Tourte de Poussins
We made a pilgramage up to New Hampshire on Saturday, stopping at the State Liquor store on our way to the barn to take Kitt for a walk on Horse Hill. Recently, randomly mixed drinks have been nicknamed "Northbound" or "95 North" as the last drops are emptied out. We couldn't find any Everclear but are still attempting to make a house version of Limoncello using vodka. I slipped the peels of eight lemons stright down into the bottle and now we wait. In about a month's time (or much sooner if impatience prevails), we will strain out the peel and mix in some sugar syrup.
Mushrooms have inspired some adventurous cuisine in our kitchen lately. On Friday, some young tender sulfur shelf was treated as follows: Some of our home pancetta was fried up with rosemary, red onion and celery, then some madeira and the juice of a lemon was added and reduced. The sauce was completed with 4tbsp cold butter stirred in quickly, before adding ricotta gnocchi, peas and the fried mushrooms, and some basil for garnish. We ate dinner while watching Deliverance.
For Saturday's dinner, Julian made a recipe from Escoffier's Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, recipe #3274 Tourte de Poussins a la Paysanne. Halves of lightly seasoned game hen are browned in butter,layered with sausage meat and duxelles, and blanketed with streaky bacon, and nestled inside a paste crust. A hole in the top facilitates pouring in a few tablespoons of demiglace just before serving.
Yesterday we had Naomi and Bryan over for dinner. We made chermoula fish with pita bread and hummus and they brought a lovely flan and rich chocolate dessert. We enjoyed chatting and played two rounds of Carcassonne, which proved itself very different with four players than two.
Today Julian was home from work for Labor day. He practiced guitar scales and got further in Half Life and I messed around with my pets on the new Viva Pinata. Out of familiarity we had a stomp round Harold Parker. We gathered a last few yellow foots and black trumpets and I snagged a few small hedgehog mushrooms. I haven't seen Hydnum repandum for a couple of years. we have found their miniature counterpart, Hydnum umbilicatum but they were too few and too small to bother bringing home. Last summer we also had an unfortunate run in with Sarcodon imbricatum, which although non-toxic is bitter and inedible. In comparison, the hedgehog has well earned its second nickname of "sweet tooth", the flesh is firm, sweet and highly palatable.
Mushrooms have inspired some adventurous cuisine in our kitchen lately. On Friday, some young tender sulfur shelf was treated as follows: Some of our home pancetta was fried up with rosemary, red onion and celery, then some madeira and the juice of a lemon was added and reduced. The sauce was completed with 4tbsp cold butter stirred in quickly, before adding ricotta gnocchi, peas and the fried mushrooms, and some basil for garnish. We ate dinner while watching Deliverance.
For Saturday's dinner, Julian made a recipe from Escoffier's Complete Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery, recipe #3274 Tourte de Poussins a la Paysanne. Halves of lightly seasoned game hen are browned in butter,layered with sausage meat and duxelles, and blanketed with streaky bacon, and nestled inside a paste crust. A hole in the top facilitates pouring in a few tablespoons of demiglace just before serving.
Yesterday we had Naomi and Bryan over for dinner. We made chermoula fish with pita bread and hummus and they brought a lovely flan and rich chocolate dessert. We enjoyed chatting and played two rounds of Carcassonne, which proved itself very different with four players than two.
Today Julian was home from work for Labor day. He practiced guitar scales and got further in Half Life and I messed around with my pets on the new Viva Pinata. Out of familiarity we had a stomp round Harold Parker. We gathered a last few yellow foots and black trumpets and I snagged a few small hedgehog mushrooms. I haven't seen Hydnum repandum for a couple of years. we have found their miniature counterpart, Hydnum umbilicatum but they were too few and too small to bother bringing home. Last summer we also had an unfortunate run in with Sarcodon imbricatum, which although non-toxic is bitter and inedible. In comparison, the hedgehog has well earned its second nickname of "sweet tooth", the flesh is firm, sweet and highly palatable.