The Stove on Sunday: French Food in Chamonix

Cheese features highly in my food posts, most recently seen in my The Stove on Sunday post on Goat Cheese Tarts.  So, if like me, you are dairy obsessed then read on because this promises to be the ultimate cheese post!

We stopped over in Chamonix for one night, on the way to Tuscany, as seen earlier in the week in Chamonix in Pictures.

Upon arrival we headed straight out for our evening meal and ended up making quite a brisk but impeccable choice to dine at Le Carlina.  The outside tables, although a little chilly, despite the patio heaters, was incredibly atmospheric and it felt very French to watch the passers by and look out to the snow covered mountains whilst drinking red wine.

All of us had quietly decided that cheese would be our order of choice and after much deliberation and debate we decided to get the fondue and the raclette to share, as none of us could decide which we would prefer.

The raclette looked something like this...

I love the simplicity of this meal, after all it is just raclette cheese heated to be eaten with side dishes such as potatoes and bread.  There is no skill required and yet it is potentially one of the most delicious meals going. I have had this before in Switzerland but we all agreed that the cheese was particularly creamy and good at Le Carlina and it was hands down the best we have tried.

Both this and the fondue came with accompaniment dishes of different hams, including bresaola and chorizo, mini gherkins, mini pickled onions, bread and potatoes.  The fondue had a slight twist to it and was expertly chosen by my sister @holly_mcnally.  With the promise of mushrooms accompanying the fondue we were shocked to discover that instead of a side dish they were in fact incorporated into the actual cheese dish.  We were further shocked to see that instead of whole pieces it had been added as a kind of liquid form.  You could distinguish the mushroom flavour but on the same hand it was not too overpowering as, mushroom hater @hannah_mcnally happily appreciated.

Fondue has been sampled by myself on many occasion and although a frequent orderer of it I am usually hugely disappointed upon eating.  Perhaps it's the gruyere, perhaps it's the kirsch but either which way, after several mouthfuls the waves of sickness set in and I am utterly horrified at the site of any more cheese.  This, as you can imagine, due to my declaration of love for cheese, leaves me distressed.  Surprise, surprise though I could have kept on going with this version from Le Carlina.  I have no idea if they used a different cheese, or a different alcohol or a different ingredient in general but this was more than tolerable and I ate way too much of it.  This and my dad's version made with cheddar and beer are the only fondue's I can honestly say I love.  Hopefully I'll get the chance to post my dad's version some time.

We topped the meal off with a coffee that makes me realise that no matter how much I love Starbucks it will never be as awesome as this...

None of us could manage dessert, except this girl...

She had two scoops, one Ferrero Roche and the other Kinder.  The choice was insane and highlighted once again how rubbish ice cream parlours in the UK are.

The following morning we stopped by the local Boulangerie to pick out something for lunch for the second part of our journey to Tuscany.

This extraordinary brioche caught our eyes and although we didn't buy it that time around, when my parents came home via Chamonix they kindly picked it up for our breakfast back in England the following morning.

The pink clusters, we initially assumed, were some kind of dried fruit, perhaps strawberries but on further investigation we discovered they were praline.  I have no idea why or how they were pink but it tasted like sweet popcorn and is apparently made with sugar syrup.  It was a different twist to your standard brioche and was perfect adorned with butter and eaten with a fresh pot of the most stunning hazelnut coffee my parents had bought me in Italy.

The lunch we chose from the boulangerie was actually croque monsieur's for most of us and although I don't have any pictures of the best croque monsieur I've ever eaten we did try and re-create them upon my parents return.

You Will Need:
White Bread
Beschamel Sauce
Cheddar Cheese
Ham
Mustard
Pepper to season

1.  Layer one slice of bread with mustard and then the beschamel sauce
2.  Place ham over the sauce and follow by grating a thick layer of cheese onto the ham
3.  Season with pepper
4. Place the second piece of bread on top to create a sandwich
5.  Layer the top of the sandwich with mustard and beschamel sauce
6.  Grate another layer of cheese on top of the sandwich
7.  Season with pepper
8.  Place in a preheated oven of 180 degrees
9.  Cook for around 20 minutes or until golden brown

Hopefully they should turn out something like this...

We ate these and the brioche out the front of our house looking out to this, which just made them picture perfect moments...

And then, as most of us British know, the rain came.

