[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #0B0B61;”]Happy Saturday everyone. It’s been a few posts since my last “adventure” so you know what that means? Time for pretty pictures! Everyone say “yay” π This time I haven’t ventured that far afield – I kept meaning to pay a visit to somewhere exciting but just never got around to it. We went to lunch at a friend’s place last weekend and the weather was fantastic. A crisp autumnal day with a brilliantly blue sky and a bright, warming sun to cut through any chills. I decided that what better than to show you around my local area. I’m very lucky in that there is a forest right next to my apartment so I never have any problem at all when I want my “hit” of nature. The forest pretty much surrounds my town and once you enter it there are a great many paths leading off in all manner of different directions. You can either head straight through and go towards to the bottom end of Versailles, or you can branch off and come out in the smaller towns just outside Versailles, such as Porchefontaine, Chaville or Viroflay. Our trip took us through towards Versailles and it was indeed a wonderful decision to walk instead of taking the car.
I don’t live in Japan, or anywhere surrounded by fantastically beautiful maple trees, dropping glorious red and orange leaves every fall. Around here we have a lot of chestnut trees. The leaves tend to turn from green, to yellow, to golden brown. It’s not quite as vivid as other parts of the world, but when the day is like this it’s no less enjoyable. We were lucky to catch them before any rain-fall. The leaves were loose and crisp underfoot – instead of being slushy and slimy! We spotted some browning ferns bathed in sunlight on an embankment and most impressive of all, as I mentioned earlier, was the sky. You can’t really tell from the photos above because it’s a bit bleached, but looking up, it was this colour:
… and not a cloud in sight! Wandering onwards we came across this sight. They do some logging in the forest each year and always leave the logs stacked up alongside the paths. I never see (or hear) anyone doing anything – these giant piles of logs seem to appear so suddenly, stay for several weeks, and then just as suddenly disappear without a trace. Almost makes me wish I had a house with a fireplace! (What, me? Sneak in to the forest in the middle of the night and make off with giant sackfuls of free, ready cut logs? I’d never commit such heinous crimes!)
Coming out of the forest and crossing over the railway bridge we then enter Versailles. It’s a rather unassuming entrance to the city, compared to the vast tree lined “Avenue de Paris” stretching all the way up from the town of Viroflay right up to the Chateau gates. Following the road down will lead on to one of Versailles’ train stations – “Versailles Chantiers”. This station is mainly served by SNCF trains, with a direct link to Paris’ Montparnasse station, from where you can go south to Bordeaux and other such pleasant places should you like. You can also get to Chartres directly from Versailles Chantiers. A rather beautiful town with a splendid cathedral and an attraction called “La Maison Picassiette”. A house completely decorated inside and out with mosaics made from pieces of glass and pottery. If memory serves it was the life’s work of the artist who lived there – a very memorable sight!
Arriving at our friend’s house I just had to grab a quick photo of this. I find it very funny that no sooner had I finished a whole load of posts on quinces, but then I run across a bush (or maybe it’s considered a small tree?) growing quinces outside his apartment building. Here you go people – this is how quinces look in their natural state. I told my friend this and he announced that he’d be heading down to … ahem… “acquire” these fruits.
Having had a wonderful (and incredibly filling) lunch we wandered back home again. By now the sun was low in the sky and the temperature was dropping a little. I paused to take a picture of the setting sun, and then we hurried on home – encountering two horses with their riders out for a late afternoon exercise on the way!
So, that’s my local forest – I hope you enjoyed looking around. As with my other photos, you can download the full size versions if you so wish – desktop wallpaper or simply to look at in more detail. You can do this on my downloads page. Now on to the recipe though!
Beer bread! Sounds alcoholic and boozy? Surprisingly not. It’s basically a no-knead, no-yeast bread which is incredibly fast to make, makes awesome gifts for people (in it’s un-mixed form) and can be customised about a million and one different ways. The beer acts as a rising agent, along with the baking powder, and gives a pleasant end flavour to the bread. It’s more compact than other breads but so much fun! In this recipe, I used half spelt flour and half plain flour with added grains and seeds. For spices I used oregano, tarragon and cumin, although my wife likes to add cheese and garlic as well. You can even change the beer used. I used a lager, which gives quite a light flavour. Using a bitter or a stout would give an amazingly rich quality to the bread I think, and I’m even going to put this in the “under β¬1” category because if you buy one of these nasty cheap lagers which is barely worth the can it’s contained in then you can make the whole loaf for about 50 cents! Enjoy π
Ingredients
- 500g Flour (Any flour (or flours!) of your choice
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Salt
- Spices/Herbs of your choice (Rosemary and crushed black pepper for example. (Minced garlic and cheese is also excellent))
- 33cl Beer/Lager/Bitter (1 regular sized can)
Instructions
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. If you’re giving this away as a gift it’s probably best to avoid ingredients which may go off, such as fresh garlic or cheese. Grind up any herbs or spices you’re adding and mix them in. If you want to give it to someone as a fun gift then transfer it to a clean, suitably sized, nice-looking mason jar or similar, with an air-tight seal and then close up. You can then give it to them and say “Hey, stick in a can of beer and bake! Enjoy :)”.
