Quince Tarte Tatin

Quince from the neighbors

I love the classic Tarte Tatin with carmelized apples.  We had a bowl of fresh quince, which grow prolifically around the Petite Chateau in the Loire Valley (the “jardin de France” as the French say).  So we dreamed up this recipe one day made with carmelized quince, butter, and agave.  We made a gluten free butter crust with almond flour.  Of course if you prefer the real thing you could use brown sugar in place of the agave, and white flour in place of the almond flour.  Quince turn a beautiful orange color with cooking.  One time we added a little fresh fig, which also grow in the Loire. A great variation of the tart.

For the quince mixture:
4-5 fresh quince, peeled, cored and sliced (quince are very hard, so be careful)
1/3 stick of butter
1/3 cup of agave

Sautée the quince for 10-15 minutes in the butter and agave until the quince is slightly soft. Arrange the slices artfully in the bottom of the pan or transfer to a pie plate for arrangement.

Quince Tarte Tatin at the Loire Petite Chateau

The crust:
1-1/4 cups of almond flour.
2/3 stick of cold butter worked into the almond flour with a pastry cutter.
Mix 1 large egg or two small eggs with the almond/butter mix.
Add a tablespoon or more of of cold water as need to form into a cohesive pastry ball.
Roll out the crust on a little loose flour.

Baking and forming the tart:
Place the crust over the arranged quince. Tuck crust ends into the side of the baking pan or pie plate.
Bake at 350 F (180 C) for about an hour until the tart is bubbling nicely.
Remove from the oven and cool for 5-10 minutes.
Place a large serving plate on top of the tart baking pan; with the plate on top of the tart baking pan, turn the tart over on to a serving plate.  You may need to remove any sticking quince pieces from the baking pan.

Cool and serve with crème fraîche, chantilly (whipped cream), or vanilla ice cream.  It may take you a few times to get the timing right for your preferred level of  carmelization.

Braised rabbit with mustard

Braised rabbit with mustard, leeks and white wine Loire Petite Chateau

Rabbit is one of my favorite meats to cook in France.  Whole fresh rabbit is plentiful in the markets, unlike the States.  My version is less creamy than the classic French recipe but feel free to add crème fraîch or cream to the sauce at the end. The leeks add a green component that I enjoy to cut the richness. A little celery, in addition, will work too.

Fresh rabbit cut in to serving pieces
Large shallot diced
2 leeks diced including green part
1/2 cup of lardons (diced unsmoked bacon)
2+ cups dry white white like Saumur
1/2 cup flour
Dijon mustard (or whole grain French ancienne)
salt and pepper

Sautée lardons, shallot and leek separately and set aside.
Cover rabbit with flour.
Sautee over medium-high heat.
Remove rabbit from pan and cover with mustard.
Place lardons, shallot and leek in bottom of roasting pan.
Place rabbit on top of vegetables.
Pour in white wine.
Roast at 350 F (180 C) for about 1-1/2 hours or until tender.
Add more wine if all juice evaporates but try to cook off most of the alcohol.

Restaurants on market day

Lunch with Beth after the Saumur market at Le Pot de Lapin

The best markets near the Loire Petite Chateau are in Saumur and Thouars on Friday and Saturday.  After a hard morning of café sitting and market shopping it’s time for lunch.  Saumur offers a good selection of market-day restaurants.

We might go to Le Grand Bleu for mussels and seafood.  Or Le Pot de Lapin where the menu changes frequently and daily wines are featured on the chalkboard.  We always like to eat outdoors in good weather.  The best place to watch the scene with good food is Bistrot de la Place on the north side of Place St. Pierre.  There are several others on the square like Auberge St. Pierre.  For a Michelin one-star experience walk over to Gambetta a few blocks away.  Near Gambetta is L’Alchemiste, less expensive but an excellent value.

There are fewer restaurants within walking distance of the Thouars market.  A good little one with an outdoor terrace behind l’Eglise St. Médard, Le Trait d’Union, 8 Place St. Médard.  Or you could drive ten minutes away to

Mussels at Le Grand Bleu after the Saturday Saumur market

Logis de Pompois, formal and very high quality, or 15 minutes away to the nearby village of Oiron to dine at Relais du Chateau, an excellent value.  See the unusual Château d’Oiron afterwards, where a classic chateau is juxtaposed with contemporary art.

