FRENCH KITCHEN ADVENTURES

Taste Gascony! Cooking Weekends in the French Kitchen with Kate Hill

2008-01-10T12:30:00.003+01:00

Kate Hill welcomes you to her French Kitchen!

Discover the rural gastronomy of Southwest France, from foie gras to armagnac and all the delicious fresh produce in between, on this exclusive 'French Kitchen Adventure’- this is a perfect weekend break or 3-day add-on to a visit to Paris or Provence (The French Kitchen is just 4 hours from Paris by high speed train!).

Kate Hill has scouted these French backroads for over 20 years, meeting the butchers, bakers and armagnac-makers on their own home ground. An enthusiastic host and teacher, Kate shares her favorite farmers' markets in the most picturesque Gascon villages as well her well researched, easy and delicious authentic recipes as you cook and dine together around the convivial table at Relais de Camont.

Friday: Afternoon arrival in Agen by TGV from Paris or from near by Toulouse or Bordeaux airports. This adventure in good cooking begins at Kate Hill’s French Kitchen at the Relais de Camont. The 18^th-century farmhouse fills with the fragrant perfume of good food cooking with a traditional Gascon dinner—a Poule-au-Pot or Gascon pot-au-feu. Discover the taste of Gascony from Aperitifs to Armagnac!

Saturday: Cookbook author and cooking queen Kate Hill escorts you to the picturesque and bustling weekly farmers market at Nerac, a haven of artisan food producers in Gascony. Artisan food producers sell their own wares and offer samples to their favorite visitors- like us! Kate's been shopping here for 20 years and the locals spoil her with samples and tastes as well as the best artisan food they produce. After the market, we enjoy a delicious lunch in a charming café or a perhaps a shady pique-nique by the river. By mid-afternoon, we return to the French Kitchen for a fun and easy cooking class #1- 'Gascon Traditions'—introducing you to foie gras, confit de canard and other regional and seasonal specialties. Aperitifs to Digestives accompany our dinner and feature a wine tasting of local regional wines from Madiran, Cahors, Buzet, & Cote de Gascogne- the best of the Southwest.

Sunday: After a lazy morning over cafe-au-lait and fresh croissants, Cooking Class #2—'French Basix' is influenced by the potager and herb gardens at Camont- what’s fresh, in season and out the kitchen door. How to make fresh herb sauces for braised poultry using parsley, lovage, rosemary and thyme, elegant vinaigrettes for startling good salads and French soups, a potager primer creating simply elegant soups from fresh garden ingredients like shallots, watercress, and celery root. A long Sunday lunch awaits. Departure after lunch.

An optional Sunday night stay is available*.

This all-inclusive gourmet package for the Weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun- available year round) includes:

Two nights accommodation at the Relais de Camont,
two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, including wine and beverages accompanying meals,
2 hands-on and demonstration cooking classes and
market and shopping tour in Nerac or Agen

Sample Weekend Program

Day 1: Welcome Dinner and accommodation
Day 2: accommodation, breakfast, market visit,and lunch out. Evening cooking class #1, dinner, wine and armagnac tasting with cheese and dessert.
Day 3: breakfast, cooking class #2 followed by Sunday lunch.

Price: 750€ (euro) per person based on double occupancy in a superior double room at the Relais de Camont. Single supplement 250€.

*Optional third night (Sunday) stay including buffet supper + 200€

Note: Does not include air fare or transportation to and from France and Camont exclusive of local transport for market shopping and outing. Pick up from train station is available by request.

For more of Kate Hill and her French Kitchen Adventures –– www.katehill.blogspot.com

email: kate (at) thefrenchkitchen (dot) com

Camp Cassoulet- seasonal weekend cooking classes

2007-11-10T15:45:00.003+01:00

photo by David Lebovitz

Camp Cassoulet- learning the ABC’s of a Recipe.

Come to the French countryside and learn to cook one of France’s favorite traditional recipes- cassoulet. Explore everything from haricots to charcuterie in Southwest France with Kate Hill in her French Kitchen Inn on a long weekend adventure in a magical canal-side setting. Steeped in the traditions of country cooking, Kate Hill’s French Kitchen Adventures open the doors to discover the delicious artisan abc’s of cassoulet- Armagnac, Beans & Charcuterie and the classic dishes that define the cooking of Southwest France.

Relax at Kate’s charming ‘Relais de Camont’ perched on the quiet banks of the Canal de Garonne while learning and enjoying the artisan foods of Gascony. Two charming guest rooms with private baths welcome you to the 18^th-century pigeonnier that is set in a two-acre park with organic potager, heritage fruit orchard and quiet wooded spring. Just 4-hours from Paris by TGV and 1-½ hours from Toulouse and Bordeaux.

