Hiking in Nice Hinterland







There are magnificent forests, great views, and a ruined, maybe haunted, hamlet  along the route of the hike.

This is the real Riviera back country, arrière- pays. 40% of Alpes Maritimes is forest. Remember that the village of Peira Cava is just 25 km from Nice as a crow flies. At 1423m, the village was the first winter sport resort in the department. Remnants of some ski lifts can still be seen. It also became a hideaway for celebrities. Even Marc Chagall spent some time there. Nowadays the village is very quiet, but has quite a few secondary residences.

Many hiking trails go through the village. The tour presented here is a shortened version of the hike shown on the map; we started from Peira Cava (signpost 37), not La Gabella.

The ruined hamlet of Béasse was destroyed by a fire in 1985. In spite of its isolated location, the hamlet had been inhabited for over 200 years. In the late 18th century, dissidents from Nice called Les Barbets were allegedly hiding there, perhaps to avoid the guillotine.


Music: Actual title: "Local Forecast - Slower" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Map courtesy of Conseil Général Alpes Maritimes

My Best Plum Recipe




Autumn has brought a distinct change in the selection of fruits in our supermarket. Apples, pears and plums have replaced the strawberries, cherries, apricots, peaches and melons that we enjoyed in spring and summer.

The following spicy plum dessert perfectly complements autumnal dinners.

2 servings
4 large red plums
1 orange
10 dark raisins
50 ml red wine
2 cloves
2 star anises
1 vanilla pod (Fresh and moist!)

Wash the plums, cut into quarters and remove the stones.

Wash thoroughly the orange. With a zester, remove some of the zest. Then juice the orange. Pour the juice into a small casserole. Add the zest.

Split the vanilla pod lengthwise with a small sharp knife. Scrape with the knife some seeds into the casserole; add the whole pod as well. Add the red wine, raisins, cloves, star anises and plums into the casserole. Bring to the boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15- 20 minutes until the plums are soft.

Serve at room temperature. Don’t remove the spices, leave them as a decoration.

I don’t need to use any extra sweetener in this recipe because the natural sweetness of the fruits combined with spices and wine makes it wonderfully tasty. If you prefer sweeter desserts, you can add a little sugar or honey.

Quails in Casserole, en cocotte




Quails are mid-sized birds which are much appreciated for their taste. Not all quails in Nice supermarkets are game, they are also farm-raised.  In any case, autumn seems like an appropriate season to cook quails in casserole.

My Le Creuset cocotte, casserole is again super for making this dish.

2 servings:

2 quails (cailles)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp tapenade
2 oranges
About 16 small black olives
100 ml white wine
Freshly ground black pepper
Parsley

Grind a little black pepper and stuff a few sprigs of parsley and 1 tsp tapenade inside each quail.

Heat 1 tbsp rapeseed oil in a heavy casserole and brown the quails on both sides until golden brown. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic in the casserole and continue cooking. Add a few grindings black pepper, more parsley sprigs and white wine in the casserole. Reduce the heat, cover the casserole and simmer for 30 minutes, turning the quails once.

Peel the oranges, divide into sections and discard all the white parts and tough membranes. Warm 1 tbsp rapeseed oil in a small saucepan and heat gently the orange sections.

Add the olives in the quail casserole and continue cooking for about 10 minutes.

Serve the quails with orange sections and new potatoes and decorate with chopped parsley.

Filets de Sebaste, Redfish, sauce Livornese



This dish was inspired by a plat du jour in Cours Saleya in Nice. Plat du jour is the dish of the day on a restaurant`s menu, usually lunch, and it is always good value for money. It was a gorgeous vegetable, fruit and flower market day in Cours Saleya, and at lunch time we sat outside on the terrace shaded from the September sunshine. Plat du jour was filet de saint-pierre, John Dory fish, sauce Livornese. It was so delicious that I decided to try and emulate it at home.
That day I couldn`t find saint-pierre in our local supermarket, so I replaced it with sebaste, redfish. Sauce Livornese is said to go well with any firm-fleshed white fish. There is no need to add any salt in the sauce because there is already a fair amount of salt in capers and olives. Sauce Livornese compliments cooked potatoes and steamed small courgettes, squash in slices.

2 servings

For the sauce Livornese:
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp capers
About 10 black olives, pitted
100 ml white wine
Juice of ½ a lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh parsley

For the fish:
2 filets of sebaste, redfish (NB! I prefer filets of saint-pierre, John Dory fish)
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 clove garlic, sliced

Pour 2 tbsp rapeseed oil in a small bowl, add the garlic slices and set aside to infuse.
Start preparing the sauce Livornese. Heat 1 tbsp rapeseed oil in a saucepan on a medium heat and gently fry the shallot and garlic. Add the tomato and continue cooking for a few minutes. Add some chopped parsley, save a little for decoration. Grind a few rounds of black pepper in the saucepan, then add the white wine and lemon juice and let reduce a little. Add the capers and olives, and let simmer.
Cook or microwave the potatoes and courgette slices. Keep warm.
Heat the garlic-infused rapeseed oil in a large frying pan on a high heat. Fry the fish filets, about 1 ½ minutes on both sides, depending on thickness. Set the pan aside, covered.
Divide the potatoes, courgette slices and sauce Livornese on the plates. Place the fish filets on top of the sauce, and decorate with chopped parsley.







The second favourite dish of the French

Moules frites - The second favourite dish of the French

Moules frites, mussels and fries, was voted the second favorite dish in France a couple of years ago. It lost narrowly to duck breast. Actually, moules frites is thought to originate from Belgium. About one litre mussels is fine per serving. I prefer the small tasty French mussels. An 1,4 kg package of moules de bouchot du Mont Saint Michel AOP is enough for us two, although it is a bit less than 2 litres. The quality is superior.

