Spinach with pine nuts and golden raisins

 

Spinach with pine nuts and golden raisins


Spinach is a popular vegetable in all Mediterranean countries. I remember a trip to Rome one autumn when almost all small restaurants served only boiled spinach as a vegetable side.

Spinach is said to have originated somewhere in Persia, and was brought into the Mediterranean countries by the Arabs. The following recipe with pine nuts and golden raisins suggests an Arab origin. This vegetable side goes very well with roasted mackerel fillets and panisses, South of France chick pea cakes.

2 servings

About 4 handfuls of baby salad leaves

2 tbsp. golden raisins

2 tbsp. pine nuts

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Freshly ground black pepper


Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium- low heat and start sautéing the golden raisins and pine nuts. Add the shallots and garlic and continue sautéing for 10 minutes until soft.


Wash and dry the spinach leaves and add to the saucepan. Raise the heat to medium and sauté for about 5- 10 minutes until the spinach is wilted.


Serve with roasted mackerel fillets and panisses


Vence: Loop from Plan des Noves parking

 

GR51 west of Plan des Noves


Today’s hike features a loop above Vence, starting from the popular Plan des Noves parking (780 m) by the D2 road. Having hiked here many times, we now wanted to try a new itinerary, first using tracks and trails west of the D2 road.

Track leaving GR51
Track leaving GR51
Mouton d'Anou
Mouton d'Anou
Oratory
Oratory
Puy de Naouri and Tourrettes
Puy de Naouri and Tourrettes


We crossed the road and headed west along the GR51 (images 1 and 3 ) as far as to signpost #136 where we forked left (2 ), leaving the GR trail (and marked hiking trails). We followed a wide track mainly to the south, passing an oratory (). We made a short detour to a hilltop (839 m) at Jas de Bayle with great views to the west, notably to Puy de Naouri and Puy de Tourrettes (). We continued along the dirt track (no markings but easy to follow) further south, then to the east (). Near Colle Bertrand we forked left () and followed a narrower trail which passed a solitary oak tree, then descended in a northerly direction towards the D2 road.


We soon reached the road, forked right and descended along it (carefully in a single line) about 500 m to signpost #130 (581 m), where we followed the trail up to Mangia Pan (699 m; signpost #131; image ).


We headed straight north to signpost #133 (at 678 m; marked as Plan des Noves) where we re-joined the GR51 trail and followed it back to our starting point.

Baou des Blancs and Vence
Baou des Blancs and Vence
Crossroads near Colle Bertrand
Crossroads near Colle Bertrand
Mangia Pan
Mangia Pan

It turned out to be a nice loop variant along easy trails. Only the trail descending back to the RD2 road was narrow in places and might become a bit overgrown in summer. 


Duration: 2h 45 active

Climb: 300 m

Distance: 8,7 km

Map: «Cannes-Grasse» Côte d’Azur No 3643 ET or Vallée de l’Estéron Vallée du Loup 3642 ET



Loop from Plan des Noves parking
Loop from Plan des Noves parking




Chicken breast and cherry tomatoes

Chicken breast with cherry tomatoes

 


This is a recipe for summer and autumn when local cherry tomatoes and basil are in season. Serve it with black rice to further compliment the colours of different cherry tomatoes.

2 servings

2 organic chicken breasts

About 2 handfuls of organic cherry tomatoes, a mixture of red and yellow

1 shallot, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

150 ml white wine

1/3 cube of chicken stock

About a handful of organic basil leaves

Olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper


Warm 2 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the chicken breasts for 5 minutes until golden. Turn the chicken breasts and add the shallot and garlic to the pan. Continue sautéing for 5 minutes. 


Wash the cherry tomatoes and basil leaves and let dry on kitchen paper. Add the cherry tomatoes, white wine, and the crumbled stock to the pan. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes.


Chop the basil leaves. Add most of the leaves to the pan, saving some for decoration. Reduce the heat and let simmer for 3- 5 minutes uncovered. Grind over some black pepper and divide on the plates.


