Monday, April 13, 2009

Sensory: tastables.

(Those are peppercorns that were his eyes...)

He's happy now, but his futile attempts at vegetative propagation, in a net under the stairs, will not save him from his fate, which is to be peeled, boiled, rolled in dry semolina flour, and roasted in duck fat. As an accompaniment to the Easter Day roast, chicken with...

... yellow peppers and yellow cherry tomatoes, well stuffed with garlic and sprinkled with parsley and paprika. I came across the idea of using yellow peppers for Easter years ago, as a healthy way of introducing the yellow of egg-yolk, butter, daffodils and general springiness into the dish. I like roasting chicken on a bed of soft vegetables; anything goes: peppers, aubergine, celery or celeriac, salsify (the stuff in tins or jars that tastes of nothing but absorbs the chicken flavours wonderfully), whatever. I also added onion - Roscoff pinks, of course - and courgettes. The potatoes have to roast separately, however, to be crisp.

And finally, how wonderful is the new toaster, here glowing in delicious promissory action. Three small white slices - grand Brié coupé - for Tom, two large malted brown ones for me, all ready at once. There's luxury!


~~~
Many thanks to Zhoen, for suggesting a sensory theme to help cure my slight photographer's block! This is going to be fun...

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I covet your toaster! I need a bigger one but I hate buying appliances so never do. I will do so when I get home. It's silly to have a two slice toaster when I have four children.

Actually, not sure I'll be able to afford a toaster by the time I get home!!!

The Joined up Cook said...

Mmmm - can I come and eat your creations? They sound as though they are right up my street.

We had slow roasted pork with roastd root vegetables and greens to take in the sauce yesterday.

Gorgeous.

Rouchswalwe said...

Oh my ~ you have been tippling in the Lambic, sweet Lucy. Tee-hee! You didn't really peel, boil, roll, and roast cute the little sprout, did you?

The Crow said...

Oh, YUM!

Yum, the meal. Yum, the colors. Yum, the photographs...but, yum - especially - your words!

Zhoen said...

Such a cute little guy, and doomed, of course.

Looking forward to more photos.

julie said...

Wow, now that sounds like it was fantastic!

That poor, doomed little critter is adorable. I bet he was also delicious :)

Fantastic Forrest said...

I second the Crow's "Yum!"

You had me at roasted in duck's fat. Where's the duck, though, if you're having chicken?

Come check out my Easter menu - I posted it last Friday.

Sometimes, letting others cook for you can be good too. :-) But you're inspiring me here to go into the kitchen.

herhimnbryn said...

Those veg. look glorious and the tiny tater had his brief hour of fame!

Now, I consider having all the toast ready at the same time is the height of luxury! I may have to investigate toasters.

Sheila said...

Oh, I Love your little potato man! That is the cutest thing I've seen in I don't know when! What fun!

Lucy said...

Thanks.

The potatoes are proudly presented to us as 'sans traitement', which means they sprout rather quickly, but are perfectly usable. He tasted very good and maintained his smile even after roasting, though his eyes were no more.

Rendered duck fat is available in jars here and keeps for ages in the fridge. Roast duck is really only an occasional treat, as I try only to buy free range poultry.

Toast is not really a very French thing, so the toaster was quite a find!

Unknown said...

What happened to the potato after the photgraph? Did you plant it? If you did, will it sprout other similar little men?

Roderick Robinson said...

I like the vindictive way (moistened with the tiniest touch of saliva) you outline his fate. Faced with the proposition that we're all superior to our household pets you might well stumble, but it's clear you believe that vegetables are Untermensch.

Lucy said...

Plutarch - no, I ate it of course! Apparently Pythagoras believed the souls of the dead resided in peas and beans, partly because of the 'breath' which they release into our digestive tracts when we eat them, and partly because of the grotesquely human-looking twisted forms they displayed when sprouted. Of course he didn't know about potatoes as he pre-dated Sir Walter Raleigh...

BB - alas, you're right, we all, even the strictest vegans I'm sure, concede that there is an order of life forms in that way; I would even consider it rather callous thus to relish the fate of the chicken or the duck involved. As Roger McGough said 'vegetarians are cruel and heartless people...'