On a final note, those on the East Coast of the States, friends, readers, family etc I hope you have not been too affected by Hurricane Irene and have/are keeping safe.xxx

Chamonix in Pictures

I visited Tuscany a few weeks back and it was B-Utiful!  The food, the weather, the scenery, the men.  Instead of flying we drove which was an adventure in itself and took just two days from my village in Kent, England.  Isn't that amazing?  We stayed in Chamonix, in France, as our nights stop over and it was simply fantastic.  Chamonix is primarily known for it's ski season but even in July it was pretty and had a lovely atmosphere.  As promised, as soon as I got my camera back I wanted to share my holiday photo's with you and some of the lovely things I tried, different beauty products, activities and a review of Tuscan Tennis Holidays.  These will all be spanned over a couple of posts and to start them off here is Chamonix in Pictures...

We stayed in Hotel Faucigny, which was very central.  Quite a basic hotel but still homely and had my favourite wood burning stove smell that reminds me of Christmas.  I loved the wooden carved Christmas Tree artwork outside the hotel too, although was quite odd to be looking at it in July.  The old fashioned ski poster was one of the off beat pieces in the breakfast room.  The service in the hotel was fantastic too.  As you all know I left my camera there.  That's right Ladies and Gentleman, I lost my camera on the second day.  We only realised as we were going through the Mont Blanc tunnel.  I wasn't heading back there as I was only staying a week in Tuscany but my parents would be staying there again on the way back and after notifying them that we had left a camera there, they not only made sure it was kept safe but they also had it waiting in my parents room on their return.

Looking at this picture now, I still can't get over the view.  I love the idea of being able to see snow on the mountains in the middle of summer.

These were some shop signs.  I was blown away by the attention to detail, the fact that they were hand painted and all round delicate beauty of these.  I can't imagine seeing anything like this anywhere else other than France, Switzerland or Austria.

Presentation is so important here and it really showed in every store.  My local bakers wouldn't look anything like this, although some London ones would make this kind of effort I suppose.

Local produce was abundant at the market.  I lingered at this stall for quite some time.  The honey and lavender soap caught my eye and I found the thought of buying French soap from your local market quite romantic.

This was a store dedicated to fragrance.  The presentation of the candles on the right was outstanding.  I would have loved some of these for our house but unfortunately the shop was closed.  I think the yellow sun one was my favourite.  The picture on the right I think is an odd and far more attractive type of pot pourri but don't quote me on that!

Every time you looked up you would spot these paragliders.

Sundays food post will be focusing on all the food we sampled whilst in Chamonix, including a few bits we've tried to make ourselves since.  Considering we were only there one night we got through a awful lot of cheese, I can tell you that much!

Things to come on To Elle and Back...

The above picture is me Friday night, my last night on holiday.  I look burnt, I assure you I am not.  I also look startled and as if I have had cheek implants whilst away, again both untrue.  Some of my pictures have been a little, well...crap, of late due to a loss of camera totalling in three months, hence many a camera phone image.  Camera was retrieved from behind sister's cushions on her chair in her room the day before departure, she still persists it was hiding from my messy room.  Camera takes further sabbatical on day 2 of holiday in Chamonix, our stopover, on way to Tuscany.  Camera has lots of pictures for blog.  Camera will not return from it's vacation until next Sunday night.  Parent's camera worked as replacement and has even more pictures for blog.  Parent's camera will also not return until next Sunday night.  So you see my dilemma. 

I had taken cables and everything with me to blog my way through France and Tuscany so you can imagine my annoyance at such a quick departure of the actual camera.  It was more than annoyance actually, it was full on sobs and child fit in the back of the car as we sat in awful traffic to get through tunnel to Italy.  Father says traffic was worse than last year and made increasingly more aggravating by my "wobbly" BUT that it also made the time go super fast. 

Anyway, lots of posts to come as had most fantastic week and want to share every detail with you.  Expect posts on, most notably, food.  Food from restaurants, food I've never tried before, food I've had a million times before but was more fantastic whilst away, food we made ourselves.  Most exciting and unusual post will be on stuffed courgette flowers.  See, exciting.

Expect posts on unusual beauty treatments, local beauty products and due to line of thinking whilst away have found new interest in trying to create some kind of homemade skincare product with Olive Oil, all recipes on a comment below please!

Finally, expect a full and glowing review of Tuscan Tennis Holidays, who were so super duper that me, girl who has not played tennis in 10 years, wants to play again and I didn't even partake in the coaching.  I'd also like you to note it isn't just because I saw no.73 in the World train on the next court with his shirt off either.