Gastroporn
Dec. 10th, 2006 01:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
desperanceWell, it's not really porn, just a menu; but for those of you who wondered - or indeed asked - this is what I did for dinner last night with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shewhomust, durham_rambler, and special guests Anne, Dick and fjm.
For cold starters - its being always easier, I think, to have food on the table before people get there - I made a ham hock - no, let's be honest, a ham shank terrine, which is the easiest thing in the world (simmer shanks with flavourful veg until tender, a couple of hours; cool in the water; flake the meat. Mix it with lots of parsley and a little of the water; pepper; stick it in a mould with weights on and chill overnight) and chicken & walnuts in a walnut mayonnaise (which I invented, as a version of Circassian chicken for a gluten-free diet. Again easy: poach chicken as above, and shred it when cold. Make mayonnaise with walnut and groundnut oil whisked into a whole egg and a tablespoon of walnut or other vinegar, a little at a time; mix with chicken, and season).
For hot starter, to follow: mushroom and pumpkin soup. Simplicity itself. Are you picking up a theme here?
Main course: confit of partridge, with Puy lentils. My post-operative feeling about this is that once the bird gets larger than a quail - which are lovely, confit'd whole - the traditional approach is probably right, that you should only confit the legs and pan-fry the breasts. I'll do that next time. On the other hand,shewhomust was surprised how well the breasts had confit'd, so I guess it's a matter of taste.
And then there was cheese, and I decided that I could get away with not making the dessert I'd planned (a kumquat and apricot compote), because people were groaning and turning faint already, so we nibbled onfjm's housegifts of marrons glaces and florentines.
And halfway through, Anne expressed astonishment at how cool I was being; but what she hadn't noticed, see, is that apart from the dessert - which I did not make - everything but everything had been cooked beforehand, because it was that kind of food, and at most needed heating up. Given that I wanted to spend the day talking tofjm and the evening being tolerably unstressed, I thought this was a good plan; the astonishment is that I managed to carry it off. Feeding people and stress go hand in hand, ordinarily; yesterday the stress got left behind, and I am pleased with myself.
shewhomust, durham_rambler, and special guests Anne, Dick and fjm.For cold starters - its being always easier, I think, to have food on the table before people get there - I made a ham hock - no, let's be honest, a ham shank terrine, which is the easiest thing in the world (simmer shanks with flavourful veg until tender, a couple of hours; cool in the water; flake the meat. Mix it with lots of parsley and a little of the water; pepper; stick it in a mould with weights on and chill overnight) and chicken & walnuts in a walnut mayonnaise (which I invented, as a version of Circassian chicken for a gluten-free diet. Again easy: poach chicken as above, and shred it when cold. Make mayonnaise with walnut and groundnut oil whisked into a whole egg and a tablespoon of walnut or other vinegar, a little at a time; mix with chicken, and season).
For hot starter, to follow: mushroom and pumpkin soup. Simplicity itself. Are you picking up a theme here?
Main course: confit of partridge, with Puy lentils. My post-operative feeling about this is that once the bird gets larger than a quail - which are lovely, confit'd whole - the traditional approach is probably right, that you should only confit the legs and pan-fry the breasts. I'll do that next time. On the other hand,
shewhomust was surprised how well the breasts had confit'd, so I guess it's a matter of taste.And then there was cheese, and I decided that I could get away with not making the dessert I'd planned (a kumquat and apricot compote), because people were groaning and turning faint already, so we nibbled on
fjm's housegifts of marrons glaces and florentines.And halfway through, Anne expressed astonishment at how cool I was being; but what she hadn't noticed, see, is that apart from the dessert - which I did not make - everything but everything had been cooked beforehand, because it was that kind of food, and at most needed heating up. Given that I wanted to spend the day talking to
fjm and the evening being tolerably unstressed, I thought this was a good plan; the astonishment is that I managed to carry it off. Feeding people and stress go hand in hand, ordinarily; yesterday the stress got left behind, and I am pleased with myself.![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-10 04:37 pm (UTC)I'm cooking a goose on New Year's Eve, it's ordered already, but a ham to have in the house would indeed be handy.
(French people are supposed to cook goose on NYE, though very few do, and I swear I get better meat all year because the butcher approves so much of me doing the goose.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-12-10 05:03 pm (UTC)First, buy your ham: smoked or not, as you choose.
Soak it overnight, in a pot big enough to cover it with water and boil it without spillage; this is going to be very hot and heavy and awkward to handle, and you don't want scalds.
Change the water, and bring it up to a slow simmer. While it's heating, stud an orange with cloves and drop that into the water.
Simmer the ham slowly, uncovered, for twenty minutes per pound (or 45 min/kilo: can't remember how you weigh things in Montreal).
Mix up a glaze: there are many recipes, but I tend to use dark brown sugar, dry mustard powder and redcurrant jelly. Those are the three elements I think are important: sweetness, bite and fruitiness. Quantities are vague: a couple of tablespoons of sugar, ditto jelly, maybe one of mustard. Mix to a thick spreadable paste, and taste. If you can't taste all three elements, add more of what is missing.
When the ham's had its time, turn the oven up high and move the ham into a roasting tray. If you have poultry forks, you can use those to lift it straight out of the water. If not - well, you can do it with wooden spatulas, but I don't recommend it. The ham is heavy and slippery and hot, the water is hotter. Better to lug the pan to the sink and drain off the water, then just tip the ham into the roasting tray. It may be easier with two people; I've always done it alone (sob!).
Anyway: trim off the rind with a sharp knife, leaving a good layer of fat on the ham. Score the fat (in pretty diamond patterns if you want to), then spread the glaze all over.
Slide it into the oven, and give it twenty minutes. The glaze will melt and run; you may want to baste it with the molten glaze after ten minutes. It will also burn and sizzle on the tray, but don't worry about that, it'll soak off.
Let the ham cool, and enjoy...