Poussin

In the United Kingdom, poussin (or less common coquelet) is a term commonly used by butchers for a young chicken, less than 28 days old at slaughter and usually weighing 400-450 grams but not above 750g. It is sometimes also called spring chicken, although the term “spring chicken” usually refers to chickens weighing 750-900g.

Stateside, poussin is an alternative name for a small-sized [cross-breed] chicken called Rock Cornish game hen. Developed in the late 1950s, this breed is twice as old and twice as large as the typical British poussin.

Roast poussin with cumin-lime-herb butter, served with pan-fried potatoes, shallots and rosemary

Click here to view a large-sized version of this picture.

If you can’t get poussin at your local farmers’ market, substitute a Cornish game hen. You might have to adjust the cooking time however. Allow one poussin or Cornish game hen per person.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh lime zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
kosher salt
freshly milled black pepper
2 poussins
1/3 cup pinot gris or other white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a small bowl stir together 2 tablespoons butter, parsley, lime zest, cumin, salt, and pepper until combined. Trim necks of poussins flush with bodies if necessary. Rinse birds inside and out and pat dry. Beginning at neck end of each bird, slide fingers between meat and skin to loosen skin, being careful not to tear the skin. Divide seasoned butter into 4 portions. Using a teaspoon put 1 portion of butter under skin of each breast half. Spread seasoned butter evenly under skin by pressing outside of skin with fingers. If desired, truss legs of each bird together with kitchen twine and secure wings to sides with toothpicks or skewers.

Arrange birds in a roasting pan or Pyrex baking dish just large enough to hold them. Melt remaining tablespoon butter. Brush butter onto birds; generously sprinkle with salt. Roast the poussin in the upper third of oven for 45 minutes, or until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of the inner thigh registers 170 F.

Transfer birds to a platter and loosely cover with foil to keep warm. Add wine to roasting pan and deglaze, scraping up any browned bits. Gradually whisk in the butter cubes. Reduce over moderate heat until sauce thickens slightly. Check seasoning.

Serve poussins with sauce.

The potatoes were 6 Ozette potatoes and one large shallot, peeled and sliced, fried in unsalted butter over medium-high heat, then finished with sea salt and rosemary leaves.

Tomato Season 7

Pan-glazed heirloom tomato salad served over roasted fingerling potatoes

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* * *

When I began foodblogging in earnest, I decided that I wanted to have a vegetable-focused foodblog without making the crossover to vegetarianism. I like chicken, butter and eggs too much to ever consider giving them up entirely. That being said, these days I eat much less red meat than I used to, although I won’t say no to a nice piece of steak every now and then.

Dinner menu for Sunday, October 4, 2009:

Peperonata and zucchini omelette
Heirloom tomato salad served over roasted fingerling potatoes — (see recipe below)
2006 Anthony Road Pinot Gris (Finger Lakes, New York)
Fromage blanc with ginger-lemon confiture

Saturday Market

You can definitely tell that autumn is on the threshold.

There’s a chill in the air; carpe diem while you can.

Yellow plum tomatoes

Golden nugget potatoes

Apples

Tomato Season 2

Later in the week I want to do a two or three-course dinner featuring tomatoes. Oh, there’ll be other ingredients in the mix but tomatoes will be the main player in each dish. More later.

Kielbasa from Flying Pigs Farm, roasted La Ratte fingerling potatoes and Sungold cherry tomatoes

Click here for a large-size version of this picture.

I love La Ratte fingerlings. The name translates from French, unsurprisingly, as “the rat.” The potato is named for its oblong fingerling shape and its tendency to grow in dense clusters underground, such that the potatoes resemble a bunch of rats in a burrow, or perhaps more disturbingly, like baby rats nursing from a mother rat. They have a wonderful texture and a slightly sweet, almost nutty yet creamy flavor. They’re fantastic roasted or better yet, fried in duck fat.

Sungold cherry tomatoes are one variety of heirloom tomato. They ripen to a golden orange, with a very sweet flavor. This variety is popular in all climates as it produces in warm and cold conditions. Fruit matures quickly, and crops heavily throughout the warmer months. One plant can produce 1000 or more tomatoes. Use in an uncooked pasta sauce, with corn over ricotta gnocchi or in a confit and served with green beans or cranberry beans.

Why Vegetables Are Difficult

I’ve come to the conclusion that vegetables are more challenging than animal proteins, especially when it comes to creating interesting combinations. When you go to a high-end restaurant like Gramercy Tavern or Blue Hill, there are for example, five-course or seven-course vegetable tasting menus. That presents a challenge where a chef needs to structure a meal so that each course offers a different, yet interesting range of colors, shapes, textures and flavors that doesn’t mimic or duplicate from its predecessor. If you think about it, your options become even more limited when you cook seasonally. There’s only so much you can do with potatoes and turnips before things start to become boring.

Fortunately this problem doesn’t assert itself all that often in the spring, summer or fall. There’s such a profusion of ingredients available on the market that the only limits in the kitchen are those that spring from your imagination.

