What a nice Mother’s Day! Even though Jade and I were the only ones celebrating Mother’s Day today, we joined our friends Alain and Sophie of Villiers-Louis in a celebration barbecue for Sundays, beautiful weather and open spaces.
I call Villiers-Louis “deep country” because even though Sens is considered a country town, it continues in denial of it’s rusticity, working hard at maintaining it’s facade of sophistication; 2 Mcdonalds, 1 mounted policeman, 2 rickshaw taxis, several large supermarkets, numerous, meaningless roundabouts and bizarrely placed yield and stops signs for the sake of having yield and stop signs just like in Paris, but not, because everything here is within walking distance. Excepting M. Parret and his cronies, you suspect that the inhabitants and town officials of Sens are “living for the city”.
On the other hand in Villiers-Louis, a village a few kilometers outside of Sens, nestled among rolling hills, fields, meadows and stands of forest, the inhabitants seem to have no pretensions that are discernible; just pride and contentment in who they are and where they come from.
Everyday people. And they do know how to have a good time!
Everyone brought something including salads, desserts, wines, interesting conversation, joie de vivre and hearty appetites. I love eating with these people!
It felt like Thanksgiving; so much of everything and everything so good!
Sophie’s Senegalese recipes for grilled chicken and fish are amazing! As is her ability to really fire up a barbecue pit.
The chicken was perfection!
Sophie also made a spicy pickle that was reminiscent of Haitian “pikliz”. Fresh and just right with the grilled fish.
And now for a gratuitous picture of Jade.
Or two. So Lauryn Hill!
Now that I’ve figured out what to do with the French travers du porc cut, I’m pretty comfortable with it. Everyone loved the flavor of the American barbecue sauce.
Alain contributed tender, young shoots of lettuce from his kitchen garden.
For dessert we had a tiramisu and Edith’s exceptional coconut flan.
Hope you all had a Happy Mother’s Day!
Sophie’s Grilled Chicken
3 lbs chicken, cut up
1 bulb garlic, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
1 scotch bonnet, seeded and chopped
3 heaping tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Mix garlic, bell pepper, onion, ginger, scotch bonnet, mustard, vinegar and olive oil together and toss with the chicken. Refrigerate overnight. Grill.
Wine suggestion: Yes.
Top event with great food. Jade’s hat steals the show, no question:)
Thank you Roger. It was a good time.
Sounds like a perfect Sunday, and Sophies exceptional coconut flan looks as you say exceptional.
Thank you promenade.
What great food! Jade is adorable in her hat.
I love your pictures, you can hear the conversations, laughter and clinking of glasses.
Thank you Spoon. This is a great group of people!
The chicken and pork look excellent – I love BBQ 😉
Me too Mad! What’s the recipe for the scallops and chorizo?
There’s not much to it – I usually do it in a frying pan and cook chopped chorizo and scallops in olive oil with a bit of garlic. The addition of Clonakilty black pudding (cooked separately) turns it into an excellent starter with amazing flavours. IMHO for this combination, it has to be a very flavoursome black pudding – some can be quite bland.
Fortunately, we have great boudin here. Thanks for the recipe, I’m going to try to get around to trying it.
Great post and lovely photos! I’m glad that you had a wonderful Mother’s Day :).
Thank you Tessa.
Lovely post, Rosemary. Looks as though you had a lot of fun! there’s some delicious looking food floating about there… of course…
Thank you Frugal. We did have fun.
Clearly 😀
Looks like a fantastic day with good food, good friends, and good wine! Can’t ask for better than that.
That chicken looks delicious too. I love scotch bonnet peppers . . . and I love your daughter’s hat! So cute!
Thank you Daisy. She has one in beige also 🙂
Great post. I love the look into the French way of life revealed in it.
Best,
Conor
Thank you Conor. The French love sunshine, food and drink. Barbecues are naturals for them.
Happy Mother’s Day, Rosemary! It looks like you had just the most perfect day… and your daughter is a sweetie!!
Thank you Smidge.
Wonderful food and the photos show what a great atmosphere it was too.
Thank you chaise. It was wonderful day!
It’s nice to see that you have a good Mother’s day. And what more can you ask for this day than having your daughter to celebrate? 😉 I hope friends, bbq, good wather, cand supply for a moment the absence of those who can’t be there that day.
Food looks delicious!!
Thank you Paula
How lovely!
Thank you cupcakes 🙂
Good company, good food, this looks like a fabulous day!
Thank you rs. It was fun.