Over the last couple of days we have had colder and rainy weather in Chamonix and snow down to around 2500m, with about a meter of fresh fallen on top of some earlier snow from the week before reports were that it might be worth the effort of a ski.

The girls

So the 5 of us headed up Grands Montets on the first cable car much to the amusement of the other occupants of the cable car who clearly thought we had lost the plot with our skis in hand.  We climbed the steps to the top viewing platform and climbed over the railing to head down something called the Bellevedere Cable which is a narrow ridge on the summit of the Grands Montets.  You have a steep first slope to ski which was nerve racking having not made a turn since the end of April and with a little apprehension of how stable the snow might be and how crevassed the glacier is, we set off.

The first pitch of ohh lovely new fresh snow

 The first pitch went without incident, but with 20 beautiful powder turns on a steep 35 degree slope, the legs were burning at the bottom!  We then skied down past the rognan, a large rock in the glacier, to the lower ridge line.  This was about as far as we dared go knowing the snow would give way to rock and an increased walk back to the lift.

We then put on our skins and began the walk back to the top and the lift to the bottom, no easy ski back to the lift at this time of year.  As they say you have to earn your turns!  After just over 1hr we were back standing under the bergschrund and it was skis off and a short climb around the side back to the bottom of the steps.  Climbing the steps back up to the cable car made the legs ache even more but it was great to be back up in the high mountains and well worth the early start for a cheeky August ski.

The Alpine Cookery Course is the leading chalet host training course for ski season workers.  We teach you everything you need to know to successfully run a ski chalet, cook delicious, nutritious meals with minimum hassle & maximise your time on the slopes.

www.thealpinecookerycourse.com  ‖ info@thealpinecookerycourse.com

Even though it’s high summer, with some colder rainy weather in Chamonix this week I quite fancied a nice roast dinner one night, so here’s my recipe for roast pork and all the trimmings.

Roast Loin of Pork with Roast Potatoes and Apricot and Hazelnut Stuffing.

Stuffing serves 2

• 100g of bread to make into breadcrumbs
• 50g of dried apricots
• 4 to 5 whole hazelnuts
• Sprig of fresh rosemary
• 4 or 5 fresh basil leaves
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt & pepper
• 1 medium egg beaten

Place all the ingredients except the egg, into a magi mix and blend until everything is made into breadcrumbs.  Don’t mix it so much its really fine. 

Beat the egg in a glass and pour in half of it to the breadcrumb mixture and mix it well.  Add more egg if necessary, you are looking for a slightly sticky consistency but not soggy.  Then shape the mixture into balls around the size of a large golf ball.  Place them on a plate until you are ready to cook them in the oven.

apricot and hazelnut stuffing

I have roasted a piece of pork loin, it’s quite a lean cut of pork and nice and easy to roast.  Place the meat in a roasting tin and grate over some fresh pepper and sprinkle with salt and rub in a little vegetable or sunflower oil into the meat.  Place it into a pre-heated over at 180 C and cook for the right amount of time according to the weight of the meat; this should be 20mins per Lbs and 20 mins extra. 

About halfway through the cooking time I added 3 or 4 whole garlic cloves with their skins on, a sprig of fresh rosemary and half an onion.  All these ingredients help flavour the meat and the onion will make the meat juices taste good for gravy later on. 

Once cooked allow the meat to rest for 10 – 15 mins before carving and serving.

I am serving my roast with roasted potatoes, which I have par-boiled first before adding them to the roasting tin, basting them in some of the meat juices and allowing them to cook for around 1hr.  At the same time as adding the potatoes to the roasting dish you want to add the stuffing balls.

I am also serving fresh peas which I found the in the supermarket the other day, it’s nice to buy them in their pods and shell them yourself, along with carrots and some home grown courgettes.

Fresh peas and homegrown courgettes

        Potatoes and roaster garlic                                                                                                                                                                          

The Alpine Cookery Course is the leading chalet host training course for ski season workers.  We teach you everything you need to know to successfully run a ski chalet, cook delicious, nutritious meals with minimum hassle & maximise your time on the slopes.

www.thealpinecookerycourse.com  ‖ info@thealpinecookerycourse.com