Obviously...The Chicken - Recipe #1
The niggled has naggled for a very long time, having decided to tackle the vast beast that is food and wine where does one start? What comes first? A bolt as shrill as every early morning wake up call from the neighbour's rooster - Coq au vin!
According to Hugh, a dish with its roots in a healthy poultry industry where, as the nights draw in those would be roosters that don't cut the mustard are themselves dispatched. Visions of a full night's sleep vied with musings on how to keep the bairns from spilling the beans in the barns. I couldn't do it, but a seed was sown - The Sunday roast would be chicken until that seed had blossomed.
Next problem, what's to explain about roasting a chicken? For the chicken read Simon Hopkinson's and other stories, save the chicken until last just so you can savour every tasty morsel he squeezes into each recipe. For the roasties Delia can't be cheated out of her glory. That still didn't really add much to the wine challenge - a big white or anything but the lightest reds depending on your gravy. Food Matching Rule No. 1 - everything changes with the gravy. Its the sweetness that really changes things and can turn a fine Burgundy into an astringent monstrosity not fit for wilted leaves, a Bordeaux into a tanners bucket water. Watch the sweetness and a roast chicken is a good friend to wine.
But we needed more challenge! Turkey was the answer. Well actually Morocco in Claudia Roden's fantastic Arabesque which looks at dishes from Turkey, Lebanon and Morocco. Her Roast Chicken with Couscous, Raisin and Almond Stuffing is much more exciting than it sounds and threw spices and honey into our pot. Cinnamon and Ginger spiced the dish beyond many wines but the master ingredient is the honey. Tempering the spices and as the key to a delicious sauce - Houston we offically have a wine challenge!
Short work was made of some dubious Burgundy and Claret that would never have made the Monkeyshed grade and almost ruined a very fine meal - we do make sacrifices to bring you only the best! Balance was restored with Masolino's Barolo. The weight great depth and typical Italian acidity made a very fine foil - problem solved and meal rescued. But we refused to rest on our laurels! A further run out topped the Barolo pairing with a guest wine - Amarone della Valpolicella '03 from Montecariano. Perfect. The rich, full, sweet volatility just sang with the spices and honey. Our work is done.
More for the cooler months but we might just have to sneak an Amarone on for any game enough to try this spin on the ubiquitous chicken.
The Great Recipe Test Experiment
According to Hugh, a dish with its roots in a healthy poultry industry where, as the nights draw in those would be roosters that don't cut the mustard are themselves dispatched. Visions of a full night's sleep vied with musings on how to keep the bairns from spilling the beans in the barns. I couldn't do it, but a seed was sown - The Sunday roast would be chicken until that seed had blossomed.
Next problem, what's to explain about roasting a chicken? For the chicken read Simon Hopkinson's and other stories, save the chicken until last just so you can savour every tasty morsel he squeezes into each recipe. For the roasties Delia can't be cheated out of her glory. That still didn't really add much to the wine challenge - a big white or anything but the lightest reds depending on your gravy. Food Matching Rule No. 1 - everything changes with the gravy. Its the sweetness that really changes things and can turn a fine Burgundy into an astringent monstrosity not fit for wilted leaves, a Bordeaux into a tanners bucket water. Watch the sweetness and a roast chicken is a good friend to wine.
But we needed more challenge! Turkey was the answer. Well actually Morocco in Claudia Roden's fantastic Arabesque which looks at dishes from Turkey, Lebanon and Morocco. Her Roast Chicken with Couscous, Raisin and Almond Stuffing is much more exciting than it sounds and threw spices and honey into our pot. Cinnamon and Ginger spiced the dish beyond many wines but the master ingredient is the honey. Tempering the spices and as the key to a delicious sauce - Houston we offically have a wine challenge!
Short work was made of some dubious Burgundy and Claret that would never have made the Monkeyshed grade and almost ruined a very fine meal - we do make sacrifices to bring you only the best! Balance was restored with Masolino's Barolo. The weight great depth and typical Italian acidity made a very fine foil - problem solved and meal rescued. But we refused to rest on our laurels! A further run out topped the Barolo pairing with a guest wine - Amarone della Valpolicella '03 from Montecariano. Perfect. The rich, full, sweet volatility just sang with the spices and honey. Our work is done.
More for the cooler months but we might just have to sneak an Amarone on for any game enough to try this spin on the ubiquitous chicken.
The Great Recipe Test Experiment
0 comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)