By Jennifer Paterson Louisiana and lovage
SORRY I wasn't here last month, but I was away in Wales and Scotland finishing off our new series, which returns in September, and being made to do very dangerous things for the cause, like looping the loop in a first world war aeroplane — rather a thrill, actually.
Back to my saints. This week we have had dear St Hyacinth, whose name derives from a corruption of the Polish name Jacek. He was a Dominican missionary, tireless in his labours; he reached the Ukraine, Ruthenia and Russia, earning himself the title of `Apostle of the North'. He died on 8 August 1257 on the feast day of St Dominic, having converted many and raised a poor drowned lad from the dead.
Then there is St Helena, who married the Roman general Constantius Chlorus; John Eudes, who looked after fallen women; Bernard of Clairvaux, who preached power- fully against the Albigensian heretics of Languedoc and attacked the teaching of Peter Abelard; Pius X, and the wonderfully named St Symphorianus, who would not worship the pagan goddess Cybele and had his head cut off for his pains.
Louis Bourdaloue, French orator and preacher, was born on 20 August 1632 not a saint but remembered for a bombe of vanilla ice-cream, aniseed-flavoured cream decorated with crystallised violets, a con- sommé of cockscombs and various hot fruit puddings. Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de la Perouse, the French navigator, gave the name Lape'rouse to poached eggs on artichoke bottoms, sole served with mussels and shrimps, and chicken sautéed in butter: swill the pan with brandy, add cream and mushroom purée thickened with egg yolks; garnish with artichoke bottoms filled with the purée and glazed. Sounds great.
Let us have a cajun creole chicken dish from Louisiana for a change. This will serve four, but you can double up to your requirements.
Chicken etouffee 1112 oz plain flour
7 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 chicken, quartered and seasoned with salt and pepper 1 lb fresh tomatoes 9 oz chopped onions 3 spring onions, sliced 2 oz butter 2 sticks celery, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 3-4 small fresh green chilli peppers, deseeded and finely chopped 1 pint chicken stock 3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried 1 bay leaf 1 red onion, finely chopped 9 oz American long-grain rice 18 fluid oz water or stock 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
Place the flour in a heavy-based pan. Gradually add 4 tablespoons of the oil, stir- ring briskly to form a smooth paste. Over a medium heat cook the paste (roux), stirring constantly to prevent burning, until it becomes a deep golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Put the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a deep frying pan and brown the pieces of chicken on all sides for 20 min- utes. Meanwhile, peel the tomatoes (place in boiling water for 1 minute, drain and skin), chop the flesh, remove the seeds but retain the juice. In a frying-pan, over a medium heat, fry the onion and the spring onion in half the butter until they are soft- ened. Add the celery and cook for 1 minute. Add the green pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and juice and cook for 2 minutes. Drain the chicken from the fat it was cooked in. Add the chicken, garlic and chillies to the pan. Stir in the roux and cook for 1 minute over a medium heat. Keep stirring and gradually add the pint of chicken stock to cover the chicken. Add thyme and bay leaf. Bring to the boil stirring, lower the heat to simmering, cover and cook for 40 minutes very gently. Twen- ty minutes before the chicken is cooked, melt the remaining butter and soften the red onion in a saucepan large enough to take the rice and water. Cook for 2 minutes, add the rice and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Add the water or stock and season to taste. Bring to the boil, stir, lower the heat to sim- mer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender and all the liquid absorbed. Add the parsley to the rice and mix in. Serve the etouffee over the freshly cooked parsley rice. A pretty dish to be sure. Please remember to wash your fingers after dealing with the hot green chillies.
This is originally a Scottish or Outer Hebridean receipt adapted by Vicky Schilling from Ullapool. I think it is per- fectly delicious chilled as well as hot, but what is necessary is lovage.
Lovage and celery soup Trim a whole head of celery, de-string and chop together with 2 onions and 2 large potatoes. Frizzle in olive oil in a large sauce- pan. Add 3/4 pint of good vegetable stock and 3 large handfuls of lovage leaves. Bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer until ingredients are soft. Liquidise, add 1/2 pint of milk, return to the pan and reheat without boiling. Season to taste, serve with a good blob of cream or yoghurt garnished with lovage leaves. Unusual and excellent.
Do you want your sausage grilled or Freud?'
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