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Hi Foodelf again.

Armagnac chicken vetoed by she-who-must-be-obeyed in favour of French onion soup, omelette paysanne and first strawberries from Kent - only Elsanta and surely from a polytunnel. Probably next Saturday I'll get a chance. Actually today is sunny and too nice to stay in so I've mowed two lawns, removed a ton of weeds and have been told to sit down and rest - hence on computer.

I need also to pick your brains - Cornish hens - unknown here. They seem to be very young chickens of a specific breed - nearest thing here might be a poussin, but what weight do Cornish hens come in?

Have a good weekend

RayS

Hi, RayS - Too bad about the Armagnac Chicken, but I'm sure the appropriate opportunity will present itself.

On Cornish hens, the following is a snippet from Wikipedia and the listing has a lot more information if you're interested:

In the United States, a Cornish game hen, also sometimes called a Cornish hen, poussin, Rock Cornish hen, or simply Rock Cornish, is a hybrid chicken sold whole. Despite the name, it is not a game bird, but actually a type of domestic chicken. Though the bird is called a "hen", it can be either male or female. In addition to commanding a higher price, the game hens have a shorter growing span, 28 to 30 days as opposed to 42 or more for regular chicken.

The Rock Cornish game hen or Rock Cornish hen is a cross between the Cornish Game and Plymouth or White Rock chicken breeds.[1] This breed develops a large breast over a short period of time compared to game hens.[1] Rock Cornish game hens weigh about 2.5 pounds after four to six weeks, at which time they're slaughtered

Hope this helps.  One of the main challenges for many, is the ability to eat the cornish hen neatly with a knife & fork; it's a tricky business trying to anchor the bird and slice, without chasing it all over the plate as it makes its bid for freedom.

What are you thinking of making?

I have a list of chores a mile-long this weekend, including glamorous tasks such as window cleaning.  Glad I have lots of leftover Peruvian chicken, though.

Enjoy your weekend, too.

This week, I'm digging into From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine, an old favorite that I haven't used for a really long time. I've chosen the Marinated and Grilled Flank Steak with Lime-Chipotle Sauce as I had some leftover chipotles in the fridge begging to be used. It's already marinating so plan to cook it for dinner tonight.

My favourite post roast comes from this book, John Ash's Grandmother's Pot Roast and as we are struggling with torrential rain around here, I may very well decide to revisit this recipe.

Hi Foodelf,

Thanks for info - I was tempted to try Dorie Greenspan's sausage-stuffed Cornish Hen, but using a small poussin of about the same weight for just the two of us.

In weather like this cooking keeps you sane!

RayS

My selection for the week was Marinated and Grilled Flank Steak with Lime-Chipotle Sauce out of From the Earth to the Table: John Ash's Wine Country Cuisine. Maybe I was desperate for sunshine and hoping that the mere act of wishing for grilling weather would make it so. Maybe I should have been thinking more like Foodelf and gone with My Grandmother's Pot Roast. But NOOOOO, the rain has not stopped all week so I went ahead anyway and grilled it on the stove. I have to start by saying that the dish was good, but it has the potential to be great if done right.

The first problem was my bad. I cut the recipe in half but added the entire amount of allspice. Note to self: chatting while measuring can be hazardous. :-( The sauce had a great spicy kick from the chipotles but with the extra allspice and the honey, the lime was overpowered. Next time, I would add the honey to taste. The flank was really tender but I only marinated for the minimum amount of four hours (again, no patience this week) and I don't think that was long enough for the flavor to come through. And lastly, I think a bit of smoky char from the grill would really complement the spiciness of the sauce. Luckily this one will get a do-over soon (I hope) as I froze the other half of the marinated meat.

Next week, it looks like we might get some sun so I want to try the Paniolo Rack of Lamb from Gourmet. It has been on my list for ages, and I finally scored the fermented black beans at the Asian market today. Woo-hoo! But if it keeps raining like this, I'm going to make something from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook to console myself with sugar.

I loved your "potential to be great" remark, Miquette and I've felt exactly that way about some dishes I've prepared.  I'm very keen to try that Flank Steak w/the Lime Chipotle Sauce.  Your notes on your experience w/this dish are very helpful.  I went to my bookshelves to check the recipe and realized after a fruitless search that I'd loaned the John Ash book a couple of years ago and never got it back!  While I was able to track down the recipe online, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for a replacement copy of the book.  The person I loaned it to is no longer in town and we're not in touch - I'm sure I'll never see that book again.

