Baked Chicken

I have a friend who eats chicken.....lots of chicken.    When I say she eats lots of chicken I mean she eats chicken, at lots of times, breakfast, lunch, dinner, late night supper......  you get the idea.  I remember, recently, she was staying with me and, as with all our guests, off we went to Villereal for the Saturday morning market.   She hadn't had any breakfast before we left, settling just for a cup of coffee so when we arrived, the first task was to organise breakfast.   Now, I often have breakfast at the market...  I go to my favourite boulanger/pattissier  and buy croissant or apple turnovers or whatever takes my fancy.  Sometimes they have something seasonal, like last week, when they had a  "Poisson d'Avril" which was like a huge apple turnover but filled, not with apple but with a delicious almond paste......

 

But I digress, on the particular visit in question, I went off to my bakery to buy "Chausson au Pomme", an apple turnover and my friend went off in search of her breakfast....  Imagine my surprise when she returned to the bar, where I had ordered us a couple of noisettes, holding a large piece of spit roasted chicken.   The owner of the bar was completely unphased though, and when he brought our coffees simply wished us both "Bon Appetit" and announced he would bring a warm cloth so she could clean her fingers when she finished.

All this sprang into my mind the other day when I was searching through the freezer looking for something simple to cook for dinner and came across a couple of portions of chicken.

I decided to bake them with my herb and cheese crust.  It's very easy to make, smells gorgeous when you are preparing it and doesn't let you down when you come to eat it.

Baked Chicken in a Cheese and Herb crust

Serves 4

4 portions of chicken,
100gms (4oz) bread, (I use a stale crusty baguette),
100gms Strong hard cheese (I used Mature English Cheddar)
1 medium egg
Handful of Parsley
Sprig of fresh Mint
Sprig of fresh Basil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash the chicken and dry gently

In a food processor blend the bread, cheese and herbs.

Beat the egg and dip chicken in egg then coat generously with breadcrumb mix

Cook in the middle of preheated oven (180C) for 45 minutes

 

It's a pity the boffins in Silicone Valley haven't come up with a way to send smells, as this really did smell so gorgeous, even before you cooked it.

Fish in a Creamy Sauce

The other day I did a bit of shopping at my local supermarket...   Here in France it is called a "Hypermarché" so I guess maybe it's a Hypermarket these days.

As I paid the checkout girl she handed me a booklet reviewing many of the wines they had on offer.  I threw it into one of the bags and didn't pay it much attention.

The following day I was tidying up and glanced through and discovered that as well as reviews of the various wines there were several interesting recipes.  This recipe caught my eye and I made it on Friday.  It was delicious, and extremely simple.

The very delicate sauce goes amazingly well with the white fish and calls for a vegetable that isn't too strong....  I used Haricot Vert but think, now, I would have preferred broccoli or haricot beurré

Sadly, it was only after I had eaten it, and discovered how good it was, that I thought about sharing it here. so I'm afraid there are no photos but I'm sure you can imagine a bit of fish in a white creamy sauce.

 

White Fish in a Creamy Sauce 
(Cabillaud sauce crémeuse au Vin Rosé)

This is a delicious sauce to use with any white fish or maybe even gammon using 1/3 bottle of Rosé wine.   Great with a vegetable such as haricot vert or haricot beurré
The original French recipe, as the name implies, calls for cod…. But any white fish would be excellent.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 good sized pieces of white fish
2 Onions
3 garlic cloves
250ml Vin Rosé
250ml single cream
Butter
Salt and pepper
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

METHOD

Cut the fish into large pieces (2”)
Coarsely chop the onions and thinly slice the garlic and then fry in a large frying pan with a knob of butter until the onion is translucent
Lay the fish (upside down) in the frying pan( in amongst the onion and garlic) and cook for a minute or two on a low heat.
Carefully turn the fish over and add the wine.
Reduce the mixture.
Add the cream salt and pepper and mix gently.
Thicken over a low heat (takes about 4 - 5 minutes)

Serve with broccoli, haricot vert or haricot beurre
.
Enjoy

Yacón, Lettuce, Rhubarb and lots of Tomatoes

After my trip, I spent the first day back home, in the garden.   It was a beautiful day and I spent the most part of it catching up on watering and just enjoying the great progress that had happened over the few days I was away.

	Earlier this month, Patrick, of Bifurcated Carrots, let me have two Yacón tubers and this is the first one to appear.    It has also been on a short holiday, residing in a neighbours greenhouse...... well, actually their swimming pool house, which is like one huge greenhouse!  The other tuber is now safely back in the dark of my boiler room, where it will enjoy a constant temperature of between 17C and 20C until it, too, decides to come out into the world.
	We had also sown some Joy's Cos Lettuce seeds before we went away and left a rather spindly collection of tiny seedlings to find their way in the big world.   I'm not sure someone isn't playing a joke on me as these cannot be the same seedlings that Kate and I left just over a week ago.
	Whilst thinking about lettuce, this is a firm favourite of mine,  Lollo Rosso.  It's deliciously tasty and crunchy and is certainly enjoying this year's spring weather. We also left a tray of Oak Leaf Lettuce seedlings.   Well, to be honest I thought we were leaving a tray of pots of soil with a few stalks in it.
	Look how they have grown.  I have a covered terrace area on the south side of my house.    It is open but enjoys full sun for a good part of the day and the roof keeps out the frost at night.   Whilst I was away, these seedlings were just left on on a table with a neighbour popping in occasionally and giving them a drink
	I saved some pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins which another neighbour has grown for many years.  I figure that if he is successfully growing them right next door to me then, even a newbie like me, should stand a chance. They are obviously going to be quite tasty, because you will see that one of them has already been eaten. The others seem to be doing ok though.
	Back in November 2008, one of our friends gave me three pots which she assured me had rhubarb seeds sown in them.  I carefully nurtured them over the winter and, to be honest was beginning to think they had failed me.  However, about a month ago, one of the pots showed the tiniest sign of life so I persevered. Now all three are up and growing and getting ready to enjoy their new home.
	And then there were some tomatoes....  Last autumn I saved seeds from my cherry tomatoes.   I got advice from friends and bloggers in Europe, the United States and as far away as Australia.    They all gave me great advice about how to collect the seeds.... pick a tomato!!! and how to save them.... dry the seeds!!!  I followed this advice and saved my first seeds. Sadly, all these people did not give me any advice about keeping the seeds, once saved, and when I came to sow them, I found my packet had got damp and there was just a collection of mouldy seeds all stuck to the paper.

After some discussion I decided to just sprinkle all the seeds onto a tray of seed compost and see what happened.   These seedlings are a tiny fraction of the result.   I have been giving away tomato seedlings to friends and neighbours now for about a month and still have far more than I can use.

I'm hoping that seeds from my cherry tomatoes will be the first seeds I am able to offer on the Blogger's Seed Network, from next year.

The White House Vegetable Garden

I've been away for a few days visiting family and friends but look what sensational news reached me as soon as I got back.

Back in February of last year, Roger Doiron of Kitchen Gardeners International started a campaign to persuade the new incumbent at The White House to turn over some of the high profile lawns to grow vegetables.

Well, on Friday last, First Lady Michelle Obama was joined by school children and broke ground to create an 1100 square foot Vegetable Garden on the South Lawn.

You can read all about it in Roger's report in the KGI Newsletter..

Let me join people all around the world in congratulating Roger on this wonderful achievement and in hoping that the example being set by the Obama's will be taken up by other leaders.

The news is particularly good as I believe that gardening is new to First Lady Michelle Obama and that she intends to involve all her family in the creation of an organic vegetable and herb garden.

Picture from dailymail.co.uk