happy chickens

The France Géothermie man came back today and after offering us all manner of inducements, bribes, funny handshakes, his granny and a nod and a wink, we've decided to go with geothermal heating. To gain a tax credit we have to pay the whole fee this year, even though work may not start until next year - which is taking a bit of a risk.

The sun's back again (and there's fresh snow on the mountains down to about 1000 m) so I'm going out foraging for wild garlic. The man at the duck farm told me you can put it in olive oil and it's very good for cooking with.

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I've just made a leek and goats' cheese tart with Roquin's still warm eggs he dropped off. Look how yellow they are in the picture - happy chickens' eggs.

Ingredients

Enough shortcrust pastry to line a 7½ inch/9 cm non-stick quiche tin

1 tbsp grain mustard

3 leeks, cleaned and sliced

6 oz/175 g goats' cheese, cut into rounds or crumbled

½ oz/10 g butter

3 eggs beaten

7 fl oz/200 ml cream

2 spring onions, finely sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Line the tin with the pastry and spread the mustard over the base. Fry the leeks gently in the butter until just soft. Drain off any excess liquid and arrange over the mustard base. Combine the eggs, cream and spring onions, season and pour over the leeks. Top with the goats' cheese and cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes at 375°F/190°C until golden.