- If you’re not giving it away as a gift though then you’ll need to crack open that beer round about now and pour it all into the bowl with the flour. Oh, you probably want to pre-heat your oven round about now to about 200 degrees Celsius as well!
- Mix well to form a wet dough. (I never tried making a drier dough and seeing what would happen. If you happen to do this, feel free to report back!)
- Take an appropriately sized loaf tin and rub the sides with butter. Transfer the dough into the tin and squish down to fill the corners. Smooth over the top slightly and then place into your pre-heated oven. Bake for about 45 minutes, by which time the top should be a golden brown colour.
- Check it’s baked through by removing from the tin (careful, it’s hot, ouch!) and tapping the underside. If it sounds hollow then it’s good to go. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack and allow to cool before cutting (or just eat it hot!). Enjoy with some butter, cheese, chutney, pickles, cold meats, soup… π
Kristy says
Yay! One of your bread recipes!!! And I LOVE beer bread. We got a mix as a gift a while back and made it recently. It is really good. I had no idea it was this easy to put together. Now I don't have to wait for a gift…Fantastic! (And no yeast is an added bonus.) I forgot to pick up a fresh loaf of bread at the bakery this week and I'm taking a "break" from my sourdough, but I think this recipe is one I can manage. π Not to mention it will save me a trip to the store. Thanks Charles!
I love the pics of your neighborhood. It must be so much fun to have a pretty (and safe) forest nearby. We have some forests nearby although I wouldn't venture into them alone or with the kids. My favorite picture is the one of the sun setting. Great shot! It looks so serene and peaceful – really captures a feeling you know.
Charles says
Thanks Kristy. I remember one summer we were wandering in the forest – went down a hill and found this huge clearing with a little pond and a childrens' play area and picnic area… completely nestling away down there in the little valley. We've walked through there home from a friend's house at 2am before and it never felt dangerous. You've just gotta watch out for crazy pizza delivery guys using the little paths as their personal roads for their little delivery scooters.
Funny story – when we were walking home one day we got to the bottom of the hill going into the forest. We heard this ferocious growling and saw a shape appear at the top of the hill. What looked like a massive "beast". We didn't know quite what to do so we peered into the darkness and suddenly saw two more "beast" shapes appear behind the first. We were terrified and promptly decided to head back in Versailles to walk up to the station (30 mins or so walk away) to get a taxi back home instead of walking – so scared were we. We noticed that these shapes started coming down the hill… eeek. We waited it out and then a guy emerged from the darkness with three dogs on leashes. Worst of all – these damn pooches were barely spaniel-sized. They were… knee-high maybe? lol π
Hope you enjoy the bread – let me know if you tried it, and what you added to it!
Kristy says
That story is absolutely hilarious! I can just picture it! I probably would have taken off running. LOL! π
Greg says
Our trees don't turn amazing colors here either. Well you just don't have those great vistas. But I love your photos, beautiful place. Love the recipe too!
Charles says
Thanks Greg – don't talk to me about beer bread right now though – I ate a bit too much last night and feel a bit overdosed on it right now, lol π
Cooking Gallery says
I have never tried beer bread in my life it sounds so intriguing…! I wish I could try a slice of your beer bread…:-) . The area where you live is so pretty! I was in Paris ages ago and I remember that I was totally ecstatic when I visited the palace in Versailles for the first time, I used to LOVE French history ( still do but not as much as before unfortunately) I was highly influenced by the manga which I read 'The Rose of Versailles' ;-).
Charles says
"Rose of Versailles"? Hehe, sounds interesting – I'll have to seek it out. I love when books like that pique your interest and then you get to check it out yourself for real! Were you able to go inside the palace in Versailles in the end, or did you just stick to going around the gardens? It's easily possible to spend several days there and not see everything! Hope you get a chance to try some beer bread! π
Sissi says
Charles this is the most original and fabulous DIY present I have ever seen! I saw people making spices' mixtures but never a bread mixture! And I would love to say one day to someone while offering a present "add a can of beer and bake!". It sounds and looks fantastic. (Meanwhile I try to cut down on my French bread and Japanese rice intake… which is the most difficult thing in the world, since both are addictive).
Your photos are very interesting as usually and I have greatly enjoyed reading the text. You should make a photo of this quince tree in the Spring. Very few people know how beautiful quince flowers are! Actually I am wondering if what you have photographed is a quince… Usually quince trees are bigger and more trees than bushes. This might be Chaenomeles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaenomeles), which has fruits very similar to quince (Cydonia oblonga if I remember) but is smaller (doesn't have a trunk I think) and has very bright red flowers. My mum also infuses vodka with the fruits of Chaenomeles Japonica.
