It came upon me all of a sudden, seemingly overnight: a world of trees turned green again, lush, verdoyant full of life green and it feels as if it has never been anything else.
I’m quietly preparing the house for the season. The B&B reopens on 14 May, though if the weather stays this gorgeous, I may take bookings as early as 1 May. There is still so much to do, and the cobwebs are definitely on an outer-space level. But all in all, spring cleaning is fun when the results are so tangible plus I get to enjoy the view.
For the upcoming season, I’ll have an additional fourth room, the Chambre Lion, which comes with a shared bathroom and is located in the middle part of the castle. Overall, I’ll be able to host groups of up to ten guests going forward. Progress!
Otherwise, I made feuilleté de Saint-Jacques, which are essentially pretty little scallop pies and ever so tasty. I’ve been meaning to make them forever, ever since I watched the movie The Taste of Things (though in the film she makes them with écrevisses, crayfish). They are fairly easy to prepare and can also be made in advance and reheated later, which makes them a perfect starter for a multi-course French dinner or a quick and gorgeously refined weekday lunch.
What you’ll need
- A block of good quality French puff pastry, the one with really never too much butter – I took a 500g one and it yielded two little pies
- 50g fresh butter
- A good tablespoon of flour
- 2dl full fat milk
- Grated nutmeg, fleur de sel and ground white pepper
- Finely chopped dill
- Two big scallops per pie
- A bit of butter for searing the scallops
- An egg for brushing the pies
How you cook it
Start with the filling. In a sauce pan, melt the butter and whisk in the flour, let bubble for a minute and deglaze with the milk. Keep whisking until it comes to a boil, take off the heat once it has thickened. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add the dill. Set aside.
Roll out the dough to about 2mm thin and cut into four squares. Whisk the egg and brush two of the squares.
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C.
Sear the scallops in a little butter for no longer than 30 seconds on each side. Place a dollop of filling in the middle of each of the two puff pastry squares, place two scallops each on top and add a little more filling. Cover with the remaining squares. Then to the artsy bit – with the help of a sharp knive, cut into a scallop shell shapes. Firmly press the rims so nothing spills out during baking. Brush the tops with egg and lightly score shell like ridges.
Bake golden for 20 minutes.
How you eat it
A little green leaves with a nice little spring vinaigrette as a side, out on the terrace if you’re lucky. Enjoy!
Les Poissonchats 