This special introductory offer to Camp Cassoulet is offered weekends from November 1 to January 31 and is available for 2- 6 people. For Posts about the first ever Camp Cassoulet click on David Lebovitz's great post and Lucy Vanel's lovely toast post, Loulou's great photos and of course, my own take on what happened.

Weekend Camp Activities:

Arrive Friday evening for a welcome supper in front of the long cheminée in the French Kitchen at Camont. Aperitifs to Armagnac. The Label Rouge Tarbais beans begin an overnight soak.
Saturday’s village Farmer’s Market at Nerac supplies all the ingredients for the day-long class interrupted only by an impromptu pique-nique lunch of charcuterie and fresh goods from the marché.
Cassoulet Cooking Class begins on return to the Relais de Camont with pots simmering full of aromatic bouillon and beans, sausage grilling on the open fire, and confit crisping under the grill. After assembling the cassoulet in traditional terracotta pots for baking, the pots slip into the outdoor wood oven to bake into a golden-crusted traditional cold-weather supper. Organic greens for a salad and a simple homemade sorbet-cocktail and champagne for dessert completes the day cooking in the French Kitchen.
Sunday morning café-au-lait brunch featuring farm l’Oeufs Gascon and fresh baked pastries from a morning pastry class.
Departure late afternoon (TGV departs at 14:22 arriving Paris 18:40)
Or stay another night and depart Monday morning at your leisure and enjoy a country Sunday lunch in a local Café followed by a quiet afternoon to walk, read, relax or explore the bike towpath along the Canal de Garonne. (Third night available – additional 100€)

photo by Lucy Vanel

Camp Cassoulet rate is 795€ per person all inclusive (based on double occupancy; single supplement available) and is available between October- January. The fee includes:

2 nights B&B accommodation a Relais de Camont in double room with private bath
2 dinners and 1 lunch with wine plus...
Sunday Morning Champagne Brunch
All day French Kitchen Adventure including morning market excursion and cassoulet cooking class-approx 5 hours.
Armagnac and wine tasting Saturday evening with dinner.
Local transportation includes: pickup and transfer to and from Agen train station; market excursion.

To book a weekend at Camp Cassoulet, email: Kate@thefrenchkitchen.com

all other photos by me... Kate Hill

A Year of French Kitchen Adventures in Southwest France

2007-10-10T22:07:00.001+02:00

Discover the Four Delicious Seasons of Gascony!

Winter Truffles, Spring Greens, Summer Fruit & Fall Wild Foods beckon you into my French Kitchen all year long in Southwest France. Join me here as I travel over the poetic and lush Gascon countryside searching out the best artisan food producers, the most colorful farmer’s markets, special gastronomic museums and delicious off-the-beaten paths to a hidden winery that only an insider would know where to find!

I invite you to indulge in the tranquil setting of my 18th-century guesthouse- Relais de Camont along the quiet canal towpath, explore the walking and bike trails at hand or help the 'master digger' tend Camont’s fertile organic potager and heritage fruit orchard. Friends join me to help teach you the basics of good simple French cuisine-- local cooks, talented French housewives and professional chefs. Our cooking classes are fun and informal yet feature the best artisan food produced locally by passionate friends and neighbors.

The Butcher, Baker & Armagnac-Maker open their farms and own kitchen doors for you to discover the secrets of good cooking as practiced for centuries in these country kitchens of Gascony. We cook and eat locally-- very locally! A day's outing to an armagnac cellar yields the golden brandy we use to prepare a guinea fowl roasting in it's own juices. A visit to a goat's farm supplies the chevre which we'll bake into little savory 'cheesecakes' served with an onion confiture. This fertile countryside is a four-season Super Market where you meet "the people who turn dirt into food".

Winter: January and February offers special 'Duck, Duck, Goose' weekends devoted to discovery the art and soul of confit and foie gras making in Southwest France.
Spring: March-May are busy food producing weeks for Artisan Food School programs (7-day to 4 week programs featuring workshops with artisan food producers, markets and cooking classes.)
Summer: June- mid September European Culinary Adventures with Kate in other regions of France, Italy, Spain and... beyond.
Fall: Sept- end of Nov. the French Kitchen warms up to Taste Gascony! Weekends with autumn fires, armagnac distillation and cooking weeks devoted to game, mushrooms and other wild things!

Taste Gascony! Weekend Cooking Breaks run year round, from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, and includes two cooking classes, one market excursion, two dinners and one lunch and two or three nights’ accommodation at the Relais de Camont. Local transportation not included. For more information on dates & rates click here- Taste Gascony! Weekend Breaks in Southwest France.

Come Join me for a French Kitchen Adventure in Gascony,

Kate Hill