Saturday night I made a delicious chicken stew. I didn't have a recipe but I suppose the idea was loosely based on coq au vin. First I rendered the fat from some bacon and sauteed carrots, turnips, celeriac, garlic, and mushroom in it. Then I added about a half a bottle of wine to the pot along with two bone-in chicken breasts and enough water to cover. Next I put a few tablespoons of tomato paste and some dried herbs in the pot: rosemary, thyme, a few bay leaves, and pink peppercorns. After poaching the chicken, I took it out and cut it into chunks. The poaching liquid needed to be thickened into a sauce so I made a little paste of flour and melted butter and added that. I put the cut up chicken back in the pot and let everything simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. I served it over pasta.
For a post-dinner course we ate Brie along with some golden colored plums I found in the store. I'd never seen those before. They were good and ripe for this time of year. The Brie was a lot stronger tasting than the varieties I've had in the US...I suppose that's because the US requires all cheeses to be pasteurized unless they are aged for a period of time, so most soft cheeses in the US are pasteurized. Or so I've read. Of course, I always cut the rind off my Brie anyway (a sacrilege, yes I know) but I could still taste the difference.
Saturday night I made a delicious chicken stew. I didn't have a recipe but I suppose the idea was loosely based on coq au vin. First I rendered the fat from some bacon and sauteed carrots, turnips, celeriac, garlic, and mushroom in it. Then I added about a half a bottle of wine to the pot along with two bone-in chicken breasts and enough water to cover. Next I put a few tablespoons of tomato paste and some dried herbs in the pot: rosemary, thyme, a few bay leaves, and pink peppercorns. After poaching the chicken, I took it out and cut it into chunks. The poaching liquid needed to be thickened into a sauce so I made a little paste of flour and melted butter and added that. I put the cut up chicken back in the pot and let everything simmer for 15 or 20 minutes. I served it over pasta.
For a post-dinner course we ate Brie along with some golden colored plums I found in the store. I'd never seen those before. They were good and ripe for this time of year. The Brie was a lot stronger tasting than the varieties I've had in the US...I suppose that's because the US requires all cheeses to be pasteurized unless they are aged for a period of time, so most soft cheeses in the US are pasteurized. Or so I've read. Of course, I always cut the rind off my Brie anyway (a sacrilege, yes I know) but I could still taste the difference.
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