Instead of frites, I prefer to serve my moules with good whole wheat bread to mop up the good sauce.

2 servings

  • About 2 l mussels, moules de bouchot
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 bouquet garni (a bundle of dried herbs tied together with string)
  • 100 ml white wine
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Chopped parsley

Warm the oil in a large heavy casserole and soften the shallot and garlic.
Wash the mussels and discard any that are damaged or do not close if you knock them.
Add bouquet garni, black pepper and the white wine in the casserole and bring to the boil. Add the mussels and cover the casserole. The small Brittany mussels need about 4 minutes cooking time after the wine has started boiling again. Give the casserole a shake now and again and check that the mussels are well open. You should discard any that have not opened.

Divide the mussels in deep bowls and decorate with parsley.

Crête de la Blanche loop



The highest mountain pass la Bonette was opened for public traffic in 1961. The paved road makes a loop around the mountain and climbs to 2802m. There are several mountain roads in Europe higher than this but none of them connects a town or a region. Even so, this road is open for traffic only during the snowless period. Further down the road D64 is the hamlet of Bousiéyas, the highest village in Alpes Maritimes. The last allegedly permanent inhabitant, Madame Delmas, passed away alone there during one harsh winter in the 1960s. Today, there is a gîte during the summer season. The tour presented here is a classic hike ascending to the mountain crest of la Blanche south of Bousiéyas. After the initial ascent to the long crest, the scenery is extraordinary even for a seasoned hiker. You are in the middle of high terrain with an unobstructed view of major peaks in all directions.

 Details are described in French in the guidebook Rando Haut Pays/Crête de la Blanche.

 Duration: 5 h 30 min walking time. Vertical ascent: 760m.
 Map: Haute Tinée 1, TOP No 3639 OT

 Music courtesy of Far Out Recordings; Track Magnetic Feel (Roc  Hunter) from the Album “Far Out Jazz  Funk”.

Trout simmered in white wine

This is a carefree but tasty way to prepare small trouts.

Col de Cerise above Le Boréon



In September 1943 over a thousand Jews escaped from Saint-Martin-Vésubie to Italy using the ancient mountain passes. The mountain pass of Cerise above Boréon was one of the routes used. Already in the 15th century, this route was used to collect the salt tax from the area above Nice to the County of Savoy.

The hiking trail from Le Boréon to Col de Cerise is inside the Mercantour National Park. The vertical ascent is about 1050m and duration 5 hours. French guides grade the tour as “sportif” but the trail itself is technically easy. It’s just the long ascent that may take its toll.


Map: Vallée de la Vésubie TOP 25 no 3741 OT.


Music courtesy of Sabrina Malheiros “Sintonia”(Instrumental) New Morning De Luxe Edition; Far Our Recordings.

My best rabbit recipe

Rabbit recipe

The traditional diet of the majority in the arrière-pays, in the mountains behind Nice, has always been rather meat-poor. Meat was a special treat used sparingly for Sundays and holidays. Of course the hunters took the occasional hooved game, but birds and rabbits were more frequently the prize. Hunting is still a popular pastime in the arrière-pays, and hikers are advised to wear colourful clothes and stay on the marked trails during the hunting season. Nowadays, rabbit is also very popular on the French Riviera, and farm-raised rabbit is easy to find in local supermarkets.

Rabbit meat is lean and delicate, a bit like chicken. It needs to be simmered an hour in a heavy casserole, my trusted Le Creuset is super for this.

2 servings

  • 2 rabbit legs (cuisses de lapin)
  • 5-6 spring onions,
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tasty tomatoes
  • 100 ml white wine
  • Juice and zest of ½ orange
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • A sprig of rosemary or thyme
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Black olives
  • Fresh basil leaves to decorate

Heat the rapeseed oil in a heavy casserole, and fry the rabbit legs on both sides until golden brown. Clean the spring onions and discard the green parts. Add the spring onions and garlic to the casserole. Add the white wine, zest and juice of ½ orange, bay leaf and rosemary. Grind a few rounds of black pepper in the casserole.
Cover the casserole and reduce the heat.
Let simmer for about ½ hour turning the legs and stirring regularly. Chop the tomatoes into quarters and add to the casserole. Continue simmering for ½ hour longer.
Meanwhile cook quinoa. I prefer to serve quinoa, because it best compliments this rabbit casserole.
Decorate with black olives and fresh basil leaves.

Have you tried cooking en papillote? (Chicken breast in a parcel)

Chicken breast in a parcel recipe

French cooks are very keen on cooking almost everything en papillote, in a parcel of baking paper. I often cook fish this way which is super to seal in moisture and taste. The following recipe is with chicken breast, and the result was surprisingly good. It is important of course that the chicken breast is tender. I have found that the tenderness is somewhat variable here, it seems that in France taste is sometimes more important than tenderness. I wonder if others have similar experiences.

2 servings

  • 2 skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 nice slices mozzarella
  • 4 extra thin slices of Parma ham
  • 2 mandarins or clementines, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 60 ml white wine
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Black pepper, freshly ground
  • Fresh basil leaves or chopped parsley

Preheat the oven to 210 ⁰ C.

In a pan, sauté the chicken breasts in rapeseed oil about 5 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Set aside on a plate. In the same pan cook the mandarin slices in white wine about 5 minutes.

Cut two squares, about 30 x 30 cm, out of baking paper. Place the chicken breasts on the baking paper squares. Top with the mozzarella slices and wrap with the Parma ham slices.  Grind a few rounds black pepper and drizzle 1 tsp olive oil on each breast. Arrange the mandarins around the chicken breasts. Scatter basil leaves over the chicken, save some for the final decoration.

Wrap the baking paper into tight parcels and cook in oven for about 15 minutes. Serve with brown rice.