What are you cooking now?

[Thropplenoggin]

the kids came good with a late birthday present of the Chailly complete Varese. Hurrah !!

all I need now is an appropriate recipe to go with...............

Did they sing, 'Varese a jolly good fellow!'?

[Beef Oven!]

Did they sing, 'Varese a jolly good fellow!'?

[teamsaint]

Did they sing, 'Varese a jolly good fellow!'?

Oh very good .

No, but they Chailly well should have.

[french frank]

Poulet au riz basquais - another recipe from E. David, which I've never tried before.

Chicken pieces (rather than the whole chicken, as directed). Sautéed with onion and a spicy pork sausage, then some water and soaked porcini, garlic, thyme, bay and left to simmer. Later, sauté strips of red pepper, add tomatoes (chopped), oregano, and when cooked but not pulpy add some paprika. Boil/steam the rice, place in an earthenware serving dish, ladle out some gravy from the chicken stew, place the chicken (sliced if you've used a whole one) and sausage atop the rice and ladle the red mixture around it.

I consulted on the spicy sausage and was told (with great authority) that I would need raw sausage rather than saucisson sec which would be very hard. As it was raw chorizo, I thought that was close enough for Basque (oops, politics!), but when I got it home I discovered the country of origin was ... Wales. In fact, in prehistoric times it is thought that there were migrations from the Iberian peninsula to Wales. So that's all right, then. Should make three helpings (i.e. three days, and maybe a soup) at £2-£3 pounds per helping - I forgot to take my receipt to study the exact cost.

If you hear no more, it won't have been very nice. Just don't ask.

[amateur51]

Poulet au riz basquais - another recipe from E. David, which I've never tried before.

Chicken pieces (rather than the whole chicken, as directed). Sautéed with onion and a spicy pork sausage, then some water and soaked porcini, garlic, thyme, bay and left to simmer. Later, sauté strips of red pepper, add tomatoes (chopped), oregano, and when cooked but not pulpy add some paprika. Boil/steam the rice, place in an earthenware serving dish, ladle out some gravy from the chicken stew, place the chicken (sliced if you've used a whole one) and sausage atop the rice and ladle the red mixture around it.

I consulted on the spicy sausage and was told (with great authority) that I would need raw sausage rather than saucisson sec which would be very hard. As it was raw chorizo, I thought that was close enough for Basque (oops, politics!), but when I got it home I discovered the country of origin was ... Wales. In fact, in prehistoric times it is thought that there were migrations from the Iberian peninsula to Wales. So that's all right, then. Should make three helpings (i.e. three days, and maybe a soup) at £2-£3 pounds per helping - I forgot to take my receipt to study the exact cost.

If you hear no more, it won't have been very nice. Just don't ask.

Sounds very tasty french frank and colourful too. Yum!

[french frank]

Sounds very tasty french frank and colourful too. Yum!

It was very ... red. When I make goulash I like a bit of green pepper to tone down the red. Today, I lightly steamed some sprouts, but forgot to serve them, so have to think of a way of serving lightly steamed sprouts.

Anyway, a critique of the poulet au riz basquais: Yesterday, it was fine, with the Welsh chorizo giving it a bit of a kick. But on the whole I'd say this isn't a dish that reheats very well (unlike the daube or ribollita) so my chances of eking it out for 3-4 meals are zero ...

I reheated it in the oven, and the plus (for me) was that the rice was not as wet (I'm not keen on risotto), more fluffy and dry

But I ate as much of the chicken and sauce as possible because I didn't fancy reheating it again. I also ate as much rice as I could eat - so toast and jam for supper. The rest had to go in the compost bin, but rice is cheap even in Bangladesh.

I am left (unaccountably) with some of the original stock which I wasn't sure how to incoporate, and some tomato/red pepper sauce, which will go in a new pasta dish with diced pancetta. Oh, yes - and prosecco isn't the ideal accompaniment - a nice strong rioja would have done better, but I didn't have any.

I may have to rethink this recipe.

[Beef Oven!]

Pasta, pesto, parmesan & extra garlic!

[teamsaint]

Pasta, pesto, parmesan & extra garlic!

what a prog rock group they would have been. Or bean.

Edit: Wot no meat?

[Beef Oven!]

what a prog rock group they would have been. Or bean.

[Flosshilde]

Not yet, but it will be roast monkfish with roast red, yellow & green peppers with oregano, cream & wine sauce. Probably accompanied by potatoes sauteed with rosemary

[amateur51]

Not yet, but it will be roast monkfish with roast red, yellow & green peppers with oregano, cream & wine sauce. Probably accompanied by potatoes sauteed with rosemary

I think french frank may have a spare glass or two of prosecco to go with that, Flossie

[Beef Oven!]

Not yet, but it will be roast monkfish with roast red, yellow & green peppers with oregano, cream & wine sauce. Probably accompanied by potatoes sauteed with rosemary

Sounds lovely, but maybe next time bake the monfkish instead of roasting it and park the oregano

[Richard Tarleton]

Sounds lovely, but maybe next time bake the monfkish instead of roasting it and park the oregano

What's the difference between roasting and baking, Beef? I've wondered this before, as they both tend to take place in the same space, namely the oven. This suggests that if there is a difference it lies more in the sort of food being cooked -

So, while roasting and baking are almost identical methods of dry heat cooking, the terms roasting and baking apply to two different kinds of foods. You generally roast food that has structure already, solid foods such as meats and vegetables. You generally bake foods that don’t have much structure until they are baked: cakes, breads, pies, casseroles, crème brulee, etc.

In other words, you bake leavened items – items that “puff up” or “rise” during the cooking process. In baking, aside from just “cooking” the food, the goal is to either create steam or expand air pockets within the target food.

Most foods that we roast contain less “empty space” than foods that we bake. These foods are, by and large, already solid. The primary goal of roasting then becomes transferring heat from the surface of the food to the interior at a regulated pace to ensure crusty goodness outside and juicy, tender doneness inside.

[Beef Oven!]

What's the difference between roasting and baking, Beef? I've wondered this before, as they both tend to take place in the same space, namely the oven. This suggests that if there is a difference it lies more in the sort of food being cooked -

The difference between baking and roasting is outcome, not food-type. For example, you can bake and roast potatoes.

From your link, this bit is key ".........The primary goal of roasting then becomes transferring heat from the surface of the food to the interior at a regulated pace to ensure crusty goodness outside and juicy, tender doneness inside."

Let's not forget that this is not an exact science!

But, I suppose that if one wanted monkfish with a crusty exterior, then go ahead and roast it. You could set the temperature extremely high, and get it all nice and golden brown and crispy here and there on the outside, and juicy on the inside.

Going full-circle, my advice is to bake monkfish, not sod-about roasting it!

[jean]

Isn't it that roasting uses fat (which produces the outer crust) and baking doesn't?