…Ian said (surprised :-)). I keep wanting to share my last minute meals, back from work at 7pm, on the table at 8pm including time to lie down and do some chi kung…
I know the weather is getting cold again and it is still time for stews and long cooking but I think somehow in this meal I paid brief respect to the potential of Spring a few months ahead of us as the dish I made seemed to have a lot of green. Cooking notes are below the picture.
1. I sautéed a small white of leek, added coarse bulghur (1 volume), salt and vegetable stock (1.5 volume), brought it to simmer, switched off the gas and left it covered whilst I prepared the rest of the meal.
2. I had some chicken defrosted (I buy whole chicken from the butcher on the Stoke Newington Farmers Market, cut it in pieces which I freeze) which I cut in strips and simmered very slowly in some more vegetable stock, skimmed and added the green of the leeks towards the end with a pinch of salt.
3. I sautéed some slices of jerusalem artichokes in sesame oil, covered and even added a small amount of water to ensure that they cooked well… which they need to, to be digestible…apparently Indians of North America cooked them for 48hrs in pits during which their flesh turns brown and jelly like and a sweet flavour develops – a sign that the hard to decompose ‘inulin’ has broken down… (Nourishing Traditions… again, Kevin and I seem to be lost in this amazing book at the moment). I cooked my artichokes for a good 20mns, they were soft and sweet…
4. I made a side salad because I still had some lamb lettuce, simply sprinkled a pinch of salt, drizzled some walnut oil and massaged the leaves (method borrowed from Dragana Brown). Then drizzled a few drops of cider vinegar and mixed everything. This is my ‘how to dress a salad in less than 1mn’. Sometimes it’s great to spend time composing and testing a complex dressing, sometimes life is too short:-). But made time to grate some carrot because the meal was missing this colour to which I added a drop of ume vinegar (which is a quick way to add some salt and something a bit tangy) and a pinch of green nori flakes. And a small amount of raw food seems to work with animal food.
5. I added some parsley and chervil to the bulghur and mixed well, together with a small amount of butter. I placed the bulghur on the plate, placed some chicken pieces and green of leeks in the middle and drizzle some of the chicken cooking stock on the dish. Added the artichokes on the side. Bon appetit!
