Knorr send us two Poussin to tangle with ... and get in a tangle we did!

I've never cooked a Poussin before, much less two.  Still, how difficult could it be?  After all, a Poussin is only a baby chicken - surely you just reduce everything and add some "awww!".  No?  Oh.

Well, Knorr very kindly sent us the aforesaid two little Poussin, along with some Knorr chicken stock pots, a lemon, some herbs and an odd selection of picnic bits and pieces including two burgers.  They also sent a variety of recipes - one of which was specifically for the Poussin and involved the stock, lemon and herbs (although I have to say, that the lemon and parsley only came into play as garnish).

Now I have got a bit nervous about good old Marco Pierre White's recipes after our complete disaster with his last one (Chicken Chasseur) where the type of chicken did not match the type of recipe.  Although, having said that, this recipe (Spatchcocked Chicken with Chipolatas) seemed simple enough.

We had one problem, though, in that this recipe was for two people - and there are three of us.  So, we decided to split the goodies up and add some bits, cooking the Poussin on the barbecue along with some burgers and with a bowl of couscous and a home made salsa to accompany them.  The remainder of the picnic goodies, we decided to turn into a proper picnic to be enjoyed out on the New Forest somewhere.

At least, that's how it all started.  Somehow - and I'm really not sure how, except for the intervention of bad weather - it didn't finish up that way.

Chipolatas (left) and Burgers (right) - re-invented as meatballs!

The Spatchcocked Poussin wound up being cooked in the oven and son & heir had sausages, plus the burgers which came in the box wound up being made into meatballs along with the chipolatas, to fill some subs for the picnic.

It's quite a long way from the original intention, isn't it.  ~scratches head~  Oh well - it was all very nice, even so!

So, dealing with the picnic first - which shall henceforth be known as the indoor picnic as already mentioned - the star of the show was two foot-long subs made with meatballs from the two burgers and the chipolatas, Maasdam cheese slices and salad - with copious quantities of tomato relish.

Try getting those into your face without losing a meatball!

The burger meat (Welsh beef) was mixed with a Chipotle paste and simply formed into small meatballs.  The chipolatas were taken out of their jackets and the sausagemeat was mixed with a small amount of Mic's Chilli El Loco BBQ Sauce before also being formed into small meatballs.  The two types were then baked in the oven until cooked.

All cheesed up and ready for their lids

Hopefully it is needless to say, that we cut the subs in half before trying to manoeuvre them into our faces!  The two types of meatball were great in the sandwich and each had a very definite character of its own - although my favourite has to be the sausagemeat ones.

Knorr had also sent us two little Roasted White Onion Tartlets from Foreman & Field, which at £4.95 for 2 seemed utterly outrageous to me.  Especially considering how soggy and pallid they were - but the flavours were extremely yummy, so I forgave them their price just a little bit.  I'm sure a brief trip through the oven would have cheered up their floppiness, if we'd have had the time.

A really quite superb Scotch egg

The handmade Scotch Eggs purported to be "still soft in the middle" and I can quite categorically confirm that the egg was indeed just that little bit delightfully squishy in the middle.  Mind you, at the brain-fuddling price of £5.95 for the two, I was looking for some gold leaf at least!  Son & heir commented that although he quite liked them, the Scotch Eggs tasted like "posh versions" of themselves, which about says it other than to add that they were one of the nicest Scotch Eggs I've had in a very long time.  But for just short of £3 each?  *snort*  I so don't think so!

I would be so hopeless in Harrods food store.  I'd probably get dragged out of there, crying "HOW MUCH?" and looking aghast.

Just look at the Pimms and the fruit salad - fair makes your mouth water!

Anyway, aside from all that, I made a wonderful fresh fruit salad for dessert using Canteloupe melon, strawberries, mango and pineapple.  With a dash of cream it was juicy lusciousness.

We washed it all down with a beautiful big jug full of Pimms with all the requisite amount of fruit, cucumber and fresh mint floating about amongst many ice cubes.  Mmmmmn, delicious!

Lemon and Herb .......... and Barbecue

So the next day dawned and in the course of the day, the method of cooking for our two Poussin must have changed around three or four times.  Successive changes in the weather and my frame of mind (largely caused by everything we'd tried to do that weekend being blown out the window) meant that by dinnertime, I had had about enough and really didn't care what happened to the blinking Poussin.

Lemon & Herb Poussin - with parsley & rosemary

Earlier in the day, I'd made up the Green Couscous (which is ordinarily gorgeous, but I discovered on this day that it doesn't like being made in advance) and spatchcocked the Poussin, marinading one in the lemon and herbs along with a dash of rapeseed oil and some seasoning - and the other in the aforesaid Mic's Chilli El Loco BBQ Sauce so they were all ready to be wrapped in tinfoil and oven baked for 10 minutes or so, before finishing on the barbecue.  Well, the rain took care of the barbecue, so they stayed in the oven.

Consequently, they are a little under coloured but were nice enough.  I don't think I could choose between them as to which one was my favourite, as they were both very different and very nice in their own way.

