat oven to 200 (6 / 7).
Take half or a little more dough and roll to put it in the pie dish. Spread generously with jam. Leave the edges without jam and cover with dough.

With the remaining dough make strips and lie them on the jam.
Brush with milk mixed with egg yolk.
Bake 30 minutes. I burned my first torte, be careful it cooks fast.
Sprinkle with icing sugar out of the oven, wrap and try to keep fresh for several days. To be able to enjoy it during the Christmas week ...

Read this article in French : Recette de Noel : sablés chocolatés aux noix et Linzertorte

Green tomatoes left, what can I cook with them ? a nice chutney, a French recipe !!!



Ingredients for a small pot :
200 g of tomatoes (green and some redish)
1 tablespoon of honey
4 tablespoons of vinegar
Pepper
Ginger powder
2 tablespoons of Rum


Recipe :
Slice the tomatoes in small pieces, add rum and let macerate for an hour.

Put the sugar,honey, vinegar, pepper and ginger into a large pan. Bring to simmering point and simmer for almost an hour. It has to be thick and caramelized.
Eat it with strong tasty cheese such as roquefort or dry goat cheese. Or with poultry or foie gras. Pot them and sterilized them.




Read it in French : Recette maison de confit de tomates vertes et rouges

Blackberries, you know ... that’s the nicest fruit to pick on hedges and other deserted places…But it is quite nice to savour then…



Blackberry jam is easy... The most annoying is the harvesting… Don’t forget your gloves because the best ones are always difficult to reach.

Recipe and ingredients

Blackberries
Sugar (half of the fruits)

Burst the blackberries in little water (10 minutes on low heat). Then 2 possibilities :
1 –Use the food mill to collect the pulp.
2 – Or put the fruits in a cheese cloth (cloth linen), hang the "bag" and let drain in a saucepan. Finish to squash with hands.You ‘ll get more pulp, but it's longer and more messy ...

Weight the pulp. Add half of sugar : for 600g of flesh use 300g of sugar. Cook on low heat 1 hour to 1 ½ hours.

Put in hot pot, close the jar and let cool and store upside down.

Read it in French : Recette maison de la confiture de mures

It took me some time to peel the rose hips but here I am with those high concentrated vitamin fruits !!! I’ve done two different recipes with them : jam and syrup.



The more difficult in the recipe is to peel the rose hips. You have two different ways to do it : for the lazy ones (read 1), for the meticulous ones (read 2).

Ingredients :
Rose hips
Sugar

To take away the itching powder, you need time and you can either :



1 – Put the rose hips through a colander and save the pulp.

Or

2 – Cut the rose hips in two pieces and take out the fine hairs with a knife. I know it is quite long…

Once you’ve done that, it’s easy.
Add to the pulp sugar (400 g rose hips, 200g sugar) and boil till you have a nice thick orange mixture.

Put in jars.

The recipe of the syrup now…

I would say it is an homemade medicine for sore throat : it has no chemicals and plenty of Vitamin C (you remember that rose hips have 20 times more vitamin C than lemon and when you catch a cold you have a vitamin C deficiency) and honey (everybody knows that honey is good for sore throat).

You have to use 65g of fruits for 35 of honey. The savour of honey is stronger than the rose hips (but they are the benefits of the vitamin C). Anyway it is good for your health…

Take care…

Read it in French : Recette de la confiture aux cynorrhodons d'églantier

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

Origine
The nasturtium is native from South America. According to sources, it comes from Peru or neighboring Andean countries (Colombia, Bolivia and even Brazil). Jesuits, during the 16th C imported it into Spain. It then conquered Europe as an edible and medicinal plant.

Description
Linné, a famous swedish botanist fixed his name in 1753 Tropaeolum majus. In Europe, the plant exists in many varieties. Annual, it is sensitive to frost. Its flower (five petals) 3 to 5 centimeters varies from yellow or red.



Its size is adaptable to your garden: dwarf (30-50 cm) for your flower pots or climbing varities (several meters) on your walls ... or creeping as ground covers ...
It has another peculiarity ... it is waterproof, water do not wet the plant but it forms drops that slide ... It is called the lotus effect ...

The growth : seedlings or cuttings
Plant indoor in February and replant in April when the weather is ok. The nasturtium likes sunny places. The plant is fragile (the stem snaps easily ... avoid windy areas). If despite your good care, it breaks, put the cuttings in sheltered soil. In a few days you will have roots. The seeds are done in July, after flowering ... Let dry until next year.



Utility ... in gardens
Aphids: Organic gardeners love them .... Very useful for gardening, flowers attract aphids .... You will just burn have to burn the blackened flowers with insects.

In the kitchen
This plant is edible, everything is (from bud to flower, seeds and leaves ....). The leaves and flowers are considered as a stimulant, they taste like watercress. They are used as flavorings in salads ( peppery flavor). In Italy, they are used to decorate dishes of fish or meat. The fruit or soft buttons can be soaked in vinegar. It tastes like capers. Spanish people aromatize their vinegar with the flowers. They often add the tarragon and pepper.

Medicinal Properties
Essential oil has antibiotic effects .. It is also used against urinary infections or flu. Or to treat bruises: crush the leaves until you get an oil. Brush the blue. It itches a little.

Sources : Wikipédia Allemagne, Espagne, France, Grande Bretagne, Italie et Portugal. Sources: Wikipedia Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy and Portugal.

Read it in French : Plante ornementale et décorative, aromatique et comestible : la capucine