The beauty of simplicity...

or the simplicity of beauty?

Coq au Vin

It's hardly the appropriate time of the year, but on a whim I decided to cook a pot of coq au vin. I have used this recipe a few times with sucess. It came out on Saveur # 108 and it is attributed to Anne Willan and her book The Country Cooking of France. I don't have access to pearl onions, I don't use butter to cook the mushrooms as I think olive oil does a better job here, and I rarely touch celery. Otherwise, I follow the recipe closely: it works. Serve it with egg noodles and an assertive red wine, full of spices and with a touch of oak.

New toy

The "it was on sale" excuse is simply a pathetic attempt at justifying spending a ridiculous amount of money on a food mill...

Grilling vegetables (and fruits)

This would probably turn out better on a proper charcoal grill, but we like the results we obtain using an enameled cast iron gill pan - think Le Creuset - on a gas stove.

This is simply wonderful this time of the year and quite easy to do. Here's how we do it: start by washing all the vegetables, wiping them dry and trimming them. Then,

- slice aubergines in half lengthwise, then with a cut parallel to the previous one, slice each half in half again, keeping the two pieces attached. Next, cut the two halves in three or four pieces with cuts perpendicular to the first ones, creating sort of long and fat matchsticks.
- cut courgettes in quarters lenghtwise if they are small. Actually, and this applies to the aubergines also, the smaller are the courgettes, the better.
- cut red bell peppers in half and clean the seeds and ribs. Slice them lenghtwise into 2 cm strips.
- remove the stalks from the mushrooms. Chestnut mushrooms work well here, but preferably you want tastier varieties...
- trust us, this is surprisingly very good: cut peaches in half and remove the pit. They are wonderfull grilled...
- cheery tomatoes are also delicious...
- we must experiment more with this idea... Apples come to mind, red onions also, any other suggestions?

Put all the cut vegetables in a large stainless steel bowl. Sprinkle with coarse salt, season with vegetable oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Mix well.

Using a silicone brush, oil the grill pan very lightly. Put it on the stove, and when it is hot start adding the vegetables. From here on, follow your intuition. Some guidelines:

- you don't want the pan to be too hot or simply warm. You have to constantly adjust the heat to be able to accomplish this. You want to grill the vegetables, not burn them...
- baste the pan and vegetables with a bit of oil now and then. Sprinkle some salt also, but avoid salting the vegetables too much;
- it's nice to create visible grill marks on the vegetables, so when you put them on the grill leave them undisturbed for a few minutes before turning them over;
- it's not easy to give guidelines regarding how long should you cook each vegetable. It's largely a matter of taste how well you want them done. Avoid overcooking, as always. If the vegetables are tender, as soon as they are heated through they should be done...

Serve with crusty bread and a chilled rosé sparkling wine, champagne if you can afford it, but definitely on the dry side.