December 2007 - Active Gourmet Holidays

THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS HERE! Everyone knows someone whose passion is cooking, food and wine, the outdoors or traveling. Why not SURPRISE THEM WITH A CULINARY TRIP? Active Gourmet Holidays' trips are the perfect Christmas, honeymoon, anniversary or birthday gift for the special people in your lives.
Please inquire about a gift certificate!

2008 DATES AND PRICES are now being posted. For questions on specific tours, please email info@activegourmetholidays.com or call 1.203.732.0771

We have just returned from the wine mecca city of Bordeaux and were fortunate enough to stay with our tour providers and get a wonderful taste of this very special UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bordeaux was much more beautiful than I ever imagined as well as the neighboring villages such as St. Emilion. Below we are featuring one of our very special tours, "Bordeaux Gourmand" - read below about this beautiful chateau and its lovely owner, Suzanne, who will educate you on wine, food and the surrounding area whilst you stay in her beautiful 19th century Chateaux!
*See Suzanne's recipe below for a scrumptious salad she made for us while staying at her chateau! Bon appetit!

Bordeaux Gourmand - Bordeaux, France - 3 or 6 nights

Enjoy a fully escorted culinary and wine tour offering you luxurious accommodations in a 19th century Chateaux, hands-on cooking classes, wine tastings and wine education and discovering this exquisite region of France. This program is perfect for travelers interested in fine cuisine, Bordeaux wines and the French “Art de vivre”. Minimum of two participants, limited to eight participants.
Available April to mid-November

Look for new cooking holidays in the south of France, Tuscany, Umbria, and Rome for 2008.

Are there any tours you would like to see that are not posted? More hiking, biking or yoga or more combination tours? Please let us know!

IN THE NEWS

*The annual Pilgrim's Pride National Winning Taste Recipe Contest has chosen ACTIVE GOURMET HOLIDAYS as their sponsor in providing the Grand Prize to the recipe contest winners. Two winners will receive a week long cooking vacation in Pprtugal, "Refugio da Vila Cooking School". You can go to www.winningtaste.pilgrimspride.com

for details on how to enter!

***ACTIVE GOURMET HOLIDAYS has partnered once again with the famous Villa San Michele Cookery School in Florence and will host a second very special culinary week next fall, October 12-17, 2008. See what past clients had to say:

"Dear Jo-Ann - Hope you received the photos I sent on to Villa San Michele. Yes we really did have a fantastic time and the cooking lessons were a real highlight too. Attilio and Luca were great. Also loved our Tuscan countryside sojourn and felt this really complemented the Florence stay. The dinner (and views) at Fontinelli were superb. All trips and lunches dinners fantastic! Everyone at San Michele was wonderful and Ebany and I loved our luxury week together in such a beautiful, historical place. Thank you so much." - Cheers, Anne S., Australia

"Dear Jo-Ann -I can only say that it was an amazing holiday experience. Our Head Chef Atillo was just a fabulous man, funny and as pleasant as anyone could be, very easy to follow. His assistant and language translator was Lucca, a wonderful family man who made the whole process enjoyable. It wasn't in any way overwhelming, we were guided through each recipe...all easy or at least manageable; to finally form a whole meal which we were then served in the breathtaking Loggia. Even our daughters who's culinary skills are questionable!

The Villa itself is just a wonderful experience, whether we stayed in the grounds or headed out for the day...we loved all the activities, our personal shopper, winery, or site seeing in the various Tuscan villages and towns. The winery was state of the art and yet we had such a traditional Tuscan luncheon on the balcony overlooking the crystal clear swimming pool and then to the village below and the hills around. Platters of incredible food, fresh and top quality, followed by a lovely cake made by Atillo and brought out to the winery for us to enjoy. Not to mention quality wine flowing freely!

The additional Hotel proved to be a terrific place despite additional travel and packing. The dinner was fantastic; the grounds really pleasurable. So this was a real plus.

I can't stress how terrific the staff were at Villa San Michele. What a fantastic holiday and would love to do something similar in the future. Thank you for all your organization. We were made to feel very special and I can't say I have ever had that treatment before, and we've travelled a lot! I think Villa San Michele is the pinnacle of any Hotel we've had the pleasure of staying at." - Thank you and regards, Rochelle E., Australia

Look for more details in future newsletters on the "Active Gourmet Goes Tuscan" Culinary Week. Limited availability.

RECIPE OF THE MONTH - "Bordeaux Gourmand"

Salade landaise

Ingredients for 4 servings :

1 head of lettuce or other type of green salad

4 tomatos

4 mushrooms

250 g of goat cheese

4 slices of toasted bread

4 coffee spoons of honey

250 g of bacon or smoked duck breast

50 g of sunflower seeds

parsley

Sauce : 1 spoon of Dijon-mustard, salt, pepper, 1 chopped shallot, 1 small cup of vinegar (1/3 = red wine vinegar, 2/3 = balsamic vinegar), 2 small cups of oil

Cover 4 slices of special “toast bread” with fine slices of goat cheese. Put on the cheese, honey and sunflower seeds. Toast them in the oven on 200 °C for 10-15 minutes (cheese must be slightly burned).

Wash the salad, dry it and arrange on the plates. Slice tomatos and mushrooms and put them in a circle on the salad (not in the middle of the plate). Garnish the plates with the sauce, some salt, pepper and chopped parsley.

Put the bacon (chopped) or duck breast in a hot pan and cook until they become crispy. Arrange them on the salad, in a circle.

When bread and cheese are ready, put one slice of bread in the middle of each plate and your “salade landaise” is ready to eat.

Serve it with a chilled Bordeaux white wine or a fresh Rosé.

When making a mayonnaise and the oil and vinegar are not mixing together properly, add a few drops of warm wate and your problem will be fixed!