Delight your guests with this original, generous and easy to prepare buffet. We have planned it carefully to help you create a casual, friendly atmosphere your guests will long remember. It is sure to be a success! Place a nice table indoors or outdoors in an open space so that your guests can easily move around it. You can choose to cover it with a tablecloth: white, with a large check or printed calico from Provence, it is up to you. But if the woodwork tells a story, do not hesitate to leave it as it is. As for the dishes and the cutlery, anything from your everyday tableware to fine china will do. It is hard to go wrong. But please, no plastic tumblers: wine is so good when it is served in wineglasses! What is really important is getting genuine pleasure from preparing this buffet and wanting your guests to enjoy it. Now let's take a closer look at this gourmet gem!

Shopping List and Preparations :

Les produits Jean Martin
1 Taboulé (630 g) (22 _ oz)
1 Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip (380 g) (13 _ oz)
1 Tomato Sauce with Basil (360 g) (12 _ oz)
1 Anchoïade Sauce with Green Olives (180 g) (6 1/3 oz)
1 Pissaladière Onions (360 g) ( 12 _ oz)
1 Black Tapenade (240 g) (8 _ oz)
1 Pestou
1 Aubergine (Eggplant) Riste (600 g) (21 oz)
1 Onion with Raisins (360 g) (12 _ oz)

Shopping
Dairy and other fresh products
18 eggs
1 shortcrust (pie crust) dough
1 flaky (puff) pastry dough
1 large jar of double cream (500 g) (17 _ oz)
3 slices of smoked salmon
4 slices of raw ham (100 g) (3 _ oz)
Grated Parmesan cheese (100 g) (3 _ oz)
1 tin (can) of cooked lasagne

At the baker's
1 sliced country loaf
1 bread dough

At the market
grapefruit
Fresh fruit for dessert
1 bunch of radishes
2 or 3 heads of chicory (endives)
6 to 8 cultivated psalliota mushrooms (champignons de Paris)
4 or 5 carrots
1 small basket of cherry tomatoes
2 lemons
1 basil plant
6-8 very ripe tomatoes

You will also need
Olive oil
Thyme
Caster sugar (granulated sugar)
Milk
Grated cheese
Breadcrumbs

You will need about 3 hours to prepare all of these recipes. However, some of them can be prepared the day before the buffet. This is the case for the Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip Loaf, the Pissaladière, the Poivronade and Salmon Pie, the Tomato and Tapenade Pie, the Onion with Raisins Meat Pie, and the Lasagne with Aubergine (Eggplant) Riste.

1 - Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip Loaf
Ingredients: 1 jar of Jean Martin Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip, 6 eggs, 3 tbsp. of double cream, fresh basil, salt.

Beat 6 eggs and 3 tbsp. of double cream. Add a pinch of salt then mix together with the Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip. Pour the mixture into a buttered cake pan. Cook in a 350° F/180° C oven for about 45 minutes. Let the loaf cool down.

2 - La Pissaladière
Spread a ball of baker's bread dough (or pie crust or puff pastry dough) on a greased baking tray or pie pan. Add the Pissaladière Onions.
Cook in the oven for 30 minutes until pie is golden brown.

3 - Poivronade and Salmon Pie
Ingredients: 1 jar of Jean Martin Poivronade, 6 eggs, ready-to-use pie crust pastry dough, 200 g (7 oz) of sliced smoked salmon, and 1 lemon.

Beat the 6 eggs and mix with the Poivronade. Place the slices of smoked salmon on the pricked pie crust dough, then pour the mixture on top. Arrange the sliced lemon on the pie. Cook in a hot (410° F/210° C) oven for 30 minutes. Let the pie cool down.

4 - Tomato and Tapenade Pie
Ingredients: 1 ready-to-use flaky (puff) pastry dough, 6-8 ripe tomatoes, thyme, olive oil, sugar, 1 jar of Jean Martin Black Tapenade.

Spread the pastry dough on a greased baking tray. Slice the tomatoes and arrange them on the dough. Using a brush, grease them with olive oil then sprinkle on 2 or 3 tbsp. of sugar and a teaspoonful of thyme. Cook in a hot oven for 25 minutes. Let the pie cool down. Spread the Black Tapenade on the pie just before setting the buffet.


5 - Onion with Raisins Meat Pie
Ingredients: 1 jar of Onion with Raisins, 100 g (3 _ oz) of raw ham, 4 egg whites, 4 tbsp. of breadcrumbs.

Mix together the jar of Onion with Raisins, 1 tbsp. of breadcrumbs and 100 g (3 _ oz) of blended raw ham in a salad bowl.
Whip the 4 egg whites and add them to the mixture. Stir slowly. Butter 6 ramekins and fill with the mixture.
Cook in a hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes, then let them cool down.

6 - Lasagne with Aubergine (Eggplant) Riste
Ingredients: 1 jar of Jean Martin Aubergine (Eggplant) Riste, 250 g (8 _ oz) of lasagne, 2 glasses of milk, 2 tbsp. of fresh cream, some grated cheese.

Spread out successive layers (about 6) of Aubergine (Eggplant) Riste and lasagne in a gratin dish. Pour the milk and fresh cream on top and cover with the grated cheese. Cook in a 350° F/180° C oven for about 30 minutes. Let the lasagne cool down.

On the same day, 2 hours before setting your buffet, prepare the Taboulé with Grapefruit, the vegetables for the Anchoïade, and the Toasts with Pestou.

7 - Taboulé with Grapefruit
Ingredients: 1 packet of Taboulé, 1 pink grapefruit.

Peal 1 nice pink grapefruit and cut it up into small pieces. Mix it together with the Taboulé. Serve cold.



8 - Small Vegetables with Anchoïade Sauce
Ingredients: 1 jar of Anchoïade Sauce, 1 bunch of radishes, 2 heads of chicory (endives), 6 cultivated mushrooms, 4 or 5 carrots, 1 small basket of cherry tomatoes.

Prepare your vegetables, then place them whole, as leaves or quarters in a dozen small dishes, leaving enough space in the middle for a spoonful of Anchoïade Sauce.



9 - Toasts with Pestou
Spread olive oil on thick slices of country bread. Brown them 5 minutes in the oven.
Rub them with fresh basil if you have any.
Finally, spread on the Pestou and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

Start setting your buffet at least an hour before your guests arrive.

Remove the Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip Loaf from the cake pan, put it on a long dish and cut a dozen or so slices. Place the Tomato Sauce with Basil in an hors-d'œuvres dish next to it. Cut up the Pissaladière Pie into 12 helpings (do the same with the Poivronade Pie). Spread half the jar of Tapenade on the Tomato Pie using a fork, then cut it up into 12 helpings. Remove the Onion Meat Pies from their ramekins, set them out on a round plate and cut each in half or in four. Cut the Lasagne with Aubergine (Eggplant) Riste into small square pieces. Insert a pick into each piece. Fill a dozen or so small bowls or hors-d'œuvres dishes with 2 good tbsp. of Taboulé and arrange them on a tray.
On another tray, arrange the small dishes of Anchoïade and the Pestou toasts.

Now you are all set!

Of course, do not forget to buy several bottles of good wine (from the Vallée-des-Baux), some fresh fruit and enough pretty paper napkins for everyone. We are sure you will all have a good time. Enjoy the buffet and enjoy yourselves!