Charles says
Thank you so much Sissi – you're so kind! I really love fun gifts like this. Now that I have my cherry brandy (well, I will have by Christmas time!) I'll be able to give people some really nice gifts this year and it's so much nicer than hunting around for random boxes of over-priced chocolates or something as gifts. A bit of a human touch is so lovely! It's interesting about what you said regarding the tree. It could well be actually. It was many months ago but I vaguely remember that tree having the same blossoms as that Wikipedia page you linked. Well – they're in the same plant family it appears so it will explain my confusion!
By the way, I've just finished making something which I'll be posting in a few days for my "1 year bloggiversary" and I wanted to let you know that, thanks to you, I've successfully whipped my first ever French-bought cream! I really did think it was non-existent here… how silly of me π Well, the dessert I made was so good, so I hope you like reading about it soon! Have a good Sunday evening π
Sissi says
Charles, I'm very happy for the cream and look forward to see the special anniversary creation!
Kelly says
I'm really enjoying your neighbourhood pictures. The series with the logs is particularly impacting. It reminds me of crisp, invigorating days in the late autumn sunshine. Our family used to line up to load cut wood into our house for the winter on similar fall days; the 12 of us side-by-side, passing down logs in single line formation. I can smell the fresh cut wood and wet autumn leaves like it was yesterday; I love when pictures have the power to bring all of that back. So, big yay.
Beer bread is something I have always wanted to try, so I'm thrilled that you have posted a how to. Incredibly fast always works for me π and how fun that you can fashion it into a gift…I can think of lots of friends and family who would love this. Inspired by all the different variations – garlic and cheese is always appealing to moi. Mmmm… I feel the grip of the grain-free diet lessening. Ha!
Charles says
Haha, that reminds me – when I was much younger, my parents had a really, really small car, like this actually, and when autumn and winter started to set in I used to go out and pick up logs and other wood bits with my father. One time we filled the car to bursting-point, with only a small little crouch-space for me in the back. Sounds really safe, right?! π
I'm so glad you enjoyed looking at the photos and I'm so happy I could evoke some happy memories for you! I hope you get a chance to try the beer bread too. I'm thinking parmesan and rosemary for my next one!
Eva@ kitcheninspirat says
We visited Versailles during our 2005 European vacation. It is truly a beautiful place. I was surprised to see palm trees! The beer bread looks interesting; I would imagine the beer would also provide some leavening in addition to the baking powder.
Charles says
Hi Eva – yeah, they have some *massive* palm trees there in tiny little pots. It's a miracle they never topple over. They seem really top-heavy, although if memory serves the pots are made of cast iron or something. I think the beer definitely aids the leavening process… although I didn't want to say so in case it wasn't entirely correct. There are some yeasts… or, like… some sort of microbe, (right?) and things in beer I think so I think swapping it with water would definitely not have such an ideal result!
Kankana says
Beer bread !! NICE π I have never baked bread at home .. tried once or twice .. always failed .. this really look lovely.
Charles says
Thanks Kankana (or should I say "Cheers", since it's beer? π If you feel like giving bread a try I really recommend this one – it's super easy!
Marianna says
You should try stout some time, people say it's really tasty. My friend here has a breadmachine, I gave it to him as a present since good bread is not something that you can find in every store here. And he bakes rye bread with Murphys or Beamish – he says it's tasty.
Charles says
Do you mean in bread or to drink? I agree that it's definitely good to drink. In bread I guess it's also really nice. Probably gives a really rich, nutty flavour which lager just can't do!
Pure Complex says
I've always wanted to visit Versailles, so I just love your photos. I would definitely love walking around there and experiencing a wonderful time. Now you know I;m not a bread eater lol, but I enjoyed reading this post and this recipe.
Charles says
Thanks Kay – I hope you get the chance to visit Versailles some day. It's a very pretty place π
Joanna Swan says
what beautiful fall photos–they remind me of Orcas Island, Washington, or even of Northern California a bit–sans "versailles" signage, of course. Jealz!
Charles says
Thanks Joanna – you know what I always find … hmm… interesting and annoying I guess is the best way to describe it? How whenever I'm programming my phone or computer to display the weather, I type in "Versailles" and it immediately says "Oh hai, did you mean Versailles, Texas?"… I'm like "Are you freaking kidding me??". Seems US has a lot of shared place names with Europe which I never knew. I'm going to look up Orcas Islands now – they sound nice!
Stefanie says
You live in such a beautiful area! It must be nice to just wander through the forest whenever you want! And the sky looks absolutely beautiful! Such an amazing blue. As for the bread, it sounds scrumptious! I like your wife's idea of cheese and garlic π Sounds like a perfect pairing with beer bread!
Karen (Back Road Jou says
I just wanted to say "hello" and let you know that I enjoyed catching up on your posts that I missed while traveling in Europe. I enjoyed all your comments on my blog while I was away…many making me laugh. You definitely live in a wonderful part of France. What a great idea to make up jars. I'm making the bread kits as hostess gifts for dinners that I go to this fall.
bakerbynature says
Oh France! How I love thee. I want to visit soooooonnnnnnn. And um, beer bread? Sold.