I was a little disappointed in them though, as I expected the meat to be so much softer, or sweeter, than an ordinary chicken - which it wasn't.  There really wasn't much difference, which makes me wonder why anyone goes to the bother of utilising baby chickens.

However, one thing I will pay attention to - and that is that I won't be cooking Poussin again in a hurry.  Those little rib bones just completely creeped me out!  Who knew they would do that?  Bizarre.

So, you've probably read Chefs saying how cooking can really challenge a person?  Yup.  See above.

Before I go, a quick thank you to Knorr for providing all the above goodies and apologies for not making use of the Knorr Stockpots!  Still, I'm sure they will show up in recipes to come!

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Sausage & Butternut Casserole - one for Nanna!

As I expect you know by now, my Dad has been in hospital for heart surgery (and now is back home, doing brilliantly!)*.  So as to help out a little bit, we made a few meals that could be extended to serve four people and put one serving into a freezer box for my Mum.  Doing this just meant that when she came home from a potentially stressful day of getting to and from the hospital and visiting (because it can wear you out, visiting people in hospital!), she wouldn't need to worry about making anything good to eat.  She'd just need to get one of the dinners out of the freezer in the morning, then pop it in the microwave in the evening.  Done.

This is one of those "easy but yummy" meals.

I suspect that everyone has a Sausage Casserole recipe tucked behind their ear for the moment when nothing else will do.  My Sausage Casseroles always involve beans in some form or another - well, sausage & beans?  They're one of those matches like cheese & pickle, or chicken & stuffing!  I tend to make them as a true "one pot" dish that contains all the necessary protein, carbohydrate and vegetable in one.  However, it's a bit like Cottage Pie - everyone has their own ideas as to what goes into one and they all taste that little bit different.  In the case of Sausage Casserole, they all contain sausages and vegetables.  After that, the world is your oyster.

This version of Sausage Casserole, which was one of hubby's creations, involved using the other half of a Butternut Squash that didn't have a home to go to.  We'd bought some decent quality Cumberland sausages (Cumberlands are less herby, more black peppery and contain a good quantity of pork) and together with onion, celery, carrot and some green peas for colour, it made a lovely combination.

He also made use of one of the Stock Pots that Knorr had kindly sent us recently - a chicken version - which together with a teaspoon of tomato puree, some mushroom ketchup and a little thickening from a teensy touch of chicken gravy granules (don't faint - they have their place!) it made a lovely flavoursome gravy.

 

Mum broke this one out as the first of the "meals on wheels" as we called them and said it was delicious and just the job.  Inevitably, we'd packaged up far too much for one person - but as I said at the time, better to have too much than too little!

We ate the casserole with plain white rice, whereas Mum made a couple of potatoes to go with it - so the choice is yours.

Sept 2015 : I made this casserole again today, but jazzed it up a little bit as Mum wasn't going to be eating this one!  Not "jazzed" by much, but I added two sliced mushrooms, two cloves of finely chopped garlic, a tbsp of chopped chargrilled peppers in oil and a tbsp of chopped sundried tomatoes in oil.  Of necessity (because I didn't have the chicken stockpot), I used a Knorr Ham Stock Cube and a tsp of reduced salt Knorr chicken stock powder.

As you can see, I served the casserole with mashed potatoes this time and the clean plates all round were testament as to how good it was!  I really should make this one more often, as it really is a perfect autumn dinner.

* Updated since to say that in April 2015 he sadly passed away following a fall at home.

SAUSAGE & BUTTERNUT CASSEROLE  (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

8 Cumberland sausages
1 tbsp rapeseed oil (vegetable or olive oil would be fine)
1 onion, chopped small
1-2 sticks celery, diced small
1-2 medium carrots, peeled and diced into 1cm chunks
half a butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into 1cm chunks
1 tsp tomato puree
a Knorr chicken stock pot (or 200-300ml chicken stock)
200ml water (leave out if you're using liquid stock)
1 tbsp mushroom ketchup or Worcestershire sauce
1 dessert spoonful of good quality chicken gravy granules
2 handfuls of frozen peas
freshly ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  Begin to heat a large wide-bottomed saucepan and add the sausages and oil.  Fry until the sausages are coloured all over, then remove and retain somewhere warm.

2.  Add the onion and fry on a gentle heat until transparent, softened and just beginning to colour - around 5 minutes or so.

3.  Add the celery and continue to cook until the celery has begun to soften.

4.  Add the carrot and butternut squash.  Cook gently and stir, until the vegetables are heated through.

5.  Add the tomato puree, stock pot (or liquid stock), water (if appropriate) and mushroom ketchup and stir to combine.  Bring up to a lively simmer.

6.  Cut each sausage into three or four pieces and add to the saucepan.  Again, stir to combine.  Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cover the pan.  Continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the carrot and butternut squash are tender.

7.  Add the frozen peas and bring back up to a lively simmer.

8.  2-3 minutes later, if necessary, stir in the chicken gravy granules to thicken and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Once the gravy is at your preferred consistency, serve.

Printable version

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