Limousin Recipes

Limousin Potato Pate

Pate de Pommes de Terre Limousin

Traditionally this was made with leftover bread dough and was cooked in the bread oven, with a simple garnish on the potatoes of chopped garlic, flat-leaved parsley and fatty bacon.

Preparation time: 3h30 - Cooking time 1h -Serves 6-8

For the dough: 250g of soft sifted flour, 100g butter, 2 eggs, 5g salt, 7g fresh bakers yeast, 5g castor sugar, 4 tbsp warm milk.

For the stuffing: 600g potatoes (Bintje), 150g fatty bacon, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 bunch flat leaved parsley, salt and pepper, 1 egg yolk for glazing the pastry.

Prepare the raised dough.

Divide the dough into three. Mix the softened butter with the first third of the pastry, and then add the second and final thirds little by little. Cover the pastry with a tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm, draught free place until it has doubled in size (about 1h30). Divide the pastry into three again. Knead each third separately for a few minutes, then reform them and leave to rest for about 2 hours.

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Season with salt and pepper.

Coarsely chop the bacon. Peel and wash the potatoes, then dry them before cutting them into 2mm thick slices.
Butter and flour a deep tart mould. Spread half the pastry over this with the back of your hand. Cover with a first layer of potatoes.

Sprinkle half the chopped garlic, parsley and bacon on the top. Cover with a second layer of potatoes. Sprinkle the remainder of the chopped ingredients. Top with the rest of the pastry, pulling it out so that it meets the edges of the mould. Cover with a towel. Leave to rise in a warm place. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees.

Brush the pastry with the egg yolk. Put the pate in the oven and leave to cook for 1 hour. Take out of the oven and cover with a tea towel until serving. Serve with dandelion or lamb's lettuce salad.

Clafoutis - Black Cherry Flan

A Limousin Speciality

This popular Limousin dessert is made with unpitted black tangy cherries. You can use other fruits according to season, but it won’t strictly be a Clafoutis.

Ingredients: 600g unpitted black cherries, 4 eggs, 4 tblsp flour, 4 tblsp sugar, 1/2 litre milk, pinch of salt. Serves 6

Optional; add a packet of vanilla sugar with a teaspoon of eau de vie, rum, cognac or other spirit.

Sort, wash and drain cherries. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well. In another bowl, beat the eggs with a fork and stir in the milk. Pour this mixture into the flour and sugar, stirring all the time.

Butter an oven dish, pour in the batter and put the cherries on top. Bake in a hot oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Leave to cool and sprinkle with sugar