What is more enjoyable, than spending a lovely evening with your family in a warm, cosy and delicious restaurant! I absolutely love to dine outdoors, and if I could, I would definitely do it every week! My original plan was to present my ultimate favourite restaurant, but as I was thinking, I actually couldn’t choose between 2 hideaways… Sooo, I decided to just present the two of them!

1. Le Cor de Chasse

Adresse: Rue des Combattants 16, 6940 Wéris
Website: https://www.lecordechasse.be/

This restaurant is perfect for a chic and relaxing dinner. This castle farm, built in 1681, is located in the small town Wéris, nearby Durbuy in the French speaking region of Belgium.

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This restaurant has recently been awarded with not one, but three stars, and above that also one Michelin star. They have acquired these by preparing regional products in the most natural way possible, and by their creative way of handling them. Their menus are therefore mostly 6 courses with fresh products, tied to the season. Once there, you should definitely try these two amazing dishes.

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Special about this restaurant, is the location. It is situated in the middle of an old, small village, in the middle of the beautiful nature of the Belgian Ardennes. It is therefore ideal to go for a long hike during the day, to relax back in the hotel afterwards, while waiting for a delicious menu at the end of the day.

LA CITADELLE

Adresse: 34 RUE DU PORT 50400 Granville
Website: https://www.restaurant-la-citadelle.fr/

This restaurant is located in the city of Granville, Normandy in France. This place is specialised in preparing fish and shellfish. It is located right next to the port of Granville and therefore has a beautiful and relaxing view of the boats on the harbour.

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This cosy dining place is well known for their fresh seafood, which they get delivered directly from the fisherman themselves. It is therefore real quality food, that is handled with care throughout the dishes. Two stand-out dishes on their menu definitely are, at first, the different kind of fish filets, such as herring or sea bass. What you certainly also should consider is ordering their famous seafood scales. These are filled with beautiful king crabs, lobsters, and so much more.

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Aubergine parmigiana (Melanzane alla Parmigiana)

Ooooh my… just thinking about this dish makes me crave for it even more!! This vegetarian dish is an absolute Italian classic. As a matter of fact, I just recently discovered it and asked myself afterwards, where it had been all my life!! The following is the recipe of this unbelievable plate of food, which you all readers should definitely try out at home!

Serves 6
Cooks In 1 hour 30 minutes
Difficulty Showing off!!!!

The ingredients:

• 3 large aubergines
• olive oil
• 1 onion , peeled and finely chopped
• ½ bulb spring garlic , or 1 clove of regular garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
• 2×400 g good-quality tinned plum tomatoes , or 1kg fresh ripe tomatoes
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• a little wine vinegar
• 1 large handful fresh basil
• 3 large handfuls Parmesan cheese , freshly grated
• 2 handfuls dried breadcrumbs
• a little fresh oregano , leaves chopped
• 150 g buffalo mozzarella , optional

The method:
This classic northern Italian recipe is a great way to serve aubergines. By layering them with Parmesan and tomatoes and then baking them you get an absolutely moreish, scrumptious vegetable dish. Great served with all sorts of roasted meats and with roasted fish as well.

First things first: remove the stalks from the aubergines, slice them up into 1cm thick slices, and put to one side. Whether you’re using a griddle pan or a barbecue, get it really hot. Meanwhile, put 2 or 3 lugs of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has a tiny bit of colour. If you’re using tinned tomatoes, break them up, and if you’re using fresh tomatoes (which will obviously taste sweeter and more delicious, if they’re in season), very quickly prick each one and put them into a big pan of boiling water for 40 seconds. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put them into a bowl of cold water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins, carefully squeeze out the pips and cut up the flesh. Add the tomato flesh or tinned tomatoes to the onion, garlic and oregano. Give the mixture a good stir, then put a lid on the pan and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, grill the aubergines on both sides until lightly charred – you may have to do them in batches, as they probably won’t all fit into your griddle pan in one go. As each batch is finished, remove them to a tray and carry on grilling the rest until they’re all nicely done. When the tomato sauce is reduced and sweet, season it carefully with salt, pepper and a tiny swig of wine vinegar, and add the basil. You can leave the sauce chunky or you can purée it.

Get yourself an earthenware type dish (25 x 12–15cm). Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat these layers until you’ve used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan. I like to toss the breadcrumbs in olive oil with a little freshly chopped oregano and sprinkle them on top of the Parmesan. Sometimes the dish is served with torn-up mozzarella on top, which is nice too.

Place the dish in the oven and bake at 190°C/375°F/gas 5 for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly. It’s best eaten straight away, but it can also be served cold. You can use the same method substituting courgettes or fennel for the aubergines – both are delicious. But do try making it with aubergines – you’ll love it!

Tips

You can use the same method substituting courgettes or fennel for the aubergines – both are delicious. But do try making it with aubergines – you’ll love it!

As I introduced myself, I have to be very aware of what sort of ingredients my food contains, so I thought it would be interesting to share this with you below.

Nutrition per serving

• Calories 237 (12%)
• Fat 14.1g (20%)
• Saturates 8.1g (41%)
• Sugars 8.4g (9%)
• Salt 1g (17%)
• Protein 13.7g (27%)
• Carbs 15.1g (6%)
• Fibre 4g

Check out this link to discover more and more tasty dishes!!
https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetables-recipes/aubergine-parmigiana-melanzane-alla-parmigiana/