Vegetarian plate
Clockwise from right foreground: wild mushrooms and garlic scapes deglazed in Belgian beer and finished with a touch of fromage blanc; pan-glazed sugar snap peas with ginger; roasted new potatoes with lemon and thyme; poached farm egg

Potatoes 5

It’s not photogenic but it sure was tasty.

Heritage pork sausage, Swiss chard and potato hash

As I’ve mentioned in another post, it’s called “heritage pork” because many old hog breeds are becoming very rare. Heritage pork farmers often work on small farms. In doing so, they try to save these breeds from extinction while at the same time, give consumers access to more flavorful meat.

Factory-raised pigs have been bred to produce very lean meat — so lean that the end product can be dry and bland when cooked. Heritage breeds often have more fat which makes the meat flavorful and moist. In addition, these pigs aren’t raised in confinement. The end results are happier, healthier livestock and less environmental contamination.

In New York City, heritage pork can be purchased by visiting either Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan or Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Brooklyn and stopping by Flying Pigs Farm’s stall. If you reside outside NYC, I’ve heard that Preferred Meats is a quality purveyor.

Squid and Strawberries

Like I said, caption titles are hard. There are days when I wonder, what am I going to call this post? I can only do so many things with ‘Dinner’ before it gets boring.

A while ago, Mark ooohed and aaaahed over a plate of potatoes, so I thought I’d do a mini-demo which, coincidentally enough, is in line with last night’s dinner.

I’ve found that perfect fried potatoes requires three things: the right type of potato, the right type and amount of cooking fat and high heat.

Some potatoes are more conducive to baking and mashing than roasting. These potatoes are high in starch and consequently have a dry, mealy texture. Idaho potatoes and Russet Burbanks fall into this category.

Some are ideal for roasting, soups and barbecuing, because they tend to hold their shape when cooked. These potatoes are relatively high in moisture and sugar, but low in starch. Red-skinned potatoes, Yellow Finns and Ruby Crescents fall into this category.

Some potatoes such as Yukon Golds, Bintjes and Purple Peruvians fall in the middle, “all-purpose” category. They are moister than baking potatoes and will hold together in boiling water. They are particularly well-suited to roasting, pan frying, and using in soups, stews, and gratins. They can be baked, mashed, and fried, but will not produce the same results as baking potatoes.

When you’re making fried potatoes, the fat of choice is butter. I prefer unsalted butter. This gives you a measure of control over the final dish. Using salted butter in place of unsalted means you have to adjust the amount of actual salt you add to the recipe. Since most recipes calling for butter also call for salt, this sounds like it would be a simple process, but without knowing just how much salt is factored into the salted butter, it’s difficult. If you do use salted butter, reduce 1/4 teaspoon salt for each 1/4 pound stick of salted butter used.

By the way, butter is good (as in fat carries flavor), so if you’re the kind of person who’s anti-fat and anti-salt, this blog won’t be for you.

This is about 4 medium Bintje potatoes that have been peeled and sliced about 1/4″ thick. I’m frying them in 2 T. unsalted butter over medium-high heat. After roughly 10 to 15 minutes, they should look like this:

Three “P”

Late night supper:

Penne with baby leeks, heirloom potatoes and sugar snap peas

Weekend Update

You could say this weekend has been exciting….

Saturday afternoon I went to the market and picked up a bunch of stuff as usual — heirloom potatoes, Swiss chard, sheep’s milk ricotta, sausages from Flying Pigs Farm in upstate New York, butter, cheese, herbs, mushrooms and a couple other things I’m forgetting. You’ll see all of that in dinner pix this week.

Then I decided to take a cab back since I didn’t feel like going on the subway with a bunch of stuff in tow. Bad idea. The cab I was in crashed into another car at 62nd St and Park Avenue. Apparently the other driver was about to run a red light and make a U-turn on the northbound side. My recollection was that we might have been going a little faster than normal.

On impact, I smashed my face into the partition and specifically on the credit card reader. My glasses exploded. I received minor injuries on my right eyelid, cheek and chin. I ended up spending five hours in the emergency room at NY Presbyterian. I have to go pick up a new pair of glasses (which my insurance won’t cover), pick up the accident report from the precinct house tomorrow and get the stitches removed later this week.

Not quite the relaxing weekend I had envisioned.

And how are you today?

Clockwise from left: Sweet Italian sausage, pan-fried turnip greens with onion confit, roasted heirloom potatoes and shallots

Greens 1

Japanese turnips

I bought a whole mess of greens at USGM this weekend. Turnip greens, French breakfast radishes, radish greens, mustard greens and spinach. In addition, I have some leftover baby bok choy.

Got any ideas? I have some leftover Rancho Gordo borlotti beans. I figure that’s probably good for a bean stew, along the lines of the broccoli rabe from a couple weeks ago. I’m playing around with the idea of mustard greens tossed with some onion confit and bacon ends. There’s a warm salad of turnip greens, Bintje potatoes and Italian sausage. Maybe a vegetable plate for dinner on Friday night.

I’m curious to see what some of you might think of.