Monday, January 18, 2010

'allo 'allo

So, it's like this....as I am on holiday the weather has pooed itself bigtime. We've been getting rain and cold winds. That is why we found ourselves on a chilly Saturday morning at the French Farmers Market in a popular bar lane, and why you won't see many sky pix!

See, now we go right.......



down the alley way, there are a few bars in this area and at weekends they have this market there. These two bags of lettuce were waiting at the door of the Bismark (the photo is named "Lettuce In")....



here we found some stalls with loads of French goodies (and some yuckies too...I am not a Brie fan no matter how you wrap the stuff), the lavendar was heavenly scented but probably from a lavender farm near here...


I bought a pot of this mustard, the one with the basil in it.



Didn't try the nuts or the bike....but when I got home....



I roasted these with butter and dollops of the Basil Mustard. Divine! All washed down with a nice vin de rouge.

12 comments:

TheUndertaker said...

Hey there, where did you actually go? You are obviously not near Auckland, as we are having 24 degrees and 83% humidity here right now. Looks ike you were having a good time though! Enjoy

VioletSky said...

I always find a farmer's market to be a great fantasy getaway...

how was the basil mustard?

The Sagittarian said...

Undertaker - we're still in Christchurch, thought as we were in Brisbane this time last year thatwe would 'holiday' at home!

Violet - it is simply lovely mustard! They had some with tarragon too but I find the taste a bit 'dusty' for my liking.

rb said...

Oh pooey re the weather. Here I was sat in my grey little climate imagining you enjoying heat and sunshine.

I love French markets. I always buy enough cheese to last for six months and then find I have eaten it all within six days.

Steve said...

Tres bon! Mushrooms are also nice when grilled with cheese and bacon... and a nice bottle of fizz naturally!

The Poet Laura-eate said...

Blimey, are there any French farmers left in France I wonder?

They seem to have gone global with their fresh produce markets! Which surely must impact on the freshness!

Don't NZ farmers want a piece of the action with their own produce?

The Sagittarian said...

rb - Believe me, I am as disappointed with the weather as you are!!

Steve - oh that sounds nice, we seem to have an abundance of mushrroms on the market here so I will try that, sounds ideal for a lazy lunch...

Poet - The 'farmers' accents sounded suspiciously local! It did actually seem more like a market where importers get to flog off their imports, but it was good to have it all in the one place and the shoulder of marino that we bought looks very tasty. (Marino usually bred for their wool, so will be intersting to see what the meat tastes like - might make a good yarn (boom boom)

Owen said...

Vin rouge ? You've been tippling again and it's not even Tuesday ! Naughty twin Sis ! Who said you could ?!? And how could anyone in their right mind not like Brie ??? Maybe you've been put off because the stuff you got your hands on had spent 6 weeks in the hold of a cargo ship ? I think you're going to need to come to France and we'll find you some good fresh Brie with a nice hot baguette just out of the oven, and a bottle of fine red wine to wash it all down with... for me, that's nearly a dinner right there... ok, a little lettuce for greenery, wouldn't want to catch scurvy or anything...

Selina Kingston said...

Mmmm....love mushrooms and those would be nice with some goats cheese and caramelised onions and any Tuesday tipple you may care to serve x

The Sagittarian said...

Owen - oh that sounds like a grand plan, it's been 18 years since I was in France - long overdue for a visit methnks! I'll just put the kids on TradeMe and pop on over...honestly I have tried to like Brie so perhaps you're right, fresh could be best! (just how I likes me men...)

Selina - gidday there, Tipple on its way!

Lynne with an e said...

Bonjour Bonjour! Hello happiness! Seems like you're finding ways to have fun in spite of non-cooperative weather conditions. Can I have your Brie, then? Or I guess I'll have to arm wrestle our brother Owen for it.

WV: "escrizie" As in--
Owen? e's crizie! (would that be a Kiwi accent or more Aussie? Sorry, no intention to insult you!)

Meggie said...

I loathe dairy products, but confess to being fond of some cheeses- camembert & brie!
I would have loved those mushrooms with the mustard. We had mushrooms Kilpatrick last night... divine!