Simple cooking
Jul. 1st, 2007 05:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chickenfeetThe lemur is back but it's high summer and spending time doing lots of complicated cooking is not on my agenda. Last night we had mussels steamed with white wine, thyme and garlic with lots of crusty bread to sop up the juices and a romaine, red pepper and green mango salad after. Dead simple.
Right now I have a big pot of garbure on the go. This is the quintessential peasant dish. I use our stock pot because this freezes well so it's as well to make a big batch. It's so simple:
Into your pot put about a pound of slab bacon cut into two or three pieces plus a cup or so of flageolets or white beans soaked overnight. Add lots of root veggies peeled and cut into pieces. I used a celery root, 4 potatoes, 3 parsnips, 6 carrots and four turnips. About a head of garlic, peeled, is good too. Add water to cover by a couple of inches and a big spoonful of paprika (or 1-2 chopped sweet red peppers). Bring to the boil and simmer until the veggies are very tender (45-60 minutes). Add the sliced heart of a white cabbage and some green peas. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Correct seasoning. The garbure should be more like a stew than a soup. Cooked sausages or a piece of confit of duck or pork may also be added and the vegetables can be varied according to season and availability.
Serve with bread and cheap red wine. In Gascony the custom (apparently) is, when your soup bowl is getting empty, to pour in your wine and drink the resultant mixture from the bowl. My sources describe this as faire Chabrol.
This is robust and unsophisticated fare but with good bacon and good vegetables it is very satisfying.
Right now I have a big pot of garbure on the go. This is the quintessential peasant dish. I use our stock pot because this freezes well so it's as well to make a big batch. It's so simple:
Into your pot put about a pound of slab bacon cut into two or three pieces plus a cup or so of flageolets or white beans soaked overnight. Add lots of root veggies peeled and cut into pieces. I used a celery root, 4 potatoes, 3 parsnips, 6 carrots and four turnips. About a head of garlic, peeled, is good too. Add water to cover by a couple of inches and a big spoonful of paprika (or 1-2 chopped sweet red peppers). Bring to the boil and simmer until the veggies are very tender (45-60 minutes). Add the sliced heart of a white cabbage and some green peas. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Correct seasoning. The garbure should be more like a stew than a soup. Cooked sausages or a piece of confit of duck or pork may also be added and the vegetables can be varied according to season and availability.
Serve with bread and cheap red wine. In Gascony the custom (apparently) is, when your soup bowl is getting empty, to pour in your wine and drink the resultant mixture from the bowl. My sources describe this as faire Chabrol.
This is robust and unsophisticated fare but with good bacon and good vegetables it is very satisfying.