Pic de Garuche

Pic de Garuche


Pic de Garuche (1089 m) above St Agnès is one of the many mountains where Maginot Line fortifications were built in the 1930s. Situated southeast of Mont Ours (1236 m), an artillery observation post was erected there. Having hiked to both Mont Ours and nearby Pointe Siricocca (1050 m) before, we had not explored this peak before.

On a clear and crispy winter day, we decided to ascend there from Col de Castillon parking (730m) along the trail which passes near the summit of Mont Ours. Another good option is to start from St Agnès (600 m) or Col des Banquettes (736 m). 

Trail start from Old Castillon
Trail start from Old Castillon
                     
Trail to Col de Ségra
Trail to Col de Ségra
Mercantour peaks
Mercantour peaks

From the parking, we first headed south, then west ascending along the forested north-eastern flank of Mont Ours to Col de Ségra (963 m); signpost #125. At the col, we forked left (southeast) and climbed to signposts #126 and 127, the latter at Baisse de Loup (1171 m) just under the summit of Mont Ours. We continued straight (Col Verroux, Ste Agnès) along a wide apparently ex-military trail.


Mont Razet and Grammondo
Mont Razet and Grammondo
Near Baisse du Loup
Near Baisse du Loup
Col Verroux
Col Verroux
Military trail to Pic de Garuche
Military trail to Pic de Garuche
Menton coastline
Menton coastline
Pic de Garuche summit
Pic de Garuche summit

We descended along it to a crossroads and signpost #474 under Pic de Garuche and climbed to the summit. Being an ancient observation post, we had great views towards the coast at Menton (only 6,5 km away) as well as the snow-capped Mercantour peaks.


We returned along the same trail.


Distance: 10,5 km


Climb: 610 m


Duration: Active hiking time about 4 h


Map: Nice Menton Côte d’Azur 3742 OT

Pic de Garuche hike track


Roasted sweet potato halves and spicy green lentil sauce


Roasted sweet potato halves and spicy green lentil sauce


This protein-rich vegetarian dish is made with spices that are typical in different Mediterranean countries.  Ras el hanout is a Moroccan spice mixture of ground black pepper, ginger, mustard grain, cinnamon, muscat, hot pepper, and sweet bell pepper. Piment d’Espelette is a fairly hot ground chilli pepper from the Espelette village in the Basque Country. Saffron threads came with the Arabs to Spain and are now widely used in the Mediterranean countries. 

This spicy dish makes a perfect heart-healthy lunch.

2 servings

2 medium size sweet potatoes

Olive oil

120 ml green lentils

2 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

1 tbsp. rase el hanout

0,5-1 tsp. Piment d’Espelette, depending how hot you want it

1 dose saffron threads

2 tbsp. tomato purée

200 ml organic passata, Italian tomato sauce

Fresh mint leaves, chopped


Preheat the oven to 200° C roast.


Peel and halve the sweet potatoes. Brush them with olive oil and roast for 25- 30 minutes until soft.


Meanwhile cook the green lentils in a saucepan for about 30 minutes until soft.


Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the shallot and garlic for 5- 10 minutes. Add the chopped tomato, spices, passata, and tomato purée. Reduce the heat to simmering.


When the lentils are cooked, drain any water remaining in the saucepan and add the lentils in the frying pan. Stir and keep simmering.


When the sweet potato halves are soft, divide them on the plates. Divide the lentil- passata suce on top and decorate with chopped mint.


Tanneron ridge hike


Mimosa


The village of Tanneron (~400 m elev.) has become the unofficial capital of the mimosa. From January to March, the mimosa colours yellow the hill flanks above Mandelieu-la-Napoule. Not part of the original flora, the mimosa tree was originally imported from Australia and thrives in Côte d’Azur.

Several families in Tanneron now cultivate mimosa and export flowers to all France and beyond. Numerous varieties of the mimosa exist which explains the long flowering season.

