La Mame

Aubergines (Eggplant) my way

I am constantly inspired by the cuisine of my husband's Armenian origins and although he is a born and bred Londoner and now largely a New Yorker, we are privileged to find wonderful ingredients here to recreate authentic dishes and to invent variations which have a modern feel and yet give a nod to his heritage. These aubergines are a classic example of this.

Serves 4
2 large purple aubergines, sliced lengthways (slightly less than 1/4 inch in thickness)
Extra virgin olive oil
salt
4 tablespoons of plain full fat yogurt, a pinch of red chilli flakes or 2-3 fresh red chillies
fresh mint leaves

Salt the aubergine slices and leave to drain in a colander for 20 mins. Rinse and pat dry. Lay on a baking sheet and heat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Paint each side of the aubergine slices with olive oil using a pastry brush. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until the aubergine start to get a nice brownish colour to them. Remove and store over night in airtight container in fridge. When you are ready to serve them, reheat the aubergines in a frying pan for a few minutes sprinkling with the red chilli flakes - remember these are powerful so do not be too liberal with the chillies if you have guests who are less keen on spice. Arrange on a platter and put a dollop of plain full fat yoghurt in the middle. Tear mint leaves and sprinkle on top. This dish can be served warm or at room temperature and can be served with any lamb dish for you carnivores but also serves as a hearty vegetable centrepiece for those veggy conscious.

Breathing in Autumnal air and new life to website!

After too long languishing, have finally revamped the website. It is now cleaner and recipes more accessible. Hoe you enjoy it. Feel free to send feedback on it and of course all comments on recipes or your own cooking suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Happy cooking!

Orla 

Wheatberry Tabbouleh

A flexible dish which happily accompanies fish, chicken or lamb

serves 4

Grandmother's orange wine (vin d'orange)

I was wandering in La Cadiere some years back when an old lady popped her head out from the window of her house and sold me a bottle of her homemade vin d'orange. I fell in love with it and was heartbroken when we came to the end of our bottle. Since then I have been on a quest for a replacement. Sadly the old lady has not reappeared. Here is the closest approximation I have:

Outrageously delicious slow cooked pork

Adapted from Bill Granger's Holiday book

I made this slow roasted pork shoulder with cumin and coriander seeds for my brother Marc, his family and two of our close friends Peter and ChaCha. It is incredibly easy and entirely delicious.

serves 9

Perfect Cheese Souffle

Cheese souffle is a favourite of Rikki's. I had not made it in a very long time.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day and it seemed appropriate to welcome the sunshine with a festive lunch surrounded by good friends and a bottle of wine.

This recipe is inspired by the Barefoot Contessa

Lamb chops with Sweet Potato and Lemon

This recipe is taken from Bill Granger's Feed Me Now cookbook. If you can get your hands on any of this Australian chef's cookbooks, snap it up. His recipes are the perfect combination of fusion and fresh local ingredients. Easy to make, creative and producing interesting tastes to please even the most discerning of palates!

Serves 4

Hearty Winter Warmers

Roasted Chicken with Harissa

Endives Tatin

New year, new recipes...

It was gorgeous to be back at la Mame, bathed in Provencal light.

The weather was more rainy than usual but it failed to dampen our spirits or appetites and we feasted on New year's Eve with foie gras, mechoui lamb, roasted vegetables, flageolet beans with garlic confit and pear, apple and ginger tarte tatin.

Here is my version of endives tatin with I served as a starter.

Delicious Duck

So Heather recently inspired me with a recipe she adapted from David Boulud - and after years of avoiding duck, traumatised (for all you armchair editors out there in Europe its spelled with an 's') by the copious amounts of fat which ooze forth from the duck and yet still lurk inside, I decided to give it another shot.