A Taste of Provence inspired by A Pig in Provence #TheFrenchWinophiles

My friend, Christy of Confessions of a Culinary Diva started a new group last month called The French Winophiles.  Each month Christy has chosen a different region of France for us to explore. Last month she chose the Loire Valley.  You can see my post about Vouvray Wine here.  This month we were assigned Provence.  Christy also suggested a couple of books and a television series that would help us to get ready for this month's challenge.  You can see her invitation post here.

One of the books that Christy recommended was A Pig in Provence by Georgeann Brennan.  Those of you who know me or are regular readers, know that I LOVE books about raising animals and eating locally, organically and sustainably.  Most of the books I read regarding these things take place here in the United States.  Georgeann's book takes place in Provence and I absolutely LOVED it!!  It is broken into chapters beginning with her and her husband taking their young daughter and moving to Provence from California to raise goats and make cheese.  It continues on as they meet their neighbors, advance to raising pigs, learn to hunt mushrooms and truffles, have another child, move back to the States, spend time visiting in the Provence area, a second marriage, the children growing and having families of their own, returning to Provence and running a cooking school....basically her entire life as it was affected and influenced by her time in Provence.  A great read.

I went to my nearest large wine store, about a 45 minute drive, and found a reasonably priced bottle of Rose from a winery in Provence called La Sangliere.  I had never before tried a rose from France and I was concerned because I don't care for sweet wines and those Roses I have tried from the USA are not to my taste at all.  

A Pig in Provence inspired me to make a lightly dressed mixed greens salad with homemade garlic croutons that I smeared with a herb infused goat cheese. This came from the very first chapter, where Georgeann had melted some of her farm made cheese and topped a salad with it, serving it with fried slices of french bread..

Each chapter in the book ended with a recipe or a method of preparing the food for which Georgeaan had written.  In the chapter about foraging for mushrooms she had a recipe for a chanterelle omelet. Chanterelles are not easily found in my neck of the woods but I did find a wild mushroom mixture and we always have farm fresh eggs from my laying hens. 

This made a perfect lunch on a sunny hot day that had been spent lounging in the pool reading about life in Provence.  I had not finished the book but had read enough that I was very hungry and knew exactly what I wanted to make with items that I had on hand.

I had picked up the wine when I was down in the city last week returning Mom Klik who had spent the night with us.  The wine store is just a hop, skip and jump from her house.  I opened the wine, poured a glass, took a sip and was very pleasantly surprised.  This is not a sweet wine at all.  It is bright and crisp and perfect for relaxing on the deck on a hot, sunshiney day.  Not as heavy as a California Chardonnay which is my usual hot weather pour.  I will have to stop commenting that I don't care for Rose wines and amend it to I don't care for Rose wines from here in the United States.

While I was preparing my lunch, Frank came in from mowing the lawn and I offered to make him an omelet as well.  He decided that he felt like grilled hot dogs but he did have a glass of the wine with me and thought it was a great casual pairing.

Let's see what the others discovered while looking to Provence.

Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog shares "A Tipple and Taste of Provence"

Jeff from foodwineclick indulges in "Filet de Porc au Geniévre avec Domaine Tempier Bandol Rouge”

Sarah from Curious Cuisiniere has created a gorgeous pairing from Provence

Wendy from A Day in the Life on a Farm brings us “A Taste of Provence inspired by A Pig in Provence"

David from  Cooking Chat shares "Bacon Pineapple Orzo with a Rosé from Provence”

Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla  inspires us with “Spiced Orange Salad + Cave de Saint-Roch-les-Vignes Cotes de Provence Rosé”

Michelle from Rockin Red Blog brings us “A Meal in Provence”

Anna from Anna Dishes is still whipping up her pairing

Tammy from Telling Stories from Chez Nous is creating a spectacular pairing with  Rosé

Christy at Confessions of a Culinary Diva is sharing  "A Month in Provence”

Join us Saturday, July 18th at 11 am EST/8 am PCT for a live Twitter Chat sharing wine, food and travel stories from Provence. Find us at  #winophiles.

Next month we explore the wine and cuisine of  the Southwest Region of France on Saturday, August 15th.

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