Savoury Saturday: Valentine's 3 Course Dinner Recipe from Le Gargantua Cooking Holiday in Southwest France

Ah, the beautiful memories I have from my time at Le Gargantua always bring a smile to my face!! For a special Valentine's Day feature, we are sharing three recipes from the kitchen of Marlène.

We love creating at Bon Voyage Friends and hope you have a delightful time in the kitchen recreating Marlène's amazing French cuisine. Bon Appetite!!

TARTE TATIN AUX ECHALOTES

SHALLOT TART

Pair dressed leaves with the Shallot Tart, a wonderful combination. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g shallots

• 20g butter

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• Thyme, salt, pepper

• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• Puff pastry

PREPARATION:

• Peel and halve the shallots.

• Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the sugar. Heat up until the sugar has dissolved.

• Lay the shallots in the frying pan, round face down, not overlapping.

• Cook on low heat until they are nearly cooked through and caramelised.  

• Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and reduce to a syrup.

• Butter individual tart tins. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

• Arrange the shallots in the bottom, still round face down, then season them and cover with a disk of pastry. 

• Refrigerate to chill the puff pastry.

• Bake at 190°C for 25-30 min, until golden.

• Serve warm with a salad

CANARD D'ORANGE

INGREDIENTS:

PREPARATION:

SOUFFLE AU CHOCOLAT

INGREDIENTS 

For the chocolate cream:

350 ml milk

80g caster sugar

4 egg yolks

30g flour

50g cocoa powder, sifted

180g dark chocolate ( 70% cocoa), finely chopped

For the soufflés:

8 egg whites

30g caster sugar

For the ramekins:

40g butter

40g sugar

PREPARATION 

• Butter and sugar the ramekins

• Make the cream: in a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil with 2/3 of the sugar. 

• Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until thick and pale. 

• Add the flour to the eggs with a hand whisk 

• Pour the hot milk whilst whisking.

• Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir with a whisk until the cream thickens and boils.

• Cool down in iced water, then when it reaches room temperature, add the cocoa powder and   

        the chopped chocolate.

• Preheat the oven to 200°C.

• Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and whisk. 

• When they get fluffy, add the sugar and whisk more, until soft peaks.

• Incorporate 1/3 of the egg whites to the cream with a whisk then fold in the rest with a 

        spatula.

• Pour into the ramekins and flatten the surface with a knife. 

• Bake for 10-12 min. 

• Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.