My usual flank steak "Grilled Flank Steak in Oregano Marinade w/ Roasted Tomato & Herb Salsa" is from Jerry Traunfeld's The Herbfram Cookbook but there's certainly room for more than one flank steak recipe in my life.  This one is perfect for preparing in advance and taking to a grill party or to the cottage for the weekend.  I've even frozen the flank steak in its marinade and it defrosts en route to the destination.  The Roasted Tomato and Herb Salsa is the perfect pairing and well worth the little extra effort.

My (John's) Grandmother's Pot Roast is simmering away in the oven, sending out fabulous fragrances of herbs, tomatoes, wine, garlic and brisket. I routinely reduce the temperature of any braise to 300-325F and extend the cooking time by as much as an hour in some instances.  I've found this produces a more tender and flavourful result.   Regardless of the fact that it's no longer raining and is actually warm outside, I'm looking forward to a very meat-centric dinner w/friends.

When I checked out the Epicurious recipe for your proposed rack of lamb, Miquette, I then followed a sidebar link to this Lemon Soda which sounds very intriguing and the lamb sounds so tempting, too.

A promising week in food ahead!  I still plan on an asparagus tart - perhaps this weekend.

Maggie Beer has a fantastic Asparagus & Leek Tart recipe in Maggie's Kitchen, but it's not online.. and I don't think it's on your bookshelf (at least it doesn't come up in "books in common"!. BAsically its white of 2 leeks, 8-12 spears of asparagus, 2 tbps parsley, 14 egg yolks, 2 1/2 cups cream, 60g parmigiano reggiano.. she uses a sour cream pastry which is incredibly flaky (but easy to work with): 250 g all-purpose flour, 200 g unsalted butter, 120 ml sour cream (whizzed in food processor, & rested overnight); pre-bake pastry case in 24 cm springform (deep) pan, sweat leeks in butter, seaeson, blanch asparagus, sliced into 2cm lengths, whisk egg, cream, season: scatter leeks over base of pie shell, top asparagus, pour over egg/cream mix, top with cheese, bake 45 - 60 mins @ 160/325.. cool and serve warm with a spring salad... sooo creamy!

Wow, Debkellie - that sounds amazing!  The one I have my eye on is The Perfect Asparagus Tart - a new trick of pureed asparagus for the filling - or at least, new to me.  It has me intrigued.

What have you been cooking lately?

Hi Foodelf - I can certainly vouch for maggie's tart! Recent efforts have focussed on desserts ;-) (winter does that to me).. so today is a quince ice cream to accompany a quince brown betty  - I'm in the middle of making the ice cream out of the poaching liquor, + yolks & cream - it just smelt and tasted too good to throw away!. And hopefully that will be a nice accompaniment to the Boeuf Bourguignonne out of this month's Delcious (not yet indexed!)... but otehrwise I've been a bit slack on my resolution ;-)

Hi. Deb - I have a junior quince tree in my garden ... a gift from a the father of a friend.  I call it junior because it's very compact and has yet to bear any fruit - I've had it for about 4 years.  This spring, however, saw lots of blooms and I have my fingers and toes crossed that the passing bees were able to polinate at the appriopriate time.

I love quince - the scent is heavenly and the fruit is the dark horse of the autumn apple/pear world.

We've missed you, so glad you're posting again!

The Quince Brown Betty was to die for, and my quince ice cream a beautiful accompaniment.. even in winter with a raging fire to melt the ice cream!. So good I'm wondering why I've taken this long to discover them. May just have to plant a tree (will/do they grow in Mediterranean type climates???)...

My asparagus tart was ok - it wasn't the blockbuster I'd hoped for, however, I think it has the potential to be great. 

It looked and smelled absolutely gorgeous, but the custard filling was a little on the wobbly side for me.  I rather suspect that I may not have had the full quantity of asparagus called for, too.  The small amount of stalks required to be pureed had real diffiuclty reaching that stage, but in hind-sight, that didn't really matter - the puree really didn't have to be completely smooth.

I have another asparagus tart recipe that is better, I think, but takes a lot more effort and a bunch more ingredients.  I'm going to give consideration to both and see if there's something I can do to combine those things I like about each of them.

