What are you cooking now?

[french frank]

Not exactly cooking but ... I'm really getting quite cross. Not content with inventing my black bean tapenade, now They've already invented my random cold remedy. Just about to retire to bed, I fancied a hot milky drink and the only things I had which I thought might go with hot milk were cardamom powder and then stir some honey which had gone very hard into the hot milk. Indian Times says this is good for coughs and colds. It also helps with sleep. So good-choo! night!

[Joseph K]

'Quick' jackfruit korma with the now obligatory added tofu. It's called quick but I managed to listen to all of the albums Filles de Kilimanjaro, In A Silent Way and Devotion from the time I started prepping stuff to the time I switched off the heat, since it is a new recipe for me and I wanted to add fried tofu, which wasn't in the recipe.

[Keraulophone]

Crumbs! You'll want a pretty hefty red to go with that one, K!

Agreed!

Rasteau, Domaine Soumade 2010 - last bottle of the case; the southern Rhône providing a customary bargain at £11 at the time.

"Dark ruby. Deeply pitched dark berry, cherry and licorice aromas and flavors, with a floral nuance adding vivacity. Plump and seamless in the mouth, with good back-end power and sneaky, fine-grained tannins adding grip. Becomes increasingly plummy with air while maintaining vivacity; this could handle strongly seasoned red meat dishes with ease". Josh Raynolds, Vinous.com
.

[ahinton]

What was about to be a fairly ordinary beef casserole yesterday hit the spot after receiving the contents of three one-third-full bottles of leftover wine (+ carrot, red & white onion, celery, tinned tomato, mushroom, tomato purée, garlic, thyme, oregano, paprika, apricot harissa, thick balsamic vinegar, sugar, s & p). 1hr on top, 2hrs in oven.

What did you say is your address?...

[french frank]

Crumbs! You'll want a pretty hefty red to go with that one, K!

What was about to be a fairly ordinary beef casserole yesterday hit the spot after receiving the contents of three one-third-full bottles of leftover wine (+ carrot, red & white onion, celery, tinned tomato, mushroom, tomato purée, garlic, thyme, oregano, paprika, apricot harissa, thick balsamic vinegar, sugar, s & p). 1hr on top, 2hrs in oven.

[Keraulophone]

What was about to be a fairly ordinary beef casserole yesterday hit the spot after receiving the contents of three one-third-full bottles of leftover wine (+ carrot, red & white onion, celery, tinned tomato, mushroom, tomato purée, garlic, thyme, oregano, paprika, apricot harissa, thick balsamic vinegar, sugar, s & p). 1hr on top, 2hrs in oven.

[french frank]

Princes seem to have stepped up to the mark with fish and meat paste, with Tesco and Sainsbury's stocking alternatives (or the same under a different name). I think there might be more exciting home made equivalents

Memories of the Shippams factory in Chichester during childhood hols in Selsey. It closed in 2002, but the wishbone sign survives in situ to this day.

[JasonPalmer]

Sainsbury steak ale pie and oven chips for dinner. Oh yes, I can put things in an oven...tarrraaa drum roll.

[Keraulophone]

Can you still get meat paste and salmon paste in those little jars?

Memories of the Shippams factory in Chichester during childhood hols in Selsey. It closed in 2002, but the wishbone sign survives in situ to this day.

[HighlandDougie]

Can you still get meat paste and salmon paste in those little jars? The British answer to pâté and terrine! I thought I'd created a new dish but when I'd made it I discovered someone else had thought of it first: black bean tapenade. I stewed some black beans with capers and garlic until it was soft and the liquid evaporated; then added olive oil and mashed it all up into a rough paste - a bit like the consistency of rillettes. Chilled on bread or toast it was pretty good. I found out that capers are the key ingredient - the sine qua non, in my view - of tapenade because the word comes from tapenas, the Provençal word for capers (so I've read - not verified). Not sure whether the stuff made with olives or mushrooms have capers though.



A late friend of mine was half French and I always marvelled at his schoolboy taste in food and lack of interest in gastronomy. I thought it was in their genes but perhaps he took after his English mother.

Yo! Vegan meat paste. Beans cooked like that would indeed not be a million miles away texture-wise from Rillettes. There is also that rather wonderful bruschetta topping made with broad beans, savoury and pecorino, which again has a similar slightly mealy texture. Oops! Enough gastro-porn.

[french frank]

I'm tempted to describe "Rillettes de Mans" or "Rillettes de Tours" as Shippam's Meat Paste on steroids. More terrine-like in texture than pâté. But not really like either. As you say with the rillons, the slow-cooking renders the fat away so one is left with lean meat, albeit lubricated with slightly more than a whisper of fat.