After the market in Doué la Fontaine on Mondays you can walk to Le Dagobert or drive 5 minutes away to the best restaurant in the city and a Michelin Bib Gourmand,  Auberge Beinvenue, across from the unusual Doué Bio Park, where the zoo is set in the limestone caves of the area.

There is a small Tuesday market in Montrueil-Bellay, which is only 10 minutes from our village and considered one of the most beautiful in the Loire.  We love La Barbacane for coffee or lunch on the terrace with a splendid view of the Chateau.

For the Angers market on Saturday we are partial to Autor d’un Cep, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant.  This is a casual restaurant with good wine and creative menu.

There are dozens of good restaurants around the Chinon market on Thursday.  It is one of our favorite medieval cities nearby. We enjoy a simple meal in the central square at Bistrot de la Place.  Award winning is L’Oceanic.

At the small Fontevraud market on Wednesday’s, the Restaurant Le Délice is an excellent value.  For the one-star experience in the village we recommend La Licorne. Combine your trip to Abbaye Fontevraud, one of the greatest in France.

The best markets

The streets of Saumur fill with the market every Saturday morning

Outdoor markets are one of the joys of living in France. They are the weekly community gathering and a way of life. There is a market every day near Le Puy Notre Dame.  The two big local markets are in Saumur and Thouars, each twenty minutes from our Loire Petite Chateau.

The Saumur market fills the streets of the city every Saturday morning.  After a little shopping we have  coffee and croissants at one of the cafés in Place St. Pierre.  Away from the main square, the Butterfly has a friendly and authentic atmosphere. We

smile at some who enjoy fresh oysters with a bottle of Saumur white at 10 am, something we never have been able to do so early in the morning, with or without the oysters.  There is excellent chocolate at Maison du Chocolate on rue du Temp just south of Place St. Pierre.  Have a sumptuous

Bob having a café au lait and croissant at Le Butterfly in the Saumur market on Saturday morning

cup of hot chocolate at one of the small tables outside.

We fill our baskets with food for the week.  We might stop at the farm stall near Auberge St. Pierre where there is a large offering of freshly dressed local chicken, pintade, and rabbit, often sold out by late morning. We are partial to pintade and rabbit, which are quite difficult to buy fresh in the States.  (See my rabbit recipe.)  We buy a loaf of organic whole wheat bread (“pain complet”) from the Richelieu baker.  We frequent several organic vegetable stalls, the large one in the center of Place St. Pierre, and a small one on the northwest corner of rue du Marché and rue du Puits Neuf.  Then we might buy cows milk cheese or organic apples from farm stalls, and some organic wine from Jackie Ripoche from Les Noades.

The Thouars market is different.  Saumur is bourgeois with elegant white limestone architecture while Thouars is old world, supported by local French.  Held every Friday morning, Thouars has a larger food hall than Saumur, and is said to be the best markets in the department of Deux-Sèvres.  We find certain produce only in Thouars, like one of our favorites, fresh watercress (“cresson”), which is more intense and flavorful than in the States.  Thouars is best for seafood.  We buy a wide variety

Some of the seafood stalls at the Thouars market on Friday morning

including tiny clams, coquille St. Jacque, fresh sardines, live crab, and whole sea bass.  We continue to find surprises at this market. Lately there has been a new shop with exceptional artisan cheese.

Doué la Fontaine has a medium-size market on Monday mornings, much less intense, but very convenient when we miss the large markets on Friday and Saturday. There are several organic vegetable stalls. We have coffee outside on Place Jean Begault up by the vegetable stalls.  The best bakery, although not organic, is on Place de Justice de Paix.

Explore the other markets nearby in Montrueil-Bellay (Tuesday, which is small), Fontevraud (Wednesday, small), Chinon (Thursday, large), Angers (Saturday, large), Cholet (Saturday, large) and many others.  See French market days here.

Pictured to the right is a whole shark at the Thouars market.  Whole fish of all kinds is plentiful here.  And it is exceptionally fresh.