Bit sad it didn't live up to your expectations Foodelf! I'm sure over teh course of early summer you'll have plenty of asparagus to refine & perfect it ;-)

We're now embracing curries as we move deeper into colder weather: totally vegetarian last night with a cauliflower, lentil and coconut curry. There's something quite nice about coming into the EYB recipe index and saying "I've got a yen for a curry, and I've got these ingredients" and within a few moments I have 13 different recipes from which to select.. and finding recipes in that way does not detract from hunger (which is an effect I tend to experience when I sit down with a good cookbook!). The waistline may suffer, but the taste buds definitely do not!!

I'm afraid life and work got in the way of posting.  I really didn't try anything new during the past week or so - lots of hours at work; I seem to have been existing on avocados either on toast or on grilled bread ... not such a hardship!

Today I made Golden Frittata with potatoes, peas, and parmesan which was absolutely delicious.  It was accompanied by lightly dressed greens from the garden with plenty of arugula.  I used fresh peas and lovely new potatoes - I think I might add a touch of smoked paprika next time and probably some chives.

Yesterday. I made Strawberry Mascarpone Tart from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries  the recipe may be found online at Leite's Culinaria.  Having never been a fan of Graham Cracker crusts, I struggled a little with choosing cookies for the base and selected shortbread.  This recipe was a huge hit with my guests showcasing and starring local berries.   It was very easy to put together and a light finish to dinner on a warm summer evening; very pretty, too. 

I can relate, Miquette - I always feel slightly off-balance when I don't have a few food ideas at the back of my mind resulting in ingredients scribbled on shopping lists slipped into my pockets. 

I think the strawberry tart would work well for camper-cusine, it's no-bake, convenient and very easy.  While the strawberries definitely have the starring role, I felt the mascapone cream base might have enjoyed a little hit from Grand Marnier or grated orange zest to go w/the vanilla (I used vanilla paste).  Be generous with the berries, I had a little too few, having discarded some that were very overripe.  I also wondered about chocolate cookies for the base, but that might be too much?  Sometimes it's a mistake to over-think the simple things.

I like the look of Dorie Greenspan's Sable Breton with Lemon Curd and Berries from Around My French Table.

Hi Folks - we've had a very wet week downunder in "The Sunshine State"; perfect for cooking ;-). I decided this weekend to open a book I'd not delved into before (although it's been on my shelf for a while)...and, possibly inspired by the fact that Bastille Day is not far away I was drawn to his recipe for cassoulet.  It's turned out to be quite an adventure.. first I went in search of Toulouse sausages .. surely my local providores would have them or could get them in for me?? I am after all in a capital city. But no. So I then scanned EYB library for a Toulouse sausage recipe (to no avail in books I could access!). So I googled for recipes.. and found around 124 different styles!  Sausage making is a totally new kitchen feat for me...Of course, with recipe under arm, I set off to my local friendly butcher.. to get casings and the shoulder and belly pork...my butcher advises not to try and hand stuff natural casings.. I'm sure when I bought the grinding attachment for the Kitchen Aid it came with sausage stuffers.... but of course it didn't, they were an optional extra... another google search found me a supplier around 100ks away, and, yes, they had the sausage stuffer attachment in stock... so I drive through the pouring rain (200 ks there and back) and secure said stuffer. Minced the  fillling last night and it smelt divine (pork, white wine, garlic, nutmeg, S + P). And I started the confit duck process.. Today I made my first sausages... they look a treat.. tomorrow, all things being equal, 4 of the 27 will join the confit duck and haricot beans and become "Le Cassoulet de Castelnaudary".. OK it's a week or two ahead of Bastille Day, but what a promising celebration of winter...not to mention dogged persistence .. dawned on me I could have just substituted pork & garlic sausages, but where's the fun in that!!!

And the verdict on Cassoulet Castlenaudary : well worth the effort!

So glad you came back with that verdict, debkellie - Cassoulet is on my wish list for Autumn/Winter food. 

I've been reading "As Always, Juia" and subsequently plunged into all things Julia Child.  My next up recipe is Salade Nicoise an old favourite which I haven't made in ages and really needs to be revisited.

I've just discovered that a neighbour has a sour cherry tree and I'm trying to pluck up courage to request some picking rights.