Lots of visitors come to the small village to admire the yellow flowers in mid-winter, and many wish to take advantage of shorter or longer hiking routes in the surrounding hills.

We made the long (16+ km) but very popular Ridge of Tanneron (Circuit Les Crêtes de Tanneron) loop hike on a pleasant February day.

Tanneron Village
View north from Tanneron
Hills below Tanneron
Tanneron hike signpost



We used the village as our starting point. We descended, using a shortcut passing the fire station to the signpost (pictured) below the village showing the itinerary. Once deep down in the valley, we followed the Aubarie stream, crossing it a few times. 


We came to a bend by the D38 road at about 150 m elev., walked along the road about 70 m before starting to ascend gradually in the woods, in a southerly direction. Once higher up, the scenery changed and when we reached the ridge there were blossoming mimosa trees by the trail in abundance. We had unobstructed views to Grasse and beyond. We passed some mimosa cultivations and came to the neighbourhood of les Farinas (about 470 m elev.) with some nice properties. Here, we continued along a paved road (Chemin des Farinas), heading mostly east. The yellow-marked trail follows the road. We took a 700 m detour near les Grailles along a nice unmarked trail, and re-joined the paved road after a steep descent.




Trail to Auberie Valley
Ascent from Aubarie Valley

Trail on Tanneron Ridge
Grasse hinterland viewed from Tanneron
View from Tanneron Ridge




We descended further along the road to a crossroads where we forked left and followed a wide DFCI dirt track as far as to Vallon de la Verrerie where we again forked left (west). After about one km we crossed the stream in the valley and climbed back to Tanneron, first passing a parking at Touordam, next to the tennis courts. 


Climb: 570 m


Distance: 16,7 km


Duration: 4h40 active walking time


Map: 3543 ET Haute Siagne

Detour on Tanneron Ridge


Mimosa tree by trail Tanneron



Tanneron hike track











White fish à la Coral Gables

 

White fish à la Coral Gables


Some time ago, we had a delightful lunch on the terrace of an Italian restaurant in Merrick Park, Coral Gables. The fish was a prized South Floridian red snapper, lightly flowered and pan-fried. It was served on an olive oil-tomato-caper sauce with potato gratin, Gratin Dauphinois, and green beans. The dish was colourful and traditionally Italian.

My recipe is inspired by this lunch. I use fillets of cod, breaded and oven-roasted. The sauce is traditional French sauce vierge with added capers. For the recipe, you could use any fresh tasty white fish fillets such as cod, monkfish, sea bass and so on.

2 servings

2 pieces of cod fillet, about 120 g each

2 tbsp. bread crumbs

Olive oil

For the sauce vierge:

50 ml tasty organic extra virgin olive oil

Juice of ¼ lemon

A dash of pressed garlic

Freshly ground black pepper

1 ripe medium tomato

2 tsp. small capers

Chopped basil or parsley


Preheat the oven to 200°C, roast.


Chop the tomato into very small pieces and place in a bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, pressed garlic, black pepper, and capers and mix. Let the tomato marinate while you prepare the fish. Just before serving, mix with chopped fresh herbs.


Coat an oven-proof dish with olive oil and pace the fish fillets in it. Cover the fillets with breadcrumbs and drizzle over some olive oil. Roast for about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets.


When the fish is done, divide the sauce vierge on the plates and place the fish on top. Serve with potato gratin and microwaved green beans.


Mont Razet revisited

 

Baisse de Scuvion and Mont Razet



On one of our recent hikes from Col de Castillon (signpost#135 at 706 m), we saw a temporary sign on the Baisse de Scuvion (1154 m) mountain pass indicating a direct path up to the nearby summit of Mont Razet (1286 m). On today’s hike we wanted to explore this option. The route was not shown on the normal hiking map, but interestingly the OpenStreetMap shows a trail between the Baisse de Scuvion and Mont Razet.

The mountains above Menton have an extensive network of trails, and we have become quite familiar with them. We have circled Mont Razet many times and climbed to the mountain top along the marked itinerary from la Pierre Pointue (1168 m; signpost #93a).