This recipe (in English) is a bit of a faff - and I would bin the neat cloves in favour of them being part of 'quatre épices' - but it would do the business:

https://noseychef.com/2020/10/25/rillettes-de-tours/

Can you still get meat paste and salmon paste in those little jars? The British answer to pâté and terrine! I thought I'd created a new dish but when I'd made it I discovered someone else had thought of it first: black bean tapenade. I stewed some black beans with capers and garlic until it was soft and the liquid evaporated; then added olive oil and mashed it all up into a rough paste - a bit like the consistency of rillettes. Chilled on bread or toast it was pretty good. I found out that capers are the key ingredient - the sine qua non, in my view - of tapenade because the word comes from tapenas, the Provençal word for capers (so I've read - not verified). Not sure whether the stuff made with olives or mushrooms have capers though.

I'm very fond of rillettes - on toast as well as with good bread - but I have terrible tastes in food (I love Heinz Sandwich Spread and Primula 'Cheese' - sic - in tubes for instance) so am very much not to be trusted.

A late friend of mine was half French and I always marvelled at his schoolboy taste in food and lack of interest in gastronomy. I thought it was in their genes but perhaps he took after his English mother.

[HighlandDougie]

Funnily enough, I've never made or eaten rillettes though they do seem to be more commonly found than rillons. Is it more like a pâté or terrine?

I'm tempted to describe "Rillettes de Mans" or "Rillettes de Tours" as Shippam's Meat Paste on steroids. More terrine-like in texture than pâté. But not really like either. As you say with the rillons, the slow-cooking renders the fat away so one is left with lean meat, albeit lubricated with slightly more than a whisper of fat.

This recipe (in English) is a bit of a faff - and I would bin the neat cloves in favour of them being part of 'quatre épices' - but it would do the business:

https://noseychef.com/2020/10/25/rillettes-de-tours/

I'm very fond of rillettes - on toast as well as with good bread - but I have terrible tastes in food (I love Heinz Sandwich Spread and Primula 'Cheese' - sic - in tubes for instance) so am very much not to be trusted.

[Barbirollians]

I now feel like drinking Vouvray.

[french frank]

Eek! Now I know what “healthier” means in the FF kitchen. Being familiar with rillettes but not ‘rillons’ the recipe I’ve just read suggests 3kg of pork belly (‘but not too fatty’), 1 kg of good old ‘saindoux’ aka lard and an entire bottle of Vouvray. I suppose that confit-ing the meat would have involved 1.5 kg of lard. But, it sounds delicious - and open to some experimentation with flavourings. Allspice or star anise and a very generous pinch of piment. Would no doubt evoke horror in Tours (lovely place) but, devoured with a fresh baguette, very yum-yum.

My 'healthier' version uses olive oil instead of fat, so it's is a very non-French way to confit (duck fat for duck, goose fat for goose, pork fat for pork). The fresh pork was very lean but even so the idea of stewing it in pork fat ... There seems to be an argument about how healthy/unhealthy the method is. I think it's not as unhealthy as it may sound because of the long cooking (I simmered it for 2 ½ hours and really the fat is largely rendered out and remains in the liquor left behind - it says here ). The cooked rillons are drained and dried very thoroughly and it all tastes (and feels) like lean meat. Masses of thyme, sage, rosemary, bay and garlic - and the cooking gives it a very deep, rich flavour. Also unFrenchlike, I added a slosh of El Plonco blanco from the Coop. But I ate a few cold with tomatoes, gherkins for lunch today and - as you so rightly say - warm crusty baguette. Heavenlyl!

Funnily enough, I've never made or eaten rillettes though they do seem to be more commonly found than rillons. Is it more like a pâté or terrine?

[HighlandDougie]

Snapped up a packet of pork belly strips in the Coop clearance cabinet (Use by 17 Feb) this morning so am now cooking Rillons de Tours for later consumption over the next week. My slightly healthier version of a confit. Good for an aperitif or with salad for a main course.

Eek! Now I know what “healthier” means in the FF kitchen. Being familiar with rillettes but not ‘rillons’ the recipe I’ve just read suggests 3kg of pork belly (‘but not too fatty’), 1 kg of good old ‘saindoux’ aka lard and an entire bottle of Vouvray. I suppose that confit-ing the meat would have involved 1.5 kg of lard. But, it sounds delicious - and open to some experimentation with flavourings. Allspice or star anise and a very generous pinch of piment. Would no doubt evoke horror in Tours (lovely place) but, devoured with a fresh baguette, very yum-yum.