He died at age 51.

Xander Larsson (who was visiting Marc’s daughter, Clarise) just looked on helplessly, then broke the news to Clarise.

Clarise’s mother felt devastated when she heard.

Even though they were divorced they still had feelings for one another and Beatrice had half hoped that Marc would take her back.  Alas, that was never to be.

Since Clarise was now on her own (older sister, Isabelle, was at uni), Beatrice and Carine packed up and moved back.

Clarise headed to uni shortly after anyway, but this way the house and contents wouldn’t be lost.  Carine appreciated having a much bigger house to live in.

Felice Champignon gave birth first to one girl (that’s Bjorn looking on before he headed to university):

(Romain didn’t seem to bothered too welcome his daughter…)

then another… girl.

Felice named them Elise and Brigitte.  Romain was obviously disappointed he didn’t get a boy.  Never mind – next time!

Romain visited his half-sister, Serenity, in Bluewater for the first time in his life.

He stayed for dinner.  Apart from a mother, they didn’t have a lot in common.

Serenity’s husband is now an icon, while Romain is a mere blockbuster director.  They still live in a modest house overlooking the sea and have no plans to move to a huge mansion.

Bjorn was with Romain and got on well with Serenity’s son, Tyler (who’s actually his nephew.  Serenity and Romain are his half-siblings).

Both are now at university.

He was in the right place to pursue his love of music.

Sorrow saw an adorable animal she thought was a cat and started to bend down to stroke it.

Perhaps her eyesight is going.

I think Sorrow was feeling a bit left out at times.

She was envious of her son’s relationship, but Sorrow had few friends and none of them eligible men.

So instead, she finally acted on her other son, Bjorn’s, wish to get into a private school and invited the headmaster round for a tour of the house and dinner.

As expected, the house passed the test and Sorrow’s turkey went down well too.  Bjorn was in.  Bjorn passed on the good news to Romain and Felice.

Unfortunately, the weekend followed immediately so Bjorn couldn’t wear his new uniform until the following Monday.

Guests included neighbour, Tony Picaso, Vincent, Lucia, Drako and Monica.

Lazaria received congratulations from Vincent,

and a hug from her father.

The reception certainly wasn’t grand,

but people enjoyed themselves and the party was a great success.

After the honeymoon, Francis came by.  Carlos ignored him.

Francis had recently got married to Katy.

Francis certainly takes after his namesake, great great great grandfather, Francois.

Katy looks quite attractive.

I wanted to try one of our spreadable cheeses because we had a guest in last week who was singing its praises as he carried them to the register. Again I had a choice between 3 types:  Herb, Mushroom, & Cream. The herb seems to be the most popular so I decided to go for it.

I first tried them separately so that I could fully appreciate just how they tasted on their own. The rye bread was heavy, chewy and had that special tang that is so well known and looked for in a good rye. The cheese comes in a little wheel shaped box with individually wrapped wedges on the inside. On its own the cheese was very rich in flavor with a thick texture when I bit down. While sharing with my cohorts we could discern the flavors or chives, dill, & thyme.

I was sampling the cheese right after I pulled them from the case. I wanted to make a bit to share to get additional feedback from my co-workers. This is a nice way to limit my portion control since I’ve also been working out lately, so when I looked at sampling a whole package of bread and cheese by myself just seemed a little overboard for me at the moment. Thankfully I have some of the most obliging coworkers when it comes to accepting food samples.

One piece of the cheese was the perfect amount for the small square of rye bread, I would suggest letting the cheese sit out for a few minutes, because trying to spread it right out of the cold was a little difficult. The bread is very firm and that worked in my favor because it made it very easy to break it into even pieces to pass out.

Aaron was my first victim since he was in the back office working. He has actually tried the bread before and felt that the cheese was “the best thing, it needed something dense and creamy” he said it was like a mix between butter & cream cheese.

Next I took my samples into the kitchen with Chefs Garyn & Lisa. Garyn really got into it, taking the time to savor and ponder the sample. He described it as creamy, sweet & savory with a tang. He could see using it with a lot of variations like fish or dried fruit.

Since Chef Lisa is a celiac she was only able to sample the cheese since my bread choice was not Gluten Free, she really enjoyed it was a bit rich to her tastes.

Overall we agreed that this is a fantastic idea for a quick appetizer that will surely Wow the crowd.

YOU NEED…….