Mont Razet consists of a ridge where its northernmost point just above the Baisse de Scuvion is 1 m higher (1287 m) than the main peak. 

Trail crossroads near Biatonéa
Trail crossroads near Biatonéa
Heading to Baisse de Scuvion
Heading to Baisse de Scuvion
Col de Castillon viewed from trail
Col de Castillon viewed from trail
Near Baisse de Scuvion
Near Baisse de Scuvion

From Col de Castillon, we walked straight north, passing the Biatonéa neighbourhood to a trail crossroads (signpost #137), and ascended to the Baisse de Scuvion (signpost #92).


It was a cloudless February day and it had not rained in several weeks. Trails were therefore dry and easy to negotiate. The temporary sign we had seen at the Baisse earlier had disappeared, but the trail was clearly visible. It turned out that the path was marked with red dots (for trail runners?). Some steep stretches needed easy scramble, but all in all the trail enabled a rapid access to the summit. We first reached the Mont Razet ridge south of the highest point on the map (1287 m), continued southeast towards the main summit a few hundred meters away, still following the red dotted trail.

Shortcut to Mont Razet
Shortcut to Mont Razet
Near Mont Razet ridge
Near Mont Razet Ridge
Mont Razet ridge
Mont Razet ridge
Mont Razet summit seen from north
Mont Razet summit seen from north
Mont Razet summit
Mont Razet summit

After admiring the great views and absorbing the solitude, we continued to la Pierre Pointue, passing remnants of several Maginot-era bunkers, then continued to signpost #93 where we forked left and descended to Biatonéa, thus completing the loop. 


Climb: 580 m

Distance: 8 km

Duration: 3h 30

Map: Nice-Menton Côte d’Azur 3742 OT

Bunkers on Mont Razet ridge
Bunkers on Mont Razet ridge


Trail track to Mont Razet
Trail track to Mont Razet




Spring risotto

Spring risotto

 

This spring risotto recipe is my twist of a lunch we had one beautiful day in May on the terrace of a restaurant in Nice. The green asparagus and small purple artichokes, artichauts violets, are much appreciated local spring vegetables in the South of France. 


2 servings

For the risotto:

120 ml carnaroli or arborio rice

Olive oil

150 ml white wine

1- 2 shallots, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

About 700 ml chicken stock (you may not need it all)

About 2 handfuls of grated parmesan

For the vegetables:

4 small purple artichokes, artichauts violets

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

4 green asparagus

Juice of ½ lemon

8 black olives, pitted

About a handful of fresh basil leaves

Olive oil a pinch of salt


First prepare the vegetables and keep them refrigerated until needed.


Prepare a very green herb sauce by crushing the chopped basil leaves and a pinch of salt in a mortar with a pestle. Add olive oil into a nice sauce consistence, then cover and keep in the fridge.

 

Prepare the artichokes by cutting away the tops of the leaves and about 1 cm from the stems. Remove all the tough outer leaves. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add the lemon juice. Cook the artichokes for 8 minutes. Remove from the saucepan, cut into quarters and remove the fuzzy centre with a teaspoon. Place the artichokes in a bowl, cover and keep refrigerated.


Peel the green asparagus and cut away the tough stems. Cut them into about 3- 4 cm long pieces and microwave for a few minutes until soft. Place them in the fridge. 


Cook the risotto the classic way. Warm 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat in a heavy cocotte, such as Le Creuset, and sauté the shallot and garlic for 5- 10 minutes. add the rice and stir until well coated with the oil. Cook for 25 minutes adding the liquid, first the wine then the stock, ladle by ladle stirring continually. The rice should be al dente, cooked but firm to the bite. Remove the cocotte from the heat and stir in the parmesan.


Just before the risotto is ready, warm 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan. Quickly sauté the cherry tomato halves and warm the artichokes, asparagus, and black olives for a few minutes.


Divide the risotto into bowls and place the vegetables on top. Surround the risotto with the green basil sauce.