It is the day after my birthday and we are on our way to Mont Saint Michel. This is a site I have wanted to see since freshman art history class. It did not disappoint. My walking was not so good this day and I took my cane. When the parking people saw me walking they made Jim go get the car and directed us to the front of the lot. I thought they were extremely kind. I told Jim that I wanted to eat at La Mere Poulard and as luck would have it, it was right inside the entrance. We made a reservation and started exploring. The streets are lined with merchants and I found wonderful items. We headed back down for a wonderful omelet lunch. Mere Poulard was the inventor of the omelet as it was necessary to have a meal ready in an instant for the pilgrims coming to the Mount when coming and going was subject to the tides. I started with oysters on the half shell. They were served with a wonderful light vinegar and onion sauce and lemon. My omelet was huge and I chose bacon and potato as an accompaniment. This came is a small red le Creuset pot. Jim started with Normandy clam soup. He chose smoked salmon and potato for his omelet. He also had a second omelet for dessert with apples and caramel sauce. It was flamed and tasted like heaven. I chose not to have dessert, but I did get to taste. I believe this is where Jim chose White Bordeaux. It was wonderful. These omelets are large and fluffy. Not heavy or tough like we sometimes get. It is worth the trip, if for the omelets alone. We definitely walked off lunch. The climb to the monastery is a long way up. When you finally reach the point of ticketing and audio guides you still have a long climb to go. While waiting for Jim to get the tickets I saw many a person give up and go back down. The inside of the chapel here is my favorite of all the famous churches in Europe. As it was built for a monastic order it is very simple. But it is a very elegant simplicity. We had a great visit and stopped for wine and beer before leaving chosing a café with a water view. Hint to visitors. Never order vin White. The white vin ordinare in France does not live up to vin rouge. We finally had to head back. On the way Jim started falling asleep while driving. I convinced him to pull off to have some coffee. We stopped at a genuine French truck stop. Jim ordered coffee and ftites. Throughout Normandy when you order pomme frites they answer chips. They are used to the British tourist. I ordered vin rouge. These were the best French fries in all of France. Also note to coffee drinkers. The difference between Espresso and American coffee is 1 tablespoon of water and a wide cup.
For dinner we walked a little farther down the street to La Planche. It was very sleek looking, but the food was just ok. I ordered a seafood salad. It came with shrimp, pate, duck, salmon and crawfish. Lettuce was just a decoration. Jim had a steak with Béarnaise sauce, frites, twice baked potato, and a small serving of zucchini and tomato. He was thrilled, two potatoes and small vegetable. La Planche considers themselves a restaurant not a Brasserie. Today’s photo is of them making the omelets in the kitchen of La Mere Poulard.
Tonight’s recipe comes from A Year of Slow Cooking blog site. It is called:
Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna. Serves 8
I made the whole thing as you can freeze left over lasagna for a later meal.
Ingredients
1 (26oz) jar prepared pasta sauce; I used a 24 oz jar of tomato basil sauce from Wegmans
1 (10 oz.) box lasagna noodles
1 (11 oz.) container pesto I used all that I made earlier this summer and froze
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese, don’t know where these measurements come from as ours is 16 oz.
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
16 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced
¼ C water
Directions
Use a 4 qt. slow cooker. Put a spoonful of pasta sauce into the bottom of your cooker and swirl it around. Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. They have to be broken to fit. Mix the ricotta and pesto together and smear some on top of the noodles. Add a couple handfuls of spinach and top with a layer of Parmesan and mozzarella. Repeat layers until you’ve run out of ingredients. The spinach is fluffy, so you’re going to have to squish it down to make it all fit.
Before closing the pot, put ¼ C of water in the empty pasta sauce jar and close and shake. Pour this saucy water over the top of everything.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or high for about 3-4. You’ll know it’s done when the top layer begins to brown and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Uncover and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
This was very good vegetable lasagna. We had plenty leftover to freeze for future meals. If I had been thinking, I would have added eggplant. But it was good as is.
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