* 1 kg Turkey breast, sliced and marinated with paprika powder, some salt & some vegetable oil
* each 1/ red, green and yellow Bell peppers
* 1 or 2 pcs. Frankfuter (Sausage), sliced
* about 150g to 200g Mushrooms
* 1 red Onion
* Mix Herbs
* Paprika powder
* Salt
* 2 tbsps. Vegetable oil, I used Sunflower oil

HOW TO…….

—First marinade meat with paprika powder, salt and some oil. Heat a pan pour some vegetable oil, I used sunflower oil.

—Saute onion add the meat and frankfurter stir until meat is halfly done. Add mushrooms and season with mix herbs and salt. Cover for 5 minutes.

—Then add bellpeppers and cover again for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Then serve with rice.

Lazaria DeMarr, Francis Champignon and forgotten twin, Katy Champignon, were flatting  together in the large mansion on campus with a guy called Carlos Perez.  (Katy is the orphan daughter of Jean-Pierre Champignon and Cheryl Lew.  Her twin, Sally, is in one of the dorms.  They grew up in the Landchild Home.)

Well, apart from studying, these four got engaged to each other.  First it was Francis and Lazaria (whose siblings are married to each other – see earlier post about Vincent’s wedding.)  Then it was Carlos and Katy.

But then Francis caught Lazaria flirting with Carlos and broke off their engagement.

Perhaps as revenge or perhaps Francis really did prefer Katy, but he flirted with her in return, and got caught out.

You couldn’t really blame Katy for being angry with Carlos – he and Lazaria started it.

So the inevitable happened.  Carlos and Lazaria got engaged.

Francis proposed to Katy.

The betrayal still irked Francis though.

They’re only in their second semester and I’m already bored with it.  (EA made the university period far too long – and why eight semesters?  A basic degree  here is only 6.)  I may have them drop out or cheat.

They both look different now.  Carine has started school and Remy has long hair.  He’s made it clear that he won’t leave his wife for Beatrice.

Carine merged with the house wall at one stage.

Beatrice’s father, Antonio, returned one night from his restaurant feeling very ill (and it wasn’t just from the tipped over rubbish bin courtesy of Marc).

Death came for him.   He was 71.

Beatrice mourned for him.

Now it was just her and Carine living with the stepmother.

Not to feel left out, Sorrow gave her son, Bjorn a hug while they were all over each other.

The happy couple planned to get married asap.

It would have been a party in the garden but after the way the jealous mother-in-law-to-be treated Felice…

Romain decided to have a small wedding at the Parc d’amour where his grandfather, Artois, got married (and not invite his mother).

Romain invited a group of friends to meet him there, but sadly, no-one turned up.

Some strangers at the park invited themselves, however, so there were (rather disinterested) witnesses.

There was cake,

which they ate in the park.

Then they got up to dance to some music playing nearby…

Felice was a bit uncomfortable with some of the hooligans hanging around the park.  (It was only Anders Larsson, husband to the hopeless mother, Cuvee.)

Felice wasn’t impressed with the dancing Romain got up to do.

But some appropriate music was put on for a slow wedding dance.

Despite none of their friends turning up, they both had a great time.

There were quite a few guests.

From left: Monica, Lazaria, Lucia, the gardener, and Lazaria’s boyfriend and Catriona’s brother, Francis.

From left: Felice, Catriona’s parents Georges and Ribena, and Romain.

Felice liked the look of Georges.

The cake was cut,

and got eaten in civilised fashion.

Lazaria caught up with her father.

There were toasts,

and more toasts.

The wedding party was a great success and then the couple set off on their honeymoon.

Catriona made friends with Thor, the dog, who liked her far better than Lazaria.

She was still quite upset at Beatrice leaving.

Marc had Beatrice come round to visit.  Beatrice wondered if he’d forgiven her, but no – it was so he could divorce her.  She suspected nothing and greeted Isabelle.

They gossiped for a while…

Meanwhile Marc had just got home and hugged Clarise and sprayed her shoes.

He had a shower, got the girls inside and then gave Beatrice the bad news.

She headed home to her youngest daughter, Carine, who had just become a toddler.

If there were any doubts about the father her looks put paid to them.

Meanwhile, the father, Remy, had become a rock god and moved house.

Flatmates did workouts spontaneously.

But it was all a tedious grind.  Romain used the magic apple to graduate.  There was no option for having a graduation party, so he just left.

He was pretty happy.  Felice did the same thing.

Vincent and Catriona had also had enough and used the apple as well.  First Vincent, who had a graduation party and invited the family.

Drako got a first look at his son’s fiancee,

and was formally introduced.

Drako couldn’t be sure that the outfit she was wearing were really pyjamas or just some new fashion.

Monica and daughter, Lucia, had fun dancing outside.

Lucia got an unwanted view of a naked student.

Vincent, meanwhile, was just feeding his face.

Lazaria was having fun.  Soon she’d be here.

Then the party was over and it was time to leave.

Then Catriona left too.  She didn’t have the option of having a party either.

That just left Gina to house-sit and continue slogging through her degree the hard way.

Beatrice had the baby, another girl, and called her Carine.

Just by looking at Carine, Beatrice could tell the father was not Marc.

Marc came to that same realisation.

Marc refused to speak to Beatrice.

Beatrice was afraid.  She wasn’t sure if he knew or just suspected.

He couldn’t bear to see the evidence of his wife’s infidelity.   He asked Beatrice either to give up the baby,

or leave.

There was no way Beatrice was going to give up her daughter (her half brother had gone to the Landchild Home and died there), so she left, her older daughters farewelling her.

The baby was with her in the taxi.

Beatrice headed back home to her father’s place,

and wondered what her father would say.  Antonio accepted her back gladly and he and his wife were happy to have a baby in the house.  Antonio advised his daughter on her legal rights.

Beatrice rang Remy to let him know he had a daughter and she was now separated from Marc.

Meanwhile, Carine was well looked after.

At times Beatrice felt lonely.  She knew Remy wouldn’t leave his wife.

Marc, meanwhile, was coming to terms with everything.

He paid more attention to his daughters.

Isabelle would soon become a teenager.

Life at uni didn’t seem all it was cracked up to be but he’d promised his uncle Louis he’d stick at it.  Things looked up when he met Felice.

Vincent DeMarr, similarly, had got to know Catriona Champignon, a distant cousin of Romain’s.

Although they were in the same dorm, they didn’t really know each other, but they all decided to move to the house on campus which was for the  use of members of their two families (DeMarr and Champignon).

Vincent didn’t think much of Romain’s girlfriend, Felice and Felice thought Vincent was creepy.

Romain wasn’t sure about Vincent’s girlfriend, his distant cousin, Catriona, who he’d never met before.

Romain looks very like his dad.

Vincent got his very first kiss from Catriona.  He’d never had a girlfriend before.

Vincent and Romain got talking,

discovered they had a love of music in common,

and jammed together.

The roomies got on well after the initial doubts.

Romain made sure to do the work, though,

tactfully ignoring what was going on beside him.

Vincent had proposed to Catriona.

and she accepted.

After thinking about it, Romain decided to do the same a few days later.

Felice accepted.

They all tended to hang around the kitchen a lot, so I suppose it was a natural place to get engaged?

They’re all only in their second year at university after what’s seemed like 10 years.  Will they survive the slog?  Or will they cheat and use the apple statue to graduate before time?

After his birthday…

he got straight into building on his creativity.

Unfortunately, about this time, his elderly father died at the age of 65.

Erika was upset.

and Sorrow, eventually.

It took time for the death to register with Bjorn.

There was a storm the next day and lightning struck near the spa pool.

Sorrow and Erike tried to put it out.

It was obvious that it wasn’t enough so the fire brigade was called.

It actually took three firemen to put it all out.

Erike swept up the ashes and put them in the garbage… and it promptly caught fire.

I thought Erike was done for but the fireman got there in time.

Gunnar’s wasn’t the only death in the family.  Louis Champignon, over in Bluewater village, lost his partner, Florence Delarosa.  She was also 65.

Their daughter, Hyacinth, arrived back from university the next day.

Olivier was happy because 3 kids had graduated.  Veronique’s LTW was to have 6 grandchildren.  So far she only had 3: Yvette  had twins – Elsa and Matt.  Remy had a boy, Chenet.  But Veronique was nearing the end of her life.  So all the remaining kids got to and had some babies.  Recently married Simone got pregnant and had a daughter, Aramis.  Helene, married to Stieg, had a girl, Jutta.  Even the neglected Cuvee had married Anders and had a child, Xander.

They lived downtown and were not the cleanest of tenants.  In fact neighbours complained about the smell.

Now it was left to Arthur’s wife to have a child.

A girl, Olivia, named after her grandfather….

and

Cate.  Twins!  Veronique’s LTW was achieved with 7 grandchildren.

Sadly (or  not), Olivier died soon after at age 69.  He was not mourned by many.  The last of Artois’ children was finally dead.

You may remember Beatrice was seen downtown with Remy.  Marc was rather depressed.  Perhaps he felt something was amiss.

His younger daughter grew to school age.

Not very happily…  she has since been seen at several other houses having a tantrum.

Remy was stupid enough to visit Beatrice while Marc was home.

Perhaps they thought Marc was asleep…

Caught out!  Marc was not happy.

Beatrice appears to be pregnant again.  I don’t think it’s Remy’s but… we’ll soon find out.

So…

First of all, the original recipe was pretty darn good to begin with. The sodium content was frighteningly high, due to the canned soup (870mg per can, yikes!), and there was that slightly metallic aftertaste from the same. My biggest problem with canned cream of mushroom soup (and canned mushrooms in general) is that it just doesn’t taste like mushrooms…and I love mushrooms!

Secondly, (don’t freak out), I added back in the frying step. A little bit of flour and olive oil (and God forbid, some butter) really isn’t the end of the world, and adds enough awesome flavor to make it worth it.

Remember, if it doesn’t taste good…what’s the point?

Even using the f-word (fried), from the health standpoint we were able to shave off 100+ calories per serving, cut almost 1/3 of the fat and nearly 2/3 of the sodium.

Not too shabby!

The biggest winner here, or course, is the flavor…nothing from a can is ever going to compete with fresh, all-natural ingredients. The result of the pan roasted mushrooms really brought the umami* flavor to the front, much more so than the original recipe. Adding the celery to create a classic mirpoix brought some natural saltiness to the dish, allowing us to cut back on the table salt and, of course, the combined flavor of mirpoix is so much more than the sum of it’s parts!  The only thing I would add to the new recipe (and didn’t because it wasn’t a component of the original) would be a little freshly grated asiago, or parmigiano-reggiano, sprinkled over the plated dish. Some steamed Jasmine rice, and a nice sauteed spinach, or roasted broccoli would be a perfect accompaniment to the meal.

You’ll be seeing the recipe on a hautemealz.com weekly menu, very soon!

THE ORIGINAL VERSION…

Mushroom Chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup white wine
1 t chicken bullion
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup sliced carrots
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 cups chopped onion
2 Tbs flour
2 Tbs olive oil

THE HAUTEMEALZ.COM EXTREME MAKE-OVER…

Champignon Poulet Diana
2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt (or to your taste)
8 oz 2% milk
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 anchovies fillet, diced (trust me)
1/2 t nutmeg
1 clove of garlic, diced
Salt & pepper to taste
3 Tbs flour
1.5 Tbs olive oil
1.5 Tbs butter
1 tsp “Better than Bullion” chx base
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast/tenders
Mirpoix (2 cups diced onion, 1 cup diced celery, 1 cup diced carrots)

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, then dredge in 2 Tbs flour until completely coated. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a Dutch oven or deep skillet and fry breasts and sliced mushrooms (sprinkle mushrooms with a 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp of white pepper, 1 tsp onion powder, and nutmeg) until lightly browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove chicken and mushrooms from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mirpoix: Add remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute the onions for 2 minutes. Stir in the celery and carrots and cook for about one more minute. Season with garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining 1 Tbs of flour, and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until flour has just begun to brown and has a nutty aroma.

Deglaze the pan with white wine, stirring until nothing is stuck to the bottom, then slowly pour in the milk, chicken base, and diced anchovies, stirring to blend smoothly. Simmer rapidly for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Return the chicken breasts to the pan and reduce to a low simmer for an additional 10 minutes. The mixture should reduce considerably by this time so check frequently to see that the chicken is covered. Spoon baste if necessary.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*Umami, from the Japanese meaning “pleasant savory taste”, and popularly referred to as savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.

The Chinese characters 旨味 are used for a more general meaning to describe a food as delicious. Umami is most notably found in fish, shellfish, cured meats, vegetables (e.g., mushrooms, ripe tomatoes, Chinese cabbage, spinach, celery, etc.) or green tea, and fermented and aged products like cheeses, shrimp pastes, soy sauce, etc.

Humans’ first encounter with umami is often breast milk. It contains roughly